Thursday, October 26, 2006
Lambeth Comminications
LAMBETH'S LEADER STEVE REED IMPROVES COMMUNICATIONS WITH PUBLIC WITH ONLINE DIARY
This is en extact from this week go to www.lambeth.gov.uk for revisions to the
Borough's Parking Contract
Monday 23 October 2006
It's five months since I was elected Leader of the Council, and I have to admit that I'm enjoying the job immensely. It's unbelievably busy and leaves me with almost no free time, but it's a great privilege working to change Lambeth into a better council.
A lot of people have been asking me what being Leader of the Council involves. So I thought I'd start a weekly online diary here on the Council's website. That way, if you're interested, you can check in and see what I?ve been up to, and I hope you'll send me your comments back.
It,s very important to stay in touch with what people who use the council's services are thinking. So I spent all day Monday talking to some of our tenants' representatives. These are people who live on Lambeth,s estates and generously give up their free time, spending hour after hour in long meetings making sure that Lambeth,s housing managers are doing their jobs properly. We couldn't do without them, and have the deepest admiration for all they do.
The issue we're grappling with is how we can improve the quality of our council housing. We've told the Government we'll bring all our housing up to minimum standards by 2010. As things stand, over 10,000 council homes are sub-standard - meaning they are not secure, weatherproof or heated, suffer from damp, or have inadequate kitchen or bathroom facilities. It's unacceptable that people have to live like that. To put it right will cost the council well over £200 million, and that's money we just don't have. So what can we do' Well, we've put in a bid to the Government for the money.
But they won't just hand it over without strings attached. After the massive fraud scandal that hit Lambeth housing last year, they're worried the council might not spend the money properly. So they've asked us to set up a separate management organisation at arms' length from the council to guarantee the money will be spent where it should be spent ,on tenants' homes.
The key thing is that this is not privatisation. Every single home would still be owned 100% by the council. But doing it this way would mean we would have a chance to get the money we need to improve people's homes. How can we say no to that? But our tenants' reps have some concerns. They want to know how the new organisation would be accountable to them, who would sit on its board, whether underperforming staff would simply be transferred over together with the good ones, and what guarantees there are that it's not a step towards privatisation (which they want to avoid, and I agree with them).
So we talked through the issues, I listened to their concerns, and I'm going to raise what they said with the council's senior housing managers. I'm convinced that if we all work together, councillors and tenants, we can come up with a structure for the new organisation that will suit everyone. But for me the heart of the matter is simple: people deserve to live in decent homes with affordable rents, and it's my job as Leader of the Council to do everything I can to make sure that happens.
If you would like to contact me, you can do so by emailing sreed@lambeth.gov.uk.
This is en extact from this week go to www.lambeth.gov.uk for revisions to the
Borough's Parking Contract
Monday 23 October 2006
It's five months since I was elected Leader of the Council, and I have to admit that I'm enjoying the job immensely. It's unbelievably busy and leaves me with almost no free time, but it's a great privilege working to change Lambeth into a better council.
A lot of people have been asking me what being Leader of the Council involves. So I thought I'd start a weekly online diary here on the Council's website. That way, if you're interested, you can check in and see what I?ve been up to, and I hope you'll send me your comments back.
It,s very important to stay in touch with what people who use the council's services are thinking. So I spent all day Monday talking to some of our tenants' representatives. These are people who live on Lambeth,s estates and generously give up their free time, spending hour after hour in long meetings making sure that Lambeth,s housing managers are doing their jobs properly. We couldn't do without them, and have the deepest admiration for all they do.
The issue we're grappling with is how we can improve the quality of our council housing. We've told the Government we'll bring all our housing up to minimum standards by 2010. As things stand, over 10,000 council homes are sub-standard - meaning they are not secure, weatherproof or heated, suffer from damp, or have inadequate kitchen or bathroom facilities. It's unacceptable that people have to live like that. To put it right will cost the council well over £200 million, and that's money we just don't have. So what can we do' Well, we've put in a bid to the Government for the money.
But they won't just hand it over without strings attached. After the massive fraud scandal that hit Lambeth housing last year, they're worried the council might not spend the money properly. So they've asked us to set up a separate management organisation at arms' length from the council to guarantee the money will be spent where it should be spent ,on tenants' homes.
The key thing is that this is not privatisation. Every single home would still be owned 100% by the council. But doing it this way would mean we would have a chance to get the money we need to improve people's homes. How can we say no to that? But our tenants' reps have some concerns. They want to know how the new organisation would be accountable to them, who would sit on its board, whether underperforming staff would simply be transferred over together with the good ones, and what guarantees there are that it's not a step towards privatisation (which they want to avoid, and I agree with them).
So we talked through the issues, I listened to their concerns, and I'm going to raise what they said with the council's senior housing managers. I'm convinced that if we all work together, councillors and tenants, we can come up with a structure for the new organisation that will suit everyone. But for me the heart of the matter is simple: people deserve to live in decent homes with affordable rents, and it's my job as Leader of the Council to do everything I can to make sure that happens.
If you would like to contact me, you can do so by emailing sreed@lambeth.gov.uk.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]