Labour welcomes partial reversal of Westminster weekend street sweeping cuts

Conservatives admit they got it wrong but many Westminster streets will still have no weekend street sweeping service.

Labour Councillors have welcomed Westminster Council’s decision to partially reverse the unpopular weekend street sweeping cuts, but say that the reinstatement of only 22 of the 70 staff sacked last year (at a cost of £224,000) does not go far enough and will still leave many parts of Westminster with un-swept and rubbish-strewn streets at the weekend.

At the Budget meeting on 7th March, Labour Councillors will be proposing that all 70 weekend street sweeping posts are reinstated across Westminster at a cost of an estimated £650,000 a year, to be funded by a similar cut in the £2.8 million a year Communications and Policy Department Budget.

A report to Councillors says;

“Weekend Sweeping – The most recent Veolia contract variation (July 2011 – £3.76m contract cost reduction) included the removal of 49% of weekend street sweepers – 70 from 144 staff (saving £643K) with the remaining staff being predominantly deployed in the West End and similar commercial streets. Although professionally and sensitively implemented, this reduction has seen an impact on the levels of cleanliness achieved, particularly in residential streets close to commercial thoroughfares. It is therefore proposed to reintroduce 22 street sweepers on each Saturday and Sunday, with their deployment being based on an analysis of complaints levels, local knowledge and the views of ward councillors.”

Westminster Labour unveils £1.675 million frontline service improvements

Westminster Labour Councillors have unveiled a £1.675 million package of frontline service improvements as part of the Council’s 2012/13 Budget. The service improvements will be financed by reducing the Council’s £2.8 million a year Communications and Policy budget by the same amount, leaving over £1.1 million year for this back-office activity.

The proposed service improvements are;

* Reinstate Weekend Street Sweeping in north Westminster. The street sweeping budget was cut in half last year by the Conservatives, since when there have been regular complaints from residents in the Harrow Road area, Maida Vale and Bayswater. The cost of reinstating the weekend street sweeping service is £700,000

* Increase in the number of Dog Wardens from 2 to 10. This will cost £320,000 a year and will enable effective action to be taken against irresponsible dog owners who allow their dogs to terrorise local residents and foul the streets.

* Reverse the cut to the Taxi-Card scheme at a cost of £300,000 so that many elderly and disabled residents, including those who do not qualify for help because they do not claim benefits (even though they are eligible), can receive this vital service.

* Reverse the cut to the Play Service. This will cost £100,000 and will enable many parents to get the support they need.

Labour call for Westminster leadership candidates to make their manifestos public

Labour Councillors have called on the Westminster Council Conservative leadership contenders to make public their secret election manifestos currently circulating to the 48 Conservative Councillor electors who will decide the future direction of one of the most important Councils in Britain.

Local sources say that Knightsbridge & Belgravia Councillor Philippa Row has sent her glossy colour election brochure by hand-delivery to the 47 Conservative Councillors whose votes she wants. West End Councillor Jonathan Glanz has circulated a 20 page ‘call to action’, while his West End Ward colleague has sent out an email with her election message. So far, there is no news of how the fourth contender, Pimlico Councillor Ed Argar intends to persuade his fellow Conservatives to vote for him.

Labour say that all the Leadership election manifestos should be deposited in Westminster’s libraries, made available to the press and displayed on the Westminster Council website, at the very least.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group said; “It is a scandal that this election is being held in secret. Residents have a right to know in what directions the four leadership contenders intend to take the Council. Will there be more cuts to front-line services? Will charges for meals on wheels, school dinners, rents and parking continue to rise? Will more staff be sacked? And what are their plans for parking in the West End?

Westminster Council rents hiked while richest save with Council Tax freeze

Westminster Conservatives are putting up Council rents by 6.96% (7.30p a week), almost twice the rate of inflation, which will cost some of the poorest residents £379 a year, while at the same time the Conservatives are accepting a Government ‘hand out’ of £1.24 million in order to avoid a 2.5% Council tax, thereby saving over 14,300 residents living in homes worth over a million pounds having to pay an extra £19 a year for Council services.

Labour Councillors say that, while Westminster Conservatives are happy to accept a £1.24 million Government ‘hand out’ to freeze the Council Tax which will save 14,300 Band H Council Tax payers £19 a year, the Conservatives have no difficulty in imposing a £7.30p rent increase on the Council’s 12,000 Council tenants which will cost them £379 a year extra.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “Nothing could demonstrate Westminster Conservatives warped sense of priorities than the way in which extra costs have been loaded on to Council tenants while the Council uses a Government ‘hand out’ to save people living in million pound houses and flats having to pay an extra £19 in Council Tax for Council services. The Conservatives say that “we’re all in this together”, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Call for Westminster Council action after urban fox leaves pet for dead

Queen’s Park Councillors have repeated their call on Westminster Council to take action to safeguard residents’ children and pets from urban foxes which roam around many parts of north Westminster, including Queen’s Park, St John’s Wood and Bayswater.

Queen’s Park resident Sarah Weaver has written to local Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg to say;

“I know the council refuse to take the issue of foxes seriously, so I thought I would send you this photo to pass on to the relevant people to see if it might persuade them. I find it absolutely disgusting that people’s pets are being mutilated in this way and the council refuse to do anything about it.

The cat was lying in the pathway by the children’s playground on Ashmore Road as I took my daughter to nursery this morning, she has just turned 3 years old and is subjected to this kind of sight. When I went to pick her up it was still there and luckily I saw a street cleaner over on Shirland Road so went to ask him who I should call to have it removed. He told me that it was up to him to clear it away (poor man!) and asked me to take him to where it was. He took one look at it and said ‘foxes’ and then took this photo for me before clearing it away. While we were there a local resident passed by and said that she had seen the foxes there many times and that they don’t even bother to move out of her way when she walks past.

Westminster accepts £6.3m in ’state hand-outs’ to freeze council tax

Westminster’s richest residents save £20 a year while Council cuts another £24 million of services.

Westminster Council’s Council Tax freeze is the result of massive £6.3 million ’state hand-outs’ and nothing to do with the Council’s so-called ‘efficiency’, say Labour Councillors.

Labour say that, just like last year, Westminster’s Council Tax freeze was made possible only because of a £1.24 million ‘hand-out’ from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The £1.24 million ‘hand-out’ is equivalent to a 2.5% Council Tax rise.

In addition, Westminster, the richest Council in the country, only managed to balance its books in 2011/12 because of a Government ‘hand-out’ of £5.1 million through the New Homes Bonus which gives money to Councils for giving planning permission for new housing developments.

At the same time, Westminster Conservatives are making a further £24 million of cuts to services, after a £60 million cut in 2011/12.

Twelve questions for the next Leader of Westminster Council

With Westminster Council’s 48 Conservative Councillors set to decide in secret, behind closed doors, which of them will be the next Leader of the Council, Westminster’s Labour Councillors have posed 12 Questions which they are asking all the candidates to answer.

Labour say that they are appalled that none of the candidates – Philippa Roe, Ed Argar, Jonathan Glanz and Glenys Roberts – have bothered to issue a public manifesto or subject themselves to ‘hustings’ meetings where residents can quiz them about the direction in which they want to take the Council.

Labour Councillors say that the Conservatives’ failure to let residents have a say in the election of the next Council Leader will fatally undermine the ability of the new Leader to command wide support and to take tough decisions. With an expected close fight between Philippa Roe and Ed Argar, Labour say that just 25 Conservative Councillors could decide the election of the Leader of a city of 250,000 people.

The 12 Questions for the next Leader of Westminster City Council are;

1. What are your proposals for improving adult social care so that the Council is no longer the joint worst in London?

2. How will you change the Council’s priorities so that the problems found in a recent Demos survey that Westminster Council is one of the three worst performing in the country, ranking 150 out of 152 care funding councils in England for the very bad way it is coping with the cuts, can be addressed?

3. Do you endorse The Times’ manifesto on “Cities fit for Cycling” which include a 20mph speed limit in residential areas?

4. What are your plans for reducing the 800 Westminster families in temporary accommodation (often in B & B hotels) and 1,000 families living in overcrowded accommodation, many who have children sharing a room with adults and with no place to study?

Westminster Council joint bottom of London league for Adult Social Care

Westminster Council is joint bottom of the London league for Adult Social Care, according to the 2010/11 Adult Social Care Survey. In a report to the Council’s Audit and Performance Policy and Scrutiny Committee, Councillors have been told:

“The 2010/11 Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) benchmarking report shows Westminster’s score (of 17.4) amongst the lowest in London. Results from the survey are aggregated together for each council and a composite score calculated. The questions covered the individual’s perceptions of their quality of life, independence, cleanliness and comfort, contact with others and extent to which the way services are delivered makes them feel positive about themselves. Data from the Research and Consultation Team suggests that opinion of the council’s services in this area have been affected by the changes in eligibility criteria which resulted in some service users receiving a smaller care package or had some elements of care withdrawn.”

Councillor Adam Hug, Labour’s Adult Social Care spokesperson said; “This latest survey is further evidence that Westminster’s cuts to vulnerable adults are too fast and too deep. Residents’ perceptions of the damaging impact that these cuts are having are real and demonstrate that the cuts are making life worse for the most vulnerable members of the community.”

Westminster Labour calls for an ‘outbreak of democracy’ over election of new council Leader

Labour Westminster Councillors say that the prospect of the election of a new Leader of Westminster City Council by just 48 Conservative Councillors, 47 of whom consistently voted to support outgoing Leader Colin Barrow’s failed West End parking charge plans, is an ‘insult to democracy’. Labour say that the new Leader of the Council should be elected by all 250,000 Westminster residents and open to candidates from all political parties.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “Confining the election of the next Leader of Westminster City Council to 48 out-of-touch Conservative Councillors is damaging for both democracy and for the credibility of the Council.

“Everything is shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Nobody knows who is standing for election. None of the likely candidates have issued a ‘manifesto’ setting out their values and priorities. And nobody knows whether any of the ’seven dwarfs’ who have been mentioned as possible candidates would do things any differently than Colin Barrow.

“The only people who get a say on who will be Leader of one of the most important Councils in the country are 48 Conservatives – 47 of whom, like sheep, supported the failed West End parking plans without a word of dissent. Is this really the way to inspire confidence in the future of Westminster after the appalling West End parking fiasco?

“Westminster Council is like the Titanic, with the 48 Conservative Councillors acting as the deckchairs, waiting to be re-arranged as the Council’s reputation sinks further below the waves.

West End Commission – open letter to Westminster’s Chief Executive

Below is an Open Letter to Mike More, Chief Executive, Westminster City Council, on the decision to scrap the West End Parking evening and Sunday parking charges and to set up a ‘West End Commission’.

Dear Mike

West End Parking and ‘West End Commission’

I understand that you will be preparing a report recommending the establishment of a ‘West End Commission’ following the Council’s decision to scrap the universally unpopular proposal to introduce evening and Sunday parking charges in the West End and to ban parking on 8,400 single yellow line parking spaces.

As you know, the past six months has seen the Council lose the trust, respect and confidence of West End residents, businesses, churches and people working in the West End. The Council has taken the first small step in winning back that trust by admitting that the parking proposals were wrong, but much more has to be done. I would like to make a few suggestions as to the next steps.

First, the Council has to say sorry. It may be hard for the Conservative Group to say that word, but it is essential for someone to say it and I suggest that, in the absence of anyone else, you should step forward and apologise on behalf of the Council for the misery, concern and expense that so many people have been put to in fighting these proposals. Given that the Council wants people to participate willingly and positively in the West End Commission, then a display of humility is essential.