The Prime Minister has praised Louis Desa for helping turn Bishop Thomas Grant School (BTG) into one of the most improved schools in the country.

Mr Desa was among 150 headteachers invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street to recognise their innovative approaches to education and their commitment to raising achievement in their schools.

Over the last five years BTG has improved significantly scoring exceptionally and consistently high in its latest Ofsted inspection and achieving excellent exam results.

Congratulating Mr Desa, Chuka commented “Successes in Streatham like these need to be constantly recognised and celebrated. This particular achievement highlights how schools in our area are aiming and achieving high”.

The delays, cancellations and poor communication experienced by Thameslink users in recent months have been unacceptable. When myself and Tessa Jowell MP met with First Capital Connect (FCC) bosses last week, we made this clear and went through the deluge of complaints we have received on this issue.

We also told the company that passengers deserve to be properly informed of what is happening with their service. At our request, the operator agreed to run a ‘Meet the Manager’ event at Tulse Hill station, giving passengers the opportunity to discuss their concerns and problems directly. We also asked FCC to look into ways of improving its communication with passengers, including a daily email update service before passengers leave for work.

FCC acknowledged to us that their business model has failed to provide an acceptable level of service and informed us that they are in the process of overhauling their operations to improve reliability. We await to see whether passengers’ experiences improve, and are in regular contact with Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to monitor the situation and will not let up until a decent service is provided.

If the company fails to keep its promises we will press the government to take further action so I would be grateful if local residents could let me know if they notice any improvement by emailing me at chuka {at} streathamlabour.org(.)uk

Chuka Umunna
Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham

Published in the Streatham Guardian, 4 February 2010

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, has obtained confirmation from Foreign Secretary David Miliband MP on the British government’s understanding of the political crisis in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua is reportedly suffering from a heart condition and has been receiving medical attention in Saudi Arabia since 23 November 2009. His departure from Nigeria has led to concerns about a potential power vacuum and even prompted reports of his death.

The Streatham parliamentary constituency has one of the biggest West African populations in Britain. If elected, Mr Umunna would become the first male MP of Nigerian descent to sit in the British House of Commons and the first ethnic minority MP to represent one of the 3 constituencies covering the Brixton area in London.

Commenting on the situation in Nigeria, Mr Umunna said:

“I, like many other Britons with family in Nigeria, have been monitoring the situation there closely and I know that the Nigerian community here is gravely concerned about the apparent power vacuum and the health of the President.

“Not only will the Nigerian community here want to wish the President a speedy recovery but, above all, will want to see the return of political stability.

“The President has now been out of the country for 2 months and yet he has not handed over power to his deputy as one would expect”.

Mr Umunna has been in contact with the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband MP, about the situation. Mr Miliband has confirmed to Mr Umunna that he recently spoke with Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Mr Ojo Maduekwe, and urged adherence to the Nigerian constitution.

Commenting on the British government’s position, Mr Umunna said:

“I have been in contact with the Foreign Secretary on this issue and he recently spoke with his Nigerian counter part, Mr Ojo Maduekwe, about the political situation in Nigeria.”

“The Nigerian community here can rest assured that the British government shares their concerns and is urging adherence to the constitution in Nigeria at all times.

“It is important that the uncertainty and leadership vacuum does not reignite other tensions in Nigeria, such as those in the Niger Delta and in northern Nigeria.”

President Yar’Adua remains in a serious condition in Saudi Arabia. He gave a 3 minute telephone interview to BBC Hausa on 12 January 2010. Nigeria’s Senate and cabinet are currently in dispute over whether the President is fit to govern.

This week, Chuka spoke at the annual Campaigns Conference of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

He also took part in a panel discussion on the upcoming general election and its impact on the community and voluntary sector chaired by Liz Atkins, the NCVO’s Director of Public Policy, alongside Oliver Letwin MP and Danny Alexander MP.

Having been active in the third sector as a trustee of youth charities including the 409 Project, the Anthony Bourne Foundation and the Generation Next Foundation, Chuka told the audience how Streatham has one of the most densely populated community and voluntary sectors in the country.

Emphasising the importance of the upcoming general election, Chuka described it as a choice between very different approaches to the economy, society and the third sector.

He praised voluntary organisations’ ability to help “groups which the state, local authorities and statutory bodies often have difficulty in reaching”.

In his speech, Chuka also questioned purely monetary measures of happiness and also took issue with the Tories’ ‘broken society’ rhetoric.

He said: “I have serious problems with the ‘Broken Britain’ mantra, which feeds into the negative images of young people portrayed by the media.

“David Cameron’s talk of ‘Broken Britain’ is part of a broken political strategy.”

The NCVO is an umbrella body and advocate for the community and voluntary sector. First set up in 1919, it has more than 7,000 members.

To find out more about the NCVO and its work, follow this link.

To find out more about what Labour has delivered locally, follow this link.

Minister for Housing and Planning John Healey visited our area on 14 January to see the Clapham Park Estate, one of the government’s New Deal for Communities (NDC) zones.

Mr Healey met local residents and community leaders from Clapham Park Homes, a community led housing association that now runs the estate.

Clapham Park Homes was founded by the Clapham Park Project, an initiative that has received £70 million investment from the Labour Government since 2001.

Recently the Clapham Park Estate was earmarked for £9.5 million of Government funding to provide good quality housing as part of the Kickstart house building programme.

In addition the money has been provided on the condition that Clapham Park Homes provide schemes for local labour and apprenticeships, ensuring continued investment and opportunities in the area.

The redevelopment of the estate will consist of the refurbishment of existing blocks alongside the construction of new housing. As well as Government funding, the project will be funded by the sale of new homes.

Good quality, well managed and maintained homes are in the process of being built in an area revitalised with a network of new parks, open spaces, better transport and good schools.

Commenting on his visit, during which he inspected the new housing, Mr Healey said:

“I am delighted Chuka asked me to come and visit Clapham Park so I could see how the money we have ploughed into the area is being spent and so I could talk to local residents about what more we could do.

“The residents Chuka and I spoke to told us that they were pleased to see the Government investment in the area, building homes and supporting jobs – that is what we have been doing since 1997 on the Clapham Park Estate and we will continue to do so.”

Chuka highlighted the improvements to the local area, saying:

“The Clapham Park Estate has improved massively from when I was growing up in the constituency and I will work tirelessly to ensure the investment and improvements continue.”

You can visit the Clapham Park Homes website and find out more about the project here: www.cph-online.co.uk

First Capital Connect have forwarded Chuka a copy of the details below:

“Following the disruption to services on the Thameslink route between November 2009 and January 15, 2010, affected season ticket holders are being offered discounted tickets and refunds. This is in addition to
the delay-repay compensation scheme which can be used when a service has been delayed by 30 minutes or more.

“Summary of offer: Annual season ticket holders will be entitled to claim either a 5% discount off their next purchase (equivalent to over 2 weeks free travel) or tickets for 10 days free travel.

“Monthly season ticket holders will be entitled to claim either a 50% discount off their next monthly card following the start of the scheme (equivalent to 2 weeks free travel) or tickets for 10 days free travel.

“Weekly ticket holders with four weeks of tickets during the period will be entitled to claim tickets for 5 days free travel. Weekly ticket holders with eight or more tickets during the period will be entitled to claim ticket for 10 days free travel.

“First Class ticket holders will additionally be entitled to claim for a refund of the difference between First Class and standard fare for the period 12 November 2009 to 23 January 2010 when First Class accommodation was declassified.

“Please note: Discounts will be available when buying at First Capital Connect stations and online from the FCC website. Unfortunately where tickets are purchased at non-First Capital Connect Thameslink outlets we will only be able to offer the free tickets.

“We are currently setting up IT and ticket office systems and staffing an office to deal with claims under the scheme. Exact details of how to claim will be published in early February.”

As a result of Chuka Umunna and Tessa Jowell MP’s meeting with First Capital Connect bosses, the train operator will be holding a Meet the Managers event at Tulse Hill Station on Tuesday February 2nd between 7.30am and 9.30 am.

Neal Lawson, Managing Director of First Capital Connect, who met with Chuka and Tessa last week, will be one of the managers on hand at the event.

A further Meet the Managers event is taking place at St Pancras station on Thursday January 28th between 4pm and 7pm.

Chuka Umunna said: “Passengers deserve to be properly informed of what is happening with their service, which is why Tessa and I asked for management to be on hand at Tulse Hill station to address people’s concerns directly in the coming days. We are pleased that they have agreed to do this.”

Tessa Jowell, Labour MP for Dulwich & West Norwood, and Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham have secured commitments from First Capital Connect (FCC) to improve services after their meeting with company bosses.

Passengers of Thameslink, operated by FCC, have experienced severe disruption since November including many delays and cancellations, following an industrial dispute over staff pay and technical problems arising from the recent snowfall.

Other passenger complaints have included poor and/or non-existent communication at stations and shortened and overcrowded trains.

This week, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told FCC that the disruption experienced by passengers is unacceptable, and warned the operator that it could lose its franchise if the situation continues. Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna have been in regular contact with the Transport Secretary on the issue.

Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna met with Neal Lawson, Managing Director of First Capital Connect and Mary Grant, Managing Director of First Group’s rail division, to go through in detail all the complaints they have received about the service and demand changes to ensure an improved service.

Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna secured the following commitments at their meeting with FCC bosses:

• FCC will take steps to improve communication with passengers, both electronically and through assistance offered by station staff.
• FCC will look into setting up a daily email service to inform commuters of any problems or delays before they leave home for work.
• In the meeting, FCC acknowledged that its business model had failed to provide acceptable levels of reliability. They told Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna that they are currently in the process of overhauling their business model so they are less reliant on staff working overtime and are currently recruiting and training more drivers.
• New rolling stock is coming on stream, which will not suffer from the same problems as older units during cold weather and will allow for greater punctuality, FCC said.
• There will be better and more detailed information made available to commuters regarding compensation for the disruption to date.

Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna will keep in daily contact with Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to ensure that FCC keeps to all its promises. If the operator fails to do so, they will press government to take appropriate action.

Ms Jowell said:

“Thousands of people that I represent rely on FCC to get to work regularly and on time. They have been subjected to completely unacceptable unreliability through cancellations, delays and shorter trains – a collapsing service.

“Having met management today we have sought clear assurances that improvements will have an immediate impact for constituents. We will judge this according to performance, reliability, communication and modern trains.”

Mr Umunna said:

“We are in daily contact with Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, on this issue, and are keeping a close eye on FCC. We will not let up until a decent service is provided.”

Housing Minister John Healey, who visited Streatham earlier this month, is today extending to Lambeth the government’s campaign to help homeowners avoid repossession.

Lambeth is one of 56 repossession hotspots where the government is running new mortgage help events to promote the assistance which is available to struggling homeowners.

The help events are being run in association with the Citizens Advice Bureau, and offer impartial face-to-face help and advice to homeowners on how to keep their home.

A dedicated helpline and website have also been set up to offer free impartial advice to people who are worried they could face repossession. This is available at www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp.

Over the past year, more than 330,000 households have received help with their mortgages to avoid repossession, and the number of repossessions is currently half of what it was during the last recession.

Chuka Umunna said: “The government is taking action to help homeowners under pressure in our area.

“Families should not have to experience the trauma of repossession, and the government is offering advice and financial assistance for those struggling to meet their mortgage payments.

“During the last recession in the early 1990s, thousands of families were forced to leave their homes and received little help, but the government is determined that this will not happen again.”