RISE- Free Borough of Culture Outdoor Event, Olympic Way, Wembley SATURDAY 7pm

AN OUTDOOR SPECTACLE TELLING THE STORY OF BRENT

FREE TO ATTEND, NO TICKET REQUIRED. 

On Saturday 18 January celebrate the launch of Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture 2020 at RISE – a spectacular outdoor show featuring a community cast of hundreds hosted by Wembley Park as Principal Partner, free for all to attend.

Starting at 7pm, the show will bring together theatre, dance and music to tell the story of Brent through a mass-participatory performance choreographed by Southpaw Dance Company. It will take place on a five storey-high stage against the backdrop of Brent’s iconic Wembley Stadium on Wembley Park’s transformed Olympic Way, illuminated by colourful projections and set to an incredible soundtrack of music and spoken word.

Brent is the UK’s most diverse borough – a borough of cultures. RISE will tell the story of how this corner of North West London travelled from the margins to impact culture in Britain through its music, activism, and rebellious spirit. The show follows a group of friends from Brent as they reflect on its history and identity across generations.

Over 300 people have been recruited from schools, dance clubs, and community groups across Brent to take part in the performance, learning the choreography from professional dancers from the borough.

The show will close with an explosive ending and a live performance by Brent-born artist General Levy. Boxpark Wembley will host an afterparty with street food vendors, bars, live music performances and DJs.

Let us know you're attending via our Facebook event.

Saturday 18 January 2020
Performance at 7pm
Olympic Way, Wembley Park

A Southpaw Dance Company Production commissioned by Metroland Culture.
Principal Partner Wembley Park.

RISE x Brent 2020 Boxpark Afterparty
Boxpark Wembley host the official afterparty for RISE, come along from 8pm to take advantage of 20+ delicious food vendors, three bars and loads of free entertainment including live performances and DJs!

Brent Council Tax to rise by £71 to £1,496.54 for Band D

The Cabinet will approve a 5.01% Council Tax rise at Monday's Meeting will is expected to be rubber-stamped by Full Council.  The report going before Cabinet states:

The provisional local government finance settlement unexpectedly increased the ‘referendum limit’ for council tax from two to three per cent and, like last year, the Government’s financing assumption was that all councils would act on this. The rules on increasing council tax for the social care precept were unchanged. This means that the council could choose to increase council tax by up to 5% in 2018/19 without the need for a referendum, of which 2% would be ring-fenced for adult social care (the social care precept). The previous intention was to raise council tax by 4% in 2018/19, which at the time of the February 2017 Council report was the maximum permitted by the legislation. 


Taking into account the inflationary pressures that the council is subject to (which Ministers have confirmed were a significant factor in their decision to increase the referendum limit), the financial position in the round and the results of consultation through the Brent Connects and other meetings held by the date of despatch of this report leading Members have instructed officers to prepare the budget on the basis of a 4.99% increase in the Brent element of the council tax. The Mayor of London has announced plans for an increase in his precept of 5.07% (slightly different rules on the limits for the GLA apply due to its role as the police authority) making the overall increase in council tax 5.01%. This equates to £1,496.54 at Band D, or the equivalent of £28.78 per week, and the overall increase equates to £1.37 per week.  


The Council's Budget Counsultation via Brent Connects Meetings drew a very thin response, not helped by being conducted in the winter months. Only 114 residents attended in total and only one business association  responded according to the briefing just posted on the Council's website:

Five consultation events were planned between January and February 2018 at locations throughout the borough. At the date of the Cabinet meeting on 12 February 2018 four out of five meetings were held and had the following levels of attendance: 

Date	Location	Attendance
17 January	Brent Connects Wembley	27
30 January	Brent Connects Kilburn	23
6 February	Brent Connects Willesden	44
8 February	Brent Connects Kingsbury & Kenton	20
19 February	Brent Connects Harlesden

  

1.2  At the four meetings attended at the time of dispatch either the Leader or Deputy Leader of the Council delivered a presentation outlining the overall financial position and the difficult budget choices faced by the Council. The Leader then took questions from the audience and provided answers, supported by senior officers where appropriate for matters of technical detail. 


1.3  Feedback and opinions offered from these events varied considerably. As an example of the range of opinions expressed: 

 One resident asked how the proposals affect Brent’s Council Tax Support Scheme. The question was answered at the meeting, that the scheme will not be changing. 
                              

One resident asked if the proposals have impacted on school performance. The question was answered at the meeting, that 96% of schools in Brent are good or outstanding. 


 Other points raised were generally questions of clarification rather than specific feedback on the budget proposals. For example, one resident made a statement of support for the funding provided to families with no recourse to public funds, whereas another asked about the budget used to support people with dementia. 


 A number of queries were raised about the council’s reserves and how we compare to other London Boroughs, which were answered at the meeting. The Council has relatively low reserves compared to other London boroughs but current level is deemed adequate. 
  

1.4  Feedback and views from the final meeting to be held on 19 February 2018 will be provided for the Full Council meeting on 26 February 2018.


Business Consultation

1.5  Consultation with local Brent businesses was carried out by writing to the following organisations:

                  West London Business (a non-profit business leadership forum),

                 The Federation of Small Businesses, 


                 The Town Centre Business Association, and 


                 The Business Board. 


1.6  At the date of dispatch one response was received, which asked for further clarification on the budget setting process rather than a specific comment on the budget proposal.

VOTE ON WHETHER BRENT COUNCIL SHOULD INCREASE COUNCIL TAX

Please see the side panel to take part in this poll.

You can add a reason for your vote as a comment below this posting.

Pavey says time has come to raise Brent Council Tax - potentially by 4%

Responding to the Scrutiny Budget Panel's report this evening, Cllr Michael Pavey, deputy leader and lead for finance, said because of the substantial amount that could be raised and its potential impact on services, that he now supported a rise in Council Tax.

The 1% freeze grant has been abolished which the Council would have lost previously if it raised the Council Tax. The 2% ring-fenced adult social care rise along with 2% to maintain services would raise 4 times the freeze granr.
 
He said his personal view was that despite Council Tax being unfair and out-dated he was confident that Brent Council could ask residents to pay more because they could honestly tell them it would save services.

Any proposal to raise Council Tax would have to be agreed by Cabinet before being put to Full Council in February.

Cllr Pavey said he was looking forward to hearing the views of the public at the Brent Connects meetings which are coming up in the next few weeks.

While Pavey was speaking at the Committee Cllr Butt rushed from the public gallery to sit beside him. It was unclear whether this was to express solidarity, give guidance or some other reason.

During the discussion Michael Pavey apologised for unintentionally not including the Scrutiny Committee in the published budget timeline and agreed that there should be  earlier involvement. He rejected claims that the budget lacked coherence and vision.

He said that there had been a failure of entrepenuership by the council which included marketing of the Civic Centre. the aim was to find ways that services could produce income or become self-financing.  The Cabinet report shoudl have had more detail of this 'civic enterprise agenda'. Peter Gadson, Operational Director, said that if services currently subject to fees were made more efficient, a larger proportion of the fee would be reatined by the council. It was not necessarily a matter of putting up fees becase a lower fee could increase take up and therefore income.

Cllr Duffy (not a member of the Committee) spoke about the need foo more thorough work to get maximun value for money from procurement and to use the reduced number of staff more efficiently.

Clr Nerva said that every illegally parked car was worth £80 to the council that could be used for community benefit. Improved enforcemment could be self-financing.

Cllr Pavey undertook to look at the question of council reserves, how much was ring-fenced and what was accessible.

Should Brent Council raise Council Tax to protect key services?

That will be one of the key questions asked at Brent Scrutiny Committee tonight when they discuss the report of the Budget Scrutiny Panel. LINK

Last year a move to increase Council Tax by 2% was opposed by the Cabinet but the mood appears to have shifted since then. A 2% rise ring-fenced for Adult Social Care, as set out in the Chacellor's Autumn Statement seems inevitable. Another 2% to preserve vital services for the most vulnerable will be more controversial and debate is likely to centre around whether residents now having to pay a portion of Council tax, despite being poor, can be protected by revisions to the Council Tax Support scheme.

Much will depend on the view of Cllr Michael Pavey, deputy leader, who leads on the budget. Officers have repeatedly warned about the erosion of the Council Tax base although that has been offset to some extent by new housing coming on stream with an increased number of residents paying the tax and better collection rates.

The meeting is at 7pm tonight at the Brent Civic Centre and the public may attend.

The budgetr proposals will be discussed at Brent Connects meetings over the next few weeks:

 Brent Fightback will be holding an open meeting to discuss the options open to councils in the face of the devastating cuts they are being asked to make. It takes place at Brent Trades Hall on Wednesday January 13th at 7.30pm.

Brent Budget Scrutiny Panel recommend Council Tax rise to protect the most vulnerable

In a report to be discussed at the Scrutiny Committee meeting on January 6th 2016, Brent Budget Scrutiny Panel recommend that the Council raise Council Tax by the maximum of 2% which is allowed without a referendum as well as the 2% ring-fenced rise for adult social care.  Last year there was much controversey when Cllr John Duffy proposed an increase in Council Tax. LINK

The Panel  also call for the proposed 10% cut in road and pavement repairs to be abandoned.

On Council Tax their reasoning is set out as follows:

.        7.1  The minimum legal requirement on the Council this year is to set a balanced budget 
and a level of Council Tax for the forthcoming financial year. As noted above, we are satisfied that they will do the former, but we anticipate much further debate around setting the level of the latter. 


.        7.2  During the last Parliament, the government offered a freeze grant to local authorities who froze or reduced their basic level of Council Tax. This was the equivalent to a 1 per cent increase in Council Tax in each financial year. Along with most local authorities, Brent accepted this grant in every year of the last Parliament and never increased its level of Council Tax. 


.        7.3  The advantage of this policy was that the Council were able to receive some additional funds without asking local people to contribute any more through the Council Tax system. 


.        7.4  This disadvantage was that the Council’s overall tax base would decline each year, as the additional funds provided could not increase cumulatively. Accordingly, The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has estimated that had Council Tax risen in line with the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation of the course of the last Parliament, average council tax bills would be £168 higher next year, yielding an extra £2.8bn in funding for local authorities. This amount is equivalent to the entire road maintenance budget for the UK or the public health grant for local authorities. 


.        7.5  In their Local Government Settlement announced before Christmas, the government announced both that the freeze grant would henceforth be abolished, and that Councils would continue to only be able to raise Council Tax up to 2 per cent without having a run a referendum. 


.        7.6  We feel that these dual announcements leave the Council with little option but to increase Council Tax by the maximum allowed in this budget. It is understandable that the Council has decided not to increase Council Tax in previous years to protect residents, but in accepting the freeze grant, Brent has left its Council Tax base at a level several years out of date, and if action is not taken soon this baseline will be far behind what is required to run services in the future. 


.        7.7  We also understand that this will have an impact on our residents. We therefore recommend that the Council reviews its Council Tax support scheme including any potential increase which might need to be made to protect the most vulnerable in the borough. 


.        7.8  Likewise, the government have also announced that they will allow Councils to increase Council Tax by a further 2 per cent if the money is ring fenced to spend on social care. We feel that this option should also be carefully considered by the Council as a way to prevent the most drastic of cuts in this area. 
 


The recommendation on road and pavement repairs states:

.        6.4 ….we are very concerned about proposal MGF002, which proposes to cut the core budget for core highways maintenance by 10 per cent. It was noted that the list of potential risks associated with this item was longer than many others, something particularly alarming in light of the overall saving being relatively low at £50,000. 


.        6.4  The report notes openly that this cut will lead to fewer active repairs, something which could be dangerous for residents, but also severely damage the reputation of 
the Council, particularly at a time when Council charges and taxes may be set to increase. It also risks additional costs in litigation arising from possible accidents arising as a result of poorly maintained roads and pavements.

.        6.5  We recommend that this proposal be dropped and that instead the Council examines if alternative ways to repair the street scene will decrease the need for reactive action in the long term. 


.        6.6  For example, it was noted that tarmacking or concreting pavements leads to more even surface than paving slabs and does not give space for plants to grow upwards and damage the surface. Prioritising such alternatives may help to save the authority in the long term rather than always replacing paving stones on a like-for-like basis. 


.        6.7  Another idea raised was to seek an outside partner to doggedly pursue illegal rubbish dumpers in the borough. The partner would be incentivised by being able to keep a large percentage of fines generated but the Council would realise long term savings as levels of illegal rubbish dumping – and associated clean-up costs – decrease. A similar approach could also be taken to people who drop litter or who do not clean up after their dogs. 


The Panel  calls for Scrutiny Committee involvement to be much earlier in the budget making process and makes an overall critique of the package:

.        4.4 Our main broad critique of the package is that it lacks a common thread or philosophical story. The package instead appears to be a collection of disparate ideas brought together in order to reach the final figure required. 


.        4.5  A clear example of this would be in the DOE001 proposal to increase the take up of direct payments for home care and community support. This is simply presented as a savings proposal rather than as part of the Council’s long-term vision of how to deliver care. 


.        4.6  We feel that setting out the Council’s concrete vision at the start of the process, and ensuring that each proposal made aids progress towards that vision, rather than stalling it, would be an approach which would better ensure this continuity of purpose in future years. 


There is much else of interest in the full report that can be found below:

Possible Council Tax rise emerges as an option on eve of Budget Consultation deadline

I understand that at last night's Labour group meeting the possibility of a Council Tax increase came back into play with a potential rise of 1.99% for 2015-2016 looked upon favourably by a majority of the group. A straw poll indicated 24 in favour of a Council Tax increase and 6 against.  This would be an annual increase of £30 for Band D residents.

Although Cllr Muhammed Butt opposed an increase at the Civic Centre Public Budget Consultation  that this would hit people already suffering from Coalition cuts the counter-argument is that in terms of social solidarity sharing the burden (with those in higher rated property paying more) would enable the most extreme of the proposed cuts to be avoided.  This would preserve some vital threatened services  to the benefit of poorer residents andwould be better for the Council's long-term stability.

Since 2011 the Council has avoided Council Tax increases, accepting the Government's grant for freezing the tax. Indeed Muhammed Butt has made virtue out of what he sees as necessity by boasting to residents that he has frozen the tax.

However there is an argument that long-term freezing of the Council Tax undermines the Council's revenue base.

This is what Clive Heaphy's Report stated in the First Reading Debate in November 2011 LINK

On 3 October 2011 the government announced a further one-off grant, for 2012-13 only, of £2.6m predicated on the basis that the council does not increase council tax for 2012-13. Each 1% in Council tax equates to approximately £1m of Council spending and members should note that the failure to increase Council tax over a number of years will erode the Council’s underlying revenue position in the longer term.

By January 2012 Ann John had ruled out a rise in the Council Tax as reported by the Brent and Kilburn Times LINK

As I stated at the time: LINK

The [Heaphy] report said that a rise of 2.5% in council tax would close the budget gap as follows:

2012-13 £4.4m
2013-14 £1.1m
2014-15 £19.7m
2015-16 £13.1m

In other words a rise of 2.5% in council tax this year would result in a net gain when the loss of the £2.5m grant is taken into consideration. Some councils are considering this option and some Labour councillors in Brent thought it worthy of debate. However that option appears to have been ruled out in advance of both consultation and decision making.

In November 2012 Assistant Director Finance presented a Budget Report that assumed a 3.5% Council Tax increase (above that triggered a referendum at the time). However the trigger was reduced to 2% (still current).

As I stated on my blog in January 2013 LINK

I understand that there has been discussion in the Brent Executive as to whether to raise Council Tax with the benefit marginal after grant losses and  a reduced collection rate are taken into account. A rise above 2% would have incurred the cost of a local referendum.  It would of course have been another additional cost for people already suffering from benefit cuts and low or frozen wages. An alternative view is that calling the Coalition's bluff and triggering a referendum could result in a proper political debate about the need to adequately fund  local services and the iniquities of the Coalition's grant reduction to local authorities. Only a very small percentage of local government revenue comes from council taxes and charges.

Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt has confirmed via a Facebook interchange with me that there will not be a 2% rise this year. Asked about a possible lower rise he said that the Council was looking at the settlement figures as part of the budgetary process and considering the offer of the freeze grant.

In January 2014 Muhammed Butt said that there were 'no plans' to change policy from freezing Council Tax in the 2014-15 Budget. LINK

I wrote on this blog:

Reflecting on Muhammed Butt's declaration yesterday that there were 'no plans to change course' on freezing council tax for the 2014-15 budget, I wonder what his plans are for 2015-16. In October the Council forecast a deficit for that year of  £34m (see below) a huge amount that on the council's own reckoning will put essential services at risk.

As political parties are deciding their manifestos for the May local elections surely they should be saying something about this crisis waiting for them in their first year of office.

In that respect a manifesto pledge to have a referendum on increasing council tax would make sense. Rank and file Labour party members and the wider public could than have a say and it could provide a launch pad for similar moves by other local authorities.  I do not think increases in council tax are the answer to the huge cuts in local authority funding, that of course requires the restoration of adequate funding, but a national debate post May 2014 leading up to the General Election in 2015 could feed into that demand. It will certainly put the future of local government on the General Election agenda.

Unfortunately despite some efforts at raising the issue and confronting the Coalition with the impact of the cuts, no real movement has emerged and no Referendum challenge..

Brent Council is left with the weakened revenue base that Clive Heaphy warned them about and deeply damaging unpalatable cuts.

It is noteworthy that in the above examples it has been Ann John and Muhammed Butt who appear to have made the decision about a Council Tax rise, although formally of course it is the Full council Meeting.

Where this leaves the Labour Group's support for a modest 1.99% rise, just below the Referendum threshold remains to be seen. Clearly the Cabinet should be taking note of the virews of its own councillors as well as the support shown for services by residents in consultations and in the campaigns that have sprung up to defend services.

If you wish to put your view there is still time to submit a  comment to Brent Council's budget consultation. The deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday February 4th :consultation@brent.gov.uk