Tag Archives: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

150% COUNCIL TAX ON EMPTY AND SECOND HOMES, demands Kensington Labour

Leave a reply


<

14.12.12

Kensington and Chelsea Labour councillors are urging the Conservative ruling group to withdraw the current 10% discount and raise the Council Tax payable on all second homes by 150% in the Borough from next April.

Labour Leader Cllr. Judith Blakeman said: “it is a disgrace that so many homes in this Borough are bought up as second, third or fourth homes by wealthy buyers and then left empty for most or all of the year. Since the Tory-led government won’t introduce a mansion tax or raise the number of Council Tax bands, this is the best option for us to achieve greater fairness”. Councils as disparate as the London Borough of Camden and Cornwall County Council, both blighted by excessive second homes, have already agreed to increase the tax on those properties. Kensington and Chelsea Labour councillors are urging the Conservative ruling group to raise the Council Tax payable on all second homes in the Borough from next April.

Labour draws attention to developments such as Chelsea Harbour, where the lights burn at night in only a very few of the hundreds of flats there. New developments, such as in Kensington High Street/Warwick Road, are actively marketed to foreign buyers seeking a safe haven, a trophy London home to add to their investment portfolio. They purchase homes in London but rarely, if ever, occupy them, they make no contribution to local community life and some areas of the Borough are now empty shells in the evenings and at weekends.

Labour Finance Spokeswoman Cllr. Emma Dent Coad said: “the coalition government keeps talking about ‘fairness’. Well, we think it is unfair that people like Mrs. Braithwaite, who lives in Golborne Ward and works tirelessly on behalf of her neighbours and her community, pays just £35 less Council Tax each month than the Sultan of Brunei, who has a rarely used mansion near Kensington Palace.”

Labour are preparing their alternative budget for the forthcoming 2013/14 Council Tax year. They will be focusing on children, young people, a local Olympic legacy and the need to protect vulnerable residents in the face of continuing Conservative cuts to services. Although the Tories claim that the Tri-borough initiative with Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham will prevent cuts to front line services, in reality cuts are being made. One of the most savage is the massive cut in child care for working families, forcing parents, mainly mothers, into unemployment and out of the education and training that would prepare them for the jobs market. Other cuts, to street cleaning for example, have made even the very best streets in the borough dirty and shabby.

The 2011 Census reveals that there are at least 9,303 second homes in the borough. The figure for those owning more than one “second home” in the borough are not available but is also significant. The additional money that raising the Council Tax on these properties would bring will enable some of the most damaging front line service cuts to be reversed.

PETITION TO END TNT POSTAL SERVICES PILOT

Leave a reply

Cllr Pat Mason

After receiving numerous complaints from worried residents about TNT’s performance, North Kensington Labour Councillors have launched a public online and paper petition to be delivered to the January 2013 Council Meeting asking RBKC to examine these complaints and decide if the government should be asked to end the TNT pilot currently underway in the borough. TNT have contracts to deliver business and government department mail on a trial basis in K&C as part of a pilot that  includes Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham.

The petition states that, “In North Kensington we have seen post abandoned in the streets, bushes and in the entrances of blocks of flats. Letters are lost, delayed, mis-delivered and stolen. This can have a devastating effect on local businesses and residents waiting for cheques, job offers, hospital appointments, contracts etc”.

Many of these letters can contain disability appointment dates, cold weather payment cheques, debit cards, and all manner of sensitive financial, social security and other information useful to criminals and scammers who will take any opportunity to rob our residents. The evidence suggests that when TNT deliveries go wrong, their complaints and redelivery systems are inadequate, their constant promises to better brief operatives to deliver mail properly and learn from their mistakes comes to nothing, and residents and business are left angry and frustrated.

Councillor Pat Mason said, “For the sake of our residents I hope the Council will seriously examine how TNT’s unacceptable delivery failures are leaving them exposed to interrupted payments, thieves and scammers. I have personally seen enough and believe they should be booted out of the borough”.

Click ‘Thanks but No Thanks to TNT’ link in sidebar to the right to sign petition.

22.11.12

RICHEST COUNCIL TURNS ITS BACK ON WORKING POOR

Leave a reply

Councillor Robert Atkinson, Labour’s spokesperson for Children’s Services

1.11.12 New Children’s Centre strategy will not make work pay

As expected the Cabinet of RBKC voted unanimously on Halloween to privatise its OFSTED ‘Outstanding’ Rated Childcare Services.
Labour Children’s Services spokesperson Cllr Robert Atkinson attacked the hypocrisy of the wealthy Conservative Council for claiming to consult its parents and qualified staff and then ignoring the finding that more than 94% of users and staff did not wish to ‘marketise’ the service. Cllr. Atkinson commented: ‘They may have listened but they most certainly have not heard. The Council claimed to be concerned at the plight of working parents who depend upon and value the outstanding integrated childcare service of the Royal Borough but have now decided to ignore them while citing the borough’s poverty! This from a council with £180m in Reserves which spent £23 million to repave Exhibition Road with imported pink granite and £1m on an Olympic street festival that no one went to.

‘The Cabinet claimed to value both the professionalism and high standards of its loyal staff and the frantic efforts of parents to find alternative means But in reality they plan to hand over the staff to an alternative provider who will ditch the professional staff and replace them with unskilled and cheaper childminders as soon as the “TUPE” transfer of staff commitment ends.’

The meeting was attended by 50 parents, who presented a carefully prepared proposal to develop higher means tested fees to retain an integrated easily accessed service. The Council ignored the parents’ proposals and decided instead to focus on targeted services for those they crudely identify as the most needy. Parents and staff want to maintain separate local services in eight different specialist centres while the Council intends to focus staff and expertise into two centres and risk the decline of the local services

Cllr Atkinson fumed: ‘The consultation exercise was a smokescreen to divert public attention while the Council ruthlessly got on with its plans to rid itself of loyal staff. This Council, like this government, does not understand or care about the struggles of ordinary working families to pay their bills and to stay in work. By tampering with the children’s services women will be forced out of work and onto benefits. This is bad for the families, the staff, the children and ultimately for the tax payer. The result of this short termism will be more family breakdown, lower educational achievements, less social cohesion and ultimately more crime and anti social behaviour.’

‘SMOG’ WARNING FOR NORTH KENSINGTON

Leave a reply

This week, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) warned residents in North Kensington that ground level Ozone breached safety levels as permitted under UK and European Union air pollution laws.

Ozone, a major component in the formation of air pollution smogs, destroys lung tissue, cases asthma and respiratory attacks, affects the eyes and is especially harmful to babies, young children and the elderly. The current alert has been caused by excessive traffic emissions and increased traffic due to the Olympics, the hot weather, and the inability of the government, the Mayor of London or the Council to take effective action to reduce air pollution levels.

Defra says that Ozone levels in North Kensington are High and advise that “Adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, should reduce strenuous physical exertion, particularly outdoor, and particularly if they experience symptoms. People with asthma may find they need to use their inhaler more often. Older people should also reduce physical exertion”.

Councillor Pat Mason said, “The health of 2 million Londoners and thousands of people in the Borough with asthma and respiratory problems are being put at risk because the government, the Mayor and the Council have no meaningful plans in place to reduce traffic levels and the harmful pollutants they spew out”

“A whole generation of babies and young people are being put at risk of living as asthma sufferers, and having their lungs permanently damaged while the government does nothing except issue pollution alerts and tells residents to hide inside their homes until it is over”

 

COUNCIL SPENDS £1M ON SOUTH KEN PARTY BUT WILL NOT SAVE NORTH KEN SKATE PARK

9 Replies

Residents of a North Kensington estate are furious as Kensington and Chelsea Council has refused to intervene to protect a popular children’s skate-park from demolition. Wornington Green estate, currently undergoing an unwanted re-development, has already lost precious play-space since the Council gave the developers – Catalyst Housing Group – permission to build on half the local park. This latest outrage – which came without warning or consultation – will see the skate-park replaced with Portacabins right at the start of the summer holidays.

At the same time as spending £1 million on a nine-day party in Exhibition Road to celebrate the Olympics, the Council is presiding over the loss of sporting facilities for under-privileged children just when they are most needed. As demolishing the skate-park without providing replacement facilities is not part of the approved construction plan, the Council could have intervened to save it.

Local Councillor Emma Dent Coad said:
“It would be disgraceful to demolish a children’s playground at any time; to do so just before the summer holidays is an outrage. The irony of destroying sporting facilities for young people in the opening week of the Olympics makes this doubly sickening. The Council is spending £1 million on a nine-day booze-fuelled bender for tourists in Exhibition Road, but turning its back on poorer residents.

“Catalyst Housing Group says that residents should understand that demolishing a skate-park and nearby mature trees just before the summer holidays is for their benefit. However, there are other sites, currently used as temporary car parks, that are available instead. Sadly, both the Council and Catalyst are riding rough-shod over opportunities for healthy play by young children in favour of staff car parks and a mega booze-fest in Exhibition Road. Frankly, we’ve had enough.”

VICTORY FOR MARKET AS BT PLANS ATM PHONE KIOSKS

Leave a reply

British Telecom are planning to open new telephone kiosk ATMs on Portobello and Golborne Road Market.

Following the closure of the HSBC Bank and their ATMs in Portobello Road last December that was bitterly opposed by Councillors, market traders, shops and local residents, North Kensington Labour Councillors worked hard to have the lost ATMs replaced. Colville Councillor, Dez O’Neill, has worked with HSBC, the Council and several local property owners to find alternative ATM sites. And Golborne Councillor Pat Mason contacted other banks and providers including British Telecom who operate the public telephone boxes on our streets.

The HSBC ATMs were used every weekend by thousands of visitors to the Portobello and Golborne Market. These visitors often needed cash for small sales it was not financially viable for traders to make by credit card. And Golborne Road visitors and traders have long complained that there is no bank and ATM facility there.

This week, British Telecom made planning applications to RBKC to replace their existing telephone boxes at Talbot Road and Golborne Road with new models that will include an ATM service.

Colville Councillor Dez O’Neill said, “This is welcome news since cash machines assist visitors to spend their money on Portobello and Golborne Market, and are very important for the local economy”.

Golborne Councillor Pat Mason said, “Visitors now have less money to spend because of the recession, and if putting these new ATMs on the market helps them to spend more, then that will be a good thing”.

14.5.12

‘A LIGHT TOUCH WILL NOT PROTECT OUR CHILDREN’

Leave a reply

Labour Opposition Group appalled at Council decision not to tighten standards regime in wake of second child pornography case

After a bad-tempered Council meeting on 18 April,  Labour opposition councillors have expressed their disgust and shame at the ruling Conservative group’s decision to dilute further the Council’s standards regime rather than introduce additional protections proposed by Labour. Changes to the standards regime are required as from 1 July under the Localism Act.

In the wake of the conviction of former Conservative councillor Andrew Lamont on child and animal pornography charges, Labour argued that it was essential to introduce a more robust system in Kensington and Chelsea to address any possible similar situations.

Lamont, who was convicted and placed on the sex offenders’ register on 2 April, told the Tory Leader and Whip in November 2010 that he was facing accusations of downloading extreme pornography and that obscene magazines had been found in the house by his wife. The Council leadership kept these accusations quiet in view of his protestations of innocence. Almost a year later, Lamont resigned the day before he went to Court. In the meantime he was allowed to continue as a member of the Council, including an appointment as governor of a nursery school.

The Opposition challenged the secrecy Lamont had enjoyed, first through the standards committee and subsequently on review, but were told that the Council had followed the procedures correctly. However, they remain firmly of the view that the failure to address the situation immediately had brought the Council into disrepute.

After Lamont’s conviction, Labour restated their concerns, citing the action of the Mayor of London, who required a colleague in a similar position to resign immediately and in advance of any prosecution. Labour’s view is that more robust standards are now necessary in Kensington and Chelsea to protect vulnerable residents and children.

However, rejecting Labour attempts to tighten up the regime, Council Leader Sir Merrick Cockell insisted that a ‘sensible light touch’ is all that is needed, with Deputy Leader Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown claiming that it was ‘not until Lamont was charged with a criminal offence that any decision could be made’.

Labour Group Leader Cllr Judith Blakeman said: ‘we are shocked that this Council, which has faced three resignations of Conservative councillors in less than two years on matters relating to child pornography, has nevertheless decide to dilute rather than strengthen its standards regime. We have to question whether the leadership understands the importance of robust child protection in this age of social media.”  Deputy Leader Cllr Emma Dent Coad said: ‘A light touch will not protect our children. The council must review these procedures, and do it now.’

Former Tory Councillor found guilty of child and animal porn charges

3 Replies

STOP PRESS, UPDATE 19.4.12

At the full Council meeting on 18.4.12 the Labour Opposition Group proposed an amendment to a Tory proposal about a new Standards regime. In our opinion, given the huge reputational damage done to the Council by the Lamont case, a new regime would have to provide every possible legal protection with transparent and impartial scrutiny by a panel of independents. We proposed a regime that should then be put out to public consultation so that K&C residents could comment, have genuine input, and feel that the Council has learnt its lessons and that in future any Councillor facing possible criminal charges would be suspended until justice had taken its course. This would be in sharp contrast to the Lamont case, where the charges were kept quiet for nearly a year, and the Councillor remained in post (though not undertaking his responsibilities), and remained as Council-appointed governor of a nursery, until the day before he went to Court.  

Incredibly this entirely sensible proposal was voted down, with senior Tory Councillors recommending ‘a light touch’, which is frankly bizarre and potentially puts the Council in an impossible situation were a similar situation to recur. Shame on the Royal Borough.

 

The Kensington and Chelsea Labour Opposition Group will not comment on the outcome of this criminal trial, except to say that  justice has taken its course and former Cllr Lamont has been found guilty of some of the charges he was accused of, that relate to child and animal porn.

 

However, the Labour Group believes it is time for the Council to review the procedures and protocols covering Councillors who may face criminal charges. As in any other area of public life, a person who has been arrested and faces possible criminal charges should immediately be requested formally to withdraw from his or her duties. This can be done either by resignation or by an agreed suspension of duties. It is simply not enough, as in the case of former Councillor Lamont, to make a private agreement that the individual ceases to attend meetings.

 

The Labour Group challenged the Council leadership through the Standards Committee, and subsequently at appeal, suggesting that existing procedures were not followed, the Code of Conduct was breached and as a consequence the Council had been brought into disrepute. The Standards Committee response, given on 28 February, stated that no further action would be taken as the Council had followed its existing procedures correctly. The response said that the Committee ‘could not establish how matters might have been handled differently, however unsatisfactory this might have appeared to other Members or members of the public’.

 

However, the implication of this decision is that, should any other Councillor be arrested and face possible charges and subsequent conviction, the alleged criminal could remain as an active Councillor until the day before s/he goes to Court.

 

Labour Leader Judith Blakeman said: ‘Residents expect more of the Council. There must now be a thorough review of procedures to put a more transparent process in place. Allowing a possible criminal to stay in post for almost a year and keep it secret until the day before he was charged is simply not good enough.’

 

Deputy Leader Cllr. Emma Dent Coad said: ‘Kensington and Chelsea’s lack of action contrasts badly with the Mayor of London, who faced a similar situation and demanded the immediate resignation of his colleague. The Council says it prides itself on openness and transparency; it must live up to this ideal or suffer the consequences at the ballot-box ’.

 

Further information from: Emma Dent Coad 07773 792736.

LABOUR DEMANDS ACTION FOR POOREST WARD

8 Replies

Call for all-party plan to tackle Golborne ‘most deprived ward in London’ in the richest borough in Europe

New figures* naming Golborne in North Kensington as the joint poorest ward in London on ‘extent measure’ has prompted local Councillors to propose urgent cross-party action.
Cllr Emma Dent Coad, who brought the report to light at a rowdy Council meeting last week, states: ‘Extent measure is possibly the most devastating as it shows how widespread is the depth of deprivation. K&C Tories may be surprised, but for Councillors working in this vulnerable area who have already seen endless cuts – not to mention those for the coming year – it is no surprise at all. We are seeing appalling dental health in young children, people of all ages economising on food, threats of eviction, debt, ill health and depression.’ Cllr Dent Coad is already working with local groups who are experiencing cuts themselves, to see how best to work together to target the most needy.
As a longer term measure, at the next Council meeting in April, Labour Councillor Pat Mason will propose setting up a cross-party working group to review how a North Kensington Crossrail station – to be named Golborne Station – can be used to regenerate the area. Building on the ruling Conservative Group’s proposal for a Kensal Crossrail station, Labour Councillors will take this further with a new plan that would inspire real community engagement and enthusiasm.
This plan considers some earlier ideas from Golborne Councillors for a more modest renewal of the former Kensal gasworks, and links them with plans to tackle some of the obstacles that may delay or obstruct the development of the new station. Cllr. Pat Mason said: “the ruling Conservative Group have some broad proposals around the provision of a Crossrail station. We want to push this forward and hope that both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats on the Council will work with us to realise our ambition to improve long-term the living conditions and life chances of North Kensington residents”. The Kensal site is to be used as a worksite for Crossrail until 2018, so there is time for a broad and all-encompassing consultation.
Labour’s regeneration plan includes new social rented housing to deal with local over-crowding, unhealthy dwellings and hidden homelessness. New key worker homes will also be built, along with market properties for sale. The site will include The William Rogers Centre for Health and Well-being, named in memory of a respected local resident who sadly died when Edenham Residential Care Home was demolished. The Sainsbury’s store will be relocated to a better position on the site. Shops and business units to let at reasonable rents will be included for local entrepreneurs, including students who will have graduated from the new Kensington Aldridge Academy, with its focus on developing entrepreneurial skills.
Labour Councillors are hoping to work with all parties on the Council to pursue this vision. Cllr. Emma Dent Coad said: “The Council has already earmarked some £30m of its reserves for this development and we are asking them to release some funding now to complete preparatory work and ensure that we are ready to go in 2018 when the station site becomes available for redevelopment”.

*The latest report from the GLA Intelligence Unit ‘Ward Level Summary Measures of Indices of Deprivation 2010 update January 2012’ states that Golborne is the joint most deprived ward in London, with Northumberland Park in Haringey, on ‘extent measure’.

HOLLAND PARK SCHOOL STATEMENT TO COUNCIL 22 June 2011

Leave a reply

Cllr Atkinson spoke under Standing Order 19:

Firstly, I would like to point to the excellent and first rate OFSTED report that was published recently. I hope that the whole Council will join me in congratulating the school, its staff and community on such an excellent result – a result made more extraordinary because the intake of Holland Park School remains challenging. So this excellent result is something in which the school is entitled to take exceptional pride.

Secondly, I wish to note and regret the decision made last Thursday by the Governing Body to vote to explore the possibilities of becoming an Academy. I hope (but do not expect) that this council will join me in encouraging the school to refuse this totally unnecessary development.

The OFSTED report proves not only that a change in status at Holland Park is entirely unnecessary but that if it goes ahead it will be for entirely political reasons. I regret very much that tonight’s timetable does not allow us a wider debate on this matter but I do want you all to know that if our schools do now vote to become academies it will be only because: a) the Council’s political leadership has told them that they must do so and b) that our excellent and much valued education department is already being dismantled so that the schools have no choice but to go along with the Academy proposals.

If any of our schools now walk the plank to academy status it is only because Cllr Elizabeth Campbell is pushing them over the edge at sword point. And behind her stands her wicked and ambitious ‘Pirate captain’ Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell.
Finally, I want this Council to agree over the summer to assist the school in ensuring that public consultation on this proposal is conducted as widely and as extensively as possible. The lack of consultation with the students of this school is a disgrace and the four days’ notice given to parents is entirely inadequate and I believe leaves the decision open to Judicial Review [and should Judicial Review fail this will only prove that the rules on consultation with parents and the local community have been deliberately rigged so as to make them meaningless].

I often criticise this council for its own poor efforts to consult with and involve our residents. But even the Royal Borough could not make such a poor job of resident and community involvement.

Madam Mayor, I hope therefore that this Council will applaud the excellent OFSTED report and condemn the plot to force Holland Park School to become an Academy.