Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Cllr Ioannou,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the rough sleeping in Southgate.

I can confirm that we became aware of this couple on 21 December 2021. Our Outreach Service visited the site on the same day, and offered them emergency accommodation and support. We have visited them very regularly since, including this morning (08 March 2022), and I would like to reassure you that we have offered accommodation and support on each visit.

Unfortunately, many rough sleepers have complex needs, and some rough sleepers consistently refuse offers of accommodation and support.

We will continue to visit this couple regularly in order to carry out welfare checks, and we will continue our efforts encourage them to accept offers of accommodation and support.   This may involve enforcement activity as appropriate.

Malcolm Dabbs will update you on progress as we persist with trying to secure solutions.

Dear Cllr Ioannou.

In answer to your information request I can inform you that:

• 22 trees have been removed in the Southgate Ward since the 1^st April 2021 to present.
• 17 trees have been removed in the Southgate Green Ward since the 1st April 2021 to present.
• 1 tree has been lost during the recent storm in Wynchgate.
• No trees have been removed from Queen Elizabeth Drive during this financial year.
• No trees have been removed from Oakwood View during this financial year.

I have investigated your report of a fallen tree to the rear of Oakwood View and I can report that the tree in question is located in the rear garden of 6 Oakwood View.  A large branch from a Eucalyptus tree has fallen and landed in the park damaging the fence line, the park has been made safe and the arisings will be cleared in due course.

Good morning Councillor,

Access issue to Eversley Close is known.

A smaller vehicle is used to service this road however, if access is blocked collection maybe attempted outside of collection day.

I have flagged the importance of regular garden waste collections to our operations team.

I can confirm that since the new year, only 2 missed collections have been logged, and this is for no.2.

I do hope you find my response satisfactory.

Kind regards

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Councillor Ioannor

I can only apologise for the ongoing issues affecting the street lighting in Oakwood Crescent and the inconvenience this is causing yourself and your fellow neighbours. I can only assure you we have made every effort to get these items repaired and are too very disappointed that this is still outstanding.

If I may explain, the ongoing issue is related to the main electricity supply which is owned and maintained by UKPN (formally London Electricity Board). UKPN are a Statutory Undertaker and are not under the control or management of the council, we are however reliant on them for providing the electricity to our street lights.

Upon discovery of a fault with the UKPN mains we report this to them without delay and await their program dates and subsequent repairs. Our initial report to them for Oakwood Crescent was registered on 3^rd February 2022, this was reported back to us as being repaired with the required works completed.

Quite frustratingly this was not the case and we continued to receive reports of the street lights not working, again we investigated and found the issues still to be with the UKPN main electricity cable, a further report was issued to UKPN highlighting the prior failure to resolve the problem and required urgency for complete and lasting repairs. I have extracted the below report information from the program we receive from UKPN highlighting “the Clock Start Date”. This is the date they receive the report from the council and sets their required performance as stipulated by OFGEM

Given the number of street lights being affected and the immediate reoccurrence of the fault I suspect the issue is more in-depth than anticipated and as a result may require significant works taking an extended period of time to carry out. Unfortunately this is far from uncommon with multiple cable faults and this is something faced by all authorities across London.

Once again I would like to offer you my assurance that we will continue to push UKPN as much as possible to get the required repairs completed as quickly as they can and restore the power to the street lights.

Kind Regard

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Councillor Ioannou,

Thank you for making contact with me regarding your enquiry.

As previously detailed none of the Councils operational team have visited the site and completed any test digs of any nature, we have no explanation for this activity.

In relation to the pooling of water, we have requested our gulley cleaning machine visit the streets and perform cleaning to allow for a dispersal of water, to remove this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Original Email

I will ask the council to clarify:

1. Is the land belonging privately or by the council
2. If the council why hasn’t the rubbish been removed?
3. Can we get an officer to investigate please and report back?

Thank you

Response:

Dear Cllr Ioannou,

Thank you for your email regarding fly-tipped green waste to the rear of Chelmsford Road on behalf of your constituent XXXX.

When I contacted Ms XXX on 17 February, I was awaiting a response from our Parks team regarding the potential removal of the green waste.

Our internal mapping system shows the alleyway at the rear of Chelmsford Road and its neighbouring properties as private land. When I conducted a search on Land Registry however, a large proportion of the alleyway comes under Enfield Council ownership, under the same title as the allotments and playing fields.

With this information, I notified the Parks team and have received a response that Chelmsford Road is due to be attended this week and the waste cleared.

Kind regards,

Original Email:

Dear Anthony, 

Thank you for your email, indeed as an EV user myself I am shocked that a company which makes money from their chargers doesn’t seem to want to repair them. I went recently to the charger at Southgate and I can also confirm it isn’t in action. 

BP must take action as it is their infrastructure. The highways department don’t seem to think its their responsibility. 

Can we please @bp pulse HereToHelp get this resolved ASAP

Response:

Classification: OFFICIAL

Cllr Ioannou

The issue of out of service charging points has been raised with BP Pulse, who are responsible for their operation and maintenance, so I will follow up given that this has not been resolved.

As for the query about additional provision, in 2021 the Council worked with a provider to deliver 77 new lamp column charging points across the borough.

These were targeted in areas where there is likely to be high demand, for example in parts of the borough now covered by the Ultra Low Emission Zone, as well as where residents have contacted us to express an interest.

Funding has also been secured for at least 30 more to be delivered in the next few months.

There are also rapid chargers in place, including two on the A406, with further provision planned including one in Cockfosters.

More information on the approach to electric vehicle charging, including an email address for residents to make an expression of interest, is available here: https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/roads-and-transport/electric-vehicle-charging/

Alongside providing electric vehicle charging, the Council is supporting people to move to active and truly sustainable transport modes, including by delivering high quality walking and cycling routes and school streets.

Regards

Original Email:

Please see image attached. Can we please get this first removed and a new blossom planted again? Thank you. 

Response:

Classification: OFFICIAL

Good afternoon Cllr Stephanos Ioannou, 

Thank you for your recent communication regarding the fallen tree.  I can confirm that this has already been reported and passed onto our contractors to deal with.  

This location has been put on the replanting request list for Winter 2022.  All requested locations are considered and checked that they continue to meet our current planting criteria and any budget constraints. 

Kind regards,

Nationwide Building Society is closing our Southgate branch in May 2022. Andrew Westhead, our Regional Director, explains why in the note below. 

Dear Cllr Ioannou,  

After careful consideration Nationwide Building Society has made the decision to close our Southgate branch at 69 Chase Side on Thursday 19^th May. 

Branches play a vital role for our members and the communities in which they live. That’s why we extended our promise originally made in 2019 to leave no town or city where we currently have a presence without a Nationwide branch until at least 2023. We’ve committed to maintaining a strong network, upgrading over 245 branches and investing over £260 million since 2017. That’s a vastly different position from many of our competitors who continue to close significant numbers of branches. To put this into context, between 2015-2020 our network reduced by around five per cent compared to a sector average of 32 per cent.

However, for branches requiring significant investment and where there are modern branches nearby, we must consider whether it is in the interest of our wider membership to keep them open. We need to determine whether it makes more sense to use that money to improve and retain branches elsewhere in our network, particularly in areas where there is lower provision. 

This is the case with Southgate where we have five branches within four miles, we know that 87 per cent of Southgate members are already using other branches and only one per cent of members use the branch exclusively and frequently.  

Locally, we’ve invested in Wood Green, Muswell Hill, Finchley, Enfield and Chingford ensuring people in the area have modern branches with the latest technology and services. This means we can focus on delivering better services that will provide our members with the best face-to-face experience and help to protect our branch network in the long term.

We would like to encourage any member who needs any support to contact their branch to talk through their options in more detail. Members can call us on 0345 266 0220 or email Andrew.WestheadOffice@nationwide.co.uk. 

Nationwide is a member of the Access to Cash Action group which has been created to protect access to cash and as part of this agreement all closures are subject to LINK’s independent assessment process to ensure the community’s cash needs are met.

We never take a decision to close a branch lightly and only go ahead after it has been thoroughly assessed to ensure it is the right decision for all our members. We are now focused on doing as much as we can to help those members who may need additional support. As part of this programme of work we will: 

• Write to members who interacted with the closing branch three times in 12 months. This is above the minimum requirement of industry guidance of three times in six months. As we only offer personal banking, we do not have the challenge of communicating to businesses that recent regulatory guidance has highlighted. 
• Ensure members can speak to us face to face, by telephone or email to discuss how they would like to interact with us in the future. The telephone and emails are answered locally to ensure colleagues understand the communities impacted. 
• Proactively call vulnerable members who have a high branch dependency to discuss the upcoming closure and tailor individual support for them. We contact these members prior to closure and follow up post closure to ensure they continue to feel supported.
• Offer a clear and concise impact assessment, detailing other ways members can access our services.
• Put the details of the closure on our website as well as displaying posters and leaflets in branch.
• Adhere to the industry’s access to banking standards by providing timely notice to our members as well as clarity about the alternative places and ways to bank with us. 

If you have any questions please do get in contact with Guy Bilgorri, Lead Policy and Public Affairs Manager, at guy.bilgorri@nationwide.co.uk or on 07500 923412. He would be happy to arrange a meeting to discuss the changes and our investment in the community. 

I have attached the Impact Assessments for the branch which can be found online.

Yours sincerely, 

Andrew Westhead  The contents of this email are intended exclusively for the addressee. If you are not the addressee you must not read, use or disclose the email contents; you should notify us immediately [by clicking ‘Reply’] and delete this email. Nationwide monitors emails to ensure its systems operate effectively and to minimise the risk of viruses. Whilst it has taken reasonable steps to scan this email, it does not accept liability for any virus that may be contained in it. Nationwide Building Society is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 106078. Nationwide Building Society, registration no. 355B. Head Office: Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, Wiltshire SN38 1NW.

Dear Councillor Ioannou

Thank you for your enquiry regarding leaves and litter along the public footpath from Waterfall Road to Balaams Lane

During the Autumn period leaves are an issue across the borough and the regular cleansing teams struggle to cope, we therefore bring in additional staff to aid with heavily affected roads

However due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the national shortage of drivers and other staff, we were struggling to find additional agency workers to fill all of our extra teams

As Enfield is one of the greenest boroughs in London our limited resources will take time to deal with the problem areas as there are so many

This footpath was identified as needing the attention of the extra team and was cleared of leaves on the 1^st and 2^ndFebruary 2022 , hopefully this will ensure the regular team is able to maintain the standards, but if necessary they will receive additional help again as required

Yours sincerely