Brent Fights Back at the People's Assembly - Video

Thanks to BNCTV for this footage of last week's People's Assembly

Update on Brent Council Cuts

The much improved Brent and Kilburn Times has coverage of the latest Brent cuts following the Brent  Executive Decisions on Monday. Here are the main details taken from my regular Brent Green Party local press briefing: WKT E-EDITION

ANGUISH AS CARE CENTRE IS AXED WKTp1 A family expresses concern that the closure of Knowles House care home (decided by the Executive on Monday) will kill a 94 year old if she has to be moved. They said they did not know of the imminent closure until contacted by the newspaper. Cllr Ruth Moher expresses surprise that they did not know and says the moves will be based on individual needs and planned carefully: 'Residents and their families will be involved in this process'. (Families had opposed the closure in the initial consultation) OUR VIEW - AGAIN ITS THE MOST VULNERABLE WHO PAY PRICE WKTp20 Editorial on Knowles House claims it increasingly  seems 'the most vulnerable who are being asked to pay the heaviest price for the financial and political failings of the past' . They claim that 'unfit for purpose' is trailed out too readily and asks 'in this case does it mean that Brent (Council) has been negligent in maintaining a building for which it is wholly responsible?'
MOBILITY CURBED AS NUMBER OF TAXI-CARD DRIVES HALVED WKTp3 Brent council Executive voted on Monday to reduce the number of rides for people with mobility problems from 96 to 48 per year. It also ended 'double swiping' which enabled members to use two subsidies for one journey.
PUBLIC HAS BEEN MISLED OVER CUTS IN LOLLIPOP STAFF, CLAIMS COUNCILLOR WKTp2 Cllr Lorber (Lib Dem) says that the Council has misled residents over the reversal of school crossing patrol cuts because leaving staff will not be replaced and schools deemed low priority could lose their patrols to schools designated high priority. Cllr Jim Moher says Lorber is using parental concerns to 'play politics' and 'wherever there is a serious risk to safety we will not move the lollipop people'.
SCHOOLS COULD FUND SAFETY PATROLS WWOp10 Cllr Moher says patrols cost £6,000 but schools could employ volunteers if they funded their training. He said if they were unable to do so the council will look at alternatives. 'We would not withdraw the patrol unless we were satisfied there was adequate safety provision.'
AUTHOR BACKS FIGHT TO KEEP SIX LIBRARIES OPEN WKTp4 Former children's laureate Jacqueline Wilson will pledge her support for the libraries campaign when she appears at St Martin's Church, Mortimer Road, Kensal Green on Wednesday September 28th (tickets available from L'Angolo's Deli and Queens Park books £10 adults, £5 children - doors open 6pm)
STREET CLEANING - BRING SERVICE BACK IN HOUSE WKTp20 Letter from Martin Francis responding to Cllr Moher's defence of street cleansing cuts last week.  He quotes from the officers' document that Moher put to the Council to disprove his claims, and calls for the waste management service to be brought  back 'in-house' following Veolia's attempt to increase profit margins.

Charteris Meeting on Saturday

A message from the Charteris Sports Centre Campaign:

Public Meeting on Saturday the 12th of March, 4.30 at Charteris.

The future of Charteris is at stake.

Please come and be part of the future:

Please bring your friends, neighbours, local residents, Charteris users.

Willesden and Brent Times Stands Up for Our Rights

At a time when much of the local press is in decline, doing little more than copying and pasting council press releases, the Willesden and Brent Times is going through a strong period. In its previous incarnation as the Brent Chronicle, the paper was known locally, half affectionately, and half in exasperation,  as 'The Chronic'. That description no longer applies.

The WBT has managed to keep a team of reporters covering Brent while the Wembley and Willesden Observer has to make do with one extremely hard-working reporter, and as a result it is usually dominated by Harrow news from its parent paper. The WWO to its credit launched a campaign to save Brent libraries but the WBT's coverage of the cuts has been exemplary, going well beyond the Council's sanitised version of events.

This week the WBT had coverage of the cuts on page 1, page 2, page 4, page 6 and the letters page. It had a long editorial on the cuts, the conclusion of which is worth quoting:
 While the budget is bleak the community should be proud.

Proud that they have launched such vociferous and sophisticated campaigns to save their libraries, sports and youth centres, which have forced council chiefs to rethink their plans.
Proud to be part of a society which questions its councils and Government and challenges them when they think they have got it wrong.
And proud of their capacity to rally round and support each other to find a way through this crisis in public services. 

We are fortunate to have the WBT with us as this crucial time.

Fury at Council Lock-Out on Cuts Decision Meeting

The Wembley Observer has posted this video of the anti-cuts protest at Brent Town Hall on Monday.

Some interesting (and rather depressing) comments from inside the Council Chamber on the Save Kensal Rise Library blog HERE

Brent Cuts Go Through - Reprieve for Youth Centres, Law Centre and Welsh Harp

There is an excellent account of the Council discussion on the I Spy in Queen's Park blog HERE 

Basically the youth centres were reprieved, partial funding restored for the Law Centre, Citizens' Advice and Private Tenants Rights Group and part private funding found for the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre from Careys.. Otherwise all the cuts went through unamended.

Willesden and Wembley Observer coverage HERE
Willesden and Brent Times coverage HERE

Democracy in action? Cuts protesters barred from debate.

A group of protesters entered the Town Hall while others continued to protest outside

I am unable to bring you a report on tonight's Brent Council meeting, which was voting on a cuts package that will seriously damage the people of Brent,  because police barred me, and many others, from attending the meeting of the Council. Admission was by ticket only with a limited number issued. There were empty seats in the chamber and on other occasions the public have been allowed to stand. Not tonight.

I was told by the police that they had been called by the Council and instructed to remove me from the building  (Brent Town Hall)  because I was trespassing.  When I said that I was there to see democracy in action I was told that democracy was voting in elections and protesting was nothing to do with democracy. When I said that I wanted to report on the debate and the arguments for and against the cuts, I was told that it was for the Council to decide whether they wanted their proceedings reported and that Parliament  didn't let the public into all their debates.

Frustrated campaigners continued to protest outside the Council chamber for some time until they left in orderly fashion. They left having made their point that they were not prepared to accept the supine position of Labour councillors who appeared prepared to damage the very people that they had been elected to serve and protect. 

Groups from a variety of campaigns had lobbied outside the Town Hall from 6pm in a good-humoured but determined show of solidarity.

Why you should join the anti-cuts protest at Brent Town Hall tomorrow

Labour Brent Council promised to protest the most vulnerable from local government cuts, particularly as these groups had already been hit by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition cuts in benefits and the housing benefit cap, with children hit by the ending of the Building Schools for the Future Programme and the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance.

But the Labour Council's cuts and increased charges will hit the same groups:

•  £2.25m cuts in Children's Centres with reduced staffing and three centres that will not now open affecting the futures of children in poorer families
• Cutting the portage service which helps families with children with disabilities
• Reduced funding for children's social care affecting child in care and payments to adopting families
• Reduced funding for services for children with special educational needs and disabilities including the end of the Easter Play Scheme
• Cutting the funding of the Young Carers who provide support and respite for young people who look after older siblings or parents
• Cuts in the School Improvement Service which supports schools in difficulty and ensures the quality of provision is maintained
• Closure of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre which generations of Brent children have used to get hands on experience of science and environmental education (negotiations are in progress with a private sponsor to take over funding)
• Closure of 6 out of 12 libraries with, in addition, Willesden Green Library Centre closed for two years if a private developer can be found

• The closure of the Charteris Sports Centre which is the only community resource in its area
• The closure of Youth Clubs in Wembley and St Raphaels which have enabled youngsters to train in sports and other activities giving them self-confidence and motivation, and cutting Connexions which gives support and guidance to young people on the way to education, training and employment
• Increased council rents hitting families already hit by the economic recession
• Closure of day centres for people with disabilities and mental health problems

• The sacking of park wardens who keep our parks and open spaces safe thus increasing their usage by children and older people, replacing them with a mobile patrol visiting less frequently 

• Closure of the Brent Law Centre which gives advice and support to precisely those people who are being hit by Coalition, and now Council, cuts.
• Loss of many jobs in Brent Council and in the longer term in schools,  increasing local unemployment  and the number of children living in poverty. 

This will be disastrous for the people of the Brent and the long-term impact will be much more expensive to put right than the money saved in the short-term. But it is not just a question of money - we know from past experience that early intervention works but if problems are left too long the result is ruined lives, lost potential and a community under siege.  We cannot let that happen.

Rally to Defend Our Public Services on Monday

NO CUTS! NO CLOSURES! NO REDUNDANCIES!

DEFEND OUR SERVICES!

Lobby Brent Council's budget fixing meeting 

MONDAY 28th FEBRUARY

Bring your placards and banners, bring your friends and your neighbours.

Be on the steps of Brent Town Hall

Forty Lane, Wembley HA9 9HD

From 6 pm.

TELL BRENT COUNCIL TO RESIST THE CONDEM CUTS!

Spread the word. 

Please forward this link to everyone who will be affected by cuts to libraries, the Law Centre, Charteris Sports Centre, Voluntary services, children's centres, services for children with special needs, services for the elderly, services for people with disabilities &/or learning difficulties, parks, council workers who will lose their jobs, council workers who will have their pay cut, council workers whose working conditions will get worse, people with mental health problems whose services are being cut and rents are going up, young people whose youth centres are being closed or cut, people with allotments, people who need to bury their relatives ..........

 

Kensal Rise Library Children's Read-in Today

Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre - A History of Struggle

Previous demonstration in support of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre (1980s?)

Willesden and Brent Times reporter Kate Ferguson managed to dig this photograph out of the archives after I mentioned there had been school pupil demonstrations in support the the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre in the past.  Along with the Gordon Brown Outdoor Education Centre, Brent's Hampshire residential field centre, it is non-statutory and is therefore threatened whenever cuts are needed.  Non-statutory does not of course mean 'not valuable' and Brent primary headteachers, governors and pupils have rushed to defend the Welsh Harp, deluging councillors with letters and e-mails.

Latest intelligence is that negotiations are going on with a private company that might fund the centre to some extent as a method of showing its green credentials and commitment to the community.  However, rather than just relying on this the campaign continues.

Viv Stein of Brent Friends of the Earth and Brent Campaign against Climate Change said, “Closing the Welsh Harp education centre will deprive Brent’s children of the unique opportunity to learn about our natural environment that this vital facility offers.  Teaching children about ecology and respecting nature is an invaluable life lesson that we all need to learn to protect our declining wildlife and precious natural habitats.

“This damaging decision is somewhat at odds with Brent’s responsibility to take a lead in improving green space projects and sustainability in schools, as part of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy.  It raises further questions about the credibility of the Labour administration’s supposedly “green” charter, and comes barely a year after cross-party groups successfully fought off a planning application that would have devastated the Welsh Harp nature reserve.”

Green Party by-election candidates offers a REAL choice

Alan Mathison

Brent Green Party has selected Alan Mathison to fight the Kenton by-election.  Alan, now retired, has spent most of his working life in universities and housing management. He has been a governor of three schools.  He stood for the Greens in Kenton in last year's local election and received substantial support.

Alan said:

"The Green Party is the only party nationally who are questioning the whole strategy of deficit reduction through cuts. Locally the Labour Party are implementing the cuts imposed by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition and failing to protect the most vulnerable in the process. We are opposed to these cuts and are actively supporting Brent Fightback's efforts at coordinating opposition across sectors and involving both trades unions and users of public services.

Nationally we favour increased taxation of the very rich and heavy taxes on bank profits and bonuses.  We want investment in the creation of socially useful green jobs through the provision of training opportunities and projects that would provide insulation for all homes,  low-cost sustainable housing and public transport, and renewable energy production.  Translated into local action this would help provide jobs at a time of rapidly rising unemployment."

Alan is scathing about his opponents in the by-election:

"The Labour Party's assurance that it would protect the most vulnerable from cuts has proved hollow. The Brent Conservatives and  Liberal Democrats have the colossal cheek to start campaigning against the cuts locally when it is their government that has demanded them.

All three parties voted for the £100m over the top Civic Centre vanity project which is a slap in the face for local people when they see their services being slashed and charges raised. If we want all our libraries kept open and this means not building the Civic Centre, well so be it. Let's not build it!"

Reflecting on Kenton, where he moved eleven years ago, Alan said:

"I enjoy living in Kenton, it is a great place to live, but looking around you can see that it has been neglected by Brent Council. If elected  my priorities would be to tackle Kenton's flooding problems, find ways of relocating  the John Billam children's playground to a safer and more accessible site, seek to end the traffic chaos on Drayton Avenue and put an end to the dangerous speeding on Woodcock Hill.  Kenton would be a much safer and pleasanter place to live if these issues were tackled." 

Anyone willing to help with Alan's campaign should contact me.

Civic Centre - No Comment! No Copying...

Brent Council has uploaded a 'Virtual Tour' of the new Civic Centre to YouTube.  Unusually both the 'Comment'  button and the 'Copy Embed Code' facility have been disabled by them.  This means that I cannot put a copy on this blog and that nobody can comment on it.

I wonder why?

Anyway, in the belief that we citizens of Brent, and farther afield, should be able to comment on this £100m project at a time when Brent is cutting basic services, please follow this LINK to see the video and return to Wembley Matters to make a comment below.

Libraries, Civic Centre, Wembley Youth Club, Waste, Allotments, Rats - all discussed but anything gained?

The Wembley Area Consultation Forum was considerably enlivened last night when 20 or so members of the Wembley Youth Club turned up.  They had heard rumours that their club may be closed as a result of cuts and wanted the council to know how important it was to them, and what a positive contribution it made to the lives of youth in the area. They told the audience about the sports available at the club and how taking part enabled them to focus and achieve, with those attitudes transferring into other aspects of their lives.

Cllr Ann John, leader of Brent Council, said that indeed there was a review of the youth service under way and she could give no promises. During the interval Youth Centre supporters crowded round councillors making their case, exchanging contact details and arranging further meetings.  Another battle is on its way!

Their presence was a refreshing change from the usual fairly stodgy (but often valuable) meetings with a cast of regular speakers, mainly of my generation or older. It was good to see a 13 year old stand up and speak his mind directly to councillors and the public.

A member of the Brent Youth Parliament later spoke about the increased  importance of libraries as a place for young people to congregate, borrow books and study,  now that the Education Maintenance Allowance is due to be abolished.

Cllr Ann John made a presentation on the difficulties that the Council had in implementing the 28% expenditure reduction required by the Government. This amounted to £100m over four years, front-loaded so that £37m of that must be cut in the first year. This was on top of the £85m capital grant lost from the scrapping of the Building Schools for the Future programme. Since the election other grants amounting to £6 had been lost.  She said that 350 council posts, mainly in management, had already been cut through voluntary redundancies, non-filling of vacant posts and retirement. A further 350 posts would now have to go and the process of compulsory redundancy had begun. Further savings would be made by making procurement more efficient but all these measures only amounted to £21m. This left £16m still to be found and the council was looking at reducing some services and stopping others: "There is nothing we are not looking at."

With income streams from Central Government reduced and the Council Tax frozen the Council  had to look at cuts in services and increased fees and charges for services in order to balance the budget.

In the question and answer session my suggestion that the Labour Council was finding itself in the unpleasant role of bailiffs, for the Coalition rogue landlords, wasn't well received by the platform. I noted the coincidence of £100m cuts needed and the £100m cost of the new Civic Centre. I recognised building had already started on the Centre but suggested that it had been designed in better times and should now be scaled back. My suggestion that it resembled Brent's own version of Stalin's Palace of Culture also was even less well received.

In response Ann John said that the Civic Centre had been agreed by all parties on the Council, that it would make savings in the long term and that the People of Wembley deserved something back for the inconvenience of  the regeneration of the Wembley Stadium area (if they has asked us we might have asked for something else!) She said that the cost would be recovered over a 25 year period by disposal of other buildings, reduced outgoings and increased efficiency. She claimed that projected revenue savings had increased to an estimate of £4m annually. She emphasised the green credentials of the building.

On the 127% increased allotment fees and the introduced of a £95 fee for rat infestation treatment she said that allotment fees had been very low and were still affordable. She claimed that the previously free rat infestation service had been misused with residents calling that service for other infestations (which they would have paid for) because the rat service was free. The new charges had been introduced as a result of comparison with other 'benchmark' boroughs and private providers. There was support from the audience for my claim that this would worsen the borough's rat problems particularly for multi-occupied houses and flats above shops. One resident called for reduce charges for pensioners who may otherwise be reluctant to call pest control.

Other residents suggested that the new waste strategy was an area where savings could be made - particularly on the cost of new bins. There was also claims that the salaries paid to the top executives of the Council were excessive in the present climate. Cllr John denied that they were out of line with other public sector salaries.

In response to a question from the floor Ann John pledged to continue to fund the Freedom Pass.

Cllr Powney's session on the Libraries Transformation Project was a slow simmer, boiling up at the end in comparison with the roasting he had at the Town Hall. Members of the audience stood up with a Save Our Library banner and there was close questioning of the figures behind the closure plans as well as declarations of the importance of libraries as centres for the community to mingle, as well as for reading, learning and other activities including classes, courses and homework clubs.Speakers emphasised the importance of having a library within walking distance for children, young mothers and the elderly. Cllr Powney got into a spat challenging one young mother who spoke about the difficulties of transporting several children on a bus, including a very young one. He said that loads of people used buses everyday to go to shopping centres as well as libraries and that wasn't a problem - he did it with children himself. Cllr John intervened to say that people who had a library near them should count themselves lucky and very few people had that luck. She said books were much cheaper now than previously and available at more outlets including supermarkets like ASDA.

More hackles rose when James Powney said that there was evidence that many people preferred to go to a bigger library with a 'better offer' and ignored their small local libraries. He rejected suggestions that the proposed Civic Centre mega-library could be scaled down to make money available for local libraries.  He also dismissed suggestions that all libraries could have reduced hours. He said this would mean more librarian redundancies and wouldn't release capital to invest in the service, and having a library open only two days a week wouldn't really amount to keeping it open in most people's eyes.

Asked about what would happen with closed buildings he said that two would revert to their Oxford Colleges; Barham would revert to the Barham Trust, Neasden could be leased to new users, which left Tokyngton and Preston to be sold. He said that without the revenue from the sales money would not be available to invest in an 'improved offer', including e-books. That got a response from a publisher in the audience who said that book sales were on the increase and that traditional books were not on their way out. Other residents questioned whether the service should get into the e-book business at all.

Cllr John, sounding rather more like David Cameron, expressed interest in groups and organisations of volunteers, particularly in trust and covenanted buildings, running the libraries themselves. She said she wanted to hear from them and meet to discuss options.

Sometimes the bailiff's find themselves in such a difficult position that they begin to sound like the landlords. 

In defence of public libraries

I have been a member of a public library continuously since before I started school (in fact the old Kingsbury Library now replaced). When I move house joining  the library is the first thing I do once the electricity and gas are connected and the furniture in. As one of a large family with parents unable to give me a lot of attention, the library was in a sense my home educator, and librarians actually quite important in encouraging me to widen my reading tastes. Without a library I think I would have not progressed much educationally,

Currently I see queues of young and older people outside the Town Hall Library, waiting for it to open, not all just to keep warm but somewhere they can advance their education.  Library staff could probably tell you that young children use local libraries after school as a place to do their homework, but also an unofficial safe place to be picked up by their parents when they finish work.

 A lot of the youngsters on the Chalkhill Estate use the library, encouraged by the school and by class visits, and there is also a high usage of the internet there, for learning but also for job seeking. This is essential if we are to tackle the gap between those who have access and those who do not.  They are fortunate in being near a library not down for closure - although it will be less accessible when it is moved to the new Civic Centre.

However youngster who currently use Barham Park, Cricklewood, Neasden, Tokyngton, Kensal Rise and Preston libraries, all down for closure, will be less fortunate. The proposal for the remaining six libraries to be 'community hubs' with other council services located there does not  replace the local accessibility of these small libraries.

 Brent libraries are also the source of much cultural input including Black History Month events and other activities that bring a diverse community together including language and citizenship test classes. The Town Hall library is currently running a reading club for primary school children and others have homework clubs for children without access to books or computers at home. As the recession bites this will become even more important. 

As Greens local libraries are important to us because we believe in easily accessible community resources which do not  involve car trips.A local library is a place where children of 10 and over can easily walk to on their own rather than rely on lifts from parents - this encourages one area of independence in a landscape where children are more and more dependent on adults, with few opportunities for independent activity. Libraries even save paper, and therefore trees, through multiple lending of one book rather than individual purchases of many books - and the authors get a steady source of income, albeit it small, from public lending rights.