It's GCSE results day so I'd like to congratulate our local students for their efforts and achievements this year. We have outstanding schools across Tooting and I hope teachers and pupils alike will be pleased with their results. Now you can relax for a couple of weeks before the new term!
Continuing that theme, below I report on the Youth Enterprise Summit I'm organising in Tooting, as well as providing updates on local crime issues, a planning application for the Wheatsheaf pub and my visit to a local GP's surgery.
Tackling Crime in Earlsfield
I'm sure many of you are aware of the tragic incident on the Henry Prince estate earlier this month, where a young man was stabbed to death. A suspect has been arrested and charged with the murder and our thoughts go out to friends and family of the victim. In due course we will need to understand why this happened and take appropriate action to help prevent further incidents.
Over the road on Willow Tree Close, residents have been suffering from anti-social behaviour, intimidation and in one case physical assault from a gang that frequent the area. While the police generally do a good job in protecting our neighbourhood, occasionally crime will flare up in an area and I think it's important that the community come together to proactively tackle the issue with the authorities. That's why I'm working with local residents and Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators to tackle these problems starting with a meeting with the police to discuss residents’ concerns and draw up solutions. Please do email me if you have any concerns relating to crime in your area.
In general, crime is down 13% in Wandsworth, but these incidents show that we must remain vigilant.
Youth Enterprise Summit
I see unemployment as a real blight on our society. Therefore I’m pleased to see that unemployment rates in Tooting have fallen as the economic recovery has generated thousands of new jobs in our area. Youth unemployment in Tooting has more than halved since 2010, but we need to do more still to tackle this key issue and ensure all of our young people are able to find work.
As such, I'm organising a Youth Enterprise Summit at the Tooting Trident Centre on the 10th September for local employers, charities and government agencies involved with providing opportunities for young people currently out of work and education. An improving local economy gives us more opportunities than ever to build on these excellent local projects, but we need coordinated action if we are to make sure that every out-of-work person gets the right support for their situation. I have about 20 organisations attending the event, but we have space for a few more so if you run a business or charity that works with young people, please let me know as I'd be pleased to invite you.
You can read more about the Youth Enterprise Summit here.
Save the Wheatsheaf Update
Following our high profile campaign to save the Wheatsheaf, we were delighted when the Council granted us a full set of planning protections for the pub. But a new threat has now emerged, with a planning application having been submitted by the owner, Enterprise Inns, which involves 3 floors of flats above the pub. While the pub will continue, these plans will require an access stairwell which will remove a small but significant section of it, and additionally the upstairs function room will be lost. You can read more about my concerns on the Streetlife post.
While I recognise that Wandsworth has a new housing target to hit, I question whether the current plans are right for the pub and the community and I would urge local residents and users of the pub to have their say via the planning consultation now underway. You can submit your views on the Council's website using application number 2014/3954.
GP Surgery Visit
The population in Tooting is growing and ageing, and as we know, this places pressure on our health services. I know local residents are concerned about GP surgeries being very busy, so I visited the Trinity Medical Centre on Balham High Road to get some feedback from the front line.
Trinity Medical Centre is fairly typical of a successful Inner London GP surgery. It is medium-sized, with half a dozen doctors and a number of nurses, and on top of the traditional health checks and diagnoses, it increasingly performs minor operations for patients. I met the team to hear their views on how the surgery is coping with increased demand. The feedback was that although the practice feels very busy, waiting lists have not increased in recent years, but rather the centre has coped by treating a greater volume of patients. I was also curious to hear how David Cameron's initiative to give every patient over 75 a named GP was impacting the clinic. The response was that for Trinity Medical Centre and the other Tooting GPs this was manageable, not least because we have relatively few over-75s in Wandsworth. In regards to the patients' themselves, I understand they are very supportive of the policy!
Seeing such a dedicated team in action and receiving positive feedback was reassuring. Equally it is clear that the system is operating at a very high level of utilisation and access is not always available out of standard office hours, which is essential for the many working people in our area. Therefore I will continue to liaise with local GPs, St George's Hospital and clinical commissioning groups to see how further improvements might be possible.
Wandsworth's 'Prevent' Strategy
At my recent meeting with Wandsworth's Borough Commander, I learnt more about the 'Prevent' anti-radicalisation team which operates from Earlsfield police station. Prevent is one part of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy and seeks to prevent people being drawn into violent extremism, whether that be from far right groups or those with extreme religious ideology.
In Wandsworth the Prevent team liaises with the Council and other public sector bodies, since it can often be workers in social services, health or education which spot that an individual is showing the first signs of radicalisation. The Prevent officers also work closely with local community groups to gather intelligence and run education programs for individuals at risk. Across London this initiative has had some notable successes in turning people away from extremist ideology and I found it reassuring to know of the work being done in our area.
If through your professional life or via a community group you are part of you come across individuals who you feel may be vulnerable to extremist ideology, the Prevent officers run a training course called 'WRAP' which would be relevant for you or your team. It trains people on the signs of radicalisation and Wandsworth Prevent would be happy to deliver such a course for you if you are interested.
Janmashtami Festival
The past weekend saw the Hindu world celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna and I was honoured to be invited to Britain's largest celebration of Janmashtami, held at the Hare Krishna Temple in North London. The 2-day festival attracts 70,000 visitors from all communities and aims to shine a light on the teachings of Guru Prabhupada. One of his most famous followers was George Harrison, who was responsible for making the donation that secured the site for the community in 1973. The festival was a fantastic occasion and if you are interested to know more about it then do visit their website.
As someone who is passionate about voluntary service, I was amazed to hear that every single person who organises and runs the event is a volunteer, with a whopping 2 million hours volunteered in total! I suspect this makes it one of the biggest volunteering events in the whole of the UK, so well done to the Festival team for organising such an inspiring event.
With best wishes,
Dan