Lambeth Council Watch - news and updates about the 'co-operative' council

[sparkybird]

Any advice on Lambeth Council installed smoke alarms. I was cooking a frozen pizza in my oven at it sent the Lambeth installed smoke alarms off.

They are sending me mad.

If I do any cooking Im always on edge in case the Lambeth smoke alarms go off

The alarm in the kitchen should be a heat alarm not a smoke alarm. I would ask them to replace it with the correct alarm.
If there is one close to the kitchen that's also prone to go off, get them to replace that too.
Hope that's helpful

 

[Tricky Skills]

On Lambeth utility:

 

[Tricky Skills]

It is awful Ted Brown's late partner Noel was horribly abused. Lambeth Links the local lgbtq+ forum is supporting Ted Brown and is running a 'Not Going in the Care Closet!' campaign to change the way adult social care is run.
View attachment 385700

This issue is up for discussion at the next Full Council meeting on 24th Jan. A question has been submitted by Cllr David Robson.

 

[friendofdorothy]

This issue is up for discussion at the next Full Council meeting on 24th Jan. A question has been submitted by Cllr David Robson.

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Thanks for that hadn't heard it was being mentioned in full council meeting.

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council debts rack up to £846m as number of staff earning £100k+ increases

"The Council Officer with the responsibility for helping residents with the cost of living has an annual salary of £101,116"

 

[Tulster218]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council debts rack up to £846m as number of staff earning £100k+ increases

"The Council Officer with the responsibility for helping residents with the cost of living has an annual salary of £101,116"

£846m debt is about £2,600 per person, which is about double the national average.

Having said that all councils are suffering financially at the moment - ever growing statutory responsibilities, and no way to pay for them.

 

[Rushy]

£846m debt is about £2,600 per person, which is about double the national average.

Having said that all councils are suffering financially at the moment - ever growing statutory responsibilities, and no way to pay for them.

The Briefing Room - Why is local government in such trouble? - BBC Sounds

Bankruptcy, debt, cuts to services - why some councils are struggling

www.bbc.co.uk

David Aranovitch The Briefing Room this week's episode "Why are councils in such trouble". Worth a listen.

 

[sparkybird]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council debts rack up to £846m as number of staff earning £100k+ increases

"The Council Officer with the responsibility for helping residents with the cost of living has an annual salary of £101,116"

I find it more shocking Lambeth spent £66.6m last year on temporary accommodation for residents. Staff salaries a drop in the ocean in comparison

 

[BusLanes]

I find it more shocking Lambeth spent £66.6m last year on temporary accommodation for residents. Staff salaries a drop in the ocean in comparison

LGA says &1.74B£ for all councils. Which makes it seem almost worse as 66.6m is a non trivial chunk.

Presumably all London/big metro authorities have pretty awful figures tho

https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/ps174-billion-spent-supporting-104000-households-temporary-accommodation

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth needs an extra £2m+ to complete Brixton House Theatre project with the tenant still not agreeing a lease with the Council

 

[Rushy]

Anyone else noticed that Lambeth / Serco have basically left deep piles of leaves to rot all over the place. There has been no street sweeping since Autumn in a number of streets.

 

[BusLanes]

Anyone else noticed that Lambeth / Serco have basically left deep piles of leaves to rot all over the place. There has been no street sweeping since Autumn in a number of streets.

That was the case for us on Tulse Hill but they eventually came, after we got rid of most ourselves.

But they have come again in last 2-3 days and there were loads of Serco branded bags filled with leaves all over the area till this morning.

 

[Rushy]

That was the case for us on Tulse Hill but they eventually came, after we got rid of most ourselves.

But they have come again in last 2-3 days and there were loads of Serco branded bags filled with leaves all over the area till this morning.

Just been out walking and there are loads of spots where it's still not been done.

I sent a photo in of my street and a month later they sent a team to clear it. But they only cleared the bit of the street in the photo and left the rest deep in leaves! And the bit they cleared was still a mess.

 

[BusLanes]

Gove has announced this afternoon that expects all English councils to apply the 4.99% allowed this year, in order to help deal with the funding gap.

 

[CH1]

Gove has announced this afternoon that expects all English councils to apply the 4.99% allowed this year, in order to help deal with the funding gap.

and help with tax cuts demanded by The Telegraph,
Nothing like an increase in regressive taxation to fund the already wealthy!

 

[BusLanes]

Some Twitter person has said over weekend that 4 Labour councillors face disciplinary action from last week, presumably due to the ceasefire motion.

 

[Brainaddict]

Just found this academic article about Lambeth's 'cooperative council' efforts, which tries to find some positives among the austerity: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.12962

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth needs to save £30m in the next financial year as Budget proposal show how stretched the finances are

"It doesn’t help when you have a local authority that loans £79.5m to a failed company that delivers little social housing before being broken up"

 

[Gramsci]

Just found this academic article about Lambeth's 'cooperative council' efforts, which tries to find some positives among the austerity: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.12962

It's very long. Scanned a bit of it.

The trouble with the Cooperative council was that if one tried to make something of it - participatory democracy - in my experience one came up against the feeling that nothing had changed.

If the Labour group decide to do something then that's the end of it.

Consultation and participatory democracy fit what has been decided.

Seen this across a lot of things.

What happens is that the Council creates opposition. Libraries/ the Rec possible sell off / council estate regeneration/ LTNs are examples of issues that became contentious due to way Council dealt with them

As with all this created opposition.

And an antagonistic relationship between council and residents.

The Rec was saved btw.

 

[BusLanes]

Kind of feels that lack of a large opposition from 2014 to present day (as busy as the Greens or LDs have been) probably has an influence, in that there's been no strong electoral threat to Labour since arguably 2010 but no later than 2014

 

[Gramsci]

There is a view that one votes every few years. Different parties present their manifestoes. Which include policies they have

Once elected they should be able to get on with it. And if one does not like it then you can vote against them next time.

So consultation isn't about the policy but the details of it.

That's one way to do things.

My problem with Council is it fudges this.

If the above is how it wants to do it that should be made clear.

 

[Gramsci]

Kind of feels that lack of a large opposition from 2014 to present day (as busy as the Greens or LDs have been) probably has an influence, in that there's been no strong electoral threat to Labour since arguably 2010 but no later than 2014

Yes but the Labour party is supposed to be on my side. And I've spent a lot of my time being treated as a problem.

Except for ex Cllr Rachel Heywood.

 

[Gramsci]

Wrong thread

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council set to spend an extra £1m on refurbishment at Central Hill as estate ‘regeneration’ slips off the agenda

"The report is brutal and honest in its assessment of how the Council has allowed Central Hill in Norwood to be run down"

 

[BusLanes]

I see from the Buzz twitter that another Labour councillor is running for selection, this time Joel Dharampal-Hornby in Stockwell West and Larkhall

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Age UK set to takeover Myatts Field Cafe with Lambeth looking to offer a 10 year contract for the community space

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Concern for 19 Lambeth schools as they fail to set a balanced budget for the year ahead

"Only nine of the 19 schools have produced a recovery plan that the Council describes as being reasonable"

 

[Tulster218]

Buzzed: Age UK set to takeover Myatts Field Cafe with Lambeth looking to offer a 10 year contract for the community space

Age UK also looks after the communal space in the Vida Walsh centre.

 

[Torpid Scorpion]

Buzzed: Age UK set to takeover Myatts Field Cafe with Lambeth looking to offer a 10 year contract for the community space

I miss the nice mother and daughter operation that did the Caribbean food there. But hopefully age uk has deep enough pockets to ride out the slow times.

 

[urbanspaceman]

See this brutal letter from Gove to Lambeth. What is wrong with Lambeth ? Why does our local government, which claims as it is Labour to care about poor people, treat the vulnerable with such contempt ? And why do people keep voting for more of the same ?