Lead member for schools: Byron Court parents feel 'disenfranchised and distressed by speed and nature' of forced academisation

 Letter to Secretary of State

Brent Tories: Disrespectful to site children's home in a conservation area - call-in meeting tonight

A special Scrutiny Committee tonight will discuss the call-in by Brent Conservatives of the Cabinet decision to site a children's home in the Barn Hill Conservation area. In their call-in the group say:

This area is in the Barn Hill Conservation area. It should be treated with respect.

Alternative course of action recommended.. To refer the decision back to Cabinet for reconsideration in order to find a cheaper alternative property in a different area

The call-in is unfortunately timed when the Liberal Democrat group are opposing, with a petition, a potential proposal to double the number of councillors needed to request a call in from 5 to 10. At present there are 5 Tories and 3 Liberal Democrats. A requirement for 10 signatures means that neither Tories on their own nor the combined opposition could request a call-in without support from at least two Labour councillors.

Cllr Butt's argument would probably be that the increase would save money on meetings as   politically motivated call-ins would no longer take place.

Certainly Brent Labour moved speedily on social media to denounce the call-in.

 The call-in will be heard at 6pm tonight. Livestream HERE

Brent Tories do not exist on social media so I cannot post a response.

THE CABINET DECISON CALLED-IN

 

Cabinet (15 January 2024) received a report from the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources and Corporate Director of Children and Young People which, in line with the Brent Children’s Residential Home Business Case that had been approved by Cabinet in May 2023, sought approval for the acquisition of a property for renovation to deliver a four bedded children’s care home for young people by March 2025 which would provide four placements, three permanent and one emergency for the Council to deliver and operate a children’s residential home.

 

Having considered the report, Cabinet agreed to approve the acquisition with the minute recording the decision as follows:

 

Councillor Grahl (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools) introduced the report, which set out the Council’s plans to acquire a property as part of the Children’s Residential Home Project.

 

In considering the report Cabinet noted the way in which the proposed acquisition aligned with the objectives within the Brent Children’s Residential Home Business Case approved by Cabinet in May 2023. This included not only supporting the Council in seeking to address the increasing cost of child residential placements for looked after children, with the scheme projected to save the Council approx. £290,000 on an annual basis once operational, but also in delivering the benefits associated with the additional capacity to reduce the need for out of borough placements and enabling more children and young people to receive care closer to home with access to local services and support.

 

Members welcomed the way in which the insourcing of this scheme would enhance service delivery and in recognising the benefits that the proposal would bring to both young people and the Council, Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

(1) To approve the acquisition of the property (address detailed in the exempt appendix of the report) in Wembley HA9 with vacant possession to meet the needs of young people as outlined in the Brent Residential Home Business Case approved by Cabinet in May 2023.

 

(2) To delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Children and Young People, to agree the terms of the purchase and acquire the property subject to financial and legal due diligence, vacant possession and contract.

 

(3) To note that the completion of the property needs to take place by the end of January 2024 in order to allow sufficient time to renovate the property within the timescales permitted in the grant agreement with the Department for Education (DfE).

 

THE CONSERVATIVE GROUP CALL-IN

 

a) We are very concerned at the price being paid for this property which is over £1M. We feel that this is not the best use of the limited Council funds.

 

(b) This area is in the Barn Hill Conservation area. It should be treated with respect.

 

(c) There has been no consultation with the residents living in and around the site of the property or the Residents Association. This is preventing residents from voicing their opinions and objections. There has been absolutely no democracy or transparency in the matter, residents feel they have been railroaded into accepting any decision the Council makes.

 

(d) Neither of the two local ward councillors (Cllr Robert Johnson & Cllr Kathleen Fraser) received any notification of this until immediately prior to the Cabinet meeting on 15th January.

 

(e) It appears that no Planning Permission was applied for or granted. If this is the case, then what is the rationale taken as to why Planning Permission was not applied for? No statement appears to have been given.

 

(f) The Council is not acting in the interests of the residents in this matter. A similar care home was opened in Barn Hill which caused untold problems for those living in the area. It was only shut down when the local MP (Barry Gardiner) intervened. The residents do not want to have to deal with a similar occurrence.

 

Action Requested:

 

To refer the decision back to Cabinet for reconsideration in order to find a cheaper alternative property in a different area.

Local MPs, councillors and union activists rally behind the workers at St Mungo's homelessness charity seeking a decent wage

 Apologies for sound quality - not very good PA combined with traffic noise. Speech summaries below.

 

Workers for the homelessness charity St Mungo's, currently striking for a decent wage when the charity's executives are paid large salaries, received support in Wembley on Friday when a solidarity rally took place outside Brent Civic Centre.

Dawn Butler, Brent Central MP, spoke first but had finished by the time I got there. Brent North MP Barry Gardiner told the rally that the government was trying to make people insecure in their employment as a way of  keeping them down. He said, 'We won't buckle down, we won't touch our forelock and say if that's all you can afford, thanks very much then. Because that's not the way trade unions operate, so I stand with you, keep up the fight and solidarity.'

Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, in a speech that was hard to hear, said that the work at St Mungo's was important. He said that as a council they would take the dispute up with St Mungo's to make sure that the dispute process was open, fair and transparent. He, councillors and the Labour Group were commited to fair pay: 'We'll make sure you guys get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.' [St Mungo's get a good proportion of their income via contracts with local councils.]

A Unite organiser said that the workers had a mandate for indefinite industrial action. He said that there had been other issues as well as the current pay dispute with the charity including a glass ceiling on pay, bullying and harassment and dismissal and attemnpted dismissal of their union members. They had made it clear to the employer that enough was enough and they were not going to put up with it anymore.

The employers thought the strikers would buckle within a couple of weeks and brought in agency workers, ahead of the workers being forced to return. Instead the strike and the momentum of the campaign had grown.

The union was now looking at what extra steps they could take and had a plan to take the fight to the directors, the trustees, and the funders who hold the purse strings. They would be contacting those with whom St Mungo's had business links, the City of London, and other charities linked to St Mungo's.

He concluded by saying that a 10% salary increase was needed at the very minimum/

Jonathan Ffuxman, Secretary of Brent Trades Council and a member of Doctors in Unite, said that this was a battle for control of the charity. He said that it beggared belief that a respected charity was a cash cow for its executive while the workers, who helped people off the street to restore their lives, got the minimum wage, were  bullied and harassed and were completely over-worked.

As a GP  he had seen the work St Mungo's did from his Practice.  Life expectancy for homeless people was just 45 years. St Mungo workers are the people who are picking them up from the street, giving them somewhere to stay and helping them. It was an essential service and, 'What do they get? The minimum wage.'

He appealed for support from the labour movement against the background of strikes  by doctors, nurses and others who are fighting back.

'If you are not in a union - join one.  If you are in a union - get active. Make your union do stuff. Every union needs to be fighting hard and showing solidarity.'

Cllr Gwen Grahl, a member of the Brent Cabinet with a background in working for charities said that over the last few decades the charity sector had become more like corporations with executive earning big salaries while there were povery wages for the workers and the use of fire and rehire  and zero hours contracts. She said some charities then undermined the permanent workers by introducing agency staff: 'I fully support you and will join your picket line on Friday.'

Cllr Jumbo Chan, who is a member of the NEU which is also currently in dispute, said that workers were being blamed for other crises that were going on at the moment including the economy.  

He told the strikers, 'The bosses think they are getting away with it, but by say "No!" you are doing something powerful. You are puncturing not just the bosses but a powerful narrative that is supported by politicians, economists and academics.  There is no law that says bosses can earn whatever they want and workers always have to take what they are offered.'

Chan said that the strikers were facing a titanic struggle but have the labour movement behind them and full support.

Responding to the speeches a St Mungo's worker thanked the speakers and those attending and said it really meant something to the strikers. He said they were fed up with the lie that they had to accept 3% a year when price rises were in double figures. 'Enough is enough' had to start meaning something. They had gone into a meeting with management on Tuesday really hoping that there would be a sensible offer but nothing came. It was a waste of time and they now had no option but to escalate the action.

He concluded, 'We are getting more confident as this dispute goes on and we are not going back in there until we have won.'

Supporters are asked to join the picket line from 8.30am on Friday at the St Mungo's facility in Pound Lane Willesden, just opposite the bus garage entrance.

Labour win Brondesbury Park by-election. Greens ahead of the Lib Dems.

 

Gwen Grahl, Labour Party, has been elected to Brent Council after winning a seat in the Brondesbury Park by-election that was held yesterday.

This follows the resignation of former councillor, Kieron Gill, earlier this year.

4,083 residents in Brondesbury Park ward cast their votes, marking a turnout of 42.5%.

Green candidate Sheila Simpson beat the Liberal Democrat to achieve third place in the poll with 11.7% of the vote.