John Biggs: investing in water, not children!

LAST WEEK WE reported that a large part of the Labour Party Manifesto had been revealed to the world by Young Fabian Adam Allnutt – who had singled out a couple of dozen pledges which he particularly enjoyed.

For the last two and a half years – since his narrow victory in the last mayoral election – John Biggs has been at pains to point out that he is having to cut back services because the Tory Government has cut funding to the Council. Now he is about to go to the electorate with, it seems, some new spending pledges.

These new financial commitments do not appear in the last Council budget – so when will they be delivered, how will they be funded, and will any other services have to be cut for them to go ahead? Perhaps all will be revealed when Labour formally launches its manifesto.

The new spending pledges are reported to have angered community campaigners who have been fighting to keep the Council’s three specialist day care nurseries open. “The spending pledges are fine in themselves,” said one campaigner, “but if we are having to tighten our belts, is water really a higher priority than investing in our children?”

Let’s look at just some of Labour’s new spending plans, as revealed by Adam Allnutt – who has not revealed the cost of any of the measures.

•We will install water fountains in public places across the borough, introduce a Tower Hamlets water bottle and work with small business to establish a re-useable cup scheme for the whole borough.
It is not specified, so the public doesn’t know if the idea is to provide drinking water or pretty water features – presumably the former. Expect there to be capital costs, including hardware and supplying the water, plus ongoing maintenance costs. There will also need to be a repair budget: if the fountains are intended as the street version of the office water cooler, they will become ASB magnets.

•We will plant 1,000 street trees and install 50 “green benches” with planting and cycle parking.
•We will invest £13 million in a parks investment programme, prioritising those needing improvement, and will deliver at least 10 new pocket parks.
Where will the money come from? Developers are usually required to improve the environment as a planning condition: is this double counting of trees that were going to be planted anyway? Or will the Council spend planning gain money on planting its own new trees? Perhaps they could make a start by restoring or compensating for the mature trees torn down to make way for the changes to Bow, Mile End and Whitechapel Road – intended to make the major roadway more cycle friendly but which have been a nightmare.

•We will increase car club provision – including point to point schemes across the borough – and support them to swap to electric vehicles.
This pledge is both vague and uncosted. How well are car clubs used and are they a realistic alternative to commercial companies? Should we have one, Council-sponsored and boroughwide, Car Club – or should be wait for clubs to evolve spontaneously like mushrooms in a forest? Presuming that new Car Clubs can opt for electric vehicles from the start, how much Council Taxpayers’ money will be given to Car Clubs – and does this include a subsidy to private businesses?

•Ambition to have over 300 electric car charging points by 2025
Ambition is often laudable: how much will this cost, and is 300 a useful number?

•We have already signed the UK100 pledge, committing the Council to achieve 100% clean energy across the borough by 2050.
The UK100 pledge is a commitment made by Council Leaders to implement national targets for clean energy. It’s not clear how the national targets are going to be met – and the UK100 pledge doesn’t specify how this is going to be done and what the cost is either. The Council starts from the back foot: there have been several problems with the few communal heating systems on Council or former Council estates: these will need to be sorted out if this pledge is going to bring us any more of these schemes.

•We will continue to invest in universal free school meals for all primary school children and we will work with partners to explore how to tackle so-called ‘holiday hunger’ when young people aren’t receiving free school meals during school holidays.
•We will continue to fund the Tower Hamlets Educational Maintenance Allowance to support young people from disadvantaged families to stay in education post-16 and campaign for the national EMA scheme to be restored.
It is very welcome to see the Council keep these two measures which were introduced by the former mayor, Mayor Lutfur Rahman – and go further, by (in essence) extending free school meals during the holidays. The Council will have to find a way to do this which does not bear any stigma for those using the scheme. Again, it would be nice to know how this pledge is to be funded – and whether the money to be spent on it is, for example, at the expense of keeping the day care nurseries open.

•Our flagship WorkPath service will support 5,000 local people into work.
The jury is still out on WorkPath. Users of the service report a high number of advisers who appear genuinely concerned and helpful – in the best tradition of Tower Hamlets municipal staff. However, there is initial evidence that the service is struggling with its aims as there are not enough of the permanent, full-time jobs which many people need to go round all applicants. Cross your fingers that the 5,000 can be met – within a reasonable timescale.

•Read more about it:
Biggs refuses to bow to public pressure on nurseries
Biggs’s borough: child poverty hotspot

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