Camden's flawed Library consultation

Camden Council is currently consulting library users and residents about the future of the library service, unfortunately there seems to be a digital divide! If you complete the paper version you can leave the boxes unticked relating to what cuts you want, or don't, but on the online version you can't, in order to progress you have to tick a box!

"A spokesperson for Camden Council told Fitzrovia News “We have commissioned a market research company to support the consultation, provide topline analysis and verify the outcomes at a cost of £25,000″. - money well spent?

There is a petition to save Camden’s library service at http://www.petition.co.uk/save-camden-libraries

New Reader Libraries!

The Reader Organisation, a literacy charity from the north east, is currently trying to push the idea of creating new 'community' libraries, or as they call them 'New Reader Libraries'.
"First, we are advocating a national network of New Reader Libraries. New Reader Libraries are going to be like a real home, crossed with a great school, crossed with a fabulous café. People are the main thing, people and the things people need.
There will be laptops and desktops and possibly even a home-cinema-size screen, and a PA system for dance night and disco. But mainly it will be books, chairs, sofas, corners, lamps, tables, people and food." - sounds like something Jamie Oliver would think up!
Anyway they claim to be supporting the campaign to save libraries but at the same time seem to be totally undermining this by advocating the creation of new 'libraries' run by themselves and volunteers and by asking people to sign an e-petition in support of this (90 signatories in 8 days, that's all the staff and their friends and families taken care off then!)
"Up and down the country, libraries are being marked for closure; 800 may be shut by the end of the year. No one supports the cuts and there have been protests aplenty. Now it is time for a change.
The Reader Organisation wants to create New Reader Libraries, with people and reading at the heart of them."
The word opportunistic springs to mind!

The City of London; a state within a state?

I attended a lecture at the LSE recently that dealt with the City of London and its network of tax havens, absolutely fascinating and very topical!

The two speakers were Nicholas Shaxson, the author of  "Treasure Islands: tax havens and the men who stole the world" and Maurice Glasman, recently appointed Labour Peer and Reader in Political Theory at London Metropolitan University. and their basic premise is that the 'city' is basically an un-democratic 'state within a state', a bit like the Vatican I suppose?, which flouts regualtions and rules and feeds itself through a network of tax havens (Hong Kong, Bermuda etc). Tax havens allow the city to make huge amounts of money through tax avoidance and using loopholes in legislation. They are secretive and unregulated.

London's slave labour!

I was up and out very early the other morning and on the streets and buses were the vast army of African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Latin and South American  and East European office cleaners, domestics, shop workers etc who tend to go unnoticed and uncared for in our society. According to research done in 2007 there where approx 80,000 contract cleaners working at Canary Wharf alone, and although the majority earned the minimum wage and above they were still being paid under the London Living Wage of £7.05 per hour! (it is now £7.85) This exploitation, and the lack of representation, was the main reason that 'Living Wage' Campaign was set up in 2001 and since that time they have won over £40m in additional income for workers and have basically highlighted the plight of migrant workers in London.

The nicest electrical power substation in town!

Situated just off Duke Street, in the Mayfair area of London, sits Brown Hart Gardens, a 10000 square foot, grade II listed public garden on top of an electricity substation. Originally Duke Street Gardens the site was leased by the Duke of Westminster in 1902 to the Westminster electricity Supply Co. who then built a substation on the site but with a raised public garden on top. The Board of the Grosvenor Estate, the owners of the site, were not overly keen on the idea at the time but after "continuing complaints about the nuisance from 'disorderly boys', 'verminous women' and 'tramps'" in the gardens they soon changed their minds! It is also claimed that this is the only place in London where quarrelling is specifically forbidden by law! (perfect place to take the missus perhaps?)

King of the Old Gits!

Sitting on the bus yesterday I heard from behind me an old man's voice "fuck off" "shut up" "Yeah yeah we know", I turned around expecting him to be sitting next to someone, his wife or friend? But he wasn't he was shouting at the automated voice telling passengers what the next stop is!

Cafe owner appointed new Governor of the Bank of England!

Had my usual breakfast, two eggs on crusty toast with mushrooms and a tea, this morning in my usual cafe. Went up to the counter to pay the £3.30 and was told by the owner "prices have gone up mate, it's £4 now", when i remonstrated with him about the price hike he shrugged his shoulders and said "commodity markets, mate!"

He uses the cheapest battery eggs, cheapest bread, bog standard (not wild) mushrooms, industrial strength margarine and wholesalers special teabags, what about overheads i hear you say, well its not bloody Claridges!!!

Doing a 'Reggie Perrin'!

Browsing through the books in my local charity shop I came upon an interesting title 'Places to hide in England, Scotland & Wales' by Dixie Wills, the same man who brought you the classic 'The Z to Z of Great Britain', a gazeteer of places in the UK beginning with the letter Z!
'Places to hide....' reviews hiding places for when "facing up to your problems is just not an option", from a thorny bush in Dorset to behind the goals in a park in Blair Atholl!

When I receive my redundancy notice I might just take his advice and do a 'Reggie Perrin'!

Subway Noway!

Subway, the US based, franchised 'sandwich'  fast-food chain is now officially the world's top seller, overtaking McDonalds. In the UK and Ireland the company hopes to expand to 2,010 restaurants by some time in 2011.(Wikipedia)


 I will admit that I have never tried one, so I am basing this post purely on bias and bile, but for gods sake they sell stodgy baguettes with unhealthy fillings such as 'meatball marinara', a 6incher with 511 calories, 20.9 grams of fat and 3.3 grams of salt, they also offer 12" and 18" monstrosities!

 They do offer veggie and light options, and a 'Kids Pak', which strangely enough doesn't include a veggie option!! (I am trying to be balanced, honestly!) They have been criticised for the high levels of corn syrup in their bread products and for using plant fertilizer to make their bread brown!
All in all it sounds bloody awful and  I will definitely not be adding to their sales figures!

Frozen Bubble and Squeak Cakes

I recently ordered 'bubble and squeak' in a cafe, and was served up 'frozen bubble and squeak cakes', how incredibly lazy! I remember seeing them sold under the name Ross but that company has apparently been bought up and the only ones I can find available now are made by 'Aunt Bessie'.
Any self-respecting cafe should always have a pan of homemade 'bubble' on the go, as does 'Maria's' in Borough Market, I mean how hard is it? But unfortunately we come back to one of my previous arguments about London cafes nowadays, the majority of establishments seem now to be Turkish or Kurdish owned and the quality of the breakfasts served by the majority of them is atrocious, they tend to use the cheapest ingredients with no pride or thought given to taste or authenticity.
Bring back proper 'bubble and squeak'!

Statutory Burdens!

The Condems are currently reviewing statutory duties placed on local government, they have identified 1294 that may be burdensome or no longer needed, and guess what the 1964 Libraries Act is in their sights! They are not trying to remove them from the statute books before any of the legal cases against them reach court, are they?

Department for Culture Media and Sport


Libraries

DCMS_026

Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 Section 1(2)

Duty: To provide information and facilities for the inspection of library

premises, stocks, records, as the Secretary of State requires.

Function: Necessary for Secretary of State to fulfil (requirement) to

superintend library service (see s1 of PLAMA 1964)



DCMS_027

Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 Section 7

Duty: To provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. In

fulfilling this duty, must have particular regard to the matters in s7(2)



Function: Secure provision of local library services



DCMS_028

Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 Section 11

Duty: Supplemental provisions as to transfers of officers, assets and

liabilities

Function: Provisions provide, for example, continuity of employment for

transferring employees. This secures consistency across library transfers

etc and in line with other local authority employment legislation

The shame of Wisconsin!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014461414_wisconsin11.html - The Anti-Union Bill has been passed by the Wisconsin Assembly. Lets hope this galvanises pro-union support in the US and other battles are won, if not then the Koch Brothers, The Tea Party and Fox News will be allowed to tighten their strangle hold on popular public opinion.

And you thought that Rab C Nesbitt was fictional?

A wee Scottish man approaches library desk, reeking of booze, it's 11am "I need to copy these" he says thrusting a pile of papers in my face "Yes, fine" "Ah yer Scottish, where are you from" - a loaded question? - "Glasgow", I say and walk towards the photocopier, he stumbles after me deposits money in the coin box and hands me the papers. They are all sick notes!!!

Community engagement? or ("let's see what we can get away with")

Haringey council is proposing to cut the direct provision of  its out of schools services, you know things like breakfast clubs, after school clubs and holiday play schemes. 
Parents and other interested parties received a letter barely outlining the proposals three weeks ago and were asked to submit their responses by today, hardly long enough given that  guidelines set down by BERR state that 12 weeks is good practice! But then again Haringey don't seem to be very good at following guidelines, they also forgot to make the draft proposal and Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) available for consultation, tut tut!
Anyway they have now extended the 'consultation' until the 18/3/11 and will make the EIA available to me some time this week?
The worrying thing is that this is probably happening all over the country and all over the country authorities are probably getting away with it?