London Fields wild flowers

This appears to have worked. The fence is down. And it smells too.

Lots of other people have taken pictures too: 

http://www.kinseysblog.co.uk/wildflowers-in-london-fields/

and 

Yeah! Hackney:

http://bit.ly/19GhYeD

Meg Vs Diane + bad broadband connectivity in Shoreditch

Meg Hillier gave a frank interview to Blood and Property back in 2010 before the election.


http://bloodandproperty.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/meg-hillier-answers-blood-and-property_22.html

In it she said: "Were the Conservatives to get in they would be bored of the word Hackney because I’d be bringing it up so often. I’d be looking endlessly at the Parliamentary end of things, looking at the detail of everything going through, every funding formula, any slight amendment or tweak that could benefit Hackney. Whether or not we could ever change it is another question but we would have to be ever vigilant."

Hackney 'superhead' suspended over contracts for boyfriend

"A superhead described by education secretary Michael Gove as “magnificent” has been suspended after it emerged that his boyfriend heads a company that provides IT services to his schools."

Or a council plot - according to the Evening Standard:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/superhead-hailed-magnificent-by-michael-gove-suspended-after-contracts-went-to-his-boyfriends-it-firm-8736007.html

Hackney Gazette  report  from  January:
http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/concerns_over_hackney_superhead_s_five_school_academy_bid_1_1799811

JSA claimants rise above 10,000 again

Hackney JSA claimant numbers rose above 10,000 again for the first time since June.

The rate - percentage of the working populations aged between 16-64 and 16-24 (youth unemployment) - both rose in October.

Hackney's development is not just a local concern

According to an article in the Financial Times Hackney Council is "teaming up with landlords, architects and property developers to mastermind a 'fashion hub'..." building on the success of the Burberry factory outlet in Chatham Place.

The target, it seems, is Chinese cash. The article said many of the 600,000 shoppers per year who visit the Burberry store are Asian. But Councillor Guy Nicholson, Hackney council cabinet member for regeneration said: "Pretty much none of those visitors remain and start to engage in the local economy in any way."

Has the Hackney Gazette been gutted?

Archant, the private company which owns the Hackney Gazette, has said the paper's editorial team will be merging with the Islington Gazette before a redesign for the paper  (full statement below).

A press officer at Archant told Blood and Property that the Hackney Gazette title would remain but could not comment on whether it was true that the paper would only have one dedicated member of staff or that it's longstanding news editor was being moved to the East London Advertiser.

Chatsworth Road inspection by GLA's economy committee

As part of its investigation into empty shops the Greater London Authority's Economy Committee will be taking a look at Chatsworth Road today - Friday 14 September.

The investigation is looking for solutions and Chatsworth Road may have some and more.

But it is also looking at other problems:

North Mid's skids: human faeces left outside new hospital

I went to see a friend at North Middlesex University Hospital this evening (Sunday). He is a smoker and we sat outside the £121 million recently refurbished hospital while he had a fag.

We sat on a bench to the side of the main entrance and I noticed a trail of what looked like mud on the ground next to the bench. Then I heard a couple of people lingering nearby dissuading their friends from walking into the area due to the "human shit" on the floor.

Chatsworth Road coffee conurbation

 Cooper and Wolf opens up at the north end while 46b espresso hut opens to the south.
Both maintain the Chatsworth Road grey theme and could add to the road's reputation as the frontline of Hackney's gentrification.

Thousands of East Londoners in employment experiment

Research done in 2005 found that young people and men on the dole slow down their job searches if they are not watched closely - the findings have inspired a new experiment on East London's unemployed. 

This requires thousands of JSA claimants to sign-on once a week rather than once every two weeks and will therefore increase the workload of a diminished Jobcentre workforce. 

The original research did the opposite and greatly lowered the number of visits that unemployed people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) had to make to Jobcentres. 

Hoxton is worst ward for longterm youth unemployment

Of all the wards in Hackney, Hoxton has the highest number and proportion of 18-24-year-olds who have been claiming Job Seekers Allowance for more than a year.

Unemployment down except in Queensbridge: Pipe fears Boris betrayal

This is a brief look at how unemployment and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claims have fallen again in Hackney and whether the economics suggest that this is likely to continue. 

I'm afraid there are a lot of charts here. If you want a closer look, click on them and they should expand. The data comes from the government's labour market statistics site Nomis.

UPDATE: Murder suspect tasered on Kingsland Road

UPDATE: A murder suspect (Now charged, details below) was injured when police fired a taser during his arrest on Friday afternoon (22 June).

The incident that has been reported to the police watchdog the Directorate of Professional Standards.

Government pilot increases workload at Hackney Jobcentres

Hackney Jobcentre Plus is taking part in a pilot scheme which requires some Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants to sign-on every week rather than every two weeks.

I am one of the 10,600 unemployed people in Hackney claiming Job Seekers Allowance and I was put on the pilot a couple of weeks ago.

What is the unemployment level in your ward?

Are the streets of Hackney lined with gold?

Three new 'cash for gold'/pawnbrokers have opened up next to the Pembury Estate in Hackney since the riots in the borough last year. This means there are now seven stores offering to buy and sell gold on Hackney Central's high street the Narroway. 

The newest players in this gold rush are TGS Pawnbroker (pictured above) which looks up Clarence Road, the scene of pitched battles with the police in August last year. 

12-year-old injured in Clapton shooting

A 12-year-old boy was  injured after a shot was fired on Sewdley Street in Clapton on Monday night (about 9.30pm?). A 15-year-old was stabbed in the chest in Homerton earlier in the evening.

The police issued this statement about the shooting:

Is Tower Hamlets vote fraud really unprecedented?

It is clear from the comments following this post on Trial by Jeory and recent national newspaper coverage that concern is growing about election fraud in Tower Hamlets. Councillors say the evidence is unprecedented.

In his piece Ted Jeory writes: "The council consistently tells us there isn’t a problem. They point to the lack of prosecutions and boast of their stringent controls."

Here's an example of how council officers dealt with unprecedented election fraud evidence back in  2006 - just in case anyone expects them to do anything helpful.

Today (Sunday): Hustings for Hackney's GLA members

A ‘question time’ for the candidates standing for the London North East seat on the Greater London Assembly will include these four candidates:

Caroline Allen: Green
Jennette Arnold:Labour
Naomi Newstead:Conservative
Farooq Qureshi:Lib Dem

The even has been organised by Hackney Unites which said:

Drug dealer car chase and smash

Cycling down Englefield Road this afternoon I ran into a scene full of crashed cars and policemen arresting a man in a grey hooded top. I didn't hang around but took a couple of  these bad photos. More details are available from the Hackney Gazette in a story called: "Suspected drug dealers ram three cars in Hackney police chase leading to innocent man being cut from his vehicle."