Fox in the Wrong

It really ticks me of when I see big businesses flouting reasonably regulations. One such local business is the JD Wetherspoon chain pub The Fox on the Hill.

It licence is very specific about what is acceptable behaviour and what isn’t. Taking noisy deliveries before 9am isn’t. But again, today, they has deliveries before 7am. Which also means it was breaching another rule that the car park shouldn’t be left open overnight or before 7am.

Which probably means the quarterly meetings I helped arrange originally have stopped happening – another condition of their licence. I’ll find out.

Hopefully it wont take council licensing officials to stop these licensing breaches but really big businesses shouldn’t be incurring the enforcement expense this involves. Sadly the system doesn’t allow fines for such avoidable enforcement to reimburse Council Tax payers.

Daneville Opportunity

Southwark Council have discovered that the one-way system in Daneville Road between Orpheus Street and Denmark Hill isnt legal! I know amazing.

So they’re advertising in local papers making it one-way making it legal. But what a great opportunity to create a cycle contraflow making a great west to east route.

I’ve highlighted this to Southwark Cyclists hoping they’ll take the idea up and also to Cllr Barrie Hargrove the Labour Cabinet member for Transport, etc. Fingers crossed.

Wokingham?

Family Investments have produced a study of the UK and how family friendly each area is – STUDY.

It says Wokingham is the most family friendly area – mostly it appears from Primary School results. It takes a whole postcode area e.g. SE22.

For SE22 it suggests we’re a little above the national average for crime but below for anti social activities. Above the average birth rate and levels of obtainment at Key Stage 2 but not stunningly above the average. We have a Leisure Centre but surprisingly no green flags in SE22.

International Older People day

Today is International Older People day.

Southwark Legal Advice Network in conjunction with Age UK, Southwark Pensioners Centre and Southwark Council are holding an event 1-6pm at the Amigo Hall, St George Cathedral, Cathedral Hous,e Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7HY.

Q&A with Simon Hughes MP, historical slide show, refreshments and afternoon tea. I hope its a great success.

Belarus teddies

Alexender Lukashenka, President of Belarus, is known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’. Amazingly Lukashenka has now turned his authoritarian regime on soft toys.

A Swedish PR firm parachuted teddy bears with messages about democracy over Minsk in an attempt to break through the media censorship imposed by the regime. Since then Lukashenka has asked all Swedish Diplomats to leave the country and begun a diplomatic dispute over the issue.

Later two journalists were arrested in Belarus for protesting against the regime by taking a photo of themselves with a soft toy. You could not make this up. This is the surreal world of dictators.

His police beat and arrest those who campaign for democracy, his regime rig elections whilst the media is censored to hide these crimes against human rights. Still Belarus imprisons and tortures political prisoners, including young campaigners for democracy.

So Liberal Democrat Youth have a great campaign asking people to take photos of themselves with teddy bears to show spport and solidarity with the oppressed people of Belarus.

Why don’t you join the campaign – email your picture to sam.fisk@liberalyouth.org

Safer Lorry Procurement

In London the vehicles that pose the greatest risk to cyclists are lorries. Astoundingly lorries represent 5% of the traffic in London, but are responsible for 50% of cyclist fatalities.

Local council’s such as Southwark are major purchasers of companies that use lots of lorries. Combined they contract 1000’s of lorries to serve our local communities. 

The London Cycling Campaign has a great campaign to encourage councilsto ensure that their boroughs’ streets are safer for cyclists. Lorries with trained driver, side-guards, better mirrors. Not big changes in themselves but would make a big change for the safety of cyclists.

Currently no London boroughs that have a safer lorry procurement policy for buying such services or lorries. Icampaigned and managed to get all Southwark Council’s own lorries owned by Southwark to have side-guards and warm promises that they’d work on Veolia to have side guards on their rubbish trucks used to support the Southwark waste collection contract. However on the back of the successful HGV campaigning Transport for London have now adopted a safer lorry contract which LCC are now asking all London boroughs to adopt.

Once one borough has shown a safer lorry procurement policy is possible – ironing out all the legal wrangles – then I see no reason why others can’t follow. Some will argue that they have years left on specific contracts but my professional experience tells me that often negotiating with suppliers comes up trumps.

Talking to my leader Cllr Anood Al-Samerai we will be calling for Southwark Council to do this and it will form part of our cycling strategy.

Broadband power savings

Broadband speeds are increasing. Fibre To The Home is being rolled out across the western world. But traditional telecoms network is always on consuming power constantly. But with rapidly increasing bandwidth demands and despite evolving more efficient kit that could still mean rapidly increasing power demand.

Thankfully a power game changer has arrived. Bit-Interleaved Passive Optical Network kit. Effectively it’s only one when required and only on by the amount of data to be shifted up to it maximum. Already systems supporting up to 10Gigabits are available with immienently 40G.

Traditional 10G bandwidth even in sleep mode would consume 2.5W but Bi-PON only used 60 milliwatts.  Overall they produce a saving of 30% now with further efficiencies expected. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. For every Watt used powering kit typically telecoms needs another Watt+ to cool and remove heat. It also uses significant effort to ensure eight hours battery bakc-uo and stand-by generators. And all these power supporting kits and distribution boards take space which can be drastically cut back. So any power savings are multiplied through the operational costs of running networks. 

The first field trials of this kit are plannd by France Telecom – Orange.

Power Sharing

South Lakeland council have come up with a great idea to reduce energy prices for its residents. Instead of residents approaching power companies singularly South Lakeland are providing bulk energy purchasing – both electricity and gas.

So far over a 1,000 households have signed up for this extra council service. Each household still have individual contracts but under the umbrella of a great centrally done deal using the much bigger buying power of a council.

This type of simple measure can really help lift people out of fuel poverty. A tiny commission is being made which is being ring fenced to help fund insulation driving down energy needs and further helping the very poorest.

Clearly such a scheme should be introduced into Southwark. And that’s exactly what I hope to persuade my party to call for in Southwark.

40%

Norway introduced a law that publicly listed companies had to have 40% board members.

This appears to have shattered the glass ceiling. The cosy cliques of male board members have been disrupted. On purely equality grounds this policy makes sense. But they’re reporting that these companies are now making more money. The change in board compositions has brought new thinking. The all male group think has been broken and improved upon.

Bring it on. This is exactly the type of game changer we need to help revitalise our economy. If anything such a proposal should be extended further to all boards.

It might also lead more organisations to become more family friendly.

Game Changing?

Earlier this week Vince Cable MP the Business Secretary for the coalition announced his Industrial Strategy. For the UK to even have one is quite revolutionary. This type of central government influencing ended under Thatchers Government – the Tory ‘wets’ lost the argument then. Blair and Browns Labour governments didn’t produce one or think it important.

Over the last 30+ years most successful countries have had such strategies with particualr success in Germany.

I thought the analogy The Evening Standards Anthony Hilton made was perfect. Our Olympic medal success came from spotting talent, investing in that talent and seeing success. This wasn’t some laissez-faire system but central control pulling and pushing the right levers. Hilton made the point we haven’t suddenly grown more talent – if anything with obesity rocketing the pool is smaller – but spotting and supporting talent now occurs systematically and properly resourced.

So I hope that the new strategy and policies work. That the new Industrial Bank designed to shake up the lending to businesses market changes reversing the contraction of business lending and credit. Solving this single aspect would get us back onto growth again.

Also ensuring government procurement is more strategic as other European countries have managed.

What do you think would help businesses?