Brent Labour in need of good political advice as spin doctor and organiser leave

Brent Labour Group is looking for a new Political Assistant following Richard Bell's departure. Richard Bell was the latest Political Assistant with a background in the Fabian Society. His predecessor Jack Stenner had been a Young Fabian. The two have published articles together LINK

If anyone out there fancies their chances (and there is an ex-councillor with time on his hands with very definite views on Brent Labour and democracy), I reproduce the application pack below:

Coincidentally (perhaps), Lee Skevington, Labour's borough organiser, has according to highly placed Labour sources, decided not to extend his contract. Skevington has been popular with rank and file Labour Party members.

The departures leave quite a gap ahead of the General Election in nine months time. However influential Jim Moher remains firmly in the driving seat of Dawn Butler's Brent Central  campaign following Labour's AGM.

Brent Labour's need for good political advice became clear this week when the 'poor doors' issue hit national as well as local headlines. This segregation of private and affordable home tenants in the same block was justified by Margaret McLennan, lead member for housing and regeneration, on the basis that separate access was required to keep the service charges of affordable tenants down, but attacked by former Council leader Ann John as 'utterly ridiculous and dreadful'. Pete Firmin, also a Labour Party member and chair of Brent Trades Council, as well as a committee member of a local residents' association, said, 'It is outrageous and basically saying we are the privileged, keep out of our area.'

This controversy follows the revelation that a one bedroomed flat in the Willesden Green Library development, advertised in Singapore as 'benefitting' from having no social or key worker homes, was selling at £450,000.

I have sympathy with McLennan's point on service charges but surely this goes back to the planning stages of mixed developments and their marketing, when the private service charges could be set to subsidise affordable housing service charges.

It is worth noting that Muhammed Butt has refrained from commenting to the Kilburn Times and has not responded to Twitter requests for his reaction.

Former Ann John supporter, James Powney, has continued to raise issues about democracy in Brent on his blog and the need for proper scrutiny. In a recent posting he was critical of the budget process by the current leadership LINK:

I fear that Brent Council is just going to float along without proper planning, until suddenly the money simply isn't there and panic cuts have to be implemented.  When that happens, councillors cease to exercise any sense of priorities and simply try to balance this year's books, until they go through an even more difficult exercise next year.

Not exactly a vote of confidence in his Labour colleagues.

Today  LINK  Powney commends the nine Labour councillors who called the £40 'Garden tax' in for scrutiny at Wednesday's Scrutiny Committee but contrasts the current changes with 'the thoroughness of the last major change in Brent's recycling arrangements four years ago'. He was, of course, lead member for the environment four years ago.

Elsewhere, on Twitter, James Powney has been involved in an exchange about the police investigation into fraudulent emails supporting the Kensal Rise Library development. Brent Council itself instigated the investigation with Muhammed Butt initially insisting that the issue should be thoroughly investigated. Lately the Council has granted planning permission and the council does not appear to be pursuing the matter. Powney, who still has the twitter handle @CllrPowney was accused of wanting to drop the investigation.

The police investigation is not the only unfinished business carried forward from the last administration.

The previous Labour adminstration extended Christine Gilbert's contract as Interim Chief Executive until after the May elections. Fiona Ledden's report advocating this at the time cited a smooth transition to the Civic Centre, managing the local elections, and safeguarding of Brent's reputation, as well as prevailing market conditions for LA CEs as reasons for keeping Gilbert on.

Now, three months after the election, Gilbert is still in post, with no sign of any recruitment process. She is currently on holiday and Andy Donald is standing in as Acting Interim Chief Executive.

Ledden's report (with Cara Davani of HR fame as the other contact officer) adopted by the then Brent Executive stated:

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Taking these factors into account and taking a strategic view in relation to the optimum time to commence the permanent recruitment process, it is proposed that recruitment for a permanent Chief Executive commences after the May 2014 elections and that the current interim arrangements continue until a permanent appointment has been made and the individual is in post. This approach is fully supported by the Executive.

Unfortunately this (deliberate?) lose wording seems open to an interpretation  that the appointment can be made any time after May 2014. May 2020 perhaps?

Lastly, no independent investigation has yet been set up into the modus operandi of Brent's HR department.

The call-in of the 'Garden Tax' proposal is a welcome sign that some Labour councillors are prepared to question Cabinet decisions. I would hope that Labour councillors, committed to equality in housing, transparency in recruitment procedures, and good labour relations with employees, will also take up some of these other issues.

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Brent to tackle violence against women and girls

The Brent Executive and public gallery were hushed last night by a powerful report on 'Tackling Violence against Women and Girls in Brent' presented by Cllr Ann John.

The report, commissioned by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, was written by a cross-party Task Group consisting of Cllrs John, Harrison, Hunter and Kabir, and used a mixture of quantative and qualiative research methods into female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage (FM) and honour based violence (HBV).

Cllr John said that the language used to describe these issues had undergone a major change. It was not now seen as a matter of culture and tradition, but of human rights and the violent abuse of children.

Firm statistics are hard to find but those that do exist are likely to be an under estimate so the Task Group recommended a mapping exercise undertaken with partners and specialist charities to find the extent of the practices.

The Harmful Practices Strategy will develop services, improve the quality of recording, provide clear guidance for staff and public on reporting risk and referrals, set up a single point of contact for those affected and set out clear responsibilities for the Children's Safeguarding Board and the Safer Brent Partnership. The Assistant Chief Executive's Department will take overall responsibility.

A programme of community engagement will include awareness raising events, training for key staff from all relevant agencies and joint work with schools and colleges,

John took care to say that the various practices covered many communities including those from Nigeria, Somalia, Egypt, Middle East,Turkey, the Indian Sub-continent and Indonesia.  Very young girls could be 'cut' in FGM and she gave the example of an 11 year old girl of Kurdish Iranian origin who had set fire to herself to avoid forced marriage. She was in hospital for a long time and when she returned home was treated with derision as she had no marriage prospects. She walked out of her village when she was 13 and evetually ended up in the UK. She likes living here because 'nobody stares at me'.  Another girl who was raped as a teenager and forced to marry her rapist, is now free of that marriage in the UK and loves living here because she is safe.

It is important to recognise that groups in the various communities in Brent are challenging these practices as they are also being challenged in  countries of origin:

SOMALIS FIGHT FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION from AU/UN IST News on Vimeo.

It was clear that school and college staff had a particular responsibility as they are in direct contact with young girls and may notice changes in behaviour, requests for a long holiday or absences from schools that may indicate a problem. As I said at training I attende don the issue it is also important that schools provide a trusted available adult for chidlren to confide in and space for those discussions to happen. Cllr John commended Islington's PSHE (Personal, Social and Health) curriculum and work going on at the College of North West London.

The report included a copy of Stonebridge Primary School's Safeguarding Policy as an example of a school taking up the issue effectively.

Leader of the Council, Muhammed Butt, who was chairing the meeting turned down a suggestion that the other members of the Task Group be allowed to speak in order to allow Executive contributions.

Executive member  Cllr Choudry said that it was important for communities to take up what was happening in their own ranks and not hide from the problems. Cllr Roxanne Mashari said that the report reinforced her belief that there should a a lead member for women's issues on the Executive to take a strategic view on such matters. She stated that recommendations were not enough, What was needed was an action plan with clear mile stones. There should be tangible actions aimed at schools with a high number of Somali children.

Cllr John said that there was a real awakening among Somali women who were very conscious that change was happening.

Assistant Director Ben Spinks will return with a plan for action in June 2014.

The Executive approved the recommendations.

Readers may find this NHS video on FGM useful: LINK

The Queensbury Pub planning commitee voting record

Readers have asked for details of the Planning Committee vote which saves the Queensbury Pub in Willesden Green from development for the time being. I am grateful to the Kilburn Times for this list:

Voted for the plans: Cllr Ann John (Stonebridge) and Sandra Kabir (Queensbury).

Against: Cllr Abdi Aden (Barnhill), Michael Adeyeye (Queens Park), Mark Cummins (Brondesbury Park), Sami Hashmi (Mapesbury), Dhiraj Kataria (Welsh Harp) and James Powney (Kensal Green).
Abstained: Cllr Ketan Sheth (Tokyngton).

Cllr Powney has written a comment about his vote against the plans on his blog LINK which mentions his participation in many planning decisions regarding the Mapebury Conservation Area. The selection of a new Labour candidate for Mapesbury Ward is taking place after the withdrawal of one of the three candidates for personal reasons. Cllr Powney was not reselected for his present Kensal Green seat.

Make Willesden Campaign hits the ground running

Willesden Green residents active in campaigns over the Willesden Green Library redevelopment, the Willesden Bookshop, Gladstone Park Primary School, council cuts and the Queensbury pub gathered together last night at the launch of the Make Willesden Green local election campaign.

Alex Colas, the candidate for MWG, spoke about how residents felt unrepresented and unsupported by local councillors and others talked of Willesden Green becoming a backwater as Wembley became the focus of the borough. There were fears that Willesden would lose its sense of community as the public realm was degraded and housing became unaffordable for ordinary  families. Recent developments were reducing the area to a dormitory.

Alex said that his campaign would be carrying forward values which had started with the library campaign but would look at the bigger and broader picture in order to influence the council. He said that it would be a local campaign but not a parochial one. The Coalition clearly had a major responsibility for the current situation but the campaign would not let the Council off the hook.  We must fight for a democratic, representative Council.

Alex's agent said that Labour were trying to distance itself from the present administration, which began with Ann John's library closures by choosing new, young candidates for 2014, but the policies remained the same. In Willesden Green, Cllr Lesley Jones, who was part of the Ann John regime, was standing again.

The Make Willesden Green campaign has people responsible for four main areas of policy: education, housing, public realm and local democracy and is welcoming policy ideas from supporters.  It was hoped that people would come forward as 'street reps' to further the campaign.

The Make Willesden Green blog is HERE   Twitter @AlexWG2014

The Stunner slips out of Brent. Mission accomplished?

Jack 'The Hair!' Stenner, Muhammed Butt's political adviser, is off to pastures new. Stenner has been busy since he left university in 2009 working for the Yes To Fairer Votes campaign, joining Ed Miliband's leadership campaign team, working for Barry Gardiner as Communications and Campaign Officer and managing Labour's Brent North General Election campaign. His association with Gardiner led him to become Director of Labour Friends of India.

Stenner became Muhammed Butt's political adviser, heading up the Leader's Office, just a month after Butt ousted Ann John as leader in May 2012.

His job appeared to be to remove Brent Labour's toxic image after the library closures under the Ann John administration which caused concern in senior Labour circles nationally.  A new approach was developed which promised dialogue with the community and  campaign groups but with the Labour Group committed to a 'No ifs, no buts; we must make cuts!' position very little actually changed except the mood music.

Butt, who is not a great public speaker, began,  as a result of Stenner's role as both minder and mentor, to make more coherent set piece speeches, although these were often derailed when he lost his cool during opposition interventions. Labour's public relations was improved by the appointment of James Denselow to head up communications for the party.

The group around Ann John, which included some experienced Executive members, continued to be a threat as Butt had only won by the narrowest of margins. In early 2013 there was a flurry of activity as Stenner found himself in a central role in Brent's version of the Thick of It as the John faction appeared to be ready to move a vote of no confidence in Butt's leadership. This failed to materialise when it became clear the votes didn't add up and instead an anodyne motion committing the factions to be nice to each other was adopted.

By the time of the May 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Labour Group plans were well advanced for a number of challenges to some of the Executive and Cllr James Powney, deeply unpopular over library closures was defeated along with Janice Long, Lesley Jones and Mary Arnold. A very new, but ambitious councillor, Michael Pavey joined the Executive along with Roxanne Mashari and James Denselow.

Perhaps rather insensitively this was spun to the local press as the victory of the young, dynamic, energetic and talented, perhaps by a young, dynamic, energetic and talented political adviser!

Some further tidying up is nearly complete over Labour candidates for the 2014 local elections and of course the selection, from an extremely crowded field, of a Labour candidate for Brent Central has still to take place, but Jack Stenner will perhaps be leaving Brent claiming 'mission accomplished'.

If that mission was to make Brent Labour more electable, and to bury the Ann John toxic waste so deep underground that the public will forget about it, we will only be able to judge in May 2014.

Meanwhile Barry Gardiner may well be feeling rather contented with what The Stunner has accomplished.

Reprise: The Battles of Kensal Rise and Preston Libraries

I thought that after today's news it was worth playing these videos again. Respect to the Kensal Rise and Preston campaigners and those from Barham and other libraries.

Brent Labour's 'Spring Clean' continues as Ann John deselected and Powney not short-listed

The Preston Library 'Wall of Shame' demonstrates residents' anger

 It's a bit like one of those property programmes on TV when an 'expert' moves in to help sell a house that hasn't attracted any buyers and proceeds to move out all the old furniture and give it a lick of paint and other cosmetic touches..

This is what Brent Labour appear to be doing, with first the new look Executive replacing some of the tired veterans, and now Ann John has been deselected making way for a new face.  John's demise will appear to many as the result of library closures coming home to roost. James Powney failed to make the short-list for his own Kensal Green ward but could apply for another ward.

Mindful of Harold Wilson's dictum that 'a week is a long time in politics' Labour will be hoping that the electorate will be impressed by their spruced up property when it goes on the market in May 2014.

Certainly the new lead member for Environment and Neighbourhoods, Cllr Roxanne Mashari, will have to do far more than apply cosmetics if she is to deal with the toxic issue of library closures with the campaigns still up and running and the umbrella SOS Brent Libraries group due to meet at the weekend.

Cllr Revd Clues must resign after attending only one meeting in 6 months

Rev David Cues, Liberal Democrat councillor for Dudden Hill, now resident in Brighton, has attended just one council meeting or committee in the last six months out of eight that he was supposed to attend.

Councillor Gavin Sneddon, another Liberal Democrat, who has also moved out of the borough -  albeit not so far, attended 5 out of 8 meetings.

The best attender was Cllr Pat Harrison (Labour) with 19 out of 19, closely followed by Cllr Lesley Jones (18/18) and Cllr Janice Long (17/17).

Former Labour leader Ann John managed only 8 out of 13 meetings. However Pat Harrison attended 19/19 with one extra meeting, closely followed by Lesley Jones 18/18 and Janice Long 17/17. Ketan Sheth appears to have over-stretched himself managing only 16 of 3 expected attendances.

Liberal Democrats Paul Lorber and Barry Cheese both attended 8 additional meetings out of personal interest or to represent their constituents.

Obviously the number of meetings is not necessarily a guide to how effective a councillor is. If they sit there like a bag of potatoes and make no contribution except to rubber stamp decisions and do little case work they are not doing a good job.

However, Clues' 12.5% attendance rate is an insult to democracy and a betrayal of the electorate, and must reinforce the call from Brent Green Party that he should resign with still a year to go before the next council election.

Full attendance details for all councillors can be found HERE

Ann John's cultural leadership to be immortalised (2nd edition)

Please note this was posted on April Fools' Day - apologies to anyone who suffered a heart attack or high blood pressure on first reading (that includes the fictitious Cllr Jimmy Ponderous!)

Artists's impression of the new cultural centre

In a surprise joint press release over the weekend Brent Council and Galliford Try have announced that the £10m cultural centre that will replace the Willesden Green Library, Willesden Bookshop, Library Centre Cinema, Cafe,  the Brent Museum, Brent Archives, Willesden Green Open Space and the Library Centre car park,  will be named after Cllr Ann John, OBE.

Cllr Jimmy Ponderous, (Newish Labour, Kensal Cemetery) who more modestly will have the suite of council offices named after him, said

Ann John, OBE came into office in 2010 with a vision to transform the cultural landscape of Brent. The closure of half the borough's library was the first step in a radical plan that will culminate this year in the rebuilding of the Willesden Green Library and the opening of the Wembley Library at the Civic Centre.

The Ann John Cultural Centre will be a fantastic addition to the cultural offer in Willesden and will include a Costas Coffee outlet and a Tesco Metro. Customers will be able to pick up their groceries along with their DVDs. The new Wembley Library will be a major attraction for football fans  and concert goers attending matches at Wembley Stadium or performances at the Arena.

These  twin beacons of hope and enterprise were only made possible by Ann's determination to fight the enemies of regeneration and promise who litter the cultural landscape of Brent with their special pleading, whining and outmoded attachment to old-fashioned 'cardboard and paper' books.

More Wembley history takes a knock on eve of anniversary

The Planning Committee this week discussed two Wembley issues which local people have expressed concern about:

Agenda item 7, for 4 blocks of flats (3 x 8-storey and 1 x 5-storey with total of 109 flats) and one pair of 3-storey semi-detached family houses on the former station car park at Brook Avenue, Wembley, was brought forward. It was explained that during the site visit on 9 March it had been pointed out that several people who had commented on the application within the time limit had not been notified of the visit or committee date. 

Investigations had shown that those not notified included two Ward Councillors and the Chairperson of the Barn Hill Residents Association. The committee’s Legal Advisor had recommended that, in these circumstances, consideration of the application should be deferred to the next meeting of Planning Committee. The proposal to defer was put to the committee, and accepted unanimously.

The Chairman, Cllr. Ketan Sheth, told the members of the public present, including around half-a-dozen local residents who had come for this application (two of whom had been given speaking “slots” at the meeting as objectors) that the item 7 application would not now be heard at the meeting. He thanked those who had come for that item for attending, and said that he hoped they would come again to the meeting when it would be considered.

Plan with part retention of Palace of Industry walls

 Agenda item 4, for 1,350 temporary car parking spaces on the former Palace of Arts and Palace of Industry site at Engineers Way, Wembley, was the first application actually considered. Planning Officer Neil McLennan gave some further information on points from the Supplementary Report handed out at the start of the meeting, and said that the recommendation was now to give consent for temporary car parking for five years, rather than three, but with a reduction from 1,350 to a maximum of 510 spaces after three years, unless otherwise agreed by the Council. This would save the applicant from having to make a further application at the end of three years.

Philip Grant, a member of Wembley History Society, was invited to speak by the Chairman. He handed over some illustrations for the committee, and told them that since the application was made at the end of 2012 he had been trying to persuade the applicant, Quintain Estates, to retain at least some of the external walls of the Palace of Industry building until at least the end of 2014. 

That year would see the 90^th anniversary of the British Empire Exhibition, an event which would be of far more than local interest. The Palace of Industry was the last remaining building from the Exhibition, and it was important that visitors for celebration events in 2014 should be able to see the scale and architectural style of one of the original 1924 buildings, and the innovative construction method used for the Exhibition, which was also known as the World’s First City of Concrete.

Mr Grant said that he had been told by Quintain that none of the walls could be left free-standing for reasons of safety. He said that he had asked several times since 18 January for sight of any report showing this to be the case. He had made clear that he would withdraw his objection to the demolition of the walls if he could be satisfied on this point, but had been given no evidence to back up Quintain’s claim. He said that he had recently written to Quintain’s Chief Executive with proposals for just a small section of the walls to be retained, rather than all of the northern and eastern external walls, and referred members to the illustrations he had given them which showed details, and that his proposals would not interfere with the planned parking spaces. 

He asked the committee, if it could not make keeping part of the walls a condition of granting consent, to make a strong request to Quintain to retain the small section of the external walls now suggested.

Anne Clements, Quintain’s Senior Planning Manager, addressed the committee next. She said that temporary car parking on the site was essential to her company’s Wembley City regeneration project, which had been approved by Brent in 2000. The extra parking was needed to meet its commitments to Wembley Stadium, and had to be available before they demolished an existing multi-storey car park as part of the next phase of the project. The latest phase, the London Designer Outlet, would be ready later in 2013, and was already over 50% pre-let, with Marks & Spencer as the lead tenant. This would provide 1,500 new jobs, and steps were being taken to try to ensure that most of these went to local people. The Wembley City regeneration was of major economic importance to Brent, and the Council should continue to give it their full support.

Ms Clements said that Quintain were mindful of the site’s British Empire Exhibition heritage. Several mosaics had been carefully removed when they demolished the last section of the Palace of Arts some years ago, and the lion’s head corbels from the building currently under demolition would be preserved, with some given to Brent. She said that they needed to clear the whole site for car parking, and that, for safety reasons, they were not prepared to accept the risk of leaving any of the walls standing. When asked by one of the members whether there was any survey or report which showed that it would be unsafe to leave the walls standing, Ms Clements said that Quintain’s demolition contractor had said that the concrete was deteriorating and that the whole building should be knocked down.

Several members of Planning Committee then gave their views. Cllr. Ann John said that she must start by saying that, although she had no personal interest in the application, she had known and had many discussions with Ms Clements and other members of the Quintain team about the Wembley City regeneration during her years as Leader of the Council. She stressed the importance of the scheme, and said that she fully supported the application. While she did not blame Mr Grant for trying to keep a part of Wembley’s history, it was a similar situation to when some people wanted to retain the twin towers of the old Wembley Stadium. That would have cost £30-40 million, and would have meant that Brent did not have the new Wembley Stadium.

Cllr. Mark Cummins said that what Mr Grant was now suggesting looked very reasonable, and he hoped that Quintain would try to accommodate his suggestion to retain a small section of the Palace of Industry walls. The British Empire Exhibition was an important part of Wembley’s history, and it should be possible to allow part of its last surviving building to remain standing for the anniversary in 2014. Cllr. Mary Daly, Vice-Chair of the committee, supported this view, and asked Ms Clements to take the feelings of members, on retaining the small section of the walls now proposed, back to her company. Cllr. Sami Hashmi said that he agreed with the comments of Cllrs. Cummins and Daly. 

Making final comments from the Planning Officers, Stephen Weeks said that there was no legal bar to Quintain demolishing the Palace of Industry building, and no condition over keeping part of the walls could be imposed as part of this planning consent. Neil McLennan clarified the wording of the amended conditions to the consent which the Officers recommended. The committee voted unanimously to grant consent, as amended.

The amended recommendations to the conditions on which consent would be granted for temporary car parking spaces on the Palace of Industry / Palace of Arts site, which were approved by Planning Committee were:

Condition 1: Period for which consent given: 5 years (rather than 3 years in original recommendation);

 

Condition 7: Maximum number of parking spaces: 1,350 spaces for the first three years from first use, and 510 spaces for the following two years unless otherwise agreed by the Council (rather than 1,350 spaces in the original recommendation).

Butt likely to hang on as rump fails?

No news on the Brent Labour leadership vote and I am off out for a Low Carbon Zone Meeting.

Latest intelligence is that Ann John supporters have been reduced to a rump so Muhammed Butt is likely to remain in post.

Officers miss the 'smack of firm government' from Ann, her efficiency and mastery of detail, but some councillors have recognised that their previous belief in TINATA (There is no alternative to Ann) was misplaced.

The Labour Group has battened down the hatches and there has been barely a tweet out of Twitter over the weekend so I may of course be completely wrong.

More later I hope...

Times will be getting harder in Brent in 2013

There was a flurry in the press over the holiday about local government cuts.  David Blunkett in the Guardian  LINK argued that the cuts were horrendous, an attack on local democracy and would reduce councils to providing only the statutory minimum of services but went on to state that ' the message of "austerity" has successfully debilitated the will to take on central government' and cited the failure of the 1980s fightback.

Ted Knight, late of Lambeth Council,  disagreed in his comment piece: LINK

In the 1980s, Labour councils like my own did organise a fightback. A price was paid, councillors were surcharged and forced from office. But resistance, far from being futile, mobilised communities. We won additional funds so that budgets could be set without cuts. Labour councillors today have the same choice – they can either lead a struggle against a vicious government or stand aside for those who will.

In Brent Cllr James Powney stated on his blog LINK 

This year's (Brent) budget, has fairly limited cuts but the failure of George Osborne's economic policy and the Conservative Party's hatred of local government mean that we will face massive fiscal pressures for years to come.

Brent Council is likely to respond to these by having a much tighter economic focus on everything we do.  This means that Council services will need to demonstrate a much more direct effect on economic well being than hitherto.  Local government has never had a challenge like it.

Meanwhile leaders of  Newcastle, Liverpool and Sheffield City Councils warned of potential civil unrest LINK

 The unfairness of the government's cuts is in danger of creating a deeply divided nation. We urge them to stop what they are doing now and listen to our warnings before the forces of social unrest start to smoulder.

There are seeds here of a possible fightback but there are clear divisions between those who will manage the cuts while complaining about the damage that they will do and those who want a proactive campaign against them.  The Labour Party nationally is very much in the former camp but the left of Labour, Gren L:weft, other left groups, the labour movement and the Coalition of Resistance are in the latter.

In Brent the Labour Group on the council are under pressure from the Labour left and the LRC but so far are managing the cuts in line with Powney's position. Unfortunately a leadership challenge to Muihammed Butt's leadership from the Ann John faction at the May annual meeting seems more likely than a successful challenge from the left. By that time the budget will have been adopted and any subsequent room for manoeuvre by a new administration will be extremely limited.

Although Cllr Powney intimates that the Brent budget will have 'fairly limited cuts' (we residents of course have been given no details and appear to have no say in the planned budget) the changes in housing benefit, council tax support and the postponed benefit cap, will also be hitting the least well-off.  It is yet to be confirmed whether Brent Council will be implementing a Council Tax increase and whether they will use their reserves to limit the cuts.

Brent fails to connect with residents on budget

In January 2012 Ann John and Muhammed Butt toured the Area Consultative Forums to speak about the Council budget. LINK One year on, after Muhammed Butt ousted Ann John promising greater openness and engagement with residents, no budget discussion has been included on the agendas so far published for next month's forums.

Pleas to formulate a needs based budget as a campaigning tool to challenge the Coalition's unequal slashing of local government expenditure have been ignored. An opportunity to engage with local residents and mobilise them in defence of vital services appears to have been rejected.

Now known as Brent Connect Forums they meet on the following dates. I include the agendas that have so far been published. 

Brent Connects Kilburn and Kensal
08.01.13 7pm Kensal Rise Primary School, Harvist Road, NW6
Brent Connects Harlesden 
09.01.13 7pm All Souls Church, Station Rd, NW10

• Update from representatives of TfL, Network Rail and London Overground (LOROL) on the planned improvements for Willesden Junction Station approach

• The latest news on the Willesden Energy Recovery Centre (incinerator in Ealing)

• Plans for the development of a Neighbourhood Forum covering parts of Stonebridge, Harlesden and Dudden Hill

• Proposed improvements to parts of the Brent River Park (Phase 2)

• Local Policing update

• Doing more locally with Residents' Association Groups

Brent Connects Wembley
15. 01.13 7pm Pattidar House, 22 London Road, HA9
Brent Connects Willesden
16.01.13 7pm College of NW London, College Road, NW10

• Government welfare reforms (including Discretionary Housing Payments) - how this will affect you and the benefits you receive

• Customer services at the civic centre - what's on offer

• Local policing update

Brent Connects Kingsbury and Kenton
06.02.13 7pm Kingsbury High School, Princes Avenue, NW9

Butt's lamentations will change nothing

Nearly Christmas and we now know that Brent Council will lose more funding next year. Muhammed Butt, leader of the council has issued more lamentations and condemnations but we need more than that.  There is still no word on whether his council will devise a needs based budget to rally a community campaign against the cuts, how the council will consult residents on the budget, and at what point they will refuse to make a budget that they know will bring more deprivation to the people of Brent.

From Cllr James Denselow's blog:

Councils in England will have their spending power cut by 1.7% next year, the local government secretary, Eric Pickles, has announced.

The shadow communities and local government secretary, Hilary Benn, said: “It is clear that he is living in a world of his own, because he simply does not understand the impact that his decisions on funding are having on the services and local people who use and rely upon them.”

Cllr. Muhammed Butt, the Leader of Brent Council said “this looks like another disastrous settlement for local authorities. I spent the weekend helping out at the Brent food bank – helping people who literally can’t afford to eat. Make no mistake, Eric Pickles announcement today will mean they have to help thousands more people in Brent alone in 2013. It is a direct attack on the poorest residents of our community, and it is shameful.”

As the year ends insiders tell me that Butt's position as leader is far from secure with critics both in the Executive itself and in the  wider group of Labour councillors, with former leader Ann John returning to a more active role.

Apology over new WLA bus service for special needs children

Monday's meeting of Brent Council will be debating the West London Alliance.  Ian Nichol, Chief Executive of the West London Alliance will speak on the progress being made on the work of the Alliance after which members will debate the issues arising. The WLA shares services across several boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow) LINK  in order to save money through rationalisation, sharing of resources and reductions in backroom expenses. Last year the then Brent Council leader Cllr Ann John expressed mixed feelings about the WLA remarking that it moved services one step further away from direct local accountability.

Coincidentally Brent Council has had to issue an apology today to special needs children after problems with the new WLA Transport Service:

Many children with Special Education Needs (SEN) will have experienced difficulties in their school transport arrangements this week. 

We apologise for the inconvenience and upset that we know these problems will have caused to children and their families.

The new transport system operated by the WLA Transport Bureau has experienced some significant problems in these early days. 

We are reworking transport arrangements to ensure that they work more reliably from Monday 10 September and will ensure that parents and carers have written confirmation of the arrangements for their child over the weekend.

This confirmation may be hand delivered.

In the meantime, if you experience problems, please call the WLA Transport Bureau on 020 8583 5530 / 5531 / 5536 / 5537 and we will work with you to resolve them.

Neasden stink source is Seneca

I can reveal that the stink reported over the weekend between Neasden and Wembley Park emanated from the Neasden recycling yard of Seneca. The Environment Agency has given Seneca until Friday to clear it up but there are warnings that the smell could get worse while this happens.

Seneca, a subsidiary of Careys, was given planning permission by Brent Council for a Materials Recycling Facility on the site, despite concerns about the number of waste facilities in the area. Latterly the Wembley Plan consultation mentioned the impact of 'bad neighbour' waste processing and handling firms in the area on potential redevelopment, including the possibility of a new primary school in Fulton Road.

Seneca is named after the Roman philosopher and politicam 5BC-65AD. One of his popular quotations is...

Be not too hasty either with praise or blame; speak always as though you were giving evidence before the judgement-seat of the Gods.

...so I had better be careful. However it is worth pointing out that Seneca's parent company, Careys, was much praised by ex-Brent Council leader Ann John, when they stepped in to help save the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre.



Next year the procurement process will start for a new Brent Waste Contract worth millions of pounds. The contract for waste collection and recycling and street cleaning is presently held by Veolia. The new contract may also include park maintenance.

The Environment Agency can only work if they get information/ complaints from local people . You can speak to them on 0800 807060.

Willesden Green redevelopment in trouble?

With the on-line comments on Galliford Try's application to demolish the Willesden Green Library Centre and Willesden Bookshop along with the Victorian Library,  showing over-whelming opposition from local residents, LINK it appears that the developer has launched a last-ditch attempt to find the 'silent majority' councillors have claimed are in favour of the scheme.

A PR company has allegedly been employed to go door to door in Willesden Green to collect signatures for a pro-redevelopment petition claiming that the new building will be 'lovely'.  See 'Beware the stranger at your Willesden door' LINK The petition will squeeze in between the formal deadline and consideration by the planning committee.

Meanwhile the Victorian Society has added their voice to the opposition and chided the Council:

It is disappointing that despite a request in March to be kept informed of developments in this case, the Council failed to notify us of this application. Instead we have been reliant on a huge number of concerned local residents to inform us that an application was submitted

Their full submission can be seen HERE

Cllr Ann John and Cllr George Crane signing agreement with Galliford Try (Brent Magazine April 2012)

There are various technical issues relating to the planning application and particularly the aspects relating to Grange Road that are being challenged as well as doubts over the application  being solely in the name of Galliford Try when  the scheme was a partnership with Brent Council. There have been so many responses that planning officers have been overwhelmed and acknowledgements of written submissions are taking several days and on-line comments taking some time to upload.

A further complication is the role of Cllr Ann John who now sits on the Planning Committee. As someone who as leader of the council advocated the scheme,  she may decide that it would be better not to take part in the discussion and decision making on this issue because of claims of 'predetermination' i.e. that she had already made up her mind before the Committee's perusal of the application.

Meanwhile public notices have appeared in the vicinity and the local press advertising the application to register the public space in front of the present library as a Town Square. The space will disappear if the redevelopment takes place and a successful registration will clearly have repercussions for the developer's plans.

Should Ann John participate in Willesden Green planning decision?

Shortly after being ousted as leader of Brent Council, Cllr Ann John joined the Planning Committee. The Committee will shortly be considering the planning application for the controversial redevelopment of Willesden Green Library Centre, which includes the demolition of the 1980s library and the Victorian library, loss of open space and the Willesden Bookshop's loss of premises, in exchange for a smaller library and the building of more than 90 luxury flats.

As leader and Executive member, Ann John was a keen supporter of the regeneration scheme.

Inevitably campaigners have seen a possible conflict of interest here as the Committee (rather like the infamous case Jeremy Hunt in the SkyB matter) exercises a statutorily independent duty.

In the Willesden and  Brent Times this week Ann John rounded on her critics:

This is a cheap shot from people who just want to have a go at me. I will of course approach any planning application with an open mind and take everything into account and following planning guidelines. Backing the scheme pre-planning is not the same as having a pre-conceived notion about it.  I will be looking from a planning point of view only, as will all the planning officers.

The penultimate sentence in her statement is clearly a matter of semantics but with far-reaching consequences. The Council's Constitution (Codes and Protocols)  LINK indicates that campaigners may have grounds for requesting that Cllr John absent herself from discussion of this particular planning application.

A general principle can be extracted from the guidelines on Scrutiny:

Prejudicial interests arising in relation to overview and scrutiny committees

11.

You also have a prejudicial interest in any business before an overview and scrutiny committee of your authority (or of a sub-committee of such a committee) where -

(a) that business relates to a decision made (whether implemented or not) or action taken by your authority's executive or another of your authority's committees, sub-committees, joint committees or joint sub-committees; and

(b) at the time the decision was made or action was taken, you were a member of the executive, committee, sub committee, joint committee or joint sub- committee mentioned in paragraph (a) and you were present when that decision was made or action was taken

Ann John was a member of the Brent Executive that took the decision top go ahead with the Willesden Green Redevelopment.

The guidelines for Planning Committee members state:

30. Members of the Planning Committee shall refrain from personal abuse and party political considerations shall play no part in their deliberations. Members of the Planning Committee shall be respectful to the Chair and to each other and to officers and members of the public including applicants, their agents and objectors and shall not bully any person. Members of the Planning Committee should not make up their mind before hearing and considering all relevant information at the meeting and should not declare in advance of the meeting, how they intend to vote on a particular application or other matter

The question for Ann John is,  to quote a phrase used in the Codes and Protocols,  whether her previous comments are such that  'a member of the public with  knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant  that it is likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest'.

I would argue that campaigners' concerns are not a 'cheap shot' as Ann John claims but a legitimate onjection that should be seriously considered by the Council's legal officers.

Ann John joins Planning Committee shortly after being cleared of wrongdoing

A few weeks after being cleared of illegally bringing pressure on a Labour Councillor on the statutorily independent planning committee, Ann John has become a member of that committee.  This means that she will be considering the controversial Willesden Green Library Centre redevelopment for which she has publicly expressed strong support. The planning application is submitted in the sole name of the developer Galliford Try despite the project being a partnership between them and Brent Council.

The full list of the new committee is:

Attendee	Role
Councillor Ketan Sheth	Chair
Councillor Mary Daly	Vice-Chair
Councillor Abdi Aden	Committee Member
Councillor Eddie Baker	Committee Member
Councillor Mark Cummins	Committee Member
Councillor Sami Hashmi	Committee Member
Councillor Ann John OBE	Committee Member
Councillor Chandubhai J Patel	Committee Member
Councillor Ramesh Patel	Committee Member
Councillor Krupa Sheth	Committee Member
Councillor Harbhajan Singh	Committee Member

Open letter to new leader from a Labour Party member

Graham Durham has written this open letter to Cllr Muhammed Butt, the new leader of Brent Council.

Dear Mo,

Thank you for your telephone call of 9 May 2012 in which you invited me to vote for you as Leader of the Council at the Brent Labour Party hustings on 10 May.

As you know I am opposed to the Brent  Labour Group record over the last two years of implementing the Tory /Lib Dem government cuts and thus severely damaging the life prospects of many of the most vulnerable people in Brent. Naturally I was anxious to know how you would change matters and specifically how you would propose to make the Tory/Lib Dem cuts you made clear you are committed to over the next two years 

I was pleased  to hear your response on the question of libraries which I recorded.You said

'I feel we handled libraries very badly.I always wanted to consider partnership with community groups as Camden Council has done and was blocked by Ann John who  insisted we had to be seen to be backing officers and closing the six libraries.This will change if I am Leader.'

On future budget cuts you said

'We have far too many senior officers in Brent ,a record number of Directors on very high pay and they all build empires of Assistant Directors.I think we could save £3 million a  year  on these costs by 2015 '

Whilst I do not wholly agree with these two proposals I did concede that they represented progress from the intransigence and hostility to community groups displayed by Ann John and senior officers over the last two years .As promised  I advised Labour Party members I know of your views and asked them to consider if the changes you promised were sufficient to enable them to vote for you as Leader.

You have become Leader of Brent Council  at a time when working  people across  Europe  are realising that the disastrous policy of austerity is leading to impoverishment and misery everywhere.Voters in France and Greece have realised that the solutions of  cuts in services and basic benefits and pensions are incapable of creating jobs and protecting a reasonable standard of living for working people.

In Brent we have seen the extraordinary GLA vote in which Labour heavily  defeated the Lib Dems in every single ward of Brent Central - a great opportunity exists for us to remove Sarah Teather and cuts agenda at the next General Election.

You will need to be resolute in challenging Brent Council officers on every aspect of their work.In particular Gareth Daniel,Chief Executive, must be reigned in and told to stop spreading government cuts propaganda to Brent Council staff.

I am sure that the local newspaper, the Brent and Kilburn Times, has misquoted you in stating that you now support library closures and the matter is closed. I do not believe that you would have completely reversed the promises you made to Party members during your leadership campaign nine days ago.

I know that Brent SOS Libraries Campaign have written to you asking for  an urgent meeting and I look forward to discussing this issue with you then.Labour should be embracing local campaigners not treating them with disdain.

On a wider programme Brent Fightback want to work with Brent Labour Council in opposing Tory/Lib Dem cuts.We have also requested a meeting to discuss how to work together to resist  NHS Cuts such as the closure of Central Middlesex hospital  as well as local government cuts.

I look forward to meeting you to discuss further co-operation 

Best wishes 

Graham Durham