Council causing harm with its decision making process

Liberal Democrats say that Ealing Council keeps on following the same process which is causing great harm and distress for many carers and users.

Their process has been to rush through to make quick decisions despite carers and users having lots of valid complaints and questions, only to see the decisions are the wrong ones, then the Council has to make U-turn after U-turn.

In some cases, pride has led them not to reverse a bad decision but plough on with a successful outcome not being achieved. This was the case with Chiswick’s Carlton Road Day Centre which had happily provided severely disabled users with a great careering service.

Then the Council chopped it, forcing users to find alternative arrangements, some paying much more for a worse level of care. What is also gutting for residents is that the site has not been used. They should have kept the centre open longer or had proper, acceptable plans for the site.

Other controversial and more recent decisions were to close the Solace Day Centre which provides a much needed mental health care facility. After a huge campaign, the Council agreed to look at the plans again and then found the money to save the well-loved service.

Heller House – although not in Chiswick - is a residential children's home which provides a short break for the young as well as parents and carers. The Council rushed to close the centre despite a huge borough wide petition.

Then last week agreed to create a new replacement respite centre for up to 12 users at one time. Again Ealing Council initially ignored carers views, who said there was a real need for an in-borough respite service, before making the U-turn.

This shows that Ealing Council is failing residents and users by not thinking through its plans fully. They have caused much distress in the process.

Ealing Council needs to support its most vulnerable

Over the past couple of years Ealing Council has made a number of decisions which have or will harm some of our most vulnerable residents.

Although Ealing Council has been given less money by the government in the past few years it still has control over hundreds of millions of pounds. So, Ealing Council can still make choices to protect both our front line services and those that are used by the disabled, those who are ill, the elderly and others in need.

Gary Malcolm being handed a
Council Tax Support petition 

Initially there were closures of a number of key day centres affecting many elderly users. Ealing Council tried to close the Solace Centre that helps users with mental health issues. Luckily for the users, the Council made a rare U-turn when a large borough wide campaign was set up to save the Solace Centre. The Liberal Democrats help to support the Solace Centre.

However at the same time the Carlton Road Day Centre was closed. The Day Centre was used by profoundly disabled and those users had to find alternative help which will either cost more, provide a lesser quality service or both. Shame on Labour for closing this day centre.

The latest problem that Labour-run Ealing Council is causing some residents is when they again reduced the Council Tax Support payments. Council Tax Support is a discount that helps people on low income to pay their council tax. The amount of support you get will depend on your circumstances and how much council tax you pay.

Currently there are about 26,000 claimants, and figures show that over 5000 claimants are in arrears already and over 3000 residents have summons against their name.

So Ealing Council know that these individuals are in financial difficulties but they are to not only make it worse for them, but also add many more residents who will need to pay. Not only is this mean and vicious but asking for additional money from someone who cannot pay is likely to yield little compared to what they anticipate the changes will bring.

But it gets worse than: Ealing Council will now be able to reduce the discount by another 5% in April 2017.

The Liberal Democrats in Ealing have been fighting to protect the services that the most needy in Ealing require, to have a satisfactory life. It is wrong of Labour-run Ealing Council to make these cuts which will leave the most deprived residents even deeper into poverty.

I thank the London based organisation Z2K, who supports vulnerable benefit claimants. They produced two joint reports with the Child Poverty Action Group which examined the impact of localised Council Tax Support in London. Their findings are stark and claimants in Ealing will become much more vulnerable in the future.

Hardship will become more common. This is a stain on Ealing Council’s reputation and a ‘kick in the teeth’ to some of our most vulnerable residents.

I had hoped that 2016 would have begun with better news, but sadly not.

HS2 Good News, Hospital Judicial Review & Carlton Road Day Centre

Yesterday was when the meeting took place in Ealing where Ealing Council makes its big decisions. A lot of interesting topics were discussed including the possibility of Ealing Council making a Judicial Review to stop the closure of Ealing Hospital's A&E and maternity wards was discussed.

Good News on High Speed 2 (HS2)
With the recent news that High Speed 2 (HS2) will now not result in the knocking down of a very large number of bridges, Ealing borough will have a tunnel to avoid noise and other problems as part of HS2.

A tunneled High Speed Two train!

The decision on a tunnel for HS2 going through Ealing shows that local people and other campaigners including the Liberal Democrats can make a difference. The Liberal Democrats have said that HS2 is good for the country but tunnels are needed in some locations including Ealing. The tunnel for Ealing can mitigate some of the adverse effects and worries for residents. The two other political parties in Ealing have said on many occasions that HS2 is a waste of money despite the benefits to business due to people being able to travel the country a lot faster.

The tunnel means the HS2 project can be delivered 15 months quicker, and as a result of these changes, it is very good news. We believe that investment in high speed rail is long overdue and offers huge benefits in terms of reduced journey times, greater opportunities for access to employment opportunities, as well as a potential alternative to airport expansion if the route is also allowed to go direct through Heathrow.

Liberal Democrats Support the Legal Fight to Protect Hospitals

At the cabinet meeting last night I asked about the chance of success, for Ealing, if they applied for a Judicial Review to stop the downgrading of hospital services.

Me with Craig O'Donnell and Jenni Hollis at Hospital Rally

After hearing the legal advice (which was of a confidential nature) I said that because of the high cost of the Judicial Review (up to £250,000) it would be crucial to try to get the court to delay their activities until the Secretary of State can make a decision on the same matter.

If the Secretary of State agrees with Ealing Council then there may not be a need for a full length legal challenge which would cost a lot of money.

Liberal Democrats believe that making a Judicial Review is needed to give us more options to stop the plans to downgrade our hospitals. The evidence that downgrading our local hospitals will be a good move is discredited by many doctors and professionals. More background to this story can be read here and also here!

Remember on Saturday 27th April there will large number of anti hospital downgrade protesters marching from either Southall at 11.30am or Acton from 12 noon - both converging for the main rally on Ealing Common at 2pm. Come along to show you are against the downgrades.

Carlton Road Day Centre Update 
After myself and Southfield ward councillors heard some good news recently (that the Carlton Road Day Centre) it appears that the gloss has been rubbed off.

The statement last night indicated that the Day Centre building would be sold off (like so many under Labour over the past two or three years) but the users would need to use the facilities when they are built in Acton Town Hall. I am not sure if you can call the day centre, the "Carlton Road Day Centre", if it is not in Carlton Road. Seems like Ealing Council are selling off our family silver (buildings) and not thinking whether this will result in a better outcome for the current users.

Council's Procurement Procedures Need Updating  
Ealing Council has not updated its procurement policies since 2004! Is this why Ealing Council has had four large contracts go 'pear shaped' in the past year?

First, Enterprise (who are meant to sweep our streets and collect our waste), then two housing repair companies (Keirs and Morrison) and more recently Interserve, the facilities management company. All in different ways have failed or are failing.

I stated that when reviewing the current procedures Ealing Council needs to take account of the following:

• A review to take place after a contract has failed to establish whether the Council has given too much value to the contractor's bid rather than the quality they offer.
• Whether the Council should bring 'in house' some services that are currently out sourced
• Ensuring that there are sufficient tough clauses in the contacts so that failing contractors (like  Enterprise) do not get away with an absolutely poor service
• That break clauses are added to more contracts in case we need to ditch poor quality contractors
• Whether it is better to offer contacts to more local and smaller companies than one large company.

In the coming months our local hospitals is a topic that we will come back to. Let's hope it is a topic that sees better hospitals and no downgrading of our medical services.