additional late June 2018 MQT answers
Bins outside East Finchley Station
Question No: 2018/1554
Andrew Dismore
Who is responsible for the maintenance outside East Finchley station? Recently the bins there were broken, and are in need of replacement, but both Barnet Council and Transport for London refuse to accept responsibility. Will you direct officers to resolve this dispute and ensure the bins are repaired, and that the front of the station is kept tidy?
Written response from the Mayor
Transport for London (TfL) is responsible for the area of land outside the station where the broken bins were located. They were removed in April as there were a number of other bins in the immediate area, including one by the pedestrian crossing and several within the ticket hall of the station.
This area has been prioritised as part of regular cleaning schedules and TfL will liaise with London Borough of Barnet should additional bins be required.
London A&E performances
Question No: 2018/1580
Andrew Dismore
Which London NHS Trusts are, and which are not, meeting their A&E targets?
Written response from the Mayor
The table below sets out how all London trusts performed against the A&E national standard of 95% of patients being treated within 4 hours in April 2018 (latest available data). Only the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust met the national standard during this period.
I regularly meet London’s senior NHS leaders to discuss NHS performance and to seek assurances that Londoners are receiving high quality, timely healthcare services when and where they need them.
| Sub-Region | Provider | Actual |
| North East & North Central London | Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals | 78.97% |
| Barts Health NHS Trust | 86.22% | |
| Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 94.30% | |
| North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust | 83.07% | |
| Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | 87.85% | |
| University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 83.53% | |
| Whittington Health NHS Trust | 86.32% | |
| North West London | Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 95.00% |
| Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust | 84.61% | |
| London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust | 88.20% | |
| The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 80.29% | |
| South London | Croydon Health Services NHS Trust | 87.91% |
| Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust | 92.97% | |
| Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust | 86.46% | |
| King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 78.85% | |
| Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 88.86% | |
| Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust | 87.58% | |
| St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 88.41% | |
| London Total | 87.67% | |
Waste collection in Barnet (1)
Question No: 2018/1582
Andrew Dismore
Barnet Council is considering scrapping food waste collections and stopping green waste collections for 3 months a year, breaking the administration’s only pledge in their recent election.
The London Environmental Strategy (Policy 7.2.1) states a minimum level of service to households: 1) six main dry recycling materials collected from all properties 2) separate food waste collections, including from flats where practical and cost effective 3) focus on improving performance from flats.
Do you regard this scheme as being compliant with your environmental policies? If not, will you challenge the Council’s decision?
Written response from the Mayor
Following the LB Barnet’s decision on the 5th of June to withdraw the food waste collection service, I formally wrote to the Leader of the council, on the 19th of June, and again on the 27th of June, expressing my profound concern at the decision and conveying my intention to direct the authority to stop the implementation of its decision for an initial six-week period. The purpose of this being to set aside a period within which we could seek additional information, data and evidence from the authority that it had used to support its decision and to see if a resolution can be found.
The Leader of the authority, Cllr Richard Cornelius, responded to that letter on the 28th of June and agreed voluntarily to set aside a six-week period to engage in dialogue and consultation.
We are currently within that six-week period and the authority is fully cooperating in providing a range of information and data. It would not be appropriate for me to say more at this point.
Waste collection in Barnet [2]
Question No: 2018/1583
Andrew Dismore
Barnet Council is considering scrapping recycling banks. They estimate this will reduce recycling rates. Do you think London Councils, many of which were recently re-elected on the promise of not changing the waste and refuse service, should be taking actions which reduce recycling?
Written response from the Mayor
My officers are meeting their counterparts from the London Borough of Barnet to better understand the full package of measures that the authority has agreed to as part of a service review (this includes the withdrawal of its food waste service).
My critical challenge back to the authority will be to demonstrate how it intends to make an effective contribution to meeting my London Environment Strategy targets and national targets for recycling, as well as meeting their own ambitious 50 per cent household waste recycling target by 2020. Withdrawal of services will not help meet these targets. Please also refer to Mayor’s Question 2018/1463 and Mayor’s Question 2018/1582.
Financial inclusion (1)
Question No: 2018/1185
Andrew Dismore
Further to your response to the Economy Committee’s report ‘Short changed- the financial health of Londoners’, what discussions have you had with central Government to conduct a comprehensive national survey to assess financial inclusion and gather evidence to better understand the scale of the problem in London?
Written response from the Mayor
In addition to the survey I have conducted of young Londoners’ financial capability and education, I will be writing to Guy Opperman MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, suggesting that the government conduct a localised, representative survey of households on their activities and interactions with financial providers to help determine the scope and scale of financial exclusion in London, and inform the policies of City Hall and others.
