LEYTON FOCUS NEWSLETTER 375

The latest edition of the Leyton FOCUS Newsletter is with the printers and will be delivered across the ward by our volunteer helpers.

It leads on the news that CPZ restrictions continue to spread across the ward. Veteran campaigner Bob Sullivan has raised his concerns about the possible effects of these .

Please contact Bob Sullivan on 8556 8335 if you would like to help deliver the FOCUS near your home. It is usually published about every six weeks and a round should take about 45 minutes. Thank you.

In the past year Lib Dem membership has soared to a record high. Please get in touch with our veteran local campaigner Bob Sullivan if you would like to join this growing movement.

You can access a copy of the FOCUS here:Leyton 375

LONDON ASSEMBLY LIB DEM PROPOSALS

Improving London’s environment for everyone, building more homes, and making fares much fairer

Improstephen_vince_small.jpgving London’s environment for everyone, building more homes and making fares much fairer are at the centre of a radical set of proposals put forward by the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group in their amendment to the Mayor’s budget.

Speaking ahead of today’s meeting at City Hall where the London Assembly will consider the Mayor’s draft budget Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group said:

There are real social and environmental pressures facing London as our population rapidly grows. Our proposals are firmly rooted in meeting these challenges.

Our Lib Dem plan will deliver cleaner air and less congested roads. It will deliver a better environment for every Londoner.

Our changes to the Mayor’s budget will also provide more affordable homes, helping to address London’s chronic shortage of homes for people on low and middle incomes, helping to keep families living in the capital.

We will also make London a fairer city. We would reverse the Mayor’s harsh fare hike facing off peak travellers who live in outer London. And in every part of the capital we will drive up the adoption of the London Living Wage and ensure real action is taken against rogue landlords.

Key aspects of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly budget amendment include:

  • Tackling London’s appalling air pollution and also reducing congestion on our roads, which is currently a huge burden for London’s businesses. Specific proposals include smart congestion charging; the introduction of a workplace parking levy in central London and real action to reduce diesel vehicles entering central London.
  • Reversing the immense fare hike on off peak travel for people in outer London. Other key fare changes include the introduction of a one hour bus ticket and lower fares for people travelling on all Tube, DLR and TfL Overground services before 7.30 am.
  • Making London a more attractive city to travel around by foot and on bike, including expanding the cycle hire scheme into south east London and better provision for cyclists across the whole capital
  • Creating a new £2 billion housing investment fund – funded by prudential borrowing – more than doubling the number of affordable homes delivered across London
  • Cutting waste in the Metropolitan Police Service such as the provision of chauffeur driven cars and flats for senior police officers, but strengthening Safer Neighbourhood Teams and putting extra resources into the teams that investigate rape and sexual assault against children.
  • Making London a fairer place through real action against rogue landlords and the wider adoption of the London Living Wage.

POLICE CONTACT POINTS

The recently closed Police Station in Kirkdale Road

With the closure of Leytonstone Police Station there is now no police station in the south of the borough.

Following the closure the Police are providing a contact point at Tescos in Gainsborough Road. Officers are present every Wednesday and Thursday from 6 – 8pm. and on Saturday from 2 – 4pm.

The only other local contact point is The Police Base, 593 Lea Bridge Road, E10 6AF. It is open every Wednesday and Thursday from 7 – 8pm, and on Saturday from 2 – 3pm.

The Leyton Neighbourhood Policing Team telephone number is (020) 8721 2037.

For non-emergency calls the Police ask you to dial 101. However, for emergencies call 999.

Leyton Ward Residents’ Meeting – Minutes for 4 September 2013

Minutes of 4 September 2013 LEYTON WARD RESIDENTS FORUM MEETING

Score Centre, Leyton E10 at 7pm

Officers/Councillors in Attendance: Cllr Bob Sullivan, Cllr Naheed Qureshi, Cllr Winnie Smith, Leyton SNT and Library staff

AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

The Chair, Cllr Bob Sullivan welcomed everybody to the meeting. Cllr Sullivan introduced the Councillors and Officers in attendance. Fire and Safety measures were explained.

AGENDA ITEM 2: MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

  • The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

AGENDA ITEM 3: LEYTON WARD SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

The SNT is now part of the newly constituted South Cluster, operating longer hours with more officers covering both Leyton and Grove Green wards.

Points raised:

  • Leyton Mills disabled bays being abused. This will be passed to the dedicated Leyton Mills SNT, who work with the parking enforcement contractor.
  • Church Road mosque – noise nuisance.
  • Adelaide Road, by steps to the old Town Hall – rough sleepers present both night and day. The SNT advised that a Section 27 Warning was issued and they are moved on.
  • St. Mary’s Church – 2 headstones were smashed – SNT are aware and have carried out searches and moved rough sleepers on.

Following restructuring of the local force, longer cover is available, and calls will be directed to SNT on their mobile numbers enabling them to deal with problems more quickly.

Cllr Sullivan thanked the representatives from the SNT for their attendance.

AGENDA ITEM 4: LEYTON LIBRARY

Staff from Residents First, which now includes the Library Service, gave a slide presentation and explained the works due to start on 9 September.

  • Improvements to the ICT provision, with Wi-Fi extended throughout the Library.
  • Children’s library on the ground floor, including study space.
  • Residents questioned the adult library moving to the first floor; of special concern was the tortuous access for disabled users, who use the ramp at the rear of the building before navigating through the ground floor to get to the lift.
  • Finalising software to be installed on PCs.

Temporary facilities at:

  • The County Ground – Monday-Friday:  9am – 7pm, Saturday: 9am – 6pm and Sunday: 12 noon – 4pm.
  • Sidmouth House – Monday-Friday: 4.30pm – 7pm, Saturday: 9am – 6pm, Sunday: 12 noon – 4pm.
  • Courses will be staged at the County Ground.
  • Both outlets will continue to have full supplies of books.
  • Lea Bridge Library has on-line resources.

Leyton Ward Councillor Surgeries

The Chair advised that the surgery will be held every Saturday at the County Ground until Leyton Library reopens, hopefully in mid-February.

AGENDA ITEM 5: LEYTON CRICKET GROUND

Pete Towler, Chair of the Management Committee, was unable to be present, and his written report was circulated

The main points of his report:

  • The southern part of the ground, including the Pavilion, has been surveyed. All the buildings, except for the modern arts block, were in either a poor or very poor condition.
  • The Council has finally made a successful application, under the Fields in Trust scheme, which offers an additional layer of safeguarding and protection for the site.
  • Essex CCC continues to work with the Committee. Their plan is to make the Ground the hub for cricket development in East London.
  • The National Cricket League has rented the pitch for most Saturdays and Sundays during the summer.
  • The former bowling club buildings were finally regained from the squatters, and the Committee believes the Council is arranging their demolition (The survey indicated that refurbishment was not viable). Currently the area is being patrolled by security staff.
  • The Council are contributing £30k towards capital works at the Ground, in return for hosting the temporary library.

The Chair reminded the meeting that the Charity Commission had blocked the Council’s move to build a new school on part of the ground. As a registered charity it is only available for sports and leisure use. It has suffered from a lack of funds for many years. A public consultation is planned for October.

AGENDA ITEM 6: STREET PARTY INITIATIVE 2013

Cllr Sullivan gave out the grant application forms and confirmed that he is going to be talking to the two primary schools that held a party last year.

AGENDA ITEM 8: COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

  • Ive Farm Playing Field – proposal was to rebuild and Pavilion and refurbish the running track. The Chair agreed that the Council appears reluctant, and would try to find out what is planned.
  • Leyton Cricket Club – have played at the County Ground since 1975, until they were told to leave last year. The Chair said he would need more details from the club so that he could check it out.
  • Trees’ facing Brewster Road – The Chair has been advised that they are not due for attention until 2014/15.
  • Family Fun Day – was cancelled at the County Ground, when it was not otherwise in use? County Ground Pavilion – question about lights being left on late at night. The Chair believed it could be for security.
  • Ruckholt Road – rubbish collection not taking place on the correct day.
  • Brown bins – not collected for 5 weeks.
  • Maud Road – rubbish dumping regularly at the end of the road. The Chair urged residents to keep reporting all such problems to Waltham Forest Direct on 8496 3000.
  • Coopers Lane – Brown bins missed collection. Finally picked up by normal refuse lorry and black sacks dumped in with recycling, plus a bib lid fell into the lorry.
  • Betting Shops – The Chair confirmed that he has already lodged his objections.
  • Damaged Roads – The Chair requested that residents let him have photos and he will take them up.
  • Church Road – manhole cover loose outside 39, next to bus stop.
  • Church Road – tree at 19, rubbish needs clearing from front garden.
  • Ive Farm Close – complaint about dog mess in the area. The Chair advised that the owner needs to be identified. Contact Cllr Sullivan or the Dog Warden – possibly needs CCTV?
  • Coopers Lane flats – rubbish dumping, metal transfer station. Joint action needed. ACTION – Cllr Sullivan to follow up.
  • The Marshes – litter picks, need to publicise to get more volunteers.
  • Resurfacing Roads – The Chair confirmed that this is an on-going Lib Dem campaign to have roads resurfaced rather than constant patching.
  • Overcrowding in Schools
  • Oliver Road – call for cameras.

 Cllr Sullivan closed the meeting and thanked everyone for their attendance.

Leyton Ward Residents’ Forum – Wednesday 4 September

The next meeting of the Residents’ Forum will be on Wednesday 4th September at the Score Complex in Oliver Road.

It will start at 7pm and close at 9pm.

The agenda will include the regular update from the local police and discussions about local issues.

There will also be information about the temporary closure of Leyton Library, and details of alternative provision.

Your local councillors look forward to seeing you.

Minutes – Leyton Ward Forum – 28th May 2013

Minutes of 28 May 2013 LEYTON WARD RESIDENTS FORUM MEETING

Seddon Centre, Leyton E10 at 7pm

Officers/Councillors in Attendance: Cllr Bob Sullivan, Cllr Naheed Qureshi, Cllr Winnie Smith, Inspector Sue Rankin, Sam Beaumont and Jose Sanchez from Urbaser, and Phillip Pughe and Debbie Stokes from Environmental Services.

AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

The Chair, Cllr Bob Sullivan welcomed everybody to the meeting. Cllr Sullivan introduced the Councillors and Officers in attendance. Fire and Safety measures were explained.

AGENDA ITEM 2: MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

Page 1:

  • Leyton Arts Trail – Still pending
  • Coopers Lane – Cllr Sullivan explained that the Council is hoping to introduce a 20mph limit across the borough but will start with roads south of Lea Bridge Road
  • Temple Mills – The painted sign is remaining as there are still pending events in the Olympic Park
  • High Road improvements – Further work still pending
  • Buckingham Road – Cllr Sullivan that the blocked off section of the road has been leased by the Council. Investigations to find out what the lease contained, continues
  • Leyton Mills – A major retailer has shown interest in the empty properties. Talks on-going
  • Street Trees – No further news. Cllr Sullivan urged residents to give details of any missing trees to the councillors

Page 2:

Conservation Area Consultation – Broadly agreed, detailed proposals being drafted.

  • Railway Cottages in Dunedin Road are not included in the Conservation area.
  • New Street Lighting – residents are concerned that although it is eco-friendly, it is not as bright – ACTION: Chair will pursue

AGENDA ITEM 3: NEW STREET CLEANING CONTRACT

Keith Hanshaw, Assistant Director of Public Realm sent his apologies. The Chair introduced the representatives from the new contractor, Urbaser, Sam Beaumont and Jose Sanches and Phillip Pughe deputising for Keith Hanshaw.

It was explained that they are taking over street cleansing and grounds maintenance. They will be keeping on local staff, and have advertised additional posts. An apprenticeship scheme is being started.

The Street Watchers will feed in information on illicit dumping, and Urbaser say they welcome community spirit with local people drawing attention to problems. They should be reported through Waltham Forest Direct on 8496 3000 as usual.

New machinery is being used including suction machines to clear debris from heavily parked roads. The teams are already tackling fly posting removal. Specialised equipment will be used between 5am – 10pm.

Questions from residents:

  • Language problems have been evident – It was confirmed that all supervisors speak the operative’s language.
  • Wages – The level set of the London Living Wage will be the minimum for all staff.
  • Mobile Phones – Crews have mobile phones and they can be alerted to fresh problems
  • Etloe House – Now has two business parks nearby – juggernauts are going through local streets – ACTION: Phil Pughe to investigate
  • Hot Spots – Urbaser have been alerted to known hot spots. Mobile Hot Spot Teams will patrol
  • Refuse/Recycling Collections – Phil Pughe confirmed that this contract remains with Kier until 2019

Cllr Sullivan thanked the representatives from Urbaser and Phillip Pughe for their attendance.

AGENDA ITEM 4: SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

Southern Cluster Inspector Sue Rankin offered apologies on behalf of the SNT who provided a written report:

Current Ward Priorities

  • Antisocial Behaviour by groups of youths – SNT officers have been conducting patrols of ASB hotspots to deter youths from loitering and causing a nuisance, any youths stopped at locations have their details taken and an intelligence report is completed as a record. SNT has also been working with housing associations so that any suspects regularly causing ASB are also dealt with by their housing provider.
  •  Burglary – SNT are conducting stops on door to door ales/workers as there have been recent distraction burglaries in the area. When a burglary is committed the SNT follow up with door to door enquiries to make neighbours aware that a burglary has occurred. Leaflets will then be distributed to other surrounding houses to make them aware and also give some crime prevention advice. In April a burglar was caught and detained by the SNT approximately ten minutes after he had committed a burglary.
  • Motor Vehicle Crime – Leaflet booklets are given to residents re motor vehicle crime. Door to door also conducted if vehicles are seen with valuables left on display or windows left open.

Leyton SNT has been conducting regular weapon sweeps on the BEAUMONT ESTATE and LEYTON GRANGE ESTATE due to recent gang tensions.

Leyton SNT has been assisting other officers with ANPR operations to seize vehicle being driven by people with no insurance or no driving licence.

Inspector Rankin also highlighted the following points:

  • Targets have been set to reduce crime by 20%; cut costs by 20%; increase service delivery by 20%
  • Waltham Forest complement to be increased by 119 constables by 2015
  • Southern Cluster of 7/8 wards will be covered by 5 teams operating from 7am-midnight (Monday – Thursday) and 7am until 2am, next day (Friday – Sunday)
  • Current 15 PCs will be increased to 40. 9 of whom will be on the patch by September this year
  • Hot spots are identified – and local SNT can get additional backup if needed
  • Ring 101 to arrange an appointment – an officer will visit
  • Also ring 101 for any non-urgent calls
  • In an emergency call 999
  • Changes are being made to opening hours of public counters – revised details will be on the Met Police website
  • The public counter at the Custody Suite is to be closed

Cllr Sullivan thanked Inspector Rankin for her attendance.

AGENDA ITEM 5: CORONATION GARDENS ANNEXE

Alex Forrester of Groundwork London sent his apologies and his written report on the Consultation was circulated. Debbie Stokes, from the council, responded to questions:

  • Develop a wildlife area
  • Some raised beds with tenancy agreements
  • Allotments – first year free, then chargeable
  • Play area
  • Seating for the beach volleyball area
  • Consultation did not include produce – it is understood that there is some contamination

Debbie Stokes advised that ideas are still being developed, and funding options are being researched. She confirmed that there is currently a waiting list for allotments in the borough.

Cllr Sullivan thanked Debbie Stokes for her attendance.

AGENDA ITEM 6: LEYTON CRICKET GROUND

Pete Towler, Chair of the Management Committee, updated the meeting on the following points:

  • At a mid-March meeting with the Council Leader he presented Cllr Robbins with a list of suggestions and a briefing  paper
  • Southern buildings – survey started in April, not yet in – preliminary indication suggests that they are in a poor condition
  • North end – feasibility study of the tennis courts, bowls club etc. pending. First indications – they have been neglected for a long time. The Committee feels a wider consultation with residents may be desirable. Costs estimated at £1 million.
  • North end squatters – they were evicted in early May, and then re-occupied – legal query pending
  • Various sporting events on the calendar – full details will be in WFN.

Residents’ questions:

  •  New gates on the corner of Crawley Road – why are they not being used?
  • Pete Towler confirmed that all the options being considered by the Management Committee are sports related. It is understood that the covenants say the area must continue to be dedicated to sports
  • Essex County Cricket Club is still involved with the ground, which was the Club’s home for many years. A representative from the Club sits on the Management Committee
  • The next Management Meeting will be in  July

AGENDA ITEM 7: STREET PARTY INITIATIVE 2013

Cllr Sullivan gave out the grant application forms and confirmed that he is going to be talking to the two primary schools that held a street party last year.

AGENDA ITEM 8: COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

Temple Mills Lane – a resident queried when it is scheduled to be open to traffic – Cllr Sullivan responded that he did not have an update on this question. It may be affected by the council’s plans for the Marsh Lane Bridge which was recently constructed at a cost of £250,000.00. It seems that the intention is to rebuild it with an even bigger bridge. Cllr Sullivan agreed it seems to be wasting a lot of money, without a good reason. He is pursuing this question.

Cllr Sullivan closed the meeting and thanked everyone for their attendance.

Lib Dem Councillor Bob Sullivan’s Budget Speech

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Bob Sullivan made the following speech setting out the Lib Dem alternative to the Labour Administration’s Budget.

2013 Budget – A missed opportunity

Mr Mayor, I’d like to start by thanking our officers and finance department for helping us to produce a budget that is legal and addresses the financial problems that the borough faces.

In the climate of austerity we welcome the freezing of council tax – an initial decision taken by the joint administration some years ago.

We also welcome the decision to accept the coalitions transitional grant which will keep the impact on benefit receivers to no more than 8.5% unlike other London labour councils who are passing on the full 15 to 20% cuts.

The financial future for local government and Waltham Forest looks bleak. We are not likely to get back to the free and irresponsible spending of the previous government.

Doubtless the Waltham Forest Labour Party will jump on their high horse and try to blame the coalition for every painful choice that they’ve made this year. But just a short glance at their budget reserves will show you that, despite the cuts Labour are storing up money for a pre-election spending spree.

This year this Labour council not only collected over a million pounds more than they expected from our council tax payers but they spent over two and a half million pounds less!

And what are they doing with this unexpected largess? Protecting social care? Investing more in jobs and apprenticeships? Or even cutting council tax? No! They’re investing £1 million pounds of money from local council tax payers into ‘events’.

In contrast we’ve identified savings and reserves that could help residents now, investing in jobs, education and our local infrastructure.

As Liberal Democrats we have not shied away from difficult decisions. Nationally we’ve entered coalition at a difficult time for the country and are delivering a tax cut for millions of people including halving income tax for people on the minimum wage.

Locally in 2009/10 we helped lay the groundwork for some of the difficult cuts to the council budget we knew were to come and agreed the freeze in council tax to help the hard pressed pockets of local residents.

But that makes it all the more difficult to see the Labour Party squandering the money they do have to spend.

For example, in January they spent £130,000 on fireworks.

  • Why did we need fireworks in January?  Last year it was said we had to close libraries because of the cuts – when we were spending £150,000 of taxpayers money on consultants to organise events.
  • £130,000 could fund Harrow green library for a year and yet thanks to this Labour council that money has literally gone up in smoke!
  • Maybe you should ask Residents around Harrow Green and South Chingford if they would like fireworks this year or their library back – maybe make it front page in Watham Forest News.

All is not lost – We have been fortunate that two years into this coalition government we can now see how it has helped Waltham Forest where we need it most:

  • The pupil premium is delivering 9 million pounds a year to help 9,900 pupils from low-income families in our borough.
  • Ministers have delivered tens of millions of pounds to help cope with our growing school population. The second highest capital allocation in the country.
  • Ministers have improved childcare for disadvantaged two year olds, helping an estimated 1000 struggling Waltham Forest families with funding for 15 hours free childcare a week.

This is in stark contrast to the failures at a local level of Labour’s Worknet programme and the Cathall Skills Academy, where millions of pounds that should have been spent on local jobs have been wasted or left unspent.

Savings

Moving on to our budget savings:

  • Firstly the Lib Dem Group have proposed savings by abolishing the tax payer subsidy to the trade unions. Surely it cannot be right in a time of austerity that our tax payers subsidise the Unions in this borough – given that the Unions can afford to give away millions, year after year to the Labour party
  • This would allow the Unions to hold the executive to account properly and avoid the perception that Labour councillors and union officials are in each others pockets.
  • Secondly we would cut further into our corporate communications budget because it is an extravagance to still be spending £1 million a year on this when other core services are being cut.
  • Thirdly we will look to reduce money spent on junior cabinet posts, which were introduced to help the work of the joint administration and are a luxury we no longer need, and should not afford.
  • Finally we would cut Waltham Forest News, which lost money in the last financial year despite being propped up by hundreds of thousands of pounds of council advertising. Most people know that it is really a propaganda sheet for the Labour Party and the Leader.

Reserves

The reserves, last year and this year, are too high, compared with the overall budget. On the advice of the Finance Director we haven’t specified individual reserves in the budget amendment itself, but we have looked at the full range of reserves available – up to £43 million – and have identified areas that could be used to invest in our borough.

For example on Equal Pay.  This process should have been completed years ago and maintaining a large balance here means either that the Labour Administration has failed, and needs to act on this now, or that it is storing up money for something else and trying to hide it.

As we know, most of the cuts have been front-loaded, a process the joint administration introduced.  So in order to realise the necessary savings the majority of restructuring and redundancies should have gone through the system already. We also know that most of the redundancies to date have been managed by using in year budgets and not reserves. So the restructuring reserve and the redundancy reserve are high and could be reduced by a small percentage, whilst still having a big impact on our investment in the Borough this year.

Given the cuts to the budget overall, we should also be able to cut our working balance accordingly. We said it last year and we are saying it again.  Reducing the working balance by one million pounds and investing it in borough infrastructure is a better use of funds, than to let it languish in a bank. So we have taken this 1 million pounds for investment in road improvements for the Borough.

We realise that an extra 2million is to be used for potholes and pavements and we welcome that, but we feel that resurfacing roads is also important.  Having seen the road resurfacing in parts of Leyton and Leytonstone we feel that we should put another million pounds into resurfacing 12 or more roads in the borough.

Overall our proposals would be prudent, using only 17% of our reserves this year for investment, leaving a significant financial buffer for the future. And at the same time investing in the things that matter most to our residents now, and for the longer term.  We should be building a legacy from the Olympics and investing in jobs, education and care for our most vulnerable residents. ….

Children’s Services

Last year we included an additional  £1 million for Children’s Services, to help support them at a difficult time.  This is close to the amount of the current overspend in the department this year, so in retrospect it now appears prudent.

As councillors we all know the problems that were identified by Ofsted in the council’s services for looked after children last year and that Waltham Forest was one of only 2 authorities in the country to receive the lowest rating possible for their Looked After Children’s Service.

We’re pleased that the council has given some leeway in the budget this year to help the service recover. The Service has had a difficult time, but the very good news is that the Improvement Notice issued to the Council has been lifted and our congratulations go to Alan and his team for the hard work that they did to get this notice lifted.  We look forward to getting an improved Ofsted report in the future.

However we are extremely concerned about poor performance in some of our primary schools.  We highlighted recently the Ofsted report, showing that we are the worst borough in London and one of the worst in the country, for parents wanting to send their children to a good or outstanding primary school.

Not only that but we also found that we are below the national average for our Key Stage 2 results, a decline since 2010, and again one of the worst Borough’s in London and in the country for this. It is another failure on the back of last years’ failures in Children’s Services.  Even this week we have heard that the government is to raise the test targets. So there is a lot of work to do.

Not all these issues can be fixed with more money – local leadership is important. Continually changing the cabinet member for education is not the answer.

Given the problem that has been identified, we need to do something to improve our childrens’ attainment so we’ve earmarked a large chunk of money – £3.1 million – to invest in free breakfasts for our Borough’s poorest children. This money would go direct to schools and would fund a breakfast for every single child on free school meals for the next year.

Some schools may be doing this from the pupil premium money so that the total cost may reduce.  Of course if we were in administration we’d already have been negotiating with local schools to use some of their pupil premium money to put up some match funding. With more and more children going to school without breakfast, this is an important area that will help childrens’ nutrition, concentration and therefore their attainment in school.

We would also provide funds for additional respite care services and extra fund for fostering and adoption.  Most of our fostering is out of  borough and last year Ofsted judged our adoption service as only Adequate.

Also investing money now, can save in the future on expensive outside agencies and out of borough placements.

As a Liberal Democrat I don’t believe we should accept these failures in our schools, and our childrens services.

We must send a clear signal that we are not going to put up with a poor service and will not be content with an adequate service. But we will strive to provide an outstanding service.  Something which, I am sure, we can all agree is what we should be aiming for.

Business, skills and jobs

The lack of economic development over many years has finally forced the borough to try to address this issue and thanks to pressure from us over the last year they are finally investing in apprenticeships.

But there is so much more that could be done. In fact I’d be interested to know if we have managed to meet the target of 40 apprenticeships this year?

New apprenticeships & graduate schemes – £1,000,000

It is one of the great scandals in our country that one in five young people between the ages of 16-24 is out of work, some 250,000 of those for over a year.

There have been some welcome but tentative signs that across the country this is starting to go down but it is happening all too slowly.

Here in Waltham Forest, we are still a ‘youth unemployment hotspot’, with around 1 out of every 8 young people on jobseekers allowance – twice the national average! – this isn’t good enough.

This isn’t just a problem now,  For over a decade the previous Labour Government and now this Labour council have failed to provide our residents with the skills and experience needed.  The Olympic organisers said as much. They wanted to hire more young people from Waltham Forest but they couldn’t because they didn’t have basic literacy, numeracy and trade skills.

And over the last year we’ve found out why: Because Labours jobs and skills programmes were failing to deliver.

The Coalition Government has already taken welcome steps to deal with this, through its £1 billion investment in the ‘Youth Contract’ and the apprenticeship programme, which at the last count  is nearing almost half a million apprenticeships across the country. As a result, the number of apprentices here in the borough has almost tripled since 2009 to over 1,500.

But we as a council could and should be doing more to help. With this in mind, we have set aside £1,000,000 for apprenticeships with local businesses to train our young people and to expand our graduate scheme in the council to train the social workers and council officers of tomorrow.

This money would not only give young men and women the chance to improve their skills base and start on a solid career path but it would also benefit the local economy and businesses.

Surveys by the National Audit Office suggest that while only 5% of companies in Britain employ apprentices, 86% of those that do, say it has improved their performance.

Jobs, skills and attainment schemes – £750,000

But what about the thousands of other resident who are still struggling to find work? What about those who have recently lost their job? What about the long-term unemployed or older people who have been let down for years by the council’s failed Worknet programme?

We propose increasing the council’s meagre £120,000 investment from its priorities fund in getting people back to work by putting an extra £750,000 of the Council’s reserves into helping these people find meaningful employment.

The Waltham Forest Labour Party has finally woken up to the need to invest in apprenticeships but they’re only just beginning the work needed to fix their failure on Worknet, O-regen and The Skills Academy. Why should we as a Council squirrel this money away when it could be put to good use  helping the people we represent, find work now?

With high unemployment levels in this Borough investing now has to be a priority.

Business support and mentoring – £750,000

We must also consider the businesses where people will find work. We all know how tough the current economic climate is for business, especially Small and Medium Enterprises, both here in Waltham Forest and across the country, with a lack of confidence, rising prices and squeezed profit margins.

These local enterprises are vital as they not only serve our local community but are more likely to hire people from the borough, spend their money locally and encourage social cohesion.

That is why in our budget we have again ear-marked money for business support and mentoring, a total of £750,000 to assist local business and ensure that they are shoring up their balance sheets, creating not cutting jobs, and generating wealth here in Waltham Forest.

And importantly we don’t need the government to step in, we can do it ourselves, working with social enterprises like Biz Fizz, Waltham Forest could be investing in programmes that deliver increased business start-up and survival, job creation and improved incomes for local entrepreneurs and their employees.

It’s good to see the council is taking the idea of creating jobs for local people through the Councils procurement more seriously, after they rejected our motion on it last year.

If we do it right, procuring from local businesses and promoting local jobs can help our local economy and save money. When we put our motion on procurement to full council back in April last year not even 15% of council contracts were going to local firms.

From recent pronouncements the council clearly now have a commitment to working towards giving more contracts to local people and expecting contractors to take on local people and I commend the Cabinet member for that. But as ever we will be watching to ensure that the Council deliver on its promise.

The other areas of our budget address some the other growing concerns of our residents, namely,

  • Debt counselling,
  • The chance to get our drains cleaned at least once a year,
  • A reduction in youth and sports fees to encourage participation in sports,
  • The setting up of clubs and activities for our youth,
  • The stopping of the £25 pound charge for reporting rats, a service that most residents feel should be free
  • The freezing of charges for mice.
  • And lastly the reinstatement of Harrow Green Library – Residents are baffled how this Labour administration can spend millions on freebees but can close down Harrow Green library to save £128,000 in one of the most deprived areas of the borough.

In conclusion Mr Mayor

Labour could’ve taken just a small fraction of their reserves and paid for extra apprenticeships for local young people, but instead their Worknet programme appears to have failed for it’s first two years.

They could be investing in business support and mentoring but instead blame the Government when the Labour Party here who are failing to act.

And they could be investing in our struggling Education Services but instead they’re hoarding £43 million of council tax payers money. Over taxing and under spending on our residents over the last year.

All this whilst the Coalition Government are delivering across the borough,

  • Funds for over 1700 new apprenticeships,
  • Delivering a tax cut for 95,600 people on the minimum wage and
  • delivering £9 million pounds through the Pupil Premium to help 9,900 pupils from low-income families.

When Liberal Democrats were in joint administration, this Borough went from being a failing authority to a four star authority. Two years with no Lib Dems to provide the ideas, drive and dedication and Labour have failed our primary school children, failed our unemployed and failed our residents.

It is clear that Waltham Forest Labour are out of touch.

Whilst our priorities for residents are clear in investing in jobs, infrastructure and education

Labour’s priorities are even clearer, storing up money in reserves and balances and using whats left for events and propaganda.

Mr Mayor, I ask the council to support our budget motion.

 

Police Surgery at Leyton Library

From  1st. May until 26th June a Police Officer will hold an informal drop-in surgery twice a week:

Wednesday from 5pm until 7pm

Saturday from 2pm until 4pm

Local people will be able to:

  • Report a crime
  • Report lost property or hand in found property
  • Make an appointment to speak to a local officer
  • Hand in self-reporting forms for a road traffic accident
  • Obtain crime prevention advice
  • Discuss community problems
  • Make an appointment to give a statement if you don’t want the police to come to your house or place of work
  • Make an appointment to speak to an officer  about a complaint against the police

For further information see the Leyton Safer Neighbourhood’s Team webpage at: http://content.met.police.uk/Team/WalthamForest/LeytonTeam

or the Leyton Library webpage: http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/pages/servicechild/leyton-library.aspx

 

Leyton Police Station shutting down

Councillors Bob Sullivan, Naheed Qureshi and Farooq Qureshi outside the Francis Road Police Station

The Police have announced that Leyton Police Station in Francis Road will be shut down from next Monday 10th December.

The front counter services are being transferred to the Custody Centre, in Boreham Close, off Hainault Road.

The front counter will be manned from 7am until 3am daily. The same hours as currently offered at Francis Road.

Boreham Close is a cul-de-sac situated opposite Norlington Road.