INSIDE: ›Rebuilding Croydon together p22

›New policing model unveiled p27

›Dealing with illegal exclusions p28

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Palmcroy House387 London Road

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imentoring_leaflet.indd 1 22/05/2013 14:11

 

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COMMUNITY Question Time

CROYDON BMESPECIAL COVERAGE

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The Voice & Croydon BME Forum SUMMIT

AUGUST1 - 7, 2013

| THE VOICE AUGUST1 - 7, 201322 BME SUPPLEMENT

By Natricia Duncan

DI S G R U N T L E D CROYDON resi-dents were urged by a panel of community rep-

resentatives to support lo-cal leaders and get involved in rebuilding their commu-nity at a recent BME Forum Question Time at Croydon Town Hall.

The event, the first in a series of planned forums, was organised by Nero Ughwujabo, chief executive of Croydon BME Forum, in association with The Voice.

It gave residents the op-portunity to raise their concerns to a panel of community representatives, chaired by the newspaper’s managing director, George Ruddock, and included Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell, Croydon Council leader Mike Fisher, Chief Superintendent Dave Mus-ker and the leader of Croy-don opposition, Labour councillor Tony Newman.

Attendees, who felt they were bearing the brunt of austerity-driven reforms, voiced their discontent.

REGENERATION

With fiery passion they challenged their leaders on a range of issues around housing, welfare, polic-ing and crime, education, health, regeneration and the distribution of servic-es between the north and south of the borough.

As the debate raged, stop and search, which is now under review in a consulta-tion ordered by the Home Office, emerged as one of the most contentious mat-ters.

Residents told stories of heavy-handed and unfair police action.

Activist Kwadwo Kyere-waa described the policy as “ineffective”, “open to abuse” and “self-defeating”. He pointed to research which shows black people are seven times more likely to be subjected to stop and search, and evidence that

only a tenth of these ac-tions result in arrest.

“What is that if not a ra-cial bias?” he asked.

Panellist Javel Nelson, a member of Croydon Youth Parliament, said the com-munity has lost faith in the force and called on the po-lice to “strengthen bridges”.

Musker admitted that stop and search is a long-standing problem that the country has “failed to address over the last 40 years.”

But he defended his force, insisting that his of-ficers are young, tolerant and multicultural men and women who understand that racism will not be tol-erated.

He said: “There is no place in the Metropolitan Police for somebody who uses the enormous power we are invested with, in a way that is disproportion-ate or discriminatory.”

STRATEGY

He also justified the need for the policy, describing it as a powerful preventa-tive tool in the fight against crime. Musker urged the community to consider the “motivation” for his offic-ers who sometimes have to “knock on a door and tell a mum, her son did not make it.”

As youth and gang crime continued to come un-der the spotlight, Barwell stressed that it is not just about policing, but more about joined-up services that will address root issues such as domestic violence and the destructive envi-ronment to which some children are subjected.

He also highlighted the importance of ensuring that those who end up in the criminal justice system are not just punished, but are given tailored support for “the underlying issues in their lives… to help them get back on the right track.”

Panellist Karen Ruby, manager of Job Centre Plus (JCP), described the organi-sation’s role in working with a number of commu-

nity groups to provide an “exit strategy” from gangs and criminal activities and provide access to educa-tion, employment and training.

Ughwujabo urged the community to take owner-ship of the problem.

He said: “The BME com-munity in Croydon is about 47 per cent and is growing. By any measure we are sig-nificant stakeholders in this borough.” He encouraged residents to be “part of the solution”.

Councillor Newman pointed out that many of the issues on the table were related and urged the panel not to “take the questions in isolation”.

PILOTING

“If people have got a job and a decent house and… they have a stake, a part, an ownership… then there’s a much greater chance that there will be a real pride in the community and a resistance to anybody or anything damaging that community,” he said.

With damning figures which show homelessness

at an eight-year high, and black families in Croydon as twice as likely to be af-fected, the focus turned to the impact of the benefits cap.

Croydon was one of four boroughs piloting the scheme and Barwell justi-fied his government’s poli-cy. He said: “It is wrong to ask people in work to give people out of work a better standard of living than the average worker.”

Fisher explained that the cap addressed abuses and gave the example of a man with a £900 per week claim, who said that work will affect his social life.

But Newman accused the government of sidestep-ping the issue of rent con-trol and the “overwhelming sums of money” that are paid to landlords on behalf of benefit recipients.

However, Barwell and Fisher insisted that the cap has already proven a suc-cess, putting a hundred claimants in Croydon back into work and causing “lots of people” to withdraw their claims.

Barwell admitted that small numbers have been

affected adversely, but said they were being supported by a £1.7 million discre-tionary housing payments initiative.

Other issues raised in-cluded concerns about exclusion rates, and the perceived inequalities be-tween the north and south of Croydon.

Members of the public described the north as be-ing disproportionately de-prived, and Ughwujabo talked about anger from parts of the community who feel they are being “completely neglected”.

ADMITTED

According to panelist, GP Commissioner Dr Angelo Fernandes, the population in the north is younger and more diverse and therefore has unique needs particu-larly in terms of health.

He said: “There are pock-ets in the south which are deprived, but there are ma-jor differences in the north of the borough and we need to address that.”

But Fisher stressed: “There is no differentiation in terms of the amount of

investment in any part of the borough.”

He highlighted recent improvements and invest-ments in the north such as new schools and the tack-ling of antisocial behav-iour.

Barwell spoke about the importance of investing in the whole of the borough as he answered questions about the failings of the ri-ots compensation scheme, which has left some resi-dents still awaiting awards two years on.

However, the panel rec-ognised the progress that the borough had made since the devastation of the 2011 riots. They admitted that there are no easy so-lutions to the range of is-sues that were presented at the forum, but agreed that “behaving as a commu-nity” and drawing on the strengths of the voluntary sector is an important first step.

Ughwujabo stressed the significance of the event and urged the community to work toward influencing decision-making in Croy-don and creating positive change.

RebuildingCommunity must pull together to make borough successful,says expert panel

(TOP LEFT TO RIGHT) PANEL MEMBERS:Nero Ughwujabo, chief executive of Croydon BME Forum. Croydon Central MP, Garvin Barwell (BOTTOM RIGHT)

Councillor Tony Newman and Mike Fisher, leader of Croydon Council (MAIN PHOTO)Forum panelists

27AUGUST1 - 7, 2013 THE VOICE |

BME SUPPLEMENT

COME OCTOBER a new neighbourhood polic-ing model will be im-plemented in Croydon to target street crime

and antisocial behaviour.Planned changes include a sig-

nificant increase in the number of officers and a drive towards working much more closely with the community.

Police teams will be assigned to clusters of wards and given flexi-bility to create a tailored tactic to deal with issues in their locality.

The borough, which was one of the key areas affected by the widespread 2011 England riots, has been forced to make cuts in line with austerity measures.

But Borough Commander Chief Supt Musker is optimistic about his team’s prospects. He said: “Croydon is a challenging place to police. With the highest popu-lation in London, an extremely diverse mix of communities and an urban and rural landscape, it has it all. We’ll be changing the way we operate, which ultimate-ly, should enable us to deliver a better service to local people.

“I’m confident that with the changes we’re making… we will be in an even better position to cut crime and improve confi-dence here in Croydon.”

QUESTION TIME:Members of the audience took the opportunity to air their concerns and swap solutions at BME Forum

(ABOVE)OPTIMISTIC:

Borough Commander Chief Superintendent

David Musker

TOUGH QUESTIONS: Members of the public attending the BME Forum Question Time quiz panelists during the Q&A.

New policing model unveiled

Croydon Together

| THE VOICE AUGUST1 - 7, 201328 BME SUPPLEMENT

October is fast approaching the Council would like to fi nd out about any community events which are planned

to take place.

Please let us know about your event and we will try to promote as many activities as possible.

Croydon Celebrates Black History Month 1-31 October

For ticketed activities in libraries, places should be reserved by contacting the library.

Telephone: 0208 726 6900 Email: libraries@croydon.gov.uk

Description of Activities Date Time For Ticketed?

Love to sing - Songs of Africa! Croydon community Choir Come and sing some wonderful easy harmony songs from the vast continent of Africa. No experience needed, as everyone can sing this type of song. “ If you can talk you can sing, if you can walk you can dance”.....all ages and abilities welcome

Monday 1 October

5.20pm -6.10pm

Everyone FREE

Catherine Pestano

catherine@ naturalvoice.net

07981 298 541

Description of Activities Date Time For Ticketed? Two Drum Circle evenings. These will be led by Ernest E of Maat Foundations & Therapies. Please bring a drum or sound maker if you have them but drums will be provided.

14 and 18 October

7pm -8.30pm

All Ticketed @ £7.50

Library Atrium, Central Croydon Clocktower Katharine Street Croydon CR9 1ET

Violet Moon Spiritual Centre, 15 St George’s Walk, Croydon CR0 1YH

CROYDON CELEBRATES

BLACK HISTORY

You can email shujah.iqbal@croydon.gov.uk with a description of the activity, date, time and whether there is

a cost or not. The closing date for this information is 1st September 2013.

By Natricia Duncan

SCHOOL EXCLU-SION figures do not take into ac-count “illegal ex-clusions” and are

not to be trusted, warned the chair of governors of education charity and ex-clusion centre Croydon Africa Caribbean Family Organisation (CACFO).

Statistics released by the Department of Education (DfE) last week proved that there is no change in the disproportionality of expulsions, with Black Caribbean and White stu-

dents three times more likely to be affected than the school population as a whole.

It also revealed higher than average numbers of suspensions in Croydon and Hackney and showed an alarming 14 per cent rise in permanent primary school dismissals.

BEHAVIOURAL

The figures, however, boast a steady improve-ment in exclusion rates, with permanent expul-sions remaining at 7 in every 10,000 pupils and a decrease in the number of

students being sent home for a set period of time.

But CAFCO chair Tony Harrison insists these fig-ures do not paint a true picture of the scope of the problem.

The behavioural coor-dinator said: “Everybody is saying the numbers are down. Well, how is it that in a borough like Croydon every single one of their exclusion units is full?”

He describes a system where, instead of being put through the proper ex-clusion process, students with behavioural prob-lems are sent on “respite”, either to the school’s own

inclusion facility or an ex-ternal centre.

According to Harrison, the programme is meant to be for a short period of around three weeks but the school, he said, “forgets to get the child back” and they end up out of mainstream education sometimes for months on end while remaining on the school’s register.

GUILTY

Because there is no pa-per trail, it is difficult to pinpoint just how wide-spread the problem is, but the recent Always Some-

one Else’s Problem report from the Children’s Com-missioner included an anonymous survey which suggested about 1,600 schools in England were guilty of the illegal prac-tice, which it condemned as a “source of shame”.

The commissioner Mag-gie Atkinson called for schools to be fined for fal-sifying their registers.

Parent, Sasha, whose 15-year-old son has been a victim of illegal exclu-sions, said that her child is an “angel” and could have benefited from more sup-port instead of being sent home.

He was out of main-stream education for six months and she claims she was not given any paper-work.

Harrison said Sasha’s experience was typical of parents who watch their children go for months on a reduced timetable and without any “proper” form of education while, as far as Ofsted is concerned, they are still on the school register.

He added: “There is a political agenda that has to promote this idea that schools are successfully dealing with exclusions. The truth is they are not.”

‘Croydon schools not dealing with illegal exclusions’ Panellists (from left) Javell Nelson of Croydon Youth Parliament, Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell, Voice managing director

George Ruddock, Karen Ruby from Job Centre Plus and Croydon Council leader Mike Fisher