Lib Dem councillors are calling on Haringey’s police force to take steps to ensure calls from the public are answered swiftly. The move follows a report from one Crouch End resident who repeatedly failed to get through to the police after reporting a break in.

A local resident of Shepherds Hill called the police after a break-in at his garage.When he called the local police station, having looked up the number in Thompson’s directory, the phone just rang and rang without answer, or without even switching over to an answering machine.

When the resident called a second time, he finally got through after half an hour on hold. The police said they would send someone round to his home, but then more than 24 hours passed before anyone finally appeared.

The resident said: “When you get a response like this, how can the police expect people to report incidents? You can see why people are put off, even though I know that’s not the right attitude and the public should always report a crime.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem leader and crime spokesperson, comments: “This is one worrying consequence of the pressure on police numbers, but we really must have the public dealt with immediately when they call the police. I will be asking Chief Supt Stephen James what measures he will be taking to ensure that police inquiry lines are sufficiently resourced.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrat councillors have attacked Haringey Council after another attempt to scrutinise the budgetary difficulties facing the council was blocked.

Liberal Democrat councillors had called for the large council overspends to be “called in” and investigated by a special meeting of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The blocking of this review follows the earlier moves to block an effective scrutiny of the council’s budget process. Although several other council scrutiny committees have had the benefit of outside experts to give advice, the council refused to allow similar support for the budget scrutiny – resulting in what Lib Dem councillors described as a deliberate fix to try to stop the budget being closely examined.

In blocking the call-in request, Haringey has relied on an obscure part of its rules, arguing that the call-in did not specify a clear alternative course of action. However, the Lib Dem request was for a detailed examination of the reasons for the overspend and for recommendations for action to then follow.

Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Jonathan Bloch comments:

“It is absurd for the Council to block an examination of its overspending by claiming that we haven’t given a detailed alternative to the overspending. How can people propose an alternative if attempts to find out what has gone wrong in the first place are blocked?”

Liberal Democrat leader Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The council leader and chief executive need to realise that the council isn’t some private gentleman’s club for them to run as they wish.”

Councillor Ross Laird, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Muswell Hill, held a successful meeting at St Mary and St George’s Church Hall on 4 November with local residents from Connaught House and Connaught Gardens, Muswell Hill.

The meeting aimed to tackle long-standing problems in the area, including rubbish, poor maintenance of the buildings and damage from trees. A representative from Housing 21 was present to handle questions about their management of Connaught House.

Cllr Laird comments:

“This was a good meeting. Many of the questions from residents were aimed at Housing 21 and their lack of investment in the property. A welcome series of actions were agreed to take matters forward.”

These included:

* Housing 21 to take urgent action to repair some of the worst afflicted flats

* Haringey Council to be contacted regarding removing abandoned cars when necessary

* The Metropolitan Police Estates Manager to be invited to examine the site

* Local residents to try and establish a residents’ association, working with Housing 21

Cllr Laird continues:

“I am concerned that we are just 6 months away from a potential transfer of Connaught House to another manager. It is important that the views of local residents and tenants are paramount and therefore we hope that a residents’ association can be formed soon.”

Haringey Council has agreed to replace a dilapidated park bench, following action from a local Lib Dem councillor.

Cllr Wayne Hoban, who represents Alexandra Ward, had pointed out that the bench outside the library at the bottom of The Avenue was in a bad state of disrepair, making it unstable.

Wayne Hoban has now received confirmation that a replacement has now been ordered.

Wayne Hoban comments:

“I am pleased the council has replaced the bench, which was in a sorry state, and looked as if it might collapse. We’re looking forward to seeing the new one installed”

Liberal Democrats in Haringey have condemned the Labour Government’s decision to abolish Haringey’s local health watchdog.

The final meeting of the Haringey Community Health Council (CHC) will take place on Monday 25 November – even though local hospitals remain in crisis, with worries over funding, waiting times and the proposed PFI schemes for the North Middlesex and the Whittington.

Liberal Democrat representative on the Haringey Community Health Council, Cllr. Ron Aitken, paid tribute to the many years of work by its members and said that proposals for “Patient Councils” were not the solution as they would not have the independent element that CHCs had.

Ron Aitken comments:

“It is an act of political vandalism to abolish the local CHC, especially when Labour’s promises on the health service have not been met.”

Muswell Hill’s Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed the news that major improvements to Muswell Hill roundabout are set to be made after agreement between London Buses and Haringey Council.

The two parties have reached agreement on the lease for the chalet at the centre of the roundabout. Once final legal details are sorted out, this will release £100,000 from London Buses for work on the site.

As the design and contractor are already in place, work is expected to start this month and is due to be completed by September next year.

“This is excellent news and will greatly improve what has been an eyesore for many years,” comments Cllr. Lynne Featherstone, who has consistently campaigned for the site to be improved.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has dodged the question of what criteria he will use to adjudicate on the appeal from Barnet Council over the Grosvenor Road barrier.

His move was the result of a question from London Assembly member and Haringey councillor Lynne Featherstone at Mayor’s Question Time.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone said:

“Ken has totally ducked the question of what criteria he will use to make his decision or when it will be made.

“I have written to the Mayor again to ask again specifically on what basis he will make his decision and when he will make it. Local residents in Alexandra, Muswell Hill and Fortis Green want to know.”

Ward councillor Susan Oatway added,

“This appeal should be resolved quickly and clearly so that we can get a final decision and move on. The continuing delays and uncertainty don’t help anyone.”

There was good news this week for the campaign to reopen the front counter at Muswell Hill police station as the number of applications from volunteers hit the 70 mark.

The local police force has agreed to reopen the front counter, provided enough residents volunteer to be trained and help staff the counter. Similar volunteer schemes are up and running successfully elsewhere.

Following a successful public meeting, organised by the area’s Liberal Democrat councillors, Cllr Lynne Featherstone has been sending out application forms to interested residents.

She has just despatched the 70th form. According to the police, they needed the number of forms sent out to hit the 70 mark in order for there to be enough good quality applications to put together a pool of 40 trained volunteers to reopen the counter.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We have now reached the milestone of getting 70 people to step forward. If enough people now complete and return the forms, the police front counter will reopen.

“Some forms have already been completed and returned. I would encourage anyone who has a form to try and get it in by the end of November.”

Ms Featherstone added that she has spare application forms for anyone who would sill like to apply. Interested people should call her on 020 8340 5459.

Liberal Democrat leader Lynne Featherstone has extracted a key promise from London Mayor Ken Livingstone in the fight against backland developments in the borough. The promise follows a meeting that Ms Featherstone called with the Mayor on Friday 1st November.

The Mayor’s London Plan and the requirement for more desperately needed housing is being used to justify the squashing of new developments into small sites, particularly in the Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Crouch End area.

However, following his meeting with Ms Featherstone, Mayor Livingstone has agreed to write to Haringey Council pointing out that his London Plan should not be used to justify inappropriate developments. Whilst the local authority must remain the ultimate judge in these planning applications, in like with their Unitary Development Plan (UDP), the London Plan is about planned intensification of housing density around transport hubs, not carte blanche for over or inappropriate development.

The Mayor was also sufficiently worried about the poor quality of the development being proposed between Priory Avenue, Clovelly Road and Linzee Road that he asked world-renowned architect Richard Rogers to advise on the poor design in applications such as this one.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We all want to see more housing – but the Mayor’s London Plan must not be used by Haringey Council or developers as an excuse to build anything anywhere.

“Haringey needs to think very carefully before it grants planning permission for any of the backland sites. This isn’t what the Mayor meant and it won’t solve the social housing crisis.”

Haringey Liberal Democrats have sounded a warning over the state of Haringey’s schools following the publication of a survey from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). The survey shows that nearly one in ten teaching staff in Haringey do not have qualified teacher status and that teacher vacancies in Haringey are running at nearly double the London average.

Commenting, Lib Dem Education Spokesman, Cllr Ross Laird said:

“Teacher training and recruitment is a constant problem in Haringey Council schools. Part of the problem is that the Labour Government is still not doing enough to support and assist people who want to become teachers. Other problems relate to poor Ofsted reports Haringey has received and people’s perception of the Council. We cannot just blame house prices as Haringey’s teacher shortage is more acute than in most London Boroughs.”

“We believe that Haringey schools will be unable to recruit the necessary staff while the LEA’s services fail to meet Ofsted’s targets. Even in the most optimistic scenario, that date is still some way off and our schools will continue to struggle.”

Note:

The NAHT received 18 responses from Haringey schools – covering just over 244 staff. From those results, 12.8% of Full Time Equivalent posts (including those filled by temporary and supply staff) were unfilled (compared to a London-wide picture of 7.2%) and 8.8% of the staff did not have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

A full copy of the survey results is available at www.naht.org.uk