Clerkenwell Liberal Democrats

(Click picture to play video)

It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto.  And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.

This week, Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat minister at the Department of Health) has launched a national £4 million lung cancer awareness campaign. The campaign, the first of its kind, will use TV, radio and press adverts, and advertising on pharmacist bags and inside GP surgeries, to raise awareness of the disease.

One of its aims is to persuade anyone who has had a cough for more than three weeks to see their doctor.

You can find more information about coughing and lung cancer at the Department of Health website, here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/05/coughing-could-be-a-sign-of-lung-cancer-2/

With 33,000 new cases diagnosed each year, lung cancer is a blight on the lives of far too many of our families and an early diagnosis can make all the difference. Please take the opportunity of the Be Clear on Cancer campaign to find out more about prevention and diagnosis, and to visit your local doctor if you’ve had a persistent cough – it is always better to be safe than sorry!

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/tag/be-clear-on-cancer/

The Pump House from the interpretation area off Myddelton Passage

Islington’s Planning Committee “A” today (24th April) rejected, unanimously, a planning application for a scheme to convert Clerkenwell’s iconic 18th century Pump House, off Amwell Street, into commercial  space, while the adjacent sheds would be converted to luxury flats and houses.

The scheme, designed  by local architect Tom Tasou for Turnhold Properties, had attracted objections from the Amwell Society, the Islington Society, the Heritage of London Trust, and others.  I had previously written a post on the scheme on this site and I stepped down from taking part in the decision (as a member of the Committee) to add my voice to these objections.

The scheme cut straight across two Planning Briefs adopted in the 1990s for the whole New River Head site – and two “section 106″ agreements.  These encapsulated Islington Council’s long-standing ambition to bring about the conversion of the Pump House to a heritage centre celebrating the history of the New River and the bringing of clean water to London in 1613.  It was only on this basis that the remainder of the site was allowed to be developed for such extensive, market residential use: the main Metropolitan Water Board building itself, the Lab Building, and then later the Nautilus, Remus and Hydra Buildings, from which Thames Water have made millions.   Only 20 homes on the site are affordable.

Under the scheme, parts of the site would be excavated to provide underground bedrooms and bathrooms for the luxury houses.

The developers were offering the Windmill base, and the first floor of the Pump House, to a heritage organisation – but on terms that would give any such organisation a monumental task in negotiating the deal, raising the money for fitting out and running the minimal space on offer, in a short time.

In my comments to the committee, I expressed my outrage at the application which would wreck – with minimal consultation – the planning policies for the site that had been consulted on and overwhelmingly approved by local people in 1991 and 1999, as well as the credibility of the planning system in Islington.  A scheme such as this would be acceptable if the listed buildings were seriously at risk – but they aren’t: they are in good condition and secure.  The heritage scheme on offer was in my view a Mickey Mouse one and would wreck forever the chances of a proper heritage centre doing justice to the historic importance of the site.

David Gibson of the Islington Society, David Sulkin of the Amwell Society, and Hugh Myddelton – descendant of the creator of the New River – all spoke against the scheme.  David Sulkin made the point that Shakespeare was still alive when it opened, and that the New River Head was in effect the “Globe Theatre” of London’s water supply.   Compliance with previous s. 106 agreements on the site was seriously in question.

After deliberating, the Committee decided unanimously to refuse planning permission and listed building consent.

The applicants may now appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.  This will give time for the Feasibility Study commissioned by the conservationists to be received, and for the issues to be clarified.  So it is a conservation battle won, but the war is not – yet.

The questions for Islington’s planning department remain.  How could it forget two Planning Briefs  it had created only in the 1990s and then support their complete subversion, despite huge public support?

Official reports have confirmed that no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has increased council tax for their residents. This is unlike both other major parties, many of which are increasing council tax by up to 3.5% this year.

Commenting on Labour and Conservative councils’ record on Council Tax, Liberal Democrat Party President, Tim Farron said:

“While Labour and the Tories fight over how many of their councils raised Council Tax, it’s clear that with the Liberal Democrats your money is safest: no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has raised Council Tax.

“Ordinary working families are struggling already with paying bills, without their councils increasing the burden.

“The choice in next month’s elections is clear: vote Liberal Democrat for financially responsible councils that create jobs. Vote Labour and the Tories for waste, mismanagement and tax rises.”

As well as freezing council tax across the country, Liberal Democrat councils are protecting front-line services, fighting to keep libraries and Sure Start centres open. This is in addition to the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government, which after the Budget include a £130 income tax cut for all working families, the largest-ever rise in the basic state pension, an increase in child tax credits for the poorest families, and an increase in the Lib Dem Pupil Premium to £600 for every pupil receiving Free School Meals.

At every level of government, the Liberal Democrats are cutting taxes for low- and middle-earners and better targeting help to those that need it the most. It is a record of financial responsibility of which we can be proud.

A first look at part of this week’s Liberal Democrat Local Election Broadcast. This clip looks at our key pledge to cut taxes for working families, and celebrates the fact that Liberal Democrats in government have achieved:

• The biggest-ever single uplift in the tax-free personal allowance
• A £3.5 billion tax cut for working men and women
• 840,000 of the lowest earners in the country lifted completely out of paying Income Tax

Next year, the allowance increases again (to £9,205) – within touching distance of our manifesto promise to increase the Income Tax threshold to £10,000.

These are all significant achievements that are already making a difference for millions of hard-working men and women across Britain. Real change for real families in tough times – promised and delivered by the Liberal Democrats.

We can be proud that the biggest tax cuts in today’s Budget go to millions of working families.

As a result of this Budget, someone working a full week on minimum wage will see their income tax bill cut by over 50% compared to under Labour.

Increasing the personal allowance to £9,205 takes us within touching distance of our number one manifesto pledge – ensuring no one pays any tax on the first £10,000 they earn.

Thanks to our changes, a basic rate taxpayer will be paying £45 a month less in tax than they would have been under Labour.

We can be proud that we’ve ensured the richest in our society will be paying more, much more.

The Tycoon Tax, an increase in stamp duty for high value properties and other new taxes on wealth will raise five times as much as the 50p tax rate. Those with annual incomes of more than £150,000 a year will be paying on average an additional £1,300 a year in tax, as a result of this Budget.

Of course, this is a Coalition Budget and we did not get our own way on everything. Conservative priorities are not ours. But as on so many other issues, we have made sure that there is a real Liberal Democrat stamp on this Budget.

Lower taxes for more than 20 million working people; effective new taxes on the rich.

This is a Budget we can be proud of – a Budget for the many, not the few.

Best wishes,

2012 is going to show the best of Britain. With the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, we’ll be celebrating our past but with our face to the future and the change it will bring. In Government, the Liberal Democrats are at the heart of that change.

Of course, times are tough. Families are under pressure, worried about paying their bills. That’s why we’re cutting tax for working people while calling time on the tycoon tax dodgers.

From next month, 25 million working people will have more money in their pocket, because of us. You can help spread the word about our £60 tax cut by clicking here.

Going green is not a luxury for the good times – Liberals have always fought to protect the environment, and that’s why we’re part of the greenest government this country has ever had. Not only are we making the right choices for the environment, we’re putting green policies at the heart of our economic recovery.

This is a liberal nation with liberal values; hard work, fair play and a sense of freedom. I’m proud that the Liberal Democrats in Government are repairing Labour’s industrial-scale destruction of that liberty.

Just think for a moment what we’ll have achieved by 2015. The first gay marriage, and end to child detention and the first elections to the House of Lords, to name just three.

These are just some clips from the speech Nick Clegg MP,  Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister made to the Gateshead Lib Dem conference, for the text of his full speech click here.

Last night (28^th February) at the Council meeting, Labour’s Cllr Convery signalled in code that his bold assurances on the future of the Myddelton Square to a crowded public meeting have evaporated, barely 6 weeks later.

I asked him to repeat the “cast iron guarantee” that he gave to the meeting on 16^th January that Labour would find alternative capital to replace the £238k the Lib Dems had allocated to the refurbishment of the Square, if it could not be spent before the deadline of 2015 because of the delays caused by the freeholder of the gardens, Marcus Cooper.

Once again, he failed.  He gave a vague assurance that he will not allow the gardens to be “blighted”, and that the capital “needed” to achieve this will be provided.

He promised that about £25k would be spent on the removal of the unsightly hoardings and the former gardener’s hut they surround, tree-pruning and grass-planting, within about 3 months.

What about the remaining £213,000, one might ask?   If it isn’t spent by 2015, Derwent can ask for it back, under a so-called “sunset” clause in the Angel Centre s.106 deal. (See my previous post on this site for a copy of this deal).

I had also asked him to request Derwent to agree to remove the sunset clause altogether – thus removing the 2015 deadline, at a recent meeting he had with Derwent.  Had he asked for this, and with what result?

His evasive answer was that it was “unnecessary” to request this, as it did not arise until 2015.  So we don’t know whether he has either asked Derwent, and it has refused – or whether he hasn’t even asked.

On the sale/lease situation, the Council is “currently reviewing its legal advice.”  This is Convery-speak for saying that no meaningful negotiations are in progress and that the whole issue has been referred to legal Counsel for advice on the complex relationship of landlord and tenant law, the lease, planning and compulsory purchase orders (CPO).

Convery continues to say that because CPO is complex, long-winded etc, they shouldn’t start it straight away.  I say that it is precisely because it is complex and long-winded, the Council should start it straight away so that there is some hope of its completion before 2015.

This is vintage Convery.  I have repeatedly asked him for assurances that the £238k will be spent on Myddelton Square, and it’s been one evasion after another.  That is how cast iron Cllr Convery’s “guarantee” has become.  More tin pot than cast iron, I observed.

First, (in the January version) it wasn’t going to be this £238k – but it would be a different £238k that he and the Labour administration would “identify” to spend on the gardens.  Now (in the February version), and in front of the full Council at a budget-setting meeting, his proud reassurance has withered away to a meek suggestion of a £25k spruce-up in 3 month’s time.

This can only mean that (as I suggested at the time) he was exceeding his authority when he made this promise in January – and that Clerkenwell residents are being prepared for:

1. some palliative maintenance measures in early summer;
2. a long period of further genteel decline and the likely renewal of the lease in 2013;  and then
3. the diversion of the rest of the money, in 2014, to some other project Labour regards as a local good cause.

Some park improvements in Holloway, perhaps?

Watch this space!

Islington Police yesterday (23rd February) presented an alarming picture of alcohol-related crime to a Council Committee. The headlines are that:

• Islington has the second-highest rate of alcohol-related violent crime in London, after Westminster, which has more police;
• Angel, Old Street, Holloway Road and Finsbury Park are the hotspots for alcohol-related violence;
• off-licences, some open 24 hours, now far outnumber on-licensed premises in Islington and are being used by many people to “pre-load” with cheap alcohol, before even arriving at pubs and clubs;
• Islington now has the highest rate of alcohol-related (non-emergency) hospital admissions in London, both for under-18s and adults.

Fortunately, there was also some good news. Following Police & Council campaigns, violence with injury has fallen by 10% in the last year.

Islington Police say they will now oppose applications for licensed premises which propose to stay open at times later than these:

• Pubs: 11pm Sun-Thurs, midnight Fri-Sat
• Nightclubs: 1.00am Sun-Thurs, 2.00am Fri-Sat
• Restaurants: 11pm Sun-Thurs, midnight Fri-Sat
• Off Licences: 11pm Sun-Thurs, 11pm Fri-Sat

Clerkenwell’s Alcohol “Saturation Zone” policy starts to work, say Police

The Police confirmed that the “saturation zone” in Clerkenwell is proving successful in resisting the expansion of the licensed trade in the area. A large number of Clerkenwell residents supported my long-running campaign for this, which was successful in early 2011.

The designation requires anyone wanting to apply for new licensed premises, or extended hours for selling alcohol, in a roughly 400 metre radius of Farringdon station, (see map) to show that it won’t add to the “cumulative impact” of the familiar problems of noise and anti-social behaviour in all its forms in the area.

Map of the Clerkenwell Saturation Zone

Since its adoption, one application for a new 300-seater bar/restaurant in Charterhouse Street was thrown out and 4 others were either withdrawn or refused.  Four smaller and less controversial licences have been granted, all to premises serving hot food.

Although the Farringdon area has 10% of Islington’s 1,000-plus licensed premises, it doesn’t feature in the Police list of hot-spots for alcohol-related violence.

New Alcohol Controls on the Way

The meeting also heard how Coalition legislation on late-night drinking could bring some relief to Clerkenwell residents soon.

Later this year, local authorities will be able to bring in “Early Morning Restriction Orders” (EMROs) and to impose a late-night Levy on premises selling alcohol in their areas.

EMROs allow local authorities to ban the sale of alcohol in between midnight and 6.00am, in certain areas.  This is clearly a major issue for Clerkenwell as this is when most of the problem sales of alcohol take place.

Some types of premises, such as hotels, may be exempted if they only sell alcohol to people staying there – although we know this is also a problem at the two Travelodge Hotels in Kings Cross Road and adjacent off-licences, particularly in summer.

The Levy is a charge that a local authority can decide to make on all premises selling alcohol after a chosen hour – between midnight and 6.00am – in a designated area. The idea is that the money from this levy is then split between the Police and the Council, to pay for the extra policing and cleaning that alcohol sales bring about.

The Levy would be applied to all licensed premises in the designated area – that is, off-licences as well as bars and clubs, although there is scope for some exemptions such as hotels, as for the EMROs. It would be related to the rateable value.

I think Clerkenwell has much to gain from imposing a levy, and the Police seem to be in favour too.  At present, bar owners pay virtually nothing towards correcting the mayhem they cause. The fee they pay for their licence doesn’t even cover the cost of administering it – and hasn’t been allowed to rise since 2004. So residents are subsidising the alcohol industry while having to live with its violent and malodorous results.

The Levy would enable off-licences and bars to reconsider their viability when they are made to pay even a fraction of the true social costs they impose on the community.

The Home Office is now consulting on how these should be introduced.  See the link here. The Council will consider its views on this soon and I will be pressing it to adopt this power.

I also told the Committee meeting that I feel that action is now needed on the use of Clerkenwell’s pavements by drinkers, forcing passers-by to take their chances with traffic in the carriageway.