Bid to save day centres quashed

As reported in the Uxbridge Gazette by James Cracknell 24 February 2012:

"AN 11th-hour bid to save one of three day centres for the disabled that Hillingdon Council wants to close was quashed by the ruling Conservatives.

At the full budget hearing on Thursday Labour group leader Councillor Mo Khursheed (Botwell) (pictured) tabled an amendment to keep Woodside Day Centre in Hayes open at a cost of £149,000.

Labour argued that retaining a day centre south of the A40 was essential for families who rely on such care.

In January, the council's cabinet voted through plansto close Woodside in Uxbridge Road, as well as Phoenix Day Centre in South Ruislip and Parkview Day Centre in West Drayton. They will be replaced by a new resource centre at Queen's Walk, South Ruislip.

Mr Khursheed told the meeting: "There is a minimum requirement for two day centres, one in the north and one in the south.

"We think it is outrageous to close Woodside. The number of disabled residents is growing. Those who use these services already complain about the length of time it takes to access them."

Councillor John Major (Lab, Barnhill) said the closure of day centres contradicted claims by the Conservatives that their budget protected frontline services.

"It is quite frankly ridiculous," he said. "This budget will impact the most on elderly residents who rely on day centre placements."

Cabinet member for social services Councillor Philip Corthorne (Con, West Ruislip) said he was aware of the concerns but that it was too late to save the day centres.

"I have resolved to ensure there is satisfactory transport arrangements to reach Queen's Walk from the south of the borough," he said.

Don't let the Hillingdon Tories take our parks away

The Tory Hillingdon Council propose to build a school on Lake Farm Country Park / Botwell Common. This is a green belt site and as a park it has green flag status. There are alternative sites for schools but the Tory council are determined to sell those sites off .

 

Meanwhile they propose to build over every green space in an already very densely built up area of Hayes.

John McDonnell, Labour  MP for Hayes and Harlington is collecting signatures for a petition and on Saturday 25th Februray at 10:30am John will be leading a Demonstration and March. 

 

The Demonstration will be at the Arch on Lake Farm and the March is into Hayes Town. If you are free on Saturday morning, Please feel free to come and join the demonstration and the march and show the Tory Council that we are not going to take this destruction of our  parks and the erosion of the green belt.

This proposal can be stopped but it needs local people to demonstrate the strength of feeling in order to stop it.

Come and join us and dont let the Tories take our park away

For details of Lake Farm Country Park click here 

Hillingdon Labour leader demands crack down on rogue landlords

Councillor Mo Khursheed, leader of the Hillingdon Labour Group writes:

'With the economy essentially in recession and Tory cuts beginning to bite, there is mounting evidence to suggest that families are struggling to meet the cost of decent affordable housing. Those who cannot are placed in a catch 22 situation; either they approach the Council for statutory help and risk being shunted to other parts of the country or are forced into substandard and overcrowded ‘sheds with beds’.
 
Hillingdon is characterised by mixed and diverse communities, it’s what makes this Borough great. However welfare policies being introduced by the government will change the face of our Borough; by 2016 only 49% of Hillingdon will be affordable to recipients of Local Housing Allowance. It is inevitable that this will force more people into these so called Sheds with Beds. The quality of accommodation can be so bad, it not only poses a risk to the inhabitants, but to surrounding properties and residents through unsound construction and fire hazards. Isn’t it about time we tackle this problem and highlight the threat these unlawful buildings pose?

I have asked the Council for data on the suspected illegal use of outbuildings as homes throughout the Borough, only to be told there is no database that can provide this level of detail – how can this be? How can a responsible Council not have access to this information? Our Borough has merely 2 enforcement officers progressing enforcement notices and prosecutions on specifically tackling this one issue. Is it any wonder then, that members enquires on the issue from Labour Councillors have gone unanswered?

May I suggest that Councillor Puddifoot and his Cabinet take a look at neighbouring, Labour controlled, Ealing. Since October its planning team have inspected over 700 suspected illegal outbuildings used for residential purposes, completed 252 investigations and issued 73 enforcement notices. By pledging £250,000 and 6 dedicated enforcement officers, Ealing Council, who are making similar budgetary savings, have shown our Council how to tackle this problem.

It is to simplistic to hope that by just cracking down on rogue landlords the problem will disappear. As demand for housing continues to outstrip supply, it is imperative that affordable housing continue to be supported. Indeed, at last month’s Council meeting we put forward a motion affirming Labour’s commitment to affordable social housing, only for the Tory majority to demonstrate how out of touch they are by dismissing it out of hand.

Hillingdon Council must take a tougher stance on this issue. It must ensure proactive inspections of suspect properties, it must do more to enforce existing laws, and it must respond to tip offs from residents. However a tougher stance can only be demonstrated through action; Hillingdon Council needs to provide sufficient resources so that unscrupulous landlords can be prosecuted.   

 

My aim is not to weaken the rights of landlords. It is about doing what is right. This means tackling the minority of landlords who are unscrupulous, rogue and are profiteering from the exploitation of the desperate and the most vulnerable by housing them in the 21^st Century’s slums. As we mark 200^th anniversary of Charles Dickens, do we really want a return to the conditions he so vividly described?

Londoners shiver because of Boris Johnson’s broken insulation promises

According to new research from the House of Commons Library, almost 200,000 homes in London have missed out on lower energy bills, as a result of Boris Johnson's failure to take advantage of three major energy schemes: (1) Carbon Emissions Reduction Target programme, (2) Community Energy Saving Programme and the (3) Warm Front programme.

Nationally, approximately £7 billion has been available from these three schemes during the Tory Mayor's time in office (2008 – 2012). Had London received its fair share based on the number of people living in the capital there should have been approximately £846 million invested in better insulation – and therefore lower energy bills.

House of Commons Library research commissioned by Tessa Jowell (attached) has indicated that London is set to receive just over half of its entitlement (£396 million).

For example, so far 132,000 London homes have benefited from the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) programme, 4.2% of all homes in the capital. Across the UK, however, 10% of homes benefited from the programme. If the same proportion of homes in London had been treated as in the rest of the country, approximately 182,000 additional London households would be comfortably warm during the current cold snap, without having to worry about the cost of turning up the heating.

Separate figures reveal that Mayor Johnson's own home retrofit programme has failed Londoners even more miserably.

In November 2009, the Conservative Mayor repackaged Ken Livingstone's home insulation programme as 'RE:NEW" and pledged to treat 200,000 homes by May 2012. The latest figures show that by Christmas RENEW had managed to treat only 23,901 homes - and many of these have received only 'easy' measures, rather than full insulation.

The Citizens' Advice Bureau recently reported that nearly half - 45 per cent - of Londoners are worried that they will not be able to pay their next heating and electricity bills. The average cost of keeping a home warm has risen by £311 a year since 2008 when Boris Johnson became Mayor.

Ken Livingstone said:

"The Conservative party is out of touch with the squeeze on living standards.

"A big part of the high cost of living is the high cost of heating your home, yet the Mayor is just not getting London’s fair share of cash available to insulate homes to keep Londoners warm and save them cash.

"This is an open goal and the mayor has missed it. Compared with the rest of the country London is failing to take enough action to cut heating bills. More concerted action from City Hall would mean less people shivering in their own homes this winter.

"I will work around the clock to get the best possible deal for Londoners and cut the cost of living.”

Blog post courtesy of  'Ken for London'