Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
How good are our basic council services?
Hi all,
Does anyone have an informed view on how competent our Council are at their "basic" responsibilities, compared to Councils in similar parts of London. Thinking of collecting bins, keeping the streets serviceable etc etc.
I've lived in Haringey for a while and was young enough not to really care or notice when I lived elsewhere in London before that, so I don't have a sense of how they perform compared to other Boroughs.
Am trying to find a reason not to abstain in May :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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It's a good question, but I don't know if there's any body of empirical evidence on which to base a judgement. Bodies like the Care Quality Commission evaluated health and social care services, but I'm not aware of any body that does the same for what you call 'basic council services'. Without that standard measure, applied evenly across different council jurisdictions, I'm not sure how much comparative value an assessment would have.
With regards to finding a reason not to abstain, it's my view that you should always vote in local elections. What our local council does affects our day-to-day lives, our homes and our children. You're clearly doing your best to establish a basis on which to base your judgement. So you're probably ahead of most of us! Abstaining serves no purpose that I can see.
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Surely there’s a best and a worst option. Our problem is working that out from our own perspective with a reasonable degree of certainty. You might still conclude that none is good enough, but I won’t accept that one is not better than the rest from an individual’s perspective, even if only marginally.
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What’s changed Nick? Certainly public opinion shifted following the student fees issue but has much else really changed that much?
And remember your local vote doesn’t have to match your national one. We are voting here for who we think will provide the best local services and governance and perhaps deliver them to serve our own political views.
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I guess if you don't 'feel' them, you don't 'feel' them.
You said in your previous comment that you've previously been an LD voter. I'm assuming that was as a result of both 'feeling' them and 'agreeing with their plans'. As a matter of general interest, may I ask which policies or plans you think have changed to a degree that you no longer feel aligned with them?
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Permalink Reply by Diamond Lights on
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Thanks Hugh, maybe having a dig around on the merits of my individual candidates is the way forward. I try to respect my right to vote :)
I'd be interested if anyone has recently moved into Haringey from say Hackney or Camden how it compares.
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The NOAC ( a body I hadn't heard of) has responsibility for this and for producing data (used to be the Audit Commission which was scrapped by the coalition)
"The National Oversight & Audit Commission is a statutory body established by Ministerial order under section 126B of the Local Government Act 2001, to oversee the local government sector."
Further info at www.noac.ie
When people across the globe are fighting for a right to have a vote, its a shame for us not to use ours. There are a lot of great new candidates standing across the borough - just have a look at the manifesto of the Labour Party and you will see the changes and improvements that are planned.
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Thanks for that info, Michele (but I notice that the url is '.ie'. Are you sure that's not an Irish body?
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I've found a couple of papers about what happens in the UK. The first, attached below, gives a pretty transparent story of what happened to the Audit Commission. The second is a report from last month. On a very superficial skim, I get the impression that the process has shifted to one that focusses more on a financial audit.
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1849074.pdf, 62 KB
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Nail on the head Hugh.
Auditing is purely about income and expenditure and nothing about quality and responsiveness. When the Conservatives came to power they carried out a pretty comprehensive programme of “reducing the burden” on local authorities by getting rid of many of the inspection regimes that were in place. In one way it did need an overhaul. A lot of time and money was spent on collecting information rather than providing services, but it came at a bad time as a lot of authorities had invested quite heavily in automating the data collection process so it would be low or no cost in future years.
I think it is useful to have the information to look at historic trends in an individual local authority rather than produce the rather simplistic league tables that used to be published but even that level of information has gone. Also, published data was a useful way of finding out who was doing something well and then going to talk to them about how they did it, hopefully bringing better practice back home.
Having said that a number of authorities have followed an open data route where they publish all of their data so people can do their own research but it does take time and a bit of technical know how.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Osbawn, this "Momentum takes over" is a nonsense. Another fiction put around by the Kobot regime. Please make your own judgements as well as -perhaps - reading right-wing media. Seek out hustings or other opportunities to listen to, or speak to your various candidates ask them about their values and principles and policies.
If they can't tell you or you disagree with what they say, then plainly don't vote for them. Depending on how much time you have, consider volunteering for a party or candidate whose views you do support and agree with. (But please bear in mind it might involve walking up and down hills and delivering leaflets!)
Diamond Lights, I would offer similar advice for you. Except to suggest that you may want to consider issues other than clean streets - important though that is. And even on that issue I'd suggest that your own observations and those of your friends and family might offer some guidance.
This morning for example, with sinking heart, I walked past a larger than usual pile of dumping on the pavement outside a listed Georgian building. I took a couple of photos & prepared to report it. Half an hour later I walked past and Veolia staff were clearing the trash into their truck.
So what's the problem the new Council needs to solve? Getting better at reporting? Or getting better cleaning? Or is it getting better at "upstream" prevention? Asking how we reverse what seems an attitude that casual dumping and littering are okay?
And doesn't a similar approach - properly understanding and tackling the causes of problems "upstream", apply in many other policy areas? Health is an obvious example.
My point about seeking out candidates and forming your own judgements applies very much to treating with suspicion any broad and sweeping pronouncements by others.
I have great respect for many people I know who are in the LibDems, the Greens, the SWP, and the SNP. Plus a few highly principled anarchists, And even a very few rare and - 'why on earth are they' - Tories. Treat with suspicion anyone saying that 'the such-and-such party is all this or all that'.
"If they give you lined paper, write the other way."
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Oops. Apologies. In accordance with HoL House rules my political declaration is on my profile page.
I have been a member of the Labour Party for over 45 years. My wife is a Labour candidate on 3 May. I'm not.
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