A tale of two Full Council motions affecting attitudes to Brent's diversity community and social cohesion

 

 

Wembley Matters recently covered a tale of two motions tabled for Monday's Full Council Meeting. LINK.

Brent Liberal Democrats  had called on the Conservative Group to withdraw a debate motion on migration with a focus on hotels housing asylum seekers.  Lorber argued for withdrawal because of the motion’s potential to undermine good community relations. He told Wembley Matters, ' The last thing Brent needs is incitement to protest outside any of the local hotels used and make the poor people inside fear for their lives.'

Before the Tory motion became public the Lib Dems had tabled  a motion Standing United against Racism and Xenophobia in Brent.

The Conservative Group refused to withdraw.

Labour tabled a 'friendly' amendment to the Lib Dem motion which the Lib Dems accepted. LINK What raised eyebrows was that the Conservatives supported the amended motion that was passed unanimously. A rare occurence of cross-party cooperation in defence of Brent's diversity and social cohesion.

The Conservative Motion Deterrence, Integration and Accommodation Impacts of IllegalImmigration on Brent was due to be discussed later and we wondered if it would be withdrawn in the light of the unanamity established and the recent far-right demonstration in London.

Not so, The Conservatives put their motion, and although some of the group seemed a little uneasy, the result was the debate you can see in the video extract above. 

 

 

 

Lib Dems call on Brent Council to promote action to help protect tenants and leaseholders from unsafe and defective new builds

 Wembley Park developments from King's Drive

 

 The Liberal Democrats have tabled the following debate topic for Monday's Full Council Meeting (6pm Brent Civic Centre):

Guaranteeing new builds are safe and free of dangerous defects.

 

The number of new residential buildings in the borough has increased substantially in recent years. New buildings have changed the landscape of our borough, with the vast majority of large towers blocks around Wembley Stadium, Wembley Central and Alperton.

 

Brent’s Labour Cabinet, particularly the Leader and former Cabinet Member for Regeneration, often point to significant building in the borough as their proudest achievement – but they always fail to recognise its negative impact on existing residents in Brent and those who end up living in these buildings.

 

A worrying number of new buildings in Brent have significant defects. The standard of some new builds is shockingly poor – issues include dangerous, faulty lifts in high-rise blocks, water and waste leaks, unsafe balconies and outdoor communal spaces.

 

At the planning stage, developers are keen to highlight how seriously they take building standards and commit to building good quality, safe new homes. Sadly, somefail to do this and very little is done to hold them to account. Brent Council has little involvement after the planning stage and Council Officers are on record as effectively stating it is not the local authority’s responsibility to do anything if there are issues in new buildings once built.

 

All residents deserve to live in safe buildings, free of defects. When issues arise, developers, construction companies and housing management companies must do a better job of resolving these issues quickly to minimise the impact on residents.

 

Brent Council should have a much tougher line on developers who consistently fail residents by building unsafe buildings with significant defects and should be a leading voice in calling for better regulation and accountability from developers who are failing residents in their buildings.

 

This Council therefore resolves to:

*Create a borough-wide log of issues in new builds to get a better picture of the type of problems faced and urge the Labour Government, as part of their planning reforms, to enable decisions about whether to allow developers, who have issues in their existing stock, to continue building in our borough to be treated as a material planning consideration
 
*Urge the Labour Government to make it possible for local authorities to step in and act when issues in new buildings occur. Currently Brent’s Building Control Team are only responsible for ensuring that the construction of any new building is undertaken in line with building regulations. This needs to be extended to when building is completed and when issues present after the construction phase. Additional costs associated with increasing responsibilities for the Council should be permitted to come directly from CIL contributions made by developers.
 
*Create a dedicated helpline for tenants and leaseholders in new blocks across the borough, for them to be able to report issues so that the Council can assist in guaranteeing action from the relevant bodies and when necessary to support residents in raising complaints with the Housing Ombudsman.

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou

Alperton ward

Lib Dems seek more effective and independent scrutiny in Brent

 The Liberal Democrat Group have tabled an a constitutional amendment for Wednesday's Council AGM aimed at improving the independence of Scrutiny in the Labour council:

Effective Scrutiny in Brent

 

The House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee investigated the issue of “effective scrutiny” during the 2017/19 Parliamentary term.

 

Their remit of their work is in the title of the report they produced, “Effectiveness of local authors Scrutiny and Overview Committees”.

 

The Committee report: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcomloc/369/369.pdf

 

Discussed and expressed views on a number of topics including:

 

Importance of Council culture and attitude to Scrutiny

Scrutiny independence

Appointment of Chairs

Resources for Scrutiny

Officer attitude 

Reporting of Scrutiny findings & recommendations

Public perceptions

 

One of the key conclusions was that Scrutiny should be as independent of the Executive as possible and the fact that this independence should be both real and visible.

 

Councillors can read the House Commons Report and come to their own conclusions.

 

To safeguard the effectiveness and independence of the Brent Scrutiny Committees we propose the following changes to the Brent Council Constitution:

 

1. Reports of the Scrutiny Committees and Task Groups are reported to the Full Council (and not to the Executive) and if decisions are required these are taken by a vote of all Councillors present.

 

2. To ensure that individual Scrutiny Committees are not overloaded and more able to cope with the required workload. The Council will establish a Scrutiny Committee to mirror the Departmental Structure of the organisation to cover the work and responsibilities of each of the Executive Directors including the Chief Executive. If this structure is achieved the Chairs of these Scrutiny Committees will be shared between all the Groups on the Council with every Opposition Group being allocated at least one Committee to Chair.

 

3. To emphasise the independence of Scrutiny from the Executive the Chairs of Scrutiny will come from the Opposition Groups (rather than being selected the Executive or the Majority Group) and either shared between the Opposition Groups or voted on at a Full Council meeting.

Motion on Support for Refugees and Asylum Seekers - to be heard shortly at Brent Full Council

 

Support for Refugees and Asylum Seekers

 

Liberal Democrat Resolution for tonight’s Full Council.

This Council notes:

Liberal Democr
That refugees and asylum seekers are human beings who deserve our full respect and support.

The way in which Boris Johnson’s government talks about and presents refugees, who face their plight through no fault of their own, is deeply un-British, offensive and shameful.

Our own borough is home to people from all corners of the world and all wish to make a valuable contribution to our international community.

Brent must remain welcoming of refugees and asylum seekers and offer required leadership from a local government level by ensuring refugees who arrive in our community have access to needed support and are given the basic opportunities afforded to all in order that they can make a contribution to society.

Organisations like Care 4 Calais, English for Action, Salusbury World, Young Roots, amongst others, are doing crucial work in our community to help settle refugees and offer basic support, whether through English classes that they run or by seeking to address the immense mental trauma many refugees have and are experiencing.

This Council therefore calls on the government to:

1. Drop its shameful, un-British Rwanda policy.
2. End the hostile environment that seeks to criminalise people who have been forced to flee their homelands through no fault of their own.
3. Acknowledge asylum seekers are making dangerous, tragically, all too often, fatal journeys across Europe to seek sanctuary and safety and therefore must allow asylum seekers the legal right of passage into the UK.
4. Give refugees and asylum seekers the ability to play a full part in our society and economy by giving those who arrive in the UK a right to work quickly under defined and reasonable terms.

 

This Council also resolves to:
1. Immediately establish and publish a directory of ESOL provision within our borough on the Council website and also provide easy access benefit and other advice to those who need it.
2. Extend free bus travel to asylum seekers through the existing payment card system.
3. Organise a Brent Refugee Summit by the end of this year (2022), bringing together organisations, mainly in the voluntary sector, who are currently working to support refugees and asylum seekers locally. This will show a united and concerted effort from this Council that people who arrive locally are welcome here and that Brent will play our part in helping to settle people who given the tools will make hugely valuable contributions to our borough - as those who came before them always have.

Councillor Anton Georgiou
Alperton Ward

 

NEU launches petition to replace Ofsted

 

The National Education Union (NEU) today launched a petition calling for the replacement of Ofsted.

The petition says:

Teachers and leaders work under the shadow cast by Ofsted. An unfair and unreliable inspectorate. 

As Ofsted approaches its 30-year anniversary, now is the right time to examine what effect its inspections have on the quality of education that teachers and leaders are able to provide and, in particular, for our most disadvantaged pupils. 

 In 2017, the National Audit Office concluded that: "Ofsted does not know whether its school inspections are having the intended impact: to raise the standards of education and improve the quality of children's and young people's lives." 

Ofsted has never published any research to prove that its inspections accurately reflect the quality of education schools provide. Comprehensive, independent analysis of Ofsted judgements show they discriminate against schools in deprived areas – awarding 'outstanding' grades to four times more secondary schools with better-off pupils than schools with students who are worse off. A major research study showed that, even when schools in deprived areas are making excellent value-added progress, they are still more likely to be given poor Ofsted judgements.

Teachers and leaders know that working in disadvantaged areas is likely to be harmful to their careers because of the unfairness of Ofsted judgements. It is harder to recruit and retain teachers in these schools. Poor children, who most need qualified and experienced teachers if they are to fulfil their potential, are least likely to get them. 

School inspection must be fair. It should be supportive. It should not be, as too many Ofsted inspections are, punitive. 

The stress and unsustainable workload generated by Ofsted is a major factor in the appalling teacher retention rates that blight English education. Nearly 40 per cent of teachers leave the profession within ten years. No education system can improve while it haemorrhages school leaders and teachers. We must create a new approach to school and college evaluation which is effective and fair.

 

We are calling on the Government to:

• Replace Ofsted with a school accountability system which is supportive, effective and fair.
• Work with teachers, leaders and other stakeholders to establish a commission to learn how school accountability is done in other high performing education nations.
• Develop an accountability system which commands the trust and confidence of education staff as well as parents and voters.

 

Both the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats have policy to replace Ofsted in its current form.

Sign the petition HERE

General Election 2019: Did the Greens sell their souls for a few scraps from the Lib Dems?

It is just not the Labour Party that has to undertake a review  of their performance in the General Election. The forthcoming Spring Conference of the Green Party will have to seriously consider its election strategy, including the formulation process, and draw out lessons for the future.

Green Left, the eco-socialist group within the Green Party has today published the following statement on the 2019 UK general election.

The defeat for Labour in the General Election was disappointing, because it happened in spite of Labour supporting countering Climate Change,

The Green Party should welcome the many in the Labour Party and Trade Union movement who now want a green transformation of the economy.

Unfortunately, the Green Party made the mistake of linking up with the discredited Lib Dems over the Brexit issue and, even on this, serious differences emerged over the Lib Dems’ proposal to remain without a referendum. The pact was not based on other shared policies with the Lib Dems.

Many members of the Green Party were surprised that it endorsed Lib Dems in some 20 seats with sitting Labour MPs and candidates near to its policies on austerity, Brexit and the Green New Deal. Why were the Lib Dems allowed to use our good name to fight Labour?

The General Election strategy of the Green Party seemed to be fixated on gaining an extra MP by selling our soul for a few scraps from the Lib Dems; and in the event was of no benefit to Greens

Green Left has asked the Green Party what was the basis for this mistaken strategy? Were its political implications fully thought out?

Green Left believes the task of the GPEW is to encourage debate and discussion with those who share or are beginning to share our perspective on the need to fight climate change and the need for a Green New Deal to transform the economy.

Green Left rejects the Green Party’s remain pact with Liberal Democrats

Only a few days ago

Green Left says ‘no’ to supporting Jo Swinson’s second rate Tories. The Liberal Democrats nationally oppose our Green values.

Green Left believes a step forward for the green movement in the UK has taken place recently, with many people joining both the Green Party and Labour Party, reflecting real concerns about the threat of climate change to our very existence on this planet.

Green Left welcomes the fact that the Green New Deal is gaining support on the left, especially in the Labour Party,  and we believe that Greens should engage with others who share the same policies as us, to build the green movement for change which is the only way to save the planet. 

Green Left believes the mass movement of Extinction Rebellion and the Youth Strikes shows up the pro capitalist parties for what they are – gambling with the planet. The Lib Dems are part of the problem not the solution.

The Liberal Democrats are a party whose leader, Jo Swinson, received funding from a major fracking company and voted for fracking. She and her party also voted for the bedroom tax, benefit cuts and the introduction of Universal Credit, the scrapping of the education maintenance, increased tuition fees, opposed increasing the tax rate on those earning £150,000, supported cuts to the police and emergency services, supported zero hours contracts, supported the badger cull and did little to challenge climate change, preferring instead nuclear power.

The Lib Dems are also uncritical supporters of the EU, unlike the Greens who want major democratic reform and accountability. The Lib Dems reject a proper further referendum that allows people a democratic say on any EU deal or no deal.

Green Left believes Caroline Lucas was right to warn how dangerous the Lib Dems position of ignoring the Referendum result, and instead going for Revoke, is  : “I certainly think that the Lib Dem way out is arrogant, self-indulgent, cynical and very dangerous. I think that will put fuel on the fire.” LINK

Green Party policy has been for a second people’s vote, and in this case is closer to that of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party, who also support a second  referendum, than the Liberal Democrats’ Revoke position.

Green Left is very concerned that the implied call to support Liberal Democrat General Election  candidates where the Green Party is not standing and where the Labour candidate was either the sitting MP or is the best placed candidate to defeat the Tory MP is  an incorrect position to take - especially if that person supports anti-austerity, proportional representation, a Green New Deal and a people’s vote.

Therefore, we urge Green Party members and supporters to support the Labour Party candidate in these areas.

The UniteToRemain pact contradicts the Green Party’s initial position that this should be a Climate Emergency election. Instead the pact makes it a Brexit election.

Editor's note: I am a member of Green Left and was involved in writing this statement which I fully support

Labour tightens its grip on Brent, Tories reduced to 3, Lib Dems wiped out

With all election results in Labour has 57 seats on Brent Council, Conservatives three and Liberal Democrats and Greens none. Three more seats will be contested in the postponed Willesden Green election.

Labour took Brondesbury Park from the Conservatives but the Tories managed to hold on to Kenton.The Brondesbury Park result was keenly awaited because of the controversy over false rumours about the death of one of the Conservative candidates.  In the event the lowest Labour vote was 1660 and the highest Tory vote, for Carol Shaw, was 1567. John Warren, the leader of the Conservative Group lost his seat.

The Dollis Hill election was expected to be close between Labour and the Lib Dems but the highest Liberal Democrat, Alison Hopkins, at 1,355 was substantially behind the lowest Labour candidate who collected 2,100 votes.

In Kilburn John Duffy only managed 412 votes with the top Labour candidate gathering almost six times as many votes.

In Queens Park  the Women's Equality candidate had 626 votes against the top Labour vote of 1,862. Of the three Green candidates, PoppyStockbridge was top at 519 votes.

The result is likely to have an impact on the contest for the Labour Party leadership due to take place at tomorrow's Annual General Meeting.  I was unable to make much of a dent in Muhammed Butt's vote in Tokyngton but the turnout was the lowest in the borough.

FULL RESULTS HERE

TUSC sweep to victory

The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) may not have stood in the General Election but this did not stop them sweeping to victory in the election held at Queens Park Community School on Wednesday.

The result was:

TUSC                              123
Labour                              83
Womens Equality Party   56
Liberal Democrats           49
Green Party                      42
Sinn Fein                          17
Spoilt papers                      6

The TUSC candidates Femi and Sean will now meet with the headteacher to discuss their policies asking for shorts to be allowed as regular uniform in hot weather and for the freedom to eat lunches anywhere in school.

Brent and Harrow GLA Candidates named

The £1,000 deposit appears to have kept out any minor independent candidates in the Brent and Harrow GLA Constituency. The candidates announced today (in alphabetical order) are:

Rathy Alagaratnam UK - Independence Party UKIP
Joel Davison Conservative- The Conservative Party Candidate
Anton Georgiou - London Liberal Democrats
Jafar Hassan -  Green Party
Mahmood Akib - Respect (George Galloway)
Navin Shah - Labour Party

Greens set to beat Lib Dems in London

• Latest polls put Green Party on 11% in London, 4 points ahead of Liberal Democrats
• Support for Green Party is surging just before election day
• Big swing from Labour and Liberal Democrats over to the Greens

With just four days to go until the general election, polls suggest the Green Party could be about to make history in London by beating the Liberal Democrats into third place.

Polling by IpsosMORI gives the Green Party 11% amongst those certain to vote in the capital with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 7%.

The poll demonstrates a huge rise in support for the Greens in London since 2010 and cements their position as the third biggest party in the capital following their strong performance in the 2012 Mayoral and London Assembly elections.

The surge is being driven by the movement of former Labour and Liberal Democrat voters over to the party. Of those respondents who said they would be voting Green in Thursday’s election, one in six had voted for the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and one in ten had voted for Labour.

Tom Chance, Co-Chair of the London Green Party and candidate for Lewisham West and Penge, said:

Of course this is exactly the news we want to be hearing just before the election but it reflects the feeling we’ve been getting on the ground throughout this campaign when our members have been out and about meeting voters. People are feeling let-down by politics in Britain and they’re hungry for an alternative to the austerity message being served-up on a daily basis by the “established” parties.

What is so exciting is that here in London we already have a great basis from which to deliver that change for voters. We finished third in the last Mayoral election. We have two assembly members, an MEP, and four councillors. This is giving us the base we need to build our influence and our presence.

Voters can go out to the polls on May 7^th knowing that by voting Green, they’re contributing to a rapidly growing movement in London. We really are on the verge of making history.

Support for the Green Party in London has surged in the past year. Membership of the party has more than trebled and now stands at over 11,000. The party recently announced that they will be standing candidates in every seat in the capital and that they have achieved a 50-50 gender split amongst their candidates.

Brent Fightback Final Demand to Coalition: Give us Back Our Money

Outside Sarah Teather's Office in Willesden Green

Outside the Brent North Conservative Office in Preston Road, Wembley

Brent Fightback supporters today presented Brent Liberal Democrats and Conservatives with a 'Final Demand' for the £142,900,000 that the Coalition  will have cut from Brent Council's budget over the current period.

This has meant cuts in valuable Council services that will hit the young, the poor, the vulnerable and the elderly.

Those making the demand included independent local activists and residents and members of the Labour, Green and Socialist Workers parties.

Copies of the Final Demand were posted through the letter boxes of the offices.

Claim back our cash: Reclaim our Services! - Coalition to be invoiced tomorrow by Brent campaigners

Brent Fightback will be presenting an Invoice to local represenatives of the Coalition partners tomorrow for all the money that has been taken away from Brent residents through the cuts in local government funding.  Fightback encourages local people, suffering from the cuts, to join them for just a few minutes at Willesden Green (2pm) or Preston Road (3pm) or both.

Brent Council denies restructuring information to ex-Leader - he issues formal Open Government complaint

As  readers will know Christine Gilbert and Cara Davani have proposed a restructuring of senior management of Brent Council  that some have seemed as part of a 'jobs for the boys and girls' strategy. Details can be found here: LINK

The details were to be discussed at the General Purposes Committee but no details were published on the Agenda. It was marked restricted as individuals could be identified before consultation began. One person who may be affected is Fiona Ledden, Director of Legal and Procurement, as it was proposed that her post be deleted.

At the meeting the item was taken 'below the line' (confidential) and a backbench Labour councillor was none too happy at being excluded from the room.

Now the issue has been taken up by Paul Lorber, former leader of the Liberal Democrats and previously Leader of the Council.

He pressed the case for open government in an exchange with Fiona Ledden:

To: Ledden, Fiona
Cc: Gilbert, Christine Subject: GP Report on Restructuring etc

Fiona  

Can you please supply me with a copy of this Report as I believe that aspects of it should NOT have been kept secret .

Brent supports the concept if a Freedom Of Information and Reports dealing with the abolition of Departments and posts themselves have not in the past been treated as confidential.

Only matters which are confidential are issues specific to individual employees.

The normal practice in the past has been a Report above the line dealing with the general issues and only the specific staff related issues should be kept below the line .

Can you please explain who made the decision to restrict all the information to just the Members of the GP Committee and why were other Councillors excluded from Meeting and prevented from being present during consideration of the items.

How does any of this meet the acceptable Freedom of Information undertakings? Has there been a decision to raise the Secrecy threshold under the current Administration?

I would appreciate an early reply.
Thanks
 Paul

 Dear Paul,

The report was below the line and will always remain below the line I can not therefore provide you with a copy.

The consideration of whether the report should go below the line took into account the relevant information.

Kind regards

Fiona
Fiona Ledden 
Director of Legal and Procurement

 Fiona

Sorry but this is not an acceptable answer. What 'consideration' - absolute secrecy to hide what officers recommend even if breach of Open Government undertakings?

On what basis were Councillors expelled from the meeting of the GP and thus denied an opportunity to Scrutinise. Are you using GP Committee to by pass information and decision making of full Council or even the Cabinet?

This is clearly an abuse and not what was expected of the Cabinet and Scrutiny System. Perhaps you and your colleagues need to review both the legislation and Brent Council policy on Open Government and act accordingly.

Please advise how this decision can be scrutinised if access to the papers is denied to Councillors let alone the public.

Please treat my email as a formal Complaint against a refusal to provide me with information I am entitled to as a local resident and Council Tax payer.

Regards
Paul

How the Greens performed in the Brent local elections

The Green Party stood one candidate in every Brent ward except for Willesden Green, which was where we put in most of our campaigning, where we stood two candidates. We left the third slot free so as to make space for Alex Colas the independent Make Willesden Green candidate.  In the event many voters voted two Green plus MWG . MWG were the single choice of some voters and shared with parties other than the Green Party  in other cases.

The combined percentage vote of the three candidates in Willesden Green was 21%: Make Willesden Green 9%, Sharara Ali 6% and Martin Francis 6%.

The Greens beat both Tory and Lib Dem candidates in Harlesden, Kensal Green and Kilburn. We beat all the Lib Dems in Dudden Hill, Fryent, Kenton, Northwick Park, Preston, Queen's Park, Queensbury and Welsh Harp. We beat all the Tories in Mapesbury and Willesden Green.

Greens were ahead of two out of the three Lib Dem candidates in Barnhill, Brondesbury  Park and Willesden Green and two out of three Tories in Queen's Park.

Our highest percentage votes were in Brondesbury Park, Kensal Green, Mapesbury, Queen's Park and Willesden Green.

Brent Green Party has limited financial and human resources compared with the other parties and therefore had to concentrate on a few wards. However, it is clear that there are many potential Green voters in the borough if only we can reach them through leafleting and personal contact. Our aim must be to substantially increase our active membership and network of supporters while at the same time maintaining and improving our campaigning record.

The Euro election results later today should give us further indications of our potential support.

Looking forward to the General Election in 2015 the 'Vote for Policies' website  LINK shows Greens ahead of the other parties in Brent Central. People vote purely on policies without knowing which party they emanate from until completion:

Green Party 25.95%
Labour 23.07%
Liberal Democrats: 17.47%
Conservative 14.77%
UKIP 10.51%
BNP 8.23%

The figures for Brent North also put the Greens ahead LINK

Green Party 24.01%
Labour 22.74%
Liberal Democrats 16.13%
Conservative 15.12%
UKIP 12.48%
BNP 9.52%

Meanwhile, for any individual their political party  affiliation is a matter of 'best fit'  rather than 'I agree with every item in the manifesto'. I hope that some Wembley Matters readers will take note of this election result and come and join us.

More than ever, we are the alternative.

Barry Gardiner issues warning over scrutiny responsibilies following Labour landslide

As the dust settles after the election battle is is clear that Brent Labour's campaigning efforts, weeks of  hard work door-knocking and door-stepping have paid off,  along with the London trend.  Those of us who hoped that the electorate would give them a bloody nose over library closures, council tax summonses, dodgy consultations and collusion in Coalition cuts, will be disappointed.

The situation regarding the Corporate Manageent Team, which has been the subject of much comment on this blog will need to be dealt with swiftly.

The sweeping away of Liberal Democrats is the main story here in Brent but across the capital I think the refusal of Londoners to jump on the UKIP bandwago, however much it is talked up by the BBC, is extremely posiitve.

Meanwhile Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, has echoed some of the comments I made yesterday about the dangers of huge majoritty Labour won in Brent: (Kilburn Times website LINK)

I’m thrilled, of course I’m thrilled but we need to be very careful.

It is a huge responsibility because a majority this big for any party means that we have to look within ourselves for the sort of scrutiny that we need of the policies that we ourselves are proposing.

All of these people got elected because they managed to persuade voters they wanted to represent them in the civic centre on the council. They must remember their job is to represent the people to the bureaucratic (sic) of the council and not to represent the council bureaucrats to the people. 

We are here to be a critical voice to say where things are wrong and to set policy to change Brent for the better.

 I think such scrutiny will be helped by giving backbench Labour councillors freedom from the whip (elected Green councillors are not whipped as a matter of party policy) and revisiting decision making and scrutiny arrangements to enhance accountability.

Greens condemn Lib Dem support for illiberal 'gagging bill'

Last night the Lobbying Bill passed the House of Lords.One of the votes was tied 245/245 but that procedurally means the government won.

What this means is that the Liberal Democrats have helped pass another illiberal bill (one that they no doubt hope will limit the impact of students who were greatly betrayed by them). Now are we going to see the government take the Royal British Legion, Oxfam or another NGO to Court if any organisation challenges this? Meanwhile the real danger to politics, the corporate lobbyists, will remain largely unaffected.

As Home Affairs spokesperson for the Green Party,  Peter Cranie issued this response:

The coalition has tried to legally gag those who would challenge their appalling record on poverty, the environment, tuition fees and civil liberties. The Green Party will voice those concerns and we urge former Liberal Democrat voters to help us kick out the legs from under the coalition at the European Elections, by voting Green and making completely clear this attempt to end freedom of political speech for charities and campaigning groups was a step too far.

Saving William Gladstone Open Space for all of us

I am opposed to free schools and academies and so is the Green Party. The Liberal Democrats have gone along with free schools and academies in the Coalition and Sarah Teather changed her position from opposition to support when she became a minister. On that and much else I am passionately opposed to them.

However Liberal Democrat councillor Alision Hopkins has been vociferous in her opposition to the Gladstone Free School being built on the William Gladstone Open Space next to Gladstone Park and I think her reasons deserve a wider circulation.

Here is Alison's Guest Blog which is what she would have said at tonight's meeting. 

I’m really sorry I can’t be at the meeting tonight. I’ve a family funeral in Southampton which clashes.

For me, this is a very personal issue. I grew up at the Gladstone Park end of Dollis Hill Avenue, and played in the park and on the open space as a child. I know it well, and I know its history and value to our community.

Let’s be clear, first of all, about the kind of green space that’s threatened. This land has never been built on. Centuries ago it was part of Lower Oxgate Farm, later, market gardens and then allotments. It is now Metropolitan Open Land, which is the equivalent of Green Belt in London. It is protected by law.

Let’s also be clear that this is not about the school per se, it’s about the proposed location.

Gladstone School has claimed that they wish to build on the site of the old William Gladstone School. That site – where the school buildings once stood – is now houses and flats. The school wish to build on William Gladstone Open Space, which is its proper name, NOT Gladstone Playing Fields. And, for the sake of clarity, it’s in Dollis Hill, not Willesden as has repeatedly been stated.

The William Gladstone Open Space is precisely that. Open, green land that belongs to ALL of us. The school have also claimed the space is disused and run down. Their own press release refers to it as a “near abandoned “space! Perhaps they should tell that to the rugby players, the dog walkers, joggers, commuters and all the other people who use it. Perhaps they should also tell that to the people who simply love looking and enjoying one of London’s precious and all too few green lungs.

Gladstone Park isn’t merely “nearby” as the school claim. It’s part of the space they want, and any road from Parkside to the school would have to go through Gladstone Park itself. The importance of Gladstone Park and the William Gladstone Open Space cannot be overstated.

The school also claims that Brent Council considered building on the Open Space in 2005. That’s being economical with the truth, to say the least. In 2005, Brent looked at every piece of land they owned to identify a site for a second City Academy at Wembley. The William Gladstone Open Space came last on the list and was rejected out of hand as totally unsuitable. Nothing has changed since them.

I was contacted by the school in August last year and I, with another fellow councillor met them in September. I made it clear then that I thought any idea of building on the open space was utterly wrong, would be fiercely resisted and that other options were available. Indeed, I suggested several to them, including other Brent owned properties.

Residents then started to approach me, to express their fears for what is the heart of our community. They are the ones – as it should be with any grass roots campaign! – who are leading this and who have pushed this campaign along. They’re the ones who’ve spent every evening and all weekends knocking on doors. They’re the ones who’ve set up Facebook pages.

Kilburn Cosmos, our terrific local rugby team, would be devastated if these plans went ahead. It would mean the loss of one of their essential rugby pitches. And, by the way, over a quarter of a million pounds was spent on that pitch very recently. When Cosmos applied to build a tiny club house on the Open Space, they were turned down almost instantly by Brent Council.

William Gladstone school was closed due to failing rolls in the early 1990s. This was in part because of poor transport links and also because of the nature of our Dollis Hill feeder schools. Nothing has changed since then.

There are three local primary schools in Dollis Hill. One is Orthodox Jewish, one Catholic and the only non-faith school, Braintcroft is directly across the road from Crest Academy.  Crest is having £40 million spent on it and will be using brand new buildings from September.  Gladstone School tells me that they only approached Braintcroft to assess their interest last week! Neither Our Lady of Grace nor the Jewish school will act as a feeder school to Gladstone. It’s also very unlikely that Braintcroft would, as they feed to Crest and to schools in Wembley. What that means is that the pupils attending Gladstone would be unlikely to be local children who could or would walk to Gladstone School. Again, the 2005 Brent Council report clearly stated this.

The small primary school at the bottom of Parkside does cause some issues with traffic and parking at the beginning and end of the school day, as pupils travel from a distance. That school is, however a very good neighbour indeed and works hard to alleviate the difficulties. However, as part of their own small planning application, further double yellow lines will be put on Parkside.

The proposed site has no access roads. Parkside and Oxleys Road are both cul de sacs. Extending Parkside would mean encroaching into the park, and extending Oxleys Road would mean  traffic, including construction traffic driving directly through a quiet residential housing estate.

The Open Space is not served by tubes or busses. When Brent assessed the land in  2005, it scored the lowest possible mark for transport using the PTAL rating, which measures non car accessibility in general. That study also said that the railway line bordering the site made it difficult for primary schools in the south of the borough to get to the Open Space. , Those are the schools that  Gladstone School has canvassed and where any  interest seems to lie. There are no direct bus routes.  The  226 serves the south side of the park and is infrequent, requiring changing to other bus routes to reach most of south Brent. The 232 on Dollis Hill Lane is also infrequent and serves the St Raphael’s  Estate  and Brent Cross.  There’s a railway line, but that’s a goods and freight service, which also happens to carry waste as well as fuel to Heathrow Airport.

The school also claims they were asked by Brent Council not to campaign for the site and thus stir up local feeling. I find that hard to credit and have asked for confirmation from Brent officers. They also claim to have consulted widely: surely those claims are contradictory?

The school is now petitioning for Brent Council to consult on the proposed school. It actually isn’t down to Brent Council, for once, to consult with residents about the school and its location. That can’t happen until a formal planning application is sent to the council. It’s up to the school to talk to local people, and that’s been sadly lacking. I’m a local resident. I wasn’t contacted. I know that Braintcroft, for example, were only contacted last week. I’ve also been told that Gladstone School has been contacting schools outside Dollis Hill for two years.

As I said at the outset, this isn’t about the existence of the school, this is about proposals to use a location which is not only utterly unsuitable for the school, but deeply damaging to our community. I’ve rarely seen such a depth of anger and disquiet here. We love our green space and want it left for us and succeeding generations. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

No clues needed for the timing of Rev's resignation decision

A cheeky card Cllr Krupesh Hirnai placed on his blog

I understand that the Reverend David Clues, Lib Dem councillor for Dudden Hill has officially resigned at last. Clues moved to Brighton in 2011 and both the Labour and Green parties have repeatedly called for his resignation. Local activist Kierra Box accosted him at his Brighton home with unanswered emails and letters.

The scandalous neglect of local residents and dereliction of democratic accountability seems to stem from the Lib Dem's reluctance to fight a byelection at a time of national unpopularity.  Latterly some apologists have argued that by not having a byelection they are saving council tax-payers' money.

Because the resignation is so close to the May 2014 local elections I understand there will not be a byelection. Just the saving of a few thousand on the councillor's expenses.

'Benefit thieves' ex-Labour MP launches his campaign for Brent Central nomination

Veteran Labour politician and former government minister Tony McNulty has launched his campaign for  nomination as Labour candidate for the Brent Central seat.

McNulty was Minister for London and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform before having to resign over an expenses claim. He was asked to apologise to the House of Commons and repay £13,837.  The press drew attention to his perceived hypocrisy over his attack on benefit 'cheats' when he had said:

Benefit thieves have to understand that they will not get away with it. Working together with local authorities and the police we have a range of powers to investigate and with the support of the public we bring benefit thieves to justice.

 He lost his Harrow East seat to Bob Blackman at the 2010 General Election.

He is married to Christine Gilbert, Acting Chief Executive of Brent Council,  who was herself embroiled in controversy when it was revealed that her Council salary was paid to her own private company.  The Council recently extended her position until after the 2014 local election.

McNulty has been out regularly on the 'Labour doorstep' with other Brent Labour Party activists and has now sent this message to Labour Party members:

Dear Member,

Brent Central is about to embark on its selection of a parliamentary candidate and I have already written to you explaining why I am seeking the privilege of representing you in 2015. You should receive my leaflet in the next day or so. This is a hugely important selection in a seat that is crucial to the return of a Labour government. Brent Central deserves so much more than another Liberal Democrat MP propping up another disastrous Tory-led coalition.
 

My passion for the Labour Party is supported by my passion for Brent. I know Brent well with roots in the area that go back many years. Brent Central needs a candidate with the knowledge, experience and skill to be both a local champion and a national voice for our communities. I believe I have this knowledge, experience and skill. I know I have the passion, drive and commitment to build a strong and united constituency team that will defeat the Liberal Democrats. United we can win and make Brent Central the safe Labour seat it should be.
 

To find out more about me and my ideas, please visit www.tonymcnulty.com. If you want to read more about my promises to you, then go to www.tonymcnulty.com/my-pledges.
 

I will be in touch soon to find out more about the issues that matter most to you and the kind of MP needed to ensure a better future for Brent Central.
 

My leaflet should be with you by tomorrow or Wednesday and I would be delighted if you would respond by contacting me for a personal chat either by phone or in person. In the meantime, please feel free to email me at tonyjmcnulty@gmail.com or call me at any time on (number withheld for privacy by Wembley Matters).
 

I look forward to speaking to you over the next few weeks.

With thanks and best wishes

Meanwhile Lembit Öpik has just confirmed to the Kilburn Times  LINK that he intends to seek the Liberal Democrat nomination for Brent Central. Öpik versus McNulty - does this cheer or chill you?