Joanne McCartney AM ‘deeply concerned’ by rise in muggings on buses

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

Local London Assembly Member Joanne McCartney today called on Mayor Boris Johnson to get a grip on increasing crime on Enfield & Haringey’s buses. New figures show that Enfield has seen a 3% rise in the last nine months in overall crime, and a 28% surge in robberies. Haringey has seen a 126% crime surge in the last nine months for robbery and a 14% rise in violence against the person.

The latest figures released by Transport for London show that across London robbery on buses has increased by 18%. At the same time figures released by the Metropolitan Police reveal that up to half of the officers who are supposed to police the London transport network are not even in post.

The Met figures show that the Safer Transport Team for Enfield has a vacancy rate of 60%, increasing to 61% in Haringey. This means that even though there is money in the budget officers have not been recruited to these posts.

Joanne said: “This dramatic rise in robberies on Enfield & haringey’s buses is deeply concerning. While it is good news that some other types of crime are falling it is very worrying that this type of violent crime is rising. It is even more worrying that the Police’s Safer Transport Teams are chronically understaffed. The police do an excellent job keeping us safe, but how are they supposed to their job properly if they are so thinly stretched?”

The revelations follow the news that in the past two years Mayor Boris Johnson has cut 1,700 police officers.

In Enfield:

  • There are 17 vacancies in the Safer Transport Team, which is 60%
  • In the last nine months there were 82 robberies on buses in Enfield
  • In the same period in 2010 there were 64

In Haringey:

  • There are 19 vacancies in the Safer Transport Team, which is 61%
  • In the last nine months there were 120 robberies on buses in Haringey
  • In the same period in 2010 there were 53
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City Hall council tax cut will buy you one onion a month

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

Local Labour Assembly Member Joanne McCartney emphasises the meagre saving that Boris Johnson’s council tax cut will save Londoners – just 26p a month – enough to buy one onion.

The Mayor today announced that he will cut City Hall’s share of council tax by £3.10 a year – 26p a month, 6p a week, or less than a penny a day.

By contrast, the Mayor put up the price of a zone 1-4 travelcard by £8.75 a month this year. He has put up bus fares by 50 per cent, from 90p to £1.35. Fares have risen by an average of 26 per cent since Boris Johnson was elected.

Cutting the City Hall portion of council tax by one per cent will cost the Greater London Authority £9.35 million.

Local Assembly Member Joanne McCartney said: “I’m supporting a 7% fares cut that will save Londoners £1,000 over 4 years, which will really help them during these difficult times.  This tiny cut is clearly just a publicity stunt as it won’t help people struggling with this recession.”

Joanne continued “It’s clear the Mayor is making this fanfare gesture to try and hide his extortionate fare rises.  This gesture is insulting to people’s intelligence and their financial struggles.”

Boris Johnson’s 6p a week council tax cut saves Londoners enough to buy:

  • One box of organic eggs a year
  • One cooking apple a month
  • One tin of Tesco value beans a month
  • One onion a month
  • One packet of salted peanuts a year
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Joanne McCartney AM calls on Mayor to reverse police cuts in face of rising crime

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

Local London Assembly member Joanne McCartney is calling on the Mayor to reverse his police cuts as it was revealed that Enfield lost 32 officers over the past two years.

In March 2010 there were 595 based in Enfield.  By December last year the number had fallen to 562. Across London the Mayor has cut 1,700 police officers in the last two years.

The most recent Metropolitan Police crime figures, released two weeks ago, revealed that residential burglary in the borough rose by 14.5 per cent in the last year.

Joanne said: “These figures reveal the full extent of Boris Johnson’s police cuts. Rather than embracing the government’s cuts to the police we need a Mayor who will make sure we have enough police on our streets.”

“The loss of officers is completely unacceptable. As residential burglary and vehicle theft is rising in our borough we need more police on our streets, not less. That’s why I’m calling on the Mayor to protect the police to help keep our streets safe for all of us.”

While overall crime in London is down 1 per cent in the last year, certain types of violent crime including burglary, robbery and muggings rose significantly in 2011, compared to the previous year:

  • Residential burglary up 14.5%
  • Theft of motor vehicles up 9%
  • Theft from motor vehicles up 6.4%
  • Theft of bicycles up 12.7%
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Boris’s budget reveals “out of touch” Mayor

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

London Mayor Boris Johnson this week came under pressure from local Assembly Member Joanne McCartney over soaring six figure City Hall salaries, police cuts and huge fare rises.

As the Mayor faced questions on his final £14.6 billion budget of this term, Labour Assembly Members highlighted:

  • New figures showing a 33 per cent rise in the number of City Hall advisers earning over £100,000 a year
  • Boris Johnson’s decision to cut 1,700 police officers in the last two years
  • New House of Commons figures showing a huge 26 per cent increase in bus, tube, tram and bus fares since 2008

Labour members of the Assembly proposed to reverse the huge pay rises of mayoral advisers; to cut transport fares by 7 per cent; and to put extra police in high crime areas, on the transport network and into schools; and to tackle unemployment.

Local Labour Assembly Member Joanne McCartney said: “The Mayor’s budget reveals just how out of touch he is with ordinary Londoners. Huge above-inflation fare hikes with nothing to curb extortionate rents, nothing to limit redundancies and nothing to tackle job insecurity. He clearly fails to understand what matters to people in this city or to understand the impact the financial squeeze is having on families and commuters.”

“I find it quite extraordinary that at a time when we’re seeing huge rises in youth unemployment across Enfield & Haringey, this Mayor thinks it appropriate to increase the pay of his executive team. There’s over 20,000 people looking for work in my constituency and only around 1,500 vacancies. Meanwhile a staggering 24 City Hall officials are now on £100,000+ salaries.”

“Again, when residents are worried about escalating rates of muggings and residential burglary, this week the Mayor admitted that police numbers had fallen by 1,700 in two years under his watch.”

“We’re asking the Mayor to acknowledge that a new approach is needed and to take our suggestions for the budget which would mean fairer pay scales, more police officers and lower fares for ordinary Londoners.”

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Joanne chairs new Police & Crime Committee

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

Local Assembly Member Joanne McCartney has been elected to Chair the new London Assembly Police & Crime Committee.  At this morning’s inaugural meeting, the Committee questioned an expert panel on how to tackle gangs.

The Committee has been set up to scrutinise and hold to account the new Mayor’s Office for Policing & Crime (MOPC).  The MOPC was launched last week and replaces the abolished Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).  The role of the MOPC is to scrutinise the Metropolitan Police Service, and in turn the new Committee will hold the new body to account and also investigate policing matters of importance to Londoners.

Local Assembly Member Joanne McCartney said “I am delighted to Chair this new Committee.  It is vital that we have a robust body to scrutinise the work of the police and to hold the Mayor and his Deputy to account.”

Joanne continued “Our first meeting this morning focused on gathering evidence from experts about how to tackle gangs.  This is a crucial issue for the Capital, and one that impacts throughout our communities.  It was clear from our panel that long-term commitment to working together with Police, borough councils, health services and the voluntary sector is vital to turning around this worrying trend.”

Next week the Committee will question the Commissioner and the Deputy Mayor for Policing, and will also examine the various reports analysing the riots in August.  Over the coming months the Committee will be looking at the Metropolitan Police’s future plans, and investigations into the approach of stop and search.

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London Assembly Member wants bus extended for hospital patients

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

Local London Assembly Member Joanne McCartney is calling on Transport for London to put patients first by extending the 318 bus route north to improve access to North Middlesex Hospital. Patients and visitors currently face long journeys which will only get worse when the government’s plans to transfer hospital services from Chase Farm go ahead.

Joanne met with local residents, patients groups, senior transport officials and local councillors this week to press the case for the bus route to be extended north towards Enfield.

President of Enfield Over-50s Forum, Monty Meth, North Middlesex Hospital Patient Representative, Peter Smith, and local councillor Derek Levy met with TfL bosses Leon Daniels (Managing Director of Surface Transport) and Clare Cavanagh (Director of Performance at London Buses) and Joanne McCartney at City Hall on Thursday 19 January.

Following the meeting, Joanne McCartney said ”We need improvements to the bus services for people using Chase Farm, Barnet and North Middlesex Hospitals. As things stand residents in Enfield will have to suffer inconvenience and longer journeys and spend more money to get to hospital on two separate buses. This is really important to local people and TfL need to make it happen. I won’t allow this issue to slip off the agenda and will keep the pressure on.”

Enfield Over 50s Forum president Monty Meth said “Although we’ve been promised there’ll be no changes in hospital services until both local bus and primary care services improve, TfL are stalling by claiming they will lose about £250,000 a year by running the 318 from the hospital through Palmers Green up to Highland village.”

“If health bosses want to go ahead with their reconfiguration plans they must help TfL find the money to extend the 318 service. Let NHS London and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley put their money where their mouth is.”

During the meeting TfL said that they are supportive of calls to extend the bus route but lack the funds because of government cuts. They agreed in principal to the idea of extending the service for a limited trial period – provided funding is made available.

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Joanne McCartney slams “out of touch” Mayor as long-term youth unemployment spirals in Enfield & Haringey

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

Local Assembly member Joanne McCartney has branded Boris Johnson “out of touch” after the Mayor blamed lazy young Londoners for spiralling unemployment.

The number of young people out of work for longer than six months in Enfield has shot up by 156 per cent in the last year, and by 119 per cent in Haringey. Figures released this week show there are now 8 people in Enfield chasing every job vacancy and 29 in Haringey.

But despite official statistics revealing the stark lack of job opportunities in the capital, Boris Johnson blamed unemployment on Londoners’ lack of “energy and appetite for work.” The Mayor told The Sun newspaper, “the jobs are there and people need to have the energy to go out and get them”.

“There are large numbers of job vacancies. Why are young people not taking up those jobs? … Let’s talk about the work ethic”, the Mayor said.

Local London Assembly member, Joanne McCartney said the Mayor was out of touch and did not understand the fears of young people in Enfield and Haringey:

Joanne McCartney said: “The Mayor either doesn’t know how bad things are for young Londoners or he is deliberately blaming them for the situation the government has forced them into. Either way he is totally out of touch with the desperate worries of school, college and university leavers and their families in my constituency.

“Our young people are hard working and ambitious but their fears for the future are being ignored. The number of unemployed young people has increased by 156% over this past year.  Instead of blaming them Boris Johnson should be bending over backwards to help them.”

The jobless figures released this week show that:

  • The total number of people looking for work in Enfield has risen by 17.9 per cent in the past year to 10,721
  • The total number of people looking for work in Haringey has risen by 7.4 per cent in the past year to 10,506
  • There are just 1,296 vacancies for people to apply for in Enfield but 10,721 looking for work
  • There are just 352 vacancies for people to apply for in Haringey but 10,506 looking for work
  • Across London there are 233,673 people are looking for work but just 32,843 vacancies
  • The number of young people out of work (18-24 years, claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 6 months) in Enfield has risen by 156 per cent in the past year to 770.
  • The number of young people out of work (18-24 years, claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 6 months) in Haringey has risen by 119 per cent in the past year to 625.
  • The number of young people out of work of across London is now over 1 million
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