After closing half its libraries Brent Council agrees Memorandum of Understanding with volunteer libraries

The Brent Council Cabinet is set to approve a Memorandum of Understanding on Community Libraries at its meeting on Monday.  In 2011 the Council closed 6 of the borough's 12 libraries in what they called the Libraries Transformation Projects. Local residents launched campaigns to keep four of the libraries open: Preston, Kensal Rise, Cricklewood and Barham. Neasden and Tokyngton libraries, the former in a very needy area, appear to have gone for good.

The SOS (Save Our Six Libraries) campaign was faced with the dilemma of campaigning for the retention of securely financed, professionally staffed libraries or keeping a local facility going through a volunteer system and fundraising. Some campaigners thought that keeping some kind of service going temporarily would make it easier for a future administration to restore the library.

The Brent libraries issue became something of a national scandal and contributed to Cllr Muhammed Butt's overthrow of Cllr Ann John's Labour leadership. In the event Brent's closures were ahead of the field and other councils, of various political complexion, have since closed libraries  citing government cuts as the reason. Currently there is a militant campaign in Lambeth LINK.

Since then there have been attempts by various lead members to reach an agreement with the volunteer libraries with Preston and Barham facing particular difficulties because the Council is the landlord of their premises.

The Officers' report LINK sets out the current situation:

Brent’s community libraries receive no direct funding from Council library service budgets. They are wholly independent organisations. They are not included within the Council’s statutory service, and they have full flexibility to tailor their offer to local need and interest and are eligible for various funding streams as independent organisations. 


 The four community library premises are:

·      Barham Library, 660 Harrow Road Wembley HA0 2HB (15 year lease) 


·      Cricklewood Library, 152 Olive Road, London NW2 (999 year lease being finalised) 


·      Kensal Rise Library, Bathurst Gardens, London NW10 5JA (999 year lease being finalised) 


·      Preston Community Library, 2 Carlton Ave East, Wembley HA9 8PL (currently has a temporary lease arrangement). 


The MoU (see below) sets out various ways the Council will support the community libraries without committing to any additional expenditure.

The case of Preston Community Library, where uncertainty remains over its premises as Brent Council seeks to redevelop the site, is addressed directly:
 

A temporary lease arrangement is in place until the end of the 2016/17 school year as a short term solution. Long term plans for the site are at the development stage.
 In September 2016 Cabinet agreed to redevelop Preston Park Annexe for new homes and D1 space appropriate for library use. Since then the Council has appointed 5Plus Architects to lead the design of the redevelopment proposals and undertaken workshops with Preston Community Library to understand their long term service delivery needs and spatial requirements. The next stage of the design process will be to translate the findings into a design solution that is supported by Preston Community Library. Further consultation will then be undertaken on design proposals before final decisions are made. 


The development of the site will provide a potential long term solution for Preston Community Library. However at present the medium term options for the library are not clear. Officers will continue to work to address this with the library within the constraints of the Council’s property portfolio and market options. 


 Council officers recognise the strong social value provided by Preston Community Library and are keen to support the group in continuing to provide a service throughout the transition process

In a curious post on his blog LINK, former councillor James Powney, lead member at the time of the Transformation Project, says:

In Barham, Paul Lorber appears to be trying to play the Council for either financial gain or as part of his political manoeuvrings prior to the 2018 elections.  In Preston, the existing group appears to be given an undue influence that does not sit easily with either the Council's financial obligations or the building's ACV status.  Such arrangements can lead to ugly rumours about the integrity of Council decision making even where there is no legally proven case against them. 

  This is the Memorandum of Understanding:

Protest over Donoghue's Cricklewood waste facility April 28th

From a group of local residents and community groups campaigning for the urgent relocation of overgrown P B Donoghue waste management site in residential Cricklewood

Twitter @DumpDonoghue 

Fair funding for all schools - meeting March 29th Cricklewood

Parents and pupils are joining with teachers and governors to protest about the forthcoming cuts to school budgets which are being implemented through changes in the National Funding Formula for schools. Government sources have denied reports from Tory back bench MPs that they are about to postpone the changes so all the more reason to maintain the pressure.

www.fairfundingforallschools.org

Pupils, parents and staff  from Kenmont Primary held a protest against the cuts earlier this week. Despite the school  being in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham many of Kenmont's pupils come from the Brent side of the Harrow Road.

Brent's volunteer libraries to employ professional librarian

Campaigners at the 'Wall of Shame' - hoardings surrounding Preston Library now operating again as a community library

Following the closure by Brent Council of 6 of the borough's 12 public libraries volunteers have kept services going at four of the closed libraries. They have now received funding, for a limited period,  to employ a professional librarion to be shared between them.

This is the advertisement for the post:
 

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Position description

Title: Professional Librarian

Funding Available: up to £40,000 for period of approx 20 months to 31 October 2018

Commitment: Actual hours will be negotiated but should start by or before 1 April 2017.

Project ends: October 2018

Location: working across Brent

Travel information: Brent is within London Transport Zones 2/4.

Professional community librarian sought by a small network of libraries in Brent, North West London, operating as independent volunteer-run community libraries.

The Brent Community Libraries (BCL) network is made up of four community libraries, spread across Brent, which are at different stages in development and operation. The libraries are all registered charities and each library is supported by a strong group of residents. Brent is one of the most diverse areas in the country and this post offers the opportunity to develop services for people across a wide range of ages, backgrounds and abilities.

The libraries are committed to providing a lively top quality service in their diverse neighbourhoods. We are in an innovative position, collaborating with each other, local community groups and the Council. This is a great opportunity to create a whole new way of approaching how libraries serve the community.

Applicants should have professional library/information science qualification and at least 18 months’ experience of working in a library. Experience of working with community organisations and volunteers is desirable.

The successful applicant will work to develop a community library strategy, train and develop the volunteers who provide the services and liaise with the Brent Library Service, which is strongly supportive of this project, attending meetings as required. They will work at each library, meeting representatives of the community library network by arrangement.

Brent Community Libraries:

·       Barham Library http://barhamlibrary.uk (Friends of Barham Library – FOBL)

·       Cricklewood Library http://cricklewoodlibrary.org.uk (Friends of Cricklewood Library – FOCL)

·       Kensal Rise Library http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org (Friends of Kensal Rise Library – FKL)

·       Preston Library https://brentlibraries.wordpress.com (Preston Community Library – PCL)

For more information about these libraries, please visit their websites (or in the case of FOBL whose website is being update email Paul Lorber on barhamlibrary@hotmail.co.uk.

Brent Council has agreed Voluntary Sector Initiative Funding of £45k (ending Oct 2018) to BCL with FOBL as the contracting entity. £40,000 of this is available for this position.

Application form, job description and person specification can be downloaded from this website or requested from Paul Lorber at barhamlibrary@hotmail.co.uk

Closing date for applications is Friday 10 February

Completed application form with a covering letter explaining your suitability for the position should be sent by email to Paul Lorber at barhamlibrary@hotmail.co.uk

Brent's Cricklewood PSPO against casual workers opposed by Brent's Independent councillor

Cllr Helen Carr (Independent, Mabesbury) has reiterated her opposition to the extension of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in Cricklewood. Consultation has closed on the extension which will go through to December 2017. The PSPO is aimed at workers waiting to be picked up for casual work. This has been a traditional picking up point for decades and formerly the casual workers were Irish, now they are also from Eastern and Central Europe.

Cllr Carr said,  "Shall we ban the homeless, as far right Hungarian, Victor Orban, has done?" LINK

She went on:

I oppose this extension, on the following grounds: This is a draconian measure not originally intended as a response to the complaints of, what I understand it, are a handful of people, albeit they have clocked up more than 400 complaints in a year. This does not mean people should not complain - I myself continually alert the Transport police to Romanian speaking beggars on the underground (a losing battle ..,) who when challenged in Romanian (as I am very capable of doing given my background), can become aggressive. But we need to ask who these young women are (invariably young women), where are they from, and why do they beg? Are they being coerced by a larger, nastier gang (invariably yes) observing them from the next carriage who will physically abuse them if they do not bring home a set amount of takings each day?  

The measure is not successful: at 7am, when I usually set out for work and pass through the Broadway, it did not take long for the small groups of men hoping to gain work, to resume unchallenged. The measure ensured they congregated elsewhere outside the zone, and in cafes etc. As I understand it from the Police themselves, this is an historical issue and originates long before the arrival of Romanians, who seems to be the new Irish in terms of being subject to prejudice and discrimination as the suppliers of no skill/low skilled casual labour. 

Not all residents support this move: I appreciate and agree with those who claim the police are unable to implement the measure - they have more serious issues to attend to. This, then, sets a very bad precedent. In the UK, policing is by consent. Servants not masters. In Romania, as in other new democracies of Eastern & Central Europe  I have lived and worked in which are only recently free of totalitarian rule, the police are a generally viewed as bodies to be feared. They operate by  a mixture of dazzle, bribery and intimidation: coercion not persuasion and consensus. We need to use these measures sparingly if the tolerance and co operation of our own police are not to be considered weaknesses and vulnerabilities to be exploited.

These are difficult and dangerous times. We need to protect those fleeing war, persecution, discrimination and deprivation. Not lock them up.

This was the Council's introduction to the consultation:

Brent Council is consulting to extend a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) from 21 December, 2016 until 20 December, 2017, which banned the practice of picking up workers for casual cash-in-hand labour within a specified area. Casual workers hired in this way are often exploited, earning less than the minimum wage and exposed to unsafe working environments.

The congregation of people looking for casual work has long been causing problems in the community. The individuals harass and intimidate passers-by and are responsible for other anti-social behaviour in the area. For a number of years there have been complaints from residents and businesses about groups of casual labourers congregating in Cricklewood Broadway and surrounding roads and car parks who harass, intimidate and enact other ASB. A side-effect of this labour market is increased rough sleeping in Brent’s parks, as well as additional levels of street drinking and a spike in offences such as criminal damage and burglary.

From 01/04/2016 to the 30/10/2016 there have been 170 calls – 13% of the calls were between 07:00 and 12:00 hours, this is the peak time for the direct ASB impact from the migrant labour market. We have issued many warnings to businesses advising that they can be fined for picking up workers, and this is reducing the number of people gathering in these areas in hopes of work. However, there is still a long way to go, and we need to keep reinforcing this message consistently to reduce the problem further.  The current PSPO expires on 20 December, 2016.

The consultation will consider whether the PSPO should be extended for a further 12 months until 20 December, 2017, to allow us to continue to penalise those who encourage casual labour markets in the area. The restricted area and prohibitions will remain the same.

Proposed area:

Shoot Up Hill junction with Walm Lane to Chichele Road to Anson Road to Heber Road to Larch Road to Mora Road to Cricklewood Broadway following the railway line to the iron bridge and south along Cricklewood Broadway to Shoot Up Hill junction with Walm Lane. This also includes all other roads, any public space, and communal areas within the mapped area,

The controversy  follows that over a report to the Council's Equality Committee on the Eastern European Community which it was alleged perpetuated negative stereotypes about the Romanian community in particular. LINK LINK