Public urged to support the Roe Green Strathcona staff on strike today

NEU staff at Roe Green Strathcona School will be on strike today following the failure of attempts to negotiate an arrangement with Brent Council that would avoid compulsory redundancies and facilitate redeployment from the Strathcona site to the main Roe Green Infants site.

Striking staff will be demonstrating outside Brent Civic Centre from 8am to 9am this morning. This will be the sixth strike in a campaign that initially started to stop the closure of Strathcona but following confirmation of the Labour Council's decision has now moved to protecting jobs.

Battles over school closures were last prominent in the 1970s when the number of pupils in schools fell.The strike is significant because it will set a precedent for how closures are handled by local authorities. It is thought that closures are likely in some of Brent's neighbouring boroughs. Falling pupil numbers are likely to be affected by movement out of the UK by some European families in the event of Brexit.

Tough Times at Copland Today

Guest blog by So Macho

We live in tough times, as the cushioned and the comfortable  frequently remind us, and there can be few more nauseating contemporary  sights than effete middle-class Englishmen like Osborne, Cameron and Gove, with the might of the state at their disposal, boasting of the toughness of the decisions they have to make in order to intimidate, bully or impoverish the vulnerable.  It was tough times too at Copland today as another swathe of teachers collected their P45s, the consequence of the tough decisions the IEB has had to make in order to make Copland into a tempting morsel for Ark Inc. No time for sentiment either as no recognition was made by the tough management of the fact that staff with up to 12 years of  service were getting their dismissal letters. No official farewells, no gathering of the staff for an organised and dignified recognition of colleagues’ contribution and no time for staff to hold even an unofficial goodbye as, contrary to tradition and custom and practice in other schools, they were told toughly that ‘Friday will be a normal day’. 

Not for those being made redundant it wasn't. Tough eh?

Brent Council sacks sustainability worker as climate change intensifies

The country may be experiencing the worse floods for decades and chaotic weather conditions becoming the rule rather than the exception but Brent Council seem to have barely noticed. As it becomes evident that we need to prepare for climate change they are moving in the opposite direction as this guest blog by Sussed Green shows.

Brent Council are again restructuring their departments. One recent example of the re-structure of the Environmental Projects & Policy team is a typical example of how Brent Council wastes money. The restructure included 4 staff. The 2 staff leading on Carbon Reduction - where we are miserably failing with having only reached 11% instead of 25% promised - were not affected and assimilated.

Of the other two, one took voluntary redundancy because of the evening and weekend work involved. The other person, who only last year achieved a personal staff achievement award, was incremental in achieving the long awaited Fairtrade Borough status, led on outreach work with residents via the Brent Sustainability Forum and achieved  69% of positive biodiversity management was let go because she didn’t ‘pass’ the interview that was set for her, even though she is  a model for effective cooperation between the Council and civil society in Brent. The Council will now have to pay two sets of redundancy and pay to recruit a new member of staff at extra expense. The decision raises serious questions about the Council’s commitment to Fairtrade, sustainability and value for money.

Copland football coach saved at the final whistle

The Kilburn Times  LINK is reporting that the Copland football coach Paul Lawrence who was threatened with redundancy has now been told that his job is safe the day before he was due to leave.. Lawrence coached England player Raheem Sterling from when the player was 10 years old.

In a Guest Blog on Wembley Matters,  'Fourth Estate' made the case for Paul's retention LINK stating:

But, of course, what Paul Lawrence would really like to do at the moment is to simply carry on doing what he’s done so successfully up to now: coaching Copland’s ordinary kids and its prospective England stars to fulfil their potential, so that they may  ‘have that true sense of self-worth which will enable them  to stand up for themselves and for a purpose greater than themselves, and, in doing so,  be of value to society.

The change of heart on Lawrence is welcome  but I can't help wondering how many more people, similarly committed to Copland students, have been lost in the recent cull.

‘I’m an Ark Academy apologist. Get me out of here!’

Copland staff  and parents underwhelmed by  ‘consultation’ process.  

Guest blog by 'Participatory Democracy'

Copland staff have always been a little sceptical about ‘consultation’, possibly since ex-Head Davies once announced to a full staff meeting (on applying for Trust status) : ‘the consultation period is over’, having omitted to do anything to indicate that it had ever actually begun. So when various Ark representatives, including the Ark Academy Head, Dame Delia Smith OBE, and IEB members fronted a ‘consultation’ meeting for Copland staff last Thursday, no one was expecting them to get a warm reception. And that’s exactly what they didn’t get. Still, as almost all the staff had only ever seen one member of the IEB before, it was, if nothing else,  a chance for them to get a glimpse of this year’s latest  new bosses. Or, as one ‘deleted’ teacher put it: ‘it’s always nice to be able to put a face to your redundancy notice’.

ARK Academy: And the dismissal letters went out two by two...

Guest post by 'Ark Angel'

Full union meeting at Copland today as letters go out to those facing the chop next April in the next stage of the cull: only about 50 teachers  took ‘voluntary’ redundancy or otherwise bailed out in the summer. This was not good enough and Targets Must Be Met so some more will have to go. During and after the meeting a number of points were raised including:

·         The fact that the Chair of Ofsted  (which condemned Copland to forced Academy status) is Dame Sally Morgan. Dame Sally Morgan is also an ‘Advisor’ to Ark  Academies. Ark Academies is the business that Copland is being flogged off to*. (This kind of potential conflict of interest is one about which Private Eye magazine has been trying for some time without success to get a straight answer from Ofsted).

·         The reputation that Academies have of a very high staff turnover-rate as a result of poor conditions of service and a bullying management  culture. Reports of teachers on one year contracts only being told on the last day of summer term that their contract was terminated, with no chance even to say goodbye to their classes .

·         The inflated claims of the ‘success’ of the Wembley Ark Academy when they’ve only just got a third year of secondary students in. Even Ian Duncan Smith could manage that, (especially if his school had an ‘Advisor’ who was also Chair of Ofsted). 

·         The inability of Michael Pavey to provide any solid supporting evidence for his decisions regarding Copland other than ones which are inherently compromised by, for example, the historic exceptionalism of Copland’s mismanagement at school and local authority level; events at Crest;  the ability of even Tory Redbridge Council to defend democratic, locally-run education;  and the dubious integrity of an Ofsted organisation which is generally seen as an arm of Michael Gove’s DfE  (with some questionable links to Academy chains). 

·         The timing. The tide is turning against Academies. Sweden is no longer mentioned by Gove because they’ve gone off Academies. Finland never had them despite being praised by Gove. Only half the schools in this country are Academies and comparable countries to ours are dismantling them. Soon they’ll be seen as an historical aberration. Like Betamax. Or Simon Cowell’s trousers.

The mood of the meeting was resolute and determined. Action against the Ark plans and the axing of staff looks like being stepped up.

Next stage of the cull will be Management.

*For  Dame Sally’s inevitable expenses scandal details, see LINK

Brent Budget gap points to more cuts unless Councillors say enough is enough

The Brent Executive on Monday will receive the latest 3 year budget forecast which has been revised from that presented in February. The figures assume the Council Tax freeze will continue and a pay inflation of 1% in 2013-14 and 2% thereafter. Allowance is made for restructuring and redundancy costs of £2.6m.

The basic figures:

	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
	£m	£m	£m
Budget Gap at Council Feb 2013	20.4	17.1	17.3
Reductions in Revenue Support Grant	2.0	13.0	1.0
Business Rate Top-Up	-0.1	-0.4	-0.2
Additional Council Tax Freeze Grants	-1.0	-1.1	2.1
Business Rates - share of growth from baseline	-1.9	-0.7	-0.6
New Homes Bonus	0.5	2.7	-0.1
Collection Fund Surplus	-2.4	2.4
Council Tax Base	-1.3	-0.2	-0.3
Other Grants	-1.1	0.8
Capital Financing	-2.0
Latest Budget Gap	13.1	33.6	19.2

Clearly more cuts are looming and just in case Councillors get any ideas about refusing to set a budget or raiding the reserves, Mick Bowden, Deputy Director of Finance warns in his report:

A local authority must budget so as to give a reasonable degree of certainty as to the maintenance of its services. In particular, local authorities are required by the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to calculate as part of their overall budget what amounts are appropriate for contingencies and reserves. The Council must ensure sufficient flexibility to avoid going into deficit at any point during the financial year. The Chief Financial Officer is required to report on the robustness of the proposed financial reserves.

 Under the Brent Member Code of Conduct members are required when reaching decisions to have regard to relevant advice from the Chief Finance Officer and the Monitoring Officer. If the Council should fail to set a budget at all or fail to set a lawful budget,contrary to the advice of these two officers there may be a breach of the Code by individual members if it can be demonstrated that they have not had proper regard to the advice given.

I would argue that Labour councillors must consider whether committing a  'a breach of the Code' is more of a crime than implementing cuts that will damage services to the most vulnerable.

Concern over Brent Meals on Wheels transferring to community providers

Brent Council is proposing to end Council provision of the Meals on Wheels service for the elderly and vulnerable and hand the responsibility over to community organisations. They will end the contract with the present provider Apetito which will also lose the contract for meals provision at day centres.

The Council projects that it will save more than half the costs of the present service in 2014-15 although the budget may be overspent this year because of set up costs.

One issue of concern is that the proposals are based on a pilot with Harlesden Methodist Church which eventually involved evaluations by only six users. The total number of residents receiving meals on wheels currently is 187 and 1345 have meals at day centres.

The need for meals on wheels on a geographical basis is

South (Kilburn; Queens Park; Kensal Green; Brondesbury) 27
Central East (Dollis Hill; Mapesbury; Dudden Hill) 16
Central West (Stonebridge; Harlesden; Willesden;Cricklewood) 49
North East (Alperton; Wembley; Preston; Tokyngton; Sudbury; Northwick Park) 59
North West (Barnhill; Fryent; Queensbury; Kenton; Kingsbury) 36

The day care meal requirements break down as:

 Kingsbury Resource Centre 384
John Billam 430
Elders Voice 118
Hibiscus Club 24
Aspects Unit 38
Asian Disability Alliance 5
Wise Project 250
Rendezvous Club 96

The Council suggest the following provision:

Cricklewood Homeless Concern – can cover the whole of Brent, and provide Western European/Caribbean/Indian meals
- Early Bird Catering – can cover the Wembley/Sudbury/Kingsbury/Tokyngton area and provide Western
European/Caribbean meals
- Harlesden Methodist Church – can cover Harlesden, Stonebridge and Kensal Rise and provide Western European/Caribbean/Indian meals
- Catalyst Catering – can cover Harlesden, Stonebridge and Willesden and provide Western European/Caribbean meals
- Sudbury Neighbourhood Centre – can provide for day centres only and provide Western European/Caribbean meals
- Jalaram Foods – who can cover the whole borough and provide Asian Vegetarian meals

Residents will contribute £3.50 per meal as at present but payments will be via pre-paid cards with help for those who find the system hard to manage. The Council also currently contribute £3.50.

The current meal charge to the Council via Apetito is £8.52 and they project that this will be cut to £3.50 for door to door provision and £2 for day centre provision.

The Council will put aside a contingency in case of failures by any of the new providers. Apetito staff are unlikely to qualify for TUPE so will become redundant. No redundancy costs will fall on the Council.

A risk assessment is provided by the Council.

I hope councillors give this very serious consideration. I know from personal experience with my mother that both the meal itself and the person delivering it are vitally important to the housebound. The meal and visit are often the day's major event. The quality and suitability of the meal are important to maintain physical health and the friendships that develop with the deliverer, however fleeting, are socially important. Maintaining quality of meal and quality of service across many providers is going to be a major challenge.