81 seconds to answer

Southwark Council can be painful to deal with. It’s such a large organisation doing so many different things that people often tell me it’s hard to find the right person or get the response they expected.

All queries are dealt with by a now in-house contact centre based in Peckham. It handles huge volumes of phone calls and emails. Typically 25,000 calls a month but only gets to answer between 45% and 73%. The average time taken to answer those calls is much improved from a high in October 2012 of 5 mins 56 seconds down to 1 mins 21 seconds in December 2013. But most organisations aim for just a few rings before answering in less than 10 seconds. So still huge work to be done.

When you do get through, 77% of residents found they received the help they needed, 15% didn’t and 8% aren’t sure. Importantly many of these calls are to tell the council something they want to know to fulfil its duty to us as residents.

During 2014 efforts to get more services online to avoid having to make a phone call are planned. Silly things like bulk waste collection will go online. So far 55,000 residents have registered to use online services and is increasing by 300 pw. If you haven’t registered please do register here: https://my.southwark.gov.uk/Default.aspx

What have your experiences been like?

Which council officers has gone the extra mile for you?

Missing Children

One of Lib Dem councillors ask a question at last nights council assembly which elicited a shocking response: 

54. QUESTION TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN;’S SERVICES FORM COUNCILLOR COLUMBA BLANGO

How many incidents of children in care going missing for more than 24 hours have been recorded in each of the past four years? How many children are currently missing from care, and for how long have they been missing in each case?

RESPONSE

The issue of children going missing form care does cause us concern because when a child is missing there is a possibility that they could be at risk of harm or danger.

At present we do not have any children reported missing from care and I am pleased that when our children in care go missing, we are able to return them within 48 hours. On the rare occasion where this is longer we work with the police to alert the media.

–          In 2012-13 there were 168 missing incidents recorded for 36 young people.

–          In 2011-12 there were 88 missing incidents recorded for 27 young people.

–          In 2010-11 there were 17 missing incidents recorded for 9 young people.

–          In 2009-10 there were 14 missing incidents recorded for 9 young people.

All of the above were young people missing for over 24 hours. There has been a significant improvement in the recording of missing incidents in the last three years and we have implemented workshops for staff and our administrative.

END

Really disappointing that no plans were revealed how to fix this. All those Southwarks children in danger. And what are they running from…

Epsom vs. Southwark?

Since the economic chaos started in 2008 central government has been cutting the amount of money they pass to local councils.

More has been cut from council receiving very large sums. Some have said this is unfair.

Southwark Labour have suggested that Epsom (&Ewell Borough Council) have been treated very generously versus Southwark being picked on.

I’ve finally looked at the numbers.

Southwark Council. Population 274,400 and government forumla grant of £217,078,000 or £791.10 per head.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council. Population 75,200 and government grants etc of £4,191,000 or £55.73 per head.

Both have other local authorities – Greater London Authority and Surrey County Council. Ewell doesnt provide education but does provide more or less everything else Southwark does.

Southwark receiving over 14 times as much subsisdy per head as Epsom seem to be generous to Epsom!

 

Call For New Secondary School

Do you support a new East Dulwich secondary school?

If you have children due to start secondary school Sept 2016 or 2017 please email me your support for a new exemplary secondary school stating your name, child’s date of birth and your home post code to:

james.barber@southwark.gov.uk

Background:

Locally East Dulwich councillors have been working to solve the Primary school reception places gap. By September 2016 the gap would have risen to 215-235 reception places. We’ve supported one free school that’s opened by finding a site for it and provided the evidence and suggested sites for another two free schools. Together they should provide 170 of the required places and Southwark Council are providing places in neighboring areas relieving demand on Dulwich schools by about 45 places.

But after primary school where will these extra children go – do we need a new exemplary secondary school to provide enough local places?

The bulge in primary school places started in 2009. Those children will need secondary school places 2016. We also know that currently few families are being offered the secondary school places they want.  Instead many are being offered places in New Cross, Crayford, Walworth and that’s before the 2009 primary bulge takes effect.

Council officials tell us we have plenty of places. But they plan secondary school places on a borough wide basis. But most families think much more locally than that.

To test the numbers the Lib Dem leader asked the Labour council leader about school places  (page 19 second paragraph). If you ignore the political ping pong he stated “The forecasts show continuing demand for secondary places and suggest that in the medium term from 2016 additional secondary places may be needed in the borough.”

These jigsaw pieces tell me we need a new secondary school in the Dulwich area opening September 2016.

This date is useful because the East Dulwich Harris Boys Academy will have had two sets of GCSE result by then and should be even more popular with the anticipated great results. So it wouldn’t suffer from a new competing local school. The Charter School and Kingsdale School are both already immensely popular so shouldn’t suffer any rival new school.

Where and what?

Residents don’t need another single sex school because we now have one of each . So a new school would need to be co-ed.

The Dulwich Hospital site is the only Dulwich land with sufficient space for a secondary school. A secondary school would still leave plenty of space for the proposed primary school  and proposed medical facilities.

So which provider?

With your support we will attract a great provider and convince Southwark Council to plan places in a more family orientated way.

Do you support a new East Dulwich secondary school?

If you have children due to start secondary school Sept 2016 or 2017 please email me your support for a new exemplary secondary school stating your name, child’s date of birth and your home post code to:

james.barber@southwark.gov.uk

 

Dulwich Secondary School Places

Locally East Dulwich councillors have been working to solve the Primary school reception places gap. By September 2016 the gap would have risen to 215-235 reception places. We’ve supported one free school that’s opened by finding a site for it and provided the evidence and sugested sites for another two free schools. Together they should provide 170 of the required places and Southwark Council are providing another 45 useful places for our area.

But after primary school where will these extra children go – surely we need more secondary school places?

Council officials tell us not. But they plan secondary school places on a borough wide basis. But most families think much more locally than that.

To test the numbers the Lib Dem leader asked the Labour council leader about school places  (page 19 second paragraph). If you ignore the political ping pong he stated “The forecasts show continuing demand for secondary places and suggest that in the medium term from 2016 additional secondary places may be needed in the borough.”

These jigsaw pieces say we need a new secondary school in the Dulwich area from September 2016.

This date is useful because the East Dulwich Harris Boys Academy will have had two sets of GCSE result by then and should be even more popular with the anticipated results. So it wouldnt suffer from a new local school.

Where and what?

Residents don’t need another single sex school because we now have one of each . So a new school would need to be co-ed.

The Dulwich Hospital site is the only Dulwich land with sufficient space for a secondary school. A secondary school would there would still leave space for the proposed primary school and proposed medical facilities.

So which provider?

Fred Francis Centre – future use

Southwark Labour have decided to centralise day care from two sites into one in North Peckham. This means the Fred Francis Centre on Lordship Lane will close disrupting the lives of a number of very elderly people who go there each day. It seems short-sighted when we have an ageing population. But whatever our views it’s a fait accompli.

So we need to ensure this site isn’t left idle. In East Dulwich we have huge demand for nursery provision. Two recent plans for nursery provision have failed to be built – 41-43 East Dulwich Road and 116A Lordship Lane.

As an East Dulwich councillor I call on Southwark Council to ensure the Fred Francis Centre remains in community use but with a nursery ONCE it day centre use comes to an end. 

We’ve spoken to a number of nursery providers who would be interested.

Do you think we need more nursery provision in East Dulwich?

Are you frustrated that with more older people local provision is being removed?

Goodrich and Pellatt Road Resurfacing

At the last Dulwich Community Council East Dulwich councillors had to make tough decisions about their devolved highway budget.

After visitng various part of East dulwich we decided to spend your taxes on:

– Resurfacing Goodrich Road between Barry Road and Friarn Road – it’s currently in a shocking state, quite frequented and on a route to schools.

– Resurfacing Pellatt Road eastern end. Again the road is in a terrible state.

The main council resurfacing budget is planning to resurface Ashbourne Grove and the remaining third of Landcroft Road.

 

 

Lordship Lane 20mph – at last

This week our long term plans to make Lordship Lane 20mph have come ot pass.

It’s now 20mph between Goose green roundabout and Melborune Grove where it meets Lordship Lane. 600m of high street now just that bit calmer.

We started trying to make Lordship Lane more friendly for locals and visitors walking about in 2006. In 2007 we had a Living Streets walkability assessment done which worked with locals to test the areas walkability.

Why? Because 99.99% of us walk.

We’ve added two extra formal crossings before, had many side roads with raised treatments, improved Goose Green with thrid arm having zebra crossings.

Last year Living Streets produced a report which reenforced our reasoning for this 20mph in particular is a Living Street report called The pedestrian pound. Making the main high street parts of Lordship Lane 20mph should make it better for people to walk around.

Any way the reports key findings:

•Research shows that making places better for walking can boost footfall and trading by up to 40%
•Good urban design can raise retail rents by up to 20%
•International and UK studies have shown that pedestrians spend more than people arriving by car. Comparisons of spending by transport mode in Canada and New Zealand revealed that pedestrians spent up to six-times more than people arriving by car. In London town centres in 2011, walkers spent £147 more per month than those travelling by car
•Retailers often overate the importance of the car – a study Graz, Austria, subsequently repeated in Bristol found that retailers overestimated the number of customers arriving by car by almost 100%
•Landowners and retailers are willing to pay to improve the streetscape in order to attract tenants and customers.

 

White Line Enforcement

White lines are meant to ensure people have access. Elsie Road has been a long standing issue with regards to white line enforcement. REsidents there felt the Police were being a bit random in their responses. So this is what I’ve found out…

If a vehicle is stuck on the driveway and is blocked in then the Police can have it removed. If a driveway is blocked and a person is stopped from driving onto their driveway, then they can’t.

The Police local patrol team (LPT) or if the local Safer Neighbourhood Team is in the area, the Police always aim to turn-out and try and resolve white line issues, but if the Police are otherwise engaged  calls will be passed to despatch for another LPT or the response team to attend. This is categorised as ‘E’ graded call (a lower priority response, as it does not require the immediate attendance of a police officer) this can entail a long wait as so many other things take priority. Very often the police will eventually attend and find that the problem has remedied itself and the vehicle has moved.

Last year some of the unhelpful calls for help included:

– one resident called the police to attend when his driveway was ‘blocked’ by six inches but could drive in or out.

– another called when he had a skip on his drive and argued that police should remove the car as the skip needed emptying, we got the car moved – but the skip was there (full) for another two weeks.

– another request because a resident could only turn left out of his driveway but could exit their drive.

– one resident parked his car across the white line of his driveway to make sure nobody else did

Apparently the vast majority of vehicles are moved before the police arrive, even when they are close by and get there within a few minutes. Of the remainder, many apparently have occupants within them and move upon request, some are nearby residents and we can trace the through the PNC and of the very few that remain we do aim to remove them or ticket them if we suspect they are nearby and will shortly return. Unfortunately, when we are on foot we do not always carry parking tickets – as we give out so few of them and there is a staggering amount of tickets, booklets and forms available to us – I fear my officer’s legs would snap if they carried them all (if they carried just one of each, they would require a small rucksack to carry them in).