Planned closure of Liverpool Street bus station

From the City:

Planned closure of Liverpool Street bus station

The bus station will be closed between 8 February and 10 August 2014 to accommodate essential works related to the Crossrail project. Bus routes 11, 23 and 133 will be affected.

Please visit our website:

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/transport-and-streets/roads-highways-and-pavements/Pages/Streetworks.aspx

If you have any comments on this, if you know of other people who may be interested in receiving this, please let Kay English/Michelle Ross know by e-mail at traffic.management@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

Regards,

Traffic Management [AM]
Department of the Built Environment
City of London
Tel: 020 7332 3553/4, Fax 020 7332 3552

Traffic.Management@Cityoflondon.gov.uk

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/streetworks

Protocol for recording at public meetings

When the Town Clerk recently spoke at a residents meeting he said that public meetings, such as committee meetings, could be recorded.  I asked the City for the rules and the reply is below.  It seems central government require the City to allow public meetings to be recorded (see this document).  Here is what the City had to say:

The City of London Corporation expects its public meetings to be just that – public - and of course they are reported publicly.  As modern technology has evolved, this reporting naturally includes photography, tape recording and now 'Tweeting' and 'Blogging' etc.  Our practice has been to ask individuals in the public gallery, who are using technology, to do so in respectful way, i.e. not erecting tripods, using disruptive (flash) photography, standing up etc.   Our approach was re-enforced last June in the DCLG guidance (below). 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207528/Your_councils_cabinet_-_going_to_its_meetings_seeing_how_it_works.pdf  

Occasionally we get requests for use of a tripod, etc,  which can be accommodated by setting aside a 'media' area. Obviously we get notice of this.

Formal written guidance is being re-formulated will shortly be available on the website.

House Group AGM Wed 19 Mar 2014 19:00 – 21:00

A date for your diary:   The Ben Jonson House Group AGM will be held on the evening of 19th March 2014 from 19:00 to 21:00 in the residents meeting room (known as the Lilac Room) which is beneath Seddon House, accessible from the entrance closest to the estate office.

A detailed agenda will be posted after the next Ben Jonson House Group committee meeting, but if there is anything you'd like to see on the agenda please use the email form at the bottom of this page.

The BEO repairs service

From the BEO:

The email address to report repairs is: Barbicanrepairs@cityoflondon.gov.uk

The telephone number is 0207 029 3909.  We deal with all Barbican resident repairs internally & externally.

For podium repairs residents can contact their House Officer.

Kind regards

Fleur McNeil | Customer & Support Services Manager Property Services|CITY OF LONDON

t 020 7332 1637| e 1637

e-mail Barbicanrepairs@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Housing Repairs |t 0800 035 0003

Barbican Repairs|t 0207 029 3909

Studio Weave seats to be removed

From the City's web site (here).  See item 4f:

4f

Barbican Seating - Consultation Report PDF 1 MB

Additional documents:

• Appendix E - Resident Consultation Survey Report , item 4f PDF 356 KB
• Appendix F - User Consultation Survey Report , item 4f PDF 841 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered a progress report of the Director of the Built Environment in respect of the above project.  In response to questions about Listed Building compliance, officers agreed to check that replacements would be like-for-like.  In respect of possible damage to vents, should seating be removed, members noted that the replacement would be immediate.  Finally, members noted that the seating for the upper level of the Ben Jonson Highwalk was in abeyance, pending completion of the waterproofing project.  

Members noted that all projects have a ‘lessons learnt’ phase at the end; as part of the Gateway 7 report. 

RESOLVED – that, the seating and planters be removed from St Giles Terrace and Ben Jonson Highwalk and relocated to elsewhere in the City, for use by the City community, and seating similar to that present on site be put back before the delivery of the City’s improvement project.

Fraud awareness information

From the BEO:

Dear Residents

The Barbican Police Office have asked that this information is sent out to Barbican residents:

Please be aware that fraudsters are currently targeting victims in the Barbican area and the article below describes methods being used. Remember that a bank will never ask for your PIN number and police officers do not act on behalf of financial institutions to collect or deliver cards. If you believe you have received a genuine call use a different telephone to call your bank using the number on your bank statement.

Bank customers are falling victim to a new and sophisticated type of credit card fraud which has increased threefold since the beginning of the year.

Victims are telephoned by fraudsters and duped into revealing their PIN and then handing over their bank card to a courier in this new form of crime, which has seen more than £750,000 taken from customers since the beginning of the year.

The scam involves a person being called by someone claiming to be from their bank. They are told that their debit or credit card needs collecting as it needs replacing following fraud on their account.

The caller often suggests that the person hangs up and calls the bank back if they want to ensure the call is genuine, but stays on the line, tricking the person into thinking they're calling their bank. The criminal will then ask the person to key in their PIN number, before sending a courier to collect the card. The victim is told the card is going to the bank to be changed but it is actually delivered to the fraudster to use along with the PIN obtained during the scam.

DCI Paul Bernard, head of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, said: "Many of us feel confident that we can spot fraudsters but this type of crime can be sophisticated and could happen to anyone. While we have seen an increase in this type of fraud, we know collectively we can stamp it out. "If you become a victim of this type of crime, you should contact your bank in the first instance. If you have friends or relatives who you feel may be vulnerable to this, please help them to be more aware of the potential risks and what to look out for. Remember, if you are the innocent victim of card fraud you will not suffer any financial loss."
More than £1.5m has now been lost to this crime, with the same amount £750,000 stolen in the first four months of 2012 that was stolen during the whole of 2011.

The Payments Council found in a survey of account holders that more than three quarters feel confident that they would be able to spot a fraudulent telephone banking call. However, after hearing how the card fraud phone scam works, over half of the 4,000 people surveyed were surprised by how sophisticated it was, one third worried they were more vulnerable than they thought and four fifths felt that anyone could be a potential victim of the fraud.

Mr Bernard said that customers should follow some simple tips to avoid being a victim. These include making sure you can hear the dial tone when you call your bank, and never handing over your card. Your bank or the police will never ring you and tell you that they are coming to your home to pick up your card, so never hand it over to anyone who comes to collect it.

He added that your bank will never ask you to authorise anything by entering your PIN into the telephone. The only times that you should enter your PIN are at a cash machine or when you use a shop's chip and PIN machine.

Christine Phillips
Wards Constable

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Fwd: City of London Consultations with residents

Two documents were sent out with the following message:

• City Residents Consultation
• A guide to consulting in schemes in and around the Barbican Estate

This email is sent on behalf of the Chairs of the Barbican Association and the Residents' Consultation Committee:

City of London Consultations with residents

From the Chairs of the Barbican Association and the Residents' Consultation Committee:

As you may have read in the most recent BA Newsletter, the City is in the process of revising its consultation processes with residents, and formalising this into a protocol and a series of steps it intends to follow when consulting with us. In the attached letter we wish to introduce the process to you, and explain the principal changes, as we see them. Also attached is a sheet prepared by the City that sets out the consultation protocol in diagrammatic form. We would like to hear what you think about these proposals, so we can pass these on to the City. 

Please take a moment to read through both attachments, and then let us know of any comments you have to make. We have set up a short feedback survey to make it quick and easy to respond, which you can access from this link: http://eSurv.org?u=BAconsult13 

Please provide any feedback to us no later than the 23rd January 2014. 

We wish all Barbican residents a happy and peaceful 2014. 

Jane Smith, Chair, Barbican Association

Tim Macer, Chairman, Barbican Residents' Consultation Committee