London Labour Conference 2014 - Question Time Panel

Yesterday was the London Labour Conference 2014 which took place at Hammersmith Town Hall. I will post in more detail on the conference later this week but the picture is of me addressing the "Question Time  with London's MPs, MEPs, AMs and Cllrs" panel in the main hall.

On the panel was Clive Efford MP. Claude Moraes MEP, Val Shawcross AM, Cllr Alice Perry and Cllr Stephen Alambritis. London Labour Vice Chair Linda Perks (and UNISON regional secretary) chaired.

"Conference, Panel, John Gray, UNISON delegate and Chair of the London UNISON Labour political fund, asking about the governance arrangements of London 3rd sector  organisations such as Housing Associations and Charities who are nominally independent but in fact are hugely dependent on public funding, direct or indirect.

Some of whom act in undemocratic and unaccountable ways, such as the London Housing Association called Catalyst, who is currently trying to de-recognise UNISON while also refusing to speak to the union, those who give their senior executives huge pay rises and those who have no meaningful resident or client input in the way they are run.

What can be done to make such organisations in London accountable, democratic and transparent?

Val Shawcross replied that she when she became an Assembly member she was astonished to find that there was some 500 separate Housing Associations in London. Some of them are run well and have tenants on their board but she has concerns about others over issues such as fire safety and diversity. A future Labour London Mayor should make positive progressive requirements over the sector. We may have lost sight of this due to the massive problem of supply.

I had some interesting conversations afterwards and offers of help with the Catalyst issue which I will take up if needed.

For further information on the Union busting by Catalyst click on its name in "labels" under this post.

(hat tip West Hammer Shagufta Nasreen for photo)

"The Future of London Government" Newham Compass & Fabians

 

Tonight in West Ham FC Supporters club, Green Street (which is actually in East Ham) there was a debate led by London Assembly member, Val Shawcross with Emma Sweeney and Ted Flanagan from the new Queen's Park Parish Council in the London Borough Westminster.

 

The topic was "The Future of London Government" Chaired by Unmesh Desai, organised jointly by Newham Compass and Fabians. Follow my twitter feed at lbncompass. 

 

Val spoke first about how do we sustain and revitalise democracy in London? The Liberal Democrats have been discredited by dropping their core social beliefs in the unsuccessful pursuit of changes that would have benefited them politically (PR and reform of Lords), While the Tories pursue a culture of secrecy especially in the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade.

 

We need to start a dialogue in the Labour Party about democratising and self government, look at the voluntary sector, social enterprises, mutuals and real local control of the NHS. Tories are about privatisation while we should be driving our democratic tentacles into private sector and promoting "responsible capitalism". This change should not be at the expense of workers terms and conditions.

 

Ted and Emma spoke about their experiences in Queens Park setting up a Parish Council in a mixed income ward in Westminster with houses worth a £million + and a 1960s Council estate with the worse child poverty rate in Europe. They got the idea from a journalist when their local forum had its funding cut in 2010. 68% of the ward voted to set up the Parish, which will receive around £45 per year from each household in the ward (collected by Westminster on top of Council tax). This will raise £180k per year which will be spent on extra community services and events as decided by the local elected parish councillors. Not replace existing borough services.

 

Like I think nearly everyone present I think this is a really interesting idea and needs following. I'm a little sceptical to be honest since I have seen all sorts of centralised then decentralised then recentralised community governance models in my time, come and go. Yet Ted and Emma seem very confident that this time it should be different.

 

In the Q&A I warned Val that while the Voluntary sector does many good things there are also appalling governance in many such organisations which needs addressing. I pointed out the Metropolitan Housing Robbery.  She accepted that far more needs to be done to improve the way that these organisations conduct themselves and we need to start a debate in the Labour Party on how to do this.

"The Future of London Government" Newham Compass & Fabians

This should be interesting. I'm not sure that this idea will really work? While the proposed parish council model is different, it does remind me a little of the "One Stop Shop" decentralisation in Tower Hamlets during the 1990's.

I also think that there is an argument that the 32 London Boroughs (and City of London) are too small and that we should really be considering merger?

Or perhaps get rid of London unitary Councils, merge boroughs and have parish councils?

Still, this should be good debate. Hope I can make it.

"The Future of London Government, 

on Tuesday 9th October, 

at West Ham Football Club Supporters' bar, Castle Street, at 7.30 pm.

Val Shawcross is a member of the GLA, and Susanna Rustin & Ted Flanagan were part of the team that successfully campaigned to set up the first Parish Council in London (in the City of Westminster!)"

Double click to bring up more details. Hat tip Christopher (Viva!).

Housing Voice Independent Inquiry: London & SE

On Thursday I made a verbal submission to this inquiry. Housing Voice is the "campaign alliance established to champion the need for more affordable homes to buy or rent". The inquiry is gathering evidence across the country on ways to combat the "affordable housing crisis". Lord Larry Whitty is chairing the inquiry (seen in centre of picture with panel members Steve Hilditch and Michael Ward).

Heidi Alexander MP for Lewisham East and on the CLG Select Committee (left) spoke as did UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis.  There were 18 speakers listed! "Housing Professionals Voices", "Voices of those at the sharp end"; "Labour Voices", "Local and Regional elected" and "Other voices".  There were politicians from across the political divide. Residents and a wide range of other people with interest in affordable housing took part and contributed.

There was disagreement about the solution but no-one denied that we have an appalling housing shortage and that homes are currently unaffordable especially in London. Access to land with permission to build, planning and finance seems to be major barriers. Solutions offered included housing co-operatives, deregulation (House Builders Federation) and greater regulation (of private sector including rent controls: not I think supported by the HBF), funding from pension funds.

I think the role of public funding is absolute key and while there is a lot that can be done to improve supply and affordability at the margin, without a significant funding in state funding we will not resolve the crisis. We will only get the funding when we can raise the political interest in housing to match that of education and health.

Labour London Assemby member Valerie Shawcross was the last speaker. In the Q&A some Housing Associations got a bit of a pasting from the politicians over their variable management standards, being so fragmented, inefficient, arrogant and unaccountable.  

I'll post my submission later.

Ken visits Stratford Station to talk to commuters about Fare Deal

Guest Post from Tahmina Rahman, Forest Gate North Labour Party Secretary (3rd from right in photo) “A really positive response yesterday lunchtime from the local Newham residents and visitors at Stratford station. Labour Mayor Candidate Ken Livingstone was joined by Val Shawcross who is the deputy Mayoral candidate and local East London Assembly candidate, John Biggs.

Together with other local Labour Party activists we handed out leaflets and talked to people about “Fare Deal” and how the average Londoner could save a £1000 over 4 years".

Ken in Newham

This evening I joined Labour Candidate for London Mayor, Ken Livingstone and his team as they visited the historic Theatre Royal in

Stratford.

Ken had been in Newham all day and had already gone on a Housing enforcement visit with Council officers and Newham Mayor Robin Wales in the morning. He then had a briefing with local Councillors and a Q&A with students at Newham College, as well as a “walkabout” in Green Street.

With Ken was Assembly member Val Shawcross (who is standing for Deputy Mayor) local Assembly member John Biggs and Newham’s finest, GLA Candidate, Councillor Unmesh Desai (who is also East Ham Labour Party Agent).

At the Theatre Royal there was firstly an informal meeting with staff and local actors (whose first break had been in the Theatre) in the “Green Room” followed by a brief tour of the theatre and a visit to a Performing Arts class to observe a lesson on “improvisations”. Which was simply enormous fun to watch. Afterwards there was a very relaxed discussion between staff, the young people and Ken, Val and John about the future of performing arts, dance and further education generally. I think the photo above is great. 

Afterwards we went off to the Didsbury Centre in East Ham for the Newham “Tell Ken” event (sponsored by London UNISON Labour Link) which I will post upon soon.

‘Fair Deal for Tube Users’

Ken Livingstone has called on Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson, to get a grip of increased delays on the tube. The latest Transport for London (TfL) performance figures show:
• Tube passengers are spending 10% more time on delayed trains and 33% more time on the Central line.Tube passengers are spending 10% more time on delayed trains and 33% more time on the Central line.

• Station closures are up on District line by a staggering 1250% and over 100% on the Northern line.Station closures are up on District line by a staggering 1250% and over 100% on the Northern line.

• Delays up on the Jubilee line are up by 300% and over 100% on the Victoria line

Ken has called for a ‘Fair Deal for Tube Users’ which sets out five immediate steps the Mayor should

1. Get a grip of persistent tube delays and disruption.
2. Improve how TfL communicates tube problems to passengers.
3. Compensate delayed passengers and clearly explain how to claim refunds for late running journeys
4. Bring common sense to the weekend tube-closure programme.
5. Tackle the problem of engineering works over-running into Monday mornings.

Ken Livingstone said: “The increased number of delays and closures on the Tube are causing huge frustration and inconvenience for millions of Londoners. It’s time for Boris Johnson to roll his sleeves up and get a grip.

‘My ‘Fair Deal for Tube Users’ would put the interests of Londoners at the very top of the Mayor’s agenda. ‘The Mayor must be far more accountable for the tube, improve the way TfL communicates with Londoners, make more effort to ensure delayed passengers can fairly claim compensation and review the weekend tube-closure programme.’

London shadow transport minister, Jim Fitzpatrick MP said, “It's time for Boris Johnson to get a grip of the daily delays and disruption on the tube. It's not fair that Londoners are paying more in rail, tube and bus fares, because of decisions taken by the Conservative Mayor, and then suffer delays in their daily commute to work.

'Tube delays and closures incur costs which London businesses can ill-afford and are detrimental to the quality of life for millions in inner and outer London. The Mayor must act quickly to improve tube services and reverse the increasing delays we are all experiencing."

Val Shawcross AM, Labour’s London Assembly transport spokesperson said: “It is hard to recall a day in the past few months when there has not been a signal failure or major delay on the tube which has caused real inconvenience for Londoners. We are all paying more for tube services which Boris

Johnson’s own figures show are getting worse. ‘It’s about time Boris Johnson paid some attention to his day job and got a grip of the increasing number of tube delays. The Mayor claims he watches the tube on a screen in his office ‘like a hawk’, I think Londoners want a Mayor who is more than a spectator.”
(Hat tip poster to Col. Roi)