Labour Leadership incompetence in the management of the Barham Park Trust could have lost residents up to £100,000 in income, claims Paul Lorber

Another potential  failure in the effective and responsible management of the Barham Park Trust has been revealed by Brent Liberal Democrat Leader, Paul Lorber. Readers will know that the Trustees are all members of the Brent Labour Cabinet with no representation from the community that is supposed to benefit from the Barham bequest.

In an email to Brent CEO, Kim Wright, Lorber alleges that the Trust failed to arrange a lease and collect rent from a Barham Park building occupied by the Young Brent Foundation, thus depriving the Trust of income.

Cllr Lorber asks for an Internal Audit based on the following:

1.  The Council has had a Lease of the former Children Centre space in Barham Park Complex for many years.
2. When that use ceased the space was made available to Brent Young Foundation who were allowed to take occupation before a Lease was prepared and signed.
3. Officers were instructed to prepare and finalise a Lease some 4 years ago but never did. (I expect there were exchanges documenting the terms and basis on which YBF could use the building in advance of the Lease - an unusual situation not available to others). They were due to pay a rent equal to the rent paid by the Council to Barham Park Trust - originally £11,300pa but at some point subject to a review. 
4. Young Brent Foundation were in occupation until now - it is not clear if proper legal process for termination was followed and the space is still being cleared as I write. (Termination was referred to at a recent Barham Park Trust Meeting). 
5. The answers received to date (but not complete and slow in coming) suggest that Young Brent Foundation did not pay any rent, any business rates, any service charges and possibly no utility costs for electricity, gas or water or contribution to insurance.
6. It is also not clear who paid for any of the above.
7. I estimate that the loss mainly to Brent Council but also partly to the Barham Park Trust may be in the region of £100,000.
8. An independent investigation is required as Property and Finance are implicated and YBF clearly has other debts owing to the Council and others including possibly HMRC and the Pensions Authority.  Letters from all these are coming through Barham Community Library and have been passed by me to the Property Unit.
9. The investigation needs to ask a number of questions including why was occupation by YBF allowed without a lease being in place, why was no rent collected, who paid the costs of the business rates and utilities and others. What action is being taken to recover all the debts and losses sustained by Brent Council and Barham Park Trust.
10. I consider this a major failing by various Units of Brent Council. It seems that if you are well connected as people in YBF were you get anything and you get away with anything without effective scrutiny or action. 
11.  It is particularly galling because well established organisations in my Sudbury Ward or in Barham Park which have provided services to local people for years - East Lane Theatre Club, LNER Sports Club and Barham Veterans Club are under threat of closures because of unfair and unrealistic rent demands from the Brent Property Unit. All of these should have had lease renewals a long time ago well before the new Brent Council Property Strategy was out in place which fails to take into account the contribution these organisations provide for local people.  
    

 Cllr Lorber adds:

In view of the above I trust that you will instruct Internal Audit to investigate and for Property and Finance respond fully to my outstanding enquiries.

I am making my request public as part of my Scrutiny duty as the Scrutiny arrangements in Brent Council are ineffective and frankly a waste of time as recent Call Ins clearly show. Labour Councillors are cleared whipped and will never agree to refer an item back to Cabinet however flawed the original decision.