Fall in unemployment

The ONS has reported that the number of people out of work fell by 7,000 to 2.59m in the three months to July. The unemployment rate was 8.1% in the period, down from the previous quarter’s 8.2%. The figures also show that the number out of work for more than a year was 904,000, the highest since 1996. There was a fall of 15,000 in the number claiming Jobseeker's Allowance to 1.57m, the largest drop since June 2010. The number in work increased by 236,000 to 29.56m, a figure the FT notes is virtually back to its pre-recession peak. The Olympic Games is likely to have been a factor as London accounted for 91,000 of them. The total in part-time work rose by 134,000 to 8.12m, the highest level since records began in 1992. Contrasting fortunes in Scotland saw Alex Salmond blaming the lack of an “Olympic effect” for pushing their unemployment rate, which is 8.2%, above the rest of the UK. Source: Financial Times, Page: 3   The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 2   The Times, Business, Page: 51   The Guardian, Page: 29   The Herald, Page: 6

Weekend Tube work

Tube upgrade work is to resume from this weekend, following a break during the London 2012 Games.

Closures will be in place across a variety of lines over the coming weekends, although Transport for London (TfL) has said there will be no closures during December.

The work aims to deliver faster and more frequent journeys for passengers, according to TfL, and provide 30 per cent more service across the network.

The programme will include maintenance work on key lines to ensure track, points and tunnel structures remain in the best possible repair.

Brand new signalling will replace the old systems on the Northern, Metropolitan, District and Circle lines.

TfL said at least 80 per cent of stations will remain served and all areas of the capital remain accessible and open for business at all times while work in ongoing.

Key events such as Remembrance Sunday and the weekend of the Lord Mayor’s Show will be protected from closures.

Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground, said: “In recent years, huge improvements have been made on the Tube – with upgraded trains, stations, signals and track. During the London 2012 Games the network successfully kept London moving and carried more people than at any other time in its 149 year history.

“But to continue to deliver for London, we need to keep going with the programme of improvements that will provide the extra capacity to support the city’s growing population and ensure that equipment is maintained and replaced before it wears out and causes failures and disruption.

“I know that all closures are frustrating, and we are making every effort to keep disruption to a minimum and to provide information and alternative travel options.

“We have reduced the effect of the closures by 10 per cent compared with last year and at least 80 per cent of stations remain served at weekends, and key periods, including the run-up to Christmas, will see no line closures at all. We will also be using every possible way of communicating with our customers to keep them fully informed of the best way to get around.”

TUDOR GARDENS
Close analysis of responses to recent consultation on car parking reveals that residents are concerned to see the pavement parking bays more clearly marked in the road, and are concerned at poor sight lines in Repton Drive when driving out of Tudor Gardens. The Council is to re-mark the parking bays in Tudor Gardens and take measures to tackle the safety issue at the junction with Repton Drive.
TUDOR AVENUE
The Council is to consult residents on the idea of installing a "kiss and ride" drop off bay at the Balgores Lane end of Tudor Avenue, limiting parking in the bay to 10 minutes.
REPTON GARDENS
Many thanks to residents who highlighted potholes in the carriage way to us. Orders have been raised for their repair.

Repton Avenue consultation

REPTON AVENUE
Following recent consultation which showed that, though residents in Repton Avenue were evenly divided on whether they felt there was a car-parking problem in their road, residents at the very end reported serious problems the Council is to propose action to seek to ease the problems experienced by residents at this end of the road only. Some residents in Repton Avenue also raised safety concerns about the bend in the road between Repton Gardens and Balgores Lane. Bearing in mind that opinion was sharply divided on this issue, the Council is to consult residents on action which could be taken to respond to the problem if, in consultation, residents feel that they would be of benefit.

Olympic boroughs lag London Hopes that the Olympic and Paralympic Games would boost house prices in East London have been dashed, according to research from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank said that on average the prices in the five host Olympic boroughs increased at an annual rate of 4% since 2005, this compared with an overall London average of 5%. In the most exclusive boroughs, prices rose by 9% during the same period. While house prices have not increased quickly in the Olympic boroughs, the average price of rent climbed by about 36% between July 2010 and 2012.   Source: The Times, Page: 36

Greener Hornchurch

PARK LANE RECREATION GROUND
The Council is to take measures to permanently protect Park Lane Recreation Ground and guarantee it is always a green space for nature, sport and the community as part of the Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields scheme to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
HYLANDS PARK
Hylands Park has retained its "Green Flag" for excellent maintenance and environmental standards again this year. For more information on the Green Flag scheme, please see the paragraph about Cottons Park at the start of the newsletter. The Council works with Hylands Park Action Group (www.hylandspark.co.uk) at the park.
LANGTONS GARDENS
The Council has been successful in the first stage of a two stage process for securing funding from Heritage Lottery Fund for the restoration of this important historic garden. The Council works with Friends of Langtons Garden at the park.
HARROW LODGE PARK
Maintenance has been improved to strengthen the role of the park and River Ravensbourne as a centre for nature conservation and to provide more effective nature conservation links to nearby Thames Chase Community Forest land.

Protecting sporting facilities Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, has argued that councils should be forced by law to provide sports facilities for people in their area. He said reducing facilities deprived people inspired by the Olympic Games of the “opportunity to really engage in sport” and added that their provision should be a “statutory requirement”. Lord Moynihan has also called for the first Government audit of leisure and sporting facilities. A survey for the BBC found that out of 369 councils in Britain, 126 said they had reduced sports provision. Flick Rea, of the Local Government Association, questioned whether legal protections would have any effect. She said councils were fully aware of the importance of such facilities, but warned that 28% of cuts into a £1.8bn leisure and sport budget inevitably meant that in some areas these services will have to be reshaped. Source: The Daily Telegraph, Page: 9   The Independent, Page: 14   Independent i, Page: 57   Daily Mirror, Page: 8