Today’s news that all the Labour councils in London are to freeze council tax next year (I say all, they only have eight) came as something of a shock.

First of all, I don’t think London Labour have a particularly good track record of keeping council tax low. If you take the inner London Labour boroughs at band D they charge an average of £1,276. Conservative authorities charge an average of just £899. And those bald figures hide other facts. The most expensive Conservative borough, Hammersmith and Fulham has only been Conservative controlled since 2006, and in each year since then has actually reduced the council tax. And I would hope I don’t need to point out that Wandsworth has the lowest council tax in the country.

But what really gets me is that all eight find themselves in a position to declare no increase, when a year ago almost to the day they all rejected exactly that suggestion.

Conservative policy is to freeze council tax for the first two years of an administration. A popular policy you might think… but not, unfortunately, with London’s Labour councils who all declared they would not participate.

Apparently when the Conservatives suggested it (along with extra funding to help councils manage the freeze) such a freeze would result in “years of misery” as Labour leader’s across the capital second guessed what funding they would get from central government. This year, however, at exactly the same place in the budget setting process, with no promise of cash from the government they can all announce a freeze as a celebration of Labour efficiency.

The only conclusion you can draw is that when it comes to using council tax to buy a few votes for the beleaguered Prime Minister different rules apply.

Category: London, Politics Tags: council tax, Hammersmith and Fulham, Labour, value, Wandsworth.
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Last night saw an incredibly successful event organised by Wandsworth Town Centre Partnership (with support from St George). I made some fairly feeble attempts at recording elements – an AudioBoo:

And a video, although distance and the light mean phone cameras are not going to produce great results it does give a good impression of the set-up and the size of the audience.

Although the event was a real success what struck me the most was the potential Battersea’s riverside has. I never really think about Battersea having a destination riverside, Wandsworth has a huge length of accessible river, which is very picturesque – but something I’ve always walked or run, rather than actually gone to as a destination in itself.

Hopefully the success of the event last night will mean that more will be made of the river and more people who shared my misconception, will re-think the Thames at Battersea.

Category: Regeneration, Wandsworth Tags: Battersea Reach, Riverside, Thames, Town Centre Partnership, Wandsworth.
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I was really pleased to see that Jane Allen, who recently retired as the head of libraries in Wandsworth has been given Membership of the Order of the British Empire and becomes Jane Allen MBE.

Wandsworth has an excellent libraries service (and going to get better with the Tooting Library refurbishment and new Wandsworth town centre library) so it’s a well deserved honour.

Category: Wandsworth Tags: honours, Jane Allen, library, MBE, Queen, Tooting, Wandsworth.
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This blog is coming up to its half-birthday.  Well, sort of – there are all sorts of dates I can use, for example the blog went live on 17 December, a great time when everyone is thinking about Christmas and no-one gives a stuff about a mere councillor blog.  However, before it went live I had it as a private blog to see if I could actually keep the posting momentum going; I don’t think there’s anything sadder than an abandoned blog.

The earliest of those blog entries I’ve kept was from 24 November, in which I questioned the value of the VAT cut.  So merely for my convenience I’m using that date since I can then say six months is a good time to re-assess the value of the blog and my Twittering.

First of all though, thank-you.  I want to say thank-you to all those who read this little effort at blogging.  Thank-you to all those who comment, and thank-you in advance to all those who will comment (seriously, just write something, no need to register and you can use a fake email address if you want – comments are there for discussion, nothing else).  And while I’m at it, thank-you to everyone who follows me on Twitter.  I was genuinely flattered, when I was openly thinking of quitting Twitter, to have people tell me I should stay and was adding value to it.  I should, of course, thank all sorts of other people, like my parents, or Mrs Robinson (my English teacher who never seduced me) but I shall refrain.

But most importantly I’d appreciate some feedback on the blog and my efforts, and don’t feel you have to pull punches.  I started off blogging and using Twitter as a way of engaging and would like to know how you find it.  Are there elements you don’t like?  Are there things you think are missing?  Is there anything you think it particularly good?

And there are two questions that I have been thinking about specifically:

1. Should I keep the content solely to politics and the council?  While I know that is why most people come here I do have some (not much, but some) life outside of the two and wonder if possibly letting some of that on here would provide a bit more flavour and balance.
2. Should I start using other media?  I really want to have a play with AudioBoo and have been toying with Vimeo and YouTube as well.  Would they add value, and what sort of content would you be interested in seeing?

So it’s over to you; either that or tumble-weed blowing through the comments while a bell tolls, slowly…

Category: Blogging Tags: Council, engagement, Politics, Twitter, Wandsworth.
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I’m very proud of the work the council does in support of Neighbourhood Watch (unlike most other areas the council, rather than the police, provide support Neighbourhood Watch in Wandsworth) and particularly proud of the opportunities we’ve given for co-ordinators to take on enhanced roles.

Much of this is provided through extra training for volunteers on how they might assist authorities, like the council, police or fire brigade in the event of an emergency.  For example, one of the first training sessions was on flooding – large parts of Wandsworth are in flood risk areas.  The training taught volunteers some basics which would help them safely tackle floods – meaning they could help out their neighbours and take some of the pressure off emergency services.

Pandemic training has already been offered, but in light of the small outbreak of swine flu, and potential for it to resurface later in the year, the primary care trust – NHS Wandsworth – are offering another couple of sessions on pandemics.  This time they are open to any Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, and not just those who have previously volunteered for the additional training.

The first session is next Thursday, 14 May at the Salvation Army Citadel on Ram Street, Wandsworth SW18 starting at 7pm.  A further meeting will be organised in June.  Any Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator is welcome to attend.

Category: Community Safety Tags: Neighbourhood Watch, NHS, pandemic, Ram Street, swine flu, Wandsworth.
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I’ve just been told that there has been a murder outside Wandsworth Prison.  The victim had apparently been visiting an inmate and was shot when leaving.  Police are hunting the suspects.

I will update if I have any more relevant details.

UPDATE: The story is now being covered by BBC News – Man killed outside prison gates – who have more information.

And arrests have been made – Three held over prison shooting.

Category: Community Safety Tags: crime, Heathfield Road, police, Wandsworth, Wandsworth Prison.
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The council are running two more ‘recession workshops’ for local businesses.

The first is tonight (Wednesday 29 April) for businesses based in Wandsworth, Earlsfield and Southfields.  It is being held at Blend, 111-113 Wandsworth High Street at 7pm.  Attendees will be lucky enough to hear me speak on the council’s reponse.

The second is tomorrow (Thursday 30 April) for Clapham Junction businesses.  Held at Battersea Arts Centre on Lavender Hill it starts at 5.45pm.

GLE oneLondon will be at both events to provide advice and are offering ongoing mentoring to businesses.  Both will also provide networking opportunities for attendees.

Category: Regeneration Tags: BAC, Clapham Junction, Earlsfield, Economy, EDO, Lavender Hill, recession, Southfields, Wandsworth, Wandsworth High Street.
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Last month brought the news that the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) were freezing funding for building projects in colleges across the country.  South Thames College was just one of the colleges affected, being in the middle of a two phase rebuilding of their Wandsworth site.  Other colleges were even unluckier, having demolished their buildings to be told the money to replace them wouldn’t be there!

Yesterday saw the publication of Sir Andrew Foster’s report on what went wrong, few people come out of it in a good light.  But even though it was a government commissioned report – and presumably expected to come to the ‘right’ answers – it failed to exonerate the Department for Innovation, Universities and Schools (DIUS).  Sir Andrew concluded “that the crisis was predictable and probably avoidable.” He also failed to identify any reason why DIUS didn’t intervene and stop the LSC making promises it just couldn’t afford to keep.

The funding crisis was made public in last month, March 2009 – but it was revealed the LSC knew they had a problem in February 2008, over a year earlier, and that DIUS officials knew in May 2008.  Despite this the LSC were allowed to continue the making their spending promises.  In fact they managed to make promises that would have swallowed their entire capital budget for three years by the end of 2008!

The subject was debated at last night’s full council meeting with Labour trying to suggest that the Government had no responsiblity.  I’m aware that we often play the blame game in this country, and while I’m not keen on being part of it, where does the buck stop on this one?  When the DIUS gives the LSC its budget, isn’t it reasonable to expect them to at least keep an eye on the spending?  And when DIUS officials are part of the LSC’s decision making process, isn’t it reasonable for them to raise questions and call a halt when there are obvious problems?

Even worse, at the same time the minister was doing nothing about this crisis he was issuing a press release celebrating his commitment to and investment in the further education sector.  Left hand, meet right hand.

The council resolved to lobby the LSC and the Secretary of State to get South Thames College’s funding reinstated, but frankly it’s hard to imagine the current lot of ministers having the competence to rectify their failings.

Category: Wandsworth Tags: education, Learning and Skills Council, LSC, South Thames College, Wandsworth, Wandsworth High Street.
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Wandsworth announced today that there would be no increase in council tax.

This makes the second year in the row that Wandsworth has not increased its share of council tax.  However, it’s the first time that bills have not gone up at all – since Ken Livingstone more than doubled his share in his eight years in power.

To add a bit of politics, it shows the value of having Conservative administrations at both City and Town Hall levels: both are committed to providing quality services, but both are committed to making them as efficient as possible, so we take as little as possible from you to pay for them.

Band D council tax remains at £682, still the lowest in the country.  Since the council continues to a top-rated authority by the Audit Commission we’re still number one for service and value.

Category: Wandsworth Tags: Boris Johnson, council tax, Wandsworth.
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Something of a retread post, but if you haven’t already there are still a few days left to register a vote for one of your local parks and help it win funding from the Mayor who is investing £6 million into popular London parks.

Forty-seven parks across London have been shortlisted and the ten with the most votes will receive some of the funding for improvements.

Two of the shortlisted parks are in Wandsworth, so please considering voting for one of them. It can be done by text or online.

The two parks are:

King George’s Park (Wandsworth)
You can vote for King George’s by:
texting PARKS SW18 3HS to 62967
using the voting form on Help a London Park.

Latchmere Recreation Ground (Battersea)
You can vote for Latchmere by:
texting PARKS SW11 5AD to 62967
using the voting form on Help a London Park.

Texts will cost 10p, in addition to any charge you pay to your network and voting ends on 30 January. You can find out more details from Wandsworth council’s parks vote page or the GLA’s Help a London Park.

Category: Wandsworth Tags: Battersea, Boris Johnson, GLA, Latchmere, parks, Wandsworth.
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