It was good to meet up with the New Yorkers demanding better pay and terms of employment in the fast food sector in their $15 per hour campaign to improve their pay as they came through London. I went long to show some solidarity with them, more importantly be inspired by them and thank the Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union for bringing them over the pond to our shores.

It is quite clear that whilst capital has gone global for sometime particularly in sectors like fast food with  companies like McDonalds, KFC & Burger King, leading lights in the globalisation of capital, labour needs to do so as well. Thats why we can be inspired by the efforts of our colleagues in New York, as fast food workers demand fair pay in the United States. Convincing oneself as well as colleagues across the United States when its a continent in itself, to strike for better pay is no small task and there is much to learn in a sector with little Trade Union activity at all.

Its also good that the Observer noted their challenge as they went through the UK in its edition today.

So lets start preparing for 15th of April, next year.

In a FT exclusive, we hear for the first time that the Mayor during his recent book promotion tour in New York is being pursued by the IRS for outstanding taxes due to the US state. He is a New Yorker by birth having left the country at five for the UK and proudly holds their passport.

It is deeply ironic that while the US embassy in London owes several million pounds in outstanding congestion charge, its taxman are chasing the Mayor for outstanding taxes.

Saying this, you have to ask also does he not talk to other Americans? As this is a big topic for Americans who live aboard so its inconcievable he did not know. The IRS is after US “citizens” all over the world. Even if you left when you were a month old or if your parents or parent was born in the USA and you were not,  you are on the IRS radar screen. No other country to my knowledge is trying to tax what it defines as a citizen even thought that citizen has never earned a dime in the USA. Canadian banks, for example,have been coerced into divulging information on accounts they hold belonging to these “citizens”. …if these banks have US operations.

If l were him, l would “jack in” my US passport.

Analysis by Labour London Assembly Member Qureshi has shown that fire brigade response times have gone up in over 370 London wards since the Mayor forced through the closure of 10 London fire stations in January this year. Average response times for London have increased from 5:18 to 5:30 for the first fire engine response with the second response time also increasing from 6:28 to 6:51.

Initial analysis of the figures provided to Assembly Members show that Londoners in 14 Westminster wards now have to wait more than the six minute target time before help arrives with response times increasing by up to 6.18 minutes in some areas. In Westminster, Knightsbridge and Westminster fire stations was closed in January resulting in the loss of 1 fire engine. In total response times have increased in 14 Westminster wards.

Since the fire station closures in January which also saw 14 fire engines removed from service, a total of 37 London wards have seen first response times increase by over a minute compared with 2012/13 data. Murad Qureshi AM said the number of areas where response times have increased shows that despite assurances from the Mayor, his cuts to the fire service have increased the threat to public safety.

The figures also include areas where 13 additional fire engines have been removed in order to cover potential strikes, further degrading response times. Murad Qureshi AM called for these appliances to be returned outside of strike periods to ensure full cover across the capital.

London Assembly Labour Group Fire Spokesperson, Fiona Twycross AM, said:

“Fires can take hold in seconds that’s why any increase in response times can be so dangerous. As a result of Boris Johnson’s decision to close ten fire stations and with the removal of a further 13 fire engines, even when they are not needed for strike cover, we have seen response times rise in over half of the capital’s wards including significant increases in Westminster.

“Londoners will be deeply concerned that since the closures it could take significantly longer for a fire engine to reach their home. These latest figures show is that in most of London’s wards it will now take longer to get to fires than it did last year that is unacceptable.”

“The Mayor has an important duty to protect the public. He needs to ask himself whether closing ten fire stations and removing 27 fire engines is really the best way to achieve that. Given the jump in response times since the fire station closures, it is very fortunate that we have not seen an increase in serious incidents as a result.”

ENDS

Notes 

• A breakdown of the latest London Fire Service response time data can be found here.
• In January the Mayor forced through the closure of ten London fire stations against widespread opposition: Belsize, Bow, Clerkenwell, Downham, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich. As part of these closures 14 fire appliances were removed from service. Subsequently, a further 13 fire appliances have been removed from service to act as cover in case of any strike action.
• Murad Qureshi AM is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.

At a site visit to Old Oak Common & Park Royal for London Assembly members last week we saw for the first time, the area that the Mayor wants to cover in his Mayoral Development Corporation ( MDC ) proposal for this part of North West London.

Whilst I could clearly see the need for something to be done in Old Oak Common predominantly in the London Borough Hammersmith & Fulham, l was not totally convinced of Park Royal inclusion into the MDC as it appeared to be a fairly prosperous area with even Lebanese restaurants and it even had its own traffic jams, a sign of success if ever l saw one!

As for Old Oak Common, both the rail yards and the land immediate North of the canal clearly needs something done. It felt and looked comparably to how Stratford looked when the Olympic bid was won in 2005. So clearly a vehicle like the Olympic MDC would help transform this derelict part of W12.

Strategically for London, its also the best place to have the terminus for HS2 in London. It has many rail and tube connections to allow many passengers of the HS2 from the North to get to the rest of London including the new Crossrail operation from 2018 and Overground, Central, Piccadilly and Bakerloo line. It would also save Camden from the works going into Euston….

So look out for the 17th of December plenary for the formation of the MDC where the Mayor will need 2/3 res  majority for permission to set up another Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC). In the meantime, the local authorities in the proposed MDC, thats Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent & Ealing will need to be satisfied its the right type of vehicle to regenerate part of W12.

At yesterday’s Housing Committee we were presented a presentation explaining to us what Housing Zones were all about, but l was immediately intrigued by the first slide above.  This shows were most of the homes that the Mayor has started with his housing investment budgets have emerged from over the period 2011-13. Quite clearly the Mayor has been dependent on boroughs like Tower Hamlets to produce over 3,901 starts to deliver his programme commitments to the electorate. This while other boroughs like the City of Westminster have not been able to produce more than 400 starts for the Mayor. Now given the former is a political ally of  Boris Johnson it is some what surprising what little assistance City of Westminster has been to the Mayor. While in contrast a borough like Tower Hamlets, has helped start almost 10 times as many starts for the Mayor than City of Westminster yet is certainly not allied with him politically.

It was explained to us how these zones were bidder for by boroughs as £ 200m allocation from GLA housing capital budgets were kept aside for it while the bids were judged for their planning, financial & “new model” packages. The successful bids came from boroughs like Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth boroughs already helping to deliver the Mayors programme. But alas not in boroughs like Richmond, Kingston, Harrow, Sutton which were not helping in the first place. Surely bids should have been encouraged and made in those poorly performing boroughs?

Maybe the Mayor should ask boroughs like City of Westminster to make applications for Housing Zones? But as we know thats not likely from his allies along Victoria St, SW1 as we can see from diagram above!

A petition has been received this week at City Hall from tenants calling on their housing association Peabody to stop escalating their rents, which have risen by 36% in just four years. Peabody bought four estates housing keyworkers across London in 2011 from the Crown Estate. The estates in Victoria Park in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, Cumberland Market in Camden, Milbank in Westminster and Lee Green in Lewisham contain 1,200 homes. 

Despite assurances at the time of the sale that rents would be kept affordable, since 2011 rents have increased so someone who paid £650 per month now has to pay £884 a month. At a time of stagnant wage rises and increases in the cost of living residents simply cannot afford this. The petition signed by over 1,000 people calls for a meeting with senior staff at Peabody, a 12 month freeze on further increases and a review of their rent policy.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member said: 

“It is unacceptable for Peabody to raise rents resulting in yet more key workers in London being priced out of the city while at the same time their accounts show a surplus of £291m for the year 2013/14.  This is more than 10 times the amount of surplus they recorded last year.  The term affordable bears little relation to reality.

“Residents have been expected to find an extra £234 a month over four years. How are people supposed to be able to find this money and be left with enough to afford essentials like heating, food and transport costs? Both Peabody and the Mayor of London speak about ‘affordable’ housing, but residents are being really squeezed by ever rising rents. These increases are simply not sustainable’’.

ENDS 

Notes 

Murad Qureshi AM is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.

Tom Copley AM received the petition at City Hall yesterday.  Tom Copley is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.

Labour London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi last week voted to call on the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to rethink his approach to tall buildings on London’s skyline after it was revealed that Westminster has 3 new skyscrapers in the development pipeline and a total of 236 London wide.

Research highlighted by the London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi found that over 230 buildings of 20 stories or more are in the pipeline for development, radically altering the shape of the capital’s skyline without meeting London’s housing need. Of the 230, 189 are residential, but primarily luxury flats with relatively small numbers of affordable housing meaning they will make little contribution to solving the housing crisis.

Whilst recognising there is a place for skyscrapers in the capital Murad argues that further luxury penthouses do little to address the needs of ordinary Londoners and threatens the historic London skyline. Murad was joined by Assembly Members from all parties in unanimously supporting a motion calling on the Mayor to adopt new policies to protect London’s skyline. The motion also called for the Mayor to establish a Skyline Commission made up of design experts from a variety of fields to offer advice on commissioning and carry out design reviews.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member, said:

“The Mayor is making a mockery of his planning policies when he continues to wave through proposals for skyscrapers which do little to help people looking for an affordable place to live. Under Boris Johnson, London is fast becoming a high-rise playground for the super-rich leaving more and more Londoners priced out of the market.

“Tall buildings have their place, but they must respect the existing character of the local area and meet a genuine need. That’s why I am calling on the Mayor to rethink his gung-ho approach to skyscrapers in the capital.”

ENDS

Notes

–       Murad Qureshi AM is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.

–       Research released earlier this year on behalf of New London Architecture found 236 buildings 20 storeys or taller had been proposed, received planning permission, or were being built. The report is available here: http://www.newlondonarchitecture.org/dls/TB_B1.pdf.

–       The Skyline Campaign has been fronted jointly by the Observer and the Architects Journal. More information is available here: http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/skyline/.

–       The motion, introduced by Labour Member Navin Shah and seconded by Labour Member Nicky Gavron, was agreed unanimously at the London Assembly Plenary on 05 November 2014. The full text of the motion is:

“This Assembly notes with concern the revelation earlier this year by New London Architecture that over 230 tall buildings are in the pipeline for development. The cumulative impact of these developments on London’s skyline is not being thoroughly considered, with the resultant often bland design and irreversible negative impact posing a threat to London’s heritage, character and architectural distinctiveness. 80% of these buildings are residential, mostly luxury flats which will do little to alleviate the housing crisis.

Tall buildings can make a positive contribution to city life and the skyline, but only if they’re in the right places, meet the right needs, and respect the character and identity of the surrounding area. However, the flaws of ill-considered tall buildings have been well demonstrated by the skyline campaign.

The London Plan includes policies on tall buildings, but these are not being properly implemented in planning decisions. There are also examples where height limits established by Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks have been ignored.

This Assembly therefore calls on the Mayor to rethink his approach to tall buildings in London. To protect London’s skyline and arrive at well considered appropriate high rise buildings the Mayor should establish a ‘skyline commission’ made up of design experts from a variety of fields to offer advice on commissioning, have an enabling role and carry out design reviews.

The Mayor should also develop more detailed and rigorous masterplanning processes, including engagement of local residents and stakeholders, especially within Opportunity Areas, and implement a clusters policy. There should be a review of existing protected views with the intention of adding new viewing corridors, as well as a recognition that views from all angles – even if not within a protected corridor – should be a planning consideration. The GLA should support the development of a fully interactive 3D computer model of London’s emerging skyline in order to allow development proposals to be visualised within the context of their contribution to the London skyline. Finally, the Mayor should require all developers with proposals for tall buildings to consider other building configurations.”

– Mayor Boris Johnson set to miss apprenticeships target
– London has second lowest apprenticeship start rate of all England’s regions

Analysis of the latest figures from the Skills Funding Agency by London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM, has shown that the number of people in Westminster starting apprenticeships has fallen for the second year running/since last year. The figures have cast major doubt on Boris Johnson’s ability to fulfil his election pledge to deliver 250,000 apprenticeships by 2016.

The provisional figures show that only 38,550 apprenticeships were started Londonwide in the 2013/14 academic year, down 6,520 on last year’s numbers. In Westminster the overall number of apprenticeships started dropped by 80 last year from 700 in 2012/13 to 620. This is the second year in a row in which the number of apprenticeship starts has fallen.

In June this year the Londonwide Local Enterprise Partnership stated that the capital would need to increase the number of apprentices by 19% each year if it is to hit the Mayor’s target. Despite that warning, London now has the second lowest apprenticeship start rate in the UK with only the North East lagging behind it. By contrast the North West saw almost double London’s number of apprenticeship starts.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member, said:

“It is deeply worrying that for the second year running the number of apprenticeships started in Westminster is falling, making it clearer than ever that Boris Johnson’s target is not going to be met.

“Good quality apprenticeships are vital to getting our young people the skills, training and expertise they need to succeed in the jobs market; particularly in a city as competitive as London.

“Last year’s fall in apprenticeships was a clear signal that the Mayor needed to do more to encourage companies to take on apprentices and work closely with local councils, yet little appears to have been done. Boris Johnson’s inability to get more businesses signed up for apprenticeships is not only leaving London falling behind the rest of the country, but letting down the young Londoners who are desperately seeking these kind of opportunities”

ENDS

Notes

– The number of apprenticeships started by region:

Region 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
Full Year Full Year
Full Year
(provisional)
North East 38,340 35,870 30,020
North West 89,310 84,180 70,640
Yorkshire and The Humber 64,200 59,900
East Midlands 46,790 49,010 39,290
West Midlands 60,470 62,430 51,400
East of England 45,820 46,220 39,870
London 47,230 45,070 38,550
South East 66,850 68,960 58,690
South West 55,950 52,540 45,200
England Total 515,000 504,200 426,200

Other 5,600 6,040 6,220

Grand Total 520,600 510,200 432,400

Source: Breakdown by geography, equality & diversity and sector subject area: starts 2013/14

– The London Enterprise Panel Skills and Employment Working Group, Apprenticeships Update can be found here.
– Murad Qureshi is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.

At last week’s plenary, after the motion on the Mayor’s toxic environmental legacy was passed it was established the London Assembly wanted London to be a fracking free zone.

The motion states this quite clearly in its fifth paragraph;

” The Mayor’s attacks on renewable and support for tracking are symbolic of his regressive approach to London’s environment challenges. Given this, the London Assembly does not support any fracking activities with the boundaries of Greater London”

This is in shape contrast to the Mayor’s view that “….. that no stone shall be left unturned to find shale gas in London…” and the Tory Group at the London Assembly lead by Tony “JR Ewing” Arbour AM of South-West London who want to turn the GLA into a centre for oil speculating like Dallas.

London is and should always be a no-fracking zone.

At last weeks plenary l put a motion up about the toxic environmental legacy the present Mayor is leaving the next Mayor of London.

We have heard plenty of charm, bluster & hot air from the Mayor on his environmental policies for the past 6 years. This when many of the biggest challenges facing London as a city relate to environmental concerns like poor air quality in Central London; scandal of cold homes; aircraft noise spreading across London and reducing our climate change impact. This while the Mayor's green credentials are in tatters as he keeps an "open mind" on whether climate change exists or not.

With air pollution, it is a case of too little too law as he has killed the issue into the the long grass. Time is running out on this silent killer for the Mayor to act for those 4,300 Londoners who die prematurely every year due to toxic air. When the Mayor leaves office his legacy is likely to be £300 m a year fine from the European Commission which could easily pass from Whitehall to the GLA. The Mayor himself has hinted that he has been too slow to tackle London's air pollution crisis. The Mayor should have taken his own advice and have tackled this problem when he was first elected. As for his ULEZ proposal, he can't be trusted to deliver on it if his track record with delivering London as "electric car capital of Europe" is anything to go which he promised in Copenhagen in 2009.

The scandal of cold homes is clear to all as 68 per cent of Londoners cut back on heating their homes as energy bills soar yet the Mayor continues to do little on this cold front. The Mayor should have backed the 20 month energy price freeze which would have saved the average London family £120 annually, as many energy companies themselves like SSE have backed as well.

When is comes to cutting carbon, the Assembly's Environment Committee only gave him a 4/10 rating with scope to do a lot better on this critical energy security and black-out issue.

This while he has failed to back renewables whilst supporting tracking. Only recently at the last MQT, we had the Mayor re-instating his backing for fracking to find shale bass when egged on by Tony "JR Ewing" Arbour AM for South-West London, who wants to turn the GLA into Dallas. This when we know all too well that Shale Gass doesn't exist in Greater London, making it a fracking free zone.

Only last week, the UN IPCC suggested we needed to kick the fossil fuel habit by the end of the century. Replacing petrol with shale gas isn't going to do this at all!

We need to rely more on renewables like solar & wind; decentralised energy and replacing demand for energy consumption in the first place with home and work energy efficiency programmes.

If the Mayor doesn't deal with these issues in his remaining time at the GLA, he will levee a toxic environmental legacy for the next Mayor.