Leaseholder Report Update

I recently posted on the outcome of an investigation into leaseholder charging in Southwark. The scrutiny committee which I chair has been investigating possible improvements to the rules and systems used by the council to charge its leaseholders for major works and services. For some time there has been a feeling among the 13,500 leaseholders in the borough that more could be done to provide them with information and to ensure they were getting value for money. Recommendations included new individual online accounts for leaseholders to check what they are being charged for and a new option for leaseholders to pay a fixed service charge (as opposed to a variable service charge). You can see the full report here.

Last night this report went before Southwark's full Overview and Scrutiny Committee to decide whether or not the recommendations should go forward to Southwark's Cabinet. I'm really pleased that the cross party committee unanimously agreed to let the report go forward.

It just so happened that Labour's Cabinet Member for Housing, Ian Wingfield, was at the meeting. He also gave a positive reaction to the recommendations, although he will need to discuss the report with Cabinet colleagues before giving a full, formal response. We'll have to wait until the next Cabinet meeting to see if the report's recommendations are adopted in full.

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Know Your Ryes!

A few weeks ago I was in a meeting with some local residents and council officers. During the meeting one person started referring to Rye Lane, when in fact they meant Peckham Rye East. Later on another started talking about Peckham Rye Common and it took us a little while to work out that they really meant Peckham Rye Park. You can't really blame people for getting a little confused. There are so many references to "Rye" in our little bit of South London that even the locals can get mixed up. So I thought I'd have a go at writing a little glossary of all the Ryes hereabout. Clearly I'm making a rod for my own back here, so please point out any errors I've made in the comments box below. Anyway, here are my definitions of the ubiquitous Ryes. Some serious, some not so serious, and in no particular order: Peckham Rye Ward - The council ward area. Peckham Rye Ward was created out of Rye Ward, Waverley Ward and Bellenden Ward following the Local ...

Lib Dems claim they're not in charge in Peckham Rye

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Another Bog Standard Update

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Peckham Rye Labour

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