Peckham Rye Labour

We’ve just been given some really shocking news about the school admissions forum – the body which oversees almost all aspects of Southwark’s school admissions. Many readers will already know about the chaotic allocation of primary school places in East Dulwich and Nunhead for 2009-10, when the council hugely underestimated the demand for places in local schools and failed to provide enough staff to administer the process adequately. Having a cross party appraoch on the admissions forum was essential to ensuring that officers were challenged to improve the process this year. With the apparent support of Peckham Rye Lib Dems, Southwark’s Lib Dem/Tory coalition, have thrown the Labour representative off the committee, without any explanation. Southwark Labour’s Education spokesperson Cllr Veronica Ward had been a member of the School Admissions Forum for almost four years, before being chucked off at a meeting of Lib Dems and Tories on Monday night. She had attended the forum far mor...

Thanks to the weather we had a challenging day talking to local residents but it proved well worth it. We hope we have persuaded you that we'll be working for you every day of the year! Lots of issues came up including recycling, schools, road and pavement resurfacing and, of course, why streets haven't been gritted. A lot of people clearly feel let down by the Lib Dem/Tory council and basic expectations simply aren't being met. If Southwark is spending money it certainly doesn't seem to be here in Peckham Rye. As local candidates, committed to working tirelessly for the area we live in, we hope that our dedication today helps persuade you that we'll do all we can to make Peckham Rye a better place to live. Gavin explains to a local resident that Southwark council has let us down on recycling...

Many readers will already know about the chaotic allocation of primary school places in East Dulwich and Nunhead for 2009-10. The council hugely underestimated the demand for places in local schools and failed to provide enough staff to administer the process adequately. As a result, many children were allocated to schools far away from where they lived and many parents were left in the dark about the status of their applications. Following pressure from local parents, Labour councillors and MPs, the council has promised to provide extra classes in local schools for 2010-11 and to employ more staff to improve the administration of the applications process and communication with local parents. In recent weeks, after a successful campaign by our local MPs, Tessa Jowell and Harriet Harman, highlighting the acute shortage of primary school places in our area, the Government has reacted by allocating an additional £12million to Southwark council to address this problem. This is a serious am...

Victoria and Gavin with Cllr Fiona Colley, who chaired the meeting which looked into the council's handling of primary school admissions in our area. Those of you who attended last month’s public meeting on primary school admissions in our area were treated a good deal of bluff from both Lib Dem councillors and council officers. At times they made it sound as if local parents were being positively rude for asking questions about the council’s administration of this year’s admissions. But the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. We know the process has been poorly handled because of the huge levels of concern demonstrated by local parents. This didn’t happen in other boroughs, and it happened in Southwark for a reason. Peckham Rye’s Labour Councillor Robert Smeath recently sought to get to the bottom of the situation in Southwark with a question at the last full council meeting. Councillor Smeath asked the Leader of the Council to: “Please detail the percentage of ne...