Phil Taylor

Ealing North MP Stephen Pound seems to be making a habit of using references to homosexuality to insult people. I ignored the recent Daily Mail piece because I thought it was a bit unnecessary to comment any further but yesterday’s piece in the Gazette starts to look like a bit of a pattern. Pound said:

David and Nick do seem to have forged a close alliance and it’s like the opening scenes of Brokeback Mountain to see them strolling through the sunshine in their matching suits and gently contrasting pastel ties.

Maybe you can write off his comments at the football as being a spur of the moment thing. In this latest case he sat down with a pen and paper, reviewed his work and sent it off for publication. It is one thing playing the fool. It is another to be stupid and nasty. For good measure here is a photo of Pound in a pastel tie. No-one would assume that he is gay (work that one out for yourselves).

After last night’s annual council, or mayor making (sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings I know), the new Labour council leader has been swift to launch his new team. It is interesting to see him taking a more collegiate approach compared to his last two predecessors, Conservative Jason Stacey and Labour’s Leo Thomson.

Bell listed five priorities:

– making the borough safer
– improving public services
– securing jobs and homes
– making the borough cleaner
– delivering value for money

It is good to see three out of five of these are taken straight from the previous administration’s list of three:

– cleaner streets
– safer communities
– value for money

The two new priorities look like a serious dilution. One reason we were so proud of what we did over the last four years is that the council managed to improve in our three focus areas where we put in more resource such as extra street cleaners and additional police officers but we also improved social services, parking, etc. This was the genius of not trying to do too much at once – at the time our opposition accused us of being un-ambitious. Ambition is good, delivery is better.

Now Labour talks about improving public services? Which ones? Just those delivered mainly by the council? Working better with partners? It is likely that under the new coalition government we are going to see a large scale de-centralisation of power from central to local government. Many of the council’s erstwhile partners may find themselves being handed over to the council wholesale in the years to come. Our new administration will have to discard many preconceived ideas and be very quick on its feet. The government will tend I am sure to hand on responsibilities with only a part of the money – the rest will be kept at the centre.

The securing jobs and homes priority sounds nice but is likely to be pie in the sky. The council will have little choice about shedding labour in the next few years and its influence on the wider jobs market is limited I would say. Homes? Even under Alistair Darling’s rather rosy economic assumptions we were looking at net investment halving – it will be worse than that and housing will suffer. Again more sacred cows will have to be sacrificed if the council is going to make progress on housing. The insourcing of the ALMO is not a good place to start. The previous administration had some very good people working on housing who moved at pace to progress the development of our high intervention estates. The council needs to keep up the pace with these and prove it is a capable partner.

I apologise for the rather poor photograph of a photocopy above, click to enlarge. Hilariously Labour leadership candidate David Miliband wrote to the leader of Ealing Council last week to congratulate him on Labour taking control of the council. Only he wrote to the old leader, Conservative Jason Stacey, not the new leader, Labour’s Julian Bell. You can see how the mistake was made – formally Julian Bell will not take over until tonight at the annual council meeting.

David Miliband’s staff aren’t the only people confused. I suspect that many of the people who voted for Labour councillors a couple of weeks ago thought they were voting for a Labour council that had magically improved over the last four years. If you pull out the residents survey published earlier this year, follow this link, and scroll down to pages 38 and 39 you will see that only 42% of people thought they knew who was in control of the council. Of these 76% got the answer right, ie the Tories. So, overall, only 32% of residents knew that the Tories were running the council up until May 6th. 68% did not! So maybe Miliband’s people weren’t the only ones who were confused.

A few hints about the new Labour Ealing cabinet were swirling around at last night’s council meeting. We know the leader will be Julian Bell and the chief whip Brian Reeves.

The finance portfolio will be taken by the old opposition Finance and Performance spokeswoman Yvonne Johnson. At the count Shittal Manro, a new-old councillor, was throwing his weight around and asking after reserves. At least Johnson has a bit of finesse. It may not stop her trying to clean out all the council’s reserves though.

My old portfolio is going to be taken by the old Labour shadow Kamaljit Dhindsa.

During his very confident maiden speech new boy Hitesh Tailor made reference to his taking over the housing portfolio. After last night’s meeting the portfolio holder will be known to all as Cllr Withani. On his Twitter profile Cllr Withani talks of being a housing researcher. In his past he has actually worked for Ealing as a housing officer. A case of poacher turned gamekeeper or a case of Labour being on the side of producer interests?

Another old shadow taking on a portfolio is Patricia Walker who is taking on Children’s. Cllr Walker is an academic, based at the University of East London, see her profile here. This is a big portfolio and one that is going to see huge change. It is also probably the portfolio that involves the highest risk decisions. Cllr Walker is given to using words such a “pedagogical” in her speeches. The word she will have to learn is no.

Tonight we had the first council meeting since the election. This was an extraordinary meeting called by the new Labour administration to discuss one motion:

This Council resolves that with immediate effect its support for privatising the Management Contract of Ealing Homes is removed. The Council mandates officers to immediately draw up proposals to return Ealing Homes to direct management by the Council.

There was a rumbustuous debate and this evening the Conservative group issued the following statement:

LABOUR SIGNALS INFLATION BUSTING RENT HIKES FOR TENANTS WITH COUNCIL VOTE

Ealing’s incoming Labour administration this evening signalled hefty hikes in rents for Council tenants to pay for the costs of bringing housing management to direct Council control.

At the first Council meeting following Labour’s win at the local elections, Labour councillors voted to bring Ealing Homes back in-house. This changed policy from the previous Conservative administration which would have let not-for-profit organisations with housing expertise manage housing, and given tenants the right to sack their manager if they were not satisfied.

Council Officers have said that the policy of the Labour administration will leave a funding gap of around £3M as increased costs are brought in-house as a result of changing systems and funding pensions. The increased costs will add around £165 to the average Council tenant’s bill if Labour chooses not to cut the maintenance budget or the regeneration programme started by the previous Conservative administration.

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Jason Stacey said he was disappointed that Labour had not accepted his amendment to cap rents at a rate of increase not greater than inflation. He said:

“Labour have every right to change the way they manage Council services, but it was plain from the debate tonight that when it comes to Council housing they are driven more by ideology than wanting to keep down costs or improve the level of service for Council tenants.

“In four years of control, Conservatives managed to keep Council rent increases below the rate of inflation. The reason Labour can’t and won’t make this same commitment is they know that bringing the service back in-house will be more expensive for tenants.”

In my speech tonight I highlighted the fact that although Labour had made a total of 12 promises about council housing the glaring omission was any commitment to keep council rent rises under control. If you look at their manifesto you will see this list:

1. Total opposition to Conservative plans to transfer council homes to private companies and privatise housing management.
2. To return council housing to full council control at the earliest opportunity and end the massive waste and duplication that currently exists with Ealing Homes and the Council’s housing department.
3. A guarantee to respect the results of a binding tenant and leaseholder ballot before council homes, or the management of them, is transferred out of council control.
4. Estate based caretakers to tackle jobs around the estate and keep them clean.
5. Action on noisy neighbours and a zero-tolerance policy on anti-social behaviour.
6. Ring fence the money received from sales through ‘right to buy’ for reinvestment in new homes and improving council housing.
7. 3,000 affordable homes and homes for rent available to local families.
8. Action to end the scandal of empty homes in the borough.
9. A fairer transfer scheme for tenants that puts hard working local families who play by the rules and pay their bills priority for housing transfers.
10. A revamp of the repairs service with additional craftsmen to do the repairs and less bureaucracy to reduce delays.
11. Pilot a new policy offering extensions and roof conversions on council owned properties to reduce overcrowding and make better homes for residents.
12. A new partnership with businesses to bring unused flats above shops back into use in town centre areas.

When I have time I might deconstruct this list – in the meantime expect your rent to shoot up if you are a council tenant.