Liberal Democrats in Haringey have welcomed the publication of the Government’s Green paper on child protection but have warned that there are still serious concerns about Haringey Council’s ability to protect the rights of children. They say the Council is still wedded to secrecy and that this is hampering child protection work six months after the publication of Lord Laming’s Report into the death of Victoria Climbie.

Lib Dem Social Services Spokesperson Cllr Ron Aitken revealed that a report by NCH Action for Children, which provides a Children’s Rights service for Haringey children in care, indicates serious shortcomings in the Council’s ability to protect the rights of children. Labour executive member for Social Services had sought to keep this secret.

Cllr Aitken won a significant freedom of information victory by writing to the Council’s legal team demanding that the key report, which was discussed at a meeting of Councillors on 17 June, should be a public document. They confirmed that the public should be able to access the Report on 11 August.

Among the findings identified by NCH were;

* There is a gap in rights provision for young people leaving care who are aged 18 to 23 – under the Children Leaving Care Act they are entitled to support – but Haringey has only contracted NCH to act for children up to 18.

* NCH has “not been given the opportunity as yet to work at a strategic level within the Council for better implementation of children’s rights”.

* There has been no direct access to Harinet and getting contact details of children looked after has been difficult, as well as contacting social services staff by e-mail.

* NCH have been hampered by lack of resources from working with children in care who are placed outside Haringey.

Cllr Ron Aitken comments:

“I pay tribute to NCH for the work they are doing in Haringey. This report indicates six months after Laming that Haringey’s obsession with secrecy is undermining children’s rights. Basic sharing of information is simply not happening. It is also disgraceful that for political reasons Labour politicians sought to stop the report from being made public”.

Liberal Democrat councillors were pleased to receive the news that the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) committee will be monitoring the project to create the Bernie Grant Centre (BGC) in Tottenham. The news comes four months after Lib Dem deputy leader Wayne Hoban raised concerns about a number of assumptions in costings and the role and accountability of the management board to the O&S committee via the ‘call-in’ procedure.

The development planned for Tottenham is being hailed by the Council as a centrepiece to the regeneration programme in the east of the Borough. However, following a meeting on the BGC committee on Tuesday (2nd September) it was announced that the O&S committee would be monitoring the project to ensure that many of the concerns raised by Cllr Hoban are adequately addressed.

The Lib Dems claim that much of the development plan is based on ‘assumed’ funding and tax breaks, although none had been confirmed at the time of the decision. Their concern has been that, far from regenerating the borough, the project could plunge the Council further into debt with a potential liability of up to £3 million if the project failed.

Cllr Hoban is pleased that the project will be monitored closely but is keen to emphasise the importance of ensuring the management board is fully accountable, representative and has the necessary skills to make this regeneration project a success.

Cllr Hoban (Alexandra ward) comments:

“I am pleased that O&S have committed to scrutinising decisions made by the Executive committee on this project. However, we want to ensure that plans do not expose the Council to significant financial risk.

“It is also essential that we have a fully representative, accountable and skilled board that will make the Centre a real asset to Tottenham and the borough as a whole. We will continue to work hard to make sure that this project is developed with the interests of Haringey’s residents in mind.”

Highgate’s Liberal Democrat councillors are calling on the Labour Council to put on hold its plans for a controlled parking zone (CPZ) in the area unless they can demonstrate that a real majority is in favour of the scheme. The move follows the release of the detailed results on the consultation exercise which show that local people voted ‘no’ to a CPZ and to introduce it at this stage would go back on a promise made by Labour lead member Ray Dodds, who said in July: “We’ve said all along that what we do would depend on what people said. If they’ve said no then that’s what they’ll get.”

However, the Council is now planning to press ahead with parking controls in Highgate Hill and Highgate High Street, as well as Cromwell Avenue and some surrounding roads. The Lib Dems say that to implement a CPZ now would go back on an earlier promise, and means that an area where 62% of residents voted ‘no’ will end up with a CPZ anyway.

The Lib Dems now want the following from the Council:

* Press Camden Council to put its own plans on hold following further consultation in Haringey

* Put the Haringey CPZ plans on hold and consult again over the smaller area now designated for a CPZ once the situation in Camden becomes clear.

* Reconsult in six months in Priory Gardens, where residents were broadly in favour of a scheme, but with a separate zone for their own road near the Tube Station.

Local councillor Neil Williams comments:

“Whatever your views on the CPZ, if the Council consults the views of local people and then ignores the outcome of that consultation, then there can’t be any faith or confidence in the process. Ray Dodds has stated categorically that local residents would not get something they did not support.

“A breathing space is now needed, and every possible pressure must be placed on Camden to think again about its own plans. No consultation is a scientific exercise, but all the indications are that the village as a whole voted against the proposals of the two boroughs. It would be very unjust for these plans to go ahead at this time.”

Lib Dem Leader and GLA member Lynne Featherstone has secured a vital meeting this week with Mayor Ken Livingstone in an effort to put back on track plans for the new bus route between Muswell Hill and Swiss Cottage via Hampstead and Highgate. The delegation is to meet Mayor Livingstone at City Hall this Wednesday. It will be led by long serving bus campaigner Keith Tarn and will include key members of other local groups, such as the Highgate Society and Haringey Buswatch, who have also long supported the route.

Pressure has been growing on Ken Livingstone to intervene in the campaign for the route since Transport for London’s recent controversial attempt to shelve the plans. There has been a huge response from Muswell Hill and Highgate residents to the local Lib Dem campaign on the issue. Locals have been writing in large numbers to the Mayor to express their continued support for the route.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This meeting will be a vital opportunity to impress upon Ken Livingstone how essential the new route is for Muswell Hill, Highgate and Hampstead. We will be urging the Mayor to overturn TfL’s ludicrous decision and to make real his promise to support the route when he was elected three years ago. Ken should be backing buses, and the campaign must have his full support.”

Opposition Liberal Democrats have expressed alarm at admissions from the Post office that it is about to announce a rapid escalation in its plans to close branches in Haringey. The move follows a letter from the Post Office to Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams saying that it now intends to announce plans for closures on a borough by borough basis. The Post Office has not however, revealed when its plans for Haringey will be announced.

Lib Dems say that the speeding up of its closure plans for Haringey, backed by the Labour Government, are almost certain to put several more local post offices at risk. Lib Dems say that branches in Park Road and Archway Road have already been victims of the closure programme and several more branches may now follow as the Post Office attempts to shut down 3,000 branches across the country.

Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“I am calling on the Post Office to say now when it intends to put these plans on the table. At this stage, we don’t know which branches are likely to be affected. All too often, proposals to close post offices have appeared suddenly, giving opponents little time to campaign against a local closure, which is often a foregone conclusion.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Lynne, Featherstone adds:

“Any further closure plans will be a severe blow, especially for the thousands of local pensioners who use their post office every week. The Post Office must come clean as soon as possible on what it now plans for Haringey.”

Local Lib Dems are calling for urgent action from the Council to regenerate two greens on Fortis Green. The two greens, at the end of Midhurst Avenue, are in a very poor condition and in desperate need of work. Local residents have raised the issue repeatedly over the years, but Fortis Green local councillor Matt Davies says that maintenance of the greens never seems to be consistent. In the past, residents have even clubbed together to donate substantial money for replanting of the flowerbeds.

The greens fall under the responsibility of Haringey Parks Service and Cllr Davies has been pressing them for action to be taken.

Cllr Davies (Lib Dem, Fortis Green) comments:

“The Council must act soon on this. The paths through the greens have raised and cracked paving stones throughout – there is a serious chance that someone could fall, and perhaps cost the Council a lot more than the cost of fixing the site now.

“Benches have been missing from the greens for sometime, and as well as the safety hazard, the potential of the open green space is not being met. The greens must be inspected and brought back up to an acceptable standard. Sometimes doing the little things promptly and well can make a great difference to local residents’ quality of life.”

Police in Muswell Hill have agreed to ensure that the boroughs’ new police community support officers (PCSOs) take a more active role in dealing with the problem of flyposting on the Broadway after local councillor Lynne Featherstone wrote to them expressing the concerns of local residents on the issue.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) contacted community inspector Craig Middleton, who oversees beat operations in Haringey, detailing complaints that the Lib Dems had received on flyposting in recent months. Inspector Middleton responded last week confirming that the PCSOs would be directed to take a more active role in combating the problem on the Broadway.

Cllr Featherstone is pleased that the issue is being tackled and that PCSOs are being directed to serve the community effectively:

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that the issue of the flyposting is being taken seriously by the police in the area. It is a real scourge on the appearance of the Broadway. PCSOs have had a very positive impact on the streets of Haringey and they are ideally placed to tackle this problem in Muswell Hill.”

Liberal Democrat councillors have expressed their concerns over the future of bids made to Transport for London to improve road safety in Alexandra and Bounds Green wards. The concerns have been raised following reports that TfL are facing a £64m shortfall in their budget caused by lower than expected revenues from congestion charging. The concern is that the area including Alexandra Park Road (N22), Durnsford Road and Bidwell Gardens could be casualties.

The Council’s traffic management department has been positive about the future of the proposals claiming that both the £99,000 for the first phase of road safety improvements including a zebra crossing on Dukes Avenue, named as the country’s second worst ‘rat run’ last week and the additional £100,000 for improvements to the Dukes Avenue / Alexandra Park Road (N10) area had already been secured.

However, Alexandra ward councillor Susan Oatway, who has been involved in the consultation and development between the local residents and the Council from the beginning, is keen to have confirmation from TfL that the funding required to improve road safety throughout the rest of the ward is secure as originally promised. Subsequently the Council has requested a meeting with Mayor Ken Livingston on the issue.

Despite her concerns, Cllr Oatway (Alexandra) is pressing on with the consultation over the spending of the additional £100,000 on the second phase of safety improvements to the area with the next resident/council officer meeting scheduled for early September.

Cllr Oatway comments:

“No news is good news, but we want assurances from TfL that the Council will have the money to carry out the improvements that the residents and officers have worked so hard for.

“This funding is vital. We know that Duke’s Avenue is a very dangerous road as recent national media coverage has highlighted, but there are rat runs that are just as bad just a few streets away.

“Residents of these areas were assured that they would be next on the drawing board and to withdraw funding for the project would be a travesty.”

If you thought that the end of the Cold War was ever likely to put the world’s spies out of business, you’d be wrong – that’s one message of a new book just published and co-authored by Muswell Hill Lib Dem councillor Jonathan Bloch.

Jonathan Bloch’s book, written with Paul Todd, Global Intelligence – The World Secret Services Today, explains how the war on terrorism provides a new working context in which the world’s intelligence agencies can operate.

The book represents a second book in a colourful publishing career for the Muswell Hill councillor. In 1984, his British Intelligence and Covert Action caused a national political storm, as the then Tory government was so annoyed by the book that the Home Secretary refused permanent residency to Jonathan, who was then a political refugee.

Jonathan Bloch comments:

“I wanted to write a book that looks at how these intelligence agencies have found new roles for themselves. We now face a large and unsolved, contradiction between protecting the liberties of individuals, and a growing world of secret and unaccountable agencies. This contradiction is one which we will all have to address.”

A letter sent to Haringey Lib Dem Leader, Cllr Ross Laird, has revealed that Labour Government Ministers are determined to force the closure of London Post Offices. In a letter to Cllr Laird, Stephen Timms MP, DTI Minister, explained that while he was prepared to “prevent avoidable closures of rural offices”, there would be no such protection for urban ones and he expected the Government’s closures to go ahead as planned.

The letter has dismayed Liberal Democrat councillors, activist and local residents who have been campaigning and petitioning over the past year to save Post Offices across the borough earmarked for closure. Cllr Laird (Muswell Hill) believes that the letter displays the contempt that the Labour run Government has for consultation and public opinion.

Cllr Laird comments:

“This letter from the Minister demonstrates what a sham the whole Post Office consultation process really is. The Government has every intention of closing down our local post offices in London, with miniscule consideration of the affect this might have on local communities and local businesses.

“I also asked what research had been commissioned into the effects of closures on small businesses and the Minister failed to respond. The Government and local MP, Barbara Roche, who fully backed the closure programme in Parliament, should be ashamed.”