A Christmas Gift from Our Head of Traffic

Please be advised that over the Christmas and New Year period, enforcement of the access restrictions on Staveley Rd, and Hartington Rd. and the Strand on theGreen/Thames Road access restriction, will be suspended between the following dates.

Midnight on Sunday 24 th December to midnight Monday 1 st January 2024

During this period the council will cover/bag the on-street signage relating to the restricted hours.

Enforcement of the restrictions will resume on Tuesday 2 nd January 2024

Hounslow’s Childrens Services. Awarded a ‘Good’ overall rating by Ofsted

The latest assessment highlighted improvements made to the service, with all categories now rated “Good” or “Outstanding”.

Inspectors visiting Hounslow from 16 to 20 October 2023 praised staff working across Children’s Services, for an unrelenting focus on the needs of children in the borough and a commitment to continually improve services offered.

The report stated that “the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection and children in care have markedly improved” and that there is a “child-focused culture that is evident throughout the organisation.” Among the services that received a specific mention were children with disabilities, vulnerable children in education, unaccompanied children, and adoption. This reflects the breadth of services working together to support and protect children against increased demand.

The impact of leaders within the Council, from Members to operational managers, improved from ‘Good’ in 2018 to ‘Outstanding’.

With my colleague Cllr Ron Mushiso I attend the Corporate Parenting Panel with Officers and a number of our children in care.

These meetings allow us to oversee the care programme and listen to the views of those in care.

We have both conducted a visit of our Children’s home meeting residents and the staff.

Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2023

New legislation given royal assent I October 2023

One significant change in the planning enforcement regime is the abolition of the four-year rule for breaches of planning control in England. This means that, in order for a breach of planning control to become lawful, the ten-year rule will apply in all cases.

Enforcement warning notices are a new and sensible discretionary measure as a pre-step before enforcement proceedings in those circumstances where a planning application is encouraged to be submitted to avoid the need to take other, perhaps more interventionist, enforcement action. LuRA also legislates for a prohibition on appeals against enforcement action where that action has followed the submission of a planning application relating to the same issue.

Lampton 360 Ltd

Lampton 360 Ltd is a wholly owned company established by the London Borough of Hounslow in 2012 with the objective of trading local authority functions to generate financial surpluses and return those to the council. Four subsidiary companies were set up in 2016 dealing with amongst other things waste and recycling and parks maintenance.

Since inception no meaningful surplus have been produced. Indeed some entities have required additional funding. Long term substantial loans too.

At a recent Cabinet meeting a shareholder oversight Board was approved consisting of the Council Leader, and two colleagues one of whom is already responsible for waste and recycling.

This change was brought about by our Internal Audit highlighting,

No shareholder agreement between the parties

No Service Level Agreement to clarify the Councils roles and responsibilities in relation to the services and the costs.

Minutes to key meetings were not consistently taken.

Dealing with governance and oversight the auditors comment that the performance indicators in place do not measure resident satisfaction. This is the main strategic objective of the Council when measuring these services and should be so measured.

It’s noted that too that since 2016 LBH has not conducted any strategic reviews of the Lampton Group nor has it tested the market to ensure the service the companies provide represent value for money and the most effective service for residents.

I raised these deficiencies at Council without any meaningful response. My colleague Cllr Macgregor too questioning the credibility of the new Boards ability to challenge and Govern.

In our view the continuance of the Lampton empire is a matter requiring urgent attention.

Councillor John Todd

john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk

07866 784651

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Tuesday, 16 January 2024 at 7:00pm Cabinet 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

Tuesday 27 February 2024 at 7:30pm – Meeting of Borough Council (Budget Setting!) 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB Open to Public

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES

Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the eight Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).

Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery). 

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS

Chiswick Gunnersbury (was Turnham Green) ward

Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446

Cllr Ranjit Gill ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702956

Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887

Chiswick Homefields ward

Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017

Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821

Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651

Chiswick Riverside ward

Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823

Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810

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