People's climate march this Sunday in London

Lambeth Greens will be meeting with other London Greens at 11am this Sunday 21st September at Middle Temple Gardens, Embankment, to take part in the London Climate March.

The march will start at Temple Place at 12.30pm and finish at Parliament with a rally at 2.00pm. 

It comes on the eve of The World Leaders' Climate Summit in New York which will be a key moment in the fight against climate change. 

Where: Greens will be assembling 11am, Middle Temple Gardens, Embankment

Green Party Contact: London Campaigns Officer Dave Plummer

More info can be found at the Campaign Against Climate Change website. 

Chuka Umunna's failure to act over bringing Crossrail 2 to Streatham

We have now received a response to our Freedom of Information request to Transport for London regarding Crossrail 2, asking about what dealings Streatham MP Chuka Umunna has had with TfL.  

Things to note:

• It contains the astonishing revelation that "At the time of your request there had been no meetings between TfL and Chuka Umunna MP".
• It states: "Crossrail Ltd have not met Chuka Umunna in his capacity as the local MP for Streatham, nor to discuss route and station proposals for Crossrail 2."
• It suggests the MP has not engaged at all with TfL over bringing Crossrail 2 to Streatham, until after the decision was made over the route,
• The only correspondence seems to have come after we invited Mr Umunna to a public meeting at the beginning of June 2014.  At the public meeting it was made clear that all the decisions had been made, there had been no lobbying on the issue, and Streatham would not be getting Crossrail 2.

Why is this relevant?  

• The Streatham MP has been accusing Transport for London of overlooking Streatham over Crossrail 2, when it appears he has in fact done next to nothing as the MP for Streatham to try and get Crossrail 2 to Streatham.
• Mr Umunna was elected on a pledge to work for improved transport links for Streatham, with a petition which noted: "The planned Crossrail 2 scheme, running from Chelsea to Hackney, would considerably relieve congestion on the Victoria line, creating the potential for an extension southwards to Streatham from Brixton."
• It would appear that Streatham is not getting Crossrail 2 due in no small part to a failure by the MP to ask for it. 

The full text of the Freedom of Information request is below...

TfL Ref: FOI-0463-1415 

Thank you for your clarification email which we received on 26 June 2014 asking for information about meetings between TfL and Chuka Umunna about Crossrail. 

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked: 

"Please can you let me have details of any questions or meetings between TfL and Chuka Umunna, MP for Streatham (e.g. the questions he has submitted, how many meetings he has had, what they were about & what was agreed)?" 

At the time of your request there had been no meetings between TfL and Chuka Umunna MP.

The following correspondence, regarding the Crossrail 2 scheme, has been sent and received: 

Letter sent by TfL Commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, in response to e-mail received on 10 June 2014 

19 June 2014
E-mail received by TfL Commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, regarding Crossrail 2 serving Streatham and transport links to Streatham 

10 June 2014
Stakeholder information e-mail regarding current Crossrail 2 consultation sent to a range of stakeholders, including MPs, by Michele Dix, Managing Director for TfL Planning. 

09 June 2014
Stakeholder information e-mail regarding Crossrail 2 sent to a range of stakeholders, including MPs, by Michele Dix, Managing Director for TfL Planning and Paul Plummer of Network Rail. 

14 May 2013
We also provided information to the Department for Transport (DfT) to assist them in responding to a letter they had received from Chuka Umunna MP in April 2014. As this correspondence was not between Mr Umunna and ourselves you should contact the DfT for further details. 

Further information on Crossrail 2 can be found at http://crossrail2.co.uk/ 

In addition, please see below for a description of the information we hold in relation to Mr Umunna’s meetings with Crossrail Ltd (CRL). 

Crossrail Ltd have had three meetings with Chuka Umunna since 2012. 

· On 24 November 2012, Chuka Umunna met with CRL CEO Andrew Wolstenholme. While there are no meeting notes, a follow up letter confirmed they discussed the Rolling Stock procurement, employment issues including direct employment, blacklisting allegations, compliance and apprenticeships & training. 

· On 11 July 2013, the Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, the then Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle, Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna and Lord Adonis visited Canary Wharf station, hosted by the Crossrail Chairman and Chief Executive. The nature of the visit was to view the progress made on the project and the visitors gave a media interview on industrial strategy policy, using Crossrail as a backdrop. There are no meeting notes as this was not a formal meeting, only a site visit. 

· On 24 June 2014, Crossrail’s Chairman met Chuka Umunna in his role as the shadow Business Secretary. The main purpose of the visit was to discuss progress on the Crossrail project, in particular the skills agenda and economic impacts on the UK economy and businesses. 

The meeting notes from the meeting on 24 June 2014 are as follows:
· A general project progress update was provided.
· An update on the extension to Reading was provided.
· An update on the rolling stock procurement was provided.
· An overview of the recent National Audit Office report was discussed.
· Chuka Umunna did mention Crossrail 2 (the route of which is a constituency issue for him in Streatham) but recognised that it was nothing to do with Crossrail Ltd and there was no detailed discussion.
· There was an explanation given as to the cost and final resting place of our tunnel boring machines.
· There was an extended discussion on skills, both in the context of the changing profile of the Crossrail workforce and the changing nature of railway technology.
· Chuka Umunna was interested in the demographic diversity of Crossrail’s apprentices and we undertook to send him the data we have.
· An update on industrial relations was provided. 

Crossrail Ltd have not met Chuka Umunna in his capacity as the local MP for Streatham, nor to discuss route and station proposals for Crossrail 2.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Eva Hextall
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

Lambeth Council gripped by a 'profit making culture' over housing policy

The Evening Standard carries a report today on Lambeth Council's ongoing evictions of residents in short-life housing, with comments from a former Lambeth council housing policy officer.

The whistleblower suggests that Lambeth Council is gripped by a 'profit making culture' over the emptying of council houses.

 You can read the article in full here: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/council-house-evictions-in-lambeth-are-symptom-of-profit-making-culture-claims-whistleblower-9566815.html

Bedroom Tax rebate for Lambeth residents?

There has been a fair amount of justified criticism of Lambeth Council over its failure to stick up for local residents in the face of the Bedroom Tax.  There have been protests against its policy on evictions for those who fall into arrears as a result of the tax.

Many other councils have done far more, for example redesignating homes.  Some have pledged to evict no one who falls into arrears as a result of the Bedroom Tax.  Lambeth have done neither. We asked Lambeth Council Leader Lib Peck a year ago whether Lambeth would refuse to evict.  She said she wouldn't. 

As soon as we heard on 10th January about the Bedroom Tax rebate that many residents who had occupied their homes continuously for the last 17 years might be entitled to, we contacted the Council, and have since then been pushing to ensure that residents receive it.

We also submitted a Freedom if Information request on the day that the news broke.  We have now received this response:

"Thank you for your request for information received on 10th January 2014 concerning (the Bedroom Tax Rebate). Please find our response set out below.

"1. What steps Lambeth Council is taking to seek out those residents? 

"We are in the process of writing to all housing associations asking them to identify any residents that fall into the criteria. We are also attempting to interrogate our own systems to identify such residents but the query is still with our systems administration team. Our partner organisations (Lambeth Living (ALMO) and various
tenant and resident management organisations) who manage our housing stock are also identifying residents in Lambeth properties.

"2. Whether Lambeth Council has the necessary records to offer rebates to everyone  entitled to one? 

"Lambeth records only go back to 1997. However, we will accept a letter from the Landlord stating they have been in residence and receipt of benefit from 1996.

"3. Whether Lambeth Council has an estimate of how many people in Lambeth may be entitled to a rebate, and also an estimate of how many will get a rebate? 

"We do not have this information currently."

Lambeth housing activists stall this Saturday

Lambeth Housing Activists are organising a stall this weekend, asking people to sign a petition against Lambeth Council evicting people from their homes in the Lambeth United Housing Coop.

The stall is this Saturday 4th January, 11am - 1pm at the junction of Wandsworth Road and Lansdowne Way.

If you can come please email Chris chrisblake1977 (at) yahoo.co.uk to say you can make it and give your phone number. This means if anything changes at short notice (e.g. the stall is cancelled because it’s raining) you can be kept informed.

Lambeth Council's recycling rate plummets

The latest annual figures for recycling have been released, and Labour-led Lambeth Council's recycling rate has plummeted from 28% to 23%.

Green London Assembly member Jenny Jones put out a press release about it on Tuesday, and it was reported in the South London Press on Friday.

We exposed last year how Lambeth Council was fiddling the recycling figures. It is now sending its waste for incineration, causing more air pollution, and claiming this is recycling. This received some important coverage from the BBC. It also brought a rebuke for Lambeth Council from the Mayor of London.

Lambeth Council has actually been falling further and further behind the London average recycling rate - something which the London Assembly has concluded is a failure of political leadership. This is however the first time it has actually fallen, since 2003 when the Lib Dems were in charge. It's recycling rate has now returned to the levels of 2006/07, when Labour took over.

As usual the Lib Dems have been quick to put out a press release expressing 'outrage'. They are however, failing to hold the Council to account as the official opposition (although they are quick to pop out a statement every time we expose Lambeth's failures on recycling). As their leaflet distributed in Streatham a couple of weeks ago states, they are even opposing the new food waste collections.

The Lib Dem claim that they got Lambeth's recycling rate up to 25% in 2006 (when they were in coalition with the Conservatives) is also rubbish. As the graph here clearly shows, they got it up to 22%, but this was only in line with the London average. And that was after the rate dipped well below the London average in the second year they were in charge.

To give an idea of the kind of levels that are achievable, next door Southwark is achieving a 30% rate, and Croydon a 44% rate.

Lambeth Council employs 27 people on Zero Hours contracts

We know that Lambeth council doesn't pay its carers a Living Wage, and we know that many council contractors don't get a Living Wage, but what about direct employees on 'Zero Hours' contracts?

We have just received a response to a Freedom of Information Request.  Lambeth Council says it employs 27 people on Zero Hours contracts.  This is what they say:

"The council does employ workers on a flexible basis in order to cover work which is of a seasonal, infrequent or fluctuating nature. In these circumstances the council may from time to time offer work but is under no obligation to do so. Equally, there is no obligation on the part of the worker, who may accept or refuse the work offered and there is no restriction on these workers being employed by other employers. There are currently 27 staff with contracts of this nature.

"Examples of the roles currently held by staff on flexible contracts, of the type defined above, are provided below

·              HR Consultant

·              Technical Programme Manager

·              Mayors Chauffeur

·              Macebearer

·              Project Implementation Lead

·              Policy Officer

·              Building Control Surveyor

·              School Crossing Patrol Officer