I do hope you are managing to keep well. I was hoping the Government would cancel the clock changes in October as the last thing I thought we needed was darker evenings but no such radical thinking. It is worrying that the Covid-19 figures are worse across the country and in Hackney and the City of London they have increased. I’m sure I’m not alone in not being surprised that we are now subject to a lockdown with harsher restrictions.
As a family we’ve managed to share a few meals outside but the weather has not always been kind and I’ve had more than my fair share of rain. Last week I met beside the Barbican lake with our very hard-working Greater London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai, for a coffee and a chat about issues which concern us both. Unfortunately the rain did not hold off.
My campaign to provide computer tablets to schoolchildren
People at their best
On 19th April 2020 at the start of the pandemic and with schools
closed, the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that
vulnerable and disadvantaged young people across the country would
receive free laptops to enable them to access the internet and learn
remotely. On 24th October it is reported in the Guardian that the
laptop allocation for schools in England has been slashed by 80%. In an
email to Headteachers schools in some of the most deprived areas of the
country have been told they would not receive the laptops they were
promised. With children unable to attend school from March to September
many have struggled to keep up with school work and lessons. Since
September large numbers of children have been sent home to self isolate
due to other pupils testing positive for the virus.
My daughter in law,who is a Special Needs co-ordinator at a primary school in Hackney. told me of the problems they had and how the Government had let them down. I believe it is the Government’s responsibility to provide both education and the necessary tools for children but when the Government fails in its duty we cannot let children suffer. Her school has received 6 tablets from the Government, far less than needed. I circulated friends and family and all City of London Councillors and Aldermen asking if they could help. I thought I would raise enough money to buy a handful of tablets but the generosity and kindness I encountered has provided over 60 tablets. The children and their teachers are delighted. The school has downloaded the appropriate programmes, drawn up a contract with parents detailing their responsibilities and shown parents and children how to access the work the children need. It has made such a tremendous difference and I can’t thank everyone who helped enough. I know this was a small scheme but it shows how we can all make a difference. As with the free school meals campaign it shows how decent and kind hearted many people are. Thank you everyone.
I began this campaign as I was somewhat frustrated at being on lockdown and having lots of Zoom/Teams meetings. I didn’t feel that reading papers and sitting through meetings on a screen was enough although we still continued to take important decisions.
Never having done fundraising such as this before I began by asking friends and relatives and circulating information to people I knew. The response exceeded all my hopes as I detail in my report. I have set up a JustGiving page for those who wish to contribute. It is a cross party appeal without political ties.
>www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mary-durcan
In a few days donations are almost £600 and the comments are most encouraging.
Many thanks Mary for your initiative. Essential equipment for so many children at this time. Very happy to support this great initiative Mary. Well done.
Pleased to support you Mary in this project but sorry it is still necessary. Proud of your efforts. If these kids are sent home again they will certainly need the internet.
Mary good luck on reaching your target. So proud of your efforts, Mary!
Well done Mary. Happy to support this initiative.
Fantastic initiative Mary that will make a real difference. Well done!
Thank you to all those who have contributed and shown how generous people are. We will help so many more children.
Free School Meals
Together with several other Common Councillors I was shocked and concerned about the Government’s decision not to provide vouchers or meals during the school half term holiday. Given the pressure from Marcus Rashford and his campaign it was a surprising and no doubt ill thought out decision. During these difficult times with redundancies and businesses closed or reduced hours of work, times are very difficult for many families. The City of London has given vouchers to all the children living within the City who qualify for free school meals. We have asked that plans are put in place as soon as possible for similar arrangements at Christmas and Easter rather than wait for the last minute as happened this time. All of this assumes that the Government doesn’t change its mind and do the decent thing.
TfL and its funding
It is a great relief to many Londoners to hear that the Government has removed the conditions it was proposing to impose on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for providing some additional funding to TfL. The Government itself advised Londoners not to travel on public transport and unsurprisingly TfL’s income has been drastically cut. The conditions included increases to children’s fares, the removal of Freedom Passes for older people, the significant widening of the congestion zone and increases in the council tax, Many Londoners are aware that it is unknown for a capital city to fund its public transport mainly from fares. Other Governments provide substantial central funding. After all London’s transport is used by people from all over the UK and other countries. My granddaughter appeared in a film arguing against the increase in school children’s fares. The film has been passed to the Greater London Assembly's publicity department by Unmesh Desai. Thanks to Sadiq, Khan, Heidi Alexander and Unmesh Desai for all their hard work in getting a sensible agreement which benefits the residents of London.
Lord Lisvane report
You may have heard of the report commissioned by the City of London Corporation to look at the governance of the City. The report has been published and we are having several discussions to decide on the adoption or not of its recommendations. A proposal has been developed to introduce an annual flat-rate allowance to councillors at a current rate of £6,710.04. Expenses for travel, subsistence and caring responsibilities would be retained and a payment of £500 to meet the cost of formal clothing would be payable following election or re-election. When many families are struggling to make ends meet it does not seem appropriate to vote for a payment to ourselves. I am sure that we can all think of more deserving expenditure by the City. I am sceptical whether it would increase diversity as some argue and I agree ‘that a parallel with other local authorities is misplaced’. Many people from communities across our society give considerable time at significant cost to themselves to voluntary activities and I think we should see our election to the Council on the same level. I also believe that residents and businesses should have an opportunity to express their views before a decision such as this is taken. I shall not be supporting it. Please get in touch if I you need my help.
Mary Durcan
Common Councillor
Cripplegate Ward
City of London Corporation
(This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Tel: 02073746599 or 07966505643
November 2020