Minutes:
Question from Councillor Reason
“In view of the need to comply with the Council’s anti crime policies and show respect, would the Leader of the Minority Group confirm whether it is the policy of the opposition to agree with the statement made by Nick Eriksen, the BNP’s London organiser and the second-highest candidate on its list for the Assembly during the London Assembly Elections, who said: “I’ve never understood why so many men have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the feminazi myth machine into believing that rape is such a serious crime.”
Response from Councillor Bailey
“Thank you Val, I guess you have been trawling the internet as your cyber stalking alter ego Tory Troll. Nick Erickson was in the Tory Party when he started that blog and made those comments all those years back. A bed fellow it would seem as that used to be your party of choice. Nick Erickson was replaced as number two during the election and he is not a member of the party now. Your innuendo and half truth is very much in line with your Party’s policy of distraction and deception and pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Iraq, Afghanistan, crime, immigration - need I say any more.”
Question from Councillor Barns
“What proposed affordable housing developments in the borough have the BNP councillors indicated their support or opposition for?”
Response from Councillor Bailey
“Thank you Councillor Barns. The British National Party is diametrically opposed to the Labour Party’s and Conservative Party’s present housing policies. The BNP’s policy is to stop the selling off of council housing stock. Under a BNP council no more council housing would be sold off. Ex-council housing which comes onto the market could be bought back at a ‘fair’ price and rented back to local people who can prove that at least one grandparent was born in the borough. A BNP council would put local people first not immigrants. We oppose the building of houses for more immigrants in whatever disguise. The indigenous British birth rate is falling so fast we will be a minority in many London boroughs in the years to come. Building houses for more immigrants and not putting local people first, as Margaret Hodge MP suggested, is causing resentment and harming community cohesion. Labour’s current housing policy would have the founding fathers of the Labour Party turning in their graves.”
Councillor Barns stated that his question had not been answered.
Question from Councillor Agrawal
“What efficiency savings does the opposition think it can deliver on top of that already being considered by the Council? For example, Councillor Barnbrook could drop one of his four jobs to demonstrate the first efficiency saving”.
Response from Councillor Bailey
“Thank you Councillor Agrawal. This Council is bloated, top heavy and money is spent willy nilly. A BNP council would ensure that there are no cuts to essential services but slash spending. A BNP Council will not put up Council Tax year on year.
Savings could be made by scrapping Labour’s divisive and racist politically correct pet projects. Do away with the 100 and more groups which foster division and resentment by withdrawing all council funding. At the same time put the staff wasting their time in these areas back to doing proper work. Translators, translating documents into hundreds of different languages do away with them. If people do not want to speak English they can go back to their country of origin. Whatever colour or shape they are. A BNP council would rightly withdraw all funding for services to recently arrived immigrants who do not work. If people come here to work they should be made to support themselves, not expect handouts from the taxpayers.
A BNP council would aim to employ more local people and bring a lot of out-sourced services in-house. This covers services supplied to the elderly and young alike. The private sector cannot do it cheaper all the time and services will improve over time. This used to be a Labour policy but it has been abandoned because Labour now believes agencies and foreign workers can do the job cheaper.
I am glad the Council adopted the BNP’s policy of developing a benefits fraud body to check up on benefit claimants. Previously millions of pounds were lost through sub-letting and individuals claiming for children which either do not exist or do not belong to the claimant. Some of these children are actually not family but domestic servants.
The BNP would also cut executive salaries. We would do away with the Leader’s magazine, ‘the Citizen’ which costs over £600,000 a year and grants to favoured organisations like the Barking Rugby Club. These are just a few examples where money could be saved. When you are in a hole you stop digging. In this case facing a recession we should tighten the Council’s collective belt.”
Question from Councillor Denyer
"In light of the recent bad publicity concerning the marking of ‘SATS’ papers could I ask the Portfolio Holder for Education, has this Authority any concerns as to the standard of marking affecting our students and, if so, what steps are being taken to address the problem? Could I also ask, through you, for an update to Assembly on progress achieved to date in improving the educational standards of our youngsters and what plans are in hand to continue to drive up these standards in the coming years?"
Response from Councillor Alexander
“The situation in Barking and Dagenham mirrors the national picture. In common with local authorities across the country we have great concerns about the marking of the SATs papers this year.
For the tests for 11 year olds there are still quite a lot of missing results and at key stage three for 14 year olds only one school has a complete set of test results. On top of this there are some serious concerns about the accuracy of the marking, particularly in English.
Schools are looking very carefully at their returned test papers and are advised to make full use of the provision for review of marking or appeal. They will not just accept marks which are out of line with their own teacher assessment. Members of the School Improvement Service are helping with the appeals.
The drive to keep improving educational standards is continuing as strongly as ever. Last year examination performance was the best ever in most areas. You will remember our primary schools were some of the fastest improving in the country in the test results at 11 and we had a letter of congratulation from Lord Adonis.
The secondary schools together recorded their best ever results at GCSE for our 16 year olds. At 58% we are now very close to the national average for 5A* - C, which is a tremendous achievement given the starting point 15 years ago – just about at the bottom. The Council has never waivered from its commitment to the children, young people and families of the Borough. Better qualifications are the key to a better future.
The 5A* - C measure with english and maths also improved last year. This is now the key measure at 16 and all schools, supported by their School Improvement Service colleagues, have been really focusing on english and maths this year. This indicator is drawing a lot of national attention and schools and advisory service colleagues have made it a priority this year.
We know that having a good start is vital and that if children can get a strong foundation by the age of seven they are much more likely to do well. The Council has been putting additional resources into education for the youngest children up to the age of seven. This is paying off in the dramatic improvement we are seeing in the Foundation Stage Profile results. This is a national record which shows what five year olds know, understand and can do and how well prepared they are for more formal education.
We are also helping to get better at identifying children who are struggling to get started as readers by the age of six. We are proud to be involved in the ‘Every Child a Reader’ project which is making a tremendous difference to the lives of some of our previously struggling children. They are taught by trained reading recovery teachers on a one to one basis. The evidence tells us that most catch up and keep up – because they have been helped at an early age by an expert.
So to sum up, whilst we continue to keep driving up performance at 11 and 16 the resources we put into those working with the youngest children are vital in preventing children from failing and keeping them motivated and confident.”
Question from Councillor Claire Doncaster
“The Citizen Magazine costs the taxpayer over £600,000 to produce. It is no more than a mouth piece for the Leader of the Council. On nearly every single page there is a picture of the 'Leader' and the colour red which makes me think of Chairman Mao and his little red book. As we move into a depression some say which may be worse than anything we have ever seen is it not time to send a message to the public that we will wage war on waste and practice what we preach and spend the money we would save on this 'pet project' on improving waste disposal and speeding up the delivery of wheelie bins.”
Response from Councillor Fairbrass
”The Citizen does not cost over £600,000 to
produce. The figures are as
follows:
(i) Design and print £120,744 (12 issues);
(ii) Distribution of 12 issues £41,500;
(iii) Large print versions approx £3,000 per year; and
(iv) There is about £24,000 income from adverts.
As for the stupidity of claiming I appear on almost every page, I have the last six issues with me. One issue has no picture of me, four have the usual photo on my column and one issue has my picture plus one group photo with young people planting a tree in our Peace and Memorial Garden.
A recent survey of readers of the Citizen had the following response:
· 97% find it informative;
· 94% prefer the magazine format;
· 92% say it’s good value;
· 87% read all 12 issues;
· 79% read it from cover to cover;
· 72% are happy with the monthly frequency.
The most popular features are:
Ø What’s On listings
Ø The Citizens Advice Column
Ø The Leader’s page
As for the colour red, the Citizen is in all colours, no particular colour dominates. I suppose we could print it all in black but then your party has a pathological hatred of that colour.
It is always nice to see when someone is concerned about recycling, but I have no intention of recycling the answer that has been given to the BNP on three previous occasions. You can look it up on the Council’s website.”
Question from Councillor Justice
“Does the borough currently have an awarded contract for weed control of the streets and, if so, how is it monitored?”
Response from Councillor McKenzie
“Yes the borough has a contract with a company called Complete Weed Control who are based in Woodford Green. The contract is set up to be an outcome based contract, this means that the contractor must deliver satisfactory results, so if it rains after he has sprayed he must come back, and do it again. Our Area Managers monitor the contract performance as well as managing the other environmental services in your area. I realise as a new member you might not understand the way the council works so I will ask the Area Manager to arrange a walkabout in your area so you can see the work that is going on.”