Tag Archives: haringey council

Good news, good news, good news

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Lynne Featherstone with residents of Westpoint, Clarendon Road, celebrating their parking permit successOne – during the week my Liberal Democrat colleagues on Haringey Council got a motion through for Haringey Council to opt-in to the Sustainable Communities Act. The act in itself is really only a tool to open up future possibilities – but now we’re well on the way to being able to do that.

Two – parking permit problems for residents in Clarendon Road sorted out.

Three – Transport for London (TfL) have now promised that we will be able to use Oyster Pay As You Go on trains by September. Easier train travel, here we come!

Many thanks to everyone who backed the campaign on this – I’ve no doubt the public pressure make a big, big difference.

How not to plan ahead: Parkland Walk

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Haringey can’t get it right for getting it wrong. It took a monumental effort to get Parkland Walk in the frame for a facelift and residents were delighted when finally it happened – but apparently just a little while later the revamped and refreshed walk is covered with rubble and mud!

It’s presumably the muck and mess from phase 2 – but how ridiculous to lay a new path etc when there was still work to be done further inside the park. The JCBs have churned up the landscaped reserved and the workmen are dumping earth and stones on the revamped bit. Stupid or what?

They say that the work will be completed by end of March 2009. Whoever phased this work should be hauled over the coals!

A story with a happy ending

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Advice surgery this morning was as ever grueling as ever with tragedies too personal to relate here. Happily my first afternoon visit was a success story and just the best happy ending.

Back a while I went in to do battle for a woman (Bonnie) living in a tiny, dilapidated flat, with infestations and damp and mold and general horribleness that most would not put up with. Perhaps even worse there was no room to move at all – desperately bad situation.

With two children, husband and sister (who she looks after) Bonnie is one of those who fights and works and wants to make a good life for her family. But no accommodation was forthcoming for years.

Anyway to cut long story short Bonnie finally moved into a new (literally new) house in Muswell Hill a couple of months ago and I went to see it today. It is gorgeous – and I have no doubt that Bonnie and her family will prosper and bloom. Full marks to Metropolitan Housing Association as the quality of this new development seemed very high spec to me and the sort of accommodation that will enhance the lives of those lucky enough to live here. And finally – thanks to the officers at Haringey who latterly responded over the last months with real efforts to find suitable accommodation – and did. Dontcha just love happy endings.

Labour predicts they will lose in Haringey

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It’s every politician’s nightmare – leaving information that should be for your eyes only in the copying machine. Well it just happened – to Labour in Haringey. As the Haringey Independent, who have seen the document, reports Labour predicts it will lose the next Haringey Council elections – due in 2010 – and that the Lib Dems will win by 33 seats to Labour’s 24 (with no councillors for Conservatives, Greens or others). Way to go!

Highate councillor Neil Williams was the lucky man to find the document on the photocopier, as he recounts on his blog.

Scrutiny-phobia at Haringey Council

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My comments about Haringey Council’s habit of trying to turn its back on proper scrutiny of its actions seem to have caught a bit of media attention, as with The London Paper:

HARINGEY Council needs to shake up the way it scrutinises its own work in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, an MP has said.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, accused ruling Labour councillors of “scrutiny-phobia” after they refused to hand over the chair of a key watchdog committee to the opposition.

She said: “Scrutiny-phobia in Haringey has led to a culture where it was impossible for whistleblowers to raise the alarm. I am saddened that Haringey Labour has missed an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and to put its watchdog committee on a better footing to do what it is supposed to.”…

Opposition leader Robert Gorrie said the decision “does not bode well for the future of Children’s Services in Haringey.

“More rigorous and more independent scrutiny might have uncovered the severe failings in children’s services before it was too late.

“Haringey Council needs a watchdog committee with teeth to prevent inadequacies in services being missed again.”

Questions for our new Children's Services chief

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From yesterday’s Evening Standard:

The man charged with turning around Haringey’s failing social services faced a string of critical reports in his previous job after two children died in cases of suspected abuse…

Schools Secretary Ed Balls appointed Mr Lewis 10 days ago praising his “excellent” reputation as director of children’s services in neighbouring Enfield.

But an investigation by the Standard has found social workers and health staff in Enfield were criticised over cases in which children died or were seriously harmed under his watch…

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said the cases raised concerns.

She said Mr Lewis’s salary, a large rise from Ms Shoesmith’s, raised expectations that he would be able to tackle the deep-rooted problems in Haringey.

“We expect a huge amount from Mr Lewis,” she said. “It would be appropriate to hear directly from him. We want to be reassured on how he handled these cases and how they came to light.”

You can read the full story here.

Did Haringey Council really only mislead one set of inspectors?

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This week was the special Haringey Council meeting called by the Lib Dems to debate the findings from Ed Ball’s ‘urgent investigation’ into Haringey following the death of Baby P.

It saw an astonishing outburst from the person we all saw apologise (finally) on behalf of the Labour Council – Liz Santry – Labour Member for Children’s Services as was. With the media’s attention having moved on, at this meeting I am told she lashed out blaming others. But that’s it you know – that’s the real issue in Haringey – that Labour always turn it all around and instead of really looking at what’s gone wrong, they simply rebut, deny, blame others. When will they ever learn?

What also is interesting, is that my Lib Dem colleagues on Haringey Council have called for all services to be re-inspected. This is because of the comments from Ofsted, in the form of Christine Gilbert, that they were ‘misled’ by Haringey officials when they did their inspection. If people misled one batch of inspectors, what are the chances that other inspectors carrying out other inspections were misled too?

There have been thirteen separate inspections over the last few years including the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment in October 2006, the Commission for Social Care Inspection inquiry received as recently at 28th November this year and an Audit Commission report of the Council’s housing service.

There has to be now real doubt over the accuracy of these inspections – and so the call for re-inspections. Needles to say – Labour refused! As I said – when will they ever learn!

In the newspapers today

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The Sun and The Times have stories today which quote me. First, the Sun:

SHAMED Haringey Council squandered £19,000 trying to make Baby P scandal boss Sharon Shoesmith look better.

MPs were furious last night after learning spin doctors were hired following the tot tragedy.

Their role was to give media advice to the head of children’s services and her colleagues.

Ms Shoesmith, 55 — now suspended — was given role-play exercises by up to three firms on how to answer probing questions from journalists.

She twice refused to apologise at a press conference over her department’s shocking failure to save the 17-month-old “at-risk” tot after his evil mother and stepdad and a lodger were convicted of torturing him to death.

Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone said: “It is absolutely outrageous that this money has been wasted on spin doctors. Every penny would have been better spent on improving our children’s services.”

Full story here, and in The Times:

Police are investigating allegations of serious abuse of a five-year-old victim of child trafficking while he was in the care of Haringey, the London council that failed to prevent the death of Baby P.

The Metropolitan police child abuse team launched the investigation last month after claims that the child was being beaten while in the care of his adoptive family…

The police investigation will come as a fresh blow to Haringey, which was severely censured last week for its “inadequate” child protection measures following the death of Baby P, who died despite 50 visits from social workers and other public agencies. The children’s minister, Ed Balls, described an Ofsted report into the department’s child protection measures as “devastating”…

Police are investigating allegations that a five-year-old boy was abused while in the care of Haringey, the London council that was severely criticised over the death of Baby P.

An investigation was launched by Scotland Yard last month after claims that the boy, who had been a victim of child trafficking, was beaten while in the care of his foster family.

The boy, known as Child C, had been taken from his home in Africa and, once in Britain, was adopted as a “miracle baby” by a follower of Gilbert Deya, the evangelist who claimed to be able to cure infertility through prayer…

Last night Haringey was also condemned by MPs after it was revealed that the council had spent £19,000 on external media advisers after Baby P’s death to help Ms Shoesmith cope with the expected public interest. This included role-plays on how to handle hostile journalists.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, which is part of the Haringey borough, said: “It is absolutely outrageous that this money has been wasted on spin doctors. Every penny of this cash would have been better spent on improving our children’s services.”

Full story here.

Ofsted: Haringey didn't tell us the truth

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I read front page in the Guardian yesterday that Christine Gilbert, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, has come out publicly to say that Ofsted were lied to by officers in Haringey in terms of the information they provided when they inspected Haringey. Result – Ofsted gave Haringey three stars just weeks after Baby P’s death.

Well – I’m glad she said it. I’ve no doubt Haringey did present inaccurate information and was trying to pull the wool over Ofsted’s eyes – given they wanted three stars because the government hoops they have to jump through mean resources, money and political advantage all come from three stars.

However, as neatly as Ofsted wishes to put all the blame on Haringey, I would just like to point out the feebleness of that as an excuse for an inspection regime. Ed Balls has now moved to say basically these interim inspections are useless and Ofsted must do face-to-face inspections annually. But what on earth confidence can we have in any inspection regime given this failure? Surely the questions and examinations have to go deeper.

And last but not least in this dishonourable performance management system is the Government itself who set it up. Ed Balls is only too willing to look at the narrow focus of the social work and systems end – but not really so far said anything about the Government’s part in this devastating failure. It is the Labour Government who set up a performance management system with targets, tick boxes and gold stars on inspection. What bigger perverse incentive can you have in a rotten borough then to be allowed to present false information to achieve a false status? Come on Ed – look at your own part in all of this.

And today, news has broken that Ed Balls and Alan Johnson are launching a task force to change the practice, spread best practise and look at training of social workers. Yes – some of things are suggested may well be good so no problem with that or the task force – but the focus is still narrow. We need a proper public inquiry to look at all the issues that are much wider than just what happens in the departments themselves. As before – even the Government system of performance management is called into question.