Oliver Kempton

Hello all On the recycling rate. We have taken the latest available annual recycling figures for Southwark (the 2008/9 figure of 20.89%) and pledged to double it (i.e. 42%). As is pointed out earlier, the council?s waste contract with Veolia should take recycling from the current rate to 38.6% by 2014. Our plan is to push it higher than this. I?ve managed to get a look at the Lib Dem Southwark manifesto. On recycling it says the Lib Dems will increase recycling to ?more than 38%.? James said earlier ?So the Labour promise is to meet this contract.?, but actually as you can see from these figures, the Lib Dem promise is to meet the contract, ours is to push on and achieve a higher rate (42%). It?s ambitious, but I believe that it?s important and worth prioritising. Things we might do to help achieve this include better provision in blocks of flats, bringing food recycling online before 2015 (current plan), and increased promotion of the importance of recycling and items that can be recycled (e.g. textiles, thanks for pointing out the location of facilities for this Peckhamgatecrasher). I think it?s also worth looking at Southwark?s recycling record over the past few years. I?ve attached a graph to this post that shows the change in recycling rate in Southwark, compared with the national average and with the Lib Dem?s 2006 pledge on recycling. Not only does it show that the council is nowhere near the 30% target that the Lib Dem?s pledged in 2006, but also that the gap between Southwark?s recycling rate and the national average has widened since 2007. I hope this gives a bit more clarity on our position and the council's current recycling record. Please say if there are any further questions or suggestions. James, any luck on uploading / posting a link to your manifesto? Very best Oliver

Hello all I think there's a slight danger that the tetra pak thing gets taken slightly out of proportion, it's an example of where an improvement could be made - it won't massively boost recycling on its own. Siduhe, you're right that recycling should go up anyway, partly for the reasons you've outlined but also partly due to growing awareness of the importance of recycling. But we've set an ambitious target (to double the rate), so we'll have to do more. Actually, I think the biggest thing will be to improve collection facilities in areas whey they are currently poor, such as certain flats on Lordship Lane and elsewhere. In terms of council housing - since Southwark's housing department was abolished in 2006, housing has deteriorated to 'failing' according to inspectors - it's now the worst council housing in inner London. There's a lot of work to be done improving council housing; if boosting recycling rates can be considered alongside that that then so much the better. Best wishes Oliver

Hello Willow, Tetra pak recycling will make a difference, but is of course only part of the solution. Greenwich's rate is 42.09% and Ealing is 35.09% (Southwark is 20.89%) so it is possible for London boroughs to do a lot better. All the figures are here if anyone is interested: http://www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/statistics/environment/wastats/archive/mwb200809a.xls James, I do mean ?12 million, my apologies. I've changed this now. Are you able to share your manifesto so we can compare? Very best Oliver

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Dear Smiler My apologies, I missed your earlier post first time round. New schools could be built in theory, but this requires a number of things, not least a suitable site. I think extra classes in current schools are more likely. I would hope to increase the number of places at the more popular schools, although again this depends on other factors such as space - even if all families wanted to send their children to Heber School for example, it wouldn't be practical or desirable to create all the extra capacity at Heber. Unfortunately we won't know which schools are the most popular until after the election as the council has decided to delay the results until after election day. On the finance side, the ?12 million is for school classrooms. Schools that take on more pupils will of course get extra funding to allow them to pay teachers as the amount of money schools get is partly dependent on number of pupils. If you have concerns about a specific school, please let me know either on a PM or at [email protected] so I can follow up. Very best Oliver

Hello everyone I will answer some questions now but have to run so will leave some for later. Thanks for your contributions James. I'm sure you'd agree though that having a council policy to achieve something is not the same as actually achieving it. For example: "Current policy is to provide a local Primary school place within 1 mile" We've met plenty of parents who haven't been given a school place within 1 mile, and the record number of complaints since last year suggests something isn't right. Actually the Lib Dem council's current policy is to delay the announcement of this year's primary school places until after the election. So families won't know whether things got any better this year until too late to vote on it. Couple of other answers: "(Lib Dems promise in our manifest is a GOOD school within 1 mile.)" Does this mean that parents who don't think their school is good can transfer to another local school within 1 mile? Or are you pledging that all Southwark schools wil be rated good (presumably by Ofsted?). "Why halve the price? [of Meals on Wheels]" Because there are a third less users of the service since the price hike. So it's clearly had a negative impact. James, maybe you could post a link to your manifesto so people can compare? Apologies if you've done this elsewhere and I've missed it. Very best Oliver

No problem matershake. Garden waste can already be recycled - see here for more info: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200084/recycling_and_waste/1363/garden_waste/2 Various things can't be put in the kerb side recycling, e.g. Tetra Pak cartons or plastic bags. I think these are unnecessary restrictions and we can increase recycling by allowing them. Ensuring that everyone has access to the same level of recycling facilities will also help. If you have any further thoughts on how recycling can be increased then please do let us know. Very best Oliver

Hi Huguenot Thanks for taking a look! I'm not aware of any research showing swing voters have a problem feeding their kids, but I am aware of research (and local anecdotal evidence) to show that healthy school lunches are good for children's concentration and learning, and help reduce disruption in the classroom. There's been quite a bit of debate on it in this thread already though so I will leave it there for now. Primary schools - the Government has allocated ?12 million for new school classrooms in Southwark. Currently the council is sitting on the money but a priority of mine if eleced would be to make sure that Dulwich gets its fair share. As you know, all the Labour candidates in East Dulwich do live locally, myself included ;-). To be honest, from the people i've spoken to in East Dulwich primary schools comes up marginally more often than secondary schools. Either way, the new Harris school will help with pressure on secondary school places. Key to improving the recycling rate is about making it more accessible. That includes extending what can be put in the kerb side recycling, but also making recycling available in more places. For example I can't get Southwark to sort out recycling in my block of flats which means I have to take it down to Sainsburys on the bus, which is a bit of a pain. Although to be honest that may be the fault of the privatised call centre rather than the recycling team. Mastershake, by double the recycling rate we mean double the proportion of househould waste that is recycled rather than going to landfill. Currently Southwark has the sixth lowest rate in England and I believe we can do a lot better. Nothing to do with number of collections per week. Very best Oliver

Dear all A while back I got lots of requests for more information on Labour's plans for Southwark. The Southwark Labour Party has now published its manifesto, and you can find it here: http://www.southwarklabour.co.uk/uploads/089d69db-87f0-2284-d51c-883ead9cffae.pdf Highlights include: ?Introduce free healthy school meals for all primary school children ?Guarantee every child a place in a local primary school ?Push down the price of Meals on Wheels by 50% ?Double the recycling rate If anybody would like a hard copy of the manifesto then please send me an email or a PM with your name and address. Many thanks Oliver

One further thing: [email protected] should reach the Dog Kennel Hill store manager. I think it's worth emailing both the store manager and the people that candp identified above. Very best Oliver

Dear all I've been asked to look into this on a separate thread http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,420686,429355,page=3#msg-429355 but thought it would also make sense to post it here. I?m sorry to hear about what happened Pirate78 ? it sounds awful. I?ve been in touch with Veronica Ward, one of the Labour councillors for South Camberwell. They have been talking to Sainsbury?s about this for some time. Sainsbury?s are meant to ensure that the park is closed when it is dark, but they have been careless about opening and closing times. Unfortunately the management at Sainsbury?s has changed over time and there is no corporate memory of earlier discussions with the councillors and the community about the park. The person currently at Sainsbury?s that Veronica has been in touch with is Pete Brown. I will add my voice to Veronica?s and ask him to see that this is resolved, highlighting the recent incident. It always helps though if others are able to lobby him (or other members of the Sainsbury?s management) when in the store. If Sainsbury?s can't look after the gates then we will ask them to provide lighting. (The response to sophiesofa's suggests they are considering this - whether this is in response to the recent incident or something longer term I don't know). I will let you know if I hear anything else. Very best Oliver

Hello candp I?ve been in touch with Veronica Ward, one of the Labour councillors for South Camberwell. They have been talking to Sainbury?s about this for some time. Sainsbury?s are meant to ensure that the park is closed when it is dark, but they have been careless about opening and closing times. Unfortunately the management at Sainsbury?s has changed over time and there is no corporate memory of earlier discussions with the councillors and the community about the park. The person currently at Sainsbury?s that Veronica has been in touch with is Pete Brown. I will add my voice to Veronica?s and ask him to see that this is resolved, highlighting the recent incident. It would be helpful though if others were also able to lobby him (or other members of the Sainsbury?s management) when in the store, or in writing (80 Dog Kennel Hill, SE22 8BB ). If they can?t look after the gates then we will ask them to provide lighting. I will let you know if we get any further developments. Very best Oliver

Dear candp Thanks for raising this - I will bring it up with the South Camberwell Labour team and get back to you as soon as I can. Very best Oliver

Dear all Sorry for the delay in replying. Firstly on Southwark communications. There are some quite strong views on Southwark Life, and this is clearly something that we will need to think about. My concern with Southwark?s communications had been primarily with the bus-stop adverts telling us how good our council is, but as quite a few people see Southwark Life as a waste of money then we will look at that too. Huguenot, looks like most of the information you found on google is indeed about me, although some of it is out-of-date. I did run for the council in Oxford when I was a student, although it was a little more than a couple of years ago. I am from the north originally (well, Derby, which is midlands rather than north, but it?s all north-of-the-river). I did also work for PSB, although I left just over a year ago. I worked with businesses rather than politicians in my time there, and we did research rather than lobbying. I now work at a charity / think-tank. Am I looking for a fast-track to power? I wouldn?t consider it like that. Many of the councillors I know (from all parties, and not just in Southwark) have said that being a councillor takes up so much time it can be a hindrance on your career rather than a fast-track to power. You?re correct on twenty-something (for another couple of years at least), and if growing up in Derbyshire makes me provincial, then you?re right on that too. Smiler, I think that school places are a bigger issue in East Dulwich than school meals, and I don?t think that there?s been adequate planning for the demographic changes in the area, although the extra money from the government for school classrooms should help. I do think though that the lack of a suitable site in East Dulwich is a bigger barrier for a new school than anything central government has or hasn?t done. We will look at the admissions ? more to follow on this. Finally, on school meals. A lot?s been said on this from both points of view already. As david_carnell said, many families are entitled to school meals but don?t take them up. In some cases this is due to the stigma, in some it?s due to lack of knowledge. Furthermore, families? circumstances change and their entitlements change, and keeping track of this can be tricky. Schools are unlikely to turn away children who haven?t paid and who may be entitled to free lunches, and I know of schools having to write-off losses that are not insubstantial. Domitianus posed some specific questions about school meals. Firstly, are they nutritionally sound? Healthy meals is a requirement now, and the two Southwark schools with which I am involved as a governor have both taken steps in the recent future to further boost the nutritional value of their lunches. And yes, the children do eat them ? actually they often rather enjoy them. I?ve sampled them and they?re certainly a big improvement on the school dinners I got when I was at primary school. I think you?re absolutely right about teaching those who make packed lunches about nutritional requirements. But I don?t think it?s a case of one or the other. Finally, there are links between the nutritional content of meals and educational attainment, and pushing up children?s educational attainment benefits us all in the long run. Very best, Oliver

Dear all Many thanks for all the comments. I've addressed many of them here, and I will try and post further on the schools issues tomorrow. Freddy1929, I agree with you about the move to Tooley Street. I don?t know the exact costings either, but I?m not convinced that moving to plush new offices by the river is the best use of our council tax. Pugwash, I disagree with you on your comparison with Lambeth council. I?m not an expert on Lambeth, but the last Audit Commission reports found that Lambeth council ?performs well?, while Southwark council ?performs adequately?. In fact, out of 33 boroughs in London, Southwark came joint 31st. Six boroughs were judged as ?performs excellently?, 24 were judged as ?performs well?, and only 3 were judged as ?performs adequately? or worse, Southwark included. These inspections don?t tell us everything of course, but it still is a pretty poor showing from our council. You can see more about Southwark here: http://oneplace.direct.gov.uk/infobyarea/region/area/localorganisations/Pages/orgscompare.aspx?region=51&area=437 And see the comparison tables here: http://oneplace.direct.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/oascores/2009_OA_scores_all_organisations.xls Loz, I totally agree that some consultants are useful in bringing in knowledge and skills. I do some consultancy work myself and I?m certainly not against it. But Southwark has spent ?2.5 million more in the first nine months of this financial year than in the whole of last year. That?s an awful lot of money. You may not read the ?Southwark Rose? ? that?s fair enough. But at least you?re not paying for it. It?s paid for by local Labour Party donations and it?s delivered by local volunteers. But you?re currently paying for your council to tell you how good they are at improving green spaces etc. Personally I don't think that's on. We will send our manifesto out in due course ? but in the meantime if you tell me what the main issues are to you, then I?ll do my best to tell you what we?ll do about it. Amelie, perhaps unsurprisingly I don?t agree with you on banning party politics in local elections. I think that people find that party affiliations are helpful indicators of a candidate?s likely beliefs and actions. But if not, people can always stand as, and vote for, candidates who are independent of a party political label. Villager, I am in full time employment. I work for a charity (a think-tank, to be precise). I work in the consulting arm, which is focused on implementing solutions rather than public policy. Very best, Oliver

Hi everyone Lots of comments here ? I?m going to answer some now, but some I?ll have to answer later on. Sean and ???? - fair question about whether this forum should be used for politics / electioneering. I decided to start a new thread rather than post onto a current one so people can ignore it if they choose. Although given the number of replies there would seem to be at least some interest. GG and Huguenot, on the school meals. Labour councillors will tomorrow be proposing an amendment to the budget that will fund free school meals. It will cut expenditure on consultants, agency staff and Southwark publicity, and it will also take some of the money currently being sent into an unspecified contingency fund. To give some context, the council spent over ?12.6 million on consultants in the first 9 months of this financial year, compared to ?10.1 million in the whole of 2008/9. The Lib Dem and Tory coalition has a majority in the council so the amendment may not be accepted. If not then Labour will look to introduce the free school meals if they take control of the council after the elections. More details will follow in the manifesto. Huguenot, I agree that bland statements about cutting ?waste? and making ?efficiency savings? are not always helpful, although all councillors should be looking to do both. However, here we are being quite clear about what expenditure we want to cut. For an example of what this looks like, see here: http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com/2010/02/lib-dem-tory-poster-campaign-that.html. Villager, thanks for the welcome! I moved into Matham Grove in 2004, and I now live on Lordship Lane. I did spend a couple of years in South Camberwell in the middle though. My fellow candidates also live locally ? Les Alden lives on Upland Road and Joani Reid on East Dulwich Road. Matthew123, there are some issues where East Dulwich needs particular attention (e.g. school places). There are other areas where spending will be needed across Southwark (e.g. on council blocks of flats, particularly after the tragic incidents last year), and I would support them as they are clearly the right thing to do, even though they may focus on other wards more than East Dulwich. The council will be run most effectively if councillors work together towards a shared vision for improving Southwark, rather than looking just at their ward, and the Labour candidates will all stand on a joint manifesto. That said, taking up concerns of residents of your ward and making sure that your ward gets a decent deal is also an important part of being a councillor. It?s not necessarily an easy balance to get right, but one that?s very important. I also think that you can be a more effective councillor (for your ward and for Southwark as a whole) if you spend time listening to the concerns of people in your ward. That would be a priority of mine. Amelie and Pugwash, I will answer both of your comments when I get a moment ? sorry for the delay. Very best Oliver

Huguenot, I'd like to see Lordship Lane improved for pedestrians too, and a new crossing could well help. I'd be very wary about widening pavements if it meant losing a bus lane though as they're vital at rush hour. Recycling facilities may well not be difficult, but they're not being provided adequately at the moment. Green goose, there is plenty of wasteful spending that can be cut to cover free school meals, such as expenditure on consultants, corporate lawyers and council spin. For example, the council's poster campaign telling us how good the council is (see Peckham Rye Labour's excellent post on the subject here: peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com/2010/02/lib-dem-tory-poster-campaign-that.html). I would rather the council spend our money on providing free school meals than on telling us how good they are in the run up to an election. Alice, many families who are currently entitlted to free school meals don't take them, at least partly because of the stigma attached to it. Free school meals for all primary school children will stop this, and there is plenty of evidence to show that a nutritious lunch improves childrens' learning and makes them less disruptive in the afternoon. Oliver

Thanks for the support TonyQuinn, we will keep fighting. Huguenot, I'm afriad I don't know why you can't see the blog on your computer, it seems to be working on the different computers i've checked it on. You're right of course - any local council candidate can ask locals what they see as the issues (although I do think it is an important thing to do, and actually many candidates don't). To answer your question - we will be delivering a copy of our manifesto to all properties in East Dulwich nearer to the election. In the meantime, for me the key issues include: Education locally, and school places in particular. As I'm sure you know, there are many families with young children in East Dulwich and it's created a big squeeze on school places; I don't think the council has adequately prepared for the changing demographics in the area. The government however has promised an extra ?12 million for new school classrooms in Southwark. Where exactly in the borough this is spent is up to the council, and making sure that the Dulwich area gets its fair share is a priority of ours. In addition, we are pledging free school meals for all Primary School children if Labour takes control of the council. I think this is a really positive step and will benefit children and families across Southwark. I also think recycling is a top priority - Southwark has the sixth lowest recycling rate in the whole of England, which I find really disappointing. There's a big desire to recycle in East Dulwich but the rules are sometimes confusing and there are many things that you can't recycle in the kerbside boxes. I've also been trying to get the council to send us recycling bags for the flats I live in, which they still haven't done, so I have to take everything down to Sainsbury's on Dog Kennel Hill which is a real pain. Also anti-social behaviour, whether it's people feeling unsafe walking home at night, or dog fouling on the pavements. Plenty of others of course - what do you think are the biggest issues? No deposit required to run for the council SteveT... ;)

Hello, I?m Oliver Kempton and I have been selected, along with Joani Reid and Les Alden, to be one of Labour's candidates for East Dulwich ward for the local elections in May. Joani, Les and I have spent a lot of time speaking to people in East Dulwich about their concerns and what they'd like to see improve in East Dulwich, particularly local schools, recycling, and anti-social behaviour. We haven't had the chance to speak to everyone yet and the East Dulwich forum is a great way for people in East Dulwich to communicate, so please do get in touch and let us know what issues you think we should be focussing on. We can be reached at [email protected], and our blog is at www.edlabour.blogspot.com. Hope to hear from you soon Oliver Oliver Kempton [email protected]