Guest post: 'We cannot rely on the private market to solve the housing crisis. We must think outside the box and demand more from central government'

The former Liberal Democrat councillor for Alperton, Anton Georgiou,  drew on his experience in Brent when he addressed the London Liberal Democrat Summer Forum as part of a panel on housing. His address is published here as a guest blog post.  Housing is a major national and local issues and other guest posts on the issue are welcomed.

 

I am a former Councillor in a part of London that has experienced its fair share of development and building. In my time as a Councillor, I was a vocal, often lone voice, on the need to prioritise the delivery of genuinely affordable family homes and for local authorities to focus on increasing their own Council stock to address ever growing house waiting lists. 

 

The key to tackling the housing crisis in London and nationwide must be to vastly increase the type of homes our communities require. There must be recognition that most people who are trapped without a decent home, on housing waiting lists cannot afford to privately rent and they are not able to buy their own home. Saturating the market with more of the same, mostly unaffordable, unattainable properties, is not the answer. I know from personal experience that taking this line, does put you in direct conflict with the ‘build, build, build’ brigade, but I strongly believe we must, as a party, develop an approach that both ensures the delivery of more homes and most importantly what Londoners actually need – far more genuinely affordable homes and social/ Council properties.

 

The problem in a nutshell is that ever since damaging policies like ‘Right to Buy’ were introduced, Council and social housing stock across London has significantly depleted. We having been knocking down and selling off annually more social homes than we have been building. All governments, political parties have failed to address the diminishing Council homes stock problem, which is why we are now in a situation where local authorities are frankly unable to even begin to reduce the number of people on housing waiting lists. Every week, thousands of Londoners present at Town Halls, Civic Centres, across the city, as homeless. They join tens of thousands of Londoners who sometimes wait upwards of a decade for a suitable Council home to be available for them to move into. The problem is much the same in other parts of the country, and whilst we feel it acutely here, given our population, I can tell you from my time working in temporary accommodation hostels in other parts of the country – the situation is dire nationwide.

 

Local authorities are currently spending huge amounts of money on temporary accommodation, in the case of Brent, BnB’s outside of London, simply to ensure individuals who have no where to go, do not end up on the street. If local authorities had been prioritising the building of social homes, as they should have been for the past 40 years, we may not be in as bad a situation as we are now. 

 

Some will lead you to believe, that this is a simple supply and demand problem. Increasing the supply of all tenure types, including leasehold properties, which should be banned, Shared Ownership units, which simply put are a scam that should never be classified as ‘affordable housing’, as well as unaffordable for most, private market tenures, will deal with our current crisis. This could not be further from the truth. 

 

We will not tackle the housing crisis by continuing the path that London, the country, has been on since the 1980’s. Things are not getting better – they are getting much, much worse.

 

What needs to happen now, is a revolution in Council home building, but also in ensuring maximum use of existing stock, including bringing empty properties back into use. It will require bold action, and frankly for us to think outside of the box and demand much more from national government to make it happen.

 

The Chancellors recent announcement of £39 billion to drive an increase in the number of affordable homes across the country over the next decade, should be welcomed, but as ever, the devil is in the detail. Detail that has not been very forthcoming to date. And I fear, like most of this Labour government’s announcements, when the detail is revealed, things will start to unravel.

 

Despite the £39 billion commitment, the government have not set a target for how many social and Council homes they will build with this money – nor have they been explicit about the tenure types, they will include as part of their affordable homes offer. I know from my time in Brent, that often a whole load of tenure types are lumped together within the ‘affordable offer’ to boost numbers and falsely project that those in power are meeting their housing targets. This must not be allowed to continue.

 

As Liberal Democrats we need to be clear in our resolve that we will only accept investment in high-quality, permanent Council homes, as the best use of this money from the Treasury, and indeed any further money that we must all hope will be identified to ensure the delivery of Council homes at scale.

 

I was pleased to see Liberal Democrat MPs push for a vote to force the government to set a far more ambitious target on increasing social homes – 150,000 in this Parliament alone. This is something we also need to be demanding of every single local authority in London too, as well as from City Hall.

 

However, when targets are in place, it is essential that we hold those in power to account, in delivering them. There is simply no point in having targets, as most local authorities do, often wedded into Local Plans, that state private developers must deliver 50% ‘affordable’, which is an ambiguous term that has never been universally defined, when in the end most Councils let developers off the hook because of ‘ever increasing costs’ and the ‘financial viability’ excuse.

 

We cannot rely on developers alone to tackle this crisis. By their nature private developers are driven by profit, their interests are not often the interests of our communities. Therefore, local authorities need to have greater control when dealing with these profit minded organisations across the city. However, we can still make use of private developers. One thing I would want to explore is finding a way of negotiating with private developers to reduce Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 contributions, in exchange for them delivering additional genuinely affordable units, social homes, at or under the LHA rate. The concept of CIL is about offsetting the impact of development, well I see no greater way to payback to the community, than by potentially increasing the number of homes available in our communities – for people who desperately need them.

 

To add, Councils are always glad to collect CIL contributions, but what I have found from my time in Brent and in accessing the data from other London authorities, is that many tens of millions are hoarded rather than spent effectively quickly, as should be the case. I would much prefer to see developers guaranteeing the delivery of further genuinely affordable units, over allowing Labour Council’s to hoard money, because frankly, I do not trust Labour to spend money well.

 

The money that does currently exist, in Brent for example, over £100 million in the CIL pot, could and should be unlocked to assist the Council in ramping up its own Council homes building programme. Council’s need to be given greater tools and resource to build their own quality stock. The government and City Hall need to step in to realise this ambition. 

 

I will end by saying this. Every Londoner deserves a decent, safe, affordable place to call home. This after all is the foundation for all our lives. Without this foundation, people are massively impacted, one’s ability to work, to study, to feel secure, it robs our young people of the ability to not just get by but get on and take full advantage of living in the best city in the world. This is why we need to be bold and radical in our approach. There isn’t time to tinker around the edges, and place sticking plasters on this crisis. We cannot rely on the private market to solve this crisis. It will take an interventionist approach, and the Liberal Democrats in London must lead the way on this.

 

 

BREAKING: GREENS TO STAND DOWN IN ALPERTON BY ELECTION & URGE LABOUR AND CONSERVATIVES TO DO THE SAME

Given the circumstances of Anton Georgiou’s resignation from Brent Council, Brent Green Party has released the following statement:

 

"Democracy free of violent threats is more important than any individual party interest.  We will not stand in the Alperton ward by-election brought about by Cllr Georgiou's resignation and urge the Labour and Conservative parties to take similar action."

 

 

Ex-Cllr Anton Georgiou on his personal reasons for resigning from Brent Council

 

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2024/12/anton-georgiou-on-his-personal-reasons.html

 

 

Press coverage of the ‘traumatic experience’ referred to in his statement

above:

 

https://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/23490163.brent-councillors-terror-stalker-released-prison/

 

Local coverage of resignation

 

https://harrowonline.org/2025/01/05/by-election-triggered-after-brent-liberal-democrat-leader-resigns/

 

Anton Georgiou on his personal reasons for resigning as a Brent councillor

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou (Centre) speaking to residents in Alperton

From Cllr Anton Georgiou

Personal news from Anton Georgiou

 

Being the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Alperton has truly been the honour of my life. I became a campaigner locally in 2013 when I was 18 years old and have spent over a decade doing what I can to better the borough I love so much. For the last 5 years I have had the privilege to represent residents in Alperton on the Council - initially as the only elected Liberal Democrat and for the past two and a half years as the Leader of our small, but effective opposition group.

 

It has been quite a ride, with many highs and some lows, but I look back at this time with one overriding feeling - gratitude, for having been given the opportunity to do the role. 

 

It is with sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from Brent Council. This is a personal decision, that has not been easy and in part due to a very traumatic experience that I have previously spoken out about.

 

Since my initial election in January 2020, I have been a strong opposition voice against a Labour Council in Brent that I continue to believe is failing local people and not delivering the level of service our community deserves. 

 

I have stood up to the Brent Council leadership time and time again, and have regularly faced attacks, some personal, that no one in public life should have to endure. The job of elected officials is to find the best solutions for residents and different views and opinions should be debated in an open and transparent way - there should be no place for these sorts of attacks, particularly from the leadership of the Council.

 

The Leader/ Cabinet model of Brent governance puts power in too few hands and stifles genuine open debate. This is leading to bad decision making in all areas.

 

But the opposition has not been for oppositions sake. I believe that mistakes continue to be made by the Labour Council that are having a detrimental impact on the lives of local people.

 

I have consistently opposed what seems to be never-ending development of monster tower blocks in Alperton and in the Wembley area. They are not delivering the type of housing local people desperately need and are causing misery for residents both newly moved into blocks and others in residential streets close by. Ongoing construction works cause traffic havoc in the area, parking chaos and persistent noise and othernuisance.

 

But above all, as I have said over and over – these new units are broadly not genuinely affordable to local people or in my view what Brent should be buildingwhich is - Council homes for Council tenants. Brent like every other local authority in London and across the UK is having to deal with record numbers of families on housing waiting lists and hundreds presenting at the Civic Centre every month as homeless or at risk of homelessness. 

 

Brent Council is far too weak in their dealings with developers. Both in terms of demanding a larger number of genuinely affordable units, this does not include Shared Ownership – which is not and should not be deemed as affordable, and also when holding them to account for poor quality build in new developments.

 

I commend the work Martin Francis (Wembley Matters) and others do in seeking to highlight Brent Council’s failings when it comes to bad and the wrong type of development. It is sad that many Labour members feel unable to stand up for their residents on this issue. Alperton has endured more than its fair share of large development, perhaps when the Council starts looking at development in other parts of the borough, members will feel obliged to speak out too.

 

The Labour administration is also failing to deal with the bread-and-butter issues. Our streets are dirtier than ever, a record confirmed by the BBC just last year, roads are riddled with potholes and pavements are broken and dangerous. I am not naïve to the financial situation local authorities face. But the promise of change that swept Labour into power in July has so far delivered very little for Brent Council or indeed local government generally. Keir Starmer’s government need to urgently address the crippling underfunding of local government and agree on a long-term financial settlement so that Brent and other Councils can better plan and manage finances.

 

One way the Labour government could immediately make the situation for Council’s better, is by easing restrictions on the use of Community Infrastructure Levy. In Brent, this could unlock tens of millions currently in the CIL pot that could be spent on dealing with local issues. I hope that the government will respond favourably to our suggestion that these changes should be made.

 

I want to commend the voluntary sector in Brent for everything they do. Picking up where local and national government is failing. Whether that is in delivering youth provision, providing care and support to the elderly, making community spaces available for all. It has been a pleasure to work with so many local groups and organisations – and I will miss this. The latest attack on the voluntary community sector from the Labour leadership in hiking up rents to un-affordable levels is a disgrace. I just hope the Council will better recognise the value and importance of volunteers and the voluntary sector and give it the genuine recognition and support it deserves.

 

I want to thank residents in Alperton. I have always given my all to the role of Councillor. It is a privilege to be elected and to represent local people. I have loved being able to help people, and proud of the work I have done to support some of the most vulnerable in the area. I have always tried my best and always given 100%. I am hopeful that residents in Alperton will lend their support to the prospective Liberal Democrat candidate, Charlie Clinton, to succeed me. I know he will be the type of Councillor Alperton needs and deserves.

 

Finally, to Brent – this is a very special borough. I was born here and have lived here my whole life. My family initially moved to Kilburn from Cyprus in the 1950’s. There is so much history and culture here – but I fear it is being lost and under attack by a Labour Council pursuing a gentrification agenda that does not take into account the communities that have called this part of London our home for decades. Many young people, like me, are being forced to consider moving out of the borough, we are being priced out. This is tragic and wrong. It is why we need elected Councillors in Brent who are willing to speak out, challenge and stand up for residents. We do not need more of the same, members whose loyalty is to the Labour Party, the leadership, rather than the people who elect them. 

 

It is my sincere hope that at the next set of Council elections in 2026 a wide range of people are elected in Brent who feel able and are willing to be strong voices for their communities. The role of a local Councillor is to serve and represent everyone in the ward they are elected to and always put residents first. I have done my best to fulfil this responsibility.

 

I wish the readers of Wembley Matters and everyone in Brent all the very best. 

 

Anton Georgiou

 

Not so 'simplistic' after all! Cllr Butt takes up Lib Dem suggestion on CIL with the Labour Government

 

 

From the Brent Infrastructure Funding Statement that went to Brent Cabinet in December 2023

Despite having dismissed Liberal Democrat Leader Anton Georgiou's suggestion that Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) could be used to bridge the funding gap ahead of a new local government finance settlement as 'simplistic', Cllr Butt Labour Leader has written to the Government asking for the flexibility to do just that.

Butt had told Cllr Georgiou, 'To make a simplistic statement that we can use CIL is counter-productive to the conversation.'

He has had been asked straightforwardly, 'Would you support asking the Government  to change the way CIL can be spent?'

There was no direct answer but just over a month later Cllr Butt and Cllr Tatler have written to the Labour Government stating that diminishing budgets meant that councils were looking for innovate ways to raise income:

 

I am therefore writing today to put forward an additional case for flexibility to ease restrictions around the usage of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds, devolving the decision making to local councils to decide how to invest in their local aras, as they see fit. It’s our responsibility, as a dual Labour administration, to get these funds to where they need to go.

 

Infrastructure projects alone cannot address the challenges which local areas and residents face. Greater flexibility in the use of CIL funds would mean that councils can address urgent non-infrastructure needs, allowing this council to pilot and pay for new projects that would meaningfully make a difference. Today, CIL funding cannot be utilised for investing in a new waste enforcement team, or community safety officers, for example. We therefore ought to expand the criteria if what we mean by infrastructure and impact mitigations, allowing for the recruitment and retention of additional staff to keep our borough safe and clean.

 

Easing restrictions does not mean abandoning fiscal responsibility, rather adapting to current realities and the challenges councils are facing. Councils can still practice sound financial management while using CIL more flexibly. Establishing clear guidelines and accountability for the use of CIL funds would ensure that the funds are used effectively and responsibly.

 

I urge the Government to implement these reasoned flexibilities and help us to unlock funding that is sorely needed today

 

This is not so very different to what Anton Georgiou had written earlier to Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Councils and Local Government:

 

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) has the potential to deliver improved infrastructure within local areas but there is a long wait for this. The stringent criteria imposed on the use of CIL makes it far too difficult to use.

 

As a result in the case of the London Borough of Brent the Council in its 2024/25 budget estimates that it will have a staggering £250 million of unused CIL in its reserves at the end of its financial year on 31 March 2025.

 

For years Councils have been pleading with the Conservative Government to set longer term Local Government financial settlements to provide some element of certainty and the ability for Councils to plan ahead. This has fallen on deaf ears.

 

There will inevitably be appeals to the new Labour Government to address this and more importantly to provide more money for local Government. Judging from the statement from the Chancellor this week the financial outlook is tough and the chances of more money for local Government are very slim.

 

There is however something very simple and quick that you could do for Local Government without extra money from the Treasury at this time:

 

Give local councils greater freedom and greater flexibility on how to use CIL for essential services (Revenue and Capital) in their area.

 

Currently the use of main CIL is extremely restrictive and expenditure which is normal in the course of everyday Council business cannot be funded. Brent for example has a massive backlog of road and pavement repairs due to decades of past underspending. Why cannot part of the large CIL pot not be used to tackle this backlog? Who benefits with the money being unspent and simply accumulating and ever growing reserves? It makes no sense at all.

 

At present 15% of CIL is allocated to a Neighbourhood Pot for local residents to allocate. Why not change the rules so that say 42.5% of the remainder is allocated to the expected infrastructure projects and the other 42.5% freed up to be used on essential Revenue and Capital spending to meet the Council’s own priorities.

 

Brent is not the only borough with large amount of unspent CIL. I am convinced that across Local Government the unused CIL pot will amount to many £Billions.

 

So why not do something positive and quick to help Local Government from its current funding crises and at no cost to the Treasury.

 

My colleague Councillor Paul Lorber wrote on this same issue to Michael Gove a few months ago. You won’t be surprised to learn that he received a negative answer which failed to address the issue – which Mr Gove probably failed to grasp.

 

I am hopeful that you not only understand the point I am making but that you are more sympathetic to the plight of Local Government and therefore more determined to free up some of the CIL money and thus help local Council’s to start tackling the backlog of accumulating neglect in their areas.

 

Hopefully, this is a sign of new maturity on Cllr Butt's part. After some reflection and perhaps discussion with colleagues and officers he has recognised that there was merit in the Opposition's suggestion of 'reasoned flexibilities' in the use of CIL. 

 

 

Perhaps it is not too late for a bi-partisan approach to the challenges facing Brent Council and its residents.

Ealing Road blocks replacing bank and public house approved by Brent Planning Committee

 

Brent Planning Committee approved the plans for  245-249 and 253 Ealing Road at Wednesday's meeting. Two members voted against approval. There were representations  against the development from nearby residents and from ward councillor Anton Georgiou. The sound quality of the Coucil recording was very poor so Cllr Geogiou has let me have a copy of his representation:

I am here, once again, to be a voice for the residents in Alperton who are fed up with the intense development in this particular part of the ward. An area that has already had to endure years of construction works, that are still ongoing causing misery to the lives of local people. If any of you have visited recently – you will understand why.

 

As a ward Councillor, I often come to these meetings to voice opposition to the wrong type of development and am often attacked by the Chair and others for not understanding the pressures we face as a local authority with regards to our housing needs – these attacks are totally unwarranted.

 

It is important to recognise that the bulk of the development that has occurred to date has not and will not address the genuine and growing housing need in our community. It has though compounded existing issues in my ward whether that is a lack of infrastructure to deal with the increasing population, or the problems that present for existing residents and even our newer residents who are living in some of the new blocks that have been thrown up.

 

Firstly, I think that it is important to read the letter from my resident Alexandra, who is unable to be here today, which outlines her and her neighbours, objections to this development. The issues she highlights are all genuine planning considerations, loss of light, privacy and overlooking issues, the cumulative effect that ongoing development has had and will have on this area. I do believe that before you make a decision tonight you should read her letter and listen to the comments Mathew, another resident at 243 Ealing Road will make, who will also be speaking in opposition.

 

If I could get into the final details of this application, I think it’s important to recognise that whilst some affordable housing is provided, not all of it is the genuinely affordable provision we need. I continue to take issue with the Council’s view that shared ownership is an affordable housing tenure. It is not. 

 

Shared Ownership is a scam, and you only have to speak to the 1000’s of residents in Brent who have been trapped by the false pretence that Shared Ownership is affordable to see this. In the application it is proposed that there will be 10 Shared Ownership units. In my view that is enough of a reason to reject this version of the application entirely. 

 

Whilst I recognise the scheme proposes a 35% affordable housing offer, as an authority we should be pushing for much more from developers if we are serious about addressing our growing housing need. We do not need 56 more private units at market value, who are they for, who can afford them? It is time this Committee stopped saturating the local housing market with what we do not need.

 

Moving to existing issues in some of the new blocks in Alperton, I would like to ask this Committee if they follow up on the developments that have already been approved. If you had you would realise that most new residents are having to already contend with difficulties in new buildings, such as broken lifts, anti-social behaviour in communal spaces, lack of access to communal areas due to safety issues, significant construction issues, including with cladding, the list goes on.

 

My point is that this Committee is approving new developments without recognising that most of these developments from the offset have major, inherent issues with them. You are effectively allowing residents to move into the ward and into Brent who are then forced to cope with a myriad of problems in their new homes from day one. 

 

Is the Council holding the developers, housing associations and construction/ building companies to account – when they make commitments to us at this stage of the process? I am personally having to intervene when issues present in new blocks and it seems unbelievable, frankly a dereliction of the Council’s duty towards residents, that new developments keep being approved despite there being such flaws in new builds. Enough is enough.

 

I would finally like to turn to the financial contributions offered alongside this development.

 

The papers indicate a £45,00 towards a CPZ close to the site, I would like the Committee to tell me if they know where the existing CPZ is, and whether the mentioned extension will simply be imposed on residents. Before accepting more money for CPZ’s I would suggest the Council gets its act together in progressing schemes – they take too long to implement and in the meantime parking havoc ensues on local roads.

 

£7,000 for off street tree planting is welcome but are the Council committing maintenance and upkeep, rather than letting new trees die?

 

£10,000 for improvements to open spaces within the borough but not solely for the ward so again money generated in Alperton being spent elsewhere. This is not fair.

 

Another £150,000 for step free access at Alperton tube. Welcomed. But will it actually happen. TfL are good at sending out press releases on this, but how long will it take? Issues at the station are present now, local people cannot wait any longer.

 

CIL contribution again welcomed, but how much will actually be spent on infrastructure in my ward, to mitigate the impact of this development. Will the Council not be tempted, as it has been to date, to just grow the overall pot and resist spending it on immediate needs?

 

These financial sweeteners are simply not reason enough to justify even more development in Alperton.

 

I will close by saying, the proposed site used to house a public house and bank. Both great amenities, that local people want and need. The worrying trend of pubs closing down and being redeveloped into unaffordable housing will continue if you approve this application. I am sure many of you have fought to save such amenities in your wards. Why doesn’t Alperton deserve the same fight?

 

This Committee is making my ward a place for people to sleep in but not live. It is a concrete jungle, with little to no community vibe. Please pause and think again before agreeing to two more tower blocks here.

Brent Council turn down request for public consultation meetings on Wembley Stadium's application to hold up to 54 'Large Events' a year with crowd theshold increased from 51,000 to 60,000. Decision expected in August

 

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou has tabled a question to Brent Council over Wembley Stadium's controversial application to increase the number of events and the crowd threshold at the stadium. The council reject a request to hold public consultation meetings on the proposal and suggest the application will go to Planning Committee in August when many residents will be away.

The question and response:

Question from Councillor Georgiou to Councillor Tatler (Cabinet Member for Regeneration Planning & Growth):

 

Large scale events at Wembley Stadium, especially when held on three successive days, have a major impact on the ability of thousands of Brent residents to go about their everyday activities.

 

In 1999, planning permission was granted allowing the Stadium to hold 37 'Large' events, which has subsequently been increased to 46 'Large' events. Now the stadium wants this increased again to 54.

 

Can the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Growth advise:

 

1. Will Brent Council hold consultation meetings to hear first hand the impact the ever increasing number of Large-scale events have on the lives of local people?

 

2. Has Brent Council carried out a detailed impact assessment of how Large Event days affect the lives of local people?

 

3. Will due regard in the planning officers assessment be given to social impacts on lives of local people and not simply financial benefits for the Stadium?

 

4. What direct compensation or benefits can local people expect if the changes proposed were to be approved?

 

Response:

 

The Stadium has applied to vary a condition on their planning consent to allow them to hold up to 8 additional stadium events each year. They are also applying to increase the threshold above which the event cap applies from 51,000 to 60,000 people and to change the distinction between sporting and non-sporting events.

 

Events at the stadium been an important feature of Brent life for over 100 years bringing both benefits and impacts to our residents and businesses. There were no restrictions on the number of events at the previous stadium but an “event cap” was introduced for the new stadium. As you are aware, this started at 37 events and is now at 46 events following previous applications to increase the cap.

 

The Stadium have submitted supporting information with their application which examines the implications and potential impacts of the proposal, and this is available on our website.

 

We are currently consulting on this application, with letters sent to over 50,000 properties in the Wembley Event Day Zone and site notices put up around the stadium. Over 100 comments have already been received and these will all be considered.

 

We are not intending to hold a public meeting prior to the Planning Committee meeting for the application and it’s important that comments on the planning application are provided in writing.

 

Impacts to local residents and businesses are being carefully considered. We do not consider profits for individual organisations such as the stadium, but we do take the wider benefits that a proposal may bring to the local economy into account.

 

We secure measures and obligations that are required to mitigate impacts of a proposal but are not able to secure compensation for local businesses or residents. We must also look at the difference between what can happen now and what could happen if the application is approved.

 

We encourage residents and local businesses to let us know what they think about the Stadium’s proposal. We are still out to consultation, and it is likely that the application will be considered by the Planning Committee in August

Will Brent Council decision on Scrutiny call-in disempower Labour backbenchers as well as opposition groups?

 

 The importance of scrutiny in a council with a massive one party majority was the subject of two debates at Brent Council Annual General Meeting last week.

In the first debate a bid to have at least the deputy chairs of Scrutiny Committees from opposition parties was defeated by the Labour majority with the Brent Council Labour leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, arguing that their election mandate gave Labour the right to hold all the positions.

The second debate was over a Labour move to curtail the right of the opposition groups, and its own backbenchers, to refer Cabinet decisions or Key Decisions to Scrutiny Committee for further decisions.

There had been a Labour move earlier this year to increase the number of councillors required to sign a call-in from five to 10.(There are 8 Opposition councillors in all) This was dropped and replaced by a more subtle change that requires the five councillors to be from more than one political party.

As you will see from the video above Cllr Muhammed Butt made no attempt to justify the change, either in his moving the motion or responding to the Liberal Dem amendment. It sas more a case of 'we are doing it, because we can.'

 So what was behind the change?

It is well known that Cllr Butt is not all that keen on criticism but what infuriated him and his colleagues was a Conservative call-in opposing the siting of a children's home in a conservation area.  LINK They claimed this showed a 'lack of respect' for a conservation area. The move was not supported by the Liberal Democrats but with five councillors the Conservatives were able to do it on their own.

Under the new proposals they would need support from the Lib Dems or Labour backbenches for such a call-in.

That one unpleasant episode should not be the basis for a significant constitutional change but the officers' paper quoted Centre for Scrutiny and Governance advice that was not cited by Cllr Butt in the debate:

Guidance was issued by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) in March 2023 which comments, in respect of requirements in call-in thresholds that the councillors involved should represent different parties, that “This can help to ensure that call-in’s reflect matters on which there is crossparty

concern”.

However, the CfGS had said that a call-in review should happen after an election and change of political control:

The guidance from CfGS is that requirements on numbers/types of members, bodies or persons requesting call- in’s should be clearly justified and reviewed following each election and after a change in political control to ensure their ongoing fairness and applicability as endorsed by the authority.

The proposal was not made after an election and there has been no change of political control for a very long time. There has been a change of Chief Executive.

 The paper concludes:

Arrangements across London are very varied, especially once the effect of political balance is taken into account. A significant number have arrangements that mean more than one party group must be in support of the call-in request.

 

The possible introduction of this requirement in Brent was discussed at a recent meeting of the Constitutional Working Group (CWG) but a consensus was not reached. Full council is therefore requested to make a decision on this issue.

So the whipped Labour majority was used to defeat the Liberal Democrat amendment which had stipulated:

To maintain the objectives of effective democratic scrutiny, as intended by the Labour Government which introduced the current decision making process, we therefore propose, having taken account of the current review of arrangements for call-in:

(1) That any Cabinet decision which has implications for the whole or a large part of the borough can be called in by any three Councillors (for the avoidance of doubt these can be Councillors of one or more than one group).

(2) That any Cabinet decision which has implications for just one ward within the

borough can be called in by any one councillor.

In answer to criticism that this would substantially increase the number of call-ins it is argued that there are are already guidelines in place that would ensure call-ins were legitimate. A call-in in the past has been refused on that basis.  LINK

 As Cllr Kasangra pointed out. the new rule  requiring more that  one party submit a compliant call-in request, also means that Labour backbenchers, however many may support a call-in would not be able to do so with Opposition councillor support.

There was such a call-in previously over plans for the Granville Centre in Kilburn LINK:

The call-in of the proposal to build housing on the Granville-Carlton site on the South Kilburn estate will be heard by the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday. The Cabinet's decision was called in by required 5 non-executive councillors in this case Cllrs Abdi, Chan, Hector, Pavey and Hassan.

An example of a Liberal Democrat - Conservative call-in was Altamira in 2022 which was not well-received by Cllr Butt. LINK

The change effectively means that any call-in must now be supported by both Opposition groups and, given their widely differing political perspectives. can we expect fewer call-ins in the future?

Is this good for democracy?

 

Cllr Tatler taken to task on regeneration issues

 Tuesday's Resources and Public Realm Committee was the swan song of the Committee as it was the last one of the municipal year and it may well have new members and chair after the Council AGM.

I may put the kibosh on the present committee if I say that in my opinion this would be a pity as it has developed its skills over the last year and Cllr Rita Conneely has proved a formidable chair. It takes time for councillors to undergo training and increase their confidence at holding lead members to account.

Cllr Shama Tatler, with the regeneration and planning brief, was in the hot seat on Tuesday and faced some tough questions.

The issue of the viability of both private and public developments was a major theme in the light of the post-Truss financial situation with its high interest rates and reduction in confidence, inflation, shortage of labour post-Brexit and supply-chain problems. In addition the post-Grenfell need (rightly) for second staircases in tall buildings has meant that developments have had to be reviewed.

Cllr Tatler explained how as a result the amount of units for sale might have to be increased and affordable housing reduced, tenure cmay be hanged to include more 'intermediate# housing (often shared ownership) or alternative sources of funding sought.

A note of realism was introduced early in the meeting when Pete Firmin, a South Kilburn resident, spoke about the problems with the regeneration of the South Kilburn estate including poor quality new housing, scaffolding up around relatively new blocks and problems of incursions into blocks where tenants had been decanted. His contribution and Cllr Tatler's response can be seen in the video at the top of the page along with some of the other exchanges reported here.

Cllr Anton Georgiou brought up tenure on the new South Kilburn blocks. saying that he had been told that they were not at social rent as Cllr Tatler claimed but at the higher London Affordable Rent. He promised to produce evidence to this effect.

Improvements in infrastructure was an issue in Alperton regeneration as it lagged behind the building of new blocks. He gave the example of improvements to Alperton Station needed by the new residents in car-free developments.

Cllr Tatler said it was often difficult to get the improvements in place because of the need to work with partners such as TfL, regarding the station and the NHS regarding the promised medical centre on South Kilburn, and things moved slowly.

She pointed out that it was pivate housing that yielded Strategic Community Infrastructure levy in regeneration areas - Council housing did not qualify.

The need for more affordable social housing was another major themes. Committee chair Cllr Rita Conneely said, 'That is what we want as a committee, what backbenchers want and what residents want.'

She urged Cllr Tatler and the Regeneration Department to challenge developers more ('Let's say no, let's start saying no!' ) and for London councils to get together a common front to stop developers' divide and rule. 'Whatever you bring back to use, we will want more.'

 Cllr Tatler had said, 'We can't say no to developers', but Gerry Ansell who earlier had said, 'we can't walk away from  developers' pointed out that the Planning Committee could say no and reject applications. That as we know happens seldom and Planning Committee members are reminded of the need for housing at the start of each meeting and are also warned that an Appeal by a developer would cost the council money.

Shama Tatler pointed out that there was already a London-wide body in the form of the GLA and that as Local Plans began to more closely mirror the London Plan there would be more consistency across London.

She went on:

It is wrong to say we don't challenge developers. Mo (Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council) and I have conversations day in, day out, with developers about what our red lines are. This is why we get criticised for having too many high blocks. I will have high blocks if it means we are getting as much affordable housing in a scheme as possible.

The committee, following a point raised by Pete Firmin, said that community spaces in regeneration areas needed to be publicly owned rather than belong to the developer.

The meeting finished with Cllr Tatler agreeing to meet with concerned residents in regeneration areas.

 Note: It was a very long meeting. The full webcast is HERE

Following comments on this article here is a link to the latest ONS (Office of National Statistics) data on rent levels and house prices in Brent. Main findings in the image. For links to each go to: 

 https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/housingpriceslocal/E09000005/