London Assembly report on heat networks where some suffer from inescapable bad deals

 Heating networks are becoming more common in Brent with concerns over reliability and accounts of excessive bills.  This London Assembly report is timely and should be considered by the new administration in Brent:      

Britain’s energy regulator, Ofgem, must urgently consider implementing price protections for heat network customers, with continued energy price increases due to the conflict in the Middle East

Ofgem was appointed as the regulator for heat networks in January 2026.

The London Assembly Environment Committee has today published its report - Zoning: The Heat Networks Puzzle – calling for stronger price protections for Londoners on heat networks.

The Committee investigation found that due to planning rules in new developments, a significant number of Londoners on heat networks in these new builds are in social housing.

Heating homes currently accounts for around 18 per cent of the UK’s climate emissions.

London Plan policy has promoted heat networks, which feature significantly in the Mayor’s strategy for achieving net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030. The Mayor’s preferred ‘pathway’ is based on 460,000 heat network connections by 2030,  and so the Committee looked in detail at how to get things right.

The Committee heard that heat network customers have often struggled to understand what they are paying for, how prices are calculated, and whether charges are fair.

The Committee is now calling for:

·       The Greater London Authority (GLA) to take the lead in ensuring price protection for Londoners and establish a set of Fair Pricing Principles for all heat networks in London.

·       Where existing under-performing legacy heat networks in social housing are being upgraded, there should be price protection for leaseholders in terms of capital costs.

·       The GLA should work with Ofgem and the Department of Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) to develop a best practice guide, similar to an EPC rating that gives a short, clear introduction to heat networks, their efficiency levels, and explains heat network charges.

Leonie Cooper AM, Chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee while the investigation took place said:

We are deeply concerned that some Londoners have experienced considerable harms as a result of higher heating prices.

For too many in London, their experience of heat networks has not been satisfactory. They are getting a bad deal, and one from which they cannot escape.

For some, this is a very steep personal price to pay for a lower carbon heating network.

Tackling climate change is something we support, but we must ensure customers are protected from volatile price increases, particularly with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

Councillors' concern at over-development in Wembley Park that prioritises private profit over community

 

The proposed new building close to Wembley Stadium station

Guest post by the Green Party councillors for Wembley Park, Cllr Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam and Cllr Najib Warsame.

 As Councillors representing Wembley Park, we are seriously concerned about the proposed construction of a new 8 to 25-storey care home/ co-living space and the wider impact it will have on residents and the local area most affected by this proposal.

What Wembley Park is truly lacking is accessible, usable community space that enriches the lives of the people who have made this area their home, especially young people and children, who are increasingly being offered less and less as development continues. Over recent years, communal and recreational spaces have steadily disappeared, replaced by private developments that do little to support the existing community. This lack of investment in meaningful community infrastructure has contributed to growing anti-social behaviour, disproportionately involving and impacting young people.

We are deeply concerned about the strain this development will place on local infrastructure and public services, which have consistently failed to keep pace with Wembley Park’s rapidly growing population. Only recently has a new GP surgery been built, and it is already approaching capacity. There remains a severe shortage of accessible community facilities and public spaces, particularly on this side of the estate.

The environmental impact of the proposal cannot be ignored. Residents are increasingly being forced to live in a concrete-jungle designed to maximise private profit while the wellbeing of the community and local environment is treated as secondary. We need more greenery and open spaces and the construction of yet another building does not help.

Traffic and infrastructure concerns in Wembley Park have not been adequately addressed. There is severe congestion around that end of Empire Way, particularly on event days, where residents regularly struggle to access their homes. The parking provision proposed for the care home appears insufficient for staff, visitors and residents with disabilities. Restricting access to personal transport in this way risks limiting independence and accessibility whilst placing additional pressure on surrounding roads and infrastructure.

We are equally concerned about the quality and condition of many existing developments in Wembley Park. Residents continue to raise serious issues relating to mould, poor maintenance, broken doors, insufficient security measures, and unclear emergency access protocols in buildings that are only a few years old. These concerns raise important questions about whether the current private-public development model is genuinely delivering safe, liveable, and affordable homes for residents.

The proposed building will significantly reduce access to natural light for surrounding homes and residential buildings. Reduced daylight sunlight negatively affects wellbeing while also increasing household energy usage and costs during an ongoing cost of living crisis. There are also serious concerns specific to the proposed care home itself. From the applicant’s own report, we understand that 32% of care home rooms will fail to meet recommended daylight standards and 54% will fail to achieve recommended sunlight levels. Access to natural light in communal areas is also inadequate. This raises significant concerns about the quality of life being proposed for elderly residents who deserve safe, dignified and healthy living conditions.

All of these concerns reflect a wider pattern of over-development in Wembley Park where expansion and private profit are too often prioritised over residents’ wellbeing, community infrastructure, environmental quality, and long-term liveability. Residents deserve to be properly heard before further irreversible decisions continue to reshape the area.

Ipsos Poll: 10 years on from the Brexit vote, a majority of Britons would vote to apply to rejoin the EU

Flashback to Wembley Matters June 25th 2016

From Ipso Mori UK Ltd   10 years on from the Brexit vote, a majority of Britons would vote to apply to rejoin the EU  New polling by Ipsos given exclusively to Bloomberg News reveals that 58% of likely voters in a hypothetical future referendum would back rejoining the bloc, with almost half (49%) of the public supporting a new referendum after the next General Election London, UK The full findings on the survey of Britons will be discussed by an expert panel hosted at King’s College of London on Monday 15th of June. Registration details for the event can be found here. The panel will discuss a range of topics, including changing public views on whether it was right to hold the 2016 referendum, the trade-offs at stake in future UK-EU relations, and whether closer links with the bloc would be a vote winner or vote loser for the Labour government – all of which is analysed in additional forthcoming research by Ipsos, the Policy Institute at King’s College London, and UK in a Changing Europe. Ahead of the tenth anniversary of the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, new polling provided exclusively to Bloomberg News by Ipsos reveals a significant shift in public sentiment 10 years on. Key findings include: Majority support for rejoining: Among all Britons, 52% think the UK should apply to join the European Union, while exactly a third (33%) think the UK should stay out. The remainder say they don’t know or would not vote in a future referendum. Among likely voters in a future referendum, 58% would vote to rejoin and 37% would vote to stay out. This amounts to a 61% / 39% split once don’t knows are removed. Q. If a new referendum was held on whether the UK should apply to join the European Union or to stay out of the European Union, how would you vote?   All Britons Likely voters Likely voters (don’t knows excluded)  The UK should apply to rejoin the EU 52% 58% 61% The UK should stay out of the EU 33% 37% 39% Don’t know 9% 4% - Would not vote 4% - - Prefer not to day 1% - - Further analysis among all Britons: Overwhelming backing from Labour voters: Support for rejoining is particularly concentrated among current Labour voters, with 84% stating that Britain should apply to join the EU. But rejoining remains a divisive issue: Whereas 68% of those aged 18-34 and 58% of those aged 35-54 back rejoining, 50% of those aged 55+ want to stay out (37% of that group want to rejoin).  Similarly, whilst 84% of Labour voters, 80% of Lib Dems and 86% of Greens would vote to rejoin, 56% of Conservative voters and 7 in 10 Reform voters (71%) would vote to stay out. Appetite for a new referendum: Almost half of Britons support holding a referendum on whether or not the UK should join the European Union. 48% support a referendum taking place before the next General Election (compared to 29% who oppose it), while 49% support a referendum taking place after the next General Election (compared to 26% who oppose it). Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, said: “As we approach the ten-year milestone of the Brexit vote, this exclusive data shows a clear shift in the public mood which will be unpacked at our event on June 15th. “A majority of the British public, indicate that if asked, the UK should apply to rejoin the European Union. This includes a clear majority of Labour voters. “With almost half of Britons open to another referendum, it is clear that the debate over our relationship with Europe is far from settled in the minds of the electorate. “With that said, we should be aware that a future referendum might play out differently in practice. Immigration remains a key issue for the British public, one which would likely feature in any campaign. And as our upcoming research will show, when the public are presented with various trade offs involved concerning the UK-EU relationship, a more complex picture emerges"   Technical Note: Ipsos interviewed a representative probability sample of 1,137 British adults aged 18+, via the Ipsos UK Knowledge Panel as part of our regular Ipsos Political Monitor series. Data was collected between the 14th – 20th May 2026 Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error. This research was conducted in partnership with King's College London and UK in a Changing Europe.

Defending Kilburn High Road: Billionaire-Backed Media Slurs Won’t Hide the Real Pressures Destroying Our High Streets

 

Fresh Poms, 227 Kilburn High Road

       

Guest post from the five newly elected Green Party councillors for the Kilburn wards on both sides of the Kilburn High Road: Cllr Ash Atkinson, Cllr Andr Lopez Turner, (Kilburn ward Camden)  Cllr Suzanne Gallagher, Cllr Paul Ryan, and Cllr Stephen Malonga (Kilburn ward Brent).

 

GB News presenter Patrick Christys recently targeted an independent pomegranate juice shop on Kilburn High Road. In a video clip circulated online, Christys used dog-whistle rhetoric to baselessly imply that this small business was "dodgy" or operating as an illicit front.

This is a complete fabrication. We have been on the ground, met the operators, and tasted the juice (which is excellent, rich in vitamins, and highly anti-inflammatory!). They are pleasant, hard-working people who have invested heavily in a beautiful storefront. They deserve our community's support, not xenophobic tropes masquerading as current affairs journalism.

We have written a formal letter of complaint (please see below) directly to Ofcom and the editorial board of GB News. While it remains unclear whether this segment was broadcast on traditional linear TV or exclusively via podcasts and YouTube shorts, we wish to call out this behaviour. Although this may fall outside Ofcom’s linear broadcasting code, we have placed this on record to highlight the severe, real-world economic harm that irresponsible media commentary inflicts on independent traders.

The Real Threat: Corporate Greed, Not Independent Shops

The right-wing media wants to manufacture a culture war out of thin air because they want to blind people to the structural economic pressures destroying our high streets. If these journalists actually cared about Kilburn, they would look at the real damage being done by landlord greed and corporate extraction.

Across Kilburn, we are losing much-loved, family-run independent food businesses. These heartbreaking closures are not caused by right-wing conspiracy theories; they are caused by the brutal, unchecked realities of the modern economy:

Commercial Rent Squeezes: Landlords are placing an impossible burden on small traders by demanding aggressive, two-yearly rent reviews. These frequent and steep hikes offer local businesses zero long-term security, forcing viable shops to the brink or driving them out of our community entirely when the financial damage becomes too much to bear.

Silicon Valley Wealth Extraction: Independent food businesses are being squeezed to breaking point by tech intermediaries like Uber Eats, which extracts an extortionate 35% commission on local deliveries. This model bleeds wealth directly out of Kilburn and sends it straight to California. Local business owners have told us they often feel like they are working primarily to line the pockets of Uber Eats, rather than building their own livelihoods.

Hyper-Inflation: Skyrocketing utility bills, particularly punitive commercial electricity rates, have made running independent commercial kitchens completely unsustainable for small operators.

While independent shops face these immense struggles, corporate entities, including predatory gambling shops owned by offshore billionaires with zero connection to our community, are thriving. They extract profit from our neighbourhoods while contributing nothing to our social fabric.

It is the peak of hypocrisy that these factless attacks on Kilburn’s diverse traders are broadcast by a network owned by a tax-exiled, Reform UK-donating billionaire living in Dubai. Wealthy media moguls have no right to dictate what is "viable" or "legitimate" on a working-class London high street.

Building a Fairer, Circular Economy

In the Green Party, we passionately support independent businesses. Unlike multi-national corporations, independent traders keep wealth circulating within our local economy. They buy from local suppliers, employ local people, and build genuine community wealth rather than extracting it to offshore tax havens.

We support collaborative initiatives like One Kilburn, where our community is working incredibly hard to bring residents, independent businesses, and local partners together to build a resilient, supportive, and sustainable high street economy.

We will not sit idly by while so-called journalists working for billionaire-backed media outlets attempt to trash the reputation of small traders to feed a divisive political agenda. We stand with our high street, we stand with our independent businesses, and we will keep fighting for an economy that puts people and planet ahead of corporate profit.

Great turnout at consultation event for new Welsh Harp SEND 16-25 provision and continuation of the primary school environmental study centre

There was a significantly larger turnout than might have been expected at the Consultation Meeting about the proposed SEND 16-25 Facility at the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre (WHEEC) on Wednesday. Attendance was higher than many of the consultations held for multi-million regeneration projects, showing how important the Centre and the SEND provision is to local people.

People crowded into one of the WHEEC classrooms to see the 7 panels outlining the plans.  I was gratified to see the primary classrooms and separate toilet facilities for primary school pupils in the draft floor plan for the new building. The continuation of an environmental studies facility for primary school pupils was something that Brent Green Party members, Brent Friends of the Earth, Brent Parks Forum  and many individuals had campaigned for. It is so important for a new generation that will be faced with climate breakdown and  the biodiversity crisis. PETITION HERE

Conversation was animated and questions detailed over issues such as the horticultural features, potential loss of mature trees, parking, security and more.

Aside  from building design is the devising of a strategy for a sustainable future for the WHEEC and plans for community use and shared building management.

Brent Council has kindly provided a copy of the Display Boards below so that those unable to attend can study them and submit their views:

Depending on your broadband speed the boards may take a while to download:

 

Comments have to be in by June 17th 2026 FILL IN THE FORM HERE

Contact: jas.yembra@brent.gov.uk

 

Daniel's Den Dads Zone this Saturday 10-11.30am. All little ones welcome with their dads, grandads, uncles and male carers

 From Daniel's Den (celebrating an amazing 30 years in  Brent!)

 It’s our monthly Dads Zone this Saturday 10-11.30am. All little ones welcome with their dads, grandads, uncles and male carers. It’s also our bake sale as part of our fundraising month

 

New £188.8 million of funding to Quintain's Wembley Park under the Government’s Private Rented Sector Guarantee Scheme

 From Quintain Ltd

    

New loan to Quintain to support the stabilisation of two new Build to Rent developments in Wembley Park

United Kingdom, 1st June 2026 – Venn, a leading investment manager with a strong focus on European residential real estate, together with vertically integrated owner, operator and developer, Quintain, is pleased to announce the funding of a new loan totalling GBP188.8 million under the Private Rented Sector Guarantee Scheme (“PRSGS”, “the Scheme”), which Venn manages on behalf of the UK Government.

The loan was funded through a public tap of the Scheme’s existing 2030 floating rate bond series, which is guaranteed by the UK Government. The public process attracted strong institutional demand, achieving an attractive spread of 50 basis points over SONIA. Proceeds from the bond issuance are on-lent directly to the Quintain borrower, and this funding cost contributes to an all-in interest rate that provides the Build to Rent (“BTR”) sector with cost-effective capital at scale, aligned with borrower requirements in the current market.

This transaction is the second PRSGS transaction funded since March 2026 and demonstrates the Scheme’s continued ability to provide stable funding and transaction certainty under otherwise volatile market conditions. Under the Scheme, Venn has approximately GBP1.5 billion of further lending capacity to support the sector.

The £188.8 million loan has been provided to Quintain and will finance two neighbouring BTR assets, Luna and Solar, located within Wembley Park in North-West London. The assets, which comprise in total 665 homes, form part of Quintain’s 85-acre residential-led mixed-use estate and are operated under the award-winning Quintain Living platform.

Luna and Solar represent the two most recent additions to the Wembley Park residential offering. Their delivery marked 6,000 homes of all tenures completed by Quintain across the estate, over half of which are BTR and operated by Quintain Living. As with the existing Quintain Living portfolio, these assets deliver high-quality rental accommodation within a well-established, professionally managed neighbourhood. Both assets reached practical completion in 2025 and are currently in the process of stabilisation, benefitting from the expertise of Quintain Living’s mature operational platform and strength of the wider mixed-use estate.

The buildings have strong sustainability credentials, aligned with HQM 4 Star ratings and supported by an industry-leading embodied carbon assessment that outperformed LETI benchmarks. Alongside Luna and Solar is the delivery of Wembley Park’s second performing arts-based community centre and a new headquarters for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with both buildings achieving BREEAM Excellent.

For further information on the Scheme and how to apply, borrowers should contact PRS@Venn-Partners.com

The PRSGS Scheme extract (Full version  on Government website HERE)  

1.  Project Eligibility

1.1 The objective of the Private Rented Sector Guarantee Scheme is to provide loans that contribute to development of (or conversion to) purpose built homes for private rent in the United Kingdom.

1.2 On application, sponsors need to set out how the PRSGS loan will promote this objective.

1.3 Loans will fund projects that deliver new build or converted private rented homes

1.4 Minimum size of project: Total project to have a minimum value of £10m. However, the “project” can comprise more than one site, which cumulatively meet the minimum value requirement.

1.5 Units must be used for private rent for the period of the debt guarantee.

1.6 Applicants will need to detail how property and tenant management services will be provided.

1.7 Borrowers will need to be classified to the private sector, or a Private Registered Provider as defined in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 Section 80(3) (or equivalent in the Devolved Administrations).

1.8  Properties will need to be located in the United Kingdom.

 

IMAGES OF LUNA AND SOLAR (See Philip Grant's comment of June 5th below) Source Quintain's Build to Rent blog.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 of a new round of strikes at Woodfield School as Trust attempt to use a soon to be unlawful 'fire & rehire' strategy against their workers

Today was Day 1 of a new round of strikes at Woodfield SEND School in Kingsbury, or Day 14 if you count all the strike days that have taken place since the Academy Trust that runs the school went on the offensive in trying to lower the wages and employment status of support staff at the school - staff who are absolutely vital in the care and education of young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

After an ACAS intervention and an unsatisfactory meagre offer from management, the Trust went back on the offensive and are attempting to operate a 'fire and rehire' strategy in which staff are sacked and then re-employed on worse terms.

Brent West MP, Barry Gardiner, was one of the main campaigners against this discredited and damaging to labour relations strategy that will be outlawed by January next year.  Why the Academy Trust decided to try and use this against their own staff before the law change and a use almost unknown in the education sector. is somewhat of a mystery.  The NEU is not prepared to standby while a precedent is set.

Despite a drenching, the mood on the picket line remained buoyant and determined. Messages of solidarity were received from NEU branches from all over the country.  Labour Party and Green Party councillors were on the  picket line in support of the strikers and there were loud toots of solidarity from passing traffic.

A series of strike days are planned in an effort to persuade the Academy Trust back to the negotiating table.

 

 

The spirit of Grunwick lends itself to the strikers 

 

Then the rain came down!

 

 

Cllr Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam  & Cllr Amandine Alexandre (Green Party)

 

 

Cllr Jake Rubin (lead member for schools) and Cllr Gwen Grahl (Brent Council deputy leader) 

 

If you would like to support the strikers please write to the chair of the  academy trustees on this LINK.