My November E-Newsletter

Contents 1. Our NHS (1) Winter’s here and pressure grows on the NHS as West London A+Es close

2. Our NHS (2): New Elgin GP practice under threat - help me campaign to protect it

3. In ‘Living Wage’ week, I make the case for fair pay

4. New planning guidance on basements arrives

5. No new affordable housing after closure of the Jubilee Sports Centre

6. What you have been writing to me about this month:

- Protecting the NHS from trade rules

- Private tenants and the threat of retaliatory evictions - TTIP

7. Please back the Met Police ‘Christmas Tree’ appeal

8. Local round-up

9. Some things I have been up to this month

Don’t forget you can follow me on:

1. Winter’s here - and pressure grows on the NHS

With the arrival of winter, and the closure of 2 Accident and Emergency units in West London, pressure is growing in the local NHS.

Our local branch of ‘Health Watch’ – the organisation representing patients' interests in the NHS - has expressed con-cerns, saying

‘Healthwatch is …concerned that planning is not joined up. For example, the ‘sudden’ potential closure of two GP practic-es, Milne House and West 2, near to St Mary’s Hospital may mean patients are dispersed and de-registered from a GP and/or a GP they trust. Recent national research has shown the importance of trust when living in the community and our local research identified the poor availability of GP services as the prime reason for patients inappropriately accessing A&E.

Healthwatch is concerned staffing and bed numbers at St Mary’s A&E are not at required levels. We would seek assur-ance that steps are being taken to ensure adequate, qualified staffing levels (not temporary staff) and bed numbers to support the Imperial clinical strategy.

We note a number of our local A&Es have recorded breaches of the 30 minute LAS handover target in recent months. We are concerned that the closure of the A&E departments at Hammersmith Hospital (and probably at Charing Cross Hospi-tal) will further exacerbate the problem.’

You can read their full report here: You can read the Evening Standard’s coverage of local health issues here:

The Imperial NHS Trust, responsible for St Mary’s Hospital, has issued advice for this winter.

The winter months are bringing particular additional pressures for A&E departments across England, including for our two A&Es at St Mary’s and Charing Cross. While we have plans in place to increase urgent and emergency capacity and to strengthen our systems to ensure emergency patients are treated as quickly as possible, it is also important for the public to know what they need to do to keep well and where to get expert advice.

NHS England has launched its ‘Feeling under the weather?’ public awareness campaign to encourage people to seek ad-vice early from their local pharmacist if they are ‘feeling under the weather’.

More generally, it is very helpful for everyone to know the most appropriate place to get care for their needs, including:

• Your local pharmacist - a highly trained and a trusted source of information available at your local pharmacy or chemist shop.

• NHS Choices website - to locate services, learn more about winter illnesses or get winter health advice.

• Your GP - who can assess, treat and manage a whole range of health problems, and who will arrange a referral to a hospital specialist should you need it.

• NHS 111 - to call for advice or if you’re not sure which NHS service you need.

• If you do need to attend hospital, choose the service best for you:

• Urgent care centre (UCC) - for minor illnesses and injuries that are urgent but not life threatening such as a sprain or strain, sore throat, cuts that may need stiches, minor broken bones such as a finger or if you need an x-ray.

• Accident and emergency (A&E) department - for people with major, life-threatening illnesses and injuries, which can include: loss of consciousness, severe chest pain, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding that cannot be stopped, hav-ing fits or badly broken bones. In an emergency, call 999.

I am in regular contact with local NHS managers and the Council, responsible for social care, to discuss these issues.

PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW OF YOUR EXPERIENCES - GOOD AND BAD. Even if you do not want me to deal with something on your behalf, it is very helpful to know how you think the service is coping.

2. New Elgin practice under threat

I am supporting the GPs at the New Elgin Practice to make sure they are not forced either to close or to move out of the local neighbourhood. I am working with them, NHS England and the Council (responsible for any future planning issues affecting the building). Please get behind this campaign. We have already lost 2 General Practices in North Westminster recently and we need to keep our GPs!

Here’s the patient’s petition - but even if you are not a patient, an e-mail to show your support would help me greatly.

3. In ‘Living wage’ week, I make the case for fair pay

London has been hard hit by the longest squeeze on pay rises in modern history. Yet low pay isn’t just bad for workers - it is bad for the economy and it pushes up the benefits bill (now rising fast as more and more working people need to rely on wage ‘top-ups’ to get by. Equally, living wage employers report lower staff turnover.

I joined London Citizens, alongside Mark Field MP to speak at a business event in ‘London Living Wage’ week, making the case for the London Living Wage. We celebrated employers who have recognised the business case for fair pay (a nod here to local pub, the Truscott Arms’, proud to be a Living Wage employer, and encouraged them to spread the word.

4. Jubilee Sports Centre - no affordable housing, but maybe a legal challenge

I was shocked to hear that Westminster Council decided NOT to require a contribution of £500,000 towards affordable housing on the Jubilee Sports Centre development site! Despite the rise in property prices in inner London, the Council accepted a revised viability report on the expected profits of the Council’s development partner. This has not been made public, so there is no way of questioning the assumptions.

Unlike Brent Council, Westminster Council does not require a second viability report following the completion of the de-velopment to assess whether the Council can share in any further profit from developing its own land.

Moreover the application should be rejected as unacceptably contrary to the following policy grounds:

Queen’s Park Labour Councillors made strong objections to the Council’s Planning Committee, but were over-ruled.

If you are interested in the local campaign - including the possibility of a legal challenge, follow them on Twitter (@saveourjubilee), or through the website savejubilee.me

5. New planning guidance issued for basement excavations

Westminster Council is introducing the first phase of new planning guidance to try and reduce the impact of basement excavations (I reported new figures last month showing that there have been over 800 applications since 2008, and the number of applications refused has been falling). With new applications generating controversy in different parts of the constituency, this guidance is welcome, however long it has taken. Now we must see if it has an impact, and is not open to challenge by well-funded developers.

Here‘s an excellent article on the issue (to which I contributed) which recently appeared in The London Magazine:

6. What you are writing to me about:

You have asked me to support Clive Efford’s Private Member’s Bill to protect the NHS from privatisation and my response is linked here. You have asked me to support private tenants from eviction if they complain about bad conditions. My response is linked here. TTIP has also been a major concerns for constituents this month and my response to residents is linked here.

7. Please back the Met Police ‘Christmas tree’ appeal

The police are working with Westminster Council to buy Christmas gifts for children in care.

'Members of the public are being asked to give a gift. This can be done by collecting a tag from a Christmas tree placed in a public area, visiting the virtual MPS Christmas Tree on the Met website or contacting their local station direct via an e mail address (westminsterxmastree@met.police.uk)

Gifts will be for children aged from one week to 17 years.

The intention is to unveil the Christmas tree and invite people to take part. This is a simple idea in the spirit of Christmas.'

I’ll be supporting this. Could you?

8. Local Round up

Want to live in “Shirland Village”? Now is your chance

Some of the local businesses and residents in the area around Shirland and Chippenham Roads are launching their idea for a ‘Shirland Village’ brand, to (as they say’ 'bring out community together for fun, growth and friendship’. Interested? First meeting is upstairs at the Truscott Arms, Shirland Road, W9 Monday November 24th, 7pm. -

The ‘Maiden of Maida Vale’

Some of you will have seen the mural at the corner of Elgin and Shirland Roads. The Council may be insisting on planning permission as this is regarded as advertising. DayTrue are encouraging anyone who supports the mural to sign the peti-tion here.

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Pub closures

A number of local pubs have closed recently - for a variety of reasons and with varying degrees of local concern. Drinking habits are changing and costs rising, so not all pubs can be saved. Yet the right pub can be an important part of the local community. I was pleased to vote this week for a change in the long-standing law that ties many pubs to brewing compa-nies (‘Pubcos’) often meaning higher rents and less choice - and, for once, the Government was defeated! Hopefully this will be good news for many of the 4 out of 5 ‘tied pubs’ that say they would be better off with the changes now going through. -

Hallfield Estate

Planning for the Major Works on the Hallfield estate was under way before I was even elected to represent the ward in 2010! After years of stops and starts, poor performance by, and supervision of, building contractors, and residents hard hit by cold and condensation, the sage drags on. Of course the work has to be affordable and of a decent quality, with proper consultation, but why does that need to take half-a-decade? -

Concerns about Genesis Housing Association

Housing is a huge problem locally and many residents contact me about issues like affordability, disrepair and overcrowd-ing. These come from all over and all sectors but unfortunately a great many of the complaints I receive about these is-sues from social tenants are about Genesis Housing Association.

Over the past year I have heard horror stories such as a service charge that increased by 400% without explanation, a lady who was decanted from one property to another, only to be forgotten about in a temporary flat riddled with mould, damp and cold and a very serious anti-social behaviour case that could not be acted upon when Genesis lost the file of evidence. While even the best landlords can make mistakes, I am growing increasingly concerned.

I am now carrying out a survey of all Genesis tenants in my constituency to see what you think. The results of the survey will be discussed with senior staff at Genesis and I hope that we will be able to push through some improvements. You can take the survey and let me know your views on my website at www.karenbuck.org.uk

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Noise from Maida Vale Tube Station

Several Maida Vale residents have contacted me about increasingly loud noise and vibrations from the tube sta-tion. While some noise is only to be expected, people told me that this was worse than they had ever known it. I raised this issue with TfL and they have investigated. They have identified the source of the problem as some new rail fastenings and replacements are now being specially manufactured. These should be ready to be installed in the Spring. -

Elmfield Way success

There has been significant progress on the campaign to get the Council to adopt Elmfield Way. The Council are due to complete the purchase of the road soon and they will then look at how best to provide new footways, carriageways and public lighting.

The private parking contractor, long a source of frustration for local residents for their inconsistent approach to parking control, have also had their contract terminated.

I have also been working with the Council and NHS to ensure that local children will retain access to a play space for as much time as possible while the site at 291 Harrow Road is redeveloped. There will also be a permanent play area on the re-developed site, which councillors and I insisted upon. -

Thames Water’s response to my survey

I have now received a full response from Thames Water to my survey about the Maida Vale Flood Alleviation Scheme. I asked them to do four things and they have:

● Assured me that they can keep to the current timescale, with most work finishing by March 2015 and works in West-bourne Green finishing in April 2015.

● Recognised that there have been problems with communications and promised to do better.

● Agreed to consider providing assistance with external cleaning to people living next to the works on a case by case ba-sis.

● Agreed to offer an extra £2,500 in community contributions, over and above what had been agreed during the planning process.

Saltram Crescent road safety

A meeting to discuss the dangerous traffic situation on Saltram Crescent is being held at St Luke's Church, Fernhead Road, W9 3EH on Wednesday 26th November 2014 from 6:30pm. £150,000 has already been committed for improvements and councillors want to consult residents about the plans to ensure the Council gets this right. - Dora House

Landlord Central & Cecil inform me that the residents’ one-to-one assessments have now been completed and that the panel will be meeting shortly to collectively decide priority allocations. I understand that C&C have developed an ‘easy guide’ for the relocation and returns policy which will be included in the residents’ newsletter. As the development pro-gresses new information such as the number of local voids available will be included in the newsletter, so it is advisable to keep an eye out for this. - Dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour

Last month, I revealed how the squeeze on police funding led to a fall of almost a third in police numbers between 2011 and this year. Despite a welcome long term fall in crime, residents have been reporting issues across the constituency - wanting the Council and police to help calm the situation.

These have included:

Queen’s Park

Youth anti-social behaviour is a growing problem across Queen’s Park, with residents contacting me about problems in Queen’s Park Court, Parry Road, Birch House, Lancefield Street, Onslow Close, Bliss Mews, Ashmore Road and Stansbury Square. I am working hard with the police, Council and local landlords to tackle these issues.

Maida Hill Market

The new market at Maida Hill has struggled with anti-social behaviour since it was created earlier this year. Many local people have contacted me to say they love the market, but are put off by the anti-social street drinkers. The local Police Safer Neighbourhood Team and Community Protection Officers at the Council are working hard to tackle this worrying problem. The market has the potential to do the local area a great deal of good and I am determined that the current problems with anti-social behaviour must be dealt with quickly and not deteriorate further. Broadley Gardens

Recently I have received several reports about reoccurring anti-social behaviour and crime in and around Broadley Street Gardens which many residents are concerned about. I have been pressing the police, Council and CityWest Homes about this issue for some time, and while action has been taken to combat this issue, which saw a decline in this type of behav-iour in the area, unfortunately, it seems to have returned to the detriment of many residents.

I have this week written to the residents of Broadley Street Gardens for their thoughts which will help provide a better understanding of the issue. In the meantime I will continue to press the various agencies about this disruptive and un-wanted behaviour. If you are concerned about anti-social behaviour and you live in the area, please be sure to complete the short survey that I have sent to residents. Alternatively you can send me an e-mail about this issue to buckk@parliament.uk. -

Bronwen Court

Unfortunately several Bronwen Court residents have been victims of burglaries recently. I have taken this up with City-West Homes and the police to see what can be done to improve security, especially during the building works.

You can read more about the burglaries in the Wood and Vale article linked here.

Many residents have also contacted me about their concerns regarding the quality, cost and length of time taken to com-plete the major works at Bronwen Court. I have raised all of these concerns with landlord CityWest Homes and will keep residents up-to-date with the responses I receive. Following the successful leaseholder surgery I held last month with the Leaseholder Advisory Service (LEASE) in attend-ance, I hope to be in a position to hold another one in the New Year so that concerned residents can attend for specialist advice about their specific leaseholder situation. As soon as I have the details, I will share this with residents.

9. Some of the things I have been doing this month

All Stars

The All Starts boxing club in Harrow Road is both a wonderful building and a highly successful sports club

It was good to visit to thank volunteers from local branches of Tesco who went in an did some much needed renovation. Well done, all of you - you made a real difference. -

Black History Month

Lovely to join this year’s celebration at St Luke’s church, for a lively evening of music, poetry and recollections of what life was like for the early arrivals to Britain from the Caribbean in the 1940s and 1950s - men and women who often came here to work in the NHS, London Transport and so forth, often facing terrible discrimination in housing and at work.

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Remembrance Day

In this special year, marking 100 years since the start of World War 1, in addition to the traditional Remembrance Sunday event at Westminster Abbey, I was delighted to attend the Jewish Ex-Serviceman (and women) event at the New London Synagogue. This deeply moving service recognised the contribution made by Jewish men and women in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts. -

Edward Wilson

As well as my regular advice surgeries, I try and get around to as many schools - and especially ‘parent’s drop ins’ as I can. This month I joined parents at Edward Wilson school, to talk school swimming and support for parents with special needs pupils. Let me know if you would like me to visit your school. -

Queen’s Park Community Council

Queen’s Park Community Councillors are getting their feet under the table after their elections, as part of London’s first Urban Parish Council. I went along to talk to them about campaigning, ‘public office’ and local priorities. They are going to be great. -

Thank you for reading,

Karen Buck MP Website: www.karenbuck.org.uk

Twitter: KarenPBuckMP

Facebook: KarenBuckMP

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