WERA Asks

Can you please introduce yourself, stating who you are; what your role is; and briefly what this involves?
My name is Daniel Idollor and I am the Tenancy Services Manager for the Clapham Area Housing Office.  As the Tenancy Services Manager, I am responsible for five housing officers who in turn are charged with providing general housing services such as, transfers, amendment of tenants’ details, neighbor disputes, nuisance, and mutual exchanges to residents in the Clapham area.

What motivates you to do your job?
Customer satisfaction.

What does community mean to you?
People of different backgrounds being able to live together in harmony.

How many people are in your team?
There are six people in my team and this is made up of five housing officers and one Voids Officer.

Do you feel there is enough communication between Tenancy Services and Residents Associations?
I think there is enough communication between the Tenancy Team and Residents Association because most of the issues that the Tenancy Team would normally deal with relate to individual tenants which cannot be discussed with the Association unless they have the tenant’s written permission because of Data Protection Act.

How do you think Weir Estate has improved?
It has improved in the last two years because they have become very pro-active in taking up issues relating to the estate.
What is your biggest professional ambition?My biggest professional ambition would be to have a very cordial working relationship with all the Residents Associations in the Clapham area.

Who is the most influential person you have ever met and why?
The most influential person that I have ever met is Danny Glover, the actor. This is because we are both called Danny.

Do you think Britain is getting better or worse, and why?
This depends on the period that you are comparing but personally, I think Britain is getting worse because compared to 30 years ago; we are all getting too selfish and no longer care for our neighbours.

Does your team work directly with WERA, and if so, in what way?
My team works directly with WERA by attending their meetings and taking up any issues that fall within tenancy management.

What do you think is most important about working with residents?
To maintain effective communication with residents and the TRA so that the Council can deliver a consistent and good service.

In what ways do you think the Weir Estate Residents Association benefits it’s residents?
Taking up issues on behalf of all the residents on Weir Estate.

Do you like to read? If so what was the last book you read?
I like to read and the last book that I read was Barrack Obama’s ‘Dreams from My Father’.

Where in the world would you most like to live and why?
I would very much like to live in Las Palmas because of the climate and the food.

How do you like to relax after a hard day in the office?
I relax by watching the comedy channels.

Do you have any hidden talents?
I am a keen photographer.

What do you most enjoy about your role?
Helping to re-house the homeless people and ensuring that residents are happy and safe in their homes.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?Best advice that I was ever given was to take a scholarship examination to enable me study in the UK. I was successful and ended up coming over to study in the UK in 1974 on full scholarship.

What job did you do before coming to work for Lambeth Living (or Lambeth Council)?
I worked in the media all my life before coming to Lambeth.

How can residents contact you, and when should they contact you?
I would prefer residents contact me through 0207 926 6000, the Service Centre number so that their calls can be logged.
You never know when this may become relevant.

Please introduce yourself, and what your role is.
My name is Robert Gardner and I manage the trading standards team for the London Borough of Lambeth. I qualified as a Trading Standards Officer in 1991 and have worked in Wandsworth, Southwark, and for a short while in Croydon. I also worked in the Financial Services Authority before coming to Lambeth in 2000. I am also a Borough resident and have been for 28 years.

Can you explain what Trading Standards is?
We are a statutory service, which means the council is obliged to operate a trading standards team, concerned with the prevention and detection of crime. In the past we were primarily concerned with weights and measures but over the years we have been given more and more legal responsibilities and now enforce over 70 Acts of Parliament with attendant regulations. For example we might be enforcing simple price marking one day, to raiding a factory turning out counterfeit DVD’s the next, whilst advising a trader on how they can make their products safer. It’s an incredibly varied job and can be fantastically rewarding in terms of job satisfaction.

In what way does your department directly affect residents?
It’s a tough job to deal with all the demands of a borough the size and complexity of Lambeth. To make sure that we make the best use of resources we have chosen 4 themes that we have prioritized and focused on over the last 2 or 3 years. In short these are to tackle rogue traders, deal with unsafe products, thwart counterfeiting and reduce the level underage sales of knives, alcohol, cigarettes and fireworks.
How big of a role does Trading Standards have within Lambeth?For a small team I believe we have a big impact. Residents can often find stories related to the work we are doing in Lambeth Life whether it is arranging free food deliveries to a homeless charity in exchange for counterfeit materials ( to be reprocessed for more legitimate uses) or reporting on undercover test purchase activities in the bars and cafes in Clapham. We often work with Police and we have a reputation for delivering results.

What is the best way for residents to report concerns to Trading Standards?
All our complaints are first referred to Consumer Direct who offer free expert individual consumer advice. We are notified of all complaints and if it is a serious criminal matter we will investigate further. To contact Consumer Direct ring 08454 040506, there is also a link and further information on the Council’s website.

What advice would you give to residents before purchasing a high value item?
It depends somewhat on the item. If you log onto to the councils website and find the trading standards section you will find a selection of information and advice pages which will give step by step advice. The link is: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Lambeth.WebApps.TradingStandards/AdviceConsumers.aspx

What does community mean to you?
The oxford dictionary defines community as: A group of people living together in one place. 2 (the community) the people of an area or country considered collectively; society. 3 a group of people with a common religion, race, or profession: the scientific community. 4 the holding of certain attitudes and interests in common.
On this basis I belong to several different communities all at one time but the most pertinent for me is the first part of the definition.
Can you explain what rights consumers have after purchasing goods, and the statutory guarantee which comes with all goods.There is no statutory guarantee that comes with the purchase of goods, other than that offered by a manufacturer as an inducement for a sale. However in every normal retail purchase the consumer has certain statutory rights the most of important of which is that the item must be of ‘satisfactory quality’. There is more at our website which goes into far greater detail:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Lambeth.WebApps.TradingStandards/Detail_AdviceConsumers.aspx?DocumentNo=122526&Classification=Goods_leaflets

In your opinion, what benefit does a No Cold Calling Zone (NCCZ) bring to a community?
The principal benefit to setting up a ‘no cold calling zone’ is that raise awareness of some of the most pernicious crimes that are committed in the Borough. Every so often we receive reports of elderly or otherwise vulnerable people who have been robed of almost every penny by bogus traders in their own homes. It is a common story; the trader door stepping a victim, gaining their trust, asking for huge sums in cash for minor shoddy repairs or sometimes no work at all and then disappearing.  It is the cruelest of crimes leaving victims debilitated and isolated, whilst the perpetrators frequently get away never to be traced or brought to justice.  We hope that in setting up the zones people are forewarned of the dangers and have the courage and support of community to say no to cold callers.

What CD would you have at home in your CD player at the moment?
Selected tracks from Ennio Morricone’s film scores (e.g. “For a fistful of dollars”, “The Mission” etc).   Do you think enough is being done by trading standards to ensure that weights and measures are fair and legal?The importance of weights and measures cannot be overestimated everything we buy from food to fuel is either weighed or measured – just imagine if it wasn’t! In the UK I think we can be assured that almost all bona fide traders will weigh and measure fairly and accurately, but as raw materials get scarcer and more expensive there will always be a temptation to cut corners. However, currently we get very few complaints of short measure in the Borough.

What do you think is the most important aspect to be a Trading Standards Officer?
I think it is the ability to listen.

If you could adapt your role or trading standards, what would you introduce?
If money was no object I would like to reintroduce a comprehensive consumer and business advice service that could give deeper levels of advice and support to residents, particularly those who are more vulnerable and a service that could provide quick and assessable advice free to traders.

Do you think Trading Standards Officers have enough power to tackle product counterfeiting?
Yes, I think we do, we have very significant powers of entry and inspection and should we really need we can search computers, filing systems bank accounts etc. Counterfeiting is often associated with serious organized crime and we cannot operate against it without sufficient powers, which we only use legally and proportionately.

If you could choose any other department with Lambeth Council to work in, what would it be and why?
I think the role of Town Centre Manager is one that I would really enjoy.

At what point should members of our community contact Trading Standards?
Whenever they have a consumer law related matter
How important do you feel it is to educate the community in understanding their consumer rights?I think it is very important the more people know the less likely it is that rogues will exist. We want to see educated consumers and safe prosperous businesses.

How many people are in the Trading Standards Team?
8, including me.

Can you give your top five tips that are relevant to residents for ensuring they are getting a good service from local businesses? Shop around, always look for the best deal but never go solely on price.
For big purchases think about after sales service.
Check the small print, if it’s too good to be true then it probably isn’t.
Do some research, the web can be a wonderful thing, if you use Google remember to get a specific search to put “-” around the term or name.
Don’t be reticent about coming forward we can only act if we have the information.

Can you explain what TrustMark is?
Trustmark is a not for profit, government backed, initiative to help consumers find reliable and trustworthy tradesmen to carry out repairs inside and outside the home. It is widely supported by consumer protection organisations and the building industry.

Lambeth trading standards are proud to support the initiative and consumer can find further information on our website entry.
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Lambeth.WebApps.TradingStandards/

Please introduce yourself.
I am Anthony Hillary, Residents’ Participation Officer, for Lambeth Living.

Can you explain what your role is?
My role as RPO involve me working to develop local community groups that can represent their communities, identify where necessary particular training needs and facilitate access to such in the aim of capacity building individuals and groups.

In what way do you directly work with residents?
I have being assigned to working with groups particularly in Clapham, as part of the contribution of the Central Team, that also works with Brixton residents. Through face to face meetings, telephone conversations, email and via letters I communicate with the residents of my Area (normally through the structure of their individual TRAs). My aim is to listen and be able to provide advice, support and direction to community groups to be successful at representing their communities.
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How long have you been an MP?
Nearly 18 years

What do most enjoy about representing the people?
Occasionally securing justice for a constituent against all the odds.

How do you feel you as an MP has benefited our residents?
Helping in campaigns for new schools, new health facilities, and new community centres – like the Weir Link.

What does community mean to you?
Mutual aid – the basis of my personal politics.

Keith, We understand you are due to retire at the next General Election, how would you most like to be remembered once you have retired?
As an advocate for the poor and powerless.

What are your plans once you retire?
What do you mean “retire”? I can’t keep up with all the jobs people want me to do.

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Can you please tell us who you are and what your position is?
My name is Karen Rose and I am a Police Community Support Office (PCSO) for Thornton Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team. I am also the Liaison Officer for Weir Estate.

How long have you been doing this job?
I have now been employed by the Metropolitan Police Service as a PCSO since February 2008.

What aspect of your role do you most enjoy?
The aspects of my role I most enjoy is representing the Metropolitan Police, engaging with the community, learning about different cultures, and working with other partnerships, solving problems and making the community feel like it’s a safer place to live.

If you could change one thing about this country what would it be?
Tougher laws, and jail sentences to deter people from committing crime.

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