OPINION PIECE: Cllr Butt should think again about Brent Cabinet responsibility for safeguarding after Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' death

I checked with Brent Council today after the Kilburn Times wrote that Cllr Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader, was taking over Cllr Mili Patel's portfolio.  Patel stepped down from her role on Monday. I had been told something different by a usually reliable source at the council:

Could you clarify the details of which Cabinet members are taking over/sharing Cllr Patel’s portfolio as clearly Safeguarding is extremely importance as highlighted by the recent child murder case. The Kilburn Times has quoted Cllr McLennan as taking over the entire portfolio while I understood from my sources that it was shared between Cllr Stephens and Cllr Farbi.

I suspect it has been split between them and if so could you say who is responsible for each aspect.

Brent Council replied that they stood by their previous statement:

"Councillor Mili Patel has stepped down from her cabinet role to take time out. Deputy Leader, Councillor Margaret McLennan, will take over the portfolio.”

This give me cause for concern, not because I doubt Cllr McLennan's commitment and ability regarding safeguarding, but because of the responsibilities she already has, particularly at a time when she is working on the Council's budget for 2022-21.

This is now her portfolio with Cllr Patel's responsibilities added:

• Finance / HR
• IT / Digital transformation
• Council Tax
• Business Rates
• Customer Services
• Citizenship &Registration
• Community Hubs
• Legal
• Performance
• Members Enquiries / FOI / Complaints
• Social Value
• Equalities
• Procurement
• Safeguarding & Looked After Children / YOT
• Social Work Teams
• Early Help & Children’s Centres
• Youth Service & Connexions
• Troubled Families
• Safeguarding in Schools
• Corporate Parenting
• SEND Pupil Referral Units
• Alternative Education
• Youth Parliament

 The case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes highlighted not just the dramatic impact of lockdown on family life and the impact of the loss of the usual monitoring by schools of vulnerable children, but also the years of cuts and under-investment in children's services.

These are dangerous times for children and could be a life and death matter. In Brent we have to remember the case of Victoria Climbie LINK and ensure that such a case does not happen again.

Over my career in education I have been responsibile both as a teacher and a governor for Safeguarding, Child Protection and Looked After Children. I thought that the splitting of responsibilities, that complemented existing ones held by Cllr Thomas and Farbi, was a sensible idea if it was not practical to appoint a replacement for Cllr Patel.

We do not know what the winter holds in terms of further lockdowns and potential school closures, but things do not look good. I urge Council leader Muhammed Butt to think again for the sake of our children.

Cllr Mili Patel takes on the challenge of leading on Children and Young People

Cllr Mili Patel (Alperton) has taken over the role of Lead Member for Children and Young People in the Brent Cabinet.   She succeeds Cllr Wilhelmina Mitchell-Murray whose role had been covered by Cllr Muhammed Butt since December 1st 2016 because Cllr Mitchell-Murray was said to unwell. Today the Kilburn Times has quoted Muhammed Butt as saying that Cllr Mitchell-Murray had resigned for 'personal reasons.

The resignation means that three members of the 8 strong Cabinet (Pavey, Mashari and Mitchell-Murray) have resigned since Butt's successful retention of the Labour leadership in May 2016 after a challenge from Michael Pavey.

Cllr Patel had been Lead Member for just 25 minutes when she was asked to speak at last night's Council Meeting so  understandably she limited herself to a brief introduction.

Cllr Patel went to Furness Primary School and Claremont High and is a parliamentary researcher.   She previously worked for Frank Dobbs MP. She is married to fellow Brent councillor  Matt Kelcher who is chair of Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.

Mili Patel is on the board of Brent Housing Partnership which is likely to be dismantled when Brent Council brings council housing back in-house.

Her other Council positions are listed as:

• Corporate Parenting Committee (Chair)
• Council
• Employees' Joint Consultative Committee
• General Purposes Committee
• Health and Wellbeing Board
• Highways Committee

The Children and Young People position is challenging at the best of time, covering as it does local authority schools, children's social work, safeguarding and the wellbeing of all young children and young people in Brent regardless of the type of school that they attend, but with funding cuts to schools in the headlines, the job is even more daunting.

Cllr Patel would have got a taste of that in the debate that took place at Council on school funding  when the following Labour motion was discussed. She did not contribute to the debate.

PROTECT BRENT’S SCHOOLS FROM GOVERNMENT CUTS

This Council condemns government proposals for a National Schools Funding Formula and rejects any effort to pay for the failure of an ideologically imposed programme of austerity by choking off essential and already insufficient funding for the education of children and young people in Brent.

Councillor Patricia Harrison Preston Ward

During the debate Cllr John Warren lambasted various Labour councillors quoting the bank balances of schools where they were governors. He claimed Brent schools had up to £30m  stashed away.  He did not mention that schools have to justify these  balances to the Council  and provide evidence of the ear-marked projects to which they are allocated.

The debate can be seen here: