Ilford South Labour Party

Redbridge Labour Group Leader Bob Littlewood was in Rochdale recently to hear Labour Leader Ed Milliband give his backing to Labour Councils that are handing power to local people in a radical bid to improve services. Labour’s cooperative councils believe almost all services can be improved by shifting more power to local people. This new approach is not about turning all services into co-ops nor is it intended to replace skilled professionals. It is about giving local people choice and control over the services they use.

Cllr Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Council, the first cooperative council, said,

We are changing the way we run council services so that local people have a much bigger say over what happens to them and the places they live. It means more community-owned cooperative housing, more older people choosing which care services they want to use, more local control over parks and green spaces. We call it the cooperative council and the community work together to make life better.

Michael Stephenson, General Secretary of the Co-operative Party said,

These Labour Councils have come to the home of the co-operative movement in Rochdale to reclaim founding traditions of the Labour and Co-operative movements- of collective action and co-operation, or empowerment and enterprise. These co-operative councils will help transform local services and local communities.

How Does This Translate Here In Redbrige?

In Redbridge of course we are not in control of the Council, it is run by the Conservatives in partnership with their Lib Dem allies. We have developed a strategy for rethinking service provision. Since May 2010 the Con/Dem leadership of Redbridge has embarked on a savings programme involving very serious reductions in public services. They have concentrated on finding across the board savings and lopping off bits here and there.

• They have failed to work out a vision of what their priorities are for the future, or to examine all of the possible means of providing local services.
• Their savings programme, which is not coupled with any vision or direction means it is impossible to justify any individual service cut or redundancy.
• The Council carries out lots of consultation, but this is not the same as working with residents.
• We thus vigorously oppose the planned cuts and will not accept privatisation.

WE SAY IT IS TIME TO RETHINK SERVICE PROVISION

• It is time to look at new ideas.
• We would examine other councils who have created partnerships with residents to provide services or community facilities.
• We would work out where we can establish partnerships with residents to provide services or community facilities.
• Rather than cut grants to the voluntary sector, we would examine expanding their role.
• We would examine where mutuals or not for profit organisations can take on service provision.

Our Labour Action Teams are out weekly talking to you on your doorstep.

If you want to read the Co-operative Councils press release or a fuller version of our rethinking of service provision the full documents are available on this site.

Mandy Richards a Labour activist from Hackney has been selected to fight the Havering and Redbridge GLA Seat in the 2012 election.

Mandy says:-

‘In 2012 we must return Ken Livingstone as Labour Mayor and reclaim Labour’s legacy now hijacked by Boris Johnson. I aim to be a catalyst for community campaigning, fighting to protect and strengthen community policing, promoting regeneration and social enterprise, and working towards real community cohesion by building trust and engaging the young and disenfranchised through inclusive politics’

True to her word Mandy is now a regular campaigner in our area. Here we see her at work with local Party members in Valentines and Cranbrook wards with Cllrs. Aziz Choudhury, Ross Hatfull, and Mushtaq Ahmed.

Why cuts are the wrong cure from False Economy on Vimeo.

Councillors Barbara White from Goodmayes and Jas Athwal from Mayfield were at the recent launch of the Goodmayes Business partnership. Regular meetings are now planned.

Cllr White says ‘It is hoped that by forming this federation of local traders we can work to make the area more attractive for residents, visitors and traders’

If you want to know more email us or contact: Cllr Athwal on 020 8708 9083 cllr.athwal@redbridge.gov.uk or Cllr. White cllr.white@redbridge.gov.uk on 020 8708 9017.

Seven Kings Councillor & Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, Bob Littlewood, has had discussions with leading Councillors in the Tory minority administration recently.  He has been told that, following years of pressure from Labour Councillors & residents’ organisations in Seven Kings & Newbury wards, officers have been instructed to look at sites with a view to coming up with a locations for a library in the Seven Kings area AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Bob has also been pursuing the suggestion made by Take Action for Seven Kings (TASK) members to push for a temporary site for a summer reading scheme and passed on the fact that Sky Tours is about to be vacant and would be an ideal site.

The meeting last Tuesday about replacing the Pool resulted in a promise from the Leader of the Council that by September he will be announcing his plans for the project.  Mike Gapes MP and Bob Littlewood are to meet the Leader soon to plan a new round of lobbying for getting external funding.

As the new Chair of the Council’s Leisure Scrutiny Committee Bob will be encouraging maximum public participation at the Committee’s meetings at the Town Hall and making sure that progress reports on the library and the pool are presented at each meeting.

Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South, talks about local health services, housing, transport and the elections for the London Mayor and the Greater London Authority.