Newsletter September 2005

Published on Thu 8th Sep 2005

Newsletter September 2005

1. Olympics

Winning the bid to host the Olympics in London in 2012 is wonderful news! I was so excited that I could not watch the result on the big screens in the chamber but, when I heard the whoops of joy, I knew we had won.

My congratulations to Lord Coe and the bid team - they did a terrific job and have given everyone the confidence that London can not only win the bid but also stage successful games in 2012.

The London Assembly committee I chair (Economic Development, Culture Sport and Tourism) has been appointed as the Assembly's 'lead' committee for scrutinising the games. The committee's job will be to conduct a vigorous scrutiny of how this huge project is proceeding, to ensure that the opportunities and benefits are maximised and not squandered.

The games, if managed properly, will leave a real legacy in terms of sport, transport, economic benefits, regeneration and housing. The committee will be putting the Olympics Masterplans under the microscope. We will be regularly questioning the Mayor and the London Development Agency, to ensure the accountability of those in charge of delivering a successful event so that Londoners benefit from the promised regeneration of the capital.

Our first Olympics scrutiny (15th November) is likely to consider the opportunities for London firms to benefit from the Olympics and examine the barriers that SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) face in bidding for contracts.

Other scrutinies being considered include:

• Olympic legacy - the massive scale of investment is such that a meaningful legacy is needed to justify the use of public funds. What will happen to the various venues and infrastructure after the three-week event is over?

• Cultural Olympiad - How has the Olympics promoted culture and regeneration in previous host cities such as Barcelona and Athens? What cultural programme is being developed for the Beijing Olympic Games?

• Are we supporting future medal winners and competitors in 2012? - As the host nation, we will be expected to enter competitors in most of the 26 sports. What are UK Sport and Sport England doing to ensure we have sufficient numbers of high quality athletes available?

• Paralympics: a unique opportunity to improve opportunities for disabled people - How can this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity be maximised to create a long-lasting change in inclusion and diversity in all aspects of London life? How can the Paralympics be used to promote access to sport for people with disabilities?

I would welcome your views on these issues. Remember, if you would like to come along to the Assembly to look round and attend one of the meetings, I would be delighted to arrange this.

2. Police

As you know, the terrorist incidents in July killed and injured many people - our thoughts are with the victims and their families. However, at this stage, I do not wish to comment further on these events, and I will explain why.

These dreadful events, and the subsequent tragic shooting of an innocent man, have resulted in numerous requests for those of us who are on the Metropolitan Police Authority to do TV and radio interviews. I have declined all such requests because I don't think it is appropriate to make uninformed comments or to draw any conclusions until the independent enquiry reports. It is proper to reserve any comment until then.

Since I joined the MPA in May, I have begun visiting all the Metropolitan Police's borough commanders across London, to learn how policing in each borough actually works. At every police station I visit, there are queues of people waiting to get to the 'front desk', which is completely shut off from the public as police officers operate behind insulated cubicles.

Waiting facilities are poor and, in most cases, there is not even a telephone in the reception area to enable members of the public to contact anyone. Everyone has to wait to be seen - one at a time! This can't be right, particularly when all the parties are agreed that the police need to get closer to the communities they serve.

In the course of my meetings, I am hearing a number of common themes:

• The lack of real local accountability for police budgets - The local police budget is devolved to individual borough commanders. But, because of the government's drive to increase police numbers, it is politically difficult for individual borough commanders to reduce the number of police officers and increase the number of civilian employees, even if the local community would be better served by a different mix of police officers and civilian staff. We need to get away from this hang up on numbers and concentrate instead on the effective use of police resources.

• Overloaded call centres - These are unable to keep pace with the volume of calls. The problem is particularly bad after 5pm, when the phone systems get overloaded and some calls 'fall off the end'. A new communications programme is being introduced which is intended to produce significant improvement.

• 'Stone Age' computer technology - Much of the police's computer equipment is outdated and totally inadequate. It wastes a large amount of police time, filling in the same piece of information in different locations. Equipment is to be updated but not until 2007 - just imagine the 'bugs' that will need to be ironed out before it is operating efficiently!

• Time wasted by the government - Some police officers, instead of catching criminals, have to work full-time keying data into computers to produce the data for government targets.

• Appalling working conditions for police officers - Some of the office space has to be seen to be believed!

• Filthy cells - Cells look like something from Dickensian times, each containing a filthy lavatory. This is nothing to do with being 'soft' on criminals, but everyone has a right to expect a basic level of cleanliness.

What I am hearing from the police all over London is that we need a complete review of police stations. In an ideal situation, we should close down the outdated stations (which often have a high property value) and instead construct purpose-built stations in more appropriate locations. The police would prefer to be located in 'hubs' at railway stations, supermarkets and community centres - in fact, anywhere the public goes.

When I have completed my meetings, I intend to produce a non-attributable report, which I shall give to Sir Ian Blair.

Going to the Dogs!

This job has its perks! I recently spent a wonderful afternoon at the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Centre in Kent. The police have about 300 dogs in training and also have their own breeding programme. The dogs are trained to sniff out drugs explosives and currency and I was allowed to watch a number of the training programmes in action. Fascinating to see the dog handlers haul huge German Shepherds onto their shoulders in order to take them up ladders! I met the latest litter of puppies and they are just beautiful. Their mum Scooby was also very friendly but they separated her from her family when we went in just in case! I have been invited to return in 15 months time to present the certificates at the 'passing out' parade when hopefully all the puppies will be fully trained police dogs. I am so delighted!

3. Recent committee scrutinies

Tourism in Outer London

The committee is currently scrutinising what Visit London and the London Development Agency are doing to promote tourism in outer London. The committee heard that although tourism spend amounts to £15billion a year but most of it is concentrated in a few square miles of Central London. There is a need to increase visitor knowledge of what is on offer outside of central London by having easily available information on outer London attractions. From next April, Visit London will only promote accommodation that is rated by the National Quality Assurance Scheme. So a lot of the accommodation in both inner and outer London needs to be identified and brought up to scratch. We have commissioned focus groups to mine down into the detail and will be doing a series of site visits before producing our report.

Childcare

The committee is also scrutinising how the London Development Agency is implementing the Mayor's childcare strategy throughout London. Affordable accessible childcare is of paramount importance to all who work and live in London. The London Development Agency has invested in over 1400 new childcare places and is introducing a Childcare Affordability Programme, to enable less well-off parents to take advantage of childcare. The committee is examining whether the programmes are being properly monitored and evaluated and whether all those providing childcare facilities have an equal opportunity to obtain funding for their services. We will be doing a series of site visits to nurseries and other childcare providers so that we can speak to people at the sharp end prior to producing our report.