"Getting Better All The Time"- Hackney Independent on the Audit Commission's report
Posted: January 6, 2005 Filed under: Hackney Council Comments Off on "Getting Better All The Time"- Hackney Independent on the Audit Commission's reportHackney Council was lifted out of the lowest-rated category of “poor” and reclassified as “weak” by the government’s financial watchdog, the Audit Commission, in the latest official local authority performance league tables.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s home council of Hull is now the only local authority in Britain to be rated “poor”.
Hackney’s mayor, Jules Pipe, hailed the findings of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment as proof of significant improvements in the Labour-controlled council’s services.
However Hackney Independent – previously the Hackney Independent Working Class Association – has slammed the Audit Commission “for not living in the real world”,
“I challenge them to set foot outside their offices and show us where the improvements are” said spokesman, Peter Sutton.
“Try living on a council estate, attending a Hackney school or relying on Hackney social services before telling us how much things are getting better.”
ALMO Ballot "Manipulated" – Hackney Independent takes on the council in the Gazette
Posted: December 30, 2004 Filed under: Hackney Council, Media, Privatisation / Sell Offs, Uncategorized Comments Off on ALMO Ballot "Manipulated" – Hackney Independent takes on the council in the GazetteTown hall chiefs were accused of deliberately misleading council tenants this week by “manipulating” the result of a ballot on the future of their homes.
Cllr Jamie Carswell, cabinet minister for housing described it as an “unambiguous mandate” for ALMOs following the ballot of 25,000 tenants and 8,000 leaseholders.
The council needs to raise £220 million to bring its crumbling housing stock up to a decent standard and hopes to tap into millions of pounds of government funds for necessary improvements.
But Peter Sutton of political party Hackney Independent says the voting figures are far from a “resounding green light to ALMOs” and has slammed the figures used in the a council press release as “pure propaganda and manipulation”.
“The release says a significant majority of 80 per cent of voters supported ALMOs,” he said.
“Despite two extensions to the deadline and an appeal letter, only 7,000 tenants and leaseholders voted. Of those, 64% put ALMOs as their first choice. To get the 80 per cent figure mentioned in the press release, the council would have had to have included people who put ALMOs as their second, third and fourth choices.
“It means, despite months of one-sided pro-ALMO propaganda, only just over 4,000 tenants and leaseholders could be persuaded to vote for an ALMO – just 14 per cent of the borough’s council tenants and leaseholders”, he added.
However, Cllr Jamie Carswell said he was delighted people had taken the ‘test of opinion’ seriously and voted. “This is the culmination of three years communication around ‘Decent Homes’ and means people have made their feelings very clear that an ALMO is their preferred option”, he added.
Council Chiefs will hope to meet with the Government in January to submit a bid for establishing ALMOs.
(see also our letters page for more recent coverage in the Hackney Gazette)
Gaps in income and wealth "remain large"
Posted: December 20, 2004 Filed under: Uncategorized Comments Off on Gaps in income and wealth "remain large"Recent figures compiled by National Statistics show that gaps in income and wealth remain large: 17 per cent of the population (2002/03 figure) live in households with income below £194 per week (60 per cent of median disposable income) while half the population own just 5% of the wealth (2001 figure).
Link to full article at National Statistics
Audit Commission: Hackney goes from "weak" to "poor"
Posted: December 16, 2004 Filed under: Hackney Council Comments Off on Audit Commission: Hackney goes from "weak" to "poor"Reports of big improvements in Hackney Council services have been hugely exagerated. The Audit Commission say the council is now officially “weak” instead of “poor.” There is only one “poor” council according to this week’s ‘Comprehensive Performance Assessment’ and that is John Prescott’s home council in Hull.
Hackney Independent’s Peter Sutton commented “Those with long memories in Hackney will remember when our council’s slogan was ‘Working for local people.’ They haven’t dared to use that one for a long time. Maybe ‘Better than Hull’ could be the new slogan?”
Peter Sutton also stated that the Audit Commission were not living in the real world. “I challenge them to set foot outside their offices and to show us where these improvements are. Try living on a council estate, attending a Hackney school or relying on Hackney social services before telling us how much things are getting better.”
And things will never get better while we have Labour councillors who put the interests of the new middle class settlers before the needs of the working class majority.
Winter newsletter published
Posted: December 10, 2004 Filed under: Broadway Market, Gentrification / Regeneration, Newsletters, Privatisation / Sell Offs Comments Off on Winter newsletter published
- What’s wrong with the ALMO?
- A market for yuppies? Broadway Market survey results.
Hackney Independent, Winter 2004 issue (pdf format)
Hackney Independent's Peter Sutton interviewed by "Inside Housing" Magazine
Posted: December 7, 2004 Filed under: Gentrification / Regeneration, Media Comments Off on Hackney Independent's Peter Sutton interviewed by "Inside Housing" Magazine
Inside Housing is the weekly magazine for housing workers. Its latest issues includes a 3 page feature on Hackney Council’s “test of opinion” on the Decent Homes Standard, focusing mainly on the Council’s use of Show Flats to convince us that everything will be rosy – if we sign all our rights away so they can privatise our homes. As the article points out, the Show Flats have all sorts of fixtures and fittings in them that we’ll never see in our homes.
A source involved with the initiative confirms in the article that the Council are seriously worried by the campaigns mounted by local people against their propaganda: “Better the devil you know is the phrase that’s repeated again and again. Many residents think Hackney is a bad council, but prefer that to whatever an ALMO would do.”
After all the Council-funded glossy posters and fun days, Barbara Barton (Hackney’s decent homes standard programme manager) has the nerve to have a go at leaflets produced by local people because the information in them “isn’t unbiased”! A career as a New Labour spin-doctor surely awaits you, Barbara.
Hackney Independent is committed to driving New Labour out of working class areas in Hackney, and to exposing their lies. In the article Hackney Independent member Peter Sutton is quoted as saying:
“The vote is a charade. They intend to bring in an ALMO – it doesn’t matter what people say. I think it’s misleading – they say the ALMO will bring extra money but it’s unlikely. The ALMO will cost £3 Million to £4 Million to set up, and they’ll only get extra money if they get a two star Audit Commission rating. If they told people that, I don’t think people would vote for it.”
Hackney only managed to get a one star rating in 2002 and the Audit Commission couldn’t say they thought it would get any better in the future – which is no news for those of us who live here.
"Test of Opinion": Deadline Extended: But Still No Real Choice
Posted: November 28, 2004 Filed under: Gentrification / Regeneration, Hackney Council, Privatisation / Sell Offs Comments Off on "Test of Opinion": Deadline Extended: But Still No Real Choice
Hackney Housing Boss Jamie Carswell, (or as New Labour put it: Cabinet Member for Housing), wrote to all Hackney Tenants on the 24th of November to remind them about the Council’s “test of opinion” on whether we would like our homes privatised or left to rot.
He revealed that the deadline for responses had been pushed back to the 3rd of December (and we now hear it’s moved back even further to the 10th of December). Apparently some residents received their papers late, which shows the “test” is well up to the Council’s usual levels of efficiency.
But might there be other reasons?
Is it possible that the Council simply haven’t had enough responses to be able to justify the expense of writing to us all – twice over?
Or have they just not received the “right” kind of responses to what was already a completely loaded set of questions?
Certainly, the letter is at pains to mention “certain leaflets” which have been produced by Hackney Residents and indeed by Hackney Independent which show up the “consultation” for the charade it is.
But Big Jamie seems so single-minded in his pursuit of selling off our homes, that he’s even prepared to go against resolutions made at his own Party Conference. New Labour voted 8 to 1 recently for a “level playing field” for Council Housing – and Unions, Residents groups and other campaigners are all clear that the answer is direct investment in our homes and estates.
Jamie, on the other hand, insists that we don’t have the “luxury of time to debate options which aren’t on the table” – we must hurry towards a bright future of privatised housing… or else…
Event: Lobby of Hackney Council
Posted: November 25, 2004 Filed under: Events, Gentrification / Regeneration, Hackney Council Comments Off on Event: Lobby of Hackney CouncilHackney Defend Council Housing, Hackney Unison and many Tenants Associations have called for a lobby of Hackney council to protest against their intention of privatising our homes.
The lobby takes place on Monday 13th of December at 6:00pm, Town Hall, Mare Street.
Vote NO to privatisation: Demand investment in council housing with no strings attached.
Hackney Council's "Test of Opinion" – other responses
Posted: November 24, 2004 Filed under: Gentrification / Regeneration, Hackney Council, Privatisation / Sell Offs Comments Off on Hackney Council's "Test of Opinion" – other responsesIn addition to our leaflet on Hackney Council’s “consultation” on privatising our homes (pdf), we have had reports of other residents, campaigning groups and Tenants Associations producing their own material to inform people of the truth behind this sham exercise. We reproduce some below. Please get in touch if you have seen other examples and we’ll put them up here.
Hackney Defend Council Housing leaflet (click to enlarge)
Rhodes Estate TRA leaflet (click to enlarge)
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