Campaigning on issues that matter to Londoners

A Zero Hunger City

The growth of hunger in London is both shocking and unnecessary. Earlier this year, following a six month investigation, I launched a report on behalf of the London Assembly which looks at the scale of food poverty in London and outlines a number of ways it can be dealt with. During the investigation, I met volunteers and clients of charities and foodbanks providing emergency food aid for Londoners. These included a single mother who was a first time client of the Pecan Foodbank in Peckham who had gone without food for two days so that her son could eat. After she received an unexpectedly high gas bill, she was forced to choose between going to a foodbank or taking out a high interest loan. I heard from teachers who are witnessing a rise in children coming to school hungry and who buy food for their pupils out of their own pockets. I also heard from organisations working with older people, who are also increasingly finding it hard to buy food. Foodbanks do a great job distributing emergency food aid but they are a sticking plaster response to hunger. The Labour response must be to find long term solutions to the causes of poverty including introduction of the London Living Wage and ending the low wage economy. It is a scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world, people are going hungry. This is a problem that we can solve, and that we must solve. My report A Zero Hunger City: Tackling Food Poverty in London highlights the need for Universal Free School Meals, for a co-ordinated response led by the Mayor and the London Food Board and having food strategies at borough level.

Annual Report 2012/2013

Welcome to my first Annual Report as one of your Labour Londonwide Assembly Members. I hope it gives you an insight in to some of my work. The main focus of my work this year has been the investigation in to food poverty in London and fighting the draconian cuts to our emergency services. I have also raised a range of issues and concerns with Boris from Public Mental Health to the Bedroom Tax. I look forward to continuing to work on your behalf at City Hall over the next year. Please feel free to contact me on fiona@fionatwycross.org.uk or use the reply slip overleaf.

A bit about me
I was elected to the London Assembly in 2012. Based in South London, I am Chair of my local Labour Party, Dulwich and West Norwood. A member of the Partys National Policy Forum, I sit on the Education and Childcare Policy Commission. I am a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and the Assemblys Housing, Health and Economy Committees. I am City Hall Labours spokesperson on the Economy and our Campaign Co-ordinator, leading the 999 SOS campaign. I am Chair of Governors at Lambeth Academy and active on the Friends Committee at the Horniman Museum. Before I was elected, I worked for the health charity Diabetes UK.

Main photo: With colleague Joanne McCartney AM and volunteers at Enfield foodbank. Right: Visiting Pecan Foodbank in Peckham

T: 020 79835545 E: fiona@fionatwycross.org.uk www.fionatwycross.org.uk Facebook/fionatwycross @fionatwycross

Campaigning on issues that matter to Londoners

Credit where credits due

London is the most indebted region in the UK. This is due in no small part to the high cost of living as soaring rents, fares, food, gas and electricity prices all put pressure on household incomes. With Which? reporting that one in five households are borrowing to afford food, it is clear large numbers of Londoners are struggling to get by. Boris is doing little to deal with this issue and I have challenged his record on tackling debt among Londoners. I have also asked him to do more to promote and highlight the work of Credit Unions which provide an ethical and low interest alternative both to high interest payday lenders and to high street banks. As City Hall Labours spokesperson on the economy, I recently visited London Mutual at their Southwark headquarters and talked to them about their work and the range of products they offer and plan to offer in the future.

Nowhere to go to the Bedroom Tax

The Bedroom Tax is one of the most unfair aspects of the recent welfare changes. While its stated intention is to free up social housing for families, there is almost nowhere for those affected to move to. Across London, 80,000 households are affected by the penalty. I recently met a woman in Wandsworth who has been on a waiting list to downsize to a smaller property for three years. She now has to find an additional 15 a week (720 a year!). With over 2000 households affected in Wandsworth alone and only 10 properties available in the borough, she has no hope of being found an alternative home. I raised this case at Mays Mayors Question session and Boris had to admit that the only solution was to build more homes which he is singularly failing to make happen. Earlier in the year at a Housing Committee meeting, social housing was discussed. We heard how just 10,000 new homes are in the pipeline across London. One of the issues for councils wanting to invest in new homes is that there is a limit on what they can borrow. I asked how much more social housing could be built in London if the borrowing cap was removed by government. Given the response was that this would potentially allow up to 800,000 homes to be built, ways must be found to free up local authorities to provide the homes that Londoners desperately need.

Keeping London moving

I am always happy to raise issues on behalf of constituents relating to transport whether its a bus route that is overcrowded, accessibility, speed limits or dangerous junctions for cyclists. I lobbied Network Rail about the changes to the Wimbledon Loop and put a formal submission in to the consultation process. I also highlighted issues relating to loss of services in relation to the changes to the South London Line at the Assembly. I fully support improvements to our transport system, such as the extension of the Bakerloo line through Southwark and Lewisham.

Boris in denial
Housing costs are increasing dramatically as pressures on supply affect the number of truly affordable homes in both the private rented sector and housing market generally. Boris has said he doesnt want to see Kosovo style social cleansing on his watch but he is in denial. Comparison of the number of Local Housing Allowance claims shows a shift of low income households to lower cost areas. Research published by the charity Crisis compares the number of Local Housing Allowance claimants in November 2012 with figures from before the introduction of caps on Local Housing Allowance in March 2011. This demonstrates a massive 45% increase in the number of Local Housing Allowance claimants in Barnet, a 29% increase in Enfield and falls of 21% in Kensington and Chelsea and 20% in Westminster. With similar reports on increasing pressure on school places in a number of outer London boroughs this is a problem that Boris simply cant ignore..

999 SOS
Our emergency services in London are facing an unprecedented attack. Boris is cutting both the Police and Fire Brigade. He is failing to stand up for Londoners on the NHS and London Ambulance Service. Labour Party members across London have campaigned vigorously against the cuts which put the safety and security of Londoners at risk. As Campaign Co-ordinator for City Hall Labour, I have led the 999 SOS campaign across London. This included co-ordinating a day of action in February supported by our Regional Trade Unions. My submission to the consultation on the Draft Police and Crime Plan highlighted concerns about black holes in police front counter provision in a number of areas including where boroughs meet in Crystal Palace, East Barnet/West Enfield and East Waltham Forest/West Redbridge. I also raised concerns about the lack of emphasis placed on tackling violence against women and girls in the draft plan. Although there wasnt as much movement on the proposals as we would have liked, some changes were made to the final plan as a result of strong local campaigns. At the time of writing, the outcome of the Consultation on the Fifth London Safety Plan is not clear. Having attended public consultation meetings across London, what is clear, however, is the anger and concern of local residents. Along with Labour colleagues, I have consistently voted against cuts which will dangerously increase response times.

Campaigning with TSSA on high rail fares

Environment matters
Boris Johnsons record as a do-little mayor is arguably worst on the environment. Shockingly over 4000 people die prematurely due to air pollution in London every year. London regularly faces fines over the unacceptable levels of air pollution.. I have raised a number of questions about environmental issues including air pollution and have raised concerns over the proposed Beddington incinerator which is opposed by local residents due to health concerns.

T: 020 79835545 E: fiona@fionatwycross.org.uk www.fionatwycross.org.uk Facebook/fionatwycross @fionatwycross

Working with you and for you across London

One of the main ways your Assembly Members can hold the Mayor to account is through submitting questions to him. Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to raise on your behalf. As a Londonwide Assembly Member, Ive hugely enjoyed getting out and about campaigning with members and speaking at your meetings and events. I have also welcomed members in to City Hall to show people round the building and talk about what the Assembly does. If you would like to arrange to come on one of my tours, please complete the attached form.
Out with Cllr Andy Simmons on With members from Mitcham and Morden Labour Party

the doorstep

Campaigning

in Wandsworth

Get in touch
Name: Mobile: Email: Home address: Postcode: Please ask the Mayor the Following Question:

The issue I think Labour should be campaigning on in London is:

With Fabian Wome ns Network Members at City Hall

I would be interested in (Please tick): Joining a Labour campaign for universal free school meals Getting more involved in campaigning Coming on a tour of City Hall and finding out more about the work of the London Assembly Return address: Fiona Twycross AM, Labour Group Office, City Hall, The Queens Walk, London SE1 2AA
mpa embers ca uthwark m So g in in Jo tion Hill byelec the Brixton igning in

Imprint: Printed by Europa Quality Print & Mailing (UK) Limited, Europa House, 44 the I O Centre, Armstrong Road, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6RS. Promoted by and on behalf of Fiona Twycross, c/o Dulwich & West Norwood Labour

T: 020 79835545 E: fiona@fionatwycross.org.uk www.fionatwycross.org.uk Facebook/fionatwycross @fionatwycross