Councillor Newsletter - February 2021
Low traffic neighbourhoods
The council will announce this month plans to review these measures. There will be first an opportunity to “tweak” the schemes – so that we have the best possible version of them – before making a final evaluation on whether to keep them or not. This will be based on a combination of objective data, and the views of the local community.
Southwark announces plans to plant 10,000 trees by 2022
As part of Southwark’s Climate Emergency work, the council has committed to planting 10,000 trees by 2022 – an ambitious tree planting programme which will add to the existing 82,500 trees in the borough. This programme will come with £5m of funding allocated to ensure the trees are looked after properly and replaced if necessary for the years after they are planted. The council hopes to bring together residents in the summer to help decide where to plant the extra trees and monitor the success of the project – more information on this to come.
Southwark Council buildings are now run on 100% renewable energy
Southwark has now completed the switch to 100% renewable energy in all its offices and buildings – from libraries and day centres to street lamps. The next step is working with schools to help them switch and changing communal spaces on estates to renewable energy (such as stairwells and lifts), which will be completed next year.
Youth Employment Offer launched
We know that Covid-19 has had a massive impact on young people who are leaving school, college or university. The rise in Universal Credit claims is highest amongst 16-24 year olds and with a rapidly shrinking job market there are fewer opportunities available for young people to access. Because of this, in January the council launched a new initiative: linking young people in the borough with local opportunities, in response to the disruption to education and youth unemployment crisis caused by the pandemic. The Youth Employment Offer will support young people aged 16 to 25 in Southwark into employment and training, from internships to apprenticeships; jobs to voluntary roles; NVQs to university degrees.
Please encourage anyone you think would benefit to sign up to the mailing list for next steps here: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/nextstepmailinglist
Laptops for Learning campaign
Sadly a recent survey has shown that around 2500 children in the borough still do not have access to a laptop or device that they can use for remote learning whilst schools are shut. The Department of Education failed to deliver the promised amount of laptops, meaning many children have been left with no way to learn during the pandemic. The South London Teaching School Alliance has partnered with the Council to create a Crowdfunder for laptops, and Southwark will be match-funding every donation. Please consider donating here: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/laptopsforlearning
Latest round of CIL funding announced
In January the council approved funding for 29 projects put forward by local people and organisations to support growth in their neighbourhoods, as part of a £6m investment drive back into the borough, where local residents put forward lots of great ideas on an interactive Commonplace map. The projects will be funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy which is a levy raised on development schemes (new buildings such as housing, hotels or shops) and collected by the council. This money is then used to fund local infrastructure projects.
In Goose Green, we are investing in the space around the East Dulwich train station and looking into whether we could have a cycle lane on East Dulwich Road.
Business Support Grants
As of the 5th January there is 2 new grants that businesses can apply for – Local Restriction Grants for closed businesses (this is for businesses who are liable for rates even if their bill is zero) and an additional one-off grant for businesses for the leisure, retail and hospitality sectors. Businesses will automatically receive a LRG payment if an application form for previous grants has already been completed -- there is no need to reapply. Likewise, the additional grant will be paid automatically to those eligible who have received an LRG payment. However if businesses haven’t previously completed an application or received a grant then they will need to apply on the Southwark website.
In addition, the deadline for applications to the second round of the Additional Restrictions Grant (a discretionary scheme targeted at businesses that have been legally required to close or have been severely restricted due to local restrictions, but are not business rates payers) has been extended to Tuesday 2 February. Please check the Southwark website to
see what grants you are eligible for: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/coronavirus/covid-19-information-for-southwark-businesses-and-employees
Southwark Labour Leaders’ Academy
Southwark Labour is currently running a Leaders’ Academy: a programme of events and mentoring sessions which aim to encourage Labour party members from underrepresented groups to become more active in the party and community, and to consider putting themselves as councillors and other leadership positions. The programme welcomes members from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, members with disabilities, female members, LGBTQ+ members and members who live in social housing. If you are a party member and interested in getting involved, please email one of us for more information.
Campaigning update
With restrictions still in place on campaigning, we are still making sure we make regular contact with voters through the Labour Party’s phone banking software, Dialogue.
We run group phone banks over Zoom every Thursday evening, Friday morning and Saturday morning with training and support provided to those who haven’t phone banked before. If you have used Dialogue before or you want to give it a go, you can make calls by going to https://dialogue.labour.org.uk
If you want some more information or want the Zoom codes to join our next phone bank, head over to https://events.labour.org.uk and RSVP.