Councillor John Whelan, Conservative Group Leader, says:  “The report finds that the overall service is now weak but by contrast it adds several times that in 2006 Lambeth Housing (as Lambeth Living was then known) was performing adequately and demonstrating improvement.

“The biggest risk now is that it will take too long for the service to recover in time to reach the standard necessary to qualify for £250 million from the Government to meet the decent home standard by 2014.”

CLICK HERE if you would like to download key extracts from the new report.

The owner of SD Lounge must now comply with 32 new licensing conditions

The operator of a late night music bar at Tulse Hill Station has been told by the licensing authorities that his business is now in “the last chance saloon” unless he cracks down on dodgy customers including people suspected of having firearms on his premises.

The SD Lounge at Station Rise was given a list of 32 new conditions by the Lambeth Licensing Committee and told that any breach could result in him having the operation closed down and his license withdrawn. It specialises in playing “bashment, R + B, and soul”, which the police said “attracts a minority of undesirable types intent on causing trouble.”

Police submitted evidence at the hearing of “intelligence” that they said they had received about firearms allegedly being on the premises on specific dates January 2009 and on another occasion in 2008 although no proof was available. The licence holder denied that there was any truth in the firearms’ claims and disputed the need for any further restrictions to his business. He claimed to have stopped allowing other operators to hold late night parties at the venue and that no one had complained to him about noise.

Speaking on behalf of residents who were too intimidated by a minority of the bar’s customers to give evidence in person, Councillor John Whelan, Thurlow Park Ward Member, said residents had been repeatedly disturbed in the early hours of the morning by loud music from the bar and rowdy customers massing on the pavement and urinating in the street. The operator agreed to adhere to the new conditions which the licensing committee has now officially attached to his licence.

Labour is wasting money nationally and locally in Lambeth

Labour Lambeth has rejected a lawful alternative Conservative budget that would have cut Council Tax by 1.5 per cent to help hard pressed residents hit by the government’s failure to manage the economy.

Building on the example shown by Mayor Boris at City Hall, the Conservative budget proposed wide ranging efficiency savings with the elimination of “non jobs,” cuts in the wasteful publicity budget, and reductions in allowances paid to Labour Cabinet members.

At the same time, the Conservative budget maintained front line services and care for the elderly, disabled and vulnerable children and offered help to small businesses struggling to survive under an uncaring Labour government.

“Our Budget for People included £2 million more for road and pavement repairs, more investment in libraries, parks, and open spaces and £150,000 more for the youth service,” says Conservative Group Leader Councillor John Whelan.

“The Labour budget by contrast offered little for libraries and parks and no extra expenditure on the youth service.  This comes on top of the highest rent rises in the country – 17 per cent – with the average Council Tax now £1,235.  Labour even voted against our proposal to pay small businesses working for the Council in 10 days instead of a month.”

Rosendale Road Shopping Parade will benefit from a new pavement after lobbying by Conservative councillors

Figures from the Taxpayers Alliance show that in 2007-2008 Lambeth Council employed 335 people on salaries of more that £50,000 – some of them with five weeks holiday a year – costing a total of £22 million without taking into account their generous final salary pensions and other benefits.

Councillor Whelan adds:  “Spending on “consultants and agency staff” is out of control at Lambeth Council, but the Labour budget has delayed taking any immediate action.  Typically, a department hires a temp from an agency to do the photocopying for the summer while permanent staff are on leave – two years later the agency temp is still there.”

The Conservative budget proposed scrapping the fortnightly “Lambeth propaganda sheet” Lambeth Life saving £400,000 a year.

“When Boris took office one of his first actions was to abolish Livingstone’s pet newspaper “The Londoner” and spend the money instead on planting new trees,” says Councillor Whelan.

“That hopefully will be the shape of things to come if Labour lose office in Lambeth at the next elections in 2010.”

Phil was originally from the Birmingham area and a proud supporter of West Bromwich Albion Birmingham City, his local home town team.

When Brixton was attacked by a ‘nail bomber’, Phil rallied the business community, raised £10,000 for the victims, and ensured that a memorial plaque was erected.  It was unveiled by the than Mayor of Lambeth.

Philip worked in Brixton since he qualified as a solicitor.  During this time he has devoted his time and energy towards helping the local community.  He helped people in court and police stations when they were without funds and he ensured they received appropriate representation.  In 2008, Phil was presented along with other recipients with a Civic Award at the Town Hall.

Conservative Leader Councillor John Whelan says:  “Phil employed many local people from ethnic minority backgrounds.  They have gone on to be solicitors and barristers with Phil’s support, including financial support.

“He was a larger than life personality who was a friend of many leading Brixtonians including the former Prime Minister and Lambeth councillor Sir John Major.  One of the last times Phil was seen in public was at a social gathering in the Town Hall with Sir John.”

Funeral arrangements are not yet known but will be posted on this page once confirmed.

Any messages left in our feedback box below will be passed on to Phil’s family.

Lambeth Labour are slashing sports funding

Almost £1million worth of spending cuts are to be made to sports provision, libraries and parks in Lambeth.

Labour are set to reduce community sports programmes and slash previously planned investment in libraries and parks to save £995,000.

Secret town hall documents, leaked to a local newspaper, revealed the council plans to make the harsh spending cuts between now and March 2008. It reveals plans to:

• Cut £250,000 to oversee plans for developing leisure centres in the borough.
• Cut £200,000 worth of sports development jobs to run community sports programmes for kids, pensioners and other groups.
• Cut maintenance budget for sports facilities by £100,000
• Scale back the sports booking service.

It means a planned expansion of the council’s community sports programme has been binned, but none of the already scheduled activities will be affected.

The plan will also see less park rangers employed to look after the borough’s parks, and cash allocated for floral displays like hanging baskets axed.

Libraries will also suffer, with cash earmarked for new IT facilities and special events axed as part of the council’s cultural services recovery plan.

Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor John Whelan, said: “If this is a recovery plan then it’s likely to kill off the patient.

“At a time when there is national concern about rising levels of obesity among young people, the borough is cutting its commitment to providing sports facilities by £600,000.

“Further cuts are going to put libraries and parks under threat.”

London Fire Brigade offers free fire home safety checks by qualified firefighters

Following the tragic death of a Lambeth council tenant in a fire at her flat in Petrel Court, West Norwood, Thurlow Park Ward Councillor John Whelan is calling for home fire safety checks on neighbouring properties.

Cllr Whelan, a former member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, says:  “Naturally, my first thoughts are with the family after this tragic death.  It is a miracle that her teenage daughter escaped helped to safety by a hero.

“However, it is vital that all the neighbouring properties on the Rosendale Gardens Estate are checked to ensure they have working smoke detectors.  This is an old Lambeth estate built in the 1950s — known locally as “The Birdies” — with a lot of elderly and frail residents and there is a back log of maintenance jobs.

“I have urged the London Fire Brigade and Lambeth Council to work together to raise awareness of the importance of having operational smoke detectors preferably hard wired and not operated by batteries.  The London Fire Brigade offers free fire home safety checks by qualified firefighters and if something positive emerges from this tragedy it could be that other lives are not put at risk.”

However, Councillor Whelan says that only a fortnight ago a tenant on the Rosendale Gardens estate, where fire killed a 35-year-old woman on November 15, came to his weekly advice centre to complain about a “green light” shining from her smoke detector.

“She told me she had disconnected the smoke detector by removing the batteries,” he says.

“I urged her to contact the London Fire Brigade for a free home fire safety check and will now double check that this has happened.”