Lynne Featherstone MP calls for independent investigation into Haringey Children’s Services

Posted on 15th Oct 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP has today renewed her call for an independent investigation into Haringey Children’s Services, following news that Haringey Council has again failed to protect vulnerable children.

Haringey Council have previously been embroiled in scandals over their failure to protect both Victoria Climbe and Baby P.

After both cases, the Council’s Labour leadership gave assurances that lessons had been learned. However, the report into the more recent case of Child T evidenced serious failures of management and professional practice within social care services, similar to those in the Baby P case.

In a letter to Haringey Council’s Chief Executive, the Liberal Democrat MP slammed the ‘culture of defensiveness’ at Haringey Council, which she believes causes an ‘inability to properly accept responsibility for errors and to learn from them.’

The letter – co signed by Haringey Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Cllr Katherine Reece – also said that an independent investigation, including a review of the role of the safeguarding children board, was the ‘only way to secure an honest assessment of the Department and the changes that need to be made.’

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“It is just appalling that Haringey Council have become embroiled in another child abuse scandal. The local Lib Dems, local residents and I have long been calling on the Labour leadership to address the manifest failings of Children’s Services – but our calls have simply been ignored.

“What makes me even more upset and angry, is that Haringey’s Labour leadership have repeatedly told us that lessons had been learnt, and that Children’s Services had turned a corner. But this was evidently not true – and now another child has paid the price.

“Cllr Katherine Reece and I have renewed our call for an urgent, independent investigation. It cannot come quickly enough.”

Child T – another Haringey protection failure

Posted on 10th Oct 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

I am deeply saddened and shocked at news of another failure to protect a child in Haringey. A serious case review published this morning has identified multiple failings by local authorities – including social services – to protect a child, known only as ‘Child T.’

The report ‘evidences serious failures of management and professional practice at that time within and between the three key child protection agencies – police, health and social care services.’

Child T is alive, having been removed from the care of their parents more than a year after the first incident of abuse came to the attention of doctors and social services. However, the report states that, in the course of the year, Child T was taken to hospital twice with suspicious injuries, only to be returned to their parents. This is just one of the multiple failings listed.

Most people will be aware that it was also Haringey Council who failed to protect Baby P and Victoria Climbe. After these two horrendous failures – serious changes should have been made. But now, Child T has been failed too. Indeed, the review identifies features that are common between the Baby P and the Child T cases.

It is just appalling that Haringey Council have become embroiled in another child abuse scandal. The local Lib Dems, local residents and I have long been calling on the Labour leadership to address the manifest failings of Children’s Services – but our calls have simply been ignored.

What makes me even more upset and angry, is that Haringey’s Labour leadership have repeatedly told us that lessons had been learnt, and that Children’s Services had turned a corner. But this was evidently not true – and now another child has paid the price.

I fully support the Haringey Liberal Democrat calls for an urgent, independent investigation. It cannot come quickly enough.

No fines for waste contractors by ‘out of touch’ Haringey Council

Posted on 9th Sep 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP expressed her shock today, as she revealed that Haringey Council has never fined waste contractor Veolia for poor performance.

Complaints about the rubbish collection service in the borough – which range from unpredictable and patchy collections, difficulties with bin sizes, mess being left behind after collections and a poor follow up service when complaints are made – have been common since the Labour-run Council introduced fortnightly collections two years ago.

The Liberal Democrat MP received a spike of complaints from residents over summer, expressing further dissatisfaction with local rubbish collections. Lack of collections meant rotting piles of stinking rubbish were building up across the borough.

The complaints, documented in local press and on twitter, led the Hornsey and Wood Green MP to contact the Council and ask whether there was any plan to hold waste contractors Veolia to account for poor performance.

Haringey Council confirmed that the contract ‘provides for financial deductions to be made if targets are not met’ – but also admitted that ‘there have been no deductions to date.’

Lynne Featherstone MP commented:

“Many residents have serious complaints. Disabled residents have been unable to get out of their driveways due to misplaced bins and built up rubbish. Some residents have had to deal with maggots and rat infestations. This has been going on for two years, and enough is enough.

“To discover that the Labour-run Council hasn’t even bothered fining their waste contractors Veolia for poor performance really shows how out of touch they are with what’s happening on our streets.

“It is simply unacceptable. We pay one of the highest rates of Council tax in London – and we deserve better.”

Rubbish!

Posted on 22nd Jul 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

During the hot weather, it’s nice to have a bit of shade, a cold lemonade and some free time to relax.

It’s also nice to have clean streets and frequent rubbish collections – to avoid smelly, rotting rubbish from accumulating on our pavements.

But unfortunately, Haringey Council have let residents down again. Take a look at the mess on Hornsey High Street and Lymington Avenue.

Even worse – take a look at this tweet from a local resident – who has had to deal with maggots due to Haringey Council’s incompetence.

This is just awful. What on earth do we pay our Council Tax money for? Poor services and smelly, rotting rubbish on our streets? For public health hazards not to be removed?

And what kind of image does this give to people visiting our borough?

I think it’s about time Labour-run Haringey got a grip on this. During this weather – they more than ever need to ensure that collections are made regularly.

My team will report any uncollected rubbish to the Council on the day you report it to us – so please do let us know of other instances of smelly, rotting rubbish in your area.

I am determined to keep the streets of Hornsey and Wood Green clean and safe – even though the Labour Council clearly aren’t bothered.

Our Local Roads

Posted on 16th Jul 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Here’s my latest Muswell Flyer column – also available here: http://beckybeach.net.gridhosted.co.uk/?p=7119

The issue that I am most frequently contacted about at my constituency office is the state of the roads in Haringey. Potholes, road surfaces, the need for traffic calming and road safety – not a day goes by without someone telling me that they are troubled by these issues. Haringey Liberal Democrats and I have been campaigning hard for improvements and the past 2 months have finally seen Haringey Labour-run Council concede – with two dramatic successes.

In May Labour-run Haringey Council confessed that action had to be taken to improve the state of the roads following overwhelming evidence from the Haringey Lib Dems and local people. This was a hard fought-for admission but it is already clear that the Council has been making errors in their road survey by marking a road as being in a ‘general good condition’ when it is anything but.

The Haringey Lib Dems have been collecting information from residents and, so far, we have received complaints about potholes in 216 individual roads – more and more come in every day! The information we have gathered has been sent to the Council and I hope it will have a serious impact.

Our other major success has been in road safety. After years of campaigning, last month the Haringey Lib Dems had a breakthrough. We have been working to promote a 20mph speed limit for residential roads across the borough for the last 3 years and, at last, Labour-run Haringey Council has woken up to the issue. A long overdue consultation on a borough-wide 20 mph speed limit has been launched, allowing residents a chance to finally have their say.

There has been a lot of debate in recent weeks over the plans to implement a 20mph speed limit but the evidence is clear – road safety is dramatically increased by a lower speed limit. It has been shown to have a direct impact on improving safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. What’s more, if an accident does happen the injuries are a lot less likely to be serious. Most importantly – it has been shown to save lives.

Not only that – residents will gain the benefits of reduced traffic noise and reduced pollution. So it’s no surprise that this has been on our agenda for nearly three years.

Consultation is an essential part of the process and will give local residents in the area an opportunity to have their voices heard. We have launched a survey as we want to find out what people think. You can tell us your views here – bit.ly/20mphsurvey – and I encourage you all to do so.

This policy alone will not be the silver bullet that prevents any further road accidents. Other factors, such as educating all road users on safety, have to come into play. That said, I believe the speed limit will encourage drivers to change their behaviour and this – as well as bringing local roads up to standard – will have a huge impact on minimising the danger on our roads.

‘Disgraceful’ Haringey Council fails to support vulnerable Haringey residents

Posted on 8th Jul 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP branded Haringey Council ‘a disgrace’ today, after revelations that they failed to distribute money meant to support vulnerable individuals and families.

Every year, local councils are given a pot of money by central Government, for distribution to the most vulnerable residents. They can give these ‘discretionary housing payments’ to individuals or families who are struggling with: rent deposits, rent arrears, reductions in housing benefit, and more.

If the money is not given out to vulnerable residents, however, the authority must return it to the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) at the end of the financial year.

It has just been revealed that Labour-run Haringey Council received over £850,000 in 2012/13 – and returned a whopping £233,000 of it. This follows a trend: In 2011/12, Haringey Council returned 45% of their allocation.

This financial year – the Coalition Government will give Haringey Council almost £2.5 million. The Haringey Liberal Democrats and Lynne Featherstone MP are calling on the Labour administration to make use of this money.

Haringey Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Cllr Katherine Reece, commented:

“The Government has given the Labour-run Council a lot of funding over the last few years to help people struggling with their rent bills but they have failed to hand out much of that cash to local residents. That can’t be right.

“This Government money is there to support people who are struggling and yet the Labour council has failed to pass much of it on to local people who really need the support. It would be a great shame if the Labour council failed to take up all of the £2m the government has offered them this year to support local people.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, commented:

“It is absolutely disgraceful that Haringey Council have just returned this money to the DWP, rather than using it to help protect our most vulnerable residents.

“The Haringey Labour administration is quick to moan about the changes made by the Coalition Government, but obviously not so quick when it comes to helping out those in need.

“The Lib Dems in Government are providing record amounts of money to Councils to use on discretionary housing payments. I call on Haringey Council to stop wasting this opportunity to help the most vulnerable.”

Lynne Featherstone MP submits 1,000 residents' complaints to Haringey Council

Posted on 17th Jun 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP last week submitted the results of her Annual Survey to Haringey Council. The local MP has so far received over 1000 complaints about the roads in her constituency. Over half of these complaints referred to potholes in local roads.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP and Haringey Liberal Democrats have spent years campaigning and calling on the Council to address the poor state of roads in the Borough.

Recently, the Labour Administration performed a U-turn on their strategy – lowering their intervention levels and agreeing to respond to complaints more quickly.

To ensure the Council live up to their word, the Liberal Democrat MP produced a compilation of her survey results so far – which identified the most complained about areas and roads in need of repair. These have been submitted to the Leader of the Labour Group and Chief Executive of Haringey Council.

The Labour-run Council will make the decision on what roads and pavements get resurfaced tomorrow, Tuesday 18th June.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“So far, there have been over 1000 complaints about the roads in Haringey via my Annual Survey. I expect there will be many more to come as my survey is still being delivered in some parts of the constituency!

“The results are damning evidence of Haringey Labour’s failure to keep our roads in an acceptable condition. It has reached the point where the roads are not safe for motorists, cyclists or pedestrians – and we deserve better.

“After years of neglect, the Council have finally agreed to take action. I am intent on holding them to their word and am trying to make it as easy for them as possible – by presenting them with a comprehensive list of the most complained about roads and potholes in need of repair.

“Thank you to all residents who have filled in the survey so far. I hope to see repairs on all of the affected areas shortly.”

Potholes in Haringey

Posted on 11th Jun 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

This is my most recent column published first in the Ham & High.

Every week, at least one local resident contacts me about the state of their roads. This comes as no surprise to me. I regularly walk and drive around my constituency, and am constantly making mental notes of the new, hazardous potholes which have appeared on the road surfaces.

Along with local residents, the Haringey Lib Dems and I have run a long campaign, calling on Labour-run Haringey Council to do something about this urgently. After all, we do pay one of the highest Council Tax rates in London – the least we deserve in return are safe roads!

Don’t let anyone try to tell you this is a non-issue. These holes in the road damage cars, and cost motorists dearly. They also increase the chances of accidents, as drivers instinctively swerve to try and avoid them.

They are also incredibly dangerous to pedestrians. Just recently, Haringey Council were ordered by a Court to pay a local man £1million in compensation – after he tripped in a pothole in Hornsey and suffered a serious brain injury.

For years, Haringey Council has refused to step up and take action – preferring to pay out money on compensation for injuries, rather than investing the money in improving the roads. And this isn’t about their cash flow – they were as negligent back in 2009 when Gordon Brown was throwing money around, as they are now when we have all had to tighten our belts.

So where do we go from here? Well, under enormous pressure from local residents and the Haringey Lib Dems, the Labour Council have finally admitted that the current state of our roads is not acceptable. They are going to lower their intervention levels (that is, the criteria at which they will repair a pot hole) from 6cm deep to 3cm deep.

We now want to make sure that they do the job properly. Already, I have exposed a huge flaw in the Council’s strategy. Their road condition survey is inaccurate. For instance, one of the roads the Council marked as in ‘general good condition’ is in fact riddled with holes.

To keep the Council on track, the Local Lib Dems and I have been asking local residents to identify the most dangerous holes, so that we can pass on the information. We’ve asked residents via emails, via my 2013 annual survey and on the doorstop.

We are part way through collating the results, and already we have identified almost 400 potholes on 173 roads across the Borough. We will continue to put the results together and send a full list to the Council for their attention. I hope they will finally take this seriously and do some proper repairs!

Any local resident who wants to add information can contact me here.

Haringey Labour-run Council – another disaster

Posted on 6th Jun 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

I have written an urgent email to the Chief Executive of Homes for Haringey today calling for answers over the halting of a scheme to bring local council homes up to standard.

The Decent Homes scheme, meant to improve council homes across the Borough, has been suspended by the Labour-run Council, affecting a number of Hornsey and Wood Green residents.

Homes for Haringey say this relates to a failure by the council to secure an appropriate contractor for the 2013/2014 Decent Homes programme. I wonder why they failed to secure an appropriate contractor? Could it be that they messed up the process?

Strangely work will continue in Tottenham – though work to improve council blocks will be halted in Wood Green, Bounds Green, Crouch End, Highgate and Stroud Green.

Causing further concern, the Council have as yet not confirmed that the suspended works will be carried out next year, only that those homes not receiving attention this year will be recommended for inclusion in the Decent Homes programme in 2014/2015.

It’s just one disaster after another – but sadly – it’s local people who suffer for Haringey’s mess ups.

Calls for 30 minutes free parking on High Streets continue

Posted on 29th May 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Local MP Lynne Featherstone and the Haringey Liberal Democrats are continuing to call for 30 minutes of free parking on the Borough’s High Streets, as a way to help local independent shops.

The long running Liberal Democrat campaign highlights the problems faced by independent shops, as a result of the Council’s decision to raise High Street parking charges to £3 an hour. This has had a negative effect on trade, as shoppers are put off by the high rates.

The Liberal Democrats argue that 30 minutes free parking would encourage people to ‘pop in’ to local independent retailers, rather than driving to superstores with free or cheap car parks.

To keep the issue on the agenda, pictures and quotes of local residents and retailers are being put together and shared via social media, particularly on the facebook campaign page.

Haringey Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr Richard Wilson, said:

“There is clearly a demand from the public to lower parking charges, over 5,000 people signed the Muswell Hill Traders petition calling for lower parking charges and many people have joined our campaign for 30 minutes of free parking on local high streets.

“What traders need now is support from the Labour council, they can make life easier for traders and boost local high streets in the borough but so far they have chosen not to do this. We need as many local people and shoppers as possible to join our campaign and put even more pressure on the council to introduce 30 minutes of free parking on our high streets.”

Commenting, Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone said:

“During these tough economic times, local retailers need help, not hindrance. It is just outrageous that Haringey Council has raised the parking charge to £3 an hour, driving trade away from our high streets.

“Despite presenting our petitions, requesting that they lower the charges, and asking them to implement 30 minutes free parking, the Labour Administration will not listen.

“But, we won’t give up. I encourage as many residents as possible to join our campaign and share our photos and quotes. The bigger the campaign, the more pressure on the Council!”