WE GIVE TORY TONY ARBOUR OUR 999SOS PETITION

Last week I led a delegation to deliver a 700-signature petition opposing London's emergency services cuts to Conservative London Assembly member Tony Arbour.  Over 700 borough residents, including Seema Malhotra MP,  had signed the 999SOS petition over 3 short sessions across the borough.  People were queuing up to sign in Chiswick, Hounslow and Feltham Town Centres and we heard many stories from people - those who've used emergency services recently or who work in them.  Some had recent bad experiences, others have good reason to value London's Police, Ambulance Fire and Hospital services and are really worried about the proposed cuts.

Chiswick Campaign Stall

The petition said "The cuts are going too far and too fast. The millions of pounds being taken from the budgets of the NHS, the Met police and the London Fire Service will inevitably endanger families
and communities  across the capital."
 

Brentford Police Station - to close

THE SPECIFIC CUTS AS THEY AFFECT US;
 *   The Metropolitan Police's budget has been cut by 20%, or £540m, by 2015, at a time when some crime such as violent assault is up
 *   Since May 2010 the Metropolitan Police has lost 1,444 police officers and 1,960 PCSOs and Safer neighbourhood teams in Hounslow are being cut to just one PC and 1 PCSO each.
 *   Brentford and Feltham Police Stations will close, and only the
Hounslow station will have a 24/7 service
 *   the London Ambulance Service is losing 19% of its funding, whilst
at the same time Accident and Emergency departments at Ealing, Charing
Cross and Hammersmith are due to close, and waiting times at A&Es are
rising
 *   The fire brigade is facing cuts of £64.8m over the next 2 years -
a quarter of its budget.
 *   8 firefighters are due to go from Heston Fire Station in Isleworth.

Public meeting to discuss fire service cuts in Hounslow

Chiswick Fire Station

Last week I attended the The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority public consultation in Ealing Town Hall about the effect of planned cuts on Ealing and Hounslow.  This is part of a London-wide consultation on the Draft Fifth London Safety Plan which is out for public consultation running from the beginning of March until 26th May, This includes proposals to close 12 fire stations, cut 18 fire engines and lose 520 firefighters.

We were told by James Cleverley, the Conservative London Assembly Member who Chairs the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, that the proposals are in response to the Government cuts to the GLA budget, and he hoped that the changes would mean no more closures.  Under the proposals, they say they aim to retain the London-wide target attendance target of getting a first fire engine to an emergency within an average six minutes and the second fire engine, if needed, within eight minutes.

The proposed changes locally are: the loss of an appliance at Hayes, despite its proximity to Heathrow; an additional appliance at Twickenham, and the loss of 2 fire officers per watch, ie 8, at Heston (Isleworth) station.  I asked about an earlier suggestion that Chiswick Fire Station could close, that was later retracted, and was told that closing Chiswick had never been their intention (though I'm sure I didn't imagine seeing it in writing!).  

Residents present at the meeting were concerned about the reduction of fire cover across London at a time when population density is  rising, especially in Brentford.  We were told there is no correlation between population density and incidents. Fire service data shows that despite London 's growth of 1m people in the last 10 years there has been a falling off of incidents.

However the service does admit that there is a correlation between deprivation and numbers of incidents, which suggests that as poverty in London continues to rise, pressure on fire services is going to rise.  

Labour Assembly Navin Shah was concerned about the rising tide of "beds in sheds" and the additional fire hazards they present.  I also pointed out that Eric Pickles' changes to planning law will mean that office blocks can be converted to housing, without adequate standards, and could lead to unregulated and dangerous flop-houses presenting a host of risks.  Rita Dexter the Deputy Commissioner, admitted this could be a risk, and was not aware until I told her, that Pickle's changes announced last week will be implemented at the end of this month - she was assuming there'd be some consultation and was clearly concerned.  

Having now looked at the small print of the consultation, I think residents of Brentford and Hounslow West wards in particular should be concerned that these areas are way off the 6-8 minute target.  Current  and projected response times are over nine minutes in Brentford and ten in Heston West.  Needless to say I am angry that yet another public service, which should be growing to adapt to London's needs, is being cut back, and Londoners will pay the price.

Watermans Arts Centre - Major Grant award

It's great to see that Watermans were successful in applying for a grant and have received funding of £929,079 over three years.
Watermans will lead a consortium of seven Hounslow organisations, including Feltham Arts Assocation, Hounslow Music Service, Hounslow Community Network, TW4 Community Development Trust, John Laing Integrated Services and London Borough of Hounslow.
The 10-year vision aims to build a confident, colourful and creative borough focused on the development of four town centres under the theme 'Hounslow coming together'. Funding will support a group of artistic partners to come together and increase engagement with arts across the borough based in these four hub locations.

Brentford get to Wembly - the hard way

Adam Forshaw punches home the final penalty

Brentford FC sealed their place in the play-offs at Wembley on 19th May this afternoon, after what was one of the most stressful matches I've ever watched (OK I don't go to that many games).  And this one following the drama of last week's match against Doncaster.

The second leg against Swindon soared from certain victory to tense draw - which held on through extra time and into 6 penalty shots. It was so bad I thought some blokes round us were going to have heart attacks.

Anyway, job done, congratulations to the Bees at their final match at Griffin Park this season, and hoping for a more relaxed game at Wembley on 19th May (1.30 kick off).

Bedroom Tax in Hounslow

Last night's Council meeting again debated the Bedroom Tax, now impacting on 2000 working-age households in Hounslow who are losing anything from £13 to over £30 per week.  This policy was dreamed up by a party without thought as to the financial or social consequences, as families struggle to make ends meet, or are forced to give up their tenancies and move into far more expensive private-sector housing (at greater cost to the tax-payer). 

Hounslow's Tories suggested this tax is the way to encourage people to down-size - whilst forgetting that our Council, with the support of a Labour Government, provided one-off support costs to "over-occupiers", and enough funding to build new housing, so people had a choice of new homes.  They also conveniently forget that most "over-occupiers" are pensioners, but at least their Government had the sense to ensure pensioners are not affected by the bedroom tax.

Many of those affected are the working poor, or those whose situation mean they cannot work.  My colleague Elizabeth Hughes described how a disabled constituent needs a second bedroom for a carer to stay in and also to store various pieces of bulky equipment when not in use. She is having to find an additional £14 per week, which will be a massive struggle to find and will impair her ability to live any kind of normal life.  If the bedroom tax is designed to get people to downsize, it is an incredibly blunt instrument.  This woman's flat has had over £10,000 spent to adapt it for her physical needs, which would have to be spent again were she to move - that is if she could find an accessible one sufficiently near her care support and there are too few suitable places.

Right wing Tory Robert Oulds kept going on about the discretionary hardship fund being offered to the Council, whilst ignoring that this will cover a fraction of the losses to residents on low incomes, and is only available for a year.  Labour's Ajmer Grewal pointed out that people who might have to apply to this fund cannot live with the worry of not knowing from one year to the next whether they are going to get support.

The Tories' body language suggested they are clearly split on the issue of the bedroom tax, even though they all voted against the Labour motion condemning it. 

At the same meeting Steve Curran announced the launch of the Food Box scheme, which provides food for people in crisis. A great initiative between the Council, the Tenants & Residents Federation and Asda, but it shouldn't be needed.  It's yet further proof that those who didn't cause the recession are being made to pay by a Government that is actively working to make the poor poorer.