From "the Axis of Evil" to "Stage Six"

I turned up today for the latest Licensing Sub-Committees expecting a long morning – the first case was the Townhouse in Ealing Broadway, which has been a very controversial pub locally. A local resident’s association chair called it “the axis of evil in central Ealing”, at an earlier Licensing Panel.

However, the Townhouse’s lawyer asked for an adjournment hearing because their relevant management were not free to attend the hearing. I wasn’t sympathetic, but we agreed to the adjournment after the residents’ representatives supported the delay because “we have a lot of questions to put the managers.” Look like they have a heavy time in store for the Townhouse when the Sub-Committee reconvenes on 9th March.

This unexpectedly free morning led me to catch up with some local government websites, sad anorak that I am, and discovered some interesting (to me) statistics.

The Department of Education and Skills have recently published analysis of school results for last year at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000631/index.shtml
The ‘value added’ figures measure the actual improvement achieved by schools and education authorities, rather than just raw ability - and the table for key stage 4 shows that LB Ealing schools have the third highest value added performance in the country (with only LB Redbridge and the very small and untypical Isles of Scilly doing better). This is a really great result, and a real tribute to all educational professionals in the Borough. Thinking I’d discovered something new, I emailed the education team at the Council, only to discover that they’d already noticed and were preparing a press release.

I’ve pointed out before that East Acton ward has more businesses than any other ward in the Borough (see post for 20th September). I found proof of this in figures on the Office of National Statistics website which show the number of businesses in each ward in the country at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=1033&Pos=2&ColRank=1&Rank=224
On this count for 2005, East Acton has 1,225 businesses – over 350 more than in the next largest Borough ward (Ealing Broadway). This is 12% of all businesses in LB Ealing – whilst for businesses with over 20 employees, East Acton has nearly one in five in the Borough

My meeting tonight was cancelled, so I cycled down to the Red Lion opposite Ealing Studios for an intended quick pint before going to the Ealing Central Library for a local history talk. However, by chance I met an old friend and former Acton Councillor – Margaret Payne who was there with her partner Phil. Margaret was the Borough’s first Councillor of African-Caribbean background and, as I told her after the third or fourth pint, probably had more impact in her four years as a Councillor than many who serve for eight or twelve years. As a Councillor, Margaret represented us on a visit to Acton Massachusetts (the second biggest Acton in the world), and we talked about ways to rebuild the links she made with them. We and Phil had a very congenial few drinks combing nostalgia and political gossip, and I never made the local history lecture (but it is apparently being repeated).

I ought to point out that the Red Lion is one of the pubs that I’ve excluded myself from hearing at a Licensing Sub-Committee because I visit it regularly. Given its proximity and links to Ealing Studios, it was known as "Stage Six" (see the plaque outside) – there’s a good review of the pub it at http://www.fancyapint.com/main_site/thepubs/pub1622.html