Replies my questions on Webcast

Dear Shasha

Following yesterday evenings Council meeting, I can confirm that your questions were put by the Mayor to Cabinet Members and can be viewed on the webcast of the meeting.

Your question on air quality near schools begins at 52:50 of the webcast and was answered by Councillor Flemming and Councillor King.https://croydon.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/284431/start_time/3193000

Your question on the derelict site at the junction of London Road and St James Road begins at 56:05 of the webcast and was answered by Councillor Butler.https://croydon.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/284431/start_time/3363000

Kind regards,

Victoria

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Council spending on green agencies

Link to online version

FULL COMMENT HERE BELOW:

"These organisations are vital to our environmental strategy. They have skilled and dedicated staff that project manage and help community groups, companies and councils to find environmental best practice solutions. Using their networks, they also work to change the behaviour of individuals. I did some work for the London Sustainability Exchange, which is funded by Forum for the Future to help promote sustainable lifestyles amongst ethnic minority groups.

"These amounts seem very meagre, almost embarrassing.

"These amounts befit a council that does not want to invest in best practice or behaviour change. Moreover, these amounts are in keeping with the claims that this Conservative council is full of climate change deniers. These contributions are just token gestures with regard to the environment. Croydon Council should be up near the top of the league table for London council contributions to environmental agencies."

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Public Question Time from last month

Taken from written questions from members of the public - October 18th, 2010.

Above are the latest set of wondrous examples of backward defensive political strokeplay from our local government. The questions were bowled by Jim Clugston (New Addington ward candidate 2010) and myself. The responses we've been getting have been increasingly dismissive but nevertheless, I feel these replies need to be recorded.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

My council spends money on telling me what I know already.

In the face of a clampdown on 'Town Hall Pravdas', our 'innovative' council has already thought up new ways to remind us how wonderful they are.......

My FOI request:

Please can you advise how much the 'My Council....'
advertising campaign has cost.
Display advertisements appear all around the town.
I have attached an example (top photo was sent as an
attachment).

---

Dear Mr Khan,

Thank you for your email dated 23 September 2010 in which you have requested to be advised how much the 'My Council....' advertising campaign has cost. We have considered your request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We have conducted a search into our records and confirm we hold the information you have requested. Decaux boards are largely concentrated around the town centre, with a few in district centres. There are around 60 boards in total, with two sides to each board. One side is used free of charge by Croydon Council and the other by commercial advertising sold by JC Decaux.

The only costs incurred by the Council are for design and print. Total production costs this financial year for the “My Council” campaign have been £5,139.75 for six lots of posters which run for two-week periods. The “My Council” campaign was developed by the Local Government Authority on behalf of all councils, so substantial research and development costs have been paid for by them. The campaign seeks to increase public awareness of the wide range of services provided by the council, and to signpost the public to council departments for more information. Since the campaign began, it has contributed to an 8% increase in resident satisfaction through raising awareness of our frontline services.

If you are dissatisfied with the way the department has handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act you may ask for an internal review. You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint by either:

emailing us at information@croydon.gov.uk

faxing us on 020 8760 5661

writing FOI Complaints, London Borough of Croydon, Democratic & Legal Services, Croydon CR9 3JS

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

James Derby

Corporate Solicitor

Legal & Democratic Services

London Borough of Croydon

Taberner House

Park Lane

CR9 3JS

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Coverage of the full slate

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Letter on new council HQ

The volume of letters from PPC's appearing on the feedback pages is growing. Even UKIP have suddenly found their keyboard. This may explain why my letter on the bailout of the new council HQ was edited down by both the Croydon Advertiser and Croydon Guardian. Full version below:

03.10.10

Dear Editor,

The new council HQ saga stinks of the Conservatives helping out their rich developer friends. In this case its John Laing, who incidentally is on the short list to build the new incinerator under a front company called Resources from Waste. The controversy surrounding the new HQ is tricky to digest, not least because of all the acronyms involved. To summarise, the CEDC (Croydon Economic Development Company) is to receive a bail out from LEGI (Local Government Finance Initiative) – which is supposed to support businesses in deprived areas. At the same time, the Government’s PWLB (Public Works Loan Board) has provided £145m – which is effectively underwritten by the Croydon taxpayer - to finance the URV (Urban Regeneration Vehicle) which includes the new PSDH (Public Services Delivery Hub), which replaces Taberner House. The council is yet to provide an independent report showing that the existing building presents a health and safety risk. The trail is undoubtedly murky, leading voters to believe that something shady is happening behind closed doors. This is all the more so given that the number of empty office blocks in the town centre.

Additionally, Labour sensationalising the story in their literature by claiming the Tory Council “plans to build themselves a brand new luxury HQ” doesn’t help either. One assumes the council leader, Mike Fisher, is not planning to move out of his plush and spacious office at the town hall.

The worrying thing is there is no adjudicator in this deal. I contacted the PWLB to ask if they considered how the money was to be paid back and the level of risk involved? It cited the Local Government Act 2003 which states,”that a person lending money to a local authority shall not be bound to enquire whether the authority has power to borrow the money.”

Another point not being cleared up is whether the Council is to pay rent to a private company to use a publicly funded building that is occupied by public servants!

Just like the bailout for the banks, the only thing that that keeps ringing true is: ‘its socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest of us’.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan

Croydon Green Party

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Tags croydon, greenparty