Leader of the Council's blog - June 2008
Friday, 20 June 2008
The Community Strategy might not sound very interesting, but what it aims to achieve really is. Every council must, by law, agree a community strategy. It looks forward to 2020, says what the local area should be like by then, and then says what needs to happen to make that vision a reality.
Lambeth's old Community Strategy had very little impact. It was criticised for being so bland it could have been talking about Sussex or Surrey, there was little in there unique to Lambeth.
Our new Community Strategy couldn't be more different. We agreed the final version at this week's meeting of Lambeth First, our local strategic partnership. The new strategy has tackling worklessness at its heart. That matters because worklessness, a term that includes unemployment and long-term sickness, is a situation that locks individuals and families into poverty and shuts them off from the opportunity to build a better life. It's shocking to think that one in every five adults of working age in Lambeth is workless, and that one in every three children here lives in a family on benefits. We have to tackle worklessness if we really want to tackle poverty. And when we get people into work, it must be meaningful work that's well paid and has decent prospects. It's a tough challenge but it’s one that our local partners have all signed up to.
Earlier this year, I asked Cllr John Kazantzis to be the council’s first-ever Cabinet Member for Employment and Enterprise. It’s his job to lead action against worklessness through the Council. But we can’t tackle such a huge problem on our own. That’s why we’re working with our partners in the police, the health service, business and the community to really make the difference local people need. We’ll be coordinating support for workless people so they get more help, running new work training programmes on estates where unemployment remains high, and helping those on long-term sickness benefits find their way back into work once they're well enough.
I've promised to make Lambeth work to tackle inequality. Words are easy. But now we're stuck into the hard but important work of making that promise real.
Monday, 2 June 2008 - Violent Youth Crime
Today gave another tragic reminder of why we must redouble our efforts to eradicate violent crime. The day began with me taking part in a documentary about violent youth crime and ended in the worst circumstances, with the murder of 15 year old Arsema Dawit in Lambeth.
Arsema was found stabbed to death in the lifts of a block of flats in Waterloo. It seems the murder was not gang related, and the police have arrested a man they say is in his 30s. We will wait for full details as the police investigation continues, but our thoughts right now are with the Arsema’s family and friends. In the coming days both Lambeth Police and Cllr Donatus Anyanwu, who is our Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, will be speaking to local representatives and residents in the community to offer reassurance and answer questions. Lambeth, as part of Operation Blunt 2, remains focussed on reducing the carrying and use of knives on London's streets and I can assure you that Lambeth Borough Police are fully committed to improving and enhancing the safety of its community.
Every killing is tragic and a horrific waste of life. But I well remember being told at a public meeting following an earlier murder that the public don’t want sympathy, they want solutions. That’s why, here in Lambeth, we launched the country’s biggest investigation into of the causes of violent youth crime so we can find ways to bring it to an end.
This morning, I was interviewed for a documentary about violent youth crime on Channel 4. The programme, for Dispatches, follows a doctor from the Accident and Emergency Department at Kings College Hospital as he investigates the reasons for the upsurge in stab wounds at the south London hospital where he works.
The doctor, TJ Lasoye, has been to the United States and around Britain looking at why young people get involved in violent gangs and what can be done to help get their lives back on track and stop the violence. TJ agreed to come and answer questions at a special screening of his documentary in Lambeth for youth workers, young people and parents. He seemed impressed with the steps we’re taking, which he felt matched the work going on elsewhere in the world. The horrific murder of the teenage girl in Waterloo brought home to me yet again just how important it is that Lambeth continues to be at the forefront in finding solutions to violent youth crime.
The day ended at a board meeting of the South Bank Employers Group just round the corner from where the teenage girl died. The event was held to strengthen relationships and partnership working in the South Bank area, and to discuss how we can work together to improve the quality of services provided to residents and visitors in this key part of central London. The nearby murder cast a shadow over proceedings, and a minute’s silence was held to reflect on how the young girl had died and what action we can take together to try and stop this kind of tragedy happening again.
I remain convinced that doing whatever we can to stop the killing is one of the greatest priorities facing the Council I lead. Even in the face of yet another senseless murder and yet another devastated family, I’m proud that Lambeth’s council, community and partners are coming together to confront the problem.
Friday, 13 June 2008
Lambeth has the biggest Portuguese population of any city outside Portugal, so Portuguese National Day is always a big event here. The annual 'Dia de Portugal' festival at Kennington Park was packed with up to 30,000 good humoured people of all ages - and the vast majority of them Portuguese. As temperatures hit 30C we could almost have been in Portugal! You could smell the barbecued sardines and chicken from outside the park, and Portuguese music was pumping out from the centre stage. All around, families were enjoying delicious Portuguese food in the sunshine.
I joined the organiser, Cristina Pinto, together with the Portuguese Ambassador, the Mayor of Lambeth and other guests for lunch. After we'd eaten, we had a chance to talk about what further support the Council can give to the local Portuguese population - according to some estimates, now making up one in every ten people living in Lambeth.
When a young woman singing traditional fado songs finished on the main stage, we were invited to say a few words of welcome. Speaking after the Mayor, I repeated my trick of last year and spoke in Portuguese - a language I barely know! A couple of Portuguese people had helped me work out what to say, and I knew a few mentions of Portugal's victory over Turkey in the European Championships the night before would go down well. I welcomed everyone to Kennington, told them how proud we are to be the capital for the Portuguese people living in the United Kingdom, then asked them to tell me who was going to win the football championship. I left the stage with the crowd still shouting out "Portugal! Portugal!" If only all my speeches went down so well!
The Mayor of Lambeth Angie Meader and I were both delighted to be given medals by the Portuguese Ambassador. Presenting them, he said how grateful the Portuguese people were for all the support offered them by Lambeth Council. I spent some time afterwards wandering around the stalls and feeling very proud indeed to live in a place like Lambeth where we can all share in the culture and heritage of people from all over the world without having to set foot outside the borough!