Leader of the Council's blog - February to April 2008
3 February - Funeral of Liz Atkinson
Southwark Cathedral was packed with mourners this afternoon for the funeral of Liz Atkinson. Liz was a councillor for Vassall Ward in north Brixton and was the immediate past mayor of Lambeth.
The cathedral is a stunningly beautiful building, and a fitting place to say goodbye to our dear friend. Like Liz, the service was elegant, intelligent and restrained. The Dean of Southwark, the Rev. Colin Slee, spoke movingly of spending time with Liz during her last weeks in hospital. It was a comfort to learn he had been there to discuss with her matters of faith and hope that meant so much to her.
Liz's brother, Peter, is a Conservative MP. As Liz was a Labour councillor you'd expect there would have been political rows. But Peter remembered that for Liz the banter of party politics wasn't the purpose of her involvement in public life, it was her deepfelt urge to give something back to her community that mattered. Liz's husband, Richard, paid a moving tribute to the wife he loved so much, sharing with us the last passage of writing that Liz had heard before her tragically untimely death.
I was honoured to be asked to speak too, and I spoke about Liz's role as a councillor and as our Mayor. She excelled in both roles because she was absolutely true to herself - committed, compassionate, conscientious, and fiercely intelligent.
Towards the end of the service, a woman minister sang the Nunc Dimittis beautifully, and I thought how much Liz would have enjoyed hearing it. The church was packed with friends, members of the community and dignitaries including mayors and members of parliament. Most importantly, Liz's family were there to say goodbye, including her daughter Kate, the two grandchildren, and Liz's elderly mother.
It's such a shock to many of us that Liz has gone. She leaves a hole in many of our lives, and to her family she is irreplaceable. I hope people will give generously to the educational fund the family have set up in Liz's name to benefit a young person from Lambeth. The website is at: www.lizatkinsonfund.org.uk Liz was a wonderful woman who we'll miss very much. May she rest in peace.
14 February - Gun Crime Summit
Lambeth’s gun crime summit at the Oval today was inspiring. The summit, held one year to the day after the murder of Billy Cox on Clapham’s Fenwick Estate, marked a turning point in our approach to violent youth crime. Representatives of the police, the council, the health service, and community and voluntary organisations came together to pledge ourselves to an action plan designed to bring the upsurge in gang-related violence to an end.
The plan is the result of the widest consultation our country’s even known into the causes of violent youth crime. The process engaged young people, gang members, youth workers, schools and community organisations in the search for answers. Many people at the summit made the point that actions speak louder than the fine words we were hearing. The urgency of the task ahead was brought home by a group of talented young people who sang a song as a tribute to a dead friend, their voices cracking with emotion as they performed.
Lambeth’s action plan will see a crackdown on drug dealing on our streets and a new intelligence gathering unit to share information about the perpetrators. There will also be parenting support for families that are struggling to bring up their children and a 40% increase in funding for youth services so there are more positive things for young people to do. Estates with high levels of unemployment will see a new partnership with business to train people up so they can move into good jobs, and more resources will be made available to schools to educate children about the dangers of violent gangs and how to stay out of them.
That’s just a small part of the action plan. It’s ambitious, it’s comprehensive, and it’s rooted in the community. Too often, Lambeth’s seen as the heart of the problem, but today we put Lambeth firmly at the heart of the solution. As a community, we are working together to give our young people back their future.
25 March - Meeting with Local Government Minister John Healey
I bumped into Local Government Minister John Healey MP at the House of Commons this evening.
Until John Healey intervened, the Government had been planning to take £23 million away from the council in payment for a 16-year-old debt that no one knew existed. Auditors in a different council discovered that mistakes had been made in the calculation of repayments for a grant-aid programme in the early 1990s, with Lambeth being among the worst affected. The impact on local services of losing that much money would have been catastrophic. I spent a great deal of time with all three of our MPs trying to persuade the Government to stop the repayment – known as ‘Adjustment A’ – being made.
I first spoke to John last autumn and he promised to work with his advisers to find a way to help. He was as good as his word. This week, he laid proposals before Parliament that will have the effect of cancelling the debt and saving our front-line services.
I was delighted to thank John in person for the help he’s given Lambeth. Because of the help we have received we have managed to avoid making unnecessary and unwelcome cuts. We are delighted to have the support and understanding of the minister and I’m looking forward to welcoming him here very soon so we can say thank-you properly.
8 April - Visit to the New Michael Tippett
There were a lot of excited young people at the new Michael Tippett School last Thursday. Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Schools, came to officially open the new building. I was delighted to be there to join him, together with my colleagues Cllr Paul McGlone and Cllr Sally Prentice.
The Michael Tippett School is the first school in London to be completed under the Government’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme – the biggest school building programme in our country’s history. The school is for children with special needs, and it’s great to see this group of children in the limelight for a change.
Together with the head teacher and chair of governors, we joined Ed Balls on a tour of the fantastic, airy new building. The school was designed by London Eye architect Julia Barcombe, who was also at the opening.
We saw a group of young people rehearsing a performance, others working on a craft project, and a third group making shapes with a bowl of gloopy papier mache. They were all very excited about their new school – and no wonder, because it’s absolutely stunning.
This is the second new school we’ve opened in Lambeth recently. Following on from the Elmgreen School last autumn, it’s clear what a difference Lambeth council, working with the government, can make in terms of bringing new investment and wonderful new facilities to our borough.