Press releases from
Samuel Townend,
Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for Reigate

Townend challenges Blunt to Redhill YMCA fun run (Press release April 2005)

Blunt has it all wrong on hospital debt – local Trust papers published this week show Blunt to be wrong (Press release: April 2005)

Letter to the editor of the Surrey Mirror about East Surrey Hospital (April 2005)

Open letter to Conservative parliamentary candidates for Reigate & Crawley (April 2005)

Changes at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (Friday 13 February 2005)

Results of the smoking debate (Monday 20th December, 2004)

Lib-Dems are wrong (Letter to the Surrey Mirror, Monday 20th December 2004)

Letter to the editor of Surrey Mirror responding Crispin Blunt's comments on Shagbrook (12th December 2004)

Public smoking debate (10th December 2004)

Tory cuts would lead to council tax hikes in Reigate and Banstead and cuts to local services (3rd December 2004)

Letter to the editor of the Surrey Mirro concerning Mineral extraction plans for Shagbrook (21st November 2004)

Hoey applauds local Labour Part (25th October 2004)

Crispin Blunt's expenses claims (24th October 2004)

Labour MP Kate Hoey speaks at Reigate Labour party fund raiser (22nd October 2004)

Financial support needed for disadvantaged areas (6th September 2004)

Changes to Reigate Borough Council employees' pension scheme. (22nd August 2004)

A-level results (20th August 2004)

Increased powers for Redhill's magistrates court (18th August 2004)

Letter to Redhill and Reigate Life about East Surrey Hospital (15th August 2004)

Letter to the editor of The Surrey Mirror concerning the fund-raising dinner given in aid of Reigate and Redhill YMCA (21st June 2004)

Townend urges government minister to introduce 'Sure Start’ scheme in Merstham (20th June 2004)

Is the Redhill redevelopment safe? (2nd June 2004)

Townend challenges Blunt to Redhill YMCA fun run (Press release April 2005)
Samuel Townend with Kim Roderick, Fun Run Organiser at the YMCA Earlswood

The Labour Party candidate for Redhill and Reigate, Samuel Townend, has today challenged the Conservative candidate and incumbent, Crispin Blunt, to a race in the YMCA fun run which is to be held on Sunday 1st May.

The aim of the fun run is to raise around £5,000 towards Fit for Life, the scheme which encourages people with disabilities and special needs to take part in exercise.

Samuel Townend says: "It will be great to break off from the campaign trail to get some exercise and hopefully raise some money and publicity for what is a very good cause. I have long been a supporter of the YMCA and this particular campaign to encourage particular groups of people who do not often get recreational provision is one in which I take a keen interest.

Besides which, by Sunday 1st May, I think we could all do with some respite from party political rhetoric, although your readers may be interested to know that I intend to go 'Forward not back' when doing the run!

I am certainly hoping that my opponent will accept the gauntlet I have laid down for him. It will certainly be a shame if he does not. So come on Mr Blunt "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" If so then get your jogging shoes out and do the Fun Run!

Samuel Townend ran for Haringey Athletic Club when in his early teens and regularly works out on a rowing machine and he enjoys cycling. He intends training for the run throughout the campaign.

Samuel Townend is a supporter of Redhill and Reigate YMCA having attended their fund-raising dinner last year and has visited their premises in Princes Road, Earlswood.

Kim Roderick ('Fit for Life' campaign organiser for the YMCA): Tel: 01737 779979 or Email.

Blunt has it all wrong on hospital debt – local Trust papers published this week show Blunt to be wrong (Press release: April 2005)
"Mr Blunt has concocted an entirely party political story to connect a 2001 moratorium on the re-stucturing of the local hospital system with the hospital trust's existing large and growing debts which is both wrong and shameful in its entirely partisan nature," says Samuel Townend, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Reigate and Redhill.

Last wee'‚s Surrey Mirror reported Mr Blunt accusing the MP for Crawley, Laura Moffatt, to blame for the debt of the local hospital trust. This potty allegation could not be further from the truth.

The truth is that the crippling financial difficulties have been caused by poor financial management at the trust over many successive years. This is proven by reference to:

1. The papers published by the trust for today's Public Trust Board meeting (more on which below).

2. The Trust's Acting Chairman, Robin Eve's, admission that in relation to the current year: "The budget setting was grossly overambitious." (see minutes of meeting of 28.01.05 at end of item 5.3.1)

Samuel Townend says: "The Trust's problems are to do with historic poor management in particular in the financial area as these documents show.

"The moratorium on the merger of the Crawley A & E with the East Surrey A & E was called for by all politicians in Crawley including Cllr Henry Smith, the conservative parliamentary candidate for Crawley. The proposed building of a new hospital in Pease Pottage was a serious possibility and is still being called for by Crawley Conservatives. For Mr Blunt to say this was an expensive diversion used as an excuse to delay the transfer until after the 2001 election is to contradict his own party's policy!

Mr Blunt needs to answer this question: 'Is his party's policy to open a new hospital in Pease Pottage or not?' If not, he should tell his colleague to take this commitment off their website.

To accuse Laura Moffatt of causing the problems is grossly unfair and is an example of the dumbing down of politics. There was one obvious reason for Mr Blunt to make this accusation. Mrs Moffatt is the only Labour MP in the local area and he is desperate to do what he can to get rid of her. This was a cynical and shameful party political manoeuvre. ‰

Details from the Trust's Papers:

The papers for today's meeting include an up-to-date finance report showing an estimated deficit of £25-27 million, an audit report and performance statistics:

Finance Report
This shows the true reasons for the problems:

1. Income from PCTs, private sources and other sources is below what had been budgeted.

2. Pay and non-pay expenditure is well over what was budgeted. In relation to pay the excessive spending is on agency nursing and doctor staffing. In relation to non-pay £3.6 million is on finance charges alone!

3. The saving initiatives have not saved as much as was hoped.

National Performance Indicator report
The trust is meeting many of the national targets and, in fact, waiting list numbers and now the lowest they have ever been and average wait is about 6 months (as compared to the Government target of 9 months). But the trust is underperforming in 3 areas:

1. Finance

2. A & E over 12 hour waits. A number of patients had to wait over 12 hours.

3. A & E 4 hours or below waits. The Trust achieved only 94% when the Government target is 98%.

Letter to the editor of the Surrey Mirro about East Surrey Hospital (April 2005)
Sir. Mr Blunt MP is the one engaging in cynical political conniving in relation to the local hospital trust and not Laura Moffatt, the Labour MP for Crawley. In your lead article last week Crispin Blunt accused Laura Moffatt, the Labour MP for Crawley, of delaying the transfer of A & E services from Crawley to Redhill for party political purposes and says that this has caused the current debts of the Trust. This accusation is wrong and shameful in its purely partisan interpretation of the facts.

It is wrong politically because all political parties in Crawley called for the moratorium, including Mr Blunt's Conservative colleague, Cllr Henry Smith, standing against Mrs Moffatt, who actually wants the closure of East Surrey hospital and a new hospital in Pease Pottage. There is an obvious inconsistency between Mr Smith and Mr Blunt which he has not explained.

But it is also wrong factually. The true position is that the Trust has suffered from chronic financial and other mismanagement over a number of years including the present which have nothing to do with a moratorium on the move of A & E from Crawley to Redhill. This has been admitted by the Acting Chairman of the Trust, Robin Eve, who in January (when a non-executive director) said: "The budget setting was grossly overambitious."

It is also backed up by the Financial Report and Audit Committee Reports recently published on the Trust's website for this week's Trust Board meeting.

The financial problems are because the management have consistently over-estimated the income they are to receive from PCTs, private healthcare and other sources, and under-estimated the expenditure, particularly having to pay excessive sums for agency doctors and nurses because they have failed to recruit permanent staff (a difficulty caused in part by the failure of local Conservative-run councils to provide affordable accomodation to these key workers).

As the National Performance Indicator Report recently published shows the problems at the hospital are two-fold, related to poor financial control and poor performance of the A & E since the services of Crawley were moved over. If anything the moratorium ought to have allowed the Trust to prepare properly for the merger – but they have not managed it well. In other areas it is noteable that the hospital does well, particularly on waiting lists in general which are down to an average of about 6 months, well below the Government's 9 month target.

That it is poor management that is to blame and not some "Labour Party conspiracy" I only have to point to the debacle over the parking at the hospital site which has now been changed twice and is widely acknowledged to have caused chaos to staff, patients and visitors and residents in Earlswood and Whitebushes. Even in his wildest moments Mr Blunt does not have the gall to pin that mess on the Labour Government!

The lack of financial control and poor management of the A & E merger are the reasons why the Chair and Chief Executive of the Trust had to go. This is also why I would implore Mr Blunt to stop seeking to make party political trouble not based on fact, but to work with Laura Moffatt to help the Trust to sort out its problems. His failure to do this demonstrates his and not her cynical approach to politics.

Open letter to Conservative parliamentary candidate and councillor Smith (April 2005)
Dear Mr Blunt and Mr Smith,
It is now over two weeks since I sent you my four simple and direct questions about the contradictory stance you take in relation to hospital provision in our area. Mr Smith calls for "full hospital facilities" in Pease Pottage. Mr Blunt regards this as uneconomic and an expensive diversion. For the third time please can you tell us and your potential constituents what is the policy of your Party on this?

The only conclusion for the equivocal position that you appear to have adopted is that you will do or say anything to try to get elected. If that is the case what can the people of Reigate and Crawley possibly expect from you if elected – they have no way of knowing whether or not in Crawley they will get acute and A & E facilities or, in the case of Reigate, whether they will keep the acute and A & E facilities they presently have?

Your silence on this critical issue speaks volumes. Your failure to state your policy surely indicates that neither of you can be trusted by the electorate of either constituency.

Below are copies of the previous emails for your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Samuel Townend
Labour's parliamentary candidate for Reigate

Dear Mr Blunt and Mr Smith,

It is now a week since I sent you my questions about the apparent contradictions in the policies you are adopting in your respective constituencies in relation to hospital provision. I would now be grateful for an answer to these questions.

If you fail to answer these questions the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the positions that each of you have adopted are irreconcilable, are promises made for political convenience only and further proof that Conservatives say one thing and then do something else.

Below is a copy of the email for your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Samuel Townend
Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reigate

Dear Mr Blunt and Mr Smith

There appears to be contradiction in your policies in relation to hospital provision in our area which I would be grateful if you would clarify. Mr Smith (according to the front page of his website) wants full hospital facilities at the Pease Pottage site. Mr Blunt (according to the Surrey Mirror of 24th March 2005) considers such a hospital to be uneconomic and an expensive diversion. Please answer the following direct questions abour your present policy.

1. Is it your policy that there should be a new hospital with acute and A & E services at the Pease Pottage site?

2. If not, what is meant by "full hospital facilities" on Mr Smith's website?

3. If yes, does this render acute and A & E services at the Redhill site (East Surrey Hospital) uneconomic and cause the facilities necessarily collectively to fall below clinical standards and does your policy therefore necessarily seek the closure of these facilities?

4. If not, how do you propose to finance these two full hospital facilities in close proximity?

Changes at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (Friday 13 February 2005)
Ken Cunningham, the chief executive running East Surrey and Crawley hospitals, is on "agreed leave" with immediate effect and replaced by Anthony McKeever as acting chief executive according to a staff notice issued by the Surrey and Sussex NHS Healthcare Trust.

Samuel Townend, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Reigate, Redhill and Banstead, who has long campaigned on the poor quality of senior management of East Surrey Hospital, welcomed the Trust's decision to remove Mr Cunningham.

"On Friday the Trust announced that Mr Cunningham is on 'agreed leave' with immediate effect and that he is to be replaced by an acting chief executive. It appears that he has effectively been sacked.

"While it is sad for any individual to lose their job, as appears to have happened with Mr Cunningham – though the hospital are not yet saying this – a serious shake up was sorely needed in the senior management of the East Surrey hospital. The poor management and leadership was endemic and long-standing and it was plain that drastic action was needed. Mr Cunningham appeared unable or unwilling to take that action and it is appropriate for the Trust Board to seek new leadership to deal with the challenges the hospital faces.

"The current problems started with the NHS Healthcare Commission report of last summer when the hospital trust was given a zero star rating. The detail in the report showed that the failings were of senior management and leadership. The lowest star rating was unacceptable to users of the hospital and is completely out of step with the NHS generally, which is supported by massive additional investment by the Labour Government, and in particular out of step with well performing local primary care trusts (such as Oaklands NHS Primary Care Trust) and with other hospitals in the region which typically get 2 and 3 stars.

"The inappropriate reaction from Mr Cunningham at the time was to quibble about whether zero or one star was actually the appropriate rating. Readers may remember that in my letter published in August last year I said that 'If the Chief Executive will not act positively to the criticisms made by the Healthcare Commission then he should resign. A purely defensive posture is not a sufficient reaction.'

"Unfortunately, the response was not positive and I have been proven right.

"Since then the merger of the Crawley A & E department with that of East Surrey at the East Surrey site (which I opposed) has not been managed properly, resulting in some delays and additional pressure on hard pressed staff.

"There has also been the debacle of the car parking for staff, patients and visitors. Plainly there is insufficient parking spaces for staff resulting in car parks rammed full and overflowing into Earlswood and Whitebushes causing problems, for example, obstructions on Bushfield Drive.

"The hospital management tried two different parking schemes, both of which have failed, and now have a free-for-all situation with all parking barriers open.

"As well as the management of the hospital Conservative controlled Reigate and Surrey County Councils are also open to criticism for the problems in relation to parking with a planning application for additional parking spaces being turned down and none of the elected and paid representatives (including the Conservative MP) offering a solution to the parking problems.

"On the clinical side the hospital offers a good service as most people's individual experiences of the hospital demonstrate, but the hard working doctors and nurses and other staff have been let down by poor senior management.

"I welcome the appointment of a new chief executive and hope very much that it will offer new leadership and direction and a fresh start for the hospital which hospital users deserve and require."

Results of the smoking debate (Monday 20th December, 2004)
On Tuesday 14th December 2004, the Woolsack and Tanners rooms of the Harlequin Theatre, Redhill, were the venue for a public debate on the Government's proposed smoking ban in public places.

Attending were the two 'big beasts' of the smoking debate: Deborah Arnott, Director of ASH (Action on Smoking and Health – the anti-smoking campaigning group) and Simon Clark, Director of FOREST (the anti-regulation campaigning group). Also speaking was David Taylor MP, Chair of the all party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, and chaired by Samuel Townend, Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reigate.

The debate was well attended by local people from Redhill, Reigate and as far afield as Dorking – smokers and non-smokers, with strongly held views courteously expressed.

The mood of the meeting demonstrated that public feeling appears to more in favour of the rights of non-smokers to be free of breathing in others' smoke, than for the rights of smokers. On a straw poll held at the end of the debate:

* 16% were against further regulation restricting smoking in enclosed public spaces

* 40% thought that the Government (which proposes to ban smoking in restaurants and pubs and clubs where hot food is sold) had got it about right

* 44% wanted an outright ban, including in all pubs and clubs

[25 people voted, though over 30 attended]

David Taylor MP said he was "disappointed that the Government's legislation does not go further."

Samuel Townend says:"The debate was highly charged, but very interesting. It is clear to me that the tide has moved against smokers' rights and in favour of those who want to be free of breathing in other people's smoke when they go for a meal out.

"The science that demonstrates a link between passive smoking is now clearer than it has every been. Many people attended this consultation in Redhill and I have passed their views on to the Health Minister, Lord Warner, in the hope that it influences Government policy."

.

Cambridge University educated Samuel Townend is a practising barrister specialising in building and engineering law. Although he presently lives out of the constituency, just off the A23, he intends moving to the constituency if successful at the next general election.

Fighting poverty and improving public services
I believe our main priority should be to eliminate poverty and unemployment and improve our education and health services.

The government has done significant work in some areas and there is more to do in others.
In relation to early years education, for example, the government has made real efforts. Local examples include increased nursery places (Surrey Council now say a guaranteed place for all 3-year-olds) and reduced infant class sizes.

I am campaigning to bring a Sure Start Scheme to Merstham. It should be remembered that the improvement in these areas have been principally driven by the government. Surrey Council, while they have facilitated some of the changes, cannot take the credit.

Better transport links
For too long the commuter has suffered a poor irregular train service and residents suffered the pollution and congestion of too many vehicles passing through Redhill and Reigate.

Samuel suffered some of the problems when he worked in Redhill. "I have regularly commuted to and from Redhill and understand the concerns of the regular train user," he says.

I am pushing for the implementation of the Holmethorpe Industrial Estate Relief Road (after too many years' delay) and other innovative solutions to transport problems.

Changes to Reigate Borough Council employees' pension scheme. (22nd August 2004)
Sir. I am writing in regard to last week's Executive Committee meeting of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, at which the leaders of the Council (Cllrs Spears and Circus) are reported to have threatened to end the final salary pension schemes for Council employees (at least for new entrants).

Since hearing about this I have been investigating the extent to which the Council leaders have consulted on their proposals with council employees and their union representatives or with back-bench councillors. I was surprised to find out that before making their accouncement at this public meeting the Council leaders had not made any efforts at all to inform or consult with any of those affected.

In my view this is a callous and unprofessional way to deal with the management of Council staff and of putting forward proposed alterations to staff terms and conditions. Even if, as on one suggestion, the change is limited to new employees, that is hardly going to help already difficult problems of recruitment and retention which face the Borough.

The real problem appears to be that the Borough Council's pension fund deficit has more than doubled in three years – from £7.4 milliion in 2001 to an estimated £20.3 million today. Bearing in mind that the last stock market crash was over four years ago (the dot com bust), before the deficit set in, the main culprit for the difficulties appears to be in poor stewardship of the pension funds over the last three years. Who was in charge of the stewardship of the pension funds? the same Conservative Council administration and their partner administration at the County level is the answer.

Instead of seeking to slash staff conditions without any consultation at all I would suggest that the Council leaders look inwards at why they have a budget deficit. Savings of £150,000 are said to be needed this year. The necessary savings ought to have been made from the excessive sums spent on doing up one room in the Town Hall (estimated at over £1 million). Another area for cuts could be the self-awarded Executive members' allowances.

Clearly with a longer living population there are problems in relation to pensions and inadequate pensions planning (some of which occurred because all Councils took pensions holidays in the 1980s to help cover a gap in the finances when Michael Howard's Poll Tax was introduced). These are problems which all Councils will have to face. The solution will however come from measured thoughtful investigation and consideration and with consultation of all interested parties, not shooting from the hip without considering the consequences of what you say as these councillors appear to have done.

A-level results (20th August 2004)
"A level and AS level exam results came out yesterday and it was another good set of results for Surrey schools and sixth form colleges," said Samuel Townend, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Reigate and a former school governor.

"I congratulate students, teachers and parents of Reigate College, East Surrey College and other local sixth forms on their skill and very hard work and wish the students the best of luck in how they choose to deploy their well-earned qualifications whether in a job or Higher Education.

"Although the full breakdown of the results won't be published until January it is clear that Surrey's exam results have maintained their consistent position of performing above the national average.

"I don't share the view of some that A levels have been 'dumbed down'.  As any parent or sixth former will tell you, their exam results have come after two very full years of continuous assessments and hard work, much of it counting towards these final grades.

"Yes, in many subjects there has been a change from two final three hour papers at the end of the two years.  But no, this does not constitute a watering down in standards.  Most people involved in education will acknowledge that continuous assessment has resulted in students working consistently harder over the two years than did their forbears thirty or forty years ago.  These results reflect that harder work ethic."

Increased powers for Redhill's magistrates court (18th August 2004)
"MORE offenders will be tracked down as magistrates courts are able to access the Police National Computer (PNC) database in the autumn," says Samuel Townend, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Reigate.

Mr. Townend, a practising barrister, continued: "There has been a groundbreaking pilot scheme in Staffordshire which tracked down an extra 680 offenders when magistrates courts were given unprecedented access to the PNC. This scheme is expected to extend to all magistrates courts including Redhill magistrates court, Hatchlands Road by the autumn.

"Offenders can’t hide by moving from one end of the country to the other. If warrants for them are circulated on the database they can be caught more easily and brought to justice. It is an efficient and cost effective way of tracing offenders.

"Courts having access to the database gives another tool in the fines enforcement armoury. It gives a fuller picture on habitual criminals and ensures court orders are not flouted.

"The pilot scheme was a success. Defendants who might previously have escaped punishment because they have moved to another part of the country such as Reigate and Redhill will now be arrested and brought before the court.

"Magistrates see punishments enforced more quickly and enforcement staff know that if their enquiries locally prove abortive, the defendant’s details can be circulated to all police force areas."

Mr. Townend concluded: "The sooner this is extended to all local courts, in particular, Redhill magistrates court, the better. Criminals should know they are much more likely to get caught and brought to justice from now on."

Letter to Redhill and Reigate Life about East Surrey Hospital (15th August 2004)
SIR, I am writing about the recent debate about whether East Surrey Hospital should have retained its one star rating or had it reduced to no star.

The fact is that whether East Surrey Hospital properly deserves no star or one star it is clear from the detail contained in the recent Healthcare Commission’s Report that the hospital is not keeping up with the standards of most other hospitals in the South East or with other local health services such as the GP provision run by East Surrey Primary Care Trust (two stars) or Surrey Oaklands NHS Trust (mental health care) which increased its rating from one to two stars.

This deficiency is not to do with the work of individual clinicians or non-clinical staff, because individual experiences reported to me are overwhelmingly good or excellent (save in respect of A & E which is more mixed).

Nor is it to do with resources. It is a fact that this NHS Trust, as with all NHS Trusts, have received significant increases in money from Government of both capital (for example, as reflected in the new buildings) and revenue. The problem is one of policy, coordination and supervision. The Trust Board and the Chief Executive must take responsibility for this and act upon the criticisms made.

My views are as follows:
- If the Chief Executive will not act positively to the criticisms made by the Healthcare Commission then he should resign. A purely defensive posture is not a sufficient reaction.

- I was and am against the merger of Crawley Hospital A & E with that of East Surrey Hospital. The anecdotal evidence I have received is that East Surrey Hospital is not able to cope with the additional strain of patients from Crawley as well as local patients.

- I am against any reduction in beds for elective surgery due to the merger. If the merger is to continue there should be no impact on other essential services.

Reigate and Redhill’s predominantly Conservative elected representatives, including its MP, ought to be less equivocal and stand up more clearly for the interests of their constituents on this matter.

Fund-raising dinner given in aid of Reigate and Redhill YMCA (Letter to the Surrey Mirror, 21st June 2004)
SIR. On Sunday evening (20th June 2004), along with Reigate Rotarians, golf club members, local politicians of all party hues and many other local people, I was glad to attend a fund-raising dinner for the Reigate and Redhill YMCA in a wonderful marque courtesy of Brewers, the local building firm, hosted by Nick Ross, the broadcaster and local resident.

The YMCA are raising money for the fitting out of their new accommodation block on Brighton Road. This building will provide 42 much needed flats for disadvantaged 18-30 year olds in the Borough.

Social exclusion is not a topic often discussed in the Council, however, it does exist here in Surrey and the YMCA is a unique organisation doing a fantastic job in trying to tackle it. I congratulate them on a very enjoyable event which included an excellent dinner, raffle and auction, and hope that they raised a lot of money.

The evening was topped off with the great and good of Reigate and Redhill all standing up and joining in a rendition of the 1980s pop song YMCA ... unforgettable!

Townend urges government minister to introduce 'Sure Start’ scheme in Merstham (20th June 2004) Samuel Townend

Samuel Townend with Minister Yvette Cooper

On Thursday 17th June 2004 Samuel Townend, the Labour Party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Reigate Constituency, met with Yvette Cooper MP, Minister of State in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, to ask her about social exclusion in Reigate Constituency and a ‘Sure Start’ scheme for Merstham.

Samuel Townend told the Minister: "Although Reigate and Banstead Council received a ‘good’ assessment from the Audit Commission’s recent report (the Comprehensive Performance Assessment, April 2004), the Council was criticised for failing to develop any effective strategies to address issues of social inclusion across the borough and for failing to engage young people in particular. Effectively, the Council has no proper policy catering for the most deprived areas of the borough and, in particular, the old LCC estate to the east of Merstham. [See the reports attached to Reigate and Banstead Council’s press release for 8th April 2004 at www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/public/news]

"This part of Merstham hits high on the index of multiple deprivation and this should be recognised with the provision of a ‘Sure Start’ scheme for the area," he added. "If the Council is not going to ask for such an injection of resources for Merstham, I will."

Yvette Cooper said: "It is a shame that Reigate Council has no proper policy to tackle social exclusion.

"I appreciate that there are pockets of deprivation in the County of Surrey. The way the Government assesses suitability of areas for ‘Sure Start’ schemes and other initiatives is changing. A new measure has been introduced which should allow pockets of deprivation below ward size to be identified more easily so that additional help such as ‘Sure Start’ schemes can be directed where they are most needed. This should put Merstham further up the list."

The ‘Sure Start’ schemes bring a concentration of resources for 400-600 children between 0- 4 in a small geographical area including £1,000,000 capital costs (for example, to pay for new nursery or child-care facilities) and £500,000 revenue costs for 10 years. This concentration of resources on a relatively limited number of the most deprived children and their parents transforms their opportunities and life chances.

There are presently over 520 schemes countrywide, but none yet in Surrey. For more on ‘Sure Start’ see www.surestart.gov.uk.

Is the Redhill redevelopment safe? (2nd June 2004)



Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate challenges Reigate Council chief executive on the safety of the Redhill redevelopment yesterday,

Samuel Townend, the Labour Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the Reigate Constituency, met with Nigel Clifford, the chief executive of Reigate and Banstead Council, to discuss complaints he had received about lack of safety in Redhill town centre where the redevelopment works are taking place around Station Road.

One complaint Mr Townend received was from Lesley Smith who spoke of an incident where her mother fell over masonry seriously hurting her leg in the middle of Redhill where the redevelopment works are being carried out. What made it worse was that the contractor’s personnel did not even come over and help her mother up. (The contractor has, however, subsequently called up Lesley Smith to apologise, but only after Lesley had a letter published in the Surrey Mirror.)

Samuel Townend has heard of another serious incident where an elderly person has fallen because of uneven ground causing a cut and bleeding and a number of other complaints about the poor and bitty finish to parts of the work – even those parts which are open to the public to walk over. Further, residents have told him that they do not know where to complain at the site if a problem occurs.

Other complainants (about the aesthetics and the costs) include honorary aldermen and former mayors of the borough Eddie and Mary Waller, and local resident Maurice Scott.

Samuel Townend, who with his professional hat on works in construction law, says: "While I understand that it is important to keep as many shops open as possible throughout the works, the result is that in order to maintain access to the shops, the areas which are open to the public or are part of the works are piece-meal and keep changing. This appears to lead to increased likelihood of safety problems.

"While nobody would say that Redhill town centre does not need improvement, the work must be done in a way so as not to endanger the elderly and vulnerable. This must be the minimum responsibility of the Council. Signage indicating where complaints can be made to the clerk of works is also poor."

Samuel Townend urges that appropriate action be taken where necessary to ensure the parts of the work open to the public are safe so that no further incidents like that which Lesley Smith’s mother suffered ever happen again.

Supervision for these works ultimately rests with Reigate and Banstead Council and, in particular, the Conservative Group of councillors who control the Council. If incidents continue to occur it must be they who take responsibility for the deficiencies – a prime time to do that will be the local elections on 10th June.

Mr Clifford for the Council agreed to look into the signage problem and the issue of safety of the site more generally.