Continuing my reflections on Councillor Phibbs's Boris Hot One Hundred:
10. Rough sleeping has been reduced by two thirds. The successes to date have not required additional funds but are a result of better co-ordination between the agencies responsible. The estimated number of persistent rough sleepers across London is down from 205 under Ken Livingstone to 67 now.
How is Harry defining "embedded" and "rough"? Whose figures are these? Last July, the London co-ordinator for Housing Justice told the BBC: "The government issues a target to each borough, and outreach staff and police work hard to achieve it. In the two weeks before the count, our belief is that police change their shifts to night shifts, and those identified as homeless are woken up and engaged in long conversations and invited to leave the borough over a two-week period." Last month the Simon Community said, "There is a lot cynicism about the way headcounts are done by local authorities, and the way they then handle those figures" and a spokesperson for Tory-Controlled London Councils said, "it may be difficult to achieve accurate counts in areas where sleeping rough is less common and sites used less well known." Both comments appear in Inside Housing.
11. A series of new City Academies are being sponsored. The first Mayoral Academy will be Turin Grove School in Edmonton, open from September.
Turin Grove, which is "open" already, is the only school so far to become a Mayor's Academy. Another school, in Richmond, decided against it.
12. The Mayor's Fund has been launched to tackle child poverty.
An announcement was made last April that, "In 2010, the charity will launch an £8 million scheme across four local authorities around Shoreditch." That was a month after Boris revealed that "not a lot" of donations had been received. Barclays recently pledged £1 million over four years. Other than that, little has been heard.
13. Flew to Beijing Olympics, economy class.
Travelled to Bexleyheath police station by private hire vehicle: cost, £200. He concealed this at the time. When asked what mode of transport he had used to make the journey he replied that he had come "by car."
14. Scrapped the post of Women's adviser, which was held by Anni Marjoram, and removed four more of "Ken's Wimmin" - the total salary bill was over £400,000. Those who have gone include Ken Livingstone's partner Emma Beale, who was paid £96,000 to be the Mayor's "Administration Manager" and Socialist Action member Jude Woodward who had been the Cultural Commissar.
When Tories used the term "wimmin" - or "Harperson" - in this way, it reminds me of little boys tittering so hard they have to clutch hold of their willies in order to avoid wetting their pants. Imagine their indignation if I took to sneeringly referring to Isabel Dedring, Munira Mirza, Lizzie Noel, Pam Chesters, Rosie Boycott and Kate Hoey collectively as, say, "Boris's Bits On The Side". The figure of £96,000 was, I think, disputed when bandied around in Veronica Wadley's nasty old Evening Standard. For the record, a source close to Livingstone says, "By the time Emma had left it was £53,647 p/a."
15. Championed the City of London against EU regulation - notably the protectionist directive on hedge funds.
Indeed he has. So does he still back Obama?
16. Supporting the phasing out of road humps across London.
And?
17. Reducing barriers for pedestrians with 20 miles of guard rail going.
Did Boris really do all that? Was no-one else involved? Is everyone pleased?
18. Launched a competition for a New Bus for London, a 21st century successor to the Routemaster. The first prototype is expected to start testing by the end of 2011.
How wise to use that word "successor".
Coming next week: item 19 and, in particular, item 20 which is all about Boris's record on housing. Hot topic.
