Monday, February 21, 2005
Poor post shouldn't stop secondary offers
Last week I wrote to the Royal Mail to seek assurances that there will be no disruption in the delivery of secondary school offers to parents and children in Tooting (and Wandsworth) in the first week of March.
It is really important that Royal Mail ensures there is a good level of service so that parents and children do not suffer unnecessary stress and anxiety. Waiting for exam results are stressful enough.
It will be extremely unfortunate if there are some children who get their results well before others. The uncertainty can be extremely distressing for parents and children.
Should the offers not be received at the same time then that will defeat the whole object of secondary schools and town halls throughout the country sending out offers on the same day.
My letter to Royal Mail is below.
Sadiq
___________________________________________
Royal Mail,
Customer Services,
FREEPOST RM11AA
16th February 2005
Dear Sirs,
RE: RECEIPT OF POST FOR THE 1ST AND 2ND MARCH 2005
As you may be aware, parents across London will learn at the beginning of March which secondary school their child will be attending in September.
This year for the first time offers are being made from Town Halls throughout the country on the same day – 1st March.
Depending on local postal services, parents and pupils should start receiving the news they have been waiting for on 2nd March.
I am writing to express my concern about Royal Mail deliveries in the Wandsworth (and in particular the Tooting area) during this period. It is extremely important for all parents and children to know the outcome of the application as near to 1st March as possible.
I am concerned that some parents may receive news in advance of others which will lead to a considerable number of parents and children being distressed and anxious as they wait for the outcome of their application.
As you may be aware this year, for the first time, Council’s in London and surrounding areas have co-ordinated admissions. Every parent has filled in one admission form listing the school they want to apply to, regardless of which Borough those schools were in.
One of the reasons for streamlining the above and co-ordinating this is to reduce the considerable distress that 11 year olds and their parents go through at this time of the year.
In light of the above, I would be grateful if you would make sure that all Royal Mail offices provide a good level of service during this period. In this regard, I look forward to receiving confirmation that there is no disruptions predicted for the above period in relation to the receipt of post.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss the above.
With best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Sadiq Khan
c.c. Adam Crozier, Chief Executive, Royal Mail Group Plc, 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ
It is really important that Royal Mail ensures there is a good level of service so that parents and children do not suffer unnecessary stress and anxiety. Waiting for exam results are stressful enough.
It will be extremely unfortunate if there are some children who get their results well before others. The uncertainty can be extremely distressing for parents and children.
Should the offers not be received at the same time then that will defeat the whole object of secondary schools and town halls throughout the country sending out offers on the same day.
My letter to Royal Mail is below.
Sadiq
___________________________________________
Royal Mail,
Customer Services,
FREEPOST RM11AA
16th February 2005
Dear Sirs,
RE: RECEIPT OF POST FOR THE 1ST AND 2ND MARCH 2005
As you may be aware, parents across London will learn at the beginning of March which secondary school their child will be attending in September.
This year for the first time offers are being made from Town Halls throughout the country on the same day – 1st March.
Depending on local postal services, parents and pupils should start receiving the news they have been waiting for on 2nd March.
I am writing to express my concern about Royal Mail deliveries in the Wandsworth (and in particular the Tooting area) during this period. It is extremely important for all parents and children to know the outcome of the application as near to 1st March as possible.
I am concerned that some parents may receive news in advance of others which will lead to a considerable number of parents and children being distressed and anxious as they wait for the outcome of their application.
As you may be aware this year, for the first time, Council’s in London and surrounding areas have co-ordinated admissions. Every parent has filled in one admission form listing the school they want to apply to, regardless of which Borough those schools were in.
One of the reasons for streamlining the above and co-ordinating this is to reduce the considerable distress that 11 year olds and their parents go through at this time of the year.
In light of the above, I would be grateful if you would make sure that all Royal Mail offices provide a good level of service during this period. In this regard, I look forward to receiving confirmation that there is no disruptions predicted for the above period in relation to the receipt of post.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss the above.
With best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Sadiq Khan
c.c. Adam Crozier, Chief Executive, Royal Mail Group Plc, 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Your say on GP extended hours
Wandsworth Primary Care Trust has begun consultation on the GP extended hours scheme, which is currently running in Tooting, Balham and Wandsworth.
It was due to pressure the Overview and Scrutiny committe put on the Trust that they have agreed to consult patients on its intention to stop funding a scheme which gives patients increased access to GP appointments. I am extremely concerned at the impact the ending of the scheme will have and think it is important that patients get a chance to respond with any concerns they may have.
Wandsworth PCT reviewed the pilot scheme in 2004 and decided to end it.
I am pleased that the PCT is consulting fully before making a final decision on this scheme. They have assured me that the PCT board will listen carefully to the response to the consultation process before making any final decision. It is therfore imperative that residents in Tooting, Balham and Wandsworth let the PCT have their views.
There are atleast 3 options being canvassed; Continue with current arrangements, spread the available £100,000 resource between all PCT localities or re-distribute the £100,000 between all practices based on list size.
Further info can be obtained from www.wandsworthpct.nhs.uk. The consultation ends on May 14th
It was due to pressure the Overview and Scrutiny committe put on the Trust that they have agreed to consult patients on its intention to stop funding a scheme which gives patients increased access to GP appointments. I am extremely concerned at the impact the ending of the scheme will have and think it is important that patients get a chance to respond with any concerns they may have.
Wandsworth PCT reviewed the pilot scheme in 2004 and decided to end it.
I am pleased that the PCT is consulting fully before making a final decision on this scheme. They have assured me that the PCT board will listen carefully to the response to the consultation process before making any final decision. It is therfore imperative that residents in Tooting, Balham and Wandsworth let the PCT have their views.
There are atleast 3 options being canvassed; Continue with current arrangements, spread the available £100,000 resource between all PCT localities or re-distribute the £100,000 between all practices based on list size.
Further info can be obtained from www.wandsworthpct.nhs.uk. The consultation ends on May 14th
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Holding the local NHS to account
Part of my role on the council is my membership of the Health Committee. The last meeting I attended lasted for more than 3 hours due to some pretty important matters happening locally:
We regularly review information on the performance of local NHS Trusts.
- The data for St George's showed that improvement was needed across at least 4 indicators. I raised a number of concerns including over the number of admissions cancelled for non-clinical reasons (the level of which is now above the national average).
- Wandsworth Primary Care Trust has failed (again) to demonstrate any progress regarding its target to stop Wandsworth residents smoking. There was a further drop of 7% against target.
- South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust was asked to continue to reduce its workload of community teams to the operational policy maximum to ensure it provided a good quality service.
The debacle surrounding Bolingbroke Hospital
- In the middle of January the St George's Healthcare NHS Trust announced that all in-patient services at the Bolingbroke Hospital would close because serious fire safety problems had been identified. This was after refurbishments at a cost of £2 million had taken place! I did not hide my anger at this debacle. The Trust have confirmed that they will now have an independant internal inquiry which will investigate how it is that so much money that this Government had invested in local Hospitals appears to have been wasted. This report should be ready in a month or so. I have also asked for the following;
- (i) the fire safety report on Bolingbroke Hospital and the terms of reference of the internal inquiry;
- (ii) the implementation of the ward closure programme and the impact on patients who have moved;
- (iii) the reasons why fire safety problems were not noticed when works were carried out in the in-patient wards in early 2004;
- (iv) the financial and opportunity costs of the accomodationto which patients are located.
- As a result of various questions asked by the committee St Georges Trust have to let us know the options being considered for future provision at Bolingbroke, to give a clear commitment to the maintenance of the remaining service at bolingbroke at it's long term future and to accelerate the development of a Strategic Outline case for the redevelopment.
Increase in incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STI's) in Wandsworth
- There has been a dramatic increase in STI's (eg chlamydia and gonorrhoea diagnoses) over the last few years. We agreed to ask the Primary Care Trust,as a matter of urgency, to address the weaknesses in the data on the use and demand for sexual health services and to develop clear proposals to ensure that people who require sexual health services are able to access them without encountering excessive waiting times.
Annual report of the Director of Public Health for Wandsworth 2003-04
- This is one of the most important pieces of work done on Wandsworth in recent years. A copy of the full report can be obtained from the Primary Care Trust website: http://www.wandsworth-pct.nhs.uk/
- The report provides information on social conditions in Wandsworth as well as specific health risks and the prevalence of particular conditions. It highlights the extent to which people living in the more socially deprived parts of the Borough have worst health and are more likely to be admitted to hospital. Tooting , Graveney, Furzedown, Bedford and Earlsfield wards (from Tooting constituency ) were all in the bottom half of worst health and most admissions tables.
- We agreed to undertake further scrutiny to establish the costs, outputs and effectiveness of public health activities in Wandsworth.
Sadiq
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Wandle School sell-off collapses
Controversial plans to demolish the former Wandle School in Garratt Lane and to build 120 private residential flats have been withdrawn by the developers. And good job too!
The Planning Applications Committee was due to hear the controversial plan at its meeting on 10th February 2005 but the developers decided at the last minute to withdraw them.
These plans were an absolute outrage. I've been inundated with objections from local residents concerned about the over-development of this site and the overbearing and detrimental effect such a colossal building would have had on Earlsfield.
The developers need to understand that they cannot do whatever they like in communities such as this.
The Planning Applications Committee was due to hear the controversial plan at its meeting on 10th February 2005 but the developers decided at the last minute to withdraw them.
These plans were an absolute outrage. I've been inundated with objections from local residents concerned about the over-development of this site and the overbearing and detrimental effect such a colossal building would have had on Earlsfield.
The developers need to understand that they cannot do whatever they like in communities such as this.
There's another point here. Wandle School was a public building, benefiting the local community and held in trust for us by the council. Yet again, the Conservatives have flogged off our building - not to provide an alternative community benefit such as affordable homes - but so that they can pocket the proceeds and use them for their own purposes.
We all know there's a massive housing problem in Wandsworth - made far, far, worse by the Tories' catastrophic housing policies which only meet the needs of the wealthiest. The council's own housing survey, carried out in 2003, says that the borough will need over 30,000 affordable public homes to rent by 2011. At present, the entire council housing stock is about 18,000. And yet the Tories refuse to build ANY affordable homes to rent. How will they even begin to make a dent in their own forecast if they won't use sites like Wandle School to start turning the tide of homelessness and overcrowding?
The answer is - obviously - they won't. They don't want to. They're perfectly happy for generations of Tooting families to be forced out of the borough because of the lack of affordable homes, meanwhile encouraging property speculators to cram huge numbers of luxury flats onto our few reamaining sites.
Another example of the choice at the coming election: choose action to provide affordable homes with Labour, or isolated gated over-development for millionaires only with the Tories.
Sadiq
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
A week in the life of a parliamentary candidate
The last week or so have been fairly typical with a mixture of local events and meetings to attend:
- I was the Main speaker at the Annual General Meeting of Paddington Law Centre. This Law Centre is in the London Borough of Westminister. Westminster's claim to fame was being found guilty of "gerrymandering" which led to the Leader of the Tory Council being surcharged record sums of money. It was really sad listening to the stories that tenants of anotherTory Council had of the poor level of service received aswell as the savage cuts that Council had made which were causing such a misery to local residents.There was an eery feeling of deja vu. If I closed my eyes I thought it could have been a meeting in Wandsworth.
- I attended the Wandsworth Policing Contact Centre at the TIC (145 Upper Tooting Road) where I met up with the new Borough Commander. In addition to a tour of the Islamic Centre and the Sikh Khalsa Centre I escorted the new Borough commander on a tour of Tooting (see elsewhere in this website for a fuller write up of his visit)
- I attended the Council's Racial Incident Panel meeting. We discussed a number of important items including a report on the monitoring of racial incidents in schools in Wandsworth, a statistical report on racial incidents in the Borough, a report from the Metropolitan Police Authority on Stop and Search and a Crime and Disorder Audit.
- I attended a reception at Number 10 Downing Street hosted by Tony and Cherie Blair for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha for members of the Muslim community. Jack Straw and Hilary Benn were also present.
- I attended the full meeting of the Council
- I held my usual surgery at Tooting Library on Saturday
- I attended an excellent coffee morning held at the newly renovated Furzedown Project on Moyser road hosted by the Furzedown Community Network (http://www.furzedown.net). The hightlight was "the Great Gustos" choir's performance. Local Councillor John Farebrother was also present and took part in "a living streets" audit of Moyser Road. Watch this space for details of further improvements in Furzedown!
- On Sunday I attended the Annual Civic Service in St Luke's Church (which I have written about elsewhere on this webiste)
- I also attended a Stop and Search Action Team meeting at the Home Office to discuss the new changes in police practice to make a record of all Stops where someone has to account for their actions or behaviour. One of my modern-day heroines Doreen Lawrence was also at this meeting.
- From April 1st 2005, all police services will have to implement the requirements to record all "stops" in accordance with recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. This will improve trust and confidence in the police service through greater transparency and accountability. I am confident this will encourage better reporting of crime and incidents of disorder, which is vital intelligence for the police and enables them to better target their resources.
Sadiq
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
A right Royle start!
Chief Superintendant Joe Royle has made an excellent start as Wandsworth's new Borough Commander.
I have seen at first hand how he has hit the ground running. I spent a couple of hours with the new Borough Commander last Saturday when he joined me and Special Constable Fred Ahmed MBE on a visit to local retailers and businesses. He showed real enthusiasm and interest as he also toured the Tooting Islamic Centre and the Khalsa Centre.
He also took time to attend the thought provoking and moving Holocaust Memorial Day event at Graveney school. He has also made a special effort to meet and listen to many stakeholders since he first joined us a few weeks ago.
With the Metropoilitan Police now having record numbers of frontline officers and, locally, with us having extra Police community safety officers and street wardens it is encouraging that we have a Boriough commander who is so obviouly committed to ensuring that we all continue to have as crime free a quality of life as is possible.
Sadiq
I have seen at first hand how he has hit the ground running. I spent a couple of hours with the new Borough Commander last Saturday when he joined me and Special Constable Fred Ahmed MBE on a visit to local retailers and businesses. He showed real enthusiasm and interest as he also toured the Tooting Islamic Centre and the Khalsa Centre.
He also took time to attend the thought provoking and moving Holocaust Memorial Day event at Graveney school. He has also made a special effort to meet and listen to many stakeholders since he first joined us a few weeks ago.
With the Metropoilitan Police now having record numbers of frontline officers and, locally, with us having extra Police community safety officers and street wardens it is encouraging that we have a Boriough commander who is so obviouly committed to ensuring that we all continue to have as crime free a quality of life as is possible.
Sadiq
Monday, February 07, 2005
A civic service for all
I attended the Annual Wandsworth Council Civic Service today at St Luke's Church in Battersea. This year's was organised by the Mayor of Wandsworth, Councillor Chief Mrs Lola Ayonrinde JP.
The Mayor told me sometime ago that she intended to break with tradition and have a theme "neighbours of faith". She had decided to change the time of the service from a Sunday morning to a Sunday evening and invite representatives of Christian and non Christian faith communities as well as business communties, voluntary and community organistion within the Borough.
There were Mayors from all over London, Martin Linton MP and a number of Councillors also in attendance.
At the time the Mayor told me of her plans I congratulated her for her inclusive initiaitve. However, the evening was even better then I could have hoped for.Ther were people of all ages, races and religions present in the beautiful Church on Thurleigh and Ramsden Road.
As the Mayor said, an Annual civic gathering in Wandsworth is the only annual opportunity to recognise and celebrate the spiritual well being of the Borough. It should serve as a unifying vehicle and provide us all with the opportunity to acknowledge that true collabration does not mean merely working alongside one another, but genuily sharing. Even when there may be profound differences in belief, there sould still be sharing.
Aswell as Hymns, Messages and Addresses from the Bishop of Kingston and Canon John Shephard and readings there were Prayers led by young people who were followers of the seven major faiths in the Borough of Wandsworth; Hinduism, Judaisn, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and the Baha'i faith.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and can genuinely say that I felt uplifted during and after the service. This reminded me that the residents of Wandsworth, and indeed Tooting, have so so much in common irrespective, and in fact because, of our beliefs, backgrounds and religions.I often describe Tooting as an oasis in the chaotic world we live in. If we just took more time to search for the things we had in common rather then the differences we have wouldn't live be so much for peaceful and enjoyable?
Sadiq
The Mayor told me sometime ago that she intended to break with tradition and have a theme "neighbours of faith". She had decided to change the time of the service from a Sunday morning to a Sunday evening and invite representatives of Christian and non Christian faith communities as well as business communties, voluntary and community organistion within the Borough.
There were Mayors from all over London, Martin Linton MP and a number of Councillors also in attendance.
At the time the Mayor told me of her plans I congratulated her for her inclusive initiaitve. However, the evening was even better then I could have hoped for.Ther were people of all ages, races and religions present in the beautiful Church on Thurleigh and Ramsden Road.
As the Mayor said, an Annual civic gathering in Wandsworth is the only annual opportunity to recognise and celebrate the spiritual well being of the Borough. It should serve as a unifying vehicle and provide us all with the opportunity to acknowledge that true collabration does not mean merely working alongside one another, but genuily sharing. Even when there may be profound differences in belief, there sould still be sharing.
Aswell as Hymns, Messages and Addresses from the Bishop of Kingston and Canon John Shephard and readings there were Prayers led by young people who were followers of the seven major faiths in the Borough of Wandsworth; Hinduism, Judaisn, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and the Baha'i faith.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and can genuinely say that I felt uplifted during and after the service. This reminded me that the residents of Wandsworth, and indeed Tooting, have so so much in common irrespective, and in fact because, of our beliefs, backgrounds and religions.I often describe Tooting as an oasis in the chaotic world we live in. If we just took more time to search for the things we had in common rather then the differences we have wouldn't live be so much for peaceful and enjoyable?
Sadiq
