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Posts Tagged ‘London Borough of Newham’

Should Parliament move to east London?

Friday, February 12th, 2010

MPs have put forward a suggestion that Parliament should move its premises to east London’s ExCel centre. This is just a few minutes away from our base in Canning Town so we asked our staff what they thought, 80% of our staff live locally or are ex-service users.

Here’s what they said:

‘Not sure why ExCel would be considered a location more in touch with real life. It is in many ways more isolated than Westminster.’

‘I think that’s a great idea, especially as Newham, even though the host borough for the Olympics is still one of the poorest boroughs, and the politicians would get a better insight to the area and its problems.’

‘I would strongly disagree due to the strain on local roads, facilities etc. Also, with the constant threat of terrorism I do not like the idea of such high profile figures at the end of my road.’

‘I think it’s a great idea for Parliament to be located in the heart of East London, especially with a backdrop of the recent tarnished media image of Westminster politics & expenses scandals over the last year. The areas of regeneration immediately surrounding the ExCel Centre, such as Canning Town and Newham in general would provide a daily reminder, and accurate snapshot of the array of challenges facing people today. Westminster Palace can be seen to be a location that can often be seen to be its own detached and removed world. In addition there could be marked cost reduction benefits to the tax payer also, and potential to make such a site a sustainable one, perhaps helping to restore some faith in the public that politics and voting is a system one should try to engage with in order to help address society’s problems.’

‘My experience of the Excel centre is that it is a place full of ’suits’ on dubious expenses!!!!!!’

‘I really don’t want them in east London.  We already have enough agro when the biannual DSEI exhibition is held at the Excel.  Then we will have the massive inconvenience of “heightened security” from about April 2011 until the end of the games.  We have permanent armed cops in Royal Docks because of the airport!’

I personally think instead of the Excel centre perhaps some of them should move in with us to see how the real day to day to life is like, see what we have to put up with, I bet half of them would be scared to go out after 6pm. Most of them don’t know what real life is like, with all their pampering up at Whitehall.

There we go again, they want the accommodation in the Olympic village and to be in for 2012……..

“Once the Olympic athletes have left the Village how about turning it into dormitory accommodation for MPs right next to a new Parliament – that way nobody would need to apply for a second home allowance and the security and official transport could all be pooled making a financial saving.”

Apart from the obvious benefit, the creation of a local food outlet other that one long standing bakery to swarm to for lunch, we would have MPs at our doorstep. Would local east London people get more involved in governmental affairs as a result? Would the cynicism and lack of trust that has increased since the MP expenses scandal in the summer gradually disappear (that is why MPs are suggesting this surely?!), probably not.

The Canary Wharf development is a stones throw from Canning Town and has had very little impact on local residents in all the years that is has been there. When asked what impact Canary Wharf has had, our community development team replied that ‘most locals say it is for rich people, there is a stigma to it as it cost millions and it has no place for them, the shops are lovely but far too expensive so its just somewhere some feel them can go for a nice wander around’

If government is trying to find ways to reconnect with the public and be in touch with real life issues to win back that trust they have completely lost then it will take more than packing up and moving location. That is a mis-diagnosis of the problem. We have had political apathy for a long time; in the 2005 election there was an overall voting turnout of 61.4% in the UK, a slight rise in an overall declining trend from previous decades. Last summer’s revelations fed ammunition to turn that apathy to resentment. Parliament needs to changes its practices; get out, listen and take action, not relocate to what is considered less attractive dwellings and adopt exactly the same customs as before. The geography isn’t the problem; it’s the lack of listening to real people. Not just listening for the sake of an election but to take action and do something about it. That will win the hearts and minds of local people and make it worthwhile to plan a trip over to Westminster.

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Posted in Communication, Community Engagement, Regeneration | No Comments »

Support the P20 as well as the G20 says End Child Poverty

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Community Links families and staff campaign to end child poverty (image: www.rebecca-marshall.com )

 At Community Links much of our work over thirty years has been tackling the causes and consequences of poverty. We work not only to tackle the day-to-day impact of poverty, but to campaign for long term change to prevent the next generation of local children growing up in poverty. Our research and ongoing work on child poverty was recently summarised in our Social Change booklet.  

As proud members of the Campaign to End Child Poverty  we join the call for the government to support  children in poverty and reprint below a Press Release from the End Child Poverty campaign.

Click here to be taken to the End Child Poverty website.

Read today’s Press Relese from the ECP campaign:

As leaders of the world’s richest economies gather for the G20, the Campaign to End Child Poverty is calling on the Government to support children in the Poverty-20, the 20 UK constituencies with the highest levels of child poverty. 

The campaign, the UK’s largest coalition of children’s charities and other organisations, is publishing figures on its website indicating rates of child poverty in UK parliamentary constituencies, local authorities and wards.

Birmingham, Ladywood is the constituency with the highest level of child poverty, closely followed by Bethnal Green and Bow, Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath and Manchester Central.

In Edinburgh, near to where the Chancellor Alistair Darling is an MP, 94% of children in Greendykes and Niddrie Mains ward live in poverty or are in families struggling on low incomes.

Hilary Fisher, director of the campaign, said,

“We’re deliberately drawing attention to the fact that, at a time when the G20 richest nations are meeting to bail out the world’s richest economies, there are still children suffering terrible hardship in this country’s 20 poorest constituencies. That’s why we’re calling our campaign the P20.”  

Clare Short, MP for Birmingham, Ladywood, where 81% of children live in poverty, said the Government’s response to the global crisis should include helping children. She said,

“Britain should use the G20 meeting to call for a worldwide effort to counter the recession by improving the lives of poor children. This should be followed by a big boost for poor families in Britain in the budget. It could be paid for by a special tax on the excessive income of the bankers who have, by their greed, wrecked the global economy.”

One of her struggling constituents, Shazad Zaman, who lives in Ladywood, said,

“It’s all very well leaders pouring money into banks but does it ever reach people like me who have to choose between keeping their families warm or buying food.”

The ExCel centre where the G20 leaders are meeting is in the constituency of Poplar and Canning Town, which has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country.

Kevin Jenkins co-founder of Community Links, a nearby charity that works with disadvantaged families, said,

“It’s ironic that the G20 is meeting here. Child poverty will be all around the leaders and I would ask them not to ignore it as these children’s situation is bound to be made worse by the economic situation. “

Research carried out ahead of the G20 for the Campaign to End Child Poverty found that nearly four out of ten people believe low-income families are the most deserving of Government money following the bail out of financial institutions. 

Hilary Fisher said:

“Children are our future and the Government should not forget families while it takes action to stabilise the world’s financial markets. It needs to invest at least £3 billion in tax credits and benefits to safeguard the future of 3.9 million children living in poverty in the UK today.

For more information, about this press release please contact:
Chloë Bryan-Brown 020-7278 3405, media@ecpc.org.uk

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Posted in Child Poverty, Informal Economy, News, Voices from the Ground Up, Welfare | 1 Comment »

LSC ‘proof of income’ eligibility criteria needs revising

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

We offer an advice service at Community Links, where last year we saw over 17,000 people to sort out welfare benefits, debt and housing issues. One of our principle funders is the Legal Service Commission who requires us to assess the eligibility of those seeking advice: i.e. their income has to be below a certain amount.

People have to prove this by bringing in a current (this month’s) bank statement for example, and here lies the difficulty. We are having to turn people away because they don’t have correct, up-to-date paper work. On one day a few weeks back, six out of the 15 people (40%) who came to our open door advice service didn’t have the right paperwork. 

So for example, one middle-aged man came to our open-door advice service last month with his Post Office Card Account statement,  which is only produced every three months (so doesn’t count as proof of income because it’s too old, even though he receives his benefits weekly from JobCentre Plus) He also had a letter from the Jobcentre saying they were deducing money from his account (but this doesn’t count, as it’s not a proof of income, even though it shows money being withdrawn!). So we had to send him off to his nearest Jobcentre in Stratford to get a ‘proof of award’ letter (that would qualify as proof of income). These can take 10-15 days to come through (what does he do in the meantime?), and he’d have to send what precious little money he does have on travel expenses.

Sue, one of our receptionists, gave me another example of how vulnerable and in need some people are: 

“On Fridays we are closed for advice [our advice service is open Monday - Thursday, with Friday kept free for advisers to follow-up casework] but we usually have members of the public coming into the building asking when the next session will be.  Sometimes they are desperate and the weekend can be a long time to wait, to get their problems resolved.

One Friday during the snowy weather in February someone, let’s call him Jack, came in for advice, and was very anxious that he had to wait till Monday to be seen. He had been suffering from depression, was very down. He had applied for benefits but had no money. We explained that we could help but he needed a letter of support from someone to qualify as his proof of income [to meet our funders' eligibility criteria].

Unfortunately, the snow came and on Monday and Tuesday the building and advice service was shut. When we opened again on Wednesday there was Jack in the queue. He’d turned up on both Monday and Tuesday in hope to be seen. Thankfully he had his ‘proof of income’ letter with him and he was seen by an adviser and his problem was resolved. We were even able to give him some food donated to us to tide him over. [Yes, we have a cupboard full of food that we regularly distribute - and this a couple of miles from the financial centre of the in the 4th largest economy in the  world!]

I saw Jack when he was leaving and he shook me by the hand and thanked me for the help, which really the advice team should take credit for. But his whole manner was lifted; you could see the change in him.”

The question to pose is how do we help the most vulnerable fit into this bureaucracy? Or should we be asking: how does the bureaucracy change to meet the needs of those it’s trying to serve?

Let us know what you think?

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Posted in Benefits, Voices from the Ground Up, Welfare, employment | No Comments »

Unemployment figures, welfare reform and ending child poverty

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Courtney, David and Daniel deliver the End Child Poverty petition to No. 10 Downing Street

Courtney, David and Daniel deliver the End Child Poverty petition to No. 10 Downing Street Photo: (c) Andy Aitchison / ECP

It’s the tenth anniversary of the Labour Government’s pledge to end child poverty in a generation. Community Links are proud members of the Campaign to End Child Poverty: three young people, Courtney, David and Daniel from our Arc in the Park open access childcare project went to Downing Street to  ask the Prime Minster: “Will you keep your promise Gordon, and improve the lives of millions of UK children living in poverty today?”

As the recession bites, an investment of at least £3 billion would provide a vital timely and targeted injection for families in our poorest communities who are hardest hit. Without this £3bn in the forthcoming budget the Government will be 700,000 children short of its target to halve child poverty by 2010.

It is timely that on the tenth anniversary of the historic promise by this government to end child poverty the latest unemployment figures are released today. As unemployment rises, more and more people are becoming dependant on benefits to support them through the recession. However the current welfare system is not equipped to provide the right support and will ultimately trap thousands more on benefits. The rigid nature of the outdated system does not reflect modern day employment. Jobs advertised at the Jobcentre are temporary, part time, weekend work and often pay on commission.

A recent Observer article ‘At the Mercy of Gang masters: the growing army of jobless’ shows that more and more people will fall into the informal economy during the recession. Government needs to reform the welfare system in a way that will enable people to remain in the formal labour market to some degree and prevent the need for cash-in-hand work, where currently people are criminalised if they are to accept any work earning over £5 on Job Seekers Allowance.

Community Links have made a number of recommendations to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Rt Hon James Purnell including increasing the levels of earnings disregard and removing the 16 hour rule which would enable benefit claimants to work legally- retaining their skills during the economic downturn.

At Community Links we have researched the impact of poverty on local children and published our recomendations for change … we’ll continue to address child poverty by both providing direct services locally and campaigning  for change nationally.

Three children from Community Links in Newham handed in the End Child Poverty petitions yesterday, recently parents involved in our Need NOT Greed campaign spoke to MPs and Lords at Westminster about poverty and the benefits system.

 

Mike Crim, Programme Manager for Community Links open access childcare Ark in the Park said:

“I’m very proud of three Arc in the Park children; Courtney, David and Daniel, who, this morning, knocked on the door of No. 10 Downing St. and handed over a petition to the Prime Minister on behalf of the End Child Poverty Campaign. Well done children! This is Community Links at its finest!”

Government needs to establish a modern, flexible welfare system to prevent children from growing up in poverty and to help families cope with the effects of the recession. We think that the best way to ensure this happens effectively is for government to listen to people with first-hand experience of poverty, unemployment and the welfare system: and its great to see our youngest and finest standing up and taking action!

Let us know what you think.

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Posted in Benefits, Child Poverty, Community Engagement, News, Voices from the Ground Up, Welfare, employment | 3 Comments »

Prowess Annual Conference

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

I was up in Blackpool recently, speaking at the Prowess Annual Conference. Our workshop was on worklessness and enterprise. We heard from local colleagues about their efforts, with the help of LEGI funding, to develop the area.

As I walked from Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel, along the North Promenade, by the sea front and into the centre by the iconic Blackpool Tower, I was struck by the decline and poverty of the place. Blackpool hits all the most deprived lists close to where we’re at in Newham.  Row upon row of closed or boarded-up businesses, endless take-away restaurants many closed for the season and clubs and bars. It’s a shadow of its former self.

We heard in the workshop that, of the 85,000 working age population, 20,000 – around 25% - claim benefits. This struck a chord with my talk about the inherent traps of the benefit and tax credit systems. Blackpool has some way to go and as I learnt steps to regenerate the area have begun. 

We did hear some positives. Vikki spoke about overcoming depression and the benefits system to set up her own business, a ‘cupcake shop‘, with help from the Get Started Team. The LEGI programme has reached its target of 400 new start-up businesses a year in advance; and the HERO programme works successfully with young people and schools to develop an enterprising culture in the next generation.

However, for the enterprising people of Blackpool, and many others across the country, who want to set up and developing their own businesses, the benefit and tax credit systems often represent barriers to progress. At the conference  we launched the first National Policy Centre for Women’s Enterprise (NPCWE) evidence paper, written by… yours truly, on ‘Women’s enterprise and the benefit and tax credit systems’. This paper looks at the role and impact that the benefit and tax credit systems have upon women’s enterprise. Have a read and let me know what you think.

NPCWE will formally launch their evidence paper series and new website on 20th March at the World Entrepreneur Summit 2009.

You can download the NPCWE report
and download the text of my presentation at the Prowess conference.

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Posted in Benefits, Regeneration, Research, Welfare, employment | 1 Comment »

Downing Street listen up! Keep the Promise petition and End Child Poverty

Monday, March 16th, 2009

We at Community Links, are members of the End Child Poverty coalition. Tomorrow we are are putting forward three of our finest to meet with government at 10 Downing Street. The coalition is calling government to step up the pace and keep to their promise to end child poverty. Three children from Community Links’ Arc in the Park open access childcare will be delivering many thousands of signatures on a petition in the shape of a birthday cake to mark the tenth anniversary of the government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty here in the UK. Free open access play schemes reach the children who need it most - it’s appropriate they play an important part in this campaign.

UNICEF and End Child Poverty have asked children from Community Links to do the handover -  we have a strong belief that those who experience a problem understand it best. Tomorrow three local children - regularly users of our young people’s services - will be taking the issues that come through our doors here in Newham to the  doorstep of No.10 Downing Street.

Here in Newham 55% of children live in poverty, unemployment is double the average of the rest of England and almost a quarter of the population have no qualifications. Community Links has over 60 community projects which empower individuals and communities to build their own ladders out of poverty – and towards a brighter future.

At Community Links we have researched the impact of poverty on local children and published our recomendations for change … we’ll continue to address child poverty by both providing direct services locally and campaigning  for change nationally.

We wish the kids the best of luck for tomorrow and a big well done for being so brave and inspiring to us all! Look out for news and updates later this week.

I asked local Community links staff what they think is needed to end child poverty here in Newham and this is what some of them said:

“I think to reduce poverty in Newham Government needs to…..

  • change the way means tested benefits are calculated to enable people to work a few hours and keep the money because taking any income away from means tested benefit prohibits people from getting back into the work place a couple of hours per week, increasing child poverty….
  • ensure access to really affordable and decent housing because that is the basis that individuals and families need if they are to work towards building a more secure life that isn’t blighted by or threatened by poverty. …..
  • change the benefit rules because short term work is available but it’s too difficult and too much of a risk to come off benefits….
  • For me it’s “the housing and unemployment benefit system” because “it traps people out of work….
  • Changes in local flexible, affordable childcare because this can stop parents from going to work if they wish to…..
  • change our attitudes and behaviour towards people claiming welfare benefits because we currently stigmatise, harass and blame them for not being employed and for being poor…
  • change the way those in poverty perceive themselves, because without the belief to change, contribute and achieve they will forever believe that poverty is all there is…..
  • stop the temporary rents being over £300 a week because it is stopping people going to work because they cannot afford to spend all there wages in rent….
  • raise the levels of child benefit because it is the most efficient way of getting well needed resources directly into people’s pockets…..”

What do you think would make a difference to families experiencing poverty? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

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Posted in Child Poverty, Communication, Community Engagement, Inspiration, News, Research, Welfare | No Comments »

Urban Regeneration: building local communities

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

London 2012 Olympic StadiumYesterday Parliament’s All Party Urban Development Group published a report on regeneration; specifically the impact that physical regeneration can have on local employment.  (Thanks to Kevin Harris whose Neighbourhoods blog alerted me to this publication).

Last autumn we at Community Links put together our own analysis of the physical regeneration taking place around us in the London Borough of Newham, home to the new 2012 London Olympics site. Our Social Change booklet on Regeneration is available for free download (or email me for  a printed copy). Much of what we considered is reflected in this weeks APUDG report. They also list in the bibliography a report we produced jointly with new economics foundation (nef) about the Olympic development entitled Fools Gold.

The current economic climate means that the large scale physical redevelopments currently underway in east London are unlikely to be repeated. This makes it all the more important to ensure that local people are able to benefit fully from the community regeneration legacy with long-term, sustainable jobs providing quality training and good prospects.

Our regeneration report suggested that Section 106 agreements could be better used. Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows an agreement between developers and planning authority to deliver specified community benefit. Our view is that S106 should be used to ensure the benefit to communities both in infrastructural developments but also in ongoing revenue support of community activity. 

The new report this week from APUDG concurs that S106 could be helpful in providing local people with jobs and that it is important to ensure these jobs are sustainable after physical regeneration is complete.

Regeneration is about so much more than shiny new buildings, now more than ever it is vital that we seize this a once in a lifetime opportunity to get it right for the communities of east London.

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Posted in Community Engagement, Regeneration, Research | 2 Comments »

London Olympics 2012: community engagement

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Graffiti Art Canning TownThere is genuine excitement and expectancy amongst many local people in east London about the coming Games; in part driven by sporting success of of team GB in the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.

Now that the Olympic Flag has been handed over by the Chinese to the new host city London the focus tuns sharply towards 2012.

In 2007/08 we were ran a series of local events commissioned by the London Borough of Newham’s Community Participation Unit, so we could understand from local residents how the London Olympics 2012 might inspire them to become more active in their local community.

We have compiled all the views and feedback we collected at the eight events into one downloadable report “Inspired By the Olympics”. This report shares the views and opinions that local residents hold about the Olympics, so that the responsible bodies and agencies across the five London Olympic boroughs and other parts of the UK, can hear the voices of local people and take action to deliver a better Olympics, and more importantly to leave behind a valuable legacy for local residents and businesses in the area.

We found that local residents were excited and felt proud and inspired by the coming Games. ‘I am looking forward to the Olympics: I feel it is a positive and uplifting move for the borough.’ They wanted to be involved in the Games themselves, by attending the sport events, as well as volunteering. ‘I wish that everyone will get involved, especially the youngsters.’ Many local residents wanted to take advantage of future employment, training and business opportunities. People felt that better jobs, and better paid jobs, along with good childcare were key priorities. They wanted to volunteer in their local communities to enable other people to get involved. They also wished for improvements in council services, including safer local parks, cleaner streets and neighbourhoods, more policing, less crime amongst young people.

We asked children of all ages to contribute to the consultation. Here are a few…

I wish…

‘I could run or swim in the Olympics 2012.’

‘My wish is to attend at least one event’.

 ‘The Olympics bring fun and improvements to our community.‘

‘I wish to do the relay and become the winner, and get the medals and the money for the poor people.’

‘I am four now and I will be nine when the Olympics starts, how can I be involved?’

 Download the report: Inspired by the Olympics.

 

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The geography of life expectancy

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

I was reminded recently of the London Health Observatory statistic that for every tube stop on the Jubilee line going east, from Westminster to Canning Town, life expectancy decreases by one year.

A more shocking report from the World Health Organisation last week claimed that life expectancy in two different neighbourhoods of Glasgow (a 10 minute drive from each other) vary by as much as 28 years.

The main factor for this huge disparity is poverty. Staggeringly the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to grow over the last 10 years under a Labour government.

Poverty has a life time impact on the children and young people who grow up experienceing it.  Child poverty in the UK is unacceptable. We are the fourth largest economy in the world, a powerhouse for the world’s financial markets, a rich and prosperous country, and yet:

  • 3.9 million children are living below the poverty line in Britain 
  • 1 in 4 children in London live in poverty 
  • 54% of children in the London borough of Newham, where we work, live in poverty

We recently published some research into poverty in our area  commissioned by the local authority and in October linksUK’s ‘Social Change Series’ will focus on child poverty- so watch this blog… or subscribe to get regular updates by email.

 

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Tackling child poverty in Newham

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Birthday Cake Picture The London Borough of Newham Overview & Scrutiny Commission on tackling child poverty recently launched their final report. We at linksUK were commissioned to provide further evidence by interviewing local families living in poverty. 

We presented the findings as case studies. The image here is from a poignant diary entry of one young person, aged nine, imagining what her birthday cake might look like.

 

Notable findings from the case studies show that:

All of the families struggle to pay for the basics including food and energy bills; some are living through periods of absolute poverty, for example, not having enough to eat.

All of the families interviewed have multiple, complex and interconnected issues each of which impacts on their immediate and future circumstances, contributing to a life lived in poverty. Poverty is not a simple issue. Some of the participants are working but remain in poverty; and some are working outside of the mainstream for cash-in-hand to provide for their families. (see our work on the informal economy) 

Housing is an important issue for participants, who reported poor quality, cramped and damp accomodation, as well as  poor service from the housing department. These issues are affecting residents health, employment and ability to move into work. (see linksUK’s ‘Housing Benefit in 2008’ evidence paper No.11)

All of the case studies point towards inconsistent and at times poor experiences of dealing with local and national statutory support services. (see linksUK’s report ‘Interact: benefits, tax credits and moving into work’)

Participants had good ideas and solutions about how to improve their own situation and local services. (see: linksUK’s Everyday Innovators programme)

All the people described in these case studies are likely to continue to live in poverty for years to come. 

Later this year we will be publishing our own report on child poverty, as part of our forthcoming ‘Social Change Pamphlets’ series, subscribe to regular updates to be kept in touch.

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Posted in Child Poverty | 5 Comments »