Barry Gardiner invites Brent tower block residents to fire safety meeting on Monday

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North has invited residents of tower blocks in Brent to a meeting on Monday 19th June 7.30pm at St James Church Alperton, 34 Stanley Avenue, HA0

4JB.

In the letter he tells the residents that the primary purpose of the meeting will be to listen to existing concerns about fire safety matters and how suggestions and complaints are handled.

The Borough Fire Commander and Brent Council Chief Executive have been invited or to send substitutes along with the Chief executives of local Housing Associations.

Gardiner states:

Such tragedies (Grenfell Tower) are less likely to happen when there is transparency and good communications between residents and manager of the property. It is my hope that the meeting can help ensure that this is the case.

Gardiner's initiative is welcome, particularly as Brent Council response in the Guardian/Observer today LINK seems to cast doubt on the earlier comment it made to the Kilburn Times LINK.

The Guardian:

 Councils in Coventry, Sandwell, and the London boroughs of Newham and Brent were unable to say if they had carried out any inspections or even how many tower blocks they had.

The Kilburn Times:

In a report shown to the Brent&Kilburn Times, housing chiefs have set up a six-point action plan which includes checks that claddings applied to the outside of buildings are fire rated.

They are also liaising with the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to seek clarity and guidance around the “self evacuation” vs “stay put” briefing as many block residents are told to stay in their properties in the event of a fire.

The inclusion of Housing Associations in Monday's meeting is important because several of our local ones are now in the business of 'building to rent' or acting as managers for sites built by others. LINK

Join in with #GreenforGrenfell school action June 23rd

 

 

Schools are coming together in support of the victims of Grenfell Tower, with a 'Green for Grenfell' dresscode on 23 June 

 

Schools across west London are set to unite to raise money for people affected by Wednesday's tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.

The Fulham College Academy Trust is urging pupils and staff to show their support and solidarity by donating money and wearing #GreenforGrenfell on 23 June.

The idea has struck a chord across the tri-borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster, with 50 schools pledging to take part in just 12 hours.

All money donated will go to the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation’s Grenfell Tower Appeal, which has been set up with the support of the London Emergency Trust Fund. You can donate here. Use the hashtag #GreenforGrenfell on Twitter.

I hope some Brent schools will join in. This is how one school is taking part:

 

60 firefighters tackle fire in Wembley recycling depot

From the scene of the fire (Photo London Fire Brigade)

From London Fire Brigade

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters and officers were called to tackle a fire at a single storey warehouse used as a recycling depot on Hannah Close off Great Central Way in Wembley during the early hours of this morning.

Around 50 tonnes of rubbish was destroyed in the blaze.

Crews from Wembley, Park Royal, Hendon, Acton and surrounding fire stations were at the scene.
Station Manager Claiton Murray who attended the incident said:

Thankfully there were no injuries and because the location of the fire was on an industrial estate it wasn't near enough to roads or housing for the smoke to cause any disruption. Crews have worked hard to stop the fire spreading to other buildings.

The Brigade was called at 0214 and the fire was under control at 0654 but crews are expected to be at the scene for some time.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

'Many hands build a house, but many hearts make a school' head reminds displaced pupils

I understand that temporary accommodation has been found for the children and teachers displaced by the fire at St Joseph's Primary School, Harlesden earlier this week.  As a former teacher I was touched by the letter sent to children by their headteacher:

This is the fire from which children were evacuated safely:

Michaela Free School 'putting pupils lives at risk' claim teacher unions

Hank Roberts, Union representative on  on Brent Schools Health and Safety Committee has riased serious questions about safety at the Michaela Academy Free School in Wembley Park which opened in September 2014 but is still undertaking building works on the building while it is occupied by the Year 7 children.  This is his letter to Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council containing the draft report:

Dear Muhammed.

Please find enclosed a revised (2^nd draft) copy of our document concerning Michaela Community (Free) school. This is just to clarify particular action points that we are calling for you and the Authority to take up arising from the potentially dangerous situation we uncovered and, we believe, aspects of which are still extant.

1)   For the Authority to write to the Secretary of State for Education and Michaela Community school seeking their response to the specific actions I believe should be undertaken in the section of the document on Page 7 headed “Urgent actions that need to be undertaken”.

2)   That the request in the last paragraph on Page 8 from “We call on the local authority” down to “other Brent LA schools” and further to raise with the Secretary of State both the exact present legal position of the LA in regard to potential hazards facing the health and safety of Brent pupils in free schools (and academies) and the unsatisfactory nature of the present anomalous position.

Yours sincerely,

Hank Roberts

Union Representative on Brent Schools H&S Committee

PS: I am also sending this draft document to the Fire Brigade, H&S Executive, ATL, NASUWT and NUT Teacher Unions, Brent school H&S Reps and the media requesting their observations, comments and actions as appropriate.

Below you can find the full draft document which Mr Roberts has circulated:

 

Does Michaela's 'private school ethos' mean they can ignore safety concerns as enquiries blocked?

The only street entry/exit from Michaela Free school 

Photo: Nick Wright (via Facebook)

Reflecting concerns about teacher and children safety at the new Michaela Free School in Wembley Park, Jenny Cooper of the Brent Teachers' Association  has attempted a dialogue with the management.  It appears that not only have her concerns been ignored but Michaela has now blocked any communication from her

This is the sequence of events as recorded by email:

September 30th by email.
Dear Ms Birbalsingh,

I am writing to you in my capacity as Brent NUT Health & Safety Adviser and London representative on the National NUT Health & Safety Working Group as a result of concerns that have been expressed to me regarding fire safety procedures in your school.

NUT members have expressed concern that there appears to be only one entrance and exit from the building, through the wooden hoardings on the building site and that there appears to be no area for fire assembly purposes. This is a concern to the NUT for two reasons: potential danger for NUT members who may be working at the school and potential danger for the pupils.

To reassure us over these concerns, could you please send me a copy of your fire risk assessment? I am requesting this document under the provisions of the "Safety Representatives and Safety Committees regulations 1977", specifically regulation 7 which allows for inspection of documents and provision of information necessary to enable me to carry out my function. As an appointed Brent NUT Safety rep, part of my function is to promote health and safety in Brent schools on behalf of members that may be employed in those schools.

Hopefully I will be reassured by the fire risk assessment that everything is in place and that members' concerns have been unfounded. However, if I do not get sight of this document or a reply to this request, I will be forced to take this concern elsewhere.

Thank you for your help,

Jenny Cooper,

Brent NUT Health & Safety Adviser 

London rep on national NUT HSWG

NUT Safety rep on Brent Schools' Health & Safety Committee

No response was received so follow up email on October 16th:

Dear Ms Birbalsingh,

Do you have a response to my earlier email, below?

I will be actioning this matter in another way if I do not hear from you within the week.

Jenny Cooper

Response from Michaela

officeadmin@mcsbrent.co.uk

Your message can't be delivered because delivery to this address is restricted to authenticated Sender.
For more information about this issue see DSN code 5.7.12 in Exchange Online.

This is the same Michaela email address as Jenny had used before in communicating with the school and has not been rejected before. It appears that she has been blocked from raising these legitimate concerns.

Brent NUT told me:

We have been leafleting the parents about the H&S issues at Michaela. We leafleted the parents meetings for the new intake. When we were handing out letters to children at the end of the day to take home to all parents, some staff came out and asked why we hadn't written to ask about the situation with regards to fire safety and other issues. We replied that the H&S Advisor Jenny Cooper had written but there had been no response. That is why we were handing out letters as we were so concerned. This took the wind out of sails somewhat. We alerted Ruth Moher, Lead member for Education that we had not had any response and she is checking what is happening. A Brent Council H&S Officer is supposed to making a visit to the school and may already have done. Interesting that now Jenny has been blocked.

 

Birbalsingh's 'high standards' do not to appear to apply to the Michaela building

Katharine Birbalsingh's strictures on school uniform (sturdy black traditional shoes - send us a picture for approval before purchasing if you are not sure), haircuts (must 'comply' with school policy, presumably nothing expressing any personality or ethnic identity allowed) and umbrellas (only black or blue - nothing colourful) have been received with some amusement LINK

However, Birbalsingh's 'high standards' on uniform and behaviour do not seem to apply to the school building where pupils will start at 11am on Monday.

The pupil entrance is through a builders' door and along a wooded boarded narrow passage way that separates pedestrians from building equipment on one side and stacked cabins on the other. The whole of the area beneath the school appears to be covered in building equipment apart from this passage way.  As far as I could see this morning there is no play area at all at the moment and more importantly nowhere for the children to assemble in the event of a fire.

They would have to evacuate the building along the wooden boarded narrow passage way and assembly outside on the pedstrianised road.

This morning there was a lot of work going on inside the building but what appeared to be  classrooms had no equipment apart from tables and chairs. There may be other rooms hidden from view.

120 excited children, who have waited an extra two weeks for their school to be opened, may well be rather disappointed by what they find when they enter the building for the first time. 

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN EARLIER TODAY

CLASSROOM?

 

KITCHEN

GROUND LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL - HOARDING PROTECTING PEDESTRIANS (FAR RIGHT)

PEDESTRIAN GATE (WHITE) FOR PUPILS (EXTREME RIGHT)

Park Royal fire reignites Harlesden's safety concerns

The bio-chemical fire earlier today at Midland Road, Park Royal, highlights residents' concerns about the issue of air quality in the area and the dangers posed by some of the local industrial facilities. The  Kilburn Times report is HERE  As the heavy smoke spread across parts of Ealing and Harlesden and residents were told to close their windows, questions were again being asked about the safety of plans for an incinerator in the Harlesden area. Ealing Council are due to consider the planning application again after postponing a decision in the summer. The plans have been opposed by Brent Council.

The photographs of the scene (below) were contributed by a local resident:

Vigil tonight following attack on Islamic Community Centre

Unite Against Fascism has called a vigil after the letters ‘EDL’ – the initials of the English Defence League – were allegedly found graffitied on the Bravanese Centre in Coppetts Road, Muswell Hill, North London. The Islamic community centre was destroyed in a suspicious fire in the early hours of yesterday

Counter-terrorism officers with the Metropolitan Police are treating the fire as suspicious and investigating whether the attack was started deliberately in a racist attack.

At this stage it is not clear if the fire is linked to the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich two weeks ago but there has been a significant increase in reports of attacks against Muslims since his death
.

Unite Against Fascism says:

We are deeply concerned about the fire of the Bravanese Centre and the reported EDL graffiti. Our thoughts are with the Somali, Muslim and indeed all the communities in the area that have been affected by this incident. We ask people to join us at the vigil.

UAF launched the Don’t let the racists divide us campaign in response to the stepped up activities of the English Defence League (EDL), the British National Party (BNP) and other racist and far right groups in the aftermath of the murder, which have cynically attempted to exploit the murder of Lee Rigby to pursue their own agenda directed against Black, Asian and especially Muslim communities.

This has already led to a spike in Islamophobic attacks and a wave of assaults on Mosques. Muslim communities are experiencing verbal abuse, women’s headscarves have been torn off as well as more serious threats and violent attacks. Racists are simply stepping up their campaign. So too must the anti-racist and anti-fascist movement in response to this hate agenda.

DON’T LET THE RACISTS DIVIDE US VIGIL
THURDAY 6 JUNE, 6-7PM
BRAVANESE CENTRE
116 COPPETTS ROAD, MUSWELL HILL N10 1JS

Atos abandon wheelchair user in fire emergency

Cameron's Britain continues to shock. This happened just down the road in Neasden: (From The Independent) LINK

Recently, there have been several  reports of Atos carrying out their fitness to work assessments in buildings which are not wheelchair accessible.

Considering the number of wheelchair users who undergo fitness-to-work assessments, this is only seen as yet another thing to add to the long list of serious problems that disabled people and carers  have with the way the company operates.

The latest story of an inaccessible assessment centre appears to be the worst one yet, with the most serious potential consequences for a severely disabled person. It also illustrates clearly exactly why it is so important that all centres and offices used by Atos should be completely wheelchair accessible.

Geoff Meeghan, 32, has early-onset Parkinson’s disease and cannot walk more than three metres unsupported. He was being assessed by Atos on the second floor of a building in Neasden, North West London. A few minutes into his assessment, the fire alarm went off.

Staff evacuated the building, but left him behind in his wheelchair.

Disabled people are supposed to be asked whether they can exit the building unassisted. Mr Meeghan, for some unknown reason, was apparently not asked this question.

He also said that they were not allowed to use the lift and when they asked a security guard for help, he said he would send some, but no one came. Eventually, another security guard arrived at the scene and stayed with Mr Meeghan and his carers, even though he had been told to evacuate.

Mr Meeghan can tackle stairs supported, he said, but in the “highly stressful situation” he felt it was “far too risky.”

Most shocking of all, it was a real fire. Mr Meeghan said “It wasn’t a drill. We could see the fire engine arriving outside.”

He went on to strongly criticise the company, saying: “I feel like there was a general lack of respect for disabled people at Atos – they make you feel as though you’ve done something wrong by being disabled – like you’re being persecuted.”

An Atos spokesperson said: “This should never have happened and we apologise unreservedly. We will be getting in contact with Mr Meeghan directly. We have since reviewed this case internally with the building security and management team to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

“This is a DWP building and the fire warden in charge on the day followed the appropriate evacuation procedures and advised that everyone had to leave the building except for a security guard who was asked to stay with Mr Meeghan.”

Mr Meeghan is extremely lucky to be alive after this incident. And this story transpires after we hear of the Atos boss getting a £1million bonus.

It is now hoped that all Atos workers and assessment centres are made aware of this incident at the very earliest opportunity. It is also hoped that all assessment centres used by Atos will, in light of this case, now make every possible effort to provide ground floor rooms to wheelchair users for assessments at all times. At the very least offering respect and safety to the disabled people they are testing.

Fire in Central Wembley

Fire fighters have been tackling a warehouse blaze near Wembley Central station. No casualties have been reported but there are road closures to give access to emergency vehicles and for public safety,

Check out the Brent and Kilburn website for updates LINK and Harrow Observer LINK