Guest blog by Anon.
During the Kenton
by-election in February 2011, Muhammed Butt rang my doorbell and asked me if I was
going to vote for the Labour candidate. I responded by saying I wasn't sure,
that it was unlikely, and he asked why. I
said was very disappointed with the Council, particularly the Labour group, who
appeared to be supporting severe cuts to frontline services, which, in my
opinion, would affect the most vulnerable in our community.
Mo asked me for an
example and I told him that I heard the Council were proposing to close 24
Crawford Avenue (a large 6 bedroom house that had a 1/3rd of an acre of play
space and is situated in the heart of Wembley).
Incidentally, the house was bequeathed to Barnardos specifically for the
use of children in need. It was leased to Brent Council for decades at a
reasonable annual rent.
The Council leased the
property for decades from Barnardos without any major issues. The unit was
registered to provide overnight short breaks for up to 6 children, in addition
to providing valuable day care during the school holidays and at weekends for
another 6 children. It also accepted lockouts and emergency child protection
cases. Those who benefited from the
service were children aged between 5-18 years, who although mobile, suffered
from moderate to severe disabilities, including learning difficulties and some
with challenging behaviours. In addition to giving children greater
opportunities to develop and socialise and through play it also gave families much
needed short breaks.
However, whilst standing in my doorway,
touting for my vote, Mo Butt responded absentmindedly. He said, "Oh yes,
Crawford Avenue is going to close. Ironically, this was before any official
community consultations had begun. When I
raised further concerns about how disappointed I was, he proudly informed me
that he was the Deputy Leader of the Council and that I should put my concerns
in writing to him.
Months later, the so-called public consultations eventually began and many people put their concerns in writing. Service users took a legal challenge to the high court. The Council continued to argue that they knew best. That they were building a 'state of the art' unit, which eventually became known as the Ade Adepitan Centre, situated adjacent to the new Villlage School in Grove Park. Whilst the new build was being built, the Council officially closed Crawford Avenue and merged it with Clement Close, a very small respite unit for children of families who had Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) and other disabilities, designed for wheelchair users.
This effectively meant that the service
provision was more than halved for both groups of children, as it wasn't safe
for the young people to be booked in together. In addition to this, despite
some basic refurbishment, the building was not fit for purpose and many
families from Crawford declined to send their children to Clement. Crawford Avenue was eventually closed in
January 2012. Interestingly, months later, a pre-change of use planning
application was submitted by someone, who recognised the enormous potential of
this property. This was in December 2012.
For further details on this matter see LINK
Sadly, Crawford Avenue
(a potential jewel in the crown of Wembley) was eventually sold by Barnardos
for about £875,000 and the buyer succeeded in their application to the Council
for cessation in lease for the continued
use of building as a children's home.
Meantime, much community unhappiness developed
at Clement Close as staff and service users tried to adapt to many changes in a
building that was not fit for purpose.
It also appeared that more serious incidents occurred, including
assaults on staff by children and in September 2012 an unhappy vulnerable child
absconded.
Such incidents are of
concern when you hear councillors and managers say that, 'The impact on the
child must be our primary concern'. From
January 2012 to February 2013 staff, children and families endured many
changes. In March 2013 Neil Macdonald (Interim Head of Service Children’s Commissioning)
delivered reported to the Council on short breaks provision for Children with
Disabilities. He confirmed that new Village short breaks centre was now open
and had received its first children for respite care on 8 February 2013.
He said, "The centre was registered to
provide short breaks for up to 8 children, double the capacity of Clement
Close. The council was currently exploring how best to use this additional
capacity" because of the low occupancy. Something, I understand, they
still struggle with, possibly due to the institutional feel and poor design
that cannot always accommodate the two different client groups safely.
As for day care and after school care, I
understand this has yet to be provided, despite misleading reports from Mr
MacDonald to the Executive Committee.
Further, Sara Williams
(Acting Director of Children & Families) and her team, also reported to the
Executive Committee in November 2013, less than a year after the closure of
Crawford Avenue, that, 'The lack of appropriate children's residential care homes
also hampers the council in its duty to take reasonable practicable steps to
secure sufficient accommodation for looked after children where it's their best
interest to be accommodated locally.
It really does beggar
belief that our leaders can be so short sighted. Where will the cuts end and what impact will they really
have on our community in years to come?
ANON
