Breaking the Class Barrier Event: Increasing socio-economic diversity at senior levels

 I am looking forward to attending this event. 

Breaking the Class Barrier Event: Increasing socio-economic diversity at senior levels

 Why should businesses increase socio-economic diversity at senior levels, and how?

What can government, regulators and sector bodies do to incentivise employer action?

Thursday 3 November 2022, 08:30-10:30 

Guildhall, Livery Hall, Gresham Street, EC2V 7HH 

 Join business leaders, industry bodies, regulators and government representatives from across UK financial and professional services to ensure that, together, we build a thriving sector, where talented people from all backgrounds can achieve their full potential.

Hear how, through committing to greater socio-economic diversity at senior levels, employers can boost access to talent, enhance reputation, and protect their license to operate - while promoting fairness and equity.

Come and hear more about the launch of two new reports offering businesses with the practical support and framework needed to boost socio-economic diversity at senior levels in UK financial and professional services. 

Together we can create a sector that attracts the best and most diverse talent and support their long-term success.

          Places are limited, so please RSVP here

The Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce was commissioned by HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to boost socio-economic diversity in UK financial and professional services.

The Taskforce is the first of its kind and has a vision for equity of progression – where high performance is valued over ‘fit’ and ‘polish’

Building the Baseline: Breaking the Class Barrier

 

I am part of the taskforce (which is now winding down) from the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF). If we continue to prevent talented working class employees from senior positions in our financial services industry then this will have an impact on the long term performance of our funds (never mind everything else!)

"First of its kind report highlights stark lack of socio-economic diversity across senior leadership in UK financial and professional services sector. 64% of senior leaders in UK financial and professional services are from higher socio-economic backgrounds. How does this compare to your workforce? Are you collecting the data? 

Here's why it matters. UK financial and professional services are out of kilter with the rest of the economy and are unrepresentative of the communities they serve. These inequalities not only threaten the productivity and competitiveness of the sector, but they reinforce existing inequalities and opportunities for the UK to thrive. This is a threat to businesses as it means that vital talent is being missed in the sector, especially at senior leadership level. 

I am proud to be a part of the Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce and help contribute to this report and champion socio-economic diversity in the industry. I encourage other businesses to collect employee data on socio-economic background, setting stretching targets and monitoring progress towards ensuring a level playing field for all.   

To read the full report please follow the link. #WhoGetsAhead "

LAPFF Roundtable on Socio-Economic Diversity: 23 March

 

Invitation: LAPFF Roundtable on Socio-Economic Diversity: 23 March @ 3pm (f you are an LGPS officer, pension committee or board member or an advisor please join us next week)

Dear LAPFF members,

I am writing to you to remind you of the Roundtable on Socio Economic Diversity, that is being hosted by my colleague and vice-chair John Gray next week.

HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have commissioned the City of London Corporation to lead an independent Taskforce on Socio Economic Diversity in order to boost productivity and levelling up opportunities for under-privileged communities. This taskforce is intended to improve socio-economic diversity at senior levels in UK financial and professional services and has a vision of ‘equity of progression’ – where high performance is valued over ‘fit’ and ‘polish’.    

My colleague and vice-chair, John Gray, was appointed to the advisory board of this Taskforce last year. Since his appointment, he has been making valuable contributions on behalf of the Forum to this body. The Taskforce has already held a number of roundtables and interviews to try and understand how government, regulators and sector bodies can create incentives for employer action in increasing socio-economic diversity at senior levels in the sector. LAPFF members now have an opportunity to join the dialogue and contribute directly to an industry consultation at a roundtable discussion. Please do bring consultants or fund management contacts along to join the conversation.

Also, another reminder that LAPFF is asking member funds to reach out to these consultants and fund managers to fill out a survey for senior staff at financial organisations to anonymously share their socio-economic background, level of seniority, and views on career progression.

Social mobility is an important issue for the UK and its economy. Research from the Bridge Group shows that employees from non-professional backgrounds progress 25 percent slower than peers, with no link to job performance. These employees report they are exhausted by efforts to conform to dominant cultures, which in turn impacts individual productivity. The Taskforce’s objective to drive forward successful businesses based on the view that people from all backgrounds can perform to their potential and have their abilities recognised aligns very well with LAPFF’s approach to diversity. 

If you have any questions or ish to register, please direct them to Alistair.tucker@lapfforum.org

Best regards,

Councillor Doug McMurdo

LAPFF Chair

 

Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce Networking Breakfast

 

This morning I had an early start to make my way to a "Networking Breakfast" at Mansion House in the City of London. This was the first such physical breakfast event I have attended since the start of the pandemic. Dispite the recent concerning news about the new Covid variant, Omicron, it was well supported.  I think at least 100 members of working groups or the advisory board attended. 

The Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce is commissioned by the HM Treasury and led by the City of London. Check out more about the taskforce: https://lnkd.in/dUNYNtN #WhoGetsAhead "The City of London is leading a taskforce to boost socio-economic diversity at senior levels in UK financial and professional services"

I am a member of the advisory board on behalf of the Local Authority Pension Board Forum (LAPF) which represents nearly all UK Council Pension funds and Pools (some £300 billion of investments). 

It was good to hear from taskforce Chair Catherine McGuinness, and Co-Chairs @AndyHaldane, @Sandra Wallace, @VincentKeaveny and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury @JohnGlen

The Taskforce is carrying out a baseline survey and it is vital that enough employers fill out it out in order to get a robust survey. LAPFF will be encouraging all its funds managers and advisors to do so

Please complete this form. You can request also sample communications. Email socio-economicdiversity@cityoflondon.gov.uk if you can’t access Microsoft Forms or would like more information

The Taskforce have recently published its November newsletter, which features a podcast with the Lord Mayor. Please sign up to receive the next instalment and encourage your peers to sign up as well. The next edition will come out in January 2022. 

Final point is that the picture collage above does not really show how simply stunning Mansion House is, I have walked past the rather drab façade many times and did not realise what a treasure lies inside. 

I hope in the future that the Taskforce will bring about change and result in more young people from places such as Newham, visiting Mansion House in their own right as City of London professionals. 

Hat tip to the Corporation for photos. 

Taskforce to boost socio-economic diversity at senior levels in UK Financial and Professional services

HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy(external link) have commissioned the City of London Corporation to lead an independent taskforce to boost socio-economic diversity in UK financial and professional services.

Recently I was appointed as a member of the taskforce advisory board.  By coincidence The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (I am a Vice Chair) earlier this year had been discussing this issue and we had approached the task force to see how we could contribute. 

We had our first introductory virtual meeting on Thursday. I was impressed by the contributions made and the many powerful personal stories, experiences and points of view put forward about why this subject is so important.  The first official meeting will be on 30 June. 

This link is to a post I that I did on the taskforce earlier this year https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2021/02/class-and-social-economic-diversity-in.html

(Picture Newsroom City of London)

Class and Social Economic Diversity in UK financial and professional services

 

It is fascinating to see that a new taskforce commissioned by HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and involving the City of London Corporation, has been established to boost socio-economic diversity in UK financial and professional services sectors. 

Socio-economic status was due to be included, but then removed, as a protected characteristic in the 2010 Equalities Act. 

The Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission have found that half (48%) of FTSE 350 chief executives educated in the UK attended private school (compared with 7% nationally).  

I think that nearly everyone would be uncomfortable with this statistic. 

This is not about bashing anyone who went to private school

We all should be concerned about the lack of diversity in our company boards but we should not forget class. 

If a company had a board which truly reflected, for example, gender and race in the UK, then great. However, if they all went to boarding school before then studying at Oxbridge? 

Is that really diverse? Will this challenge the danger of "Group think"? 

Hats off (and caps?)  to the the Treasury, BEIS and the City of London for launching this taskforce. 

I hope to contribute. 

https://www.thebridgegroup.org.uk/s/Socio-economic_report-Final.pdf

https://news.cityoflondon.gov.uk/new-taskforce-to-boost-socio-economic-diversity-in-uk-financial-and-professional-services-sectors/

https://www.facebook.com/thejohncleese/videos/1870718759725920

Wanstead Park 4 Seasons Walk (& good news about a West Ham Labour comrade)

Off message but this morning Gill and I went for a walk across Wanstead flats into Wanstead Park. The weather was seriously weird!

One moment cold and very windy, the next, warm blue sky sunshine followed then by hail or rain.

This occurred several times during the walk. It reminded me of walking in Wales!

Wanstead Park is a fantastic local amenity.  It is the ornamental garden of a massive stately home (now knocked down) that was built to rival Blenheim Place.

Everyone was being very sensible with regard to social distancing but also cheerful and friendly with plenty of good mornings/afternoons. Which in London pre-coronavirus would have been pretty unusual.

The City of London own the park and they had shut the cafe and fenced off the benches

We checked out Chalet Woods (inside the park) for its famous bluebells. They are just beginning to flower (is that the right word?) and should be in their prime in a week or so.

I will post a link to more pictures of the walk on Facebook.

Finally, yesterday I rang an elderly member of West Ham Labour Party, who I had not been in touch with for a while to see how he was. He was actually on his way home from hospital, after being taken there for a number of days with Coronavirus but had only had mild symptoms despite him having a  very serious underlying medical condition. Great news!

Jubilee Pond run

Off message but I think a lovely picture from a run (more truthfully a very slow jog) on Saturday morning around Wanstead flats and Jubilee Pond (managed as part of Epping Forest by the City of London).

When I first moved to Forest Gate, the pond was called the Model Yacht pond and occasionally I would see model boats on it. The pond itself was apparently originally dug out to improve drainage and give work to unemployed labourers in 1905/06.

It was "redeveloped" in time for the Queen's Jubilee in 2000 (and thus renamed). There has been a number of significant problems with water leakage since then which finally seem to be resolved and it is starting to look good.

If you want to check out other photos from Saturday go to Facebook here. 

Wansted Flats WREN: History walk following summer fires

This afternoon Gill and I went on a walk organised by the local conservation and wildlife group called WREN in the "flats" (ancient heath land, part of Epping Forest, now owned and managed by the City of London) right next door to where we live.

In July this year there was a huge grass fire on the flats, which at its peak flames were 30 foot high and jumped across local roads, which took 40 London Fire Brigade (LFB) fire engines to bring under control and put out. It was the largest grass fire the LFB has tackled since it was formed in 1965.

Luckily no one was seriously hurt and there was little damage to property but interestingly the City of London were asked by the LFB to bring in a special "plough" to turn over the burnt areas of grassland so the area could be saturated with water in order to prevent "hot spots" reignating. An unintended consequence of using this "plough" was that the ploughing turned up historic remains from the past that had been buried for at least 70 years.

The purpose of the walk was to examine these remains as well as see the damage done by the fire to birds and plants in the flats, part of which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

About 20 local residents turned up for the walk despite being rather damp and overcast with the forecast of possible heavy rain or thunder.

The walk leaders were Peter Williams and Mark Gorman, supported by other conservation activists. 

We firstly walked across the flats to a site of a World War 2 circular radar/telecommunications centre and could see pieces of electoral wiring and numerous pudding shaped pieces of concrete which could have been signal mast supports from the centre. You can still see the the shape of the centre from the air. 

We also formed a line to walk across a nearby area where there was a war time anti-aircraft Rocket station looking for historical artifacts. We found pieces of shrapnel (Gill's sharp eyes) in the ground which are thought to have been debris from the rockets fired at German Bombers. It appears that these rocket stations were not successful and despite improving morale by being very noisy and apparently showing Londoners they were being defended from the enemy, they did not result in any of the German bombers being shot down. A similar station in Victoria Park is blamed for firing rockets in a training exercise and causing the panic and stampede that resulted in the Bethnal Green tube disaster in 1943 which killed 173 civilians. 

There was also remains shown of a probably 19th century ginger beer bottle with "Leytonstone" marked on it and a German bullet found locally with a made in "Nuremberg" stamp and reference number. 

Next we visited the concrete foundations of world war barracks and storage facilities from the rocket site hidden away in Long wood. 

The walk finished across Centre Road at the site of the German military Prison of War camp adjacent to Lakehouse Road. This was a holding prison for high risk Germans, suspected of being die hard Nazis.  A local fireman in his autobiography noted that following a VI explosion in nearby Lakehouse which destroyed homes and killed civilians, some prisoners were giving Nazi salutes and shouting "Sieg Heil" in celebration of the V1 attack.   

My paternal Grandfather, another John Gray, was in an anti-aircraft regiment during the second world war and may even have been stationed locally. I must find out more. 

At the end of the walk the plans currently being discussed to allow large music festivals on the flats and the possible (likely) negative impact on rare nesting birds were brought up. I hope that the City of London will "think again" about these proposals and reject them. 

Many, many thanks to the organisers of this event. 

"It's the economy, stupid": Sunday Night Live

On the last Sunday of January was the 4th (and best attended so far) "Sunday Night Live" at the Stratford Picture House, E15  The idea is to encourage maverick thinking and get subject experts to debate with the public to better understand our world.

The speaker was Economist and Professor, Stephen Keen, who is credited with being one of the very few to have predicted the 2007 financial crisis and resulting recession.

For those of us who have mortgages or property in London and fear we are in a "bubble" he is not reassuring with his analysis of the Japanese economy, where there has been an ongoing 70% fall in property prices since 1990.

He thinks that the disaster in Japan was a dress rehearsal for 2007 as was the Spanish Civil War for World War 2.

Privatisation of public services has proved to be as equally disastrous. The private sector has to deliver profit in the short term. Private utilities will always tend to run down services and not invest in the future.

The City of London makes money by creating debt. By 1990 corporate debt was exhausted,  so they went looking to create a new and bigger market for private household debt. This led directly to the the collapse in 2007.

Stephen argues that those in charge of capitalism don't actually understand it. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with Government debt. Why austerity is so wrong is that if you reduce government spending to reduce this debt while in recession, the private sector loses out.

Jeremy Corbyn's idea about "People's QE" will potentially put money into bank accounts directly to simulate demand and increase consumer prices and increase wages.

He argues that the arch Neo-liberal economist,  Milton Freeman, actually talked sense for once when he argued for "helicopter money" (helicopters throwing money out onto the streets to increase demand). Stephen was one of those who made the case for the $1000 dollar payment to all Australian taxpayers in 2008 to combat recession.

No one now in London under 35 can now buy a house unless they have  wealthy parents. Labour needs to take on the Tory government idea that the economy is just like a family household. Yes, government is often inefficient but the only long term plan that offes hope is to re-industrialise the UK. Let us make things again and trade with other countries.

In response to a question about what should we do with Greece, Stephen argued that we should write off the debt to Greece. The people who lied about the Greek economy are now dead or retired and not the young who are suffering. The Greeks will never be able to pay off these debts and their only hope will be to inflate the economy and to encourage it to grow.

(Next Sunday Night Live will be on  "Housing" on the 28 February)

Tower Hamlets Council Pension Board - Inaugural meeting 28 July 2015

This post is just a little late but for accuracy,  I wanted to be able to refer to the published minutes which were only published recently. 

The meeting was held in the Council Chamber in the  Mulberry Place Town Hall E14. 

The Hutton report resulted in the requirement to set up a Board for every Council pension fund so this was a historic meeting. The first time there had been a committee of employer and employee representatives meeting on an equal footing to assist in the decisions making process of the  Tower Hamlets  Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Well, that was the aim of the meeting anyway. It didn't quite work out that way on this occasion.

The LGPS has been in existence for around 100 years. The need to set up a retirement scheme for Council workers was one of the drivers for the setting up of one of UNISON's predecessor unions, NALGO and instrumental in this was the manager of next door West Ham Council tram services (a stanch Tory as it happens).

I have been a trade union observer/member nominated/admitted body representative on the Tower Hamlets fund since 1996 and have been arguing since then (and nationally with other UNISON colleagues) for the greater democratisation of our pension funds.

Things do move slowly in the Local Government Pension world although in recent times this is a-changing.

There had to be a meeting held of each Pension Board before the end of July 2015. I went as an observer since I sit on the main Committee. The meetings are open to the public but parts of it may be closed if there is confidential or "restrictive" papers to be discussed.

Unfortunately at the beginning of the meeting we found out that the 3 employee representatives were unable to attend due to a vacancy; a prearranged clash and the Council trade unions still seeking an agreement on who was to represent them as the third rep. The 3 employer representatives were present as was a member of the GMB trade union, who was hoping to become the trade union employee rep.

The acting chair of the Board was a Council chief officer from another London Borough. An interview  process was on going to appoint an independent non-voting Chair. I must admit I do not see the need to have a Chair who is not a full member of the Board. I also think that as a matter of general principle, it is not appropriate for the Chair of any Board to be a serving Council Chief Officer.  A Pension Board is supposed to be holding Officers and Councillors to account. So there will be seen to be an obvious conflict, regardless of the personal merits of such a Chair. 

It was decided that despite being inquorate the meeting will go ahead on an informal basis. No decisions could be made but I felt it was still an interesting and useful first meeting. Everyone present was able to contribute.

The report for the meeting to consider was over over 360 pages.Which is frankly far too long and will put off new Board members and even experienced Councillors. It may prove the need for more frequent meeting with shorter agendas and much shorter reports.

After the usual introductions, apologies and declarations, there was an discussion on the role and functions of the Board. There was some polite disagreement about whether the Board was about scrutiny of administration and processes or more than this. This issue about what was the real purpose of the Board kept coming up throughout the meeting.

There was also a constructive debate on terms of reference for the Board, training and its work plan for future meetings.  These issues are really crucial. 

The terms of references for many Council Pension Boards were not properly consulted upon with staff or their representatives (or not at all in some instances) and some I have seen are very poor indeed. A number do not even comply with statutory requirements and guidance. 

Training is key to the success of the Board but it must be good quality and independent of fund managers, advisers and other conflicted bodies. I am not sure that this option exists at the moment. 

The work plan is important but until the Board finds its feet it should be wary of making firm timetables and commitments. Instead it should first deal with bread and butter issues such as its governance and training. 

A good point was raised by an employer rep that the Lord Hutton report on the LGPS made it clear that Boards should be concerned with the sustainable future of the scheme and not just bogged down in technical detail.

 

Next was a presentation by the investment and treasury manager on roles, responsibilities and statutory documents as well as our investment in the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV)

There was also a report on fund performance and on the fund 2014/2015 annual report.

There was also a debate on how the Pension board can challenge decisions made by Pension committee. One view was that the Board cannot say the Committee has made the wrong decision, they can only criticise the process. I disagreed and said that in my view the Board could criticise Committee decisions but obviously they would have to justify it. The Board is not a sub-committee of pension committee but has its own statutory responsibilities and ultimately reports to the Secretary of State.

A very important discussion took place on the way different firms of actuaries make different assumptions on pension liabilities. Which means that some LGPS funds may may appear to be doing better or worse than their peers purely to the "House view" of their advisers. Which is not at all a good place for the LGPS to be in.

The Treasury "employer cap" on their contributions was also debated. If Council contributions for future pension service rise above 13% then the Government will force cuts to benefits or increases in contributions for staff. Which of course could result in staff leaving the scheme and bring about its collapse. To stop this we have to cut the massive fees we pay to our fund managers and advisers as well as increase our investment returns.

I also made an argument that the reason that pensions seem more expensive nowadays is that interest rates (gilt yields) are at a 200 year historic low and we need a more modern and realistic means of valuing the true likely costs and not an outdated and broken accountancy yardstick.

The Chair pointed out that his pension fund had assets of £1.5 billion yet were currently only paying out £47 million per year in pensions. So if nothing else changed (which he fully accepted will not happen) his scheme had enough capital to pay this figure for 30 years even if there was no further investment income or contributions.

The current value of the Tower Hamlets pension fund had increased by £100m in the last quarter to £1141,860,000

This was an imperfect but as I said, an historic meeting for the democratisation of the capital of workers.

It seems now that the Tory Chancellor, George Osborne, is determined to force the 89 LGPS funds to pool and consolidate into 6 regional "sovereign wealth infrastructure funds" (whatever that actually means). This could result in the demise of the Tower Hamlets Pension Committee and Board However, I hope and expect that the governance arrangement of the LGPS in the future will mirror the partner approach of Pension Boards rather than that of existing pension committees. We shall wait and see.

I will try and visit other London Council Pension Boards as an observer and report on what takes place. I live an exciting life.

(please note that this is my personal report)

Rethinking the Economics of Pensions (and "A Day in the Life of a Financial Advisor")

On Thursday last week I went to the first day of the "Rethinking Pensions"conference in London. The ever so quiet and retiring, Con Keating (Brighton Rock) was the Chair. He started off the conference in his own unique style, by reminiscing about an event he had recently attended with the Lord Mayoress of London, during which she had asked him "what should the City of London do to make sure its financial services industry is sustainable?". Con replied by saying "Stop Stealing Money?" He said he did not expect to be invited back.

Robin Ellison from Pinsent Masons was the first speaker and he spoke on how the regulation of the financial services is bad. It is too bureaucratic, complex and very expensive to investors and companies.  We have a perfectly good legal system and if someone thinks they have been ripped off they should make a complaint to the courts, like they do in many other countries.

He doesn't think they add value and the £500 million annual cost of UK regulation  probably costs companies who are being regulated 10 times this amount. It has been estimated that the yield in Defined Benefit schemes is reduced by 2.3% by such regulation. He also believes that MPs should be forced to only pass laws on stuff they understand.

In a question to him I said that in the past bad practices were widespread from top to bottom and he had not recognised the scale of the problem and also the high bar on proving dishonesty that we have in this country?  That is why we need regulation. Robin said he was not convinced and the law could be enforced more effectively by the courts than by regulators.

Despite describing himself as an "arch Tory Capitalist" Robin said he did think that some things have to be done collectively. He believes that the proposals regarding annuities in the yesterdays budget are flawed. The Australian model shows that people will just take out their money and run. 

(see the excellent American YouTube above on "A Day in the Life of a Financial Adviser" which Robin showed during his presentation. It is tongue in cheek but shows the basic lack of understanding about financial affairs and also the widespread mistrust many people have of the financial services industry. I will post on other speakers from Day 1 as and when. I missed the 2nd day which is  a shame and I hope someone else will blog on it).

London Marathon 2012 Training Wk 7: Wanstead Park

Due to winter darkness I've found it difficult to keep to the training programme during week days.  I don't like running in the dark because of the risk of tripping up. But you have little choice at this time of the year. Roll on winter solstice which will be on the 22nd of December. Not long now to go.

Run of the week was on Saturday. After my Council surgery I went for a 70 minute Fartlek (Swedish for "speed play" - a form of interval training) in glorious sunshine and blue skies. Starting across Wanstead Flats and into Wanstead Park via Park Road. I basically did two circuits of the Park (including one sprint up the Long Walk which I was pleased about) then back home in between the railway and the City of London Cemetery. Sore legs and in some pain for rest of day!

It is amazing nowadays that this park use to be part of a massive Country estate. A contemporary rival to Blenheim Palace no less. In 1805 the state was passed to a "Catherine Tylney-Long, who thereby became the richest heiress in England". In 1812 she made a disastrous choice of marriage to a William Wellesley-Pole (nephew of the Duke of Wellington).  Who due to his "dissipation and extravagance" caused family bankruptcy and the Country House to be demolished in 1825.

Picture is of the the approach to the Temple which was an estate building dating from the 18th Century, which now houses a museum collection open to the public during weekends. (double click to bring up detail. Picture from December 2010. Note snow!)

I am running the London marathon next year using the official advanced training programme and will be raising funds for Homeless Youth charity "Alone in London". Click here to sponsor me. 

London Marathon Training Wk 4: Sprints and West Ham Park

Toughest session of week was the “jog for 10 mins, run for 5 mins, jog for 10. Then train at maximum effort for 45 secs, walk for 3 minutes and repeat 8 times”. It wasn’t as bad as I expected since a 45 sec sprint is a damn sight easier than 60 or 75 secs. I actually enjoyed this session and felt tired but exhilarated afterwards.

Best run of the week was around West Ham Park on Sunday. Warm up jog through Forest Gate along Woodgrange Road, past the Siam Cafe (the best Thai restaurant ever), then along the back streets to Romford Road. Very misty but warm for time of year. West Ham Park has been owned and managed by the City of London since 1874. It is also the largest park in Newham. While I would prefer that it was run by a more accountable public body I have to admit that it looked after well by the Corporation and its staff.

The park use to be owned by the Gurney Family. By coincidence they were mentioned on The Today programme this morning as a 19th Century Quaker Banking family who took their social responsibilities seriously unlike modern day financiers. All of the Park lies within my Council Ward of West Ham. I would recommend a walk around the park and the seven acre ornamental garden in particular. The 30 minute run around the park and back home went really well. I am beginning to feel quite strong running (not jogging) for this period of time.

UNISON Health Service Group Executive Elections (London region)

As well as the GLA and other Council elections taking place across the land, there are also some fairly important UNISON internal elections taking place.

UNISON is divided into 7 Service Groups. These elections are to elect regional members of each National Service Group Executive (SGE).

In London Region there are only two contested elections for regional delegates. For Health and Local Government service groups. Here is the election statement for the Health centre left slate that I am supporting. I will post next the Local Government slate (guess who is standing in that election!).

If you are a member of UNISON in London, please copy these statements and email or photocopy to any other members you know. UNISON branch funds and distribution lists should not be used for such purposes. Ballot papers are due to be sent out tomorrow to members home addresses. Enjoy!

"United Left" SWP and SP Trotskyite candidates are standing against them. Nuf said?


LAYLA RUMBLE, BILL BEEKOO AND RACHEL VOLLER
ALL HERE FOR YOU ON THE HEALTH SERVICE GROUP EXECUTIVE

Dear Colleague,

As you will be aware we are currently in the nomination period for the Service Group Executive (SGE) elections. We are writing to you to seek your branch’s nomination for the three positions available to represent the Greater London Region.

As your existing SGE representatives we have worked hard together as a team to speak up for our members. Sometimes speaking up is not easy but we have always aimed to put UNISON members first and not political agendas as some representatives are known to do. We have consistently fought to use UNISON budgets in the best interests of our membership, to serve all of our members not just the more vocal, and have particularly spoken up on behalf of our low paid members.

Bill Beekoo (General seat)
Bill works for Havering PCT and has been an SGE representative for 6 years bringing with him a vast amount of experience in negotiating and organising. He is a firm believer that NHS workers should be well rewarded for the hard work that they do. He has contributed to debates on pay, pensions and privatisation and if re-elected would be particularly interested in making sure low paid contract workers received Agenda for Change in ALL Trusts in London.

Layla Rumble (Low paid seat)
Layla works as a Maternity Health Care Assistant and is also training to be a midwife. She is passionate about representing our lower paid workers as they are integral to the smooth functioning of the NHS. Layla is also keen to see more opportunities for our members to increase their skills and prospects through the Knowledge and Skills framework and if re-elected would make this a priority.

Rachel Voller (Women’s seat)
Rachel works as a midwife at UCLH. She has served on the SGE for 4 years and has fought hard for recognition by the government of the high standards of work provided by our NHS workers. Rachel is keen to see an end to privatisation and outsourcing of services within the NHS and if re-elected would make it a priority to address ways in which Trusts can be supported to bring their facilities back in house.

We hope that you will re-nominate us so that we can continue with the work we have been doing and ensure that the voices of London members are heard at the highest levels. There is important work to be done especially with changes afoot under the Darzi report and we feel that with our experience and motives for standing we are the best placed to serve you.

Bill, Layla and Rachel.

UNISON Labour Link London Victory

Well done to London Nurse, Rachel Voller, for winning the Greater London UNISON Labour Link National Committee elections.

Rachel won by a very comfortable majority in the recent postal ballot of all London Labour Link members (2,857 votes against 2,245, a 612 majority over her opponent Andrew Berry - formal commiserations to Andrew).

I think this is a ringing endorsement from London for the UNISON Labour Link National Committee and their democratic decision to nominate Gorden as the Leader of the Labour Party (and Alan for Deputy Leader).

However, it looks very likely (if not certain) that we are facing a real general election in the very near future. so we need to move on and unite and concentrate our energies against the hideous prospect of a Tory Government. Nuff said?

Red Ken's Speech to Labour Red Army

Another very late Labour Party conference report. Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone’s speech on Wednesday.

Good solid speech. Who would believe the photo to the left a few years ago (no pun intended). He really enjoyed sticking the knife into his Tory Challenger, Boris Johnson. I must admit that while out jogging before conference I listened to Boris being interviewed on the "Today Programme" and was very surprised just how poorly be came over. Surprised, but pleased of course!

I liked Ken's "quip" that unless the City of London Corporation “volunteers” to contribute more money to the London Crossrail scheme then he should be given powers by Government to take the money off them!

So he asked - which would they prefer???

Once again, he become really quite emotional at the end of the speech.