The Mayor is responsible for the management of the affordable housing programme and on his watch affordable housing stats have fallen to their lowest level for a decade.

Today (Thursday) the Local Government Association published figures showing the government is wrong to say the planning system is a road block to recovery. The problem is caused by banks not lending.

The LGA report shows that over 400,000 houses across the country and 93,000 in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> have planning permission but have not yet been built. In the borough of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city>, there are currently 1953 signed off waiting to be built.

The average delay between planning approval and completion is now over two years.

The government have:

·         Cut <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s affordable housing budget by 70%

·         Changed the rules for affordable housing

·         Created uncertainty and forced housing associations to change their financing arrangements and take on more debt.

Local Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said: “In <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> alone, there are 93,000 houses with planning permission which haven’t been started or been stalled by developers. Since May 2010 the government has cut <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s affordable housing budget by 70% and introduced sky-high rents for new ‘affordable’ homes. Now they are saying developers do not even need to deliver these.

In <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> borough there are 1953 unimplemented housing approvals waiting to be built. These are stalled because banks aren’t lending to developers, and because house builders want to limit supply to push up prices and increase their profits. This is something the government can fix and isn’t.

“Londoners are suffering as the government blames everybody else for their economic mess. There is an enormous need for decent low-cost rented housing. Yet the reality is that home ownership is a distant dream for many. Private sector rents are soaring, 200,000 families now live in overcrowded housing and rough sleeping are rising rapidly after years of decline.”

Ends

Notes:

1.      Murad Qureshi is a <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> wide Labour Assembly Member.

2.      Today’s report from the Local Government Association details the 400,000 houses that have planning permission that are yet to be built across the country and the 93,000 in London, see here: http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10171/3704026/NEWS-TEMPLATE

3.       

Myself & Cllr Ruth Cadbury at one of the crossing where long over due improvements are needed

Today l presented a petition at City Hall calling for urgent improvements to pedestrian crossings on the A4 in Brentford in Hounslow following a campaign by local residents lead by local councillors and primary schools and in particular Cllr Ruth Cadbury for Brentford Ward and Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Planning in the London Borough of Hounslow.

I am helping the campaign to make the junctions at Clayponds Avenue, Ealing Road, Windmill Road and Brook Lane North in Brentford safer for pedestrians, especially the elderly, disabled and for children by raising it at City Hall. In July l raised concerns about safety at the junctions with the TfL Commissioner, Peter Hendy, in particular the safety of children who use these junctions to get to and from their local school.

I told him that this is an ongoing problem and should have been sorted out long ago. There is a severe lack of visibility at the junctions and drivers are unable to see what colour the traffic lights are, resulting in cars jumping the lights unintentionally.

There have been a number of accidents over the past few years and with students returning to school, my greatest fear is that we will see more. I’ve been told the funding is there from local developments by local councillors so I don’t understand why there’s this delay. The Mayor and TfL need to pull their finger out and get on with it.

Cllr Ruth Cadbury, said: “Drivers drive through red signals. We are asking TfL to look at improvements to the design of the signals so that drivers turning on to the A4 are in no doubt that a red light means they have to stop for pedestrians, more than 297 people from the local area have signed a petition to express their concerns about the safety of these roads and they should not be ignored.”

It was always going to be difficult to compete with the spectacle of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, yet Danny Boyle came up with a very distinctive, eccentric, and thus very British opening ceremony for the Games in London. It showed Britain as an open, multicultural society and was an apt tribute to the history of the United Kingdom. It has helped us feel good about ourselves for a while.

There was of course a very telling contribution by a Beijing digital media company called Crystal CG International. It provided the computer-generated creative imaginary that flashed around the bowl of the Olympic stadium, illustrating well the links made between Beijing and London from our recent experiences of hosting the Games.

This will undoubtedly be the biggest legacy of the London 2012 Olympics for us, feeling good about being Londoners and British particularly after the opening ceremony.

Of course there were some criticism of the Games, in particular concerning empty seats, the transport and the corporate sponsors of the events. We were always going to get some empty seats in the preliminary rounds of some contests, but the attendance figures have been quite astonishing if you look at the figures for track and field events and even football with the domestic season soon to start.

What has been pointed out is how it appears that corporate sponsors do not take up all their seats and it’s something the International Olympic Committee will need to look into more carefully, particularly when host cities’ citizens are finding it difficult to get hold of tickets. The publicity about transport during the London Olympics, along with the mayor’s announcements, meant that people thought the city would be heaving with people, so no one decided to go into the city center, affecting business. Once this was acknowledged in the first week of the Games, matters were addressed. All in all, this was all managed well, as and when matters arose.

As for the economic legacy, it’s yet to be clear how during the Games it benefited London and UK but in the long term could well attract further investment and trade as it promoted London as a global city to do business, or have pleasure. This as the Bank of England warned that the impact of the Olympics may not be long lasting on the economy, though there were lessons for the banking sector from the “fair play” of the Games.

By spreading happiness and good cheer the Games have made us all feel better. And, who knows, the impact on confidence may give the economy a boost. But ultimately the Games cannot alter the underlying economic situation we face: the United Kingdom’s economy has shrunk for the past three quarters. While we have been celebrating the Olympics, the economy has been flat lining with the downgrading of official growth forecast to zero in 2012 and the trade balance increasing against us, with the latter not helped by the euro crisis reducing the trade we are clearly having with our main partners in Europe.

Team Great Britain bagged 29 gold medals at these Olympics, and amazingly we came third in the medal table. I doubt we will be able to match this feat again. More importantly it was done in the spirit of fair play, and the crowds often showed their appreciation for the efforts of athletes from other nations as well.

Unfortunately this could not be said of all the teams. The United States raised questions about China’s swimmer Ye Shiwen, whose phenomenal performance at the tender age of 16 secured her two gold medals. Their accusations were shown to be merely bad sportsmanship when the British Olympic Association cleared her of any doping. This all the while as individual performances by athletes were greeted very well by the fans in attendance, the ultimate test of acceptance. British fans are strong supporters of fair play and this came out well during the Games.

London along with Athens has now had the honor of hosting the modern Olympic Games three times. On the previous two occasions in 1908 and 1948, we hosted it to assist the OLympic movement. On this occasion we wanted to host it, and I feel we have done a good job of it. The London Olympics has reflected well on us and showed us to be the sporting nation we undoubtedly are. So let’s bring on the Paralympics in a few weeks’ time, which will also receive great support from the British public.

This article first appeared in China Daily

At its summer meeting the consultative committee decided to exclude HACAN East from membership (1).  It gave no reason.

The function of consultative committees is to hold the airport to account.  The committee usually includes local authorities and representatives of businesses and the local community.  HACAN, the sister organisation of HACAN East which represents residents in <place w:st=”on”>West London</place>, has been a member of the Heathrow consultative committee for many years.  Earlier this year the Environment Committee of the London Assembly recommended that HACAN East be invited to join the consultative committee of <place w:st=”on”><placetype w:st=”on”>City</placetype> <placetype w:st=”on”>Airport</placetype></place>.  

Murad Qureshi, the chair of the Environment Committee, said, "I am disappointed that the London City Airport have not taken up the recommendations of the Assembly’s Environment Committee that the representation on their consultative committee should better reflect a broad range of interests, in a similar way to the membership of the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee."

John Stewart, chair of HACAN East said, “It is a clear snub.  Just what is the committee so afraid of?”

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

(1). The relevant section from the minutes of the Committee Meeting:

 “At its last meeting the Committee agreed that the Committee’s officers should meet with John Stewart of HACAN concerning the London Assembly’s  suggestion that the membership of the Consultative Committee should be enlarged to include a representative of HACAN.  The meeting with John Stewart took place at Kings Cross on 23rd April 2012 and members had been briefed on the discussions. Following consideration members had decided that HACAN should not be invited to be members of the Consultative Committee at <place w:st=”on”><placename w:st=”on”>London</placename> <placetype w:st=”on”>City</placetype></place> and the Airport would be recommended accordingly”.  Full minutes: http://www.lcacc.org/accmins/accmin0712.pdf

In response to the latest figures Londonwide Labour Assembly Member Murad Qureshi has called for the government and Mayor Boris Johnson to use all their powers to get Londoners back to work. 

·         Long term youth unemployment (age 18-24) in Westminster has risen 210% between July 2011 and July 2012 from 50 to 155. 

·         Long term unemployment (aged 25+) has risen by 34%, from 1,025 to 1,380 over the same period. 

Labour London Assembly Member Murad said: "The slight drop in unemployment is welcome, however long-term unemployment and youth unemployment remain stubbornly high. The mayor needs to use all of his powers to tackle this growing crisis and deliver an economic Olympic legacy to help prevent another lost generation being created. In recessions of the 80s and 90s we saw youth unemployment sky-rocket and a lost-generation created. We must do all we can to stop that happening again. The best way to inspire a new generation is to provide them with opportunities.”

Ends

Notes: 

1.      Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Labour Assembly Member and a former Westminster councillor.

2.      Unemployment figures are JobSeekers’ Allowance claimant count, taken directly from the ONS at www.nomisweb.co.uk.

Despite publically downgrading “air-pollution” as a priority, the next day Environment Ministers were advising businesses to include “˜Air pollution and other emissions’ as the first of five environmental “˜Key Performance Indicators’ for companies. 

Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said: “Boris based much of his re-election as London Mayor on his ability to get a better deal out of his conservative colleagues in government, now it’s time to prove that he can secure a better deal for Londoners by lobbying to get air pollution reinstated as a government priority.” 

“Each year more than 4,000 people die prematurely in London due to poor air quality. This is an issue that the government and the Mayor have failed to take seriously. It is spectacularly hypocritical that at the same time as advising business to make air pollution a key performance indicator, the government downgrading air pollution as one of their priotities.”

 “The Mayor needs to take real action to stop this invisible killer. He needs to lead the way by investing in electric buses and taxis, speeding up the retro-fitting of existing diesel buses with filters and creating clean air zones around schools. The Mayor also needs to issue smog alerts so that Londoners can take necessary precautions, especially those with respiratory problems.”

Ends

Notes:

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member, and also chairs the London Assembly’s Health and Environment Committee.

It was always going to be difficult to compete with the spectacle of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, yet Danny Boyle came up with a very distinctive, eccentric, and thus very British opening ceremony for the Games in London. It showed Britain as an open, multicultural society and was an apt tribute to the history of the United Kingdom. It has helped us feel good about ourselves for a while.

There was of course a very telling contribution by a Beijing digital media company called Crystal CG International. It provided the computer-generated creative imaginary that flashed around the bowl of the Olympic stadium, illustrating well the links made between Beijing and London from our recent experiences of hosting the Games.

This will undoubtedly be the biggest legacy of the London 2012 Olympics for us, feeling good about being Londoners and British particularly after the opening ceremony.

Of course there were some criticism of the Games, in particular concerning empty seats, the transport and the corporate sponsors of the events. We were always going to get some empty seats in the preliminary rounds of some contests, but the attendance figures have been quite astonishing if you look at the figures for track and field events and even football with the domestic season soon to start.

What has been pointed out is how it appears that corporate sponsors do not take up all their seats and it’s something the International Olympic Committee will need to look into more carefully, particularly when host cities’ citizens are finding it difficult to get hold of tickets. The publicity about transport during the London Olympics, along with the mayor’s announcements, meant that people thought the city would be heaving with people, so no one decided to go into the city center, affecting business. Once this was acknowledged in the first week of the Games, matters were addressed. All in all, this was all managed well, as and when matters arose.

As for the economic legacy, it’s yet to be clear how during the Games it benefited London and UK but in the long term could well attract further investment and trade as it promoted London as a global city to do business, or have pleasure. This as the Bank of England warned that the impact of the Olympics may not be long lasting on the economy, though there were lessons for the banking sector from the “fair play” of the Games.

By spreading happiness and good cheer the Games have made us all feel better. And, who knows, the impact on confidence may give the economy a boost. But ultimately the Games cannot alter the underlying economic situation we face: the United Kingdom’s economy has shrunk for the past three quarters. While we have been celebrating the Olympics, the economy has been flat lining with the downgrading of official growth forecast to zero in 2012 and the trade balance increasing against us, with the latter not helped by the euro crisis reducing the trade we are clearly having with our main partners in Europe.

Team Great Britain bagged 29 gold medals at these Olympics, and amazingly we came third in the medal table. I doubt we will be able to match this feat again. More importantly it was done in the spirit of fair play, and the crowds often showed their appreciation for the efforts of athletes from other nations as well.

Unfortunately this could not be said of all the teams. The United States raised questions about China’s swimmer Ye Shiwen, whose phenomenal performance at the tender age of 16 secured her two gold medals. Their accusations were shown to be merely bad sportsmanship when the British Olympic Association cleared her of any doping. This all the while as individual performances by athletes were greeted very well by the fans in attendance, the ultimate test of acceptance. British fans are strong supporters of fair play and this came out well during the Games.

London along with Athens has now had the honor of hosting the modern Olympic Games three times. On the previous two occasions in 1908 and 1948, we hosted it to assist the OLympic movement. On this occasion we wanted to host it, and I feel we have done a good job of it. The London Olympics has reflected well on us and showed us to be the sporting nation we undoubtedly are. So let’s bring on the Paralympics in a few weeks’ time, which will also receive great support from the British public.

(China Daily 08/16/2012 page9)

Olympic athletes walking pass lines of BMWs for their use.

While at the Olympic Village this morning, I was very pleasantly surprised to see most olympic athletes when leaving the site going by public transport rather then chauffeur driven BMWs at their disposal. As the above photo illustrates well, we have lines of BMWs lying idle at the entrance of the Olympic village for their use as a result of them walking by foot to Stratford International and Underground stations via Westfield. Another reason for them to abandon these cars at their disposal has been the public reaction of Britsh fans to them on public transport, where they have been made to feel very welcomed. So public goodwill and public transport facilities on their door-step has meant under used BMWs in the Olympic village. Thats bodes well for other events London may host in the near future.

Olympics Games also happening in Central London

With all the emphasis on transport issues during the Olympics in London on how to get to and from the main Olympic site in Stratford, you would be forgiven for thinking the games were not happening in Central London!

Well its most certainly happening in Central London in a variety of locations including Lords for the archery; Earls Court for the proper volleyball; Hyde park for the trianthlon; Horse Guard Parade for beach volleyball and finally the Mall for the marathon. And of course, the impact of the Olympic Road Network(ORN) is most keenly being felt in central London.

At lords it all felt as though TfL had over prepared with road restrictions and signage for the archery. At best the event has going to only attract 5,000 when it had a full house, this when on a full day during the next test match at Lords, you will get 30,000 daily at the beginning of the test match. Yet if you compare the transport information put out to spectators for the archery with that of the cricket crowd, the latter bearly get much of that attention at all. As for traffic restrictions like no right turns for cars along Lisson Grove to Lords this was clearly over done along with the parking restrictions enforced on local residents and closer of pedestrian crossings.

Earls Court felt like more like a football crowd was going there particularly when the Brazilians were playing at the venue and not surprising you didn’t have businesses complaining about a down turn in business from this locality. But was it necessary for volleyball fans to walk around the neighbourhood from the front of Earls Court tube station when West Brompton tube was nearer to the entrance on the side of Earls Court itself?  Particularly given it had better connections with the Overground and Thameslink, it would have meant fans could have got there by other means then the tube. And if accessibility of West Brompton tube station itself was a problem, why could this not have been sorted out when we had some 7 years to plan for  it.  West Brompton tube station has the potential to be a major interchange in West London between the tube,Overground and Thameslink yet TfL do not appear to want to invest in making this the case.  Meanwhile this is a well kept secret amongst West Londoners which other Londoners should know about.

As for Hyde Park, there could not have been a better setting for the trianthlon in the whole of London for this event and the fans particular those without tickets to get a taste of the Olympics. But many found the signage to Hyde Park very confusing particularly on the tube where tube stations had the pink strip but didn’t explain you could come into the Hyde Park in different directions. The same could be said about House Guard parade for the beach volleyball but was of course ticketed.

 Beyond central London l had reasons to go to other Olympics venues like Wembley for the football and Wimbledon for the tennis. Wembley can normally accommodate the numbers but for some reason had some difficulties for the mens finals between Brazil & Mexico which TfL have yet to give a full explanation and l understand FIFA representatives may of made complaints about already. And finally  the road restrictions to get to Wimbledon from Southfields seem like Lords over the top and unnecessary as Wimbledon is use to dealing with greater numbers when we have the annual Wimbledon tennis tournment.

And lets not forget the last event of the 30th Olympiad will be the mens marathon along the streets of London which will start and end along the Mall going through and back to the City of London and thus not in the Olympic stadium as tradition demands. The cities of Westminster & London streets accommodated this well, and who knows this might be a better street plan for the London marathon !  

So clearly there is a transport legacy for future sporting events in London particularly in Central London if we learn the lessons from the hosting of the Olympics. 

West Brompton tube station should have been made more accessible for the Olympics & been part of the legacy

For those of us using the tubes during London’s hosting of the games, you will not have failed to notice the prominent adverts at stations like the one above at Marylebone tube station. I have no problems with such adverts themselves but l am very concerned with the message given in these LOCOG adverts – that without the big corporation support we would not have had the games at all! Thus posing the question of who’s games are they anyway?

For some reason LOCOG, has forgotten to remember the contribution made by London council tax payers to the tune of on average £ 20 annually on their council tax since 2006/7 and running through to 2016/17 in very auster times. Thats not forgetting also the general tax payer and those who play the Olympic lottery as well for the huge capital costs and an element of revenue involved in delivering the Games in London.

If LOCOG feel that big business has been getting a hard time of it all, please do not forget the promotional value that all of them have getting by sponsoring the Olympic Games in London 2012.  Its been done for some very strong commerical interest and not necessarily by the goodness of their heart. LOCOG could have easily thanked us all for our contributions as taxpayers and residents of the UK towards the games, instead it choose to just thank the big corporations. If LOCOG is going to acknowledge the contribution of corporate sponsorship to the successul hosting of the games in London 2012, it must also do the same with taxpayers, residents of London and olympic lottery players.

I have written to LOCOG, to amend these adverts or withdraw them with their clear misinformation and propaganda. It is not acceptable for them to forget the contribution made already and will continue from London council tax payers long after the games has moved and big business has left town for the next big show around the globe. Lets see what response if any we get from them.

In the meantime we have had adverts like below in the press by the Lottery Fund thanking us for funding the Olympics by buying their lottery tickets. Now l think LOCOG could learn a lesson from this approach taken by the Lottery Fund.