March E-Newsletter

Contents 1. My response on tax avoidance

2. Westminster set to lose 1 billion in affordable housing' due to government rule changes

3. Jubilee Sports Centre - Closure still going ahead through costs rise

4. Westminster Council to slash Childrens and Youth services

5. Government relaxes holiday/short lets rules despite cross-party concerns

6. Say no to another betting shop on the Harrow Road

7. Our policy on protecting animals

8. Fuel poverty - a growing problem - and where to get advice

9. Make our roads safer

10. First anniversary of North Paddington foodbank

11. Dont leave it too late - heres a link to the Westminster advice-finder- sources of help and advice

You can also follow me on:

Tax avoidance

I have received lots of e-mails about tax avoidance following the recent story that the HSBC bank Swiss arm was apparently helping people find ways around UK tax laws. People are understandably angry that there seems to be one rule for them and another for the tax-dodging individuals and corporations who dont pay their fair share.

I agree that the amount of uncollected tax has risen year on year, to a staggering 34 bil-lion; that is extraordinary for only 1 person to have been prosecuted out of the 1100 identi-fied as tax-evaders in the HSBC files, and that companies should pay fair tax on the business they do in this country.

Here is the full text of my reply

Westminster to lose 1 billion worth of affordable homes as Government scraps duty on developers

Despite being in the middle of an affordable housing crisis, the Government choose this moment to scrap rules which require property developers to provide affordable homes as part of their planning permission on vacant sites. So outrageous is this, that even West-minster Council - whose record on affordable house-building is poor - was shocked, and pointed out that we stand to lose 1 billion of homes locally. To their credit, the Westmin-ster Property Owners' Association have also come out against it. Heres what it means:

At a planning meeting earlier last month, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Finchatton saw a potential payment of 17.6m shrink to just 8.6m on the conversion of the former US Navy HQ at 20 Grosvenor Square, W1, to 36 luxury flats as a result of the change.

The new credit allows for buildings that are vacant when planning is secured for residential conversion to only pay an affordable contribution on any new space. Prior to its introduc-tion, the provision was levied on the full size of the building.

John Walker, director of planning at Westminster Council, said: This is going to be a dra-matic amount of money for any council to lose in its affordable housing pool, but if we look at Westminster and the amount of high-value projects going through planning, we could be losing affordable housing payments upwards of 1bn every year.

The policy is a gift to large developers, which will see a significant positive impact on their profits, but a big blow for councils struggling to achieve affordable housing targets. (Cllr Dimoldenberg)

I wrote jointly with Mark Field, South Westminsters Conservative MP, to express my oppo-sition:

The Westminster Extra also covered the story, which you can read here. I believe this rule has to be scrapped, and we may need a change of government to do it.

Jubilee Sports Centre closure goes ahead but costs spiral

Westminster Councils decision to go ahead with closing the Jubilee sports centre and re-building the Moberly (actually in Brent!) instead was deeply unpopular with local residents. Brent Council negotiated a good deal for their residents - as you might expect - but West-minster wont get any affordable homes out of the re-development, most users will have to travel further, and now it turns out that Westminster had to plead with Brent for the right NOT to make the required community investment!

The Council say that the construction cost of the project has increased from 17million to 23million and that the development can no longer afford to pay Brent Council the 1.7m Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) due for the redevelopment of the Moberly site. We have pointed out, although construction costs have gone up, property prices have also in-creased considerably over recent years, thereby increasing the value of the proposed resi-dential development. We await Brent's decision.

Childrens centres and youth services face council axe

Westminster Council will make another 35 million worth of cuts next year. One of the are-as to face the axe is Childrens services, which are set to lose 750,000 in this year from April and another 550,000 in 2016/17

These latest cuts are revealed in a report to a Cabinet meeting which confirms that in 2016/17:

Childrens Centres will lose another 191,000 (to be added to the 474,000 cut in 2015/16) Youth Services will lose another 197,000 (to be added to the 125,000 cut in 2015/16) Play Services will lose another 170,000 and 30,000 in 2017/18 (to be added to the 152,000 cut in 2015/16)

In total, 588,000 will be cut from Childrens Centres, Play and Youth Services in 2016/17 and 2017/18. A total of 1,339,000 will be cut over the three years from 2014/15 2017/18.

The youth service budget will be cut by nearly 50% over these two years, so by 2016, just 24 per person per year will be spent on young people aged 10-19.

This is despite the fact that 39% of children in Westminster live below the poverty line - one of the highest levels in the country.

Labour councillors put forward an alternative budget at the March Council meeting, but this was defeated.

Limitations on short/holiday residential lets are scrapped by the Government

Despite hopes of last minute concessions, the Government went ahead with abolishing re-strictions on short/holiday lets in the Deregulation Bill, which completed its journey through Parliament. This allows owners to rent out their homes for up to 90 days without needing permission. While no-one wants to make life difficult for the casual renter, the fact that parts of inner London are increasingly turning over to a branch of the hotel industry al-ready is a real cause for concern.

Even the fact that inner London councils of all political colours lobbied against this, and Mark Field and I made representations to the Minister- it made no difference.

Heres the London Councils' briefing on the potential impact, and my letter to the Minister (written jointly with Mark Field).

Pubs, betting shops and why we need a decent mix in the high street

It was great to hear that the Clifton and Star pubs in St Johns Wood been designated as an asset of Community Value by the Council. Whilst it is neither possible nor desirable to save every pub, it is absolutely right to fight for pubs to remain part of the social mix of our com-munity. Soaring land values make every site more desirable for (mostly luxury) residential conversion, but that isnt all we want.

No to a fourth betting shop in the Harrow Road

Recent reports that the Prince of Wales pub (at the junction of Harrow/Great Western Roads) have been met with alarm locally - it would mean 4 betting shops in a 200 yard stretch and 6 within a few minutes walk.

I have been seeking the views of the Police, Council, the Mental Health Trust and others and there is strong opposition to the possibility. Sadly, the present law does not require planning permission for a change of use of this kind - this has been due to change but has-nt happened yet.

I want stronger controls including planning controls - to help us protect varied local high streets. But in the meantime, you can let me know if you support my campaign to stop more betting shops in this area: petition here. Labour group leader Paul Dimoldenberg has also started a petition which you can sign here.

Protecting animals

Being a nation of animal lovers, it isnt surprising that I receive large numbers of e-mails about animal welfare issues. So I welcomed this week Shadow Environment Secretary Ma-ria Eagles launch of Labour: Protecting Animals, which sets out our plans to protect ani-mals in the next Parliament. A Labour Government would ban wild animals in circuses, end the Coalitions ineffective and inhumane badger cull, improve the welfare of dogs and cats by improving regulation of their breeding and sale, and lead the fight against global animal cruelty. You can read the full document here.

Fuel poverty

People have been struggling with their fuel bills like never before. More than a million households cannot afford to heat their homes sufficiently, even though a member is in work, a thinktank has found. A study by Policy Exchange looking at the 2.3m households in England in fuel poverty found that half of them, around 1.1m households, had someone in work. We need to help households with these costs. This website is a good source of help and advice.

We need safer roads

This weeks demonstration by cyclists protesting against a lack of safety on Westminster streets is just the latest example of concern on the part of road users. I have worked closely with local councillors to support a number of road safety improvements, from the new Har-row Road crossing, to traffic calming in Saltram Crescent, to proposed 20mph speed limits in Elgin Avenue. 20mph zones are being used elsewhere- Hackney Council is one of the lat-est to use them in a bid to cut accidents - but Westminster Council has been resistant.

Now the campaign has been boosted by a report from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) - an independent organisation providing guidance to improve health and social care. It publishes evidence on what works from research into best practice.

NICEs February 2015 briefing for Local Authorities says:

Implementing 20 mph zones, with priority given to protecting children and young people in disadvantaged areas who face the greatest risk, could lead to a 100% return on investment in the first 12 months.

The NICE report on preventing unintentional road injuries among under 15s https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph31 provides advice to councils on road design on 20mph lim-its, 20mph zones and engineering measures to reduce speed or make routes safer.

North Paddington Foodbank marks first year

North Westminster Foodbank celebrates (if that is the right word!) a year of offering sup-port to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Congratulations to all the volunteers and donors doing a fantastic job.

It is, however, essential that we do more to prevent people falling into this level of poverty. This includes abolishing both the hated Bedroom Tax and targets for imposing sanctions on job-seekers. (The number of sanctions has soared to 18% of claims, affecting 568,000 people last year!)

Dont leave it too late! Sources of help and advice in Westminster

Every week someone contacts me with a problem that, ideally, they should have been getting help for earlier. Even though advice services are stretched thin, there are still places to go for assistance. Heres a list:

http://advicelocal.org.uk/advicefinder/westminster//

Thank you for reading and I welcome your comments

Karen Buck MP

Website: www.karenbuck.org.uk

Twitter: KarenPBuckMP

Facebook: KarenBuckMP

Promoted by Robert Atkinson on behalf of Karen Buck MP at 4G Shirland Mews, Maida Hill, London, W9 3DY. The information used to supply this email is for the use of Karen Buck and will not be passed on to any third party organisation.

Karen Buck MP @KarenPBuckMP Feb 5

Westminster alone faces loss of 1bn affordable housing as Govt changes rules. @MarkFieldMP and I make joint appeal: http://karenbuck.dreamhosters.com/index.php/karenb/articles/

Evening Standard @standardnews

Westminster needs 20mph speed limit to cut road deaths http://www.standard.co.uk/news/