Lambeth has published its report on the current situation with the Streatham Hub project in advance of its cabinet meeting later this month – it is available online here.

Chuka’s People’s Question Time on the Streatham Hub development is taking place this Thursday at the upper school site of Dunraven School, 94/98 Leigham Court Road, London, SW16 2QB from 6.30pm onwards. For further details of the event, follow this link.

Last week, the Liberal Democrat – Conservative government’s Education Secretary Michael Gove announced cuts to the previous government’s ambitious school building programme, Building Schools for the Future (BSF).

School building projects at three local secondary schools are affected, with major rebuilding projects axed at La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant schools and Dunraven School’s project placed in doubt.

To put pressure on the government, Chuka is campaigning alongside students, parents and teachers for the projects to go ahead and for the cuts to funding for new school buildings to be reversed.

He has set up a petition to save Streatham’s school building projects and demand answers from the government – please sign it here.

Chuka has also tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament on the issue, condemning the government’s cancellation of school building projects and calling for answers on projects subject to review such as Dunraven’s. The full text of the EDM and a list of MPs who have signed it can be read here.

Recently, Chuka made a speech in the Budget debate warning of the impact the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Budget will have on areas like Streatham – particularly the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

A video of Chuka’s speech is below.

Established by the Labour government in 2005, the Child Trust Fund was a savings and investment account available for all children at birth, receiving £250 free to start their account and a further £250 when they reach the ages of seven and eleven.

Families could add to the fund over time, building up a ‘nest egg’ for young people when they leave education to give them a good start in their adult lives. For parents who did not claim the £250 and open a Child Trust Fund when their child was born, a ’stakeholder’ account was be set up on behalf of the child by the government allowing parents to claim the fund later.

A total of 7,045 children in the Streatham constituency now have Child Trust Fund accounts. These families along with many others were dealt a harsh blow when, within weeks of the general election, the new LibDem – Tory coalition government announced that it would abolish the fund. The money already paid into the fund will still be accessible when a child turns 18, but from January 2011 the government will stop paying into the scheme.

However, 2,581 children in Streatham are yet to have a Child Trust Fund opened on their behalf by their parents. For children in this position, a ’stakeholder’ account is set up and managed on their behalf by the government.

Chuka has pursued the full details of the impact that the Child Trust Fund’s abolition will have on the people of Streatham. He submitted a written question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ask whether parents and guardians would be able to take control of stakeholder Child Trust Fund accounts after January. The reply from the Treasury confirmed that such accounts will indeed remain under the full control of parents or guardians, who if they wish can choose to transfer the account to a different financial provider or type of account. The money remains the child’s and he or she cannot withdraw it until they turn 18.

After weeks of uncertainty, the new Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition government yesterday admitted that it would, as was feared, cut Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme. Building projects at two Streatham schools, La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant, will be stopped as a result. Meanwhile building work at Dunraven School is under review and may be cancelled as well.

Having spent the last two months pushing for the government to reveal its intentions in this area, Chuka asked Education Secretary Michael Gove in Parliament yesterday what the cuts would mean for Streatham schools. He criticised the government for refusing to disclose the full details of the BSF cut:

“We are in the absurd position of constantly having to ask the Secretary of State to read from his list. I know precisely which schools in my area have not reached financial close, but I do not know if they have got to the close of dialogue stage. Those three schools are La Retraite, Dunraven and Bishop Thomas Grant. Can he tell me from his list whether they will go ahead?”

Failing to clarify the situation, the Secretary of State gave the following reply:

“Dunraven school is a sample school, and therefore falls within the group of local authority schools that we will look at. Elm Court, a special school in his constituency, has already opened under BSF. I believe that two other schools have not reached financial close, and I will confirm that in my letter to him.”

Only in his letter to Chuka did Mr Gove confirm that building work at La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant would no longer go ahead. The cuts come after years of planning and preparation, will pull much needed investment out of the local economy in Streatham and represent a bitter blow to the children, parents and governors of the schools in question.

The People’s Question Time event which Chuka is holding on the Streatham Hub has been moved to Thursday 22nd July at 6.30pm, still at Dunraven School.

The reason for the change of date is that Lambeth council is due to release a paper on the Hub development next week, and this will give everyone time to digest the report and ensure that everyone is fully up to date before the meeting.

This week, Chuka posed a written question in Parliament to find out from the Minister for Sport and the Olympics:

(1) what assessment he has made of the legacy for the London borough of Lambeth and its residents from the London 2012 Olympic Games;

(2) what steps his Department has taken to ensure that London boroughs other than those hosting the London 2012 Olympics will obtain a legacy from the games.

Below is the response he received from the Minister:

“The London borough of Lambeth, London as a whole, and the wider UK are benefitting from the opportunities created by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“There has been significant infrastructure investment in and around the Olympic Park, including transport and utilities. Other economic benefits that have accrued to London include:

“Of the 6,442 contracted work force on the Olympic Park (excluding the Village) at the end of March 2010, 3,457 were from London, of which 2,185 were resident outside the five east London host boroughs (Greenwich, Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest). The Olympic Delivery Authority and its partners have a range of measures in place, including dedicated training centres, to promote sustainable employment benefits from the building of the Olympic Park.

“Of the 1,349 companies that have won over £5 billion of work directly supplying the Olympic Delivery Authority (May 2010), 689 were registered in London, of which 493 were registered outside the host boroughs and 20 in Lambeth. Many more business across London are winning work in the supply chains of the ODA contractors and LOCOG began in January its procurement for everything it needs to stage the Games, so there will be many more opportunities for business in London across many sectors to get involved.

“34,047 London companies, of which 27,418 come from outside the five east London host boroughs (June 2010), were registered on CompeteFor, the electronic brokerage system giving companies access to Olympic-related opportunities and the support to compete for them.

“The Mayor of London is responsible for maximising the impact of the Games across London and has been working with a range of pan-London partners including his family of agencies to deliver a coherent legacy programme that ensures people living in London gain from the positive effects of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”