It's been a busy week in the Dulwich and West Norwood Parliamentary constituency with well attended local public meetings about planning applications and two separate mass petitions to save the West Norwood Farmers' Market and the Flower Stall in Norwood Road.

As I write, I've got a letter given to me by a constituent addressed to our high flying Labour MP about saving the flower stall, which says "it is to us what Eros is to Piccadilly Circus." It hasn't got a stamp on it so I expect that will cost me 32p.

There isn't much evidence that she'll be around to read it judging by her "Tessa Jowell: My Week" column in that Labour loving newspaper The Independent. Let's see last Sunday she spent in Brighton with her chum Polly Toynbee and then dined with Lord Falconer. Monday - it was a Labour party dinner and she's backing Hazel Blears for deputy leader. Tuesday - off to Merseyside and enjoyed a "lovely dinner" with luvvy film director Anthony Minghella. Wednesday it's a visit to Barking Abbey school. Finally, Thursday sees the watchdog of our local community here in West Norwood swanning off to Cannes for the film festival doing wonders for her carbon footprint.

Doesn't sound as if she had much time for her constituents what with all those "darlings" at the film festival. They don't figure anywhere in her diary. So I thought I'd remind her about the problems that were raised in my advice surgery on Saturday morning - depressed woman wants to be rehoused due to racist taunting on her estate; elderly man worried about bogus council officials calling him for his bank details; a leaseholder with an unresolved dispute over decorating costs going back to 2004; a business man with a complaint against Thames Water - the most uncooperative utility in the world; and an elderly woman angry that the police have failed to investigate a complaint she made, well there's a surprise.

Those are on top of the 30 or so requests for help I alone received by e-mail while our MP was away in Liverpool, Cannes, and Brighton. I think I've read somewhere that MPs get quite long holidays, but I never thought it was on a 365-days a year basis. Funny old world.

Labels: Petitions, surgeries, Tessa Jowell

Days since Lambeth Labour Leader filed a blog - seven
Days since Lambeth Lib Dem Leader filed a blog - 69

It came home to me on Saturday at a busy 'surgery advice centre' what a lousy deal the residents of Lambeth Council-owned estates get from their landlord especially those who live on small estates without a big voice in the tenants movement.

You'd think that the seventh biggest social landlord in the country would have some world class players in its management team - a Beckham or two perhaps - especially in view of how much our Labour masters pay them. It's wrong to generalise, of course, because there are some rapidly eroding islands of good practice among the officer ranks - we just lost a really great area manager here in Norwood called Bayo. Yet it's hard to beat the tale Edna, Winifred and Sharon told me (names have been changed to protect the innocent and in any case my Mum's middle name was Winifred).

Winifred's flat has a new source of running water only it's not from Thames Water. It's pouring in from the flat above which has been 'sublet' by the tenant who is living somewhere else with his girlfriend and no doubt claiming benefit there. But when Winifred spotted two Lambeth housing officers they 'didn't want to know' because they were there to 'investigate' something else and said 'ring the office.' Not exactly the 'can do' style of management. Neither were they interested in hearing about the flat that has been empty for two years just along the corridor.

Edna's problem was rather different. The gasman came to inspect her boiler on Friday, but as he was only 'health and safety' he just switched the whole thing off and left saying - you've guessed it - 'ring the office' - because he didn't want to know. As a result, Edna now has no hot water until someone turns up from repairs in a week or two. The scandal is that the boiler is the same one installed when the property was built 30 years ago and is costing her a fortune to run. Yet I believed all that council junk about energy efficient heating systems that reduced the carbon footprint.

Last of all there was Sharon. Her problem is anti social youths making her life a misery and threatening anyone who tells them to stop making a racket including her pregnant daughter. And you've guessed it when she rang the office 'they didn't want to know.' All these residents tell me they never see the community police team heralded with lots of backslapping by Labour politicians who regularly write sanctimonious rubbish in the local newspaper about initiatives that make no difference to anyone. Now I happen to know that our local police team make a real effort, but without the active support of highly-paid council officers and intelligence from the housing service they can't make a decisive impact especially with the small minority of anti-social tenants.

How come all these good folk turned up at the surgery from the same estate? It may have had something to do with the community newsletter we put round as councillors the previous week-end. As far as we're concerned Sharon, Edna, and Winifred represent the good solid residents living on our estates who deserve a lot better than what Labour gives them. And we're actually going to do something about it by inviting them to our joint advice centre with the police next month as well as by goading the housing officers with our members' enquiries.

Labels: anti-social behaviour, housing, police, surgeries