With fellow Assembly Members Tom Copley and John Biggs checking progress with Crossrail
Last week, I was invited to an event to mark the completion of Crossrail’s Western tunnel in Farringdon. This was a fascinating trip which brought to life a project which I’d supported from inception and which will undoubdedly reap huge benefits for Londoners.
Boris Johnson today refused to take any leadership to tackle fuel poverty in London. He was questioned at Mayor’s Question Time directly about what measures he has put in place to insulate Londoners from the impact of another round of double-digit price rises by ‘the big six’.
All of the “big six” energy firms have now announced price rises above inflation for this winter with official figures indicating that London has the highest gas bills in the country. Fuel poverty resulted in 2,800 excess winter deaths in London in 2011/12.
Murad Qureshi AM, London Assembly Labour Group Environment spokesperson said:
“The Mayor is prepared to defend the super-rich but he won’t show leadership and take the lead in tackling fuel poverty in London. Boris is failing to stand up for vulnerable Londoners and be a Mayor “for all of London”. He has left Londoners at the mercy of the energy rip-off merchants with ineffective programmes and no real strategy to tackle fuel poverty.
“Londoners are facing a cost of living crisis. Rising energy bills are one of the biggest domestic utility bills Londoners have to pay. Londoners have been let down by a Mayor who pledged to “campaign against the fuel companies who are ripping off the consumer” but has delivered little.
“The Mayor’s RE:NEW programme is delivering well short of its targets; the Energy Companies continue to drag their feet in delivering Energy Company Obligation (ECO) in the capital and the Green Deal has become a joke with only 57 households having measures installed so far set against a target of insulating 14 million homes by 2020.”
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Speaking at the London Sustainability Exchange “Cleaner Air for Communities” project
I was glad to join a lunch time session at LSx’s ” Cleaner Air 4 London’s Communities – How can local residents & volunteers across London tackle air pollution” in Manor House, North London.
During the session I essentially made three points. The first is that the recent figures released by the Department of Health do not tally with those from the Mayors office on death rates. Their figures tell us death rates have worsned in 15 out of 33 borough’s in London, with Hillingdon topping the national list of shame for increase in deaths attributable to air pollution. Thus the Department of Health figures do not tally with the Mayor’s claim that emissions of PM10 in London has been reduced by 15 per cent since 2008. Thats not surprising as his figures are based on computer modelling whilst the Dept are real figures.
Secondly the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) announced by the Mayor is muddled as the Mayor stated at first it would included all vehicles but now suggests it would only include new vehicles. When the ULEZ was announced in Feb 2013 only vehicles allowed into zone would be zero or low emissions giving due notice to consumers and manufacturers as a target of 2020 is set. Yet more recently he states only new vehicles would be included. Quite honestly the Mayor needs to be honest with Londoners, as he waters down his policy before its even taken off the ground. And by the time ULEZ is in place another 32,000 will have died prematurely.
Finally the rise in the removal of diesel particulate filters (DPF’s) is setting a worrying new trend. The removal of DPFs serious threat to tackling air pollution in London as it becomes popular to have the filters removed as it can be expensive to clean ans replace them. Now we do have new guidance from the Department of Transport making the removing of the DPF’s illegal but its vital that Police,VOSA (Vehicle Operators Service Agency) and Trading Standards work together to tackle growing problem. In the meantime, Berlin has banned the oldest diesel vehicles of all sorts from polluted places nearly four year ago and expect to tighten its standard again in 2015.
I trust these points were useful for the coference to hear over lunch.
London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM today called for the London Living Wage (LLW) to be placed on a statutory footing in the capital. It was announced that the LLW will rise next year to £8.80 from its current rate of £8.55. There have been fears that introducing a statutory living wage would lead to unemployment. However, a new report out today challenges this.
The report, commissioned by Unison, analyses the economic impact of a nation-wide living wage on jobs and growth. It finds that £3.26 billion extra would be generated for the Treasury and a £3.15 billion boost to the economy. These would support jobs and “…aggregate job gains in excess of 7,000 are the most likely outcome of a statutory living wage.”
New research shows that a resident, living in a two bed home, earning the National Minimum Wage and commuting to work in central London from Hounslow has to spend an estimated 17.9 per cent of their pay on travel and 134.1 per cent on rent, compared with 7.08 per cent and 64.4 per cent in 2008 respectively.
Labour London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:
“The London Living Wage has been successful in ensuring thousands of workers in London receive a fair days pay for a fair days work. Today’s report shows that introducing a statutory living wage could lead to an increase in jobs rather than a reduction. I am delighted that there are now plans to introduce measures to encourage more employers to pay a Living Wage through tax incentives.
“The Mayor must do more to encourage employers to pay the London Living Wage and he can start by making the institutions he is responsible for accredited London Living Wage employers. At the current rate of progress it will take 450 years for all workers to be paid a living wage in London. Londoners are struggling and the Mayor’s inflation-busting fare increases mean that residents earning the National Minimum Wage and travelling to work in zone one have to spend an estimated 17.9 per cent of their pay on travel, and 134.1 per cent on rent.
“Introducing a statutory living wage could be phased in to help smaller businesses and give people time to prepare. Poverty pay is unacceptable, as is expecting the taxpayer to plug the gap through the benefits system. As today’s report states this policy would lead to an economic win-win, by boosting demand and economic growth, reducing the extent to which benefits prop up poverty pay and reduce earnings inequality. This is a policy whose time has come.”
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The Department of Health released official emissions figures this week that show Westminster is one of the worst ranking boroughs for air pollution, with the highest number of deaths attributable to poor air quality. London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi called on Mayor of London Boris Johnson to stop dithering and urgently tackle air pollution.
Westminster ranked 15th in London for having the highest levels of dangerous airborne particles PM2.5 in 2011. The Department of Health published the data which shows how death rates are attributable to human-made dangerous airborne particles (PM2.5) in 2011. The statistics were introduced in 2010.
London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:
“Boris must tackle the poor levels of air pollution in Westminster urgently. Boris needs to bring forward the Ultra Low Emission Zone from its planned implementation date of 2020 and make his mind up on what vehicles this policy will apply to. If this is to work then Londoners and car manufacturers need confidence that this will ever happen and confidence in what vehicles to invest in. Without these assurances this is simply grandiose and hollow rhetoric.
“Westminster residents have seen air quality worsen between 2010 and 2011 – that means more deaths that are attributable to air pollution from PM 2.5. Westminster is the 15th worst borough in London for air quality. It is shameful that the Mayor’s lack of action on tackling this silent killer is so badly affecting people’s health.
“The Mayor has consistently dithered on air pollution. Poor air quality causes 4,300 premature deaths a year. Boris must not put up fares above-inflation to encourage Londoners to use public transport as well as improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.”
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The government was today attacked for plans to cut victim support funding across London by up to 40%. The government are consulting on proposals to fund victim support based on population rather than the amount of crime and number of victims in a given area. London accounts for 20-25% of recorded crime nationally, but only has 15% of the nation’s population. The funding changes will mean the amount of money available for victim support across the capital will fall from £13.3million to £8.2million, a cut of over £5million.
The plans have been criticised by the Mayor of London and his policing deputy in recent correspondence to the Ministry of Justice. London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi has backed calls for the Justice Secretary to properly fund victim support services in London.
London-wide Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:
“The government must drop these reckless plans and properly fund victim support services in the capital. These changes will mean victims of crime in London will not receive the support they need. Policing in Westminster is under real strain with 393 police officers being cut since May 2010 and 2,500 police officers cut across the capital. In Westminster, 81% of crimes are not being solved. It’s more important than ever that victim support services are properly funded.
“In London we have an emerging cross-party consensus that the government must not cut back on this vital service. The government still have time to listen and we will continue to highlight the impact of this disastrous plan until the government change tack. Even Mayor Boris Johnson who has provided cover for government cuts to policing has described these latest plans as “ludicrous”. We will end up with funding in quieter parts of the country of £22 per victim, but in London it will be £12 – does the government really think victims in London are worth less and deserve less support?”
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A new study published by Shelter shows that in Westminster there are no homes on the market that are affordable to young families with children. The research reveals the full extent of England’s housing shortage. In over half the country, less than 10 per cent of the suitable homes for sale are affordable for a typical family hoping to get on the first rung of the property ladder. The charity looked at asking prices for all of the properties for sale in England on a single day, and compared them with the mortgage that families, couples and single people on average wages could afford as first time buyers.
In over a third of local authority areas, more than 95% of homes on the market were unaffordable for families – even assuming that they were able to save a large 20% deposit. The research uncovered several affordability black-spots, where there were no affordable properties for sale at all. This includes Brent where 1,511 homes for sale but none were affordable. The picture is even bleaker for families looking to take part in the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme, Help to Buy, where a 95% mortgage would mean higher monthly mortgage costs, and put even more homes out of reach.
Previous research commissioned by Shelter showed that on average young families face over a decade of saving before they can afford the deposit for a home of their own. This new study shows that, even with a large deposit, there simply aren’t enough properties on the market that first time buyers can afford. This means that the reality for many will be years spent in expensive and unstable private lets, often forced to jump from one short tenancy to the next and unable to put down roots.
Shelter is warning that unless the government tackles the root cause of our housing crisis – the desperate shortage of affordable homes – things are only going to get worse. This will not only affect future generations hoping for a stable home, but also the thousands of families already facing an everyday struggle to pay their rent or mortgage.
London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:
“Westminster ranks 1st with 6 other London Boroughs as the least affordable areas in the UK. Of the 20 least affordable areas in the country, 13 are in London. We need real action to get developers building, there are 211,000 homes in London that have planning permission but are not being built. It is time the Mayor and government introduced a “use it or lose it” clause for developers who are sitting on these stalled schemes so we can deliver the housing Londoners so desperately need.”
“London is facing a housing crisis for all types of tenure, there simply isn’t enough housing being built. This is putting intolerable strain on house prices and on rents. In one month alone house prices rose by £50,000 and private sector rents are seeing double-digit increases year on year. London is becoming more and more unaffordable, this is not healthy for London’s future. The dream of home ownership is becoming an ever more distant dream for young Londoners.”
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Ofwat’s decision today to block Thames Water’s planned price rise of £29 next year has been welcomed. London Assembly Labour Environment spokesperson, Murad Qureshi, whose arguments to Ofwat against the price rise were cited in today’s decision notice has described the decision as “100% correct.”
Thames Water had planned to increase water bills for millions of households in London by £29 in order to fund the new London “super sewer”. However, Ofwat’s decision today means that the water bill increases will no longer go ahead as they stated: “Our conclusion is that Thames Water’s application does not…exceed 10% of appointed business turnover. On this basis, our final determination is that the existing price limits for 2014-15 should not be adjusted.”
In their decision notice Ofwat quoted Mr Qureshi’s argument that it is “grossly inappropriate for Thames Water, as a monopoly service provider, to use its position to add extra strain on family finances at the current time.”
Speaking after the decision was published, London Assembly Labour Environment spokesperson, Murad Qureshi AM, said:
“I am delighted by today’s news that Ofwat have blocked Thames Water’s attempts to raise Londoners’ water bills by £29. At a time when people are struggling with a cost of living crisis we must do all that we can to help them. It was grossly inappropriate for Thames Water, as a monopoly service provider, to use its position to add extra strain on family finances at the current time.
“It is now time for Thames Water to realise the financial pressure families are facing and accept Ofwat’s decision. There is a broad consensus that the super-sewer needs to go ahead, but it has been made clear that there are alternatives to funding than just constantly increasing all of our water bills.”
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New research shows that police are solving less crime since Boris became Mayor and that Westminster is well below the UK average for solved crime. In Westminster 19 per cent were solved in 2012/13 compared to the UK average of 27 per cent. This amounts to 50198 unsolved crimes in Westminster last year.
The police are also solving less crime compared to 2008/09 when Boris became Mayor. In Westminster 25 per cent were solved whereas this year it was only 19 per cent.
These revelations come at a time when fewer crimes are being reported to the police and when Westminster has lost 393 police officers and 279 PCSOs since May 2010.
Local Labour London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:
“It is shocking that overall reported crime is down yet the number of unsolved crimes in Westminster is up to 81 per cent. Boris talks big about reported crime going down, but so far he has ignored that the number of crimes actually solved on his watch has plummeted. Compared to the average in England and Wales, London is trailing on the number of crimes solved where we should be setting the gold standard.
“Since May 2010, in Westminster the number of PCs has been reduced by 24 per cent and PCSOs by 74 per cent. Boris talks about getting more bobbies on the beat but the figures clearly show this is not happening.
“This proves Boris can’t have his cake and eat it. If you cut the police budget by as much as the Government has then there will be repercussions. Victim satisfaction in London is lower than elsewhere in the UK and this is not acceptable. The Mayor must act now.”
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The Mayor’s announcment that he is against freezing energy bills came as no surprise. At a time when Londoners are feeling the pinch you would have thought he would be supportive of measures to ease the cost of living crisis hitting our city. We need real action to help struggling families, under Boris we’ve had 5 years of inflation busting fare rises with another increase due to be announced soon. Recently he pushed through plans to increase rents for ‘affordable housing’ up to 80 per-cent of the market rate, this will increasingly push working Londoners out of their homes to make room for the better off. On top of squeezing people ever harder the Mayor is content to spend more on his advisors than the Prime Minister. Over £1.57 million a year of our money goes on his team at City Hall.
We are currently facing a cost of living crisis where prices are soaring and everyday necessities like food and bills are becoming unaffordable. The Mayor should use his position to ease the burden on ordinary Londoners. I have launched a survey to find out how my constituents are coping with the cost of living crisis, you can complete this online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5DM8PHC. I hope you will take a couple of minutes and fill out the questionnaire to let me know how they are coping.
Finally, If you would like me to send you hard copies of the survey to distribute, please do not hesitate to contact me at murad.qureshi@london.gov.uk