tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29924245512621595712024-01-24T20:08:39.687+00:00Peckham Rye LabourUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger269125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-5089392555131668432018-04-25T15:12:00.003+01:002018-04-25T16:07:30.805+01:00A Proud Record. A Fairer Future<h3>
Vote for Victoria & Renata on 3rd May – Two Local Voices for Peckham Rye, with Labour Values</h3>
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Being a councillors for Peckham Rye since 2010 has been an honour and we're seeking your support once again in the forthcoming local elections on 3rd May.<br />
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We are proud of our record since 2010. We have:-<br />
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- Introduced free swim and gym for all residents;<br />
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- Introduced free healthy school meals for all primary school children and now plan to roll them out to school nurseries;<br />
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- Raised standards across our schools and created more school places;<br />
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- We’re building new council homes and making existing ones warm, dry and safe with quality kitchens and bathrooms so now 97% are decent;<br />
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- We’ve kept all our libraries open and opened new ones;<br />
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- We have the best recycling rate in inner London; and we have made the borough cleaner, greener and safer.<br />
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We have done all of this while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in government have slashed the council’s budget and made it harder to deliver services. By being efficient and using every penny as if it were from our own pocket we have kept council tax low whilst protecting front line services.<br />
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We will continue to keep it low, only raising it to protect the most vulnerable. In a world changed by Brexit and following the tragic Grenfell fire, it is more important than ever that you have a council which is on your side and prepared to take the difficult decisions to deliver a fairer future.<br />
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We have listened to you, worked with you and together, we have achieved so much. Southwark Labour will never stop being ambitious for the future. Our record shows we can be trusted to deliver so we are asking that you use your two votes for Labour on Thursday 3rd May so that we can keep delivering for you in Southwark.<br />
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The polls are open from 7am until 10pm on Thursday 3rd May. You are electing two councillors.<br />
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Please use your two votes for your Labour council candidates:<br />
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HAMVAS, Renata<br />
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MILLS, Victoria<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-37006321681770221092018-04-25T15:06:00.000+01:002018-04-25T15:06:31.479+01:00New play area open May during the May Half Term holiday<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QIpESx8frHFJcgxHfBw4ZGP60MtUk-9KJzs8YjKXykMCCgvODVBUNq_S8HC85v98zu16ROZN39rRQXEZTsJMx6NCRwso1R_7TRl98aX2quIomVInIUG-mFRNWxrg9j0_P1m7NwwzKw/s1600/vikki+Ren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="565" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QIpESx8frHFJcgxHfBw4ZGP60MtUk-9KJzs8YjKXykMCCgvODVBUNq_S8HC85v98zu16ROZN39rRQXEZTsJMx6NCRwso1R_7TRl98aX2quIomVInIUG-mFRNWxrg9j0_P1m7NwwzKw/s400/vikki+Ren.jpg" width="387" /></a></div>
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We are expecting the new play area to open during the May Half Term holiday.<br />
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We’re delighted that after years of working tirelessly to get a new play area, new football changing rooms and a new playroom on Peckham Rye we are nearly there.<br />
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The playroom is about to open. By fighting to protect the funding for local Children’s Centres we will still be able to deliver a range of free activities for local families and carers from the new playroom.<br />
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Our promise if elected – we will fight for new investment in the Peckham Rye Adventure Playground.<br />
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Once again this shows that your Peckham Rye Labour councillors are always role up their sleeves to get the job done! </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-73747887463046792402017-01-17T16:45:00.003+00:002017-01-17T16:45:38.549+00:00Free schools: A project cooked up by Tories who claim to be committed to social mobility has failed our children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OJHQBuRBOmeR0JOW8D6IJyJbeHe32GJTDcCFSDTVt13Sq-wsbKfE5rd5OUp9I0ywh5UXZdWjnig_93ldESCd1nGGoIildGHb_IMtgAmOINrPIqrp41E5F3_PRglsgUokeM-BGP5YNg/s1600/Gove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OJHQBuRBOmeR0JOW8D6IJyJbeHe32GJTDcCFSDTVt13Sq-wsbKfE5rd5OUp9I0ywh5UXZdWjnig_93ldESCd1nGGoIildGHb_IMtgAmOINrPIqrp41E5F3_PRglsgUokeM-BGP5YNg/s320/Gove.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(This post from Victoria about the closure of 'Southwark Free School', first appeared on <a href="http://labourlist.org/2017/01/free-schools-a-project-cooked-up-by-tories-who-claim-to-be-committed-to-social-mobility-has-failed-our-children/">LabourList</a>.)</span><br />
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Last week saw the demise of yet another free school. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jan/15/southwark-free-school-london-to-close-60-pupils" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Southwark Primary</a>, which opened four-and-a-half-years ago in temporary buildings, will hastily close by February half-term never having made it to its permanent site, after being developed at great public expense.</div>
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As Southwark council steps in to pick up the pieces and find places for children at other local schools it is difficult not to grind the axe about the government’s free school programme. We remain pragmatic that the programme is here to stay. However the government must reconsider the need for free school applicants to have a local and outstanding educational experience. At a time when many areas are experiencing a shortage of school places, and schools’ budgets are being cut, they must also stop wasting money building schools where there is no established demand.</div>
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The story of free schools in Southwark makes clear the important role that councils still have to play in education despite the Tories’ marginalising of our local expertise. We have seen a handful of free schools open in Southwark. Southwark primary free school was set up without the support of the council, in an area that didn’t have acute pressure on places and by a group that had no notable experience of running a primary school locally. It has never established itself as a school of choice – pupils range in age from four to nine years old but total only 56 rather than the 300 that could have been admitted by now. It has also been a source of constant worry to the council because of the quality of teaching, the turnover of headteachers and the poor quality of the temporary facilities, where it has remained for far too long.</div>
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However, where there has been involvement of the council – as an honest broker, if you like – free schools have become popular choices for parents. Strong community support, areas with acute shortages of places and the council working with established local providers have been key ingredients in creating successful schools. Two such schools are actually in council buildings – former schools that had been closed for a number of years with the buildings used for different purposes. It was the council that approached two local academies to work with us to reopen the buildings as much needed primary schools. Both have been given clear bills of health by Ofsted and are having no difficulty attracting pupils.</div>
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A large community campaign for a much-needed new secondary school, supported by the council, has seen another “home-grown” and outstanding Southwark school open a second school this last September. As proof of the strange educational landscape we find ourselves in, it is now the council that is managing the procurement and building of this £46m scheme rather than the Education Funding Agency.</div>
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Before left-leaning readers write-off Southwark council for colluding in the free school programme it worth noting that many free school proposals here have not gained any momentum. In fact we are probably one of the few places where a free school received approval to open but never did after a concerted campaign to prevent it. It’s not everyday that you win a fight against the Harris Federation.</div>
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More importantly it is Southwark’s own investment in community primary schools that has provided the great majority of school places that we need. With the government refusing to let local authorities open schools we took the decision to expand existing schools where we could. Community primary schools and special schools – that are rated “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted and that are in areas of high demand and have been oversubscribed – which posses the space to expand have been part of an investment programme worth well over £120m. The majority of that funding is council capital that could have been spent elsewhere. It hasn’t been because we made a very clear decision about the importance of local community schools. With the ending of building schools for the future we have also used expansion as a means to improve our existing school estate.</div>
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We are proud of these community schools and we are proud of the collaborative relationship we have with the majority of our academies and free schools. They work with an incredibly diverse population, that often faces many challenges, which brings me back full circle to Southwark primary free school. This vanity project has failed one of our most disadvantaged communities. Some 53 per cent of the pupils at SPFS are disadvantaged, 22 per cent have special educational needs and 61 per cent of pupils do not have English as their first language. At key Stage one, 76 per cent of Southwark children would reach the expected standard in maths and 71 per cent would meet it for writing, the comparative figures for Southwark primary are nine per cent and 27 per cent. A project cooked up by Conservative politicians who profess to be committed to social mobility has failed some of our most vulnerable young learners.</div>
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The story of education in inner London is one where our students very often arrive at school behind where they should be in development. Yet we are a success story. Our children leave our schools outperforming their peers across the country. Day in, day out, Southwark schools are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to social mobility and our schools and the local authority are incredibly skilled in doing this. Yet, at a time when experts seem to have been dismissed, it often feels that this educational know-how has been brushed aside.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Victoria Mills is Labour councillor for Peckham Rye in Southwark and cabinet member for children and schools.</strong></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-10931794917847250122016-11-25T11:43:00.001+00:002016-11-25T11:44:25.275+00:00Salt giveaway details<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Southwark Council is giving away salt at the locations below. Click on the image to enlarge it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYpIVR7dZqEKjgEf1uQQmdujw7MrWyPR8WfOlp_qlwT71vZAGzxoV86xcyfB9xCbB_y7hoXwHeS6ZolU3ZTXztEm9jF8zUhM3aqzpvkA9UZhDto5G1O_AEc8p4Dax-jLbzN_ZoR_ERg/s1600/Salt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYpIVR7dZqEKjgEf1uQQmdujw7MrWyPR8WfOlp_qlwT71vZAGzxoV86xcyfB9xCbB_y7hoXwHeS6ZolU3ZTXztEm9jF8zUhM3aqzpvkA9UZhDto5G1O_AEc8p4Dax-jLbzN_ZoR_ERg/s400/Salt.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-5749269277036871852016-08-05T14:21:00.001+01:002016-08-05T14:21:46.526+01:00Peak time travel for Southwark residents - tell us your views<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCuf03lvpfSxD8xiAzkx001MrhVhpnbXfrDe979OQXSYEASPgSvowgpmzz1-RHm8rUIPhY7RmChx4sMP8x-Qq5mu4L9k7zwE8wBjEzlboaVT02PM8aOpn4Fz2DOU42xfN7IkPlKQyDTg/s1600/Transport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCuf03lvpfSxD8xiAzkx001MrhVhpnbXfrDe979OQXSYEASPgSvowgpmzz1-RHm8rUIPhY7RmChx4sMP8x-Qq5mu4L9k7zwE8wBjEzlboaVT02PM8aOpn4Fz2DOU42xfN7IkPlKQyDTg/s320/Transport.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Southwark's Overview and Scrutiny Committee is carrying out an investigation into the problems relating to peak-time travel across the borough. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As part of this work we have put together a short survey to gather your views. You can complete the survey here: </span></span><a class="c_nobdr t_prs" href="https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7CSGMYT" style="background-color: white; color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.3px; outline: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7CSGMYT</b></span></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We want to know about those issues, big and small, which make it difficult for you to get to work or get the kids to school in the morning. Are there bus stops where people just can't get on the bus because it's always to crowded? Is it difficult getting in and out of your train station at peak times? Are there cycling routes which you feel are unsafe? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We also want to get your positive suggestions for improvement. Could extending a bus route a little further link up the local transport network? Could more be done to relieve congestion on the roads?</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Southwark Council does not have direct control over many of the issues which will come up, but the council does have significant influence. Southwark Scrutiny will engage with various organisations, including the new Mayor and TfL to bring these problems to the fore, and see if more can be done to resolve them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Please complete the survey and let us know what you think. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-89672567223312025732016-08-02T10:03:00.000+01:002016-08-02T10:04:16.975+01:00Free Swim and Gym in Southwark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpeeMz7O1YxzkkZqULlJRAZxjUOgkg9vExORSkyoEpVcD9kRPAL3lqAfEmrErKEnVdxV3vlCDdJ_ritO52GXxeRZzvceLvRDxyJ3ma4BxmYwuvWSZdVhMtCJgfTA-mmt_ZuGgGEiDIw/s1600/swimming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpeeMz7O1YxzkkZqULlJRAZxjUOgkg9vExORSkyoEpVcD9kRPAL3lqAfEmrErKEnVdxV3vlCDdJ_ritO52GXxeRZzvceLvRDxyJ3ma4BxmYwuvWSZdVhMtCJgfTA-mmt_ZuGgGEiDIw/s400/swimming.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.5px;">Just a quick note to remind Peckham Rye residents that, since 29th July 2016, all Southwark residents can use the swim and gym facilities for free in six of the borough’s leisure centres. This is one of Southwark Labour’s flagship policies from the 2014 manifesto, and your Peckham Rye Councillors are very proud that it is being delivered after a successful year piloting the scheme.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.5px;">Registration for free swim and gym is <a href="https://www.everyoneactive.com/southwarkfreeswimandgym/">here</a></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.5px;">. Alternatively, ask in your </span><a href="http://southwarklabour.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=70d49bc542f70d7927ce6d79b&id=23940736fc&e=544bb99a96" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.3px; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">local leisure centre</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.5px;"> or </span><a href="http://southwarklabour.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=70d49bc542f70d7927ce6d79b&id=a23e5d0c15&e=544bb99a96" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.3px; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">library</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.5px;"> for an application form. </span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-91403588036898181602016-02-25T15:34:00.002+00:002016-02-27T10:45:53.892+00:00Peckham Rye Adventure Playground: protected<div class="ecxWordSection1" style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.3px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqtP3j-5G_O6lIjgWz58TynbsdNl1_M-ZyrA-1AEwczcpoFPQ1KgdqUpQR2DvZAqmluQdfVS-IqL2jo4yNEYs7x2-YjBQmA-R5cIj32dd4V09tyH2Wn5QXKF9e1uyDbaQG2Oazz1Z3Q/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqtP3j-5G_O6lIjgWz58TynbsdNl1_M-ZyrA-1AEwczcpoFPQ1KgdqUpQR2DvZAqmluQdfVS-IqL2jo4yNEYs7x2-YjBQmA-R5cIj32dd4V09tyH2Wn5QXKF9e1uyDbaQG2Oazz1Z3Q/s320/Untitled.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As local residents will know, Southwark Council has suffered as a result of unprecedented cuts Government funding since 2010. The council has had a third of its funding cut.</div>
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As <span style="line-height: 20.8267px;">a result </span>of these deep cuts, the council has been forced to consider reduc<span style="line-height: 20.8267px;">ing</span> <span style="line-height: 20.8267px;">adventure </span>play services. <span style="line-height: 20.8267px;">This could have meant that Peckham Rye Adventure Playground, while keeping its weekend sessions, might have lost of its four after-school sessions</span>. Many local people spoke to us about this issue and Renata, Victoria and I <span style="line-height: 20.8267px;">were committed to using our local devolved budget to protect the hours to ensure the reduction would have been avoided.</span></div>
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I’m very pleased to tell you that, at last night’s budget setting meeting, w<span style="color: #444444;">e managed to secure a commitment that Peckham Rye Adventure Playground will see no change in opening hours. </span></div>
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We are now taking a look at how the hours are structured to see if it would be possible to open up the playground to more people over the whole of the weekend. Watch this space for further news.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-18127205869834099372016-01-05T17:07:00.002+00:002016-01-05T17:14:27.611+00:00Southwark's Scrutiny Committee warns of 'devastating impact' of Government's Housing Bill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ1zuh9Z7dB34wDbeeMZqEPeEyFX-iKPyFYfoDZpENoBexqjDUJyDFPlMNUu4tgWviMEZ7DsXXALjNEIzQPeHKnb4xAZIOElUVNCJ1j_LS6-UBMZJrEm_NuEtt0qZTx0E5x_SVjMd2A/s1600/home+building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ1zuh9Z7dB34wDbeeMZqEPeEyFX-iKPyFYfoDZpENoBexqjDUJyDFPlMNUu4tgWviMEZ7DsXXALjNEIzQPeHKnb4xAZIOElUVNCJ1j_LS6-UBMZJrEm_NuEtt0qZTx0E5x_SVjMd2A/s320/home+building.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Southwark’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee has warned that the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill would have a ‘devastating impact’ on Southwark.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Scrutiny Committee has investigated the impact of the Government’s proposals to introduce right to buy for housing association tenants, which will be funded by forcing councils to sell off vacant properties in “high value” areas. The Committee has warned that the impact of the proposals in Southwark would be to “significantly reduce our housing stock, damage our ability to build much needed new homes and could indirectly lead to an increase in homelessness and overcrowding.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Scrutiny Committee conducted a series of interviews with housing officers, Chief Executives of major national housing associations, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Former head of the Civil Service and current Chair of the Peabody Trust Lord Kerslake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Scrutiny report outlines a number of risks arising from the proposals, including home building and provision in the borough and the financial impact of the council’s housing budget. It is estimated that 30% of council homes in Southwark could be lost through the forced sale of high value council homes, and the report warns that because the Bill does not include any ring-fencing of funding or replacement homes to a particular area or local authority, “It is unlikely Housing Associations will build enough replacement homes in our borough and probably not in our city”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The report also warns that the Bill could result in increased levels of homelessness and overcrowding, due to fewer council homes being available for Southwark residents.
The Committee has outlined a number of recommendations to protect the interests of council and Housing Association tenants, and the council’s ambition of building 11,000 homes, including an exemption for newly built council homes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Gavin Edwards, said:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Southwark is at the heart of the affordable housing crisis in London, with thousands of residents on the council’s housing waiting list and a population predicted to grow by 21% over the next 10 years. But at a time when the council is embarking on the most ambitious council house building programme in the country, these proposals could have a devastating effect on council housing in our borough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The Government’s own analysis has shown that for every 9 council homes sold under council home “Right to Buy” policy, post 2012, only one new home has been built. There is a real danger that the council’s ambition of building 11,000 new council homes could be eroded by the forced sale of new council homes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The Scrutiny Committee is calling for an urgent review of the council’s housing investment programme to determine the impact of these proposals, and for the cabinet to continue lobbying the Government to rethink these policies, which will inflict unjustifiable harm on Southwark residents.”
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The full report is available online: <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s58360/Right%20to%20Buy.pdf">http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s58360/Right%20to%20Buy.pdf</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-6535706661153969562015-05-15T08:41:00.000+01:002015-05-15T08:42:18.760+01:00One Tree Hill Concert - fundraiser for Nepal earthquake victims<div class="ecxyiv9539816255" id="ecxyiv9539816255yui_3_16_0_1_1431630383001_4018" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4599990844727px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdzj6_FgxZX21GHEOWHnoXsoveoKtjifT5uNgRhwYmKJzTombcqvNEzkqKc_PN_CcV2kBT6ocrJYEB9ZJZc3a7NJyoKH81ifVZQYU3ii32trR2BgmgOZNzxURd6n5VnUrrEOwTcAspA/s1600/Concert+for+Nepal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdzj6_FgxZX21GHEOWHnoXsoveoKtjifT5uNgRhwYmKJzTombcqvNEzkqKc_PN_CcV2kBT6ocrJYEB9ZJZc3a7NJyoKH81ifVZQYU3ii32trR2BgmgOZNzxURd6n5VnUrrEOwTcAspA/s400/Concert+for+Nepal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There will be a summer evening concert on One Tree Hill in Southwark Woods at 6.30pm Saturday 23rd May. The venue is St Augustine's Church, One Tree Hill, Honor Oak Park.<br />
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Suggested donation of £10.00<br />
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The <b class="ecxyiv9539816255" id="ecxyiv9539816255yui_3_16_0_1_1431630383001_7453" style="line-height: 18.4599990844727px;">OneTree Hill Sinfonia</b> will be playing:-</div>
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Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite 1<br />
Varela - Urashima Taro<br />
Sibelius - Symphony No 2 in D</div>
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Please do come along for an entertaining evening and to support this very good cause. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-25931726765957977352015-03-06T15:29:00.001+00:002015-03-06T16:13:21.184+00:00Lambeth & Southwark Childcare Commission<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLRwe2Ncn9g91KEr13L1wqQYvCD5NrQdOi47sgM0s-IiSAK3T2p0zeTsuTk_N1uvJU6YJ13H4QVXZDcsmYSuvPyaOMpcUk0dYBdTCIOfHvXDxCjwxHYG3Ka-llHAD4D4Kx-NcHY2E8GTTX/s1600/Tessa+Jowell+Loughborough+Childrens+centre-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLRwe2Ncn9g91KEr13L1wqQYvCD5NrQdOi47sgM0s-IiSAK3T2p0zeTsuTk_N1uvJU6YJ13H4QVXZDcsmYSuvPyaOMpcUk0dYBdTCIOfHvXDxCjwxHYG3Ka-llHAD4D4Kx-NcHY2E8GTTX/s1600/Tessa+Jowell+Loughborough+Childrens+centre-20.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
As Southwark's Cabinet Member for Childcare and Schools I warmly
welcomed this week's report of the Lambeth and Southwark Childcare
Commission, chaired by Dame Tessa Jowell MP. Like our neighbours in Lambeth, we
are firmly committed to giving every child the best start in life and helping
parents find affordable, accessible and quality childcare. This report
acknowledges the challenges faced by local families but sets out a range of
options that could be used to tackle these by the Mayor of London, central
government, local authorities and employers. There is no one solution to deal
with the many problems parents in London face trying to get back to work
while managing the burdens and prohibitive costs of childcare. The Council no
doubt has a role to play in stepping up to deliver the options set out in the
report but we also need to work with parents, businesses and the Mayor in open
partnership to create a city that embraces parenthood and creates a world of
opportunity for all our children.
<br />
<br />
The report recommends that both councils look into the
idea of a childcare matchmaking service, which would pair qualified
childminders with parents who are looking for childcare on a flexible basis. It
also recommends that the councils consider incentivising local employers
to set up workplace nurseries, possibly by discounting business rates or
brokering deals with childcare providers. One further suggestion is for
Transport for London to consider offering new parents discounted transport
fares to help make going back to work affordable, or for the Mayor of London to
look into the feasibility of providing an interest-free loan scheme so that
parents can pay any upfront childcare costs. The report also
challenges the Government to change their funding of early years
development, pooling the education, early years and childcare budgets to take a
0-18 approach recognising that early intervention can save money in the
long-term.<o:p></o:p>
<u1:p></u1:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><u1:p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></u1:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I look forward to discussing these recommendations and many others
with colleagues across Southwark and Lambeth in the coming weeks. I am
determined that together we can make childcare work better for families, better
for children and better for our communities. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The full report can be read <a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/4098/childcare_commission" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u1:p></u1:p><br />Victoria Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10178256728190693250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-17852694179001929192015-02-05T22:16:00.004+00:002015-02-05T22:16:45.848+00:00Local cemeteries - What's going on?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgf6tqWKRrr-RdRGSCMMOaUUpiiMoVVAYVEWvHLwSvySn09Kj7CsM4RS_Tc9lCZ9f2_ZWKNfYZisF8ezeUOVf7YTn66siznj_qqn4i6rXKrznBAAAJ2SctPuL6imNsEmTHexChA6H1wzZs/s1600/photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgf6tqWKRrr-RdRGSCMMOaUUpiiMoVVAYVEWvHLwSvySn09Kj7CsM4RS_Tc9lCZ9f2_ZWKNfYZisF8ezeUOVf7YTn66siznj_qqn4i6rXKrznBAAAJ2SctPuL6imNsEmTHexChA6H1wzZs/s1600/photo+1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UuhW_R-8o-qkvya6ZQjKc4ekMh04FWyipVaZ2bN9hGhiFazzQ8Ds87fAbXKZuc_w5NOLbKG0zaJEAPh-OGWKE8VbFjn86s1b3eSLbnvh2Q1LIqsu46RPBgMURYHqpSP8ap_uvJw16OS3/s1600/photo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UuhW_R-8o-qkvya6ZQjKc4ekMh04FWyipVaZ2bN9hGhiFazzQ8Ds87fAbXKZuc_w5NOLbKG0zaJEAPh-OGWKE8VbFjn86s1b3eSLbnvh2Q1LIqsu46RPBgMURYHqpSP8ap_uvJw16OS3/s1600/photo+2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">Ahead of next week's public meeting to discuss our local cemeteries I just wanted to explain some of the background to the current situation. </span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">There was a very extensive consultation on the cemeteries in 2012. The consensus was that people wanted the council to continue to offer burial space in the borough. I personally don't agree with this knowing the huge existing pressure on land but the point of the consultation was to listen and plan our future policy on peoples' views. Many options like out of town burial were explored as part of this process. </pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"> As ward councillors we all thought it vitally important to protect Honor Oak Rec. This is a green space used by local residents and also used by local schools and football clubs. Whilst I think many parts of Camberwell Old are beautiful and a haven for wildlife I think that sensitive reuse of parts of the cemetery which allow us to protect Honor Oak Rec are worth pursuing.
All three of us are also committed to protecting the land immediately behind Ryedale at Camberwell Old as I do think burials this would have an impact on the houses that back onto it and the alternative of planting a screen would mean a loss of light for these residents. </pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"> What we proposed in 2012 was that instead we brought forward plans to bring back into use 'Site Z' at Camberwell Old. This is a site that is currently closed to the public because of the huge amount of dumping that has taken place on the site. The great majority of the trees on the boundary will be protected and further planting will be done. </pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">Many other mature tree of merit away from the boundary are been protected and plans have been worked up around them. Many of the ones that are going (and every single one that I queried when visiting yesterday) have been covered with 1-2 metres of the dumping. This means their likely lifespan is only 10 years at most.
It will be a massive operation to remove all the dumping from the site and this includes toxic waste. Doing this and creating new grave space means the area can be opened up to the public. Given the protection of the boundary and the commitment to new planting means that a quality new green space will be created. </pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">The most beautiful oaks are being protected, there is a plan for a peaceful sitting area around one and with the right planning this will be a beautiful area with <span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">stunning views over the city. I have attached some pictures of 'site Z' to show the poor quality of the 'woods' there. Much of it is buddleia which reduces biodiversity. In the picture with brambles and trees in the distance, the ones in the distance stay, it's the area of bramble that is being cleared. I was there with an ecologist and a tree expert yesterday. Both agreed that we were protecting the important bits of the nature and our plans would help other nature flourish.</span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">
</span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">I do feel more reluctant about the gladed area of the cemetery - the 'H' sites. Part of the coppicing work that will take place here will help protect the existing trees and increase the biodiversity of the area but in my heart of heart I would prefer that after this work was done the sites were protected as woodland. However, to get to a stage of being able to reuse our existing cemeteries we do need to use these spaces. To me, it's therefore making sure that we do our best to protect the character of what is there - protecting all the trees we can, looking at what new graves might look like, what additional planting is possible and the possibility of reusing of the old headstones to preserve the character of the area. </pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"> On Camberwell New, it does seem that some people involved in the campaign group have reached the point of not accepting we should ever cut down any tree ever, for any reason. The main new site at Camberwell New is a concrete slab that can't currently be accessed by the public. The smaller additional site would mean the loss of a few poor quality trees on the edge of grass/lawn area on a slope that hasn't been used - 13 trees is the number given. This spot is right on the edge of the wooded boundary of the cemetery (all protected) and One Tree Hill (a stunning wooded background and all protected obviously). The feeling of the wooded edge of the cemetery will still be retained and this piece of lawn can be brought into use. Again I visited yesterday and felt no concern that the character of the cemetery or the neighbouring nature reserve would be affected. </pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"> I think what we're trying to do is find the best balance possible. I feel that a very extensive consultation took place in 2012 - I went to meetings with 150 people attending etc. We tried to find our way to the best outcome and compromise. What would be good now would be residents looking at how we can implement these plans as sensitively as possible and looking at what is actually being proposed. I'm not sure that claiming that Southwark Council is 'destroying forests' is the best way to have that debate - I'm sorry if others feel otherwise but I've always felt that it's best to be honest when you disagree with the views of others.</pre>
Victoria Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10178256728190693250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-66916099996734941052015-01-12T22:33:00.000+00:002015-01-13T08:41:04.769+00:00A new approach to outsourcing and procurement<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A report published today is recommending a new
approach to outsourcing and procurement at Southwark Council. Proposals
include introducing an in-house "preferred provider" policy, a target
for creating local jobs and apprenticeships with council spending and greater
protection for the workforce.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Southwark’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC)
is publishing an investigation into the council’s approach to commissioning,
procurement and outsourcing. You can see the full draft report <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s51134/Draft%20Scrutiny%20Report.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>. Changes will be made to this
following our OSC meeting on the 19<sup>th</sup> January where the
committee will discuss the draft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is a huge issue. Southwark Council’s
register of contracts with external organisations shows 220 different contracts
for goods and services. That accounts for a total contract value of £2.6
billion. A huge range of services, from the building of new schools to
employment support services to homecare for vulnerable residents, are procured
by the council. Decisions about when to outsource and who gets the
contracts have a big impact on the lives of people in the borough. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Southwark has had more than its fair share of
outsourcing and procurement controversies in recent decades, some of which have
led to serious and prolonged reductions in service quality and wasted
taxpayers’ money. Our aim as a committee is to make recommendations which stop this from happening again in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Labour has made taken some big steps forward on this issue since 2010, signing up to the Ethical Care Charter, introducing a Living Wage and ending several underperforming contracts.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet, commissioning services in Southwark still needs
to be more transparent, subject to greater democratic control and more
engaged with what service users want. The council also needs to take more
advantage of its spending power to promote equality and fairness. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’ve made 20 recommendations in all and I've highlighted a few of these below:<br><br><b>1. In-house as “preferred provider”</b><br>Due to the risks associated with outsourcing large-scale services, the draft report calls on the Cabinet to introduce a policy of in-house as the “preferred provider”, similar to the NHS preferred provider policy operated when Andy Burnham was Health Secretary. This would not mean that Southwark would cease to outsource services. Instead it would mean that the possible benefits of outsourcing, where it was considered appropriate, would need to be properly investigated and evidenced.<br><br><b>2. “Gateway zero” reports for all large scale commissioning processes</b><br>(Apologies in advance for the jargon here!) A Gateway 1 report is a document published by the council which sets a procurement strategy. If you see a Gateway 1 report, you know a decision has been made to outsource a service (or to continue an outsourced arrangement). To ensure a decision to change the way a service is delivered is made with appropriate input from Cabinet, elected members, staff , service users and residents the draft report recommends a new standard report, prior to Gateway 1. This would need to make the case for the preferred mode of delivery – in-house, private sector, CVS sector, shared service etc. A Gateway zero report would also ensure that the broad methods by which a service is to be delivered (e.g. single provider/framework of providers etc.) could be discussed before a particular approach becomes hard to unpick. We recommend these should be reserved for high value services and would exclude capital investment works.<br><br><b>3. Lower Contract thresholds</b><br>In other London boroughs the thresholds for officers to be able to approve procurement decisions are significantly lower and Cabinet Members formally sign-off more decisions. Evidence is presented in the report showing that Southwark is out of step with the thresholds for other London boroughs. The report recommends lowering the threshold levels to improve oversight of this spending.<br><br><b>4. Using the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 – Jobs and apprentices</b><br>More should be done to encourage social benefits derived from our procurement activity. The draft report recommends setting targets for the number of apprenticeships and the number of jobs created by each £1 million of our procurement spending.<br><br><b>5. Using the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 – other social clauses</b><br>The report recommends other social value issues which could be introduced in Southwark’s tendering processes. They are:</span></span><br>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Disqualification of bidders who have engaged in trade union black-listing (and have shown no commitment to ensuring this does not happen again in the future).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Disqualification of bidders for licensed premises (Park Café’s etc.) not prepared to sign up to Southwark’s Women’s Safety Charter</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Flexible working and family friendly policies</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Training and development of staff</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Environmental considerations</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>6. Standard contract clauses</b><br>To improve scrutiny and monitoring of contracts, the draft report recommends introducing the following contract clauses for all contracts:</span></span><br>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prompt payment of sub-contractors</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Adherence to Southwark’s whistle-blowing policy</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Open book audits of contract accounts on request</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">‘Termination at will’ clauses</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Openness and transparency in the event of termination – allowing us to explain to residents why a contract has been terminated.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Attendance at council committees such as Cabinet or scrutiny by contractors on request</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Break clauses allowing Southwark to conclude a contract should the ownership of contractor change during the life of a contract.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>7. Openness and transparency for contracts</b><br>Procurement is often shrouded in unnecessary secrecy. To counter this all contracts signed by Southwark Council with external contractors should be published in full online with a link from the contracts register. In those exceptions where commercial confidentiality is considered an issue, partial redaction could be used.<br><br><b>8. Protecting the workforce</b></span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the council renews contracts or outsources services to the private or voluntary sector as a minimum the following workforce provisions should apply:</span></span><br>
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<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Access to the LGPS</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trade Union recognition agreements</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">London Living Wage</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payment of sick pay</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Appropriate training</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Defined hour contracts without unreasonable “availability clauses” (i.e. no zero hours contracts)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Free access to personal protective equipment</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Guarantees that TUPE terms and conditions will last for the term of the contract</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>9. Social Value: Gender Pay Gap and Pay differentials</b><br>The report recommends that the Cabinet sets a threshold for both the employee gender pay gap and pay differentials (the gap between the lowest and highest paid) for organisations to qualify to provide services on our behalf.<br><br>As I say, the report is still in draft form and subject to consultation. If you want to make any further suggestions, take a look at the report and email me at gavin.edwards@southwark.gov.uk </span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Once we've agreed a final version of the report it will go to Southwark's Cabinet for a response to the recommendations. </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-5041009674215902732014-11-05T20:12:00.003+00:002014-11-05T20:18:20.750+00:00Southwark Council's first live webcast - Monday 10th November, 7pm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Southwark Council's Tooley Street Offices</span></div>
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On Monday night Southwark will show its first ever live webcast of a council meeting. True, it's won't be challenging Game of Thrones or Downton Abbey in the ratings but it is an important step in opening up the democratic procedures of your council.<br />
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The meeting will be of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee which will be debating the borough's cycling strategy (which is currently being consulted on) and procurement. We will also be questioning Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport about issues across his remit.<br />
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The papers for the meeting are <a href="http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=308&MId=4898&Ver=4">here</a>. I don't have the link for the webcast page just yet but will publish it here and Tweet it as soon as I do. <br />
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My view is that the more people who can see what goes on in Southwark Council's meetings, the more they will reflect what is important to people in the borough. Many people simply don't have the time to come to Tooley Street to sit in on a meeting. Webcasts means that if there is an issue people are interested in they can watch the meeting and even participate via social media. (Suggested Twitter hashtag for the meeting #swklive) This also means that we will have a full recording of the meeting which can be posted online as a record of what was said.<br />
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This is something I <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/overview-and-scrutiny-in-southwark-new.html">promised </a>to introduce when I took on the Chair on the Committee. The first webcast is only a pilot, but t<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">here are lots of examples of this being successful elsewhere so I'm hopeful that we can build on this first attempt. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-7110385106646707052014-09-12T09:40:00.006+01:002014-09-12T09:59:04.033+01:00Dulwich Hospital Site, interview with the Council Leader, Peckham Rye Station and Contracting-Out<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>OSC is scrutinising council procurement</i></span></div>
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Our latest Southwark Overview and Scrutiny (OSC) meeting took place on Monday night.The meeting covered the prospects for a new secondary school on the Dulwich Hospital site, an interview of the Leader of the Council, a briefing from officers on the regeneration of the area around Peckham Rye Station and finally, a session to discuss how and why certain council services are contracted out. </span><br />
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<b>Dulwich Hospital Site</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Committee heard from representatives of two groups interested in running a secondary school from the Dulwich Hospital Site. Charter School Educational Trust and Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation are sponsoring Free School bids to run a new secondary school from the site. The council is assisting and facilitating the bids. Projected figures on pupil numbers show a real need for more secondary places in the area in coming years. </span><br />
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The mess created by the anarchic free school system, has resulted in the Department for Education approving a <u>primary </u>school for the site. You can see more information on this <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/school-places-scrutiny-update.html">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />It was very useful to hear from two groups campaigning to run a secondary school which is desperately needed. Charter and Haberdashers’ Aske’s have exemplary records of providing high quality education. Both groups expressed surprise at developments relating to th DfE and "Harris Nunhead Primary Free School" but hope this issue could soon be resolved. </span><br />
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OSC will be reporting on the issue of school places to the council's Cabinet in the new year, so it was fascinating to hear how these two groups had navigated the system so far. Their comments will strengthen our recommendations. </span><br />
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<b>Leader's Interview</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was a lively session in which the Leader of the Council, Peter John, was interviewed on a variety of policy issues including the steps which would be taken to introduce free swimming and gym use in the borough. The Leader was also asked about the Bakerloo Line extension, employment levels in the borough and how the council would deal with further cuts in government funding over the coming year. If you're interested in finding out more about these issues, the minutes for this session will appear <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=308&MId=4896">here </a>soon. </span><br />
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<b>Peckham Rye Station Redevelopment</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up on the agenda was the redevelopment which the council is leading around Peckham Rye Station. The briefing which accompanied this session is <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s48134/Peckham%20Rye%20Station%20Redevelopment.pdf">here</a>, giving a useful update on where this project is at. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />In particular, members on the Committee quizzed the officer on why the original proposals for this regeneration project met with such opposition. We were also given details of the "co-design" process which is now taking place. The website for this can be found <a href="http://peckhamcodesign.org/">here</a>. Members made a number of suggestions as to how this process might be improved, particularly regarding the need to include all parts of the Peckham Community.</span><br />
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OSC will continue to scutinise Regen projects throughout the borough as a core part of our work. </span><br />
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<b>Corporate Procurement</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Don't run away. I know it <i>sounds </i>boring - but it's hugely important). Your council spends millions of pounds every year on contracts for goods and services. Sometimes this is money well spent, but sometimes it can lead to serious problems. In Southwark, we have seen more than our fair share of failed "outsourcing" projects over the last decade. <a href="http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/00,news,19769,440,00.htm">Revenue and Benefits</a>, the <a href="http://local-government.governmentcomputing.com/news/2012/may/10/southwark-council-customer-services-back-in-house-vangent">call centre</a> and <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/report-about-housing-repairs-statistics.html">housing repairs</a> are just a few examples of contractors letting us down in terms of quality and cost. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">OSC will be producing a report in December which tries to identify what has been going wrong and suggest improvements. So far, we have studied the internal processes to sign off these contracts and looked at the details of some current contracts. At Monday's meeting we were able to dig into these areas even further by speaking to senior officers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the coming weeks we'll be gathering further information on a sample of the current contracts (there are hundreds in total). At our November meeting we'll be talking to <a href="http://www.johntizard.com/">John Tizard</a>, former Head of Policy at Capita who has become a critic of some parts of the "Procurement Agenda". I'll also be inviting written submissions from various groups across the borough. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-44067674990480943622014-07-17T12:32:00.003+01:002014-07-17T12:38:09.058+01:00School places scrutiny update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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On Monday night we held our second Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) meeting since the election. Our work programme this year includes analysing the provision of school places across the borough. So as one of the main agenda items for this meeting we invited the council officers responsible to explain how demand is being met. </div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br />Officers said that Southwark is facing a number of challenges regarding school places. Demand, both primary and secondary places continues to rise. The council is co-ordinating the expansion of a number of existing schools to address this and there are also several free school proposals which are being progressed. Further details of this programme can be found in the newly published <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s47494/Report%20School%20Places%20Strategy%20Update.pdf" style="cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank">“</a><a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s47494/Report%20School%20Places%20Strategy%20Update.pdf" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank">School Places Strategy Update” </a><span style="color: #444444;">. </span>This programme is being looked at as part of our scrutiny. </span></div>
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One particular issue of concern is the uncertainty over the future use of the<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><a href="http://www.tessajowell.net/uploads/0061f23d-637b-d7c4-1512-ae391b392af2.pdf" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank">Dulwich Hospital site</a><span style="color: #444444;">. </span>The council has committed to opening a new secondary school there but the DfE and the Education Funding Agency have also given the green light to a “Nunhead” Free Primary School there. Primary school places in this area are already being provided through other free school proposals and the expansion of popular existing primary schools, including Ivydale School. </div>
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In short, this means a new secondary school and a local primary expansion programme is being threatened because the government has thrown a new school into the mix without consulting either local parents or Southwark council. Our report will need to address what more can be done by all interested parties to avoid this kind of controversy. OSC will be talking to parents groups, school sponsors and the Cabinet Member before reaching our conclusions. </div>
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More widely, the OSC report will make recommendations on how to improve school place provision in Southwark and ensure proposals to meet demand are delivered. Issues like the “reputation lag” of good schools which remain under-subscribed will form part of this. We will highlight good and poor case studies of how free school proposals are developed and look at encouraging school sponsors to engage with the council instead of, as sometimes happens, pulling the shutters down. We may also carry out our own survey of parents to see what they think of the allocation process, and take a close look at the capital investment programme which will support the expansion of existing schools. </div>
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Members of OSC will be encouraged to contribute as many ideas as possible, but if you would like to make your own suggestion or even just let us know about your experience of school places allocation in the borough, you can email me at gavin.edwards@southwark.gov.uk . I would be very interested to hear from you. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-77160676349115765112014-06-26T23:40:00.002+01:002014-06-27T07:35:07.350+01:00Update on Overview and Scrutiny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Last night we had our first Overview & Scrutiny Committee (OSC) meeting since the election. This is an update on how the meeting went. I blogged <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/overview-and-scrutiny-in-southwark-new.html">last week</a> about how I wanted to improve OSC by producing more real recommendations for improving services and making the proceedings of the committee more open.<br>
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We agreed a number of changes (including making progress on streaming meetings live online) and then set out our work programme for the coming year. OSC will start by taking an in-depth look at the following:<br>
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- School places across the borough<br>
- The implementation of free gym use and swimming<br>
- The council's procurement strategy (what services are contracted out and how is this done)<br>
- The detail of how Southwark Council will deliver on the pledge to build 11,000 new council homes<br>
- The quality and speed of responses to casework raised on behalf of residents.<br>
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We will also be looking at numerous other issues as and when they arise. For example, next month we will be speaking to the independent investigator into the major works at Draper House. In addition, Southwark's Cabinet members will be interviewed by OSC to ensure we keep a close eye on the policy areas in their portfolios. <br>
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There are also a number of major regeneration projects going on across the borough at the moment. Because of their importance, at alternate meetings we will include one of these regeneration projects on our agenda.<br>
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Finally, we are also going to be asking staff and members of the public to suggest scrutiny items via a survey which will soon be published. Our view is that staff and service users are usually the first people to notice when things start to go wrong. We hope that will give us even more to get our teeth into. <br>
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To start as I mean to go on, I also made sure we got down to the nitty gritty at the first meeting and we made a start at investigating one of our more in-depth topics: the delivery of the 11,000 new council homes. Following a detailed briefing from officers on progress so far, we questioned them regarding progress made on the action plan set out in the <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s46683/Appendix%201%20New%20Homes%20Investment%20Plans.pdf">January Cabinet paper</a>. A crucial next step in the process is the setting up of a "Council owned vehicle" which can access and use all the funding needed to build the homes. OSC requested that more details of the proposals came to us at our September meeting. <br>
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I'll now be working to sort out the agenda for next month's OSC and start gathering together evidence on some of our longer-term scrutiny topics. <br>
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Our next meeting is on 15th July and the <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=308&MId=4895&Ver=4">agenda </a>will be published soon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-3560382193178597122014-06-20T22:50:00.002+01:002014-06-21T12:54:39.295+01:00Overview and Scrutiny in Southwark - a new approach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since the election last month I've taken on a new role as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC). As the name suggests, this is the committee which has primary responsibility for scrutinising how the council is being run and looking into various issues of interest and concern. <br />
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Some parties on the council are<a href="http://thequaypoint.co.uk/2014/06/03/first-move-of-southwarks-labour-leaders-is-to-limit-opposition-scrutiny/"> less than happy</a> to see a Labour Councillor taking on this role. But the real problem is that most people couldn't care less who the Chair of OSC is or which party they're a member of. To the vast majority, council committees are irrelevant to their lives which is why people rarely turn up to them. </div>
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Having been a member of the committee for the past 4 years, I'd have to say that people weren't missing much. In four years this supposedly powerful committee achieved very little either in terms of changing council policy or developing new ideas for delivering services. There were some meetings where we made progress, but that was the exception rather than the rule. Usually they consisted of political grandstanding to meet the requirements of pre-drafted opposition press releases. </div>
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As the new Chair, I want to make some changes to way the committee is run. Firstly, I want to make sure that OSC actually produces detailed reports which the Council's Cabinet has to respond to. Something which simply didn't happen in the last four years.<br />
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As a Sub-committee Chair, I worked with my committee to produce recommendations for change on issues like housing <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/report-about-housing-repairs-statistics.html">repairs</a>, <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/domestic-violence-in-southwark.html">domestic violence support </a>and <a href="http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-day-on-patrol-with-southwarks.html">community wardens</a>. I'll continue in this vain as chair of OSC. Two issues which spring to mind for the coming year are to examine the detail of the Administration's pledge to introduce free gym and swimming across the borough and the promise to build 11,000 new council homes. The latter of these is already on the <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=308&MId=4931&Ver=4">agenda for our first meeting on 25th June.</a> </div>
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I also want to ensure that the proceedings of the committee are more open. I've already asked officers to look into streaming our meetings online and also to upload video of the meetings for future reference. In a digital age it's surprising that this doesn't already happen and it's about time Southwark caught up. I don't pretend that we'll be breaking any records for viewing figures, but if only a tiny number of people watched the streams that would still be an improvement on the usual attendances. It will also allow people to tweet or share links to particular parts of meetings and generally open the process up. </div>
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There are other issues which need ironing out to make the committee more effective at what it is supposed to do. One is the need open up a line of communication between the residents, front-line staff and Scrutiny. Staff and service users are often the first people to see major issues arising. When other avenues have been exhausted, I want them to feel that there is an easy way of alerting OSC. </div>
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I'm going to work with everyone and anyone who can make a contribution to improving the way the council delivers services. That includes Cabinet Members and the Lib Dem members of the committee. None of this is going to turn OSC into a box-office hit, but it will be a start. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-65994414978128318142014-05-27T10:07:00.001+01:002014-05-27T10:50:23.372+01:00A big "thank you" from Peckham Rye Labour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In case you haven't heard already, the results for the council elections in Southwark came in on Friday. I'm really pleased that Renata, Victoria and I have been re-elected to represent Peckham Rye Ward for another four years. Across the borough Labour made significant gains from the Liberal Democrats meaning that Southwark continues to have a Labour run council.<br />
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We'd like to say a huge "thank you" to everyone who voted, and especially to those who supported us. We are very proud that you have given us the opportunity to continue our work for the ward and on the council.<br />
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I'll try not to bore you with too many statistics, but the short version of the vote in Peckham Rye is that Labour significantly increased its support whilst the Lib Dem vote almost completely collapsed compared to the previous election. 56% of total votes cast went to Labour, that's up 15% on 2010. You can see the full results <a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/1000/5_previous_election_results/3486/2014_council_elections/15">here</a>. It's also worth noting that Labour has finally got a councillor back in East Dulwich Ward, which neighbours our own. Well done to <a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/1000/5_previous_election_results/3486/2014_council_elections/7">Charlie Smith</a>!<br />
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Hopefully, part of this is a reflection of our hard work locally, but I know that it is mainly about growing support for Labour values and a damning indictment of Southwark Lib Dem support for Tory policies in the Coalition. From talking to people on the doorstep, it's also clear that the approach taken to issues like recycling, school meals and housing by Southwark's Labour Council has impressed many.<br />
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Southwark has now been run by Labour for four years and the council is gaining a national reputation for <a href="http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/01/universal-free-school-meals/">innovative policy</a> and sensible, long term planning. <br />
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Whatever the reasons for the result, we are very grateful. Victoria, Renata and I will continue to campaign on all of the issues that matter for you in this area. As soon as possible we want to see the 63 bus route extended, the new One O'Clock Club built, major works completed on the Rye Hill Park Estate and plans for further investment in Peckham Rye Park delivered.<br />
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Finally, if you ever need to get in touch with us, no matter what it's about, you can find all of our <a href="http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0">contact details here</a>. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-18990405648432062012014-05-20T08:58:00.005+01:002014-05-20T08:58:57.406+01:00Your Labour Candidates for Peckham Rye Ward 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-27831351814926227182014-05-16T11:37:00.003+01:002014-05-20T08:46:42.793+01:00Local people endorsing Peckham Rye Labour...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-78806915191214563332014-04-28T13:03:00.000+01:002014-04-28T13:07:57.615+01:00Delivering the goods for Peckham Rye...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A quick update on some of the issues Victoria, Renata and I have been working on around the ward.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-50780876974478485692014-04-08T13:02:00.002+01:002014-04-08T13:07:00.276+01:00The 2014 Southwark Labour Manifesto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just a quick note to highlight the <a href="http://www.southwarklabour.co.uk/upload/docs/Southwark%20Labour%202014%20Manifesto.pdf">Southwark Labour Manifesto </a>ahead of the Council Elections on 22nd May. It's really important that the people running your council have clear vision of how to improve Southwark and the values that underpin that approach. This manifesto shows that Southwark Labour Party is all about making our borough a better, fairer place for the people who live here. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amongst Southwark Labour councillors, this document is seen as very important and will guide everything we do over the next four years (if elected!) It is our opportunity to put in front of people a programme for change and to ask for endorsement. That's why we were so determined to deliver on our manifesto from 2010, and why we will do so again. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since 2010 Southwark Labour Councillors have delivered on our promises. This includes:</span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Free healthy school meals for all primary school children</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A £1million-a-year Youth Fund to help young people with education, training and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">employment</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Helping 1,500 find work as a direct result of our employment support programmes</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and regeneration schemes since 2010</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Freezing Council Tax for four years</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Doubling the recycling rate (plus introducing food waste recycling)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Introducing the London Living Wage for all council staff and contractors</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nearly 400 new apprenticeships created</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Halving the cost of meals on wheels</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Highlights from the 2014 Labour manifesto are below. We will...</span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Make swimming and gym use free for all residents in Southwark – the first council in </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the country to do so </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Build more homes of every kind including 11,000 new council homes</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Support 5,000 local people into work and create 2,000 new apprenticeships</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Guarantee education, employment or training for every school leaver in Southwark</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Build 2 new community nurseries and invest in our children’s centres to deliver more </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">quality affordable childcare</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Keep council rents and council tax low</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is lots more, so make sure you take a look at the full document <a href="http://www.southwarklabour.co.uk/upload/docs/Southwark%20Labour%202014%20Manifesto.pdf">here</a>. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-39278337992703117702014-02-23T13:24:00.004+00:002014-02-23T13:38:48.769+00:00New Peckham Rye tree carving unveiledThis morning we saw the new Peckham Rye tree carving being unveiled. Huge credit to <a href="http://www.morganico.com/">Morganico</a>, the artist who created this wonderful landmark for our area. Well done also to the local residents who had the idea and campaigned for it to go ahead. As the local Councillors who voted through the funding for this project, Vikki, Renata and I are over the moon that it has turned out so well. <br />
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Here are some pics:<br />
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Councillor Barrie Hargrove unveils the carving</div>
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Classic councillor photo!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By the way...the wings at the top are a reference to poet and artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peckham_Rye">William Blake</a> who, whilst on the Common, had visions of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">"...a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars"</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-82075134289855808972013-11-28T14:25:00.002+00:002013-11-28T14:42:54.493+00:00A day on patrol with Southwark's Community Wardens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Out with the community Wardens on Wednesday</span></i><br />
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Yesterday I spent the day out and about with Southwark’s Community Wardens. I think it’s fair to say that lots of people (including many councillors) know little about what our Community Wardens do each day. I often hear people ask what wardens are doing and speculating whether or not we are getting full value for the money. </div>
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So, as Chair of Southwark Housing and Community Safety Scrutiny Sub-committee, I asked if I could spend the day on patrol with the wardens, talking to them about their role and to the Southwark residents they came into contact with. </div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">There are 31 </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">patrolling wardens and 6 team leaders</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">, with teams focussing on three town centres Elephant and Castle, Camberwell Green and Peckham. The teams also regularly patrol other areas, such as Peckham Rye, particularly when there have been reports of anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping. </span></div>
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On the 9.30am to 1pm patrol, I went out with two wardens around Elephant and Castle. They knew the area extremely well and it quickly became clear that a big part of their job is dealing with issues arising from drug abuse and homelessness. What impressed me was that the wardens did not simply see their job as ‘moving on’ rough sleepers. In the subways of Elephant and Castle they did their utmost to make homeless people aware of the support and advice which was available, and to encourage them to attend forthcoming appointments or meetings. </div>
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This is not an easy job. On a daily basis they are interacting with people who often have complex psychological problems and have fallen on the hardest of times. Most of the people we spoke to had drug and alcohol related issues and the wardens were trying to get them to safer places where they would find it easier to get help. </div>
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During the length of the shift the two person patrol called in around 10 pieces of information ranging from fly-tipping which needed to be cleared and Graffiti which needed to be cleaned. Quite rightly, they see themselves as the eyes and ears of the council. </div>
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On our way back to the Queens Road Peckham Control Room at 1pm, the wardens helped avert what could have been a violent incident. One of the wardens spotted that there was a large amount of scrap metal lying in a back alley off a main road. Three men in a van had just pulled over and another man was standing by the metal gesticulating. The wardens approached this man and found out that he had collected together the scrap and was intending to sell it at another location. The men in the van, it turned out, were highly likely to take it away from him in their van, without his permission. </div>
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The wardens handled the situation very well. They confronted the men in the van and ensured they left the scene, taking a note of their number-plate. The man who had been threatening violence to defend his scrap metal was calmed down and instructed to remove it within the hour. </div>
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In the afternoon I spent time patrolling with the Camberwell team, who were equally diligent. One thing to highlight is a visit we made to an elderly resident who had been recently defrauded. The visit was simply to check he was OK and to reassure him that there were people looking out for him. He clearly appreciated the visit. We also visited a local shop which had recently been the victim of shop-lifting. </div>
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Finally, I spent an hour with the warden’s information analyst, who does an excellent job of collating the incident reports from the wardens so that the intelligence can be analysed and so those managing the service can ensure the right areas are being patrolled. </div>
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The wardens patrols are informed by tasking sheets which they are given at their morning briefing. These come from reports from members of the public, the police and councillors. This formal system of reporting gave me greater confidence that wardens are responding to concerns from Southwark residents, and not just doing the same patrols day in and day out. </div>
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All in all, a really interesting day which will help inform our Committee’s report on the wardens service. I picked up a number of small changes which I think could make a difference to improving the service, but my overall impression was that these are dedicated people doing a very good job in often testing circumstances. </div>
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If you want to know more about the service or make a report to them you can find out more here: <a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200030/community_safety_and_enforcement/431/community_wardens/1" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank">http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200030/community_safety_and_enforcement/431/community_wardens/1</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992424551262159571.post-9703486786095132652013-11-18T14:23:00.000+00:002013-11-18T14:48:06.534+00:00Great news on Homestall Road Sports Ground<div class="MsoBodyText">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back in 2010 when we
first became Councillors, Southwark Labour committed <span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">£</span>2million to build new
sports facilities and improve existing ones. We wanted our borough to have a
lasting legacy from London 2012 for our young people. </span><br />
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One of the projects we
fought for was <span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">£</span>250,000 worth of
improvements to the Homestall Road Sports Ground. The first stage was completed
over the summer and saw new gates to improve security as well as all the great
new grass pitches which reopened at the start of the football season. </span><br />
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The volunteers who run Athenlay Football Club (who are based at Homestall Road) do a huge amount of work to run the teams for hundreds of kids in our area. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next stage is for the old artificial
pitch to be brought back into use and work is expected to start in early 2014.
Following that we hope that the changing rooms will also be replaced. We think
it’s great that local young people will have this great new facility. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Throughout this process we've kept in mind that the development needs to be sensitive to local residents. We know that some were concerned that increased use will
have an impact on their lives. To help make sure this isn’t the case the hours
of use on the pitches will be limited and there will be no play after 7pm in
the evening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The end result of this is going to much improved facilities for a brilliant local sports club. Who says politics can't make a difference? </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0