Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

Why the number of female MPs matters

2009-01-05T16:54:00.002Z

The Christmas edition of the Electoral Reform Society's magazine, The Voter carries this short article from me:

Sadly, I am one of only 126 female MPs in a Parliament of 646. Parliament remains an old boys club, with its adversarial style of politics where bully-boy tactics are the norm; any of you who’ve watched PMQs will be fully aware of this.

And this feeds a political system that is so busy being adversarial that it forgets to be effective. This lack of representation is repeated throughout our political system. In local government, women make up just over a quarter of local councillors, whilst with MEPs it is a similar story: just one quarter female.

The quality of our government suffers from these imbalances – an impact which therefore affects us all, men and women. Women need to be there, with men, making these decisions, to ensure that public services and policy are relevant to all people and are capable of having a real effect on the lives, not just of women, but of everyone in society.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the allocation of resources, where the macho boys culture so often summons up the massive project and neglects the important details. When I was chair of transport at London Assembly it was starkly clear. Why is it that an obsession with boys-toys – the macho game of who’s got the biggest airport or the longest train – delivers multi-billion pound budgets for massive transport infrastructure projects yet not even a fraction of those budgets were spent on so called ‘soft measures’, such as making sure you can fit a double buggy through the door of a bus and making sure that local shopping centres and services are easily accessible – really easily accessible - through using public transport?

But it should not be a question of either or – it should be a matter of both. Some of our Nordic counterparts are light years ahead in terms of female representation, and we can see the practical effect on policy and resource priorities. Take Finland – with its childcare allowance for women who stay home and look after children under the age of 3 and its municipal care for children who are below the school age of 7.

We have come a long way in 90 years. It’s not enough, but we are constantly pushing, and constantly forcing change. I hope that within the next decade we will able to celebrate the achievement of equal and proper representation of women in politics, as another 90 is far too long to wait for this change!

It isn’t enough that women have the vote, and it isn’t enough that Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan all rank above us internationally when it comes to women’s representation. Equal representation and involvement in politics is our right, and it is the women today who will bring about change tomorrow, by demanding the equal representation they deserve and by working together to achieve it.

Ten most popular blog postings (4th quarter, 2008)

2009-01-02T07:53:00.000Z

No real surprises here, with one story dominating your and my attention - the awful death of Baby P.

10. George Meehan and Liz Santry resign - the two key Labour councillors (council leader and lead member for children's services) finally took responsibility for Haringey Council's failings.
9. Baby P investigation update - thoughts following a meeting with Cabinet minister Ed Balls.
8. Panorama on Baby P - my advance thoughts, particularly on how the pressure to agree may result in people not sticking by their concerns.
7. Baby P at PMQs - a very brief post, but got lots of traffic due to the Brown-Cameron spat making that PMQs very high profile.
6. The departure of Sharon Shoesmith - my reaction to the (eventual) departure of the head of Haringey's children's services and education.
5. The roles of Sharon Shoesmith and George Meehan - in which I explain why I believed they should take responsibility for the errors and blunders exposed in the Baby P saga.
4. Brian Coleman and the Fire Brigade - see no.3.
3. Fire Brigade rushes to help - the Brian Coleman saga where, for latecomers, I feared for my and family's safety, called the Fire Brigade - who said I did the right thing - but Brian Coleman (Conservative London Assembly member) took it upon himself to criticise. Cue numerous comments on my various blog postings and via my website from firemen agreeing with my actions.
2. Reading the Baby P Serious Case Review - after initially being kept secret, the review was shown to a small number of MPs, myself included
1. Baby P verdict - reaction to the trial verdict.

So - that was the last quarter. Let's see what gets your attention in the next one...

2009 should be a year of hope and change

2008-12-30T08:23:00.001Z

Here's the New Year message from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg:

Things can change

2008-12-29T08:51:00.000Z

I read a piece on Paul Linford's blog about another boy who died in terrible circumstances at the hands of his foster parents - who astonishingly had been cleared to adopt. However, it was this boy's tragic death, John Smith, that brought about a change in the law - a change that was able to be used for the trail following the death of Baby P:

A group of journalists from the Brighton Argus launched a "Justice for John" campaign after murder charges against his adoptive parents were dropped in favour of a lesser charge of cruelty on the grounds that it could not be proven who had struck the fatal blow. In the end, this led to a change of the law, and the creation of a new offence of causing or allowing the death of a child - the offence of which the vile killers of Baby P have now been successfully convicted and for which they will be sentenced early next year.

You can read the full post on Paul Linford's site - but to my mind, there are two points rising from this. Firstly - it shows what can be done when people put their mind to it. For all the flaws in our democracy and system of government - individuals can get together and bring about change.

Secondly - Baby P's tragic death raises the question of whether the maximum sentence for this (new) crime is high enough. It can cover such a wide range of circumstances that there needs to be the flexibility to deal with the circumstances of an individual case, but the maximum sentence available (I believe it is 14 years) is now facing a growing grassroots campaign organised primarily by mothers and grandmothers.

My own priority is to push for a public inquiry to ensure that the full range of necessary lessons are learnt and then changes applied because - vital though a just legal system is - in the end a court case and a jail sentence can only deal with the aftermath of tragedy. Avoiding the tragedy in the first place is the main objective.

But for me, the shining message from Paul's post is that things can change. It takes action and commitment - and here we have a bunch of those who are only slightly less reviled than politicians - journalists - who saw something that wasn't right - and took the action necessary. Hurrah for journalists - on this occasion!

Voting done, voting still open

2008-12-28T11:12:00.003Z

A big thank you to Iain Dale's readers for his 2008 political poll where, whilst I trail Vince Cable miserably (and rightly), I am a) in the frame and b) second! as Lib Dem MP of the Year! Thus I continue my saga of always the bridesmaid but never the bride! I also notice that his magazine Total Politics has me as one to watch - and that's what my teachers used to say - ' better keep a close eye on her' - although I think their meaning may have been different...

On my own side - I likewise see (thanks to those who have brought it to my notice) that in the Liberal Democrat Voice poll I again am trailing Vince! Well - the man is a star and being even near licking distance of boots is honour enough! But there is still time for you to vote...

Scrutiny-phobia at Haringey Council

2008-12-27T16:23:00.002Z

My comments about Haringey Council's habit of trying to turn its back on proper scrutiny of its actions seem to have caught a bit of media attention, as with The London Paper:

HARINGEY Council needs to shake up the way it scrutinises its own work in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, an MP has said.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, accused ruling Labour councillors of "scrutiny-phobia" after they refused to hand over the chair of a key watchdog committee to the opposition.

She said: "Scrutiny-phobia in Haringey has led to a culture where it was impossible for whistleblowers to raise the alarm. I am saddened that Haringey Labour has missed an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and to put its watchdog committee on a better footing to do what it is supposed to."...

Opposition leader Robert Gorrie said the decision "does not bode well for the future of Children's Services in Haringey.

"More rigorous and more independent scrutiny might have uncovered the severe failings in children's services before it was too late.

"Haringey Council needs a watchdog committee with teeth to prevent inadequacies in services being missed again."

It's Christmas fairy tale time again

2008-12-23T13:11:00.003Z

The Ham & High newspaper runs a monthly column from myself and each year I have the slot just before Christmas - for which, after all the serious pieces, I have my annual little bit of fun: the Christmas Fairy Tale.

Of course some people think this is terribly out of order and MPs should be terribly dour and serious all the time (hello diary columnists!), to which I say - as every year - bah humbug!

When to put out your rubbish over Christmas and New Year

2008-12-23T11:47:00.001Z

Some collection dates changes over the holiday season. Full details are on the Haringey Council website - including information on where you can recycle your Christmas tree.

Questions for our new Children's Services chief

2008-12-23T07:14:00.000Z

From yesterday's Evening Standard:

The man charged with turning around Haringey's failing social services faced a string of critical reports in his previous job after two children died in cases of suspected abuse...

Schools Secretary Ed Balls appointed Mr Lewis 10 days ago praising his "excellent" reputation as director of children's services in neighbouring Enfield.

But an investigation by the Standard has found social workers and health staff in Enfield were criticised over cases in which children died or were seriously harmed under his watch...

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said the cases raised concerns.

She said Mr Lewis's salary, a large rise from Ms Shoesmith's, raised expectations that he would be able to tackle the deep-rooted problems in Haringey.

"We expect a huge amount from Mr Lewis," she said. "It would be appropriate to hear directly from him. We want to be reassured on how he handled these cases and how they came to light."

You can read the full story here.

A Christmas message

2008-12-22T07:52:00.000Z

Here's my Christmas message for the Haringey Independent:

Christmas approaches - and we are all wondering how much the recession will affect us. But first let's think about the good things that have happened this year. We got a Climate Change Bill that has some rigour. 42 days detention without charge was defeated. Our neighbourhood police have had some success in bringing local crime stats down. And having been to many Christmas Shows and concerts by local children and some not so young local people - there are a wealth of good people out there doing good things.

Not so good this year - the Government closed five of our local post offices despite magnificent campaigns by local people. Our Haringey schools still get £1,000 less per child than neighbouring boroughs despite the Prime Minister agreeing with me that it's an anomaly. The awful tragedy of Baby P – and the parlous state of our Children’s Services revealed by the subsequent investigation. And many people already suffering – or worried they will be shortly – thanks to the recession.

So much still to do next year - as well as holding those now charged with helping us get the best Children's Services in the land to account.

Knowing that winter is coming, that fuel bills are high and that times are hard - perhaps it's also time that we thought a bit more about what we each can do to help others around us. We should check on our neighbours, be generous as we can with our time and if we have spare anything - we should share it. We could also resolve to get fitter – that costs nothing if we just walk every day but can bring huge health benefits. We could all resolve to volunteer if we aren’t already – that not only makes the world go round, it makes us feel really good and worthwhile.

Of course, if you lose your home or your job, you are not going to be full of Christmas cheer - so for those of us who remain in work and with a roof over our head - it's time to demonstrate community spirit and love - actually!

Did Haringey Council really only mislead one set of inspectors?

2008-12-21T16:25:00.002Z

This week was the special Haringey Council meeting called by the Lib Dems to debate the findings from Ed Ball's 'urgent investigation' into Haringey following the death of Baby P.

It saw an astonishing outburst from the person we all saw apologise (finally) on behalf of the Labour Council - Liz Santry - Labour Member for Children's Services as was. With the media's attention having moved on, at this meeting I am told she lashed out blaming others. But that's it you know - that's the real issue in Haringey - that Labour always turn it all around and instead of really looking at what's gone wrong, they simply rebut, deny, blame others. When will they ever learn?

What also is interesting, is that my Lib Dem colleagues on Haringey Council have called for all services to be re-inspected. This is because of the comments from Ofsted, in the form of Christine Gilbert, that they were 'misled' by Haringey officials when they did their inspection. If people misled one batch of inspectors, what are the chances that other inspectors carrying out other inspections were misled too?

There have been thirteen separate inspections over the last few years including the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment in October 2006, the Commission for Social Care Inspection inquiry received as recently at 28th November this year and an Audit Commission report of the Council's housing service.

There has to be now real doubt over the accuracy of these inspections - and so the call for re-inspections. Needles to say - Labour refused! As I said - when will they ever learn!

Finding the Liberal Democrats online in Haringey

2008-12-21T14:48:00.003Z

Over the last year, the online presence of Haringey Liberal Democrats has steadily been growing and expanding. Five of my local colleagues now have their own sites / blogs:

Matt Davies - Fortis Green councillor
Fiyaz Mughal - Noel Park councillor
David Schimtz - Tottenham Parliamentary spokesman and Seven Sisters candidate
Neil Williams - Highgate councillor
Richard Wilson - Stroud Green councillor

Haringey Liberal Democrats are also on Facebook, including information about our forthcoming events, or - if you're not a Facebooker - you can also instead out about our events via the main party website.

Oh, and don't forget - I'm on Facebook, Twitter (mini-blog style updates) and Flickr (photos).

Conservative u-turn over Wards Corner

2008-12-21T08:21:00.000Z

A quick update on the very popular market at Wards Corner, and the controversial development that threatens it, as I know the issue of interest to people across Haringey.

Before the Mayor elections: Boris Johnson says he's backing local campaigners against the development.

After the Mayor elections: Boris Johnson says he won't use his planning power to block the development nor will he use Transport for London's ownership of the key part of the site to block it either.

Hmm ... not impressed Boris! This man is for turning! Liberal Democrat Voice has more details on Wards Corner.

Islington Council wins employment case over refusal to marry same-sex couples

2008-12-19T22:45:00.003Z

Islington Council has won its appeal over its dismissal of Lillian Ladele, a registrar who refused to carry out same-sex marriages. I welcome the result as it would be just as unacceptable for a registrar to refuse to marry a couple who had had premarital sex because of their religious belief. This case is no different. There is no hierarchy between strands of equality, just the principle of mutual respect and tolerance - particularly for those in public administration.

A serious topic, made fun

2008-12-18T08:07:00.002Z

The Labour Government keeps on wanting to collect and keep more and more data about us. I've often mentioned how I think it is a waste spending large sums of money keeping tabs on the innocent rather than focusing resources on catching the guilty - but one of the other problems is that the more data that is kept about us, the more scope there is for the data to be lost and misused.

The Open Rights Group have a fun online survey which lets you find out whether any of your own personal data is likely to have been lost. You can try it here.

The Tangerine Book

2008-12-16T14:10:00.001Z

The Liberal Democrat Voice team have produced a 'book of the year' containing a selection of articles from the last twelve months,including a trio of pieces from myself. A good present for anyone politically interested who you know!

You can buy it from Lulu or see more details on Lib Dem Voice.

The Fire Brigade Union and Brian Coleman

2008-12-15T18:35:00.001Z

Well the Fire Brigade have come to my rescue for a second time. It’s not surprising that they are angry with Brian Coleman given he is supposed to set an example – not undermine all their good work on getting the message across that if you believe you are in danger get out the house:

London Fire Chief Under Fire for "Time Wasting" Jibe

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Dec. 15, 2008) - Fire Brigades Union (FBU) leaders in London have called on the chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) to consider his position, after he labelled as "dizzy" and an "airhead" a woman MP who dialled 999 when sparks began to fly from her boiler.

Conservative councillor Brian Coleman's remarks were branded "sexist" by Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat member of parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green, who said she intends to protest to the London Fire Brigade commissioner, Ron Dobson.

Ms Featherstone was in her house late at night with her two daughters when the boiler began to violently shake and emit sparks. Fearing an explosion, she evacuated the house and called the fire brigade.

The incident came to light after Ms Featherstone wrote an entry on her website blog, in which she praised firefighters for their actions.

However, Cllr Coleman accused Ms Featherstone of wasting brigade time and said she should have called a plumber instead. "She has shown herself to be completely dizzy. Airheads and airlocks are obviously not unrelated. She can't tell the difference between an airlock and a major catastrophe," Coleman told the Daily Mail.

Cllr Coleman also suggested Ms Featherstone send a cheque to the London Fire Brigade in recompense for the incident, in what would be a break with centuries of tradition of the fire service being free at the point of use for members of the public.

However, the FBU has slammed Cllr Coleman for engaging in cheap political point-scoring and dispensing erroneous advice. The union warned that his comments may discourage other members of the public from dialling 999 for fear of being accused of wasting brigade time. A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade also contradicted Cllr Coleman's comments by making clear that Ms Featherstone acted correctly.

The FBU's regional secretary for London, Joe MacVeigh, said, "To put narrow political considerations before public safety, as Councillor Coleman has done, is unpardonable. Any firefighter will tell you that Ms Featherstone did absolutely the right thing, and, by publicly condemning her, Councillor Coleman has raised question marks about his own suitability for office.

"You cannot have the head of London's fire authority blundering around instructing people not to call the fire brigade when they have perfectly good reason to. The huge amount of time that our members spend on educating the public about fire safety can turn to dust with crass remarks like these."

Mr MacVeigh also condemned the sexist nature of Councillor Coleman's comments. "As the head of LFEPA, Councillor Coleman has a duty to promote sound equalities and diversity policies. He even recently claimed that the London Fire Brigade was 'taking the lead on equality issues'. If an ordinary firefighter had said such things to a female colleague, he would almost certainly have been facing disciplinary action. It seems to me that Councillor Coleman needs to decide whether he wants to be a serious politician or whether he wants to continue as City Hall's resident joker."

Brian Coleman and the Fire Brigade

2008-12-14T12:22:00.004Z

I posted a 'thank you' to Hornsey firefighters for coming out on a 999 call to my house a little while back - with a very brief description of what had happened. At the end of last week, Brian Coleman, Conservative Chair of the London Fire Authority was all over the media attacking me for doing so. Although the Fire Brigade says I did the right thing to call them out - and would only have sent firefighters if they thought it necessary - he says I should pay; that it was comparable with calling them out for a pet stuck in a tree; he has called me 'dizzy', 'an airhead'; 'an utter disgrace' and so on.

What I would say about this - and all the comment that has ensued in the media (Mr Coleman actually sent out press releases to attack me) - is that I and my two daughters were terrified and that is the point. The corner of the house was shaking. The noise was extreme. In those moments - it is the clear message of the Fire Brigade that steered me through. And their advice is if you think you are in danger get out of the house and call the Fire Brigade - which is exactly what I did.

Thank goodness there was no explosion - but it was serious and when the engineer came the next day he said that the jammed motor had been sparking and as well as causing the shaking and the noise and it could have ignited. The Hornsey firefighters, when they came, checked everything and made sure it was safe.

So as I simply followed the official advice of the Fire Brigade - I have been astonished that someone in Brian Coleman's position (i.e. chair of the London Fire Authority) would undermine that message from the Fire Service - just to have a pop at someone in a different political party.

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: "If it's obvious that there has been an ongoing problem with the boiler, then you can call a plumber. But if your boiler suddenly starts making strange noises in the middle of the night, call the fire brigade." Mine was the latter situation - and so both the Fire Commission and the firefighters on the night said I did the right thing.

As you may have seen - there's been a fair few comments on this blog, so I just wanted to highlight a couple:

Hi as a serving firefighter, I can honestly say you did exactly the right thing in calling out your local fire service. The fire service has a responsibility to serve the community in all ways. Community safety is at the forefront of what we do, we would much rather see early action being taken than having to deal with the aftermath of a catastrophic failure. Your boiler could have potentially been life threatening either through a defective flue or indeed an explosion. May I suggest both a carbon monoxide detector and a smoke detector be fitted if you do not have either. Ready to serve and protect.

and

i am a fire fighter at hornsey fire station and although i am not a Libdem supporter and i was not on duty when you called us, i would like you to know that you did the correct thing. our job is to serve and protect the community and if you felt you and your family were in danger then you have a duty of care to call us asap. brian colemans comment shows how little he knows about the role of the LFB and his statement that your were dizzy is quite frankly extremely sexist and condescending, but what else can we expect from one of the mayors hand picked cronies.

I will be writing to the Commissioner of the London Fire Service - on two counts. Firstly, on the issue of how he will deal with a Chair of the Authority who is happy to send out a message which is completely contradictory to the ethic and central message of the Fire Service. Secondly, in a service in which there is a strong shift to move away from any discrimination or sexism - to ask what action he will take over having a Chair who thinks it is OK to denigrate women in the way Brian Coleman did. Those who know Mr Coleman say this is typical. But I don't think you can hold such a responsible position and then say - well it's politics, so it doesn't count.

The Westminster Hour: 10pm, Radio 4

2008-12-14T12:21:00.000Z

I'm back on The Westminster Hour tonight (Sunday): Radio 4, 10pm.

If you miss the show you'll be able to listen again on their website.

If you want to get advanced notice of my media appearances like this one, you can use the media events service at Flock Together. You've got three choices:

Using this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LiberalDemocratsMediaAppearances, or
By email: register at FlockTogether and pick “Media appearances” as one of the categories of events you want to be emailed about. (If you are an existing Flock Together user you can also change your preferences - login and then click “Edit your preferences” in the left-hand menu; you need to tick “Media Appearances” under “Email options”), or
On the web: take a look at the dedicated Flock Together page.

Highgate Choral Society

2008-12-14T10:24:00.002Z

Last night it was off to St Michael's Church in Highgate Village for the Christmas anthems and audience carols by the Highgate Choral Society, of which I am a patron. As ever - mulled wine and mince pies and beautiful singing by the Chorus and of course the audience. And there were some lovely organ solos as well.

Particularly sweet, I thought, was that the first chorus of Away in the Manger, Ronald Corp who is the conductor (amongst many other competing titles in his CV) asked that only the children sing. And the very faint but very sweet little voices were just delightful.

The whole evening was as enjoyable as ever - and I am very much looking forward to April, when the Chorus has its 130th anniversary celebratory concert at the Barbican Centre on Thursday 2nd April. If you are interested in joining, supporting or attending - their website is www.hcschoir.com.

Energy efficiency

2008-12-14T10:20:00.000Z

Friday was our energy efficiency event in Wood Green. We had the Energy Savings Trust, benefits advisers, EAGA (the organisers for me), the fire service offering free fitting for smoke detectors and advice on safety, and so on.

Those who came I hope will have received advice from the various agencies there that will help them save money on their fuel bills in particular. I ran a surgery for two hours and it was interesting that the people who came to me were not those who would necessarily have come to my usual weekly surgery. Made me think, that although my surgery is generally in one or other of the local libraries - I may try out a wider range of venues. Some of our councillors do this already I believe - but the library, especially Wood Green, is very well set up for disability access and other facilities . Nevertheless - I think this is probably worth trying after the New Year.

Baby P protest today

2008-12-13T18:45:00.002Z

Was speaker at the London Baby P march, petition presentation and rally today. This was basically a grassroots wave of expression of feelings - started by Tracy, Amanda and Antonia on Facebook - and escalating today into 17 marches across the length and breadth of the country.

They handed in a 20,000 name petition to Downing Street and then marched on to Trafalgar Square to the rally. It poured with rain throughout - and I had thought that might reduce the numbers and atmosphere - but no - they were more determined than ever.

There were a number of speakers amongst whom I was one - interspersed with songs and poems. There were many moving speeches by mothers who were there because they, like the rest of Britain, could not bear to think of Baby P's suffering and death.

The organisers wanted to give everyone an opportunity to demonstrate the depth of feeling about the failures that led to Baby P's death. They want to make sure that the whole of children's services is revolutionised - and they were categoric that this was not a witch hunt - but a plea for real change. They want to keep Baby P high on the agenda and they still want to push for a public inquiry - to answer the myriad of questions left untouched by Ed Balls's actions so far. They have been about the core front line issues of practice and management in children's services - but not the wider issues.

Wider issues such as the nature of inspections (Ofsted giving a three star rating shortly before the Ed Balls ordered investigation damning Haringey), the budgetary pressures that may have meant that staff were told not to take children into care in Haringey, the outsourcing of the child health team by Haringey Primary Care Trust (PCT) to Great Ormond Street so that the Trust when challenged said 'not me gov', the warnings that were continually ignored in Haringey, the secrecy and hiding of documents and many, many more.

Important though fixing front line services is - these other issues can also cause future tragedies and so also need addressing. That's why a deeper and wider investigation is absolutely vital.

Baby P and accountability: what happens when services are outsourced?

2008-12-12T10:44:00.006Z

At last, an opportunity to get out on record some of the issue around the health team's part in the Baby P tragedy.

The health issues involved in Baby P are huge and in my view the health side has got off lightly thus far. I have previously posted some bits about the Baby P health issues on my blog, but so far this aspect has got relatively little attention from the media.

Therefore for the health and education debate on the Queen's Speech this week - I briefed Norman Lamb on a few of the key issues which he raised in his opening speech. I paste them here for your information.

I would also add that I personally took the issues of bullying (the previous inspection by the Health Care Commission had found extremely high levels of bullying) and bad management leading to resignations and danger for children at risk in Haringey directly to the Chair of the PCT (Primary Care Trust). The response I got was simply that as the service had been outsourced to Great Ormond Street Hospital - not me gov. He said he would look into it anyway.

But when I went back the week before last to discuss amongst other issues the health team part in Baby P - the first thing said to me was 'thank goodness we are screened from the worst of the fall out from Baby P'. I thought this symptomatic of the problems with outsourcing - no-one is accountable or responsible.

At least when I remonstrated and said as MP for the area who was I to go to if not the Trust with these sorts of problems - , Tracy Baldwin (CEO), who was there at the meeting, had the grace to say yes it was the Trust and they were accountable and they were the commissioners. Clearly the Chair had never even told her that I had come with such issues of importance.

So - roll on a proper investigation not just of the actuality of who did what in terms of failing Baby P - but also in terms of the problems left festering in the health team because no one took responsibility for sorting it - but just outsourced it!

Anyway, here's Norman's contribution in Parliament:

The Healthcare Commission drew attention, too, to the fact that there were areas of serious concern. Ian Kennedy, the chair of the Healthcare Commission, focused on patient safety, and I want to concentrate for a few minutes on the area of most significance—child protection, particularly the tragedy involving Baby P. Again, it is important again to acknowledge that the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families acted commendably fast in recognising the seriousness of the failings and in mapping out a way forward. However, it is also right to say that so far, the emphasis and focus, particularly in the media, have been on the failings of the local authority—and there were many—rather than on the failings of other agencies. I think that there are lessons to be learned, and it is important to reflect on them for a moment, particularly the situation in the local health service, because serious concerns have been raised with me.

I understand that the paediatric service for child protection in the borough was outsourced to Great Ormond Street. I understand that there was a team of four doctors, of whom two have resigned, one has been on special leave for a year, and one is off sick. Given the fundamental importance of that work—I make these comments not in any sense in a partisan way, as we all have a common view of the importance of addressing these issue—that is an alarming situation in itself. Incidentally, if either Secretary of State is unable to respond to these points today, I am happy for them to respond in writing later. What factors have led to this situation? Why has one of the doctors whom I mentioned been on long-term special leave for a year? Is it the case that the primary care trust cut funding for a designated doctor post, and is it the case that the paediatrician who did not recognise the broken back and ribs in the case of Baby P was a locum employee?

I have heard concern expressed that when children are brought into St. Ann’s hospital in Tottenham as possible victims of abuse, there is a tendency for no information to arrive with the child to put the medical team fully in the picture about possible concerns. That relates to the issues of co-ordination and the sharing of information between agencies dealt with in the report released by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. I understand that when one doctor filled in a critical incident form at that hospital, in relation to another case, he was told not to do so because it would show up poor record keeping. I do not know whether there is any truth in that allegation, but it is a serious matter and it clearly needs to be investigated. What short-term steps have been taken to ensure that there are proper safeguards in place for other vulnerable babies and children in that borough? What are the longer-term lessons for the NHS—as opposed to the local authority, which has had its fair share of attention—particularly with regard to the responsibility and accountability of the clinicians involved?

David Schmitz fighting Seven Sisters by-election

2008-12-12T07:52:00.004Z

My Liberal Democrat colleague David Schmitz has been selected to fight the Seven Sisters ward by-election, caused by the sad death of long-serving councillor Fred Knight.

David is also the Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Tottenham and a seasoned campaigner. He's a barrister - which can come in handy - like in the case of the Wards Corner development where he has been giving free legal advice to members of the Wards Corner Community Coalition who are fighting to save the Latin American Market and building.

David is also campaigning on holding Labour-run Haringey Council to account over the hideous mismanagement and dreadful behaviour over the tragic death of Baby P - in which I too have been holding Haringey Labour's feet to the fire. And he has been vocal and effective in ensuring that not a single penny in pay off is made to anyone found to have been guilty of gross misconduct.

David's story of how he became involved in local campaigning is one to warm my heart - seeing a problem, doing something about it. As he recounts:

A few years ago, the house next door to us became a drugs den. Haringey Council's inability to deal with the problem turned me into a local campaigner.

When the drug den was destroyed by fire, my partner and I bought the wreck and spent a year doing it up as our home. I was so impressed by what Lynne and the Liberal Democrats were achieving in Haringey that when our building work was done, I decided that the time had come for me to join in their campaigns.

So - I am optimistic that Seven Sisters will take this opportunity to send a message to this arrogant Labour Council by electing a Liberal Democrat who will fight and stand up for local people!

An early start, a Christmas hat and the problem with tradesmen's bells

2008-12-11T19:30:00.002Z

Visited Wood Green Delivery Office to meet the postmen and women who bring us our post all through the year - and at Christmas when the post bag must be ginormous!

There's an absolutely wonderful atmosphere there - banter and fun all the way. The one very serious issue that was drawn to my attention, however, was the increasing problem they are having with tradesman bell times. Before, generally blocks of flats had access through tradesmen's bells from say 7 - 10am. But the post office has changed its delivery times so that the last rounds go out even as late as 2pm. This is resulting in the posties not being able to deliver blocks - sometimes going back over several days.

Obviously people want their post ASAP. And obviously people don't want the tradesman bells working all day as that would defeat the object of keeping people out. Keys are one possibility. A change in hours the next. Getting the post office to change its last deliver van to Hornsey & Wood Green - a long shot!

So that's my task - to see if that conundrum can be solved - as it's clearly a difficult but very important issue.!

And yes - my office made me wear the hat! Christmas cheer to all and thanks to everyone at Wood Green for being so welcoming - and at such an ungodly hour!