TJMP

Thanks for raising this issue which I know is of enormous concern to many constituents. As a Minister, I am unable to support EDMs. I am however, seeking an urgent meeting with senior FCC representatives along with my colleague in Streatham, Chuka Umunna. You may be aware that the Transport Secretary has already raised concerns about the wholly unsatisfactory service that FCC have provided. Andrew Adonis said in Parliament last week: "I am only too well aware of the substandard service that has been offered by First Capital Connect in recent months. This is a matter of acute concern to me and my department." I am also seeking a meeting with Andrew Adonis on this and other issues relating to plans for the Thameslink service - particularly on the Wimbledon loop - after the major upgrade works are completed by 2015. Tessa Jowell MP

I have received the following response from Royal Mail. It came in two parts and I have adapted it slightly so that it reads more easily: ------------------------ It is difficult to respond in detail to some of these individual complaints, without having fuller information of where items were posted, services used etc. On the broader point of service generally in East Dulwich: We have, as you are probably aware, been making changes within our delivery offices throughout the country as part of the essential modernisation of Royal Mail - some of these changes have involved revising delivery rounds and ways of working. I very much regret that, following these changes and the prolonged industrial action in some London offices, our service in a small number of areas is not yet up to the standard we want for our customers. We are not complacent about this and we are putting extra resource in and making extra deliveries as necessary to ensure that all mail is cleared and delivered as quickly and efficiently as possible. There will, for example, have been changes that mean people have to learn new rounds or parts of rounds - regrettably this can lead to an increase in human error in the short term. My advice to customers is to ensure they let Royal Mail customer services know (0845 7740740) of any issues as that helps us to pinpoint issues to particular delivery rounds - and of course our Special Delivery and Tracked services can be traced through out system. I am pleased to say however, that the situation, which we fully acknowledge has not been up to standard, is improving. We employed some special measures to make sure that everything is getting delivered efficiently each day as I know that there have been some unacceptable delays following the industrial action. We are now, of course, carrying out our Christmas operation (when we have extra staff and deliveries etc) and this is going well so far, without any problems. ---------------------- Please do send me any feedback and/or report directly to Royal Mail customer services as advised above. I do hope that everyone has a very pleasant and peaceful Christmas. Tessa Jowell MP

A quick update. I raised this matter via the Chief Executive's office on 2 December and drew their attention to this thread. I received an acknowledgement on the same day and a promise that the matter would be investigated. I have chased a response again today pointing out the continuing widespread concern on this issue and the increasing urgency in the run-up to Christmas. I will keep pressing and share any further updates via this thread. Tessa Jowell MP

Thank you R&A, I would just say in response to the post above that I was interested in this issue a long time before any decision had been made to cut the SLL - as evidenced in responses I submitted to the Cross London Rail Utilisation Strategy and the South London Rail Utilsation Strategy consultation documents which were published four and two years ago respectively. If you read my post you will see that I haven't claimed credit for anything. I am just one of many people helping to make the case for local people under the banner of the South London Line Campaign. The main reason for the post was because I thought that Eileen had been treated rather unfairly in this thread given all the work she has put in. There will be a new East London Line service running through Denmark Hill which is to be welcomed. The only capital contribution in cash terms has been made by DfT who suggested in the South London Rail Utilisation Strategy that a replacement service into Victoria should be provided. TfL asked DfT to scrap this planned service (as they are entitled to do under powers given to the Mayor) as their 'contribution' to the ELL project. That is where the argument was but, as my post makes clear, things have moved on and I believe that real progress is being made. Tessa Jowell

It is not commercially ludicrous to provide a service that is well used and patently needed - especially when balanced against other environmental and social factors. It is also not ludicrous to suggest, having spent several million pounds making Denmark Hill Station accessible for patients to King's and the Maudsley, that cutting the trains that serve it from London Bridge and Victoria is a bad idea. The Transport Minister has now put forward a solution that will mitigate much of the loss of service to Victoria. I am hopeful that TfL and the Mayor will support his proposal which builds in a process where the replacement service can be evaluated for usage etc over a period of 2-3 years fron 2011. We continue to campaign on that and on the direct link into London Bridge. I along with Eileen, and virtually every other politician, passenger, patient and everyone with a link to King's and SLAM from SE5 to SE27 support the aims of the SLL campaign. Eileen should be thanked for the hard work she has been doing for the local community on this and other issues. Tessa Jowell

Smiler Wrote: > It would be good to know whether the additional funding is for capital (buildings, portacabins, equipment, IT etc.) only, or whether it can also be used to pay salaries of teaching and support staff. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The answer to this is in my post above (here) - the extra money is entirely for capital funding and is earmarked for expanding primary school places. It is in addition to the ?50.5 million in capital funding made available to Southwark for the period 2008-2011. Tessa Jowell MP

After a fantastically successful pet chipping day in October (see above) when 124 animals were chipped and donations of ?270 were made, a new chipping session will take place this weekend. The RSPCA shop in West Norwood will have a free microchipping day on Sunday 6th December from 12 noon until 4pm. The shop is located at 380 Norwood Road, London SE27 9AA (opposite the end of Robson Road). The RSPCA (as at 12 October) had chipped 1781 animals this year and is hoping that over 2000 will be chipped by the end of the year. The branch covers the whole of south-east London so users of the East Dulwich Forum are welcome to take advantage of this session. And do please consider making a donation to support this and the other excellent work carried out by the RSPCA locally. More information here: New December chipping session Tessa Jowell MP

To clarify - the position is set out in the email I sent to Toast which was posted at 7.19pm yesterday. The government has provided more than ?12 million to Southwark in extra funding. This is for capital works required to build accommodation for extra school places. It is specifically to support the provision of additional places "by 2011" and is on top of the ?50.5 million already allocated to Southwark by the government for capital spending on schools for the period 2008/11. How this extra money is spent is a decision for the local authority which, in this case, has shown itself to be behind the game and certainly in a poor position of planning for new school places compared to Lambeth - part of which I also represent. The ?12 million extra is a substantial funding settlement making a total of ?62.6 million for Southwark over three years. The Schools Minister, in his letter to me on Monday, made it clear that the money must be spent by 2011. I would encourage anyone with an interest in this matter to approach their councillors and council candidates to seek their views on where they stand on this issue and why Southwark handled the concerns of local parents so badly earlier this year. For information, I have attached a copy of the letter I sent to Ed Balls in August of this year putting the case for extra funding. I have had two meetings with the Schools Minister, Vernon Coaker, to press the issue since that letter was sent. Tessa Jowell MP

Following a campaign by local parents and myself and after two meetings I have had with the Schools Minister, Vernon Coaker, I am pleased to be able to report that Southwark has been allocated an extra ?12 million by the government towards the capital funding needed for new school places in the East Dulwich area. This is great news that will mean that East Dulwich can have a much needed new school and should prevent the sort of chaos we saw in the East Dulwich area earlier in the year over the allocation of primary school places. Tessa Jowell MP

JBARBER Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As we all know this years Primary School admissions has been painful. Quite out of the blue > we have had unhappy parents. 120 appeals, 8 upheld from over 2,500 applications. > > I?ve asked council officers how many cases councillors and MP?s referred to them for help: > > Labour 13 - councillors 5, Harriet Harman MP 3, Tessa Jowell MP 5. > Liberal Democrats 35 - councillors 14, Simon Hughes MP 21. > Convervative 1. > > Total 46. This analysis misrepresents the scale of the problem this year in the East Dulwich area. The fact is that Tessa dealt with a considerably larger number of cases than the 5 implied above. Tessa held a meeting with local parents which was attended by parents/carers/grandparents with responsibility for 18 children. In total Tessa acted directly in 24 cases representing 25 children (just Southwark primary transfer cases). This closely equates to the equivalent of a single form of entry in the local area and it is, of course, unlikely that every single affected parent came to Tessa for help. A major issue, apart from inadequate planning for extra places in the south of the borough, was a totally unacceptable level of communication with parents who were facing an extremely stressful situation. Southwark was contrasted in its approach with neighbouring boroughs and described by parents as being "completely overloaded and under-resourced", "unhelpful", "in need of hassling", "impersonal", "very poor and rude", "not human", "grumpy", "lamentable" and "aggressive". Much of the support Tessa helped to provide was in facilitating a dialogue with Pauline Armour of Southwark Education - who responded well to the challenge. From feedback she has received I think that many parents appreciated the efforts Tessa made to help break down the communication barrier. This certainly alleviated some of the feelings of stress and helplessness that parents had suffered. Tessa Jowell MP (Office)

Attached is a copy of a letter from Transport Minister Sadiq Khan MP to Boris Johnson about the funding of the East London Line Phase 2 extension to Clapham Junction. This was received in Tessa's office today. It is clear that the Mayor's only 'contribution' to the cost of the project was the ?24m 'saved' from requiring the Department for Transport to withdraw a service that would have run from Victoria to Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye. This was using a power the Mayor has to vary rail services in London. ?24m is less than half a percent of the ?5 billion that the Mayor boasted this week that he can save from TfL's budget. Tessa Jowell MP's Office

There will be another micro-chipping session for local pet owners this Sunday 11 October from 12 noon to 4pm. At the last session, on 9th August, 96 animals were microchipped and the RSPCA received almost ?200 in donations - thank you to everyone who made a contribution. So far this year the local RSPCA has chipped over 1200 animals - a fantastic achievement. The session will, once again, take place at the RSPCA London South East Branch shop at 380 Norwood Road, West Norwood, SE27 9AA (opposite the end of Robson Road). Pet owners from East Dulwich and the surrounding area will be very welcome. More information on this and previous sessions can be found on my website here: New chipping session Tessa Jowell MP

For anyone interested there's a fascinating map available of 'Remarkable Trees in Dulwich' produced by the Dulwich Society's Trees Committee. I think it should still be available from Brian Green's stationery and art shop - 29 Dulwich Village from memory. There was an article about the Dulwich Picture Gallery Mulberry in the Summer Edition of the Dulwich Society Newsletter: Dulwich Society Newsletter - Mulberry Tree Tessa Jowell

Bump - reminder for this weekend.

The local RSPCA will be having a micro-chipping day for dogs on Sunday 9th August from 12 noon to 4pm. The session will take place at the RSPCA London South East Branch shop at 380 Norwood Road, West Norwood, SE27 9AA (opposite the end of Robson Road). Whilst this is not an East Dulwich event, the RSPCA has assured me that Dulwich and East Dulwich residents would be more than welcome. More information on these sessions can be found on my website here: RSPCA dog chipping success Tessa Jowell MP

Thanks to everyone who voted for the Ebony Horse Club. They won the Beyond Sport London Legacy award worth ?60,000 over three years last night in a ceremony at City Hall. It is one of the most inspiring and effective local organisations I have ever worked with in transforming the lives of hundreds of young people growing up in really tough circumstances. Here's a message from the founder of Ebony, Ros Spearing, to everyone who voted for them: Thank you for voting for us! Last night Ebony Horse club won The Beyond Sport London Legacy Prize. Please see Evening Standard Newspaper today and please pass this on to all those who voted for us. More here: Brixton riding club wins charity prize Tessa Jowell

Going back to the original post, taxpayers money has not been used to produce leaflets for the Labour Party. I purchased, at cost price, ink and blank paper that had been paid for by the Labour Party and I made use of a Freepost address to which constituents were able to return responses. None of the letters produced make any reference to the Labour Party or even the fact that I am a Labour MP. Using this method of printing letters and surveys meant that I was able to produce them at a cost per page of 0.65p. This is value that is simply not available for short-run printing in the commercial sector. Details of all my claims and receipts including this specific item, with an example of the sort of letter produced, has been on my website for more than a month at: Details of Claims and Receipts under 'Lists of Suppliers' If anyone would like to see a more detailed break-down of the costs incurred and the letters produced please PM me or email me at [email protected] My response to the Evening Standard piece which was published on their website was as follows: Like all MPs, I use my communications allowance for precisely the purpose for which it is intended - to communicate with my constituents about local issues. Last year, I used only around half of my permitted allowance. I was able to limit this expenditure because my local Labour Party provided printing and freepost services for letters to my constituents at a cheaper rate than I would have been able to obtain commercially. The Labour Party made no profit from providing these materials at cost price and in using them I saved taxpayers money. None of the letters referred to, or in any way promoted, the Labour Party. Producing letters at a cost of 0.65p each is extremely good value for money. Full details of my allowances and some explanatory information is available, and has been for the last month, on my website at www.tessajowell.net/my-allowances Tessa Jowell MP

The Department for Transport has announced today that Govia has retained the South Central franchise so Barry's excellent work here and, I know, at the many other stations he has responsibity for will continue. Tessa Jowell

Given concerns discussed on this forum about behaviour on buses I thought EDF members might like to be made aware of this new reporting trial that is being carried out over the next three months and includes bus services in Southwark. From TfL: I am writing to let you know about a new text/phone/email service that TfL and the Metropolitan Police Transport Operational Command Unit (MPS TOCU) are launching. From 1 March 2009, we shall begin a three month trial of a service that will allow members of the public to text, phone or email information about inconsiderate, intimidating or otherwise anti-social bad behaviour on buses. The trial will last for three months and will apply to bus routes operating in Lewisham, Lambeth and Southwark. Clearly anti-social behaviour can be very intimidating. We hope that by providing these new direct channels, passengers can assist us in deploying police resources effectively. We shall assess the trial to determine to what extent Police intelligence is improved as a result of this form of direct passenger feedback. If the trial is judged a success, consideration will be given to a wider roll-out. We shall distribute information cards with key contact details at transport hubs and shopping centres in the three boroughs. I have set this out below also. Secondary school children will receive the same information, but on Oyster card wallets, which will be distributed to the 50 secondary schools in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham. The MPS TOCU will monitor all calls, texts, and emails received on a daily basis. Any information received that is relevant to other policing teams will be fed through to them. Passengers will be able to feed information to their local policing team by: CALLING Lambeth/Southwark 0800 028 7820 Lewisham 0800 028 7760 TEXTING The word BUS followed by the message to 80010. (A text will be charged at the standard text message rate). EMAILING [email protected] GOING ONLINE At www.met.police.uk Tessa Jowell MP

The East London Line Extension has been given the go-ahead today after the Government reached agreement with TfL More here: East London Line Breakthrough Tessa Jowell

BARA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The 12's and 40 normally terminate at Etherow Street. This street and Friern Road is not being used > as still thick sheet of ice and traffic is avoiding the area. Hence 40s terminating at Goose Green Tessa has raised this with Southwark as not gritting a 'minor' road has, in this case, had a wider impact and meant that bus passengers are having to walk from Goose Green to the Plough. Tessa Jowell (Office)

I have put a survey on my website about the changes to off-peak services from East Dulwich. It will only take a minute to complete. You can access it by clicking here: Rail Survey Please note that the peak service is unaffected. Tessa Jowell MP

Any changes to the direct Victoria to London Bridge Link are still a long way off and are related to future works connected with the Thameslink upgrade that will take away some of the terminating platform capacity at London Bridge. Tessa, along with Harriet Harman and Martin Linton have a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport about this issue and the East London Line Extension through through Denmark Hill later today. It was also the subject of much discussion at the meeting on Monday. Tessa Jowell's Office

From the office of Tessa Jowell MP: Tessa Jowell has already made representations on the loss of the off-peak service via East Croydon - including to the Department for Transport and Southern Rail. The meeting on Monday was attended by this office and by Val Shawcross. Both Tessa and Val will continue to press for a change of heart on this issue. One new and surprising development that came out of Monday's meeting was from a representative of London Travelwatch who revealed that his independent organisation that is meant to represent passengers apparently supported the reduction in the off-peak service to London Bridge from Smitham (the one that goes through North and East Dulwich via East Croydon). They supported an increase to another service from 2 trains per hour to 4 tph in preference. Tessa is trying to establish the reason for this ridiculous decision and whether it was based on any proper evidence. Whilst it is implied that the change was made because the service via East Dulwich was underused, many constituents believe this is not the case for the East Croydon link. Tessa will therefore be asking for details of passenger survey information and will press for a re-instatement of the service via East Croydon as soon as possible should it be cut. It would be helpful to get an indication of responses that individuals and other local elected representatives may have received so that we can work together and make the best possible case. You can do this via Private Message or to [email protected] but please can you indicate whether you reside in Tessa Jowell's constituency.

The application has been turned down. Tessa Jowell wrote to local residents about this in a letter that was distributed at the weekend: Report back: Etherow Street and Barry Road Flats Tessa Jowell MP's Office