Camden Town Forum funds cut

Lib Dem spin that Camden Town was a priority for them has come to nothing with the cutting of funds from the successful resident-led Camden Town Forum.

The Forum, which steered such things as the £2.5 million Liveability Fund which transformed St.Martin’s Gardens and Castlehaven Open Space, wasn’t a politician-dominated group like the new Area Forums and wasn’t a talking shop.

Residents liked it because they could provide challenge to the council in central Camden Town.

Now their funding has been cuts from 6 meetings a year to quarterly, undermining their ability to question and influence decisions.

This led to the immediate resignation of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Camden Town Forum.

No Lib Dem ward councillors turned up to the meeting.

We hear this evening from council sources that cuts to council budgets meant that the children's library in West Hampstead Library has been closed 25hours over the past month. The reason is the freeze on filling vacancies.

This is in Lib Dem Leader Keith Moffitt's own ward. On Wednesday night he happily sung the praises of his budget, which oversaw these cuts.

Meanwhile Camden Public Library Users' Group - senior committee members of which have long been Lib Dem activists - have stayed silent.

Are they not being told anything about these cuts? If not, do they not know about it? If they do, and haven't done anything doesn't there now not need to be a new organisation which can more accurately reflect the views of library users?

We ask these questions because there is silence at the moment.

Caretaking to be part-privatised at least, confirm Camden Lib Dems

Senior Lib Dems have confirmed in the local papers that the service will be part-privatised at the very least, despite the opposition of tenants' leaders from across the borough.

Kilburn Cllr. James King wrote in the Camden New Journal this week that the council is right to pursue the "partial outsourcing cleaning services" (Lib Dem Cllr. James King, 31 Jan 2008)

Critics from caretakers' union UNISON and camden Labour have been dismissed, as the council looks to the kinds services offered by other, Tory or Lib Dem boroughs. This often means fewer 'regular' caretakers at much lower wages, terms and conditions - and a poorer service for local people.

The Lib Dems have provided a variety of answers for their policy: from the need to extract efficiencies, to less government money.

But the Town hall is currently using £10 million from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) to build brand new offices at Bidborough House - the real reason for the drive, we ask?

Caretaking to be privatised by Tory/Lib Dems

Camden Unison last week gave a vote of no confidence in housing chief Cllr. Chris Naylor after his plans to axe council tenants caretaking were revealed. Caretakers, many of whom live in the blocks they clean, are the ‘ears and ears’ of estates – providing a vital link between tenants (sometimes vulnerable ones) and the council. Camden housing staff have warned of council plans to reduce Camden’s service, in order to save money.

In today's CNJ Naylor tries, strangley, to blame "the government" for his own plans - but the new "Housing Management Improvement Plan" is totally his idea and his creature.
Plans include:
- A centralised (i.e. not district-based) call centre for rent queries
- Proposals to privatise the caretaking service and get rid of residential caretakers
- Less housing staff, with bigger patches, to provide the service

The plans have not been set out in full, but drip-fed from the council in order to avoid a full debate.

At the next Full Council meeting on Moday Labour will be promoting a motion against privatising caretaking – a test for Coalition councillors who profess to represent council tenants in areas with large estates like Kilburn, Cantelowes, Kentish Town, Gospel Oak, Haverstock, Camden Town with Primrose Hill and Highgate.

Privatisation of services hurt elderly

Gospel Oak community activist Sally Gimson warns of the Tory/Lib Dem threat to services to the elderly under the Town Hall's 'Better and Cheaper' agenda, see here.

Grab for 2010 Camden votes behind schools plan, memo reveals

The CNJ has reported on a leaked memo from Lib Dem education chief John Bryant, showing that the council rushed towards a decision based largely on 'biased' considerations about the 2010 elections, see here.

Allegations of procedural bias are very much the stuff of judicial review - and papers have just been served by parents against the council.

Camden's consultation flaws

See this week's CNJ editorial slams the new Tory/Lib Dem council for sham consultations and not listening to people on their big ticket projects:

http://www.thecnj.com/camden/2007/112207/letters112207_01.html