Residents can now apply to close their streets for this year’s The Big Lunch. If you and your neighbours would like to lunch together on the day, you must let the council know your plans before 1 May.The seventh annual The Big Lunch will happen on Sunday 7 June. If you would like more information about the event including plenty of advice, go to The Big Lunch website. The Big Lunch sees locals across the country hold daytime street parties. The initiative aims to help…

Read the full press release at our digital news room: http://www.newsroomsutton.co.uk/?p=1453

A message is in from Transport for London.

Dear Stakeholder

To accommodate the increase in demand from Stanley Park School on route 154, we are introducing an additional afternoon schooldays-only journey from Morden to West Croydon. It is scheduled to arrive at Stanley Park Road, Crichton Road stop at 15.42.

We plan to introduce this additional journey from Monday, 13 April 2015.

Yours faithfully

Chris Hall

Consultation Team, Transport for London

Sutton’s unique digital take on the Freedom Pass renewal process has proved a success with more than 85% of pass holders renewing on time.

Sutton Council has bought a site in Belmont from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust in order to build a new secondary school.

The council had been looking for a site for a new secondary school to open in 2017 and approached the Trust after the old Sutton Hospital site in Belmont was identified as a favoured location, linked to the world-class opportunity for developing life sciences with the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research.

The Trust then decided to place the site on a register for public authorities to bid for it and has announced Sutton Council as the priority purchaser in December 2014. This cleared the way for the council to start direct negotiations with the Trust to buy the site.

Since identifying the site, the council has been progressing plans by carrying out a feasibility study which has demonstrated the viability of building a school.

The site in Belmont is part of a parcel of land identified by Sutton Council, the Royal Marsden and the Institute of Cancer Research for Europe’s leading life science cluster. The ambition is to work with the school sponsor to develop the curriculum with a concentration on the life sciences – creating a ladder of opportunity for students.

The purchase of the site comes weeks after the Government approved plans for a free school to be set up in Sutton by 2017 – which is when the council predicts it needs a new secondary school to open in order to meet the rising demand for places. Greenshaw Learning Trust has been given permission to open the secondary school.

As a result of the Government’s decision, the Education Funding Agency will now decide where the free school will be built, and the council will pass on its feasibility study as part of the decision making process.

Niall Bolger, Chief Executive of Sutton Council, said:

“We are proud to have secured a site for a new secondary school. Ever since we identified the need for a new secondary school to be built by 2017, the council has been working hard to find suitable sites and develop proposals so we could move quickly once government funds are in place.

“The granting of a free school in Sutton two weeks ago means that funding is now available and we will offer this site and its feasibility study so that the Education Funding Agency can make a decision and we can have a new school in two years time.

“It is this methodical planning for school places that makes Sutton one of the best places in the country to go to school and raise a family and why our residents have been able to have the one of the highest first place preferences for school places in London.”

Peter Davies, Director of Strategy at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“We are very pleased that our selling of this part of the Sutton site has provided the council with an opportunity to invest in the education of the young people of the area. We will use the proceeds of the sale to make much needed improvements in the facilities we use to treat our patients.”

The purchase price of the Belmont site, £7,863 000, was based on a professional valuation of the site by the district valuer and was jointly commissioned  by the council and the Trust.

Sutton is already known for having some of the best school provision in the country. The council has already secured £10.1m to fund the expansion of four more forms of entry (600 additional pupils over 5 years) within its existing schools from 2015.

The council has also earmarked a further five secondary schools to share 5.5 more forms of entry between them from 2016 (825 additional pupils over 5 years) – see notes to editors.

In addition, the council wants a new school to be ready for 2017.

The pressure on school places is a result of a 33 per cent increase in births since 2001 in Sutton and more people choosing to live in the borough.

In September, Sutton Council also outlined plans to expand two primary schools – Hackbridge Primary School and Cheam Common Junior School, along with a special school, Sherwood Park School.

Phase 1 of the Secondary School Expansion Programme will see five schools expand from September 2015. They are:

• Carshalton Boys Sports College (1FE)
• Carshalton High School for Girls (1FE)
• Glenthorne High School (1FE)
• Nonsuch High School (0.5FE)
• Sutton Grammar School (0.5FE)

Phase 2 of the Secondary School Expansion Programme has identified the following schools for expansion from 2016.

• Greenshaw High School (2FE)
• Overton Grange School (1FE)
• St Philomena’s High School (1FE)
• The John Fisher School (1FE)
• Wallington County Grammar School (0.5FE)

Note: 1FE = One Form of Entry which is 30 pupils in a class x 5 years

The first round of consultation on the future of our children’s centres has seen more than 120 people attend 14 workshops at centres across the borough and 670 residents have completed an online survey.

Dear Hamish Pollock

As someone who has raised their concerns on immigration with me, I would like to take the time to outline for you what the Liberal Democrats are currently doing on the issue.

I appreciate that migration control is an issue of great importance for many in the UK at the current time. Legitimate concerns do exist and we must have an immigration system in place that is fair, effective and trusted. I do, however, think it is important that we also recognise the positive contribution that migrants have made to the growth, prosperity and culture of the UK for generations.

My top priority is to ensure we have security and firm control of Britain’s borders. It is important that decisions about who is allowed in and under what conditions are decided in Parliament each year, not behind closed doors in Whitehall. That’s why I want to see a debate and votes by MPs each year, with full reports from both experts and local communities to inform them of the facts beforehand.

To improve security, we also need to reintroduce exit checks that were dismantled by a combination of Tory and Labour governments. If we don’t count who is leaving the country, we can’t make sure that those who should leave do, so we must have full monitoring of exit and entry at our borders.

When we allow migration we must make sure it works to Britain’s benefit. The growth and prosperity of the UK must be the key drivers in decision-making on migration by future governments. So we should encourage more doctors, experts and investors, welcoming those whose skills can help Britain prosper, but rigorously deal with crooks, traffickers and those who would harm Britain.

Much more needs to be done to tackle low pay and skills shortages in the UK, and any immigration system must be based on fairness – to local communities as much as to new arrivals. That’s why I want to see an extra £1bn of support for local services under pressure from migration and to make sure that every migrant can speak English, enabling them to play a full part in wider society.

Temporary migrants from outside the EU have previously not been required to make a direct contribution to the NHS that we all pay for over many years through general taxation. Now, we’ve made changes through the Immigration Act that require them to pay a £200 annual charge, helping relieve some of the cost pressures faced by the NHS.

Similarly, there have been important steps to tackle abuses in the system, significantly tightening current immigration rules and breaking up the failing UK Borders Agency, returning its functions to the Home Office. Overstayers have been clamped down on, as well as bogus colleges – striking off 500 colleges in 18 months for not having vigorous enough procedures in place. Cash penalties have also been increased for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants because they’re cheaper.

On the subject of asylum, our system should also show compassion, and I think it is vital we continue our proud tradition of providing a safe haven to those fleeing war and terror. There are problems in our current system which need to be tackled, with many asylum cases taking far too long to process. We must make sure the system works more quickly and effectively, and anyone whose case has not been decided after six months should be required to work, ensuring they are not solely dependent on support from the state.

Action has been taken both to make the system fairer and address public concerns. Ending child detention in prison and stopping the deportation of LGBT people to countries where they are at risk of persecution, have been longstanding issues of great importance to me. It is fantastic that these have both now been delivered.

I want to see migration controlled properly and make sure that Britain continue to be open to the benefits migration brings, while also doing a better job at giving local communities the support they need to prosper as well. I want the UK to maintain its record of sanctuary for those who are being persecuted, I believe this is being achieved.

Regards

Tom Brake

Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington
0208 255 8155

PS. Have you signed the petition to Save St Helier Hospital? Thousands of local people have already signed – visit www.saveoursthelier.co.uk for more information.

Sutton Council is calling upon all local people to get involved in the country’s first ever Community Clear Up Day this Saturday 21 March.

The council will support any volunteer group or resident willing to help clear their local area by providing litter picking tools, rubbish sacks and gloves. All bagged rubbish will then be collected.

Leader Cllr Ruth Dombey with one day’s worth of litter, as part of an anti-litter campaign run by the council last year.

As well as being an awful blight on the green borough of Sutton, litter costs the council up to £4m a year to clean up.  That is the equivalent of running a library service for a year; repairing 100,000 potholes; providing 210 residential care places for the elderly; or building half a primary school.

The council successfully campaigned against litter last year – hiring two new enforcement officers to issue penalties to those who litter in Sutton; installing 300 new bins; and even displaying 11 tonnes of rubbish on the high street, to demonstrate a year’s worth of litter.

But there is still work to be done to keep Sutton clean and save the taxpayer money.

That’s why residents are being encouraged to get involved in Saturday’s national clear up day – a government initiative which aims to spruce up England’s high streets, residential and business areas, villages and parks.

The day will also mark the start of Sutton Council’s renewed anti-litter campaign.

Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of Sutton Council’s Environment and Neighbourhood Committee, said:

“Our anti-litter campaign was very successful last year in changing attitudes towards the awful practice, but keeping our high streets, villages and public spaces in tip top condition is an ongoing job for the entire community.

“As well as being terrible to look at, litter costs the taxpayers of Sutton millions of pounds each year which could be much better spent. So please, get your friends and neighbours together and let’s kick off the season in the best way possible – with a big spring clean.”

Have an event planned in Sutton? Tweet @SuttonCouncil and use #ClearUpDay.

To request the council’s help, phone the contact centre on 0208 770 5000.

For tips on organising a tidy up event, head to The Big Tidy Up website.