Peckham Rye Labour

Vikki spoke at the TUC "Save Our NHS" Rally a couple of weeks ago and brought the house down.  Sadly, since then, the Health and Social Care Bill has passed through parliament with the support of Southwark Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes.

Southwark Labour Leader, Peter John has written again to Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes demanding that he oppose the discredited Health and Social Care Bill.  The text of his letter, written today, is below. ____________________________________ Dear Simon, I am writing regarding the letter I sent to you on the 13th February concerning your support for the Government's Health and Social Care Bill, to which I am yet to receive a reply. I note that following my letter you changed your position on the publication of the risk register which outlines the potential damage this Bill will have and which an information rights tribunal has ruled should be published. Unfortunately, despite your apparent support for its publication, today in the House of Commons you failed to support a motion for the risk register to be debated. I do not understand why you would not want a debate to be held on something you have said yourself should be made public. All I know is that, despite you...

I recently posted on the outcome of an investigation into leaseholder charging in Southwark.  The scrutiny committee which I chair has been investigating possible improvements to the rules and systems used by the council to charge its leaseholders for major works and services.  For some time there has been a feeling among the 13,500 leaseholders in the borough that more could be done to provide them with information and to ensure they were getting value for money.  Recommendations included new individual online accounts for leaseholders to check what they are being charged for and a new option for leaseholders to pay a fixed service charge (as opposed to a variable service charge).  You can see the full report here . Last night this report went before Southwark's full Overview and Scrutiny Committee  to decide whether or not the recommendations should go forward to Southwark's Cabinet.  I'm really pleased that the cross party committee unanimously ag...

As many residents of Peckham Rye will know, Peckham Rye Labour councillors have been running a long-term campaign to get the 63 Bus route extended to Honor Oak Park Station. You'll find some background on our campaign here , here and here . We are now very pleased to announce that Val Shawcross, our brilliant GLA member and Ken Livingstone's Deputy Mayoral Candidate, has announced that if Ken is elected as Mayor in May 2012, she will use her position as Chair of Transport for London to extend the 63 bus route. The text of Val's letter to Peckham Rye residents is below this post. If you live near the 63 route you should get a copy through your letter box either today or tomorrow. This is a really important issue for many people living in East Dulwich and Peckham Rye. Boris has been using dodgy bus usage figures to justify blocking the extension. If Val is given the chance to fulfill her promise it will mean thousands of people in our area will find it easier to link ...

Some months ago I posted on the leaseholder charging scrutiny which would be carried out by the Housing Scrutiny Committee.  Since then lots of hard work has gone into unpicking all of the issues surrounding leaseholder charges and we've just published the draft report.   You can see it here . The report will be discussed by the sub-committee at next Monday's meeting and so there will be changes and additions following that discussion.  However, the central arguments and recommendations of the report are in place and will be of interest to leaseholders in Southwark who want to see a Labour council responding to their concerns. Our aim from the outset has been make recommendations which would improve the process of leaseholder charging for the benefit of all residents of the borough. We've had excellent co-operation and engagement from council officers, the cabinet member and leaseholder representatives. There are a number of recommendations, below are just s...

Turning up to meetings is just one part of a councillor’s job, but it’s an important part.  Scrutiny, Community Council and other meetings are a crucial opportunity to stand up for residents’ interests and hold the council to account.  It’s something that you know will take up lots of your time, but you’re fully aware of that  before  you make the decision to stand for election.   This ,  this  and  this  show just a few examples of times when Vikki, Renata and I have been able to secure improvements for the Peckham Rye area by going along to these meetings.  I’m not saying they’re always riveting, but I am saying it’s important to turn up as often as possible.   Since the last election residents of Southwark have been able to monitor the attendance of their councillors via the Southwark Council   website .  Now, I wouldn’t have mentioned this if Southwark’s Lib Dem Councillors hadn’t been going around...

Local residents will know that resurfacing and reconstruction works have been going on over a number of week on a section of Ivydale Road (west of Merttins Road) and Cheltenham Road. The works will improve residential roads which have become very bumpy, largely as a result of 343 and 484 buses travelling on these roads.  This has become a particular problem in recent years because the combination of heavy buses and deteriorating roads has lead to serious shaking of people homes. Through a combination of Councillors' and local residents' campaigning in 2011 we were able to secure the funding for the works.  Prior to works starting there was a joint meeting between local residents, councillors and council officers out on the street.  At that meeting we were told by officers that the works would include full-depth reconstruction of the entire length of Cheltenham Road and the relevant section of Ivydale Road. Since works have begun it's become clear that ful...