Residents First

Slaughter backs Legal Aid for squatters

Labour's Shadow Justice team, which includes the Labour MP for Hammersmith Andrew Slaughter, are backing taxpayers money being spent providing legal aid for squatters. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke proposed to save £64 million by restricting legal advice on social welfare law to only the most serious cases including removing legal aid from squatters. But the Shadow Justice secretary Sadiq Khan opposes the change.

Labour’s rallying cry ‘against cuts to legal aid’ appears to abandon their manifesto pledge - and commitments made by Ed Miliband and Sadiq Khan - to find the necessary savings in legal aid. A pamphlet issued by Labour Party HQ in advance of their Party Conference announces that ‘Labour rallies against cuts to legal aid’, despite their manifesto promising to find savings in legal aid and speeches by Labour leader Ed Miliband and Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan reiterating that position.

 At more than £2 billion each year, the UK operates one of the world’s most expensive legal aid systems. As part of a substantive review of the system to ensure it is sustainable, proportionate and affordable, the Coalition has introduced a package of legal aid reforms, which will save £350 million during this Spending Review and restrict the availability of legal aid so that it is only available in serious matters which genuinely warrant taxpayer funding.

Green light for Fulham Reach

An exciting scheme to breathe fresh life into the Fulham riverside has been approved by Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council.

On Friday, September, 23, developer St George was given the green light by the council to regenerate the Fulham Reach area by constructing 744 flats on a riverside site at Distillery Lane, together with new office space, gym, restaurants, swimming pool and a boat club.

Cllr Nick Botterill, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, said: “The committee approved this application as it believed that the development would revitalise the riverside by bringing new homes, jobs and prosperity to a part of London that has been in desperate need of regeneration for many years. We recognise that there were differing views on this scheme but ultimately, having considered the application in detail, it is our opinion that this development will improve Fulham Reach and the surrounding area."

As part of the scheme, the council has negotiated a £12m Section 106 package from St George that will be spent on improvements to the surrounding area.

Speaking after the meeting, local residents spoke of their satisfaction that the plans had been approved.

Fulham resident Paul Makaviglia, said: “I am sure that this development will improve the area. I have been living here for around seven years and that bit of land has always looked a bit scruffy. When I look at what St George have done in Putney, I am sure that this will be a real improvement.”

Scrap red tape urges council

Government proposals to scrap useless and time-consuming regulations that hinder community groups from organising local events have been welcomed by the council that first suggested stripping away unnecessary red tape.

In September 2010, flagship local authority, Hammersmith & Fulham Council published a list of 105 ways for central government to deliver more for less during the age of austerity by removing pointless layers of bureaucracy.

Many of those suggestions were centred around simplifying the Licensing Act 2003.

The act states that small groups need to have the correct paperwork if they want to arrange private events where a charge is made to raise money for charity, school plays and productions, Punch and Judy performances and even magician’s shows.

Now a Government consultation is asking residents what they think about consigning this 'ball and chain' of regulatory burdens to the scrap heap once and for all and to remove the need for a licence from as many types of entertainment as possible.

2020 Vision: Fulham Reach site to be developed at last

Cllr Harry Phibbs writes:

At a planning meeting on Friday night it was agreed to allow development at last on a large site between the embankment and Frank Banfield Park near Hammersmith Bridge. The local Labour MP Andrew Slaughetr has made a confused attack on the proposal saying that it was luxury housing for the rich and also that it was downmarket. As Council leader for a decade he presided over a derelict site and owes residents an apology for this appalling failure given the acute shortage of housing.

The scheme has an attractive design - the houses in Winslow Rd are traditional and sympathetic. There will be 744 new homes including 186 homes for affordable home ownership for those with household incomes of £50,000 would allow local couples the chance to get onto the housing ladder who could not otherwise afford it. It is preferable to a previous scheme (which was approved but never developed) for office blocks which would have been taller than what will now be built.

The Hammersmith Embankment Residents Association, quite understandably, would have liked a maximum height of six storeys. (The eight blocks will range in height from three to nine storeys.) I would also have preferred them to be less tall but the judgment must be made on the overall merit of the scheme.

73% will be family homes.

50% of the new site will be public open space for all to enjoy. There will be a maze (made up of a hedge) in the public space also a community boating facility with pontoon for kayaks, rowers, etc. Widening the space to walk along the River, with cafes to stop at, will be a benefit as will improving access to the river from Frank Banfield Park.

Blooming marvellous

Hammersmith & Fulham is officially ‘blooming marvellous’ after sweeping the board at the recent London in Bloom awards – picking up an incredible 16 gongs!

London in Bloom is a well established and high profile initiative that invites neighbourhoods from across the capital to breath new life into their local green spaces.

Judges visited H&F in the summer and were amazed with what they saw. They awarded the borough a ‘Silver Gilt’ award and stated that the council ‘continues to maintain their parks and open spaces to high standards. A major success for such a small team.’

In addition to the overall award, the borough won 15 individual prizes. Frank Banfield Park in Hammersmith won a Gold Award. The park has seen major improvements recently and features a brand new children's play area, attractive new landscaping, improved railings and gates and new benches.

Council leads smarter savings league

A think tank has named Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council as leading the way nationally at protecting disabled residents from the impact of cuts to social care budgets.

Funded by disability charity Scope, Demos has researched how 174 councils in England and Wales have reacted to the national budget crisis when it comes to delivering services to disabled residents.

They say; "Many councils who introduced the same degree of budget cut scored vastly differently on the coping scale; demonstrating that councils have the ability to introduce measures that can reduce the negative impact on their disabled residents."

The research compares councils by matching the size of budget reductions with changes in charges, eligibility criteria and contributions policies and highlights H&F as a council doing more than most to reduce spending without damaging services to disabled people.

Cllr Joe Carlebach, cabinet member for community care said:

“We are very pleased that Scope has endorsed the work that we are doing to protect disabled residents from the impact of budget cuts.

“We have 27 per cent less to spend over the next three years, but we have worked hard to ensure that our charges and eligibility criteria are better than most other local authorities in London and even compared to local authorities nation wide.

“To date our savings on services to disabled people have been achieved through hard work identifying and delivering efficiencies.

"We are getting rid of unnecessary overheads, cutting back office and management costs and combining many of our services with Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as well identifying and acting on savings with our colleagues in the NHS.

“We are living through particularly difficult economic times and the need to cut the nation’s spiralling debt mountain means that all parts of government, including local authorities have had to make many tough choices.

"We have decided that it is a priority despite the current difficult climate to protect front line services where we can.”

Boris at West London Free School opening

 

 

Council publishes Section 106 agreements

In another coup for Britain’s most transparent local authority, Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has become one of the first in the country to let residents view outstanding ‘Section 106’ funds online.

A Section 106 agreement sees a local authority strike an agreement with a developer to provide a contribution to make any necessary improvements in a neighbourhood where development is due to take
place.

Examples of contributions include funds to be spent on highways, recreational facilities, education and new housing to support new large scale developments.

By visiting the council’s dedicated transparency pages at www.lbhf.gov.uk/transparency, residents can now view outstanding Section 106 funds and the purposes for which they are identified.

H&F Council, a recent LGC Council of the Year, has led the way in openness and transparency and last year became one of the first authorities to put all spending above £500 online. In addition, taxpayers can also view senior officer salaries, details of all councillors’ expenses, the borough’s asset register and departmental organisation charts.

Boris Bike docking stations search begins

Residents are being asked to suggest possible sites for Boris bike docking stations as part of the council’s Get Moving transport campaign.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced earlier this year that Barclays Cycle Hire, as the project is officially known, would be wheeled westwards after the sponsor agreed to provide an additional
£25 million towards expanding the scheme into the borough by the summer of 2013.

Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council is working with Transport for London (TfL) to indentify locations for up to 60 local docking stations – which need to be capable of holding at least 24 bikes each.

While council transport officials draw up a list of possible locations, residents are also being invited to suggest parts of the borough that could accommodate the docking stations. To be in with a chance of being approved by TfL the sites need to be at least 23 yards long and 2.2 yards wide, and meet other rules about footpath width, accessibility and closeness to trees.

Council launches debtometer

Millions of pounds are being freed up for vital frontline services as the council looks set to hit its target of halving its historic debt mountain by 2014.

Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council’s debt reduction strategy, which includes moves to sell under-used council buildings, is set to wipe another £12million off the town hall’s debt burden by April 2012.

The news comes as the council launches a new quarterly online ‘debtometer’ so that residents can keep a track of the progress made in reducing municipal debt.

The amount owed by the authority has been falling steadily since its peak in 2004 when the council owed an eye-watering £176 million – costing £9.5million a year in interest repayments.

Since then, the authority has worked hard with a range of efficiency measures to cut its debt to £122million at the start of the current financial year (2011/12) – but that still drains around £4.3million in annual interest payments before a penny is spent on services for the public.

Today the council announced that it expects to wipe another £12 million off its longstanding debt by the end of this financial year and says it is ‘on track’ to halve its historic debt by April 2014.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, H&F Council Leader, says:

“Nationally and locally we have seen the dangers of excessive debt and we are the only council in the country that is consistently cutting council tax and lowering the council's debt!

“Spending millions of pounds on costly interest repayments to the banks just to stand still is economic madness and is a ticking time bomb if interest rates rise – as they must do at some stage.

“Therefore our strategy for the past five years has been to reduce the council’s historic debt so that taxpayers’ cash, which had been spent servicing interest costs, can be redirected to protect frontline services like caring for the vulnerable, child protection, street cleaning, more Police, schools and parks. Only by cutting debt can we secure the strong financial future that the borough deserves and this year’s progress means we are on track.”

Like councils across the country, H&F Council is under serious financial pressures as a result of the national debt crisis and the council has tightened its belt by shedding around 1,500 jobs since 2006 and is also selling underused buildings and combining services like libraries and children’s services with Westminster and K&C.

“In H&F we are proud of the services we deliver while reducing council tax,” continues Cllr Greenhalgh. “Our services are judged to be amongst the best in Britain, while last year we recognised as the best local authority in Britain. But with our debt burden, we are achieving this with one hand tied behind our back.

“The council has been shrinking for some time and we no longer need the vast swathes of office space we once had. Our focus will be on using the buildings we own in the most efficient way possible. If a building is underused and can be sold to reduce our credit card bill it will be sold. The days of having a council building on every street are over – our residents want quality services, not bricks and mortar which are often underused.”