The Bristow Blog

Crime Down in H&F

This is a guest blog piece from my colleague and fellow cabinet member Cllr Greg Smith - Cabinet Member for Crime and Anti Social Behaviour. 

Sound stuff!

Cracking down on crime and anti-social behaviour remains one of the top priorities for this council.

And I am delighted to say, crime is coming down.

Across the borough, there have been 2,100 fewer crimes this year than last year.

And whilst crime across London is down by about 6%, here in Hammersmith and Fulham, crime is down by over 15%.

Our £4million 24/7 beat policing pilots are performing strongly. More bobbies in Fulham Broadway are resulting in more arrests and less crime; with no evidence of displacement.

Indeed, we have seen some staggering results - in Shepherds Bush for example robbery is down by a staggering 48% and the proportion of crimes making it to the books because Police are out there making more arrests - for things like drugs interventions and public order offences - is up to just short of 20% of the wards crime.

In Fulham Broadway, total crime is down 10% overall, with burglary down 27% and theft down 22%; with increased police activity enabling drugs arrests to go up 240%.

Our 24/7 teams are making a real difference - and that's not just me saying it. On Monday at a Metropolitan Police conference, even Ken Livingstone said the 24/7 pilots in Hammersmith & Fulham were among the major advances of safer neighbourhood policing in London.

The Council also continues to financially support the local Police in their specialist drugs operations, to the tune of £50,000 per year. Dismantling the drugs market is key to bringing crime in general down - and the work to do this is constantly ongoing - with a great deal of joint-working between Police and Council services.

The Controlled Drinking Area has brought the number of street drinkers in the borough down by over 60% and virtually all graffiti is now removed within 48 hours of being reported.

On our estates - a major new 10 point action plan has started to reclaim those areas for their decent, law abiding residents; including the use of professional witnesses, the latest cctv technology and an expanded Estate Warden service - charged with cracking down on the anti-social minority of nasty neighbours; and telling them they are welcome in this borough no more.

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However, all is not well when we look to the Westminster. The Labour government continues to throw down obstacles to our progress.

It remains the case that had this Conservative Council not invested in extra Police officers in the 24/7 pilots, the borough would have less police officers today than it did in 1997.

But worse than that - the Labour government is wielding its knife.

This coming year, the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund will be slashed by the Government. From £214,000 for crime prevention in the current year, to nothing next year. That money was for important crime prevention work - that made a real difference to people's lives in protecting them against crimes such as burglary. Now scrapped by Labour.

Equally, the safer and stronger funding from Labour's Government Office from London is being cut by another six figure sum. A £138,000 cut out of a total budget of £427,000.

So much for a government that used to speak so boldly of being tough on crime, tough of the causes of crime.

Today Labour's slogan should be tough on London - tough on the finances of London. Many say, these cuts are to fund the blackhole in the Home Office pension fund.
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There is still an enormous way to go to make this borough truly safe. But the direction of travel is strong.

Crime is down; and our 24/7 pilots are proving a better way of policing the streets.

We won't shy away from doing what is right to fight crime and the causes of crime.

We will create a borough of opportunity.

It's a shame the Labour Government don't share that approach.

Crime Summit

The second H and F Crime Summit will take place on Saturday 8th March at Hammersmith Town Hall.  It will be your chance to tell the authorities what you think about crime in your area.

Following last year’s inaugural Crime Summit, when more than 400 residents came to the town hall, hundreds of residents are once again expected to make the trip to thrash out crime problems on a street by street basis.

Last year saw the historic launch of two 24/7 round-the-clock beat policing squads in Fulham and Shepherds Bush town centres. This year’s theme is ‘Securing Your Safety’ and residents will have a golden opportunity to explain to the authorities, face-to-face, how H&F can be made a safer place. Discussions to bottom out the main issues will take place in a series of 16 ward based groups.

We are continuing to work hard with the Police and other partners to drive crime down further in Hammersmith & Fulham. We have made good progress since last year – especially in the two 24/7 trial areas – but we need to do more. Continued input from residents is vital to getting this right. Our aim is clear, we want to secure the safety of everyone who lives or works in the borough.

As well as taking part in the ward based workshops visitors can view a range of crime prevention stalls as well as hearing keynote speeches from the Council Leader, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh and Police Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Ali Dizaei.

This year’s Crime Summit will take place on Saturday March 8 in Hammersmith Town Hall and will run from 9.00am – 2.30pm. If you would like to book a place or want more information please email Crime.Summit@lbhf.gov.uk or call 020 8753 2816.

Residents will also have a chance to give their views on H&F's local asset management plan. The asset management plan and consultation documents can also be viewed at the Metropolitan Police website (opens new window).

New Report says 'Stop the war on the motorist'

I have been asked to blog about about a report from Conservative Way Forward - a Conservative pressure group - that recommends raising speed limits and abolishing speed cameras.

The author is Malcolm Heymer.  He was the Principal Engineer then Transportation Planning Manager at the London Borough of Havering from 1991-2002.

To be honest - much of this stuff is controversial though I am sure Jeremy Clarkson would approve!  Not sure I agree with everything in this report.  Hammersmith Broadway needs urgent redevelopment to be more traffic friendly.  I travel everywhere by public transport and scrapping the bus lanes would mean I would take twice as long to get anywhere within the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.

However, I shall let readers decide for themeselves.

The full set of recommendations include: 

The scrapping of: Instead calling for: - Speed cameras - Bus lanes that reduce road capacity - 40mph and 50mph speed limits for heavy goods vehicles - Tolls on the Dartford Crossing - Obstructive traffic calming schemes - Road user charging schemes - Maximum parking standards in new developments - Any form of technology that takes decisions away from the driver - Urban cycle lanes - A surge of spending on the inter-urban motorway and trunk road network - 80mph national speed limit on motorways        - A return to the 85th percentile principle in speed limit setting - Vehicle-activated signs on the approaches to hazards instead of speed cameras - Positive licence points for advanced driver training - Shared-space traffic calming schemes where appropriate

You can read the full report by clicking here - Download CWF_Transport_Policy_Paper_web.pdf

The Post Office is decimating London

The Post Office is closing 6 branches across Hammersmith & Fulham as part of their plans to close 169 branches across London. 

This now seems to be as regular as the tides.  Every year a new round of post office closures in Hammersmith & Fulham is announced by the Post Office in the name of efficiency.  There is a consultation where everyone unites in opposition and the Post Office takes no notice whatsoever. 

The six branches set for the chop are:

1. Askew Road, 68 Askew Road, London, W12 9BJ
2. Goldhawk Road, 88 Goldhawk Road, London, W12 8HD
3. Starch Green, 7 Kings Parade, Askew Road, Starch Green, London, W12 9BA
4. Kenyon Street, 58 Kenyon Street, Fulham, London, SW6 6LB
5. Fulham Road, 780 Fulham Road, London, SW6 5SL
6. Shepherds Bush Road, 146 Shepherds Bush Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 7PB

Additionally, the post office at Costcutters at the top end of North End Road is also closed and the Post Office have not given a date when it will (or if it will) reopen.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council will lead the opposition to these plans - we will also look to see if we can work with the Post Office and perhaps share facilities and service outlets.

And guess what the Government response is to this?  I wrote to the Minister responsible for the Post Office, Pat McFadden a few weeks ago asking if we could access the accounts of these so called 'failing' post offices to see if the council could work with them and deliver a profitable service.  Greg Hands put down a parliamentary question asking the Minister what consideration he had given to my letter - the response? 

"I have seen the letter from Councillor Paul Bristow of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council and would recommend that the Council contact Post Office Ltd to discuss their concerns and proposals for future service provision in the Borough"

Go away was the general gist of it....

Livingstone loses his rag

This is why Livingstone is an embarrassment to London.

Council housing should be a springboard – not a destination

Hammersmith & Fulham council are serious about trying to create a housing ladder of opportunity.  One way to do this could be improving the way residents apply for council housing.

Poposals to change the housing allocations policy were discussed at a Housing Scrutiny meeting that could affect potentially hundreds of people over the course of the next few years.  There will of course be plenty of consultation before policies are changed but suggestions on the table include:

• Preference to people who have lived in Hammersmith & Fulham for five or more years (30,000 people move in and out of H&F every year).
• Giving a fixed number of new lettings to residents who are training or actively seeking to get back into paid employment.
• Sensitive lettings policies to benefit neighbourhoods blighted by crime and anti-social behaviour.
• Giving priorities to people who can demonstrate an essential need to live in the borough on health or welfare grounds.

Two of the larger estates in H&F have just 43 per cent of the working age population in employment while the borough-wide proportion was much higher at 63 per cent.  We also need to transform council housing from a lifelong destination into a springboard to home ownership. 

John Hills in his influential study Ends and Means: The Future Roles of Social Housing In England identified that between 1981 and 2006 the proportion of social tenant households in paid employment fell from 47 per cent to 32 per cent. Additionally he identified that employment rates of residents living in social housing with particular or multiple disadvantages are substantially lower than those of people with similar disadvantages but living in other tenures.

Only recently the new Housing Minister also expressed a desire to promote employment among council tenants.

This is a borough of contrasts where too many people feel that the ladder of opportunity has slipped away.  Changes to the housing allocation scheme will help potentially hundreds of normal hardworking local people to take their first step up that ladder.

Local authorities are required by the Housing Act 1996 to have a scheme of allocation for determining priorities and for defining the procedures to be followed in allocating housing. H&F’s scheme was last published in September 2005 and the council believes now is the time to reconsider the application process.

Iain Dale on the Mayoral Election

The Mayoral election is fast approaching - Iain Dale writes in the Telegraph today about the contest.  Excellent commentary:

Ken Livingstons is displaying all the signs of being the political equivalent of a paranoid schizophrenic.  He's paranoid about his rival for the London mayoralty, Boris Johnson.

Livingstone genuinely fears he will lose. When Boris was first selected, Ken (as we must call him) collared every Conservative he encountered, quizzing them about his rival.

Instead of ignoring his opponent, as most incumbents would, Ken talks about Boris all the time. He launched personal attacks on him from the off. As an electoral strategy, it was bizarre.

He dubbed Boris a racist, yet the charge failed to stick. Why? Because no one who has ever met Boris, seen him on TV or read his books would ever believe him to be one.

Ken failed to understand that, in Boris, he had met the Right-wing equivalent of himself - a politician seen by the electorate as independent of party politics and with a Teflon-type ability to deflect attacks.

But there the similarity ends. Boris unites people, whereas Ken revels in division. His political strategy is based on class, and setting people against each other.

Admittedly, when Boris was selected as the Tory candidate, I had misgivings. I wondered how he would fare against the might of the Livingstone machine, which increasingly resembles that of the late Mayor Daley in Chicago - packed full of political appointees only too willing to do their master's bidding. I asked myself whether Boris could articulate a vision for London.

He has answered some of those questions, but not all. In a television debate with Livingstone and the Lib Dem candidate, Brian Paddick, Boris did well.  His grip of policy was better than expected and he marginally outperformed the Mayor.

Since then Boris has started to develop some clear thinking in several policy areas, not least crime. But it still doesn't amount to a vision.

Perhaps it is too early, but at some point Boris needs to tell Londoners why a Johnson mayoralty would be better for them than a third term of Livingstone. He's got to make people believe that, under him, the streets will be safer, transport will be better and he will spend their money better.

Boris has two big advantages. He can mobilise the Tory vote and he can also mobilise the non-partisan vote.

Ken did this in 2000 - less so in 2004 - but his ability to appeal to non-Labour voters has now been dented, not least by the scandals that emerge from City Hall.

Mobilising the Tory vote is incredibly important. In 2004, turnout was 70 per cent in parts of Labour-dominated Lewisham, while in parts of Kensington & Chelsea it was little more than 20 per cent. Steve Norris lost by only 100,000 votes. That's why Boris's "get out the vote" operation will be crucial to his success.

Boris's success is also crucial to David Cameron. If Boris wins, Cameron will be seen to have passed his second big electoral test - and, more important, Gordon Brown will have failed his first.

Many pundits wonder why the Tory leader hasn't yet appeared with Boris. It's quite simple. You don't fire all your big guns at once. The shadow cabinet is working closely with him on policy and it was interesting to note the presence of David Davis at Boris's crime manifesto launch on Wednesday.

This election will not be won on first preferences. A key part of the Johnson campaign strategy will be to love-bomb Lib Dem voters into giving Boris their second preferences.

It will be tough, as London Lib Dems are a little more Left-leaning than their country counterparts. But if anyone knows the way to attract second preferences, it's Boris's newly imported Australian campaign manager, Lynton Crosby. His appointment signalled the seriousness of the campaign.

Crosby realises that he must allow Boris to be Boris. Humour is a powerful weapon in a politician's armoury and Boris must use it.

When I interviewed Boris in September, he joked that "he reserved the right to continue to make gaffes".

His campaign managers have resisted the temptation to de-Boris Boris. Any attempt to turn him into a robot politician will end in him losing.

Boris now needs to show us that he really believes he can win. This campaign is about ridding London of the malign influence of one of the most devious politicians this country has ever seen.

If Boris can do that, he will have performed a public service to the whole country, with the added bonus that Ken Livingstone's political career will, like so many others, have ended in failure.

Cllr Lisa Homan leaving Askew to become an MEP?

Cllr Lisa Homan, the Labour opposition spokesperson on crime and anti social behaviour, and councillor for the highly marginal Askew ward is trying to become a Member of the European Parliament.  I have joined her facebook group on the subject:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21836660744&ref=mf

Ambitous Cllr Homan has turned her attention away from Hammersmith & Fulham and Askew ward, and towards the South East of England.  European elections are conducted through a proportional representation scheme (quite wrongly in my view) so that people do not vote for their candidate of choice, rather a political party.  Party nominees are listed 1-10 (there are ten MEPs for the South East) and depending how many votes each party get depends on how many MEPs they get.  For example if you are listed number 1, you have an excellent chance whereas someone listed number 10 might as well forget it.

Lisa is going for the number 2 spot (as it has to be woman according to Labour rules) so stands a good chance of heading to Brussels if successfully nominated by the Labour Party.   

£36,000 on bottled water!

That is how much taxpayers money was spent on bottled water every year by Hammersmith & Fulham council - UNTIL - the new Conservative administration in our desire for value for money put a stop to it!

Our latest move to reduce the bill of local public services is to move from having costly bottled water in its offices and instead introducing mains-fed water where appropriate.

Unlike Nikki from Big Brother, council officers and councillors do not demand 'bottled water' at meetings.  At £36,000 a year - this is an expensive luxury.  We are determined to lower the cost of running of the council and we are stopping unecessary expenditure. 

Shame on the previous Labour administration for allowing expenses like this to run out of control.

Heathrow Summit last night

Hammersmith & Fulham council last night organised a summit on the expansion of Heathrow Airport so that local people were able to comment on Government proposals.  700 people turned up to have their say. 

Unfortunately until recently the Government did not think that the people of Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush deserved a say on the controversial expansion proposals despite that these two areas are likely to suffer the brunt of noise pollution as new flight paths to the airport are created.  It was only thanks to the intervention of Stephen Greenhalgh the council leader that saw everyone receive a consyultation letter. 

This is why the Cleaner/Greener scrutiny committee of Hammersmith & Fulham council decided to hold this meeting allowing people to make their voice heard.

On the panel was Lord Soley (former Labour MP for Hammersmith) the campaign director of Future Heathrow who is in favour of expansion, Nick Ferriday of HACAN Clearskys who are against expansion, and chaired by Cllr Nick Botterill the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cllr Eugenie White, the Chair of the Cleaner/Greener scrutiny committee.  There were plenty of comments from members of the public.

Labour Split on Heathrow Plans

One slightly embarassing moment was when Andrew Slaughter MP (Ealing/Acton MP) and Labour councillor Stephen Cowan sat on the top table refusing to move until they had their say.  It made everyone feel a bit uncomfortable.  However this should not be party political and we want as many people as possible joining our campaign.  Cross party campaigns are best.  Andrew Slaughter actually made a good speech attacking his predecessor Clive Soley.

It did reveal a Labour split on the issue with the Labour Government pushing this and locally Clive Soley supporting expansion.  The Labour group and the MP are against this.  Let's hope they can make their colleagues at Westminster think again.

Have your say - The consultation documents can be accessed: at: www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/heathrowconsultation/consultationdocument

The closing date for the consultation is 27 February 2008.