Councillor Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said:
Today, Brent has been shaken by an appalling and deeply tragic
incident at the Civic Centre, in which a person has lost their life.
Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, their family and
loved ones, as well as the staff, residents and visitors who witnessed
what happened.
The Civic
Centre has been evacuated and will remain closed until further notice. I
would urge people to avoid the area and allow the police and emergency
services to carry out their work.
There is an active police investigation underway - please do not
speculate or repeat any unverified claims online. We are working closely
with the Metropolitan Police and will provide further updates as soon
as we are able.
I want to
express my sincere thanks to the police, paramedics and emergency
services for their swift response, and to our staff for the
professionalism, compassion and calm they have shown today in the most
difficult of circumstances.
At around 14:30hrs on Tuesday, 25 August, officers
attended Brent Civic Centre on Engineers Way, Wembley, following reports of a
stabbing.
Officers attended with the London Ambulance
Service. On arrival they found the victim, believed to be a teenage boy or man
in his early 20s, suffering from stab wounds.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, the victim
was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
No arrests have been made at this very early stage,
and officers are making urgent enquiries to identify and trace those
responsible.
Following the incident, a Section 60 order has been
authorised, granting officers enhanced powers to stop and search people and
vehicles. This applies to the Wembley Park, Barnhill, Tokyngton, Stonebridge,
Roundwood, Dollis Hill, Willesden and Welsh Harp ward areas of Brent.
Superintendent Chris Clarke, lead for emergency
response policing in the area, said:
This is
an awful incident, in which someone has tragically lost their life. We are
working to urgently identify the victim and inform his next-of-kin as soon as
possible.
An investigation is underway to establish exactly
what has taken place and trace those responsible. We recognise the concern this
incident will cause within the local community and are committed to keeping
residents informed as our enquiries progress.
In light of the incident, we have authorised
additional stop and search powers to help prevent further violence, support our
investigation, and keep people safe.
There will be an increased police presence in and
around the area in the coming hours while our officers continue their
investigation.
There is not believed to be a wider threat to the
community, nor is this incident believed to be terror-related.
Anybody with information is urged to call 101,
quoting reference 4032/25AUG
A Section 60 authorisation gives police the power to
stop and search people without the usual requirement of reasonable suspicion.
It can be used when officers believe serious violence may occur, has occurred,
or when weapons are likely to be carried in a specific area. This will be
imposed, until Tuesday, 25 August, at 03:30hrs
Statement regarding the fatal stabbing that took place today (25/08/2026) at Brent Civic Centre from Wembley Park ward councillors.
Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the parents, family and loved ones of the deceased following this deeply distressing incident at the Civic Centre in Wembley Park.
We cannot begin to imagine the pain and heartbreak the family are experiencing at this terrible time. Our thoughts are also with everyone affected by this tragic incident.
We will do our best to share information as we receive it, and we hope to engage with the wider local community after this tragic loss when appropriate in the coming hours and days. Please reach out if you have any information or are distressed by the events.
We are still awaiting further information from the police, and the Civic Centre remains a crime scene and has been cordoned off while the police investigation continues. We ask everyone to respect the cordons and allow the police to carry out their work.
Following the incident, a Section 60 order has been authorised, granting officers enhanced powers to stop and search people and vehicles. This applies to the Wembley Park, Barnhill, Tokyngton, Stonebridge, Roundwood, Dollis Hill, Willesden and Welsh Harp ward areas of Brent.
For more information please click the links below:
Specialist medical helicopter lands nearby (Photo: Wembley Matters)
Outside the Civic Centre side entrance (Photo: Wembley Matters)
Police and medic vehicles outside the main entrance (Photo: Wembley Matters)
UPDATE THE AMBULANCE SERVICE HAS CONFIRMED THAT THE VICTIM HAS DIED
There has been a stabbing in the Civic Centre. The building is closed and everyone is being asked to stay away from the area. Staff have been evacuated.
An oberver said that the library was school holiday busy and mothers had to shelter their children's eyes from the upsetting scene.
Matthew Ames said on Twitter:
I was in the library on the mezzanine level when it happened, and from what I could see from the balcony was somebody on the floor and splatters of blood. I have no more information than that.
Also on Twitter Arooj Tiwana said:
I was at the exact same place where the stabbing happened and had gone up to the first floor about ten minutes earlier, when a staff member walked into the meeting room and told us to evacuate because someone had been stabbed. What I witnessed on the way down was unreal.
We
have been advised by Transport for London (TfL) that the accessible
lift connecting Wembley Park Station to ground level on Olympic Way is
currently undergoing replacement works and will be out of service until
September 2026.
Step-free access to the station remains available via the entrance and exit on Bridge Road.
I am sharing this early to give our poets in Brent a chance to write a poem, ot choose a favourite poem, to share alongside published poets at an Open Mic on Thursday 5th March.
From Poetry in Wembley:
Roots
Join us for a festival of Poetry
at Wembley Library with poets, Jane Clarke and Jessica Mookherjee followed by
Open Mic.
Local poets bring and read your
own poems or poems you love to share.
Irish poet Jane Clarke reads from
her latest collection A Change in the Air which was shortlisted for both
the T S Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2023. Her
moving poetry of people and place explores our kinship with each other and the
natural world.
“Her verse attends so closely to
the land and the people of her rural homeland that it makes us attend more
closely to our own”. Ron Charles, Book Critic at the Washington Post.
Jessica Mookherjee is a British
poet of Bengali heritage and grew up in Wales and London, now lives in Kent.
She has been published in many print and online journals and anthologies and
was twice highly commended for best single poem in the Forward Prize 2017 and
2021.
Author of 3 full collections from
Nine Arches Press, her second collection , Tigress, was shortlisted for the
Ledbury Prize in 202.
This event is funded by “Love
Where You Live” Project and Star Books
As an encouragement here is a video of poetry written by Brent children as part of the 2020 Borough of Culture. Covid put paid to plans for a huge poetry slam so some of the poems were shared on YouTube instead:
Local residents are invited to a public meeting on
Monday 27th January to discuss ongoing efforts to reduce drug and knife crime in
Brent.
Chief Superintendent Sara Leach will speak about
the steps the police in Brent are taking to cut crime and build trust within
the community. She will outline how the police are working alongside the
council, local partners, and the community to make Brent a safer place for
everyone.
Brent’s commissioned support services will also
explain how they help adults and young people who are worried about their own
or someone else’s drug use.
The meeting will provide community members with the
chance to share their views, voice their concerns and discuss ways everyone can
work together to improve safety in the borough.
Attendees will also have an opportunity to meet and
ask questions of local police sergeants, police officers, council officers,
addiction recovery advocates, and support workers. These representatives will
share their ongoing efforts to tackle drug and knife crime and invite feedback
on how they can better connect with local communities.
This is an opportunity to hear what has already
been done in Brent on these community safety priorities, find out how
organisations and individuals can help reduce drug use and knife carrying, and
suggest ways forward.
The public meeting is organised by the Brent Safer
Neighbourhood Board (SNB) which is made up of community members and partners,
including the council. Its role is to scrutinise the police and enable the
community to engage with the police. Following the meeting, the SNB will work
with the police to ensure action is taken on the issues raised by residents.
The meeting will take place on Monday 27 January,
from 6.30-9pm at the Grand Hall in Brent Civic Centre. Refreshments will be
provided, and there is no need to register in advance. The event will also be webcast online.
Wembley Library, now home to a brand-new Resident
Hub, has officially reopened, unveiling a transformed space designed to better
serve the needs of residents and customers.
The upgraded facilities have created a space
dedicated to fostering knowledge, learning, and community connections in the
heart of Brent Civic Centre.
The improvements include a new accessible entrance
on Exhibition Way, an expanded library with a larger collection, a new
purpose-built children’s library, more study areas and quiet zones - all
integrated into a more spacious and versatile library space.
The new Resident Hub on the ground floor features a
dedicated customer service area with a digital zone to support residents in
accessing online services. Brent Hubs are also located here, along with a range
of private rooms for confidential conversations.
Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member
for Resident Support and Culture, said:
Our award-winning Civic Centre has served
residents and the council well over the past decade but it’s essential for us
to adapt and keep pace with the evolving needs of our community.
This exciting new space will enable us to better
serve our residents, especially those with the most complex needs. With a
brand-new customer service area and an upgraded library, we’ve created a more
accessible, comfortable and confidential environment with enhanced facilities
for everyone to enjoy.
We look forward to you experiencing the new
facilities. Don’t forget to join us for a special event on Saturday 7 December
to celebrate the grand opening.
After the success of our Eco-Panto at two libraries
in Brent (see report here), it's
been agreed with Brent Council that we will perform the show again at the Civic Centre Atrium on
23rd October at 11:45am (during schools' half-term).
Visitors to Brent Civic Cente and Wembley Library will have become used to seeing homeless families, often accompanied by children and suitcases, waiting to be seen by council officers. It is a sobering daily reminder to councillor officers, councillors and the public of the borough's homelessness crisis.
At present the Families Homelessness Service sees an average of 61 families a week.
Now Brent Council is considering moving the Families Homelessness Service to the New Millennium Centre in Robson Avenue (there is also an entrance on Harlesden Road), Willesden, at a cost of c£400,000 for fitting out the allocated spaces. The aim is co-location of the service with other services that would help families in need of support.
However, the proposal comes on top of the £1.96 million being spent on reshaping the Civic Centre to improve Customer Services which involves moving the library and the main entrance. Brent Liberal Democrats strongly criticised that proposal, arguing that the money could be better spent in the borough LINK.
At the same time there are at least 2 office floors at the Civic Centre that are empty and Brent Council has appointed Avison Young to market them to high status clients. LINK
As you view the marketing video you cannot but think that families surrounded by suitcases with children running around do not fit in with the glossy image Brent Council is promoting for the Civic Centre. The New Millennium Centre appears shabby by comparison.
The marketing video stresses the accessibility of the Brent Civic Centre to public transport including the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. The paper going to Cabinet states that the New Millenium Centre is accessible by the 206 and 226 bus routes. Both are usually single deckers and not as frequent as other routes. The 206 is promoted as giving access from the Civic Centre. It is crowded at school start and finish times and is regularly curtailed at Bridge Park on Wembley Event Days. Taking your suitcases and children on the bus to Robson Avenue could be quite a headache.
Clearly there are advantages in co-location of services and the Council's proposal is set out below for fairness so that readers can make up their own minds. Will it be a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'?
Proposal
It is proposed the Families
Homelessness Service relocates from the Brent Civic Centre to the New Millennium Centre,
Roundwood. The proposed relocation offers several opportunities. The site is
located in the south of the borough, with high levels of homelessness demand
and is walking distance from the Single Homelessness Service at the Turning
Point, The Design Works, Park Parade, Harlesden,
NW10 4HT (10 minutes). It is also conveniently located a walking distance to the
Crisis Skylight building (15 minutes) and Job Centre Plus Harlesden (15 minutes),
both key partners in tackling the homelessness emergency.
The service would also
benefit from co-location with other complementary services based at the New
Millennium Centre. The site will be host to services designed to support
vulnerable adults and families. This includes the Community Wellbeing Service
which is targeted at families and as part of which a free, evening Community
Kitchen meal service will be available to all (including non-members). Families
accessing the families homelessness service may access elements of the food
support, as well as potential be eligible to join the wider scheme. Brent Hubs
will also be based on site, as well as Debt and Immigration advisors on a
timetable basis.
The Brent Hubs already work
directly with and alongside volunteer and charity organisations, such as Citizens Advice, Age
UK, Brent Mind, and many others, enabling much clearer referral pathways and
knowledge sharing.
Building works to prepare
the site ahead of the service launch offer an opportunity to expand the scope
of the works to include an area in the site for delivery of the Family Homeless
Service, which would provide purpose-built facilities for the service.
The primary goal of the
proposals in this report is to empower residents to become more independent, yet during
times of unprecedented crisis support will be available to help with immediate responses to
issues such as homelessness risk. Co-location with wider services including Brent Hubs, debt
and food support is expected to help vulnerable families with wider challenges
they may be facing. Proposals aim to prevent future rough sleeping, and to
prevent future homelessness main duty acceptances through the intervention of
support services.
The service is currently
based in the Brent Civic Centre and is responsible for assessing homelessness
applications from families with dependent children and pregnant women. The
service has been experiencing high demand for the past 2 years, due to the
national housing crisis and sees an average of 61 families per week. There has
also been a recent influx of larger families, many of whom come directly to the
Civic Centre at the point they become homeless.
The approved model includes
a ‘Community Wellbeing Service’ – an expanded version of the Community
Wellbeing Project piloted at Bridge Park Leisure Centre which supported up to
400 families per year with access to food and household essentials, as well as
providing wraparound support to improve their situations in the longer-term.
The Community Wellbeing Service will operate five days per week at the New
Millennium Centre, where it will be co-located with wider support provision
such as Brent Hubs and specialist debt and immigration advice and will have capacity
to support up to 1,000 families and residents per year. The New Millenium Centre
site provides the space and core facilities required to deliver the expanded
Kitchen, Café and Shop offer of the new Community Wellbeing Service, as well as
make use of other on-site facilities including the garden.
Management responsibility
for the New Millennium Centre will transfer from Adult Social Care (ASC) to
Partnerships, Housing and Resident Services in-line with the 1st November 2024 phased
launch of the new service. ASC client groups that currently access a day
support offer from the site will continue to do so on a sessional basis under
new arrangements. This client group will also be able to access and benefit
from the new wider suite of services delivered from the site, with support
where required.
The New Millennium Centre is
accessible for residents including through 206 and 226 Bus Routes and is located in a
deprived area with low food accessibility (based on e-food desert index EFDI) and high levels
of RSF applications and Council Tax Arrears. It is also within walking distance of the
Willesden Centre for Health and Care (2 minutes) and both Harlesden and Willesden High Roads (15
minutes).
The report will be presented at Cabinet on Monday by Muhammed Butt, lead member for housing as well as council leader.
The redesign of Brent Civic Centre has met rising costs. The redesign 10 years on from the opening of the new £90m (£100m by some accounts) Civic Centre has been vigorously opposed by the Liberal Democrats who argued that the £2m could be better spent on more urgent issues affecting Brent residents. LINK
The cost has now gone up by £68,000 despite some efforts to find savings in the quality of fittings and fixtures.
The decision is made by council officers in consultation with the Cabinet Members who 'have been engaged throughout the project and are supportive.'
As such the decision is not subject to call-in.
The Decision
To approve the triggering of the second stage of
the design and build contract with Willmott Dixon Construction Limited for the
redesign and refurbishment works at Brent Civic Centre for a sum contract value
of £2,087,744.93 (an uplift of £67,744.93).
Reasons
for the decision:
The Council requires works to be undertaken to
customer-facing spaces in Brent Civic Centre following completion RIBA Stages 3
and 4 of the project, including the detailed technical design by Wilmott Dixon
Construction Ltd (WD), a single contractor appointed under Lot 2 of the Major
Projects Framework established by the Procurement Hub. The commencement of the
second stage of the contract by Wilmott Dixon Construction Ltd is recommended
as it will enable the Council to manage any potential risks, and will provide
efficient and consistent delivery of the works, as the redesign and associated
services were undertaken by Wilmott Dixon. This will ensure that the
anticipated improvement works are carried out to schedule, with completion by
autumn 2024.
Alternative
options considered:
Brent
Council has worked with Willmott Dixon Construction Limited since 2022 to
develop a feasibility study for the redesign works, followed by RIBA Stages 3
and 4 from 2023-24. Over the past two months, Brent Council has worked closely
with WDI to amend the design plans in order to bring the costings in line with
agreed budgets. Through a value engineering process, changes to fixtures and
fittings have been agreed to minimise costs. Key internal stakeholders have
suggested that further amendments to the design will compromise the benefits of
the project to residents and customers. It is therefore considered that the
increase in the contract value of around £67k is reasonable.
Brent Council outlined what they see as the necessity of a redesign in an earlier press release:
Work to revamp Brent Civic Centre and improve
access for residents gets underway.
The transformation follows an extensive review into
the evolving needs of residents and customers and aims to create a more
accessible, welcoming and functional space for all visitors to the building.
The redesign will see changes to Wembley Library,
the Community Hub, the Customer Services Centre and the Registration and Nationality
space.
The benefits for residents include:
Improved accessibility: A new welcoming main
entrance on Exhibition Way (next to Sainsbury’s). The building will be
more accessible for visitors with wheelchairs, pushchairs, and complex
needs, ensuring inclusivity for all
Dedicated customer area: The ground floor will
have a brand-new customer area, including a digital hub for support with
accessing online services
Community hub: The Wembley Hub will have a new
space on the ground floor equipped with meeting rooms for private and
confidential conversations
Enhanced library: A new purpose-built and
enclosed children’s library, a repurposed mezzanine floor with flexible
library spaces and increased study areas
Registration and Nationality space: A new
flexible space that customers can hire to Work is now underway with
completion expected in autumn 2024. Throughout this period, all services
will remain operational. A temporary library service will be available on
the first floor of the civic centre. All library services will be
available, but events will take place at other library locations.
As with many changes in Brent, members of the public talking to Wembley Matters on a recent visit appear to have been taken by surprise by the changes. Often the first they knew was when they visited the Civic Centre to change their library books and found the library had been moved from the ground floor to temporary accommodation alongside the Wembley Hub on the first floor. The temporary library has only a few shelving units and no electronic return and borrowing machines.
Jaws dropped when they were told the new main entrance would be situation between the pasty shop and Sainsbury's: 'But wasn't the current entrance designed to lead to the impressive atrium and wide wooden staircase?'
Some questioned how a modern purpose-built building could have proved inadequate for purpose 10 years on but that doesn't take into account the huge increased resident demand for face to face meetings with council officers as a result of austerity, the pandemic and rising homelessness. Now most of the ground floor will be given over to customer services.
The ground floor Wembley Library at the Brent Civic Centre is closed at present as the redesign of the Civic Centre goes ahead. The library will eventually me on the mezzanine floor but will be temporarily housed on the first floor for several months.
I opened the door on to a huge hubbub when I visited today. The small room is shared with the Civic Centre Hub, also moved from downstairs. There were crowds of people waiting to be seen by Brent staff and use the computer terminals for advice and support. Not a room where anyone could study.
The are no terminals for returning or borrowing books, just one customer counter. There is a much diminished range of book available for borrowing.
Staff are doing their best but I would recommend library users go to Ealing Road Library or Willesden Green Library for Brent library books. Alternatively to borrow books, use IT or study in a peaceful environment Preston Community Library is available on Wednesday's (3.30pm-5.30pm) and Saturday (11am-3pm).
From Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Supporters of an immediate
ceasefire in Gaza will gather in front of Brent Civic Centre this evening
between 5pm and 6pm to give local people a chance to come together to
demonstrate what an urgent and important issue this is for Brent’s diverse
citizens.
Brent councillors arriving
at the Civic Centre for the 6pm Council meeting will be invited to join the
gathering in solidarity with their community.
The gathering will be
followed by a candlelit vigil nearby to remember the Israeli and Palestinian
children who have been killed in the current conflict. Their names and ages
will be read out so that they are remembered as real human beings, robbed of
their future - not just another number added to the mounting casualty list. The
naming will be interspersed with poetry readings and will finish with a
minute’s reflection.
There will be a Rally to support the workers at the St Mungo's homelessness charity on Friday June 16th outside Brent Civic Centre at noon.
The main speakers at the Rally, organised by Brent Trades Council, will be local MPs Dawn Butler and Barry Gardiner.
Take along your union banners and placards so that that we make a big declaration of solidarity with workers struggling for a decent wage when executives earn tens of thousands.
Nearest tube Wembley Park but also accessible from Wembley Central station and multiple bus routes.
The rally will be preceeded by a short picket outside St Mungo's facility in Pound Lane, Willesden, opposite the bus garage at 9am.
Back in November 2018, I wrote a short post about a blue plaque which had been unveiled in Ealing Road, to commemorate Sir Henry
Cooper. The greengrocers business that he ran there, for three years in the
1960s, was called “Henry Cooper of Wembley”, and that is the name of a free
illustrated talk which I will be giving at Brent Civic Centre on the morning of
Saturday 17 June. I’m writing this article, so that as many local people as
possible, who might wish to come along to my talk, are aware of it.
The talk has been arranged for that weekend, and that venue, because it
will be the 60th anniversary of Henry Cooper’s famous boxing match
at Wembley Stadium (a final eliminator, with the winner fighting for the Heavyweight
Championship of the World) against Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali.
The talk is not just about boxing, but also about Henry Cooper the man,
who lived in Wembley with his family for fifteen years, at the height of his
career. Although it is advertised as being at the Civic Centre's Wembley Library, the talk will
actually take place in Boardrooms 4&5 as students will be revising for
exams in the library itself. Because of this, if you are coming to the talk,
please arrive between 10.15 and 10.25am, at the library entrance in the main
Civic Centre atrium, so that a member of staff can take you up to the third
floor in the lift.
Although this is a free talk, you need to book online, at the Brent
Culture Service Eventbrite website, to reserve your place. To see more details,
and to do that, please click HERE. I look forward to sharing Henry’s story with you, in words and
pictures!
The anti-ULEZ protest that was to take place at the Brent Council AGM but was knocked on the head by Conservative councillors is now taking place tomorrow, Wednesday 24th May 5-7pm.
The only event taking place tomorrow in the Civic Centre, apart from the library, is a 6pm training session for members of the Planning Committee. This will mean that Cllr Michael Maurice will be missing for the second half of the 2 hour protest.
Some of the protesters may be late as they are likely to having difficulty in finding a place to park their cars.
I do not have any firm news of a counter-demonstration by clean air campaigners yet.
Cash-strapped Brent Council is advertising some 19,309 square feet of space at the Brent Civic Centre at £32.50 a square foot to realise a planned income of £680k in 2024-25. If the Council fail to let the space it will mean further cuts.
At the same time the Council is reviewing existing commercial contracts. Earlier this year Cabinet approved a £2m remodelling claiming it would improve 'customer experience' and also make the building more attractive to commercial tenants.
The planned lets include the first floor restaurant space that closed during the pandemic and has since been used by voluntary organisations as a commnity kitchen.
The space has been freed up via a 'restack' operation that moves existing staff around to maximise space for letting out.
As well as seeking commercial companies the Council is also looking at letting to a 'flex-operator', an organisation that lets flexible space to start ups and other small companies. LINK
Delegated authority is
being sought to enter into new leases with the following:
· A new lease at an agreed market rent with
the Valuation Office Agency (VOA to relocate from
the 8th Floor North to the 8th Floor West that was recently vacated by Air
France.
· A new lease at an agreed market rent with
the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
for their current demise on the 1st Floor West - or a suitable alternative
space.
· A new
lease at an agreed market rent with the NHS to co-locate them with Brent’s Adult Social
Care and Health department on the 2nd Floor.
· A new lease at an agreed market rent with
Warren Bakery who occupy a retail unit on the
ground floor.
· Any other existing tenants as appropriate in
line with the re-stack project and any new prospective
tenants seeking space within the Civic Centre
I am not sure about the status of Starbucks which is not mentioned in the Cabinet Report.
This is the brochure already available to potential clients:
