Wandsworth's Labour Council team

Graveney News March/April 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:54:00 +0000

Andy Gibbons, Rex Osborn and Billi Randall
‘Working with you’
March/April 2010

Around Graveney
• Billi Randall and Rex Osborn visited Tooting Hub, a youth centre for local children.
• 6th March - Rex Osborn and Andy Gibbons attended the Wandsworth Tamil Welfare Association Cultural evening, at which the special guest was Sadiq Khan MP.
• 10th March Andy Gibbons spoke to the full Council meeting on the appalling state of Graveney’s roads.
• 20th March - Rex Osborn attended the Peace Symposium at the Mosque in Morden.
• During February and March we and Sadiq Khan MP have called on residents on around Graveney including the Totterdown Fields estate , St Benedicts and Sellincourt , Trevelyan, Mellison, and Charlmont Roads – to name but a few! Regular readers of our newsletter will know we call on residents right through the year as well as representing their views on the Council’s committees.
• We have also talked with elderly residents in sheltered housing.

Graveney Issues

Refuse collection
There have been difficulties last month with refuse and recycling collection on Mantilla Road due to the gas main replacement works that have been taking place.

We called to residents to ask them about the lack of refuse collections, then immediately contacted Wandsworth Council. Regular refuse collections are important, and we were unhappy that the Council would tell residents that they would have to carry their own refuse bags to neighbouring streets for collection – rather than demand the refuse collectors do this.

Peter Robinson, Assistant Director of Leisure and Amenity Services, replied to us
“Both refuse and recycling collection vehicles were able to gain access to Mantilla Road and all collections took place. I understand that the works are going to be going on for some time and at the moment I am not confident that access will always be possible, however, we are pursuing matters with the contractor and will ensure that collections take place one way or another.”

If you have a problem with your rubbish collection, let us know by e-mailing us at graveney@tootinglabour.org.uk

Potholes
We have continued to report potholes to the council and press them to make repairs. Council managers have told us they held off until the frosty weather is over as this damages the repaired surface. You may have seen that roads are now being marked up for repairs.

Last year we proposed that the Council use £200,000 of their reserves - Council taxpayers cash that is held back for unexpected circumstances – but the Tory group voted this down. Now the government has given extra cash to Wandsworth Council to start repairs straight away.

If you want to report a pothole, get in touch at our email address graveney@tootinglabour.org.uk or join Sadiq Khan’s Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=350248266499&utm_source=E-news+list&utm_campaign=e86a25d9d8-E_news_NDece1h11_4_2009&utm_medium=email

Keep in touch at our website: http://www.labourwandsworth.org.uk/comment/index.htm

Did you know?

Gassiot Road was named after John Gassiot. Born in London, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. In 1819 he married Elizabeth Scott and the couple had nine sons and three daughter. In 1822, he joined in business with Spaniard Sebastian Gonzalez Martinez to create the firm of Martinez Gassiot & Co. selling cigars, sherry and port.

He also became an enthusiastic amateur scientist with a particular interest in electricity. He created an amply-provided laboratory at his home on Clapham Common and opened it to his fellow scientists, including James Clerk Maxwell who performed much of his 1860s work on electrical resistance there.

Labour's Pledges to the Wandsworth Electorate

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:31:00 +0000

Manifesto for Wandsworth

The Council

The council should be an active force shaping the local area for the common good. It should be a progressive:
• Employer – pay a fair London wage and have the best employment and contractual practices
• Community leader – consult and listen, and encourage progressive practices, such as Fairtrade
• Innovator – especially of green technology and carbon reduction
Wandsworth Tories can NOT do that. They do NOT listen or change. They do NOT innovate.

The Objective:

Everything we do will be targeted at safeguarding our children, our senior citizens and the environment: being fair for the many - not the few.

Children and Young People:

London Labour Boroughs have introduced free care for all 2-5 year old children: Labour Wandsworth will do the same.

Labour will continue the work on improving standards in both our primary and secondary schools.

The Tories have closed a dozen state schools, selling many of them to the private sector. This has left us with a shortage of primary places in many parts of the Borough and a major problem with secondary places in the Balham/ Northcote area, where both Clapham County and Walsingham Schools have been sold in the last 20 years and where the Battersea Labour Party has been campaigning for a new school on the Bolingbroke Hospital site.

Assisted by the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, Labour will plan to make sure there are good schools for everyone.

Affordable housing:

Affordable housing should not be an add-on to expensive developments along the riverside, with parking spaces priced at £15,000 a time. It is desperately urgent that housing is not just a choice between very expensive houses and flats, and Council estates. We need genuinely mixed communities, where families, as well as singles and couples, live, work and play together.

Council house sales have been very successful for many but Councils should have invested the proceeds in building more new homes. We must build high quality housing with a range of size, cost and tenure, with some rented and some for sale.

There is still much work to do to raise Council estates to modern standards – double glazing, for example, should be a standard. With the help of the Government’s Decent Homes Programme, Labour will tackle the work still not done by Wandsworth Tories.

The environment:

Wandsworth is faced with pressure from developers to put up mammoth tower developments in Putney, Clapham Junction, Nine Elms and all along the river-front. There is now similar pressure on the Springfield Hospital site in Tooting. The Tories have removed all height controls from their plans and the result will be unsustainable development. All this will change under Labour with human scale development built for the many - not the few.

Care for the ecology will be at the heart of all our planning policies; we will oppose unsustainable developments; the ecological impact of any development will be a decisive factor in our judgement on planning applications, as will the continuing development of the riverside walk and Wandsworth's open spaces.

We will clean up our streets and our estates. It is a disgrace that so many people are embarrassed to bring friends home because they are ashamed of the mess and the potholes in the streets and the conditions on many of our large estates.

It is even more disgraceful that some feel scared in their own neighbourhood. We must continue to press for more police and take back control of our streets.

Rents & charges

Wandsworth has the highest Council rents in the country - more than £10 a week higher than anywhere else. It is also putting up every other charge, for swimming pools, soccer pitch rentals, hall hire, by more than inflation – indeed meals on wheels for the elderly have gone up 25% more than inflation since 2006. The Tories even boast about this policy. We will not be able to change that overnight but we will not continue with a policy of major cost increases.

Fairness for all

Wandsworth Tories do not care what the lowest paid earn – again they boast about that. But they do pay the highest salaries and bonuses in the country. The bonus culture is rife in Wandsworth with the Chief Executive paid more than the Prime Minister and 25 other officers paid over £100,000 - more than any other comparable Council in the country. This year the Council budget assumes ZERO salary inflation, and yet the highest paid Council officers are getting average bonuses of over 7.5% - that means some employees will pay by losing their jobs, residents by higher charges and ALL of us by reduced services.

We will ensure that a Living Wage for London is paid to all our staff and we will end the bonus culture at the top.

The money?

Council Tax is no longer an issue. The Government has taken control of Council Tax across the country, with only 2 Boroughs, both Tory, of London’s 33 increasing the Tax this year. Nearly all the rest, like Wandsworth, have frozen Council Tax.

Inevitably this will put a restraint on our ambitions, but with everyone in the country tightening their belts it would be unfair not to expect the same from the Council. This means we will have to pay for our plans by cutting some things – for example, £2 million on senior staff salaries – and by re-allocating resources. The Tories can NOT do that. They have been there too long and they are stagnant.

Vote for a Labour Council, which will be fair for the many - NOT the few.

Labour's Pledges to the Wandsworth Electorate

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:31:00 +0000

Manifesto for Council Elections

The Council

The council should be an active force shaping the local area for the common good. It should be a progressive:
• Employer – pay a fair London wage and have the best employment and contractual practices
• Community leader – consult and listen, encourage Fairtrade
• Innovator – especially green technology and carbon reduction
Wandsworth Tories can NOT do that. They do NOT listen or change. They do NOT innovate.

The Objective:

Everything we do will be targeted at safeguarding our children, our senior citizens and the environment: being fair, for the many not the few.

Children and Young People:

London Labour Boroughs have introduced free care for all 2-5 year old children: Labour Wandsworth will do the same.

Labour will continue the work on improving standards in both our primary and secondary schools.

The Tories have closed a dozen state schools and selling many of them to the private sector. This has left us with a shortage of primary places in many parts of the Borough and a major problem with secondary places in the Balham:Northcote area, where both Clapham County and Walsingham Schools have been sold in the last 20 years.

Assisted by the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, Labour will plan to make sure there are good schools for everyone.

Affordable housing:

Affordable housing should not be an add-on to expensive developments along the riverside, with parking spaces priced at £15,000 a time. It is desperately urgent that housing is not just a choice between the very expensive and Council estates. We need genuinely mixed communities, where families, as well as singles and couples, live, work and play together.

Council house sales have been very successful for many but Councils should have invested the proceeds in building more new homes. We must build high quality housing with a range of size, cost and tenure, with some rented and some for sale.

There is still much work to do to raise Council estates to modern standards – double glazing, for example, should be a standard. With the help of the Government’s Decent Homes Programme, Labour will tackle the work still not done by Wandsworth Tories.

The environment:

Wandsworth is faced with pressure from developers to put up mammoth tower developments in Putney, Clapham Junction, Nine Elms and all along the river-front. There is now similar pressure on the Springfield Hospital site in Tooting. The Tories have removed all height controls from their plans and the result will be unsustainable development. All this will change under Labour with human scale development built for the many and not just the few.

We will clean up our streets and our estates. It is a disgrace that so many people are embarrassed to bring friends home because they are ashamed of the mess and the potholes in the streets and the conditions on many of our large estates.

It is even more disgraceful that some feel scared in their own neighbourhood. We must continue to press for more police and take back control of our streets.

Rents & charges

Wandsworth has the highest rents in the country - more than £10 a week higher than anywhere else. It is also putting up every other charge, swimming pools, soccer pitch rentals, hall hire, by more than inflation – indeed meals on wheels for the elderly have gone up 25% more than inflation since 2006. The Tories even boast about this policy. We will not be able to change that overnight but we will not continue with a policy of major cost increases.

Fairness to all

Wandsworth Tories do not care what the lowest paid earn – again they boast about that. But they do pay the highest salaries and bonuses in the country. The bonus culture is rife in Wandsworth with the Chief Executive paid more than the Prime Minister and 25 other officers paid over £100,000 - more than any other comparable Council in the country. This year the Council budget assumes ZERO salary inflation, and yet the highest paid Council officers are getting average bonuses of over 7.5% - that means some will pay by losing their jobs, some by higher charges and ALL of us by reduced services.

We will ensure that a Living Wage for London is paid to all our staff and we will end the bonus culture at the top.

The money?

Council Tax is no longer an issue. The Government has taken control of Council Tax across the country, with only 2 Boroughs, both Tory, of London’s 33 increasing the Tax this year. Nearly all the rest, like Wandsworth, have frozen Council Tax.

Inevitably this will put a restraint on our ambitions, but with everyone in the country tightening their belts it would be unfair not to expect the same from the Council. This means we will have to pay for our plans by cutting some things – for example, £2 million on senior staff salaries – and by re-allocating resources. The Tories can not do that. They have been there too long and they are stagnant.

Vote for a Labour Council, which will be fair for the many NOT the few.

Mayor Brian Prichard dies in office

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:58:00 +0000

It might seem rather curious to enter an obituary about a Tory Mayor on a Labour website, but there is good reason. Brian, who died on the night of 6/7 April, 2010, was the last in a long family line of Prichards, who served as councillors on Battersea Borough Council, Wandsworth Council, the London County Council and the Greater London Council.

The first, his grandfather, became a councillor just before WW1; the most famous his father, Sir Norman Prichard, served until he died in office; his uncle was a Battersea and LCC councillor and Brian, the last in the line, was first a Labour councillor and then a Tory. In all they were councillors for over 150 years and there were less than 10 years in the whole of the 20th century when there was not a Prichard councillor in the Borough.

Brian was an up-right, God fearing, responsible member of the community; he was notorious as the first teetotaller Mayor; a man who insisted at the various Mayoral receptions in having a large notice next to the tray of wine saying “Alcohol can do serious damage to your health”.

That may sound humourless but if you knew Brian it was the absolute opposite. It was his way of humanising his rather puritanical attitudes to many elements of life including his politics.

In the 70's, Brian was pitch-forked into the turbulence of the Housing Finance Act and what he thought of as the illegality of so-called non-implementation of a Tory law. It was clear that he went through much soul searching and political re-consideration. What is more he came under a certain amount of attack from his young, leftish colleagues, one of whom publicly challenged him to go where his heart clearly was and join the Tory party.

Brian took the hint and in 1973 some few months before the 1974 Council election he resigned as a Labour councillor only to be re-elected a few months later as a Tory councillor. Unlike many politicians, who have crossed the floor and not put themselves before the electorate, Brian, to his credit, stood the democratic test and waited to be re-elected in his own right as a Conservative.

Not that he was able to cast aside all of his Labour attitudes and some of the most enjoyable occasions in recent Wandsworth history was to watch Brian with his censorious attitude to drugs of all descriptions, legal or not, in debate with some of the Tory libertarians, of whom there are many on Wandsworth Council.

Brian was ascetic, puritanical and censorious, but he was a man of nice judgement, considerable intellect, as evidenced by his professional medical career and of some honour. Wandsworth Council will miss him.

6th May 2010 - there is a Council Election as well!

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:20:00 +0000

Just how well have you been represented during the last 4 years? Well, of course, attendance at Council and Committee Meetings is not everything but perhaps for £10,000 a year - yes all councillors now get at least £10,000 a year - you should be able to count on a reasonable record.

After all it is the case that if you are not there then you can't do much, can you? So what does the record show for last year, 2009?

Of 60 councillors the 15 with the lowest attendance record are ALL Conservative councillors! Three Tory councillors Paul Reeve (4), Marc Hope (4) and Penny Bradford (7) have made a total of 15 appearances for their £30,000 of salaries. Yes, that is £2,000 per evening attendance! At the top end of the scale the 3 most assiduous attenders, two of whom are Labour, clocked up 93 attendances.

And as for ward teams well it is very notable that the worst represented wards in the Borough, by far, are Roehampton and Queenstown. Roehampton's Bradford and Scott Caisley are both in the lowest attending 7 of 60 councillors and all 3 of the Queenstown councillors are in the bottom half of the attendance tables. No other ward gets anywhere near the shameless record of these 6 Tory councillors.

Whatever your politics surely Roehampton and Queenstown deserve better than that? They are after all two of the three most deprived areas in the Borough - according to official Council stats.

N.B. These figures are taken from the official minutes held on the Council's website for Committee and Council meetings. They exclude party meetings, surgeries, etc. I have also excluded Cabinet members, who appear to have a low attendance record but are not officially members of committees.

Lister defends Ashcroft

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:06:00 +0000

Last night, Wandsworth Tory Leader Cllr Lister defended the Baron of Belize, Lord Ashcroft. Lister said that we (the residents of Wandsworth) should be eternally grateful for "Ashcroft pouring large sums of money into (Putney's) Ashcroft Academy". He went on to say that it mattered not whether Ashcroft was a non-dom or not, or indeed that he had no idea actually how much Ashcroft had put into the Academy, or indeed whether the money was tainted in any way because "his contributions were probably tax deductible".

Surely these were curious comments to make about a man, who is notoriously secretive about his tax status and who quite probably does not pay as much in taxation as his many cleaners. Just perhaps the fact that Lister was one of Ashcroft's employees had just a little to do with his comments. Not to mention, of course, that both Lister and Wandsworth Mayor Cllr Prichard sit on the Academy's board, of which Ashcroft is - naturally - the Chairman.

Meanwhile Tories voted 34 against Labour's 9 NOT to save £2 million being spent on bonuses for staff paid more than double the London average salary and using the savings to reduce charges for meals on wheels for the elderly and to allow some increase in wages for the lowest paid of Council staff.

Labour Councillors Response to Frozen Council Tax

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:21:00 +0000

Today, 10th March, is Wandsworth's Council Tax Debate. We all know that Council Tax will be frozen and welcome the fact that in these difficult times there will not be an increased burden on Wandsworth's Council Taxpayers. That is both Wandsworth Council's and the Labour Government's intent, with we understand in London only Tory Bromley Council imposing a 3% increase.

To do this, however, the Council is assuming Zero inflation on Town Hall pay - fair enough you might say but there is no indication of how that is to be applied. With some of the highest paid staff in local government, with all the highest paid on very generous bonuses, Labour councillors will today argue that any pay variations should be for the benefit of the lowest paid and paid for by the highest paid.

Labour councillors therefore argue for the abolition of Wandsworth Council's very expensive bonus culture and the distribution of that money between the lowest paid and those, usually the elderly, suffering the highest charges for Council services. For example Wandsworth residents needing meals on wheels have suffered a 26% increase in costs ABOVE INFLATION in the last 4 years.

The amendment put by the Labour Councillors in favour of this policy can be seen in the following file: Budget%20amendment%2010310.doc

Tooting and Graveney News

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:43:00 +0000

Council Turns Down Spring Clean Request

Wandsworth's Tory Council has turned down a request by Graveney councillors for a ‘Spring Clean’ of Tooting. In previous years the council has declared a charges amnesty for residents who wanted to clear way bulky items, but this year they have refused. The council claims that flytipping has fallen by 20%, so there is no need for a special collection. However, the council’s own research shows that Graveney and Tooting are amongst the most deprived wards in Wandsworth and census data shows 40% of people here do not have access to a car to take rubbish to the dump. When we call on residents they tell us there is still more to be done about flytipping, although they recognise that we have had some success in tackling the problem. We will continue to campaign for a cleaner Tooting.

Tooting Town Centre - Planning For The Future

We have contacted council managers about planning applications that would provide some extra retail floorspace in Tooting. For example, there is the former Geyfords car showroom site on the corner of Trevelyan Road, and the old assembly rooms next to the Long Room bar on Mitcham Road. In addition the owner of the old Co-op building on Upper Tooting Road is intending to put in a planning application. Finally, there are the markets and their under-used potential. We have asked Tooting’s Town Centre Manager to review all the planning applications that have been granted to sites in the town centre and start to build up a portfolio of larger sites into an attractive package to present to the executives of the big high street stores.

The Council is also proposing the sale of an unused building it owns behind the Natwest Bank, next to the Castle pub on Tooting High Street. As a condition of the sale the buyer would have to be prepared to develop it, along with other nearby properties, to improve the range of shops in Tooting and provide parking space for shoppers.

Let us know what you think about Tooting by e-mailing us at graveney@tootinglabour.org.uk

Sure Start Has Closed The Gap - Why Do The Tories Want To Scrap It?

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:46:00 +0000

From an original article by Stuart King, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields.

This is one of those really important stories that the media simply won't report. SureStart, the Labour Government initiative to help children and young families in our least affluent areas has succeeded in eradicating the gap between how children in its catchment area develop educationally compared to affluent areas. This straightforward chart shows the impact SureStart's had in Roehampton.

Let me just explain what the jargon means. There are two key measures for assessing how children are "developing": PSE stands for Personal, Social and Emotional development - in other words how children interact with each other, cope spending time on their own, and their relationships with their parents. CLL is Communications, Language and Literacy - ie how a child is developing educationally.

What is interesting about this graph is it shows the gap between deprived children and others closing, but attainment rising for all children. Council officers attribute this to the beneficial effect that Sure Start, as a universal service, has had for all Wandsworth’s children.

There are two questions that need to be answered now. First, isn't this more Labour-generated propaganda? The answer to that is no - I took these tables from a report written by the Conservative-run council last week; which is available here. In fact, Councillor Kathy Tracey, the Conservative Cabinet member for Children's Services in Wandsworth attended the Roehampton Partnership on Friday endorsing the successes the report highlights. Second, the cynics will question whether this has anything to do with SureStart rather than general factors. In response to that, it's really interesting that there are two other "big" SureStart schemes in the borough: one in Battersea and one in Tooting. Both started after Roehampton's - Battersea came next and Tooting was much more recent.

The same charts for each show lags in children's development - more in Tooting than Battersea and both behind Roehampton. The principal difference between them is the length of time Roehampton SureStart's been running - and it certainly isn't comparative deprivation: Roehampton is far more disadvantaged than Tooting, for example (Which is why Roehampton's SureStart got set up first).

Actually, there's a third question - and it's one that Wandsworth's Conservatives have to answer. It's simply this: SureStart works and here's the proof - so why is your party, the Conservative Party, planning to abolish SureStart if you get into power?

Cllr. Andy Gibbons

Labour Speaker Children and Young People

Osiers Gate development - too large, too high, too expensive?

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:31:00 +0000

January 7, Wandsworth's Planning Application Meeting

The Committee considered an application for the development of 8 blocks varying between 2 and 21 storeys in height in the Wandle delta. The developers' own publicity material includes the artist's impressions you can see above. The top three pictures show a view from the Wandle and the and the bottom half is the view from the other side of the Thames.

The planning officers' report stated that the development was of a very high density and that the public transport links are amongst the worst in the Borough with the nearest bus stop being half a mile away and with Wandsworth Town station being a notoriously and dangerously over-crowded mainline station.

Despite these reservations and the written objections from local Tory councillor Jim Madden, all the Tory councillors on the Committee voted for the application but without having much to say in support of it. One of them said that it would be "good" for the Government's healthy living programme if residents had to walk that distance for the crowded 220 bus!

Labour's Billi Randall and Tony Belton opposed the application as being out of scale, over density, too large for the current infrastructure of community facilities (in other words too large for the transport links) as did the Wandsworth Society. But the application was passed almost without debate.

It seems like the Wandsworth riverfront has become a developers' delight. But these tower blocks are NOT the answer to the housing needs of London. Many of the new flats are empty and almost none sustain a real community - they are expensive dormitories with little life and no established community.

We think that this craze for expensive, high rise flats on the river-side has gone far too far. Tell us what you think. We are really interested to know your thoughts.

Eliminate Child Poverty: Labour's Mission Impossible?

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:50:00 +0000

By Cllr. Andy Gibbons (from a speech to Wandsworth Council)

As 2010 dawns some of us may be reflecting on the last ten years of Labour Government. It is a mixed record, but the biggest task lies ahead: Labour’s commitment to eliminate child poverty by 2020.

The Government’s Child Poverty Bill is designed to eradicate child poverty over the next ten years. A monumental task, but - if achieved - surely the major British social reform of the first century of the new millennium. Just to get some idea of how child poverty affects Wandsworth, 30% of local children live in some degree of poverty with 25% of these living in families dependent on workless benefits. On a wider scale a staggering 55% of the Borough’s children are in families which receive Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit. And 74 out of 174 areas in Wandsworth are amongst the 25% most deprived in the country.

This Government has already taken steps to get Local Authorities to produce a Child Poverty Strategy – Wandsworth’s will be published in spring of 2010. At a national level support for the policy to date falls into four areas: improving employment prospects and incomes; providing financial support for those in low-paid jobs and for those who cannot work; creating safe and sustainable communities and improving opportunities through the Every Child Matters agenda.

The principles of the Bill are to provide access to resources such as training and services as well as money. Significantly Labour wants decent services - not just a bare minimum or safety net as the Tories’ social policy dictates - with standards assessed relative to the wealth of our society. The means by which much of this is to be achieved is by bringing together services around the child – “joined up thinking” as we have come to know it.

The implications are far reaching. Poor children live in poor families and if the strategy is to succeed, they have to be lifted out of poverty. So it will require funding – you can’t cure poverty without spending money. Wandsworth Council will need to become an enabling and proactive council within a state which intervenes for the good of its citizens. (The economic shocks of the last couple of years show that the people’s appetite for government to be active is undiminished despite the small-state visions of Conservative ideologues.) It also implies a commitment to something close to full employment, as unemployment and poverty go hand in hand.

Yet all this is at risk: the Bill is not yet law and the next election approaches. Would a Conservative government have the ambition to match Labour’s aspirations for our society? The Tories are busy sharpening their knives to slash public sector spending – a round of cuts which could trigger another recession in the British economy. There are those amongst Wandsworth’s Conservatives who doubt the value of Sure Start, one of Labour’s most successful initiatives for improving the prospects of the young. And the Wandsworth Tory reaction to Labour’s plan to extend free child care to two year olds is to threaten to scrap it.

Wandsworth’s mantra is value for money. Interestingly the Council’s own paper concludes: ‘Expenditure on the alleviation of child poverty should theoretically produce long term savings…breaking the cyclical nature of poverty within family groups, reducing dependency on benefits and decreasing the level of family breakdown…’ The Tories talk the talk but do they have the will to make it happen? Labour’s vision is about long term value. We may feel pessimism of the spirit but we should have optimism of the will over the next year.

Regeneration & Community Safety Committee Report

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:02:00 +0000

By Cllr. Billi Randall

Regeneration of Roehampton

The Tories have completely scrapped their plans to demolish sites in the centre of Roehampton. They claim that the project was only ever marginally viable, and given the current recession, it is no longer viable. Residents will feel relieved at this news, as they had been waiting for more than a year for the planning permission to be sorted out, leaving their homes blighted and local residents in a complete state of limbo.

Labour had severe doubts about the nature of this development. It would have involved decanting families from homes in the centre of Roehampton. Once the redevelopment had taken place, any resident who wished to return would no longer be Council tenants, but would have become Housing Association tenants. Also, the Council had only carried out the most cursory of consultation with local residents when they called in the estate agents Saville’s to draw up the planning application and they came up with the full demolition plan.

We welcome the withdrawal of the planning application, but remain committed to seeing the centre of Roehampton regenerated with the full involvement of local residents. Questions must now be asked about how much all this has cost the Council.

Reviewing Safer Neighbourhood Teams

The Council is going to review how the ward panels are communicating with local residents, with each other and how SNTs communicate with the Council and how they engage local businesses. We supported this initiative, as there is currently too much variation in the quality of the ward panels and of communication with local residents.

Crime in Battersea

Crime is higher in Battersea than in any of the other police sectors in Wandsworth. Overall crime has risen in Battersea over the last few months – although this is not the pattern for all crime types. Criminal damage and motor vehicle crime have remained fairly static. The report we received claimed that the recession was responsible for increases in crime, but the committee felt a good deal of scepticism about this, and did not feel that the evidence was really there to support this idea. I suspect that future reports about crime levels might make the situation clearer.

Drinking Banning Orders

These orders allow local authorities to act against individuals who misuse alcohol in public. Wandsworth Council has agreed to use these orders if they feel that they are useful where there is alcohol related anti-social behaviour and has delegated the power to make applications for these orders to the Director of Technical Services. However, these are likely to be used very rarely.

Environment and Leisure Committee Report

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:54:00 +0000

by Cllr. Rex Osborn

Importance of Bees to Local Ecosystems

We had a report to committee looking at the alarming fall in the UK’s bee population and the implications for varieties of bee peculiar to the Wandsworth area. There is growing recognition that a reduction in the bee population is a serious threat to our environment posing dangers for agriculture, horticulture and industry - honey and wax.

This report looked at what Wandsworth, with its unusually large inner city green spaces, can do to help the bee population recover. The Council parks and allotments team will seek to increase beehives in the borough. Rex Osborn, the Labour speaker on the committee asked officers to prepare a feasibility study for the planting of dramatically large quantities of lavender, a plant favoured by bees, in Lavender Hill, on public and private land. This scheme would be aimed at sustainable support for bees, creating a local feature with tourism potential and reinforcing Lavender Hill’s links with its historic lavender industry (for example bees decorate the Battersea Arts Centre).

Wandsworth Ban on use of Non-Domestic Animals in Circuses

The committee heard representations from organisations for and against this ban. It became clear that the term non-domesticated is a bit clumsy and that exotic animals might be a better term. Nevertheless such an important issue demands action and the committee went along with the terminology.

I, along with other members of committee argued that circuses may once perhaps have provided the public with a degree of informed insight into the nature of animals, that they would otherwise never have seen. But I also noted how in this age of sophisticated zoos and high quality, informative, compassionate media (e.g. Life on Earth), it is no longer appropriate for such animals to be paraded around circuses in an undignified manner. The ban was supported unanimously.

Annual Report of the Energy Management Team

The Council is now coming up to speed on its preparations for the forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme and has successfully pursued an application for the Standard which is promoted by the Carbon Trust. Both developments have been pursued by Labour’s environment speakers in full council meetings and a glance at the minutes of these will show how initially unenthusiastic Wandsworth was about both schemes. Happily Labour’s pressure has borne fruit and the borough has gotten in line with other local authorities.

Tooting Library - Opening Hours

Opening hours at the newly refurbished Tooting Library will be reviewed as the library re-opens. I have argued for some time that 7 day opening in, at least, the town centre libraries across Wandsworth is not just desirable but possible. Battersea library has achieved 7 day opening, in part, through trimming slightly the opening and closing times. Now new technology is being rolled out across Wandsworth libraries, which saves many hours of staff time. Surely a combination of these factors must make more days of opening possible. Labour is keeping a close eye on this review.

Labour Forces Tories To Invest In Tooting Town Centre

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:46:00 +0000

Labour Councillors in Tooting have been credited by a former Conservative councillor with pushing Wandsworth Council to improve Tooting town centre.

In a speech last week Cllr. Susan John-Richards, who sits as an independent after resigning from the Conservative group, admitted that she and fellow Tory councillors had no success with her own party in getting resources for Tooting town centre. She told a Council meeting that it was only when Labour made it a key political issue that the ruling Conservative group began to put money into improvements.

Labour’s demands for Tooting are:

1. More frequent street cleaning, and bring back pavement washing and chewing gum removal.
2. Abolish charges for the removal of bulky items and garden waste to reduce fly tipping.
3. Use Brightside to inform people about days and times for rubbish collections.
4. Use CCTV more effectively to catch fly-tippers.
5. Install more gates on alleyways to reduce fly-tipping and tackle anti-social behaviour.
6. Take away clutter from the town centre streets and pavements.
7. Begin doorstep collection of food and garden waste to increase re-cycling levels.
8. Promote Tooting as a good place for major stores to do business.
9. Make the town centre feel safer for shoppers and residents.
10. Improve parking for shoppers.

Since we have campaigned to raise the profile of Tooting the Council has:

* Introduced time banding so shops can only leave rubbish out a certain times. This has improved the look of the streets and is being rolled out across Wandsworth.
* Gated alleys to reduce crime and dumping of rubbish.
* Conducted a town centre survey to help promote Tooting to retail chains.
* Introduced CCTV to monitor fly-tipping and security on Church lane and parts of the Totterdown Estate.
* Re-introduced a Safer Neighbourhood Team to patrol the town centre.
* Proposed relocation of bus stops and removal of unnecessary signs and street furniture to make the streets less congested.
* Provided free Saturday Parking on Franciscan Road in the professional centre

Cllr. Nick Bowes, Labour’s councillor in Tooting Ward said: ‘There is still much to be done to make sure Tooting is firmly on the Council’s map but we have made progress.’

Rex Osborn, Labour Councillor for Graveney Ward said ‘This shows what a small but determined Labour Group can achieve. Without an effective opposition Wandsworth Conservatives would neglect the less well-off areas of the borough’

Graveney and Furzedown councillors under the Tooting Christmas Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:22:00 +0000

Graveney and Furzedown Labour Councillors joined local residents to sing carols and watch the lighting up of the Tooting Christmas tree on Tuesday.

The annual event was hosted by St. Nicholas' Church and Tooting Town Centre Partnership.

Carols were sung by a choir from Sellincourt School and afterwards we all enjoyed a hot drink and a mince pie!

A Labour Response to Lister's "Wandsworth Way"

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:11:00 +0000

A Labour Response to Councillor Lister's "Wandsworth Way" can be seen at

Belton%20full%20response%20to%20Listerv3.pdf

Ram Brewery Enquiry, 27 November 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:36:00 +0000

Tony Belton's statement to the Ram Brewery Enquiry can be seen at

Ram%20Enquiry.pdf

Tooting Town Centre Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Since 2006 we have been pushing for a better deal for Tooting from Wandsworth's Tory Council. At last the council has conducted a survey of shopping patterns in the area with the aim of boosting the local economy and bringing a wider range of shops to the town centre.

The results show there is a need for Tooting shops to ‘liberate consumers’ spend’. Sainsbury’s is a big draw at the weekend for shoppers but Croydon is the main competing centre and therefore the biggest challenge to Tooting. Top requests are for women’s fashion, bookstores, electrical goods and toys/games/hobbies.

800 people were surveyed throughout the town centre at different days and times; 50% of people questioned were from within 1 mile of the Town Centre. During the week, Tooting is a very localised centre with 50% of shoppers living within 0.9 mile and 80% within a 2.8 mile radius. - most shoppers is use Tooting for convenience goods, but go elsewhere for more expensive items.

The ‘Urban Intelligence’ group makes up 44% of Tooting’s catchment population; this group is made up of 25-34 year old young singles, degree-educated, with high disposable income. One third of visitors are from a further ‘Ties of Community’ group – longer term residents of the area; Tooting is also popular with ‘Welfare Borderline’ and ‘Twilight Subsistence’ groups with lower disposable incomes. However, 66% of the residents in the catchment are from the ABC1 socioeconomic groups.

A key finding is that ‘Parking is a prohibitive factor to people using the centre’. The lack of large units of floorspace is a further problem for big retailers so the Council’s property team is investigating land ownership of sites in Tooting.

The Future for Tooting

Labour's three key points for Tooting are:

The Council needs to be proactive, using the information from the survey to sell Tooting to retail chains.

We need to build on the cultural and social diversity which makes Tooting a unique area.

Timing is vital – as the country emerges from the recession we need to catch the wave as retailers look to expand.

Corporate Resources Committee, 18 November 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Corporate Resources Committee, 18/11/09

Noise Action Plan. The EU is directing all EU Governments to come up with a Noise Action Plan. Clearly with the Heathrow flightpath, Battersea Heliport, the largest railway junction in Europe and a complex network of main roads, Wandsworth has a large role to play. These are early days in the workplan and I do acknowledge that Wandsworth Council has been very active about Heathrow and night flights, but I had to insist that the impact of train noise on much of the Borough was not ignored.

Electoral Registration. There were quite a few performance reports about sections of the administration of no great interest outside of the Town Hall, but one interesting paper was about the Electoral Registration Unit. For those of us who spend a lot of time on the doorstep you might be interested to know that the Town Hall estimates that 92.7% of registration forms are actually returned to the Town Hall, but the real surprise for me was that under the 2009 Act registration will be on a personal and not a household basis. That means that rather than just sending a form to the household and leaving it to, say, "Dad" to fill in the form, in future everyone will need to register and sign for their registration individually. I hate to think what that will do for the registration levels for young people and some categories of tenants.

Land and property. Labour voted against the sale of half a dozen small sites, which will be sold to developers and could have been used to build social housing on. We did, however, accept the transfer of an acre or so of King George's Park to Southfields School. The school wil make it an all-weather soccer pitch and what with its commitment to provision of community access it will be better used by both school and community than it is now.

The recession and the Council. There was a rather facile paper listing more than 40 things that the Council had done to make life better for us all during the recession. However, a very high percentage of the items were in place or planned before the recession started, for example, it mentioned the opening of Wandsworth Town Centre Library even though that was essentially a cost cutting exercise, reducing the number of jobs in the Borough.

Tooting Town Centre. There was an interesting paper about the town centre and its socio-economic and shopping characteristics but it was far too long and complex to summarise here. It can be read, however, at http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000297/M00003074/AI00014686/$coveringnoteforrevisedGapAnalysisreportPaperNo091005.docA.ps.pdf

Cllr Tony Belton

Children And Young People's Committee

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:53:00 +0000

School Cleaning
Wandsworth’s school cleaning contract is to be re-tendered – the Tory Council wants to go for a five year deal because it might be cheaper but schools would prefer a three year contact, giving them more power over underperforming contractors. In response to my question about defaults (cases where the company hasn’t done the job properly) I discovered that since April of this year Julius Rutherfoord had 393.5 default points and had been fined £3212, whilst the other contractor, Superclean had 228.5 default points and was fined £1233.

Tory Stealth Taxes in Action – More Charges On The Way
We voted against above inflation increases for charges on a number of services for children and young people. With inflation running at 1.5%, the cost of hiring a room from youth services will go up by between 3% to 4.5%, whilst fees for holiday playcentre places for children whose families are on income support will increase by 2.5%.

Boost For Wandsworth’s Youth Offending Team
Despite Wandsworth being a relatively low crime area, it is important to maintain a team which works with our young people to stop them getting involved in serious crime. The Youth Offending Team was established in 1998 as the result of a Labour Government initiative, but its performance lags behind other London Boroughs. It will now grow by four extra staff to help it achieve Government targets for the reduction of young people being imprisoned or reoffending and increasing their uptake of training or employment.

New Playground on The Pleasance, West Putney
Government grant of £138,000 will pay for a natural play area in The Pleasance. The playground will have play features such as boulders and landscaped terraces and be planted with trees and shrubs.

Government Grant to Improve School Kitchens
The Government has given funding of £447,000 to improve the school kitchens at Garratt Park, Swaffield and Southmead schools. The other part of the total investment of £913,000 comes from the Council. The money is intended to improve the quality of food and encourage more children to take up healthy school meals.

Cllr. Andy Gibbons
Opposition Speaker Children and Young People

Parents Speak Out On Belleville ‘Superprimary’

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:33:00 +0000

On Monday night parents challenged proposals to expand Belleville Primary school to take 800 children, making it one of the largest primaries in the UK. The plan, which would be funded by £6m of government money would provide new nursery and office space as well as a new dining hall by replacing temporary classrooms and the existing nursery buildings.

However, parents had doubts about increasing the capacity of the school to take the extra pupils, pointing out that it would mean a reduction in play space per child. Some felt the school was already too big, but others felt there might be scope for expansion.

The Wandsworth Conservative policy of expanding popular schools was challenged during the discussion. Amongst alternative suggestions, parents wanted the money invested in neighbouring schools to improve standards and for the council to look into building a new school.

But the meeting, which was attended by over 100 parents, teachers and councillors, ended inconclusively, with an agreement to provide more information about the plans and extend the consultation period.

The pressure on places in primary schools is the result in a sudden growth in population, from 4184 children joining reception class in 2005 to an estimated 5246 in 2012. The Tory council has also closed and sold four primaries – Wandle, John Milton, Ethelburga and Joseph Tritton since 1999.

Cllr. Andy Gibbons, Labour Speaker Children and Young People

Latchmere Newsletter, October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere October Newsletter (# 7)

October’s highlights

A quiet month, at least as far as the Council was concerned, with the main points being

1. The Planning Applications Committee, which had two applications of interest to Latchmere residents, although none were actually in the ward. One was for the demolition of the old Employment Exchange at the corner of Battersea Park Road and Beechmore Road (picture of me and the Exchange on a wet 1 November) and its replacement by 21 flats 6 town houses (the ward boundary runs down the middle of Beechmore and along Brynmaer Road). Many residents had lobbied me and other Committee members against this as too large, un-neighbourly and inappropriate. The Committee turned the application down unanimously. Some locals rather like the look of the old Exchange and do not want it to be demolished but unfortunately I don’t think that it is going to be likely. The second was for 30 houses and flats and some commercial property in Chatfield Road, behind the York Road frontage. That area is in need of redevelopment and the application, which included a fair amount of affordable housing, was approved. The full agenda can be seen at http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000304/M00003047/AI00014277/PaperNo09851Adoc.pdf

2. The Council met on 21st. For most of the year the Council Chamber has been out of action because of serious faults discovered in the listed ceiling and we have been meeting in the Civic Suite. It completely lacks atmosphere and the meetings are really difficult. The Council is a very formal occasion, with both Labour and Tory playing party political games. Of course, I think the Tories are worse at it than we are but then I would, wouldn’t I? But given that nowadays all the Council does is confirm decisions that have already been taken it is difficult to see how it could be otherwise. There were, however, some interesting moments. Councillor Lister, the Tory Leader, admitted that the Council raises its charges as high as they can. One particular example was the 148% increase over three years in adult day care services. That means the charge for a home help has now gone up to £12.40 per hour. These services are essential for the most hard up and disadvantaged in our society. You would never guess that from the Tory attitudes - I just cannot understand their priorities!

3. I went to the formal Opening of South Thames College. You may have noticed the re-building going on in the college and a visit to the college just shows how good the work has been. I don’t suppose the students will think about it that much but they are fortunate to be studying in such a facility. It is a major example of just how much investment the Government has been putting into our schools and colleges.

4. I went to the Harling Court Residents’ Association, who not surprisingly are concerned about the possible re-development of the Travis Perkins site in Battersea Park Road, and to the Latchmere SNT.

5. I have played a part, along with Martin Linton, in persuading the Borough’s amenity societies to come to a joint position on some planning issues. Traditionally the Battersea, Wandsworth, Putney and Balham Societies have kept their lobbying to issues in their own patch, but the Council has been able to pick them off one by one. Now they are making joint representations I think they will be far more effective.

6. But what has taken up much of my time is what you might call housekeeping. It is not directly related to being a councillor but it is the sort of thing that comes with the territory. So I have spent much of my time helping in the selection of Labour’s 60 candidates for next May’s Council elections. We are now almost done and have 51 in place. But I am also the Treasurer of the Battersea Labour Party and of SERA, Labour’s principal green, environmental group. This is a busy time for both organisations with the coming General and Borough Elections being the main demands on finance!

My programme for November

I intend to be at the Regeneration and Community Safety Committee (2/11/09), Planning Applications Committee (5/11/09 – Yes, bonfire night), the Fireworks Show in Battersea Park and the Remembrance Day Service in the Park on the 8th, the London Conference (7/11/09), the Civic Awards reception when the Council honours up to 6 local heroes, the Corporate Resources Committee and the Heliport Consultation Committee and the Audit Committee, let alone the Falcon Road Residents Association and party meetings.
But in addition on 21st Labour candidates for the Borough Elections on 6th May next are having their own teach-in..

Did you know that?

Joubert Street on the Latchmere Estate was named after a Boer War general – one Piet Joubert (1831-1900). He stood for election as President for the independent republic of the Transvaal against Paul Kruger and judging by this picture of him he was an extremely imposing man. He became a general in the first Boer War but he was nearly 70 by the time of the second.

The British action in South Africa (the Boer Wars) was strongly opposed by many leading British, Liberal politicians and most of the Independent Labour Party as an example of the worst excesses of imperialism. It was, therefore, not surprising that John Burns of Burns Road and Battersea Borough Council, then staunchly Labour, were also opposed to the war.

Perhaps it was a bit of a surprise, however, that a road on the estate was named after a Boer general, who had as far as I can tell, no particular connection to Battersea. It was a contentious decision in the Council. Can you imagine, the likely response to calling a post war estate Rommel House or Von Richthofen Avenue? Or today having your road called Saddam Hussein Avenue. But Joubert, a gentleman farmer, a general and a politician had a reputation in Europe as being an enlightened and progressive statesman – so perhaps he was rather different from the Iraqi dictator!

Nevertheless the decision to call the road after Joubert showed the strength of the local Stop-the-War Committee, presided over by one William Matthews and indeed the next street to Joubert Streeet is called Matthews Street and is pictured here.

Graveney Councillors' Report Back Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:26:00 +0000

At our Ward report-back meeting at St Boniface School we talked to residents about our work on the Council and listened to issues raised by the audience. We covered a wide range of topics.

One particular concern was the cost of parking, which we agreed was too high (it has risen by 44% since 2006). Shopkeepers were worried that lack of parking was driving customers away, so we asked that the free Saturday parking in the Franciscan Road Centre is better publicised.
Another issue was the state of the roads and pavements and we got an assurance from officers that any defects reported to them would be inspected - get in touch with us and we’ll pass them on.

Planning was raised, with concerns expressed about houses being split into flats and houses being built in gardens. Applications are dealt with on a case by case basis, so if you have objections get in touch.

Although there was positive support for cycling, some residents were worried about cycling on pavements, so we agreed to raise it with Graveney’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams and see if signage could be clearer.

Flytipping and rubbish was also mentioned. We suggested that there should be one free annual collection to help residents without transport get rid of big items. In past years we have had some success in asking for a ‘spring clean’, and will put pressure on the Council to do this again. New government figures show 30% of London’s flytipping occurs in Wandsworth!

Wandsworth Council Meeting, 21 October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Tony Belton) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Wandsworth Charging policies

Wandsworth Tories showed us what to expect from any future Tory Government. In Deputy Leader Heaster’s own words, “The Council’s charging policy is to maximise charges for specific services so as to minimise any indirect subsidy from the council taxpayer, seeking wherever possible to recover the cost of service provision as a minimum”. Note the "as a minimum" in other words they will make a profit out of Council services wherever possible.

Sounds all right, I guess, until you see from the answer to Questions 2 (http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000296/M00003057/AI00014335/$COUNCILQUESTIONS.doc.pdf) that the policy has resulted in a 148% increase over 3 years in the charge for adult day care. The adults, who receive this service, are by definition the poorest and least able to care for themselves but that does not stop the Tory scrooges.

Not of course, that the Tories are against subsidies as long as it is the Government, who are paying for them. So whilst Tory Edward Lister supported Mayor Boris Johnson’s hike of public transport fares the Tories were demanding that the Government increase its support for concessionary fares.

The Tory majority on the Council were also critical of the Government’s handling of the economy, even though all experts say that Cameron’s policies would have been disastrous last autumn during the height of the banking crisis. They criticise the Government for running up a debt but then are furious at any attempts to make savings such as on Territorial Army training.

So when a backbench Tory, Cllr Beddows, moved a resolution to support the TA, the Leadership wanted to make it into a party-political divide. Fortunately quick discussions between Beddows and Labour Leader, Tony Belton, resulted in unanimous support for a TA supporting resolution.

Government support for Wandsworth Schools

The Government's £140 million funding of Wandsworth's schools through its Building Schhols for the Future programme did not, of course, get much of a mention. But there was much talk about the future of public sector pensions. The surprising thing is that rather than extend the benefits of final salary pensions to the whole of the work-force, the Tories are interested only in destroying them. And don't believe any Tory story about not being able to afford final salary pensions. Sir Fred Goodwin's pension alone costs more that final salary pensions would cost all HSBC employees earning less than £50K p.a.

Wandsworth's Tory Leader Comes Clean On Stealth Taxes

noreply@blogger.com (Councillor Andy Gibbons) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:14:00 +0000

Cllr. Eddie Lister, Tory Leader of Wandsworth, says local councils should hike up the prices of local services as far as they can go:'We will look to increase charges as far as possible beyond inflation so that consumers of the services are bearing the full cost'*

He’s prepared to play Tory politics with services that people rely on:“It is worth taking a trial and error approach to see just what the market [residents] will bear.” So while, with one hand, the Tory council appears to give by making reductions in council tax, they take from families with the other hand.

Just look at the rise in these charges over the last four years:

Family with two teenage kids to watch Council Fireworks - from free to £24

Home care for the elderly - from £5 to £12.40 per hour a 148% rise!

Day care for the elderly from £10.30 to £15.30 per hour

Meals on wheels - from £3.10-£4.30 per meal

Rise in parking charges £66-to £95 per year

Getting rid of garden waste - from free to £17.50

Removal of old household appliances - from £11-£14.50

These are just some of the many above-inflation price hikes for residents who use Council services. Because these charges are the same for everyone they hit the poor hardest, but they are hardly felt by the wealthier residents of the Borough. For example, they don’t pay parking charges because the residents of the most exclusive areas don't have Parking Zones or they park in their drives. Equally not everyone has a car to drive rubbish to the dump.

Of course this is bad news for residents, so Lister has another trick up his sleeve: “Successfully managing the PR and the media will be important for high key changes which may involve closing schools or shutting down facilities which are well loved by their users and families. In major cases, a carefully thought out campaign will be needed to win the day.” Who pays for this? Well the Council has a PR team and produces Brightside, which is delivered to every home in Wandsworth – paid for by you, the Council tax payer!

* from a pamphlet published by right-wing think tank ‘Localis’