London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi, who lives in Marylebone and is a former Westminster Labour councillor, wants the day and boarding school to allow nearby comprehensives to make use of its playing fields in Vincent Square.

Mr Qureshi, who attended Quintin Kynaston School, St John’s Wood, said educationist Lord Adonis mentioned Westminster School on BBC Radio 4 when talking about a campaign to encourage independent fee-paying schools to open up facilities for comprehensive pupils to use.

Mr Qureshi said the fields were “possibly the best sports space in Westminster”.

He said: “The difference between me and Andrew Adonis is that where he would seek to persuade Westminster School, I would actually take away their independent status if they do not comply.

“Tax relief on social exclusion is just not on. Pimlico Academy is the nearest comprehensive and there are primary schools around there that could probably do with the facilities. Something like 37 per cent of the Olympic stars come from fee-paying independent schools. It’s about availability of facilities.”

A section of the Westminster School website describing its history tells of how its ethos “resides in the enduring values expressed in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation. On its re-foundation by Elizabeth I Westminster was des­cribed as a school for “˜40 poor scholars’.”

Christopher Silcock, an administrator at the school, said it was not possible for other schools to use the Vincent Square pitches as they were already “overused”. They were used by pupils in all age groups.

He said: “I’m afraid it is a hard fact of life. We just can’t.

"There isn’t a time in the programme to do it, and to reinforce the point, on any one day when football is going on, half our teams are renting pitches in Battersea and Paddington Rec.

"It’s not that we’re being mean, it’s quite simply the case that we don’t have nearly enough for ourselves never mind anybody else.”

Mr Silcock said Westminster School also had playing fields in Kent that were “surplus to capacity” and which it had leased to a Haberdashers’ Aske’s-sponsored academy school for a peppercorn rent for the next 100 years.

He said increased congestion and journey times meant it was no longer practicable for Westminster School pupils to be taken to the Kent pitches.

Mr Qureshi insisted that Vincent Square was often empty. He said: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Maybe an ex-pupil like Nick Clegg could do something about it.”

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The Commissioner revealed that the cost of operating a fire station with one fire appliance is £1.4million per year. This means that 15 fire stations and appliances are at risk of closure this year with up to 25 next year. There are currently 112 fire stations in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>.

The London Fire Brigade is facing steep cuts due to the government cutting the fire budget by 25%, this is even deeper than the 20% cut to the police’s budget.

Local Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:

“It’s unclear whether <city w:st=”on”>Westminster</city> will be affected but with so many stations at risk and 3 stations in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> I fear that we will be hit.

“Today’s news confirms our worst fears, in total up to 40 fire stations are at risk of closure in the next two years, along with their fire appliances. If we lose such a large chunk of our existing fire cover it will impact on public safety.

“We understand that savings have to be made, but the level of cuts forced on the London Fire Brigade by government are truly reckless. They are cutting too far, too fast. They are hitting front-line services and putting public safety at risk.

“The mayor needs to come clean on fire brigade cuts and tell Londoners what he is planning to close.”

Ends

Notes

1.       Murad Qureshi is a Labour London wide Assembly member.

2.       The London Assembly Plenary meeting on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority took place on Wednesday 12th September 2012 at 10am at City Hall. You can watch a recording of the session here: http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/the-london-assembly/webcasts

Are we going to lose fire engines like these in Central London?

lt is feared that fire stations across London particularly in central London are at risk of closure. At last Wednesday’s London Assembly Fire Authority question and answer session details were revealed about the potential impact of cuts on fire-fighting in London. The London Fire Commissioner revealed that they have already proposed £14million of cuts with a further £21million still to be identified. This amounts to £35million of cuts to be made in the next financial year.

The Commissioner revealed that the cost of operating a fire station with one fire appliance is £1.4million per year. This means that 15 fire stations and appliances are at risk of closure this year with up to 25 next year. There are currently 112 fire stations in London.

The London Fire Brigade is facing steep cuts due to the government cutting the fire budget by 25 per cent this is even deeper than the 20 per cent cut to the police’s budget.

These figures confirms our worst fears, in total up to 40 fire stations are at risk of closure in the next two years, along with their fire appliances. If we lose such a large chunk of our existing fire cover it will impact on public safety.

We understand that savings have to be made, but the level of cuts forced on the London Fire Brigade by government are truly reckless. They are cutting too far, too fast. They are hitting front-line services and putting public safety at risk.

The mayor needs to come clean on fire brigade cuts and tell Londoners what he is planning to close.

Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said a survey found that six out of eight tube stations in the borough of Hounslow do not have step-free disabled access. There are no stations at all with step free access in Chiswick.

The survey of local underground stations showed that four of the six inaccessible stations in the borough had no accessible station on either side of them, he claimed.

And local councillor Gary Malcolm ( Lib Dem) said Turnham Green station in Chiswick should be made easier for disabled and less able people to access – it has several steps up to the platform and no lift.

"Clearly Turnham Green is very busy and well used. This clearly should be a station that takes priority when having lifts, ramps or other aids given that the benefits of this would be welcomed by more people," he said.  

Of the 436 London Underground stations surveyed in the report for the London Assembly, 119 had no disabled access and only 17% had full step-free access.

Assembly Member Qureshi said; “It is a scandal that there are 6 stations in Hounslow that are inaccessible for disabled Londoners, the elderly, and parents with buggies and that they don’t have the same travel opportunities that other Londoners have.

"Inaccessible transport is one of the major barriers to disabled people getting about the borough. One in ten Londoners are excluded from large parts of the transport network because of mobility issues," he added.

A total of 436 London Underground stations were surveyed of which 119 had no disabled access and only 17% had full step-free access.

Following on the success of the Paralympics, analysis shows:

• 119 of London’s 436 Underground stations have no disabled access – and neither do stations either side of them.

• only 73 of 436 stations have full step free access, only 17%.
• 17 stations can only be used to change trains and are not accessible from the street ““ including Blackfriars, Euston and Oxford Circus
• 44 stations only have street to platform access, not to trains

"The Mayor should be making accessibility a legacy priority. We need leadership from the Mayor and a clear statement of when these tube stations will have step free access.

“The Paralympic Games have been a huge success and inspiring – we now need to build on the momentum from the games and deliver a lasting legacy for our tube network by making it truly accessible for all.

“If the Mayor is serious about ensuring these are “˜the most accessible Games ever’ and that London 2012 makes a lasting legacy in this city then he needs a costed plan to make all of our stations accessible.”

Turnham Green station on the District Line, has no entrance/exit suitable for disabled users as it has a stairs leading to the platforms.

Several years ago, a much heralded recent revamp of Turnham Green station failed to address the issue of disabled access to the station where it is impossible for a wheelchair user to commence an unaided journey on the tube network from Chiswick.

Councillor Gary Malcolm, Southfield Ward, said; "If the Paralympics have shown us anything it is that Councils and transport providers must do everything they can to ensure that people who are disabled or have difficulties do not have to go out of their way to get to where they work, shop or live.

"That may mean staff at stations need to be more helpful as well as station managers ensuring that their are ramps that are installed. Recently a Liberal Democrat London GLA member helped ensure that London Transport is to keep the ramps at tube stations."

Improvements have been made to the transport network in recent years as part of the £6.5bn investment in transport ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to provide what TfL called "a tangible legacy to passengers with disabilities".

London’s bus fleet has 8,500 buses accessible to wheelchair users and fitted with ramps which are checked daily. In addition, all 22,000 taxis are fitted with wheelchair ramps, and all piers and most passenger boats in London are accessible. The entire Docklands Light Railway (DLR) network is step-free. A total of 66 Tube stations are step-free, said TfL.

The new fleet of trains on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines are accessible and provide level access from platform to train according to the transport company. However this does not assist passengers trying to gain access to the street from the platform at Turnham Green.

Mike Brown, London Underground Managing Director, said: ‘The London 2012 Games has benefited from the most accessible public transport system of any Olympic or Paralympic Games in history.

"However, we know there is more to do. For the Games we introduced manual boarding ramps at 16 key stations where there is a gap between the train and platform, enabling customers using wheelchairs to board trains more easily."

Manual boarding ramps are in use at Hammersmith, King’s Cross St Pancras, West Ham, Westminster, Southfields, Wimbledon, Earl’s Court, Fulham Broadway, Stratford, Woodford, Oxford Circus, Queen’s Park, Edgware, Morden, Finchley Central and Stockwell London Underground stations.

 View article here

The analysis shows:

• 119 of <place w:st=”on”><city w:st=”on”>London</city></place>’s 436 Underground stations have no disabled access – and neither do stations either side of them.

·         only 73 of 436 stations have full step free access, only 17%.

·         17 stations can only be used to change trains and are not accessible from the street ““ including Blackfriars, Euston and Oxford Circus

·         44 stations only have street to platform access, not to trains

Inaccessible transport is one of the major barriers to disabled people getting about the borough. One in ten Londoners are excluded from large parts of the transport network because of mobility issues, according to a report by the London Assembly.

Labour London Assembly Member, Murad Qureshi AM, said:

“The Mayor should be making accessibility a legacy priority. We need leadership from the Mayor and a clear statement of when these tube stations will have step free access.

“The Paralympic Games have been a huge success and inspiring – we now need to build on the momentum from the games and deliver a lasting legacy for our tube network by making it truly accessible for all.

“It is a scandal that there are 28 stations in Westminster that are inaccessible for disabled Londoners, the elderly, and parents with buggies and that they don’t have the same travel opportunities that other Londoners have.

“If the Mayor is serious about ensuring these are “˜the most accessible Games ever’ and that London 2012 makes a lasting legacy in this city then he needs a costed plan to make all of our stations accessible.”

Ends

Notes

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

2.       Attached is a grid showing the accessibility of London Underground and DLR stations (source material: www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf )<shapetype coordsize=”21600,21600″ o:spt=”75″ o:preferrelative=”t” path=”m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe” filled=”f” stroked=”f” id=”_x0000_t75″><stroke joinstyle=”miter”></stroke><formulas><f eqn=”if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0″></f><f eqn=”sum @0 1 0″></f><f eqn=”sum 0 0 @1″></f><f eqn=”prod @2 1 2″></f><f eqn=”prod @3 21600 pixelWidth”></f><f eqn=”prod @3 21600 pixelHeight”></f><f eqn=”sum @0 0 1″></f><f eqn=”prod @6 1 2″></f><f eqn=”prod @7 21600 pixelWidth”></f><f eqn=”sum @8 21600 0″></f><f eqn=”prod @7 21600 pixelHeight”></f><f eqn=”sum @10 21600 0″></f></formulas><path o:extrusionok=”f” gradientshapeok=”t” o:connecttype=”rect”></path><lock v:ext=”edit” aspectratio=”t”></lock></shapetype><shape type=”#_x0000_t75″ o:ole=”” style=”WIDTH: 1in; HEIGHT: 56.25pt” id=”_x0000_i1025″><imagedata src=”file:///C:DOCUME~1NsalihLOCALS~1Tempmsohtml11clip_image001.wmz” o:title=””></imagedata></shape>

3.       The London Assembly report on Accessibility can be found here: http://www.london.gov.uk/publication/accessibility-transport-network-london

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.