The new political structure of Brent Council with four party groups is gradually getting into a new more constructive way of working and motions from Labour, Conservatives and Greens tabled for Monday's meeting might produce some cross-party consensus. Liberal Democrats do not have a motion slot this time round.
Labour Group Motion
All Aboard the West
London Orbital
This Council notes:
The West London Orbital
(WLO) would bring under-used freight railway into passenger use as part of the
London Overground, with an 18.5km route spanning Hounslow, Ealing, Brent and
Barnet.
New stations at Harlesden
and Neasden, with up to six trains per hour, would give Brent residents direct
connections to Old Oak Common, Brent Cross and West London’s Golden Mile Tech
District. Journey times would be transformed, with Harlesden to Brent Cross
West falling from 39 to 13 minutes and Neasden to Old Oak Common from 44 to 11
minutes.
The WLO is projected to
support more than 15,000 new homes, 11,500 new jobs and nearly £500 million in
wider economic benefits. In Brent alone, it could support around 4,100 homes
and widen access to jobs.
More than 1.3 million car
kilometres a year could be removed from Brent’s roads through a shift to WLO
services.
This Council believes:
The new Government’s focus
on transport, housing and growth provides an opportunity for Brent to renew its
efforts to secure support for the WLO.
London must remain central
to the national conversation on transport and growth. West London alone is a
nearly £70 billion economy, while Brent residents paid £1.58 billion in income
tax in 2023/24 – as much as Glasgow and more than Manchester. Investment in
London also supports skilled jobs and supply chains across the UK, including
rail manufacturing at Alstom’s factory in Derby. Investment that unlocks
further growth in London is of benefit to the whole country.
Brent is not immune from
the challenges facing communities elsewhere in the country. Brent contains some
of the most deprived communities nationally, including along the proposed WLO
route. 37% of the travel-time savings for journeys originating in Brent would
accrue in areas among the 20% most deprived nationally.
By connecting with the
Elizabeth line and HS2 at Old Oak Common, the WLO would help maximise the
benefits of national rail investment while improving access to employment,
education and opportunity across London.
This Council therefore
resolves:
(1) To reaffirm its strong
support for the West London Orbital and renew its engagement with the
Government to ensure Brent and London’s voice is heard in decisions on future
transport investment.
(2) To write to the
Secretary of State for Transport and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, setting
out the economic, social and national case for the WLO and calling on
Government to work with the Mayor of London, TfL and West London boroughs
towards a credible funding pathway for delivery.
(3) To continue working with
the Mayor of London, TfL, the West London Alliance and neighbouring boroughs to
progress the WLO and maximise its benefits for Brent residents.
(4) To work with TfL and
other partners to safeguard land and protect future options for additional WLO
stations in Brent, particularly where public transport accessibility is
currently limited.
(5) To support and promote
the forthcoming public consultation, encouraging residents, businesses and
community organisations to help shape the proposals.
Councillor George Burn
Willesden Green Ward
Conservative Group Motion
Temporary Accommodation:
Better Value and Greater Accountability
This Council notes:
Brent faces severe
pressure from rising homelessness, constrained housing supply and the
increasing cost of temporary accommodation. In April 2026, the Council reported
approximately 2,450 households in temporary accommodation, with around 60% in
nightly paid arrangements.
Brent’s Housing Needs
service was forecast to overspend by £4.5 million in 2025/26, while expenditure
on nightly paid temporary accommodation was expected to reach approximately £38
million. The Council has allocated a further £8 million of budget growth to
Housing Needs to address existing and anticipated demand pressures.
The Council has
acknowledged that reliance on nightly paid accommodation creates financial
volatility, increasing caseloads, limited affordable options and variable
accommodation quality. It has also identified longer-term leasing to provide
greater stability and better value, with around 367 units anticipated to deliver
approximately £4.8 million a year in savings or cost avoidance compared with
equivalent nightly paid accommodation.
This Council believes:
Families who become
homeless deserve safe, suitable and stable accommodation, while Brent taxpayers
are entitled to expect that scarce resources are managed effectively.
Nightly paid accommodation
will sometimes be unavoidable, but it should not become a long-term substitute
for developing more stable and better value housing supply.
The success of Brent’s
temporary accommodation strategy should therefore be judged by whether reliance
on costly nightly accommodation is falling, properties are being brought into
use quickly, families move into more stable homes and forecast savings are
achieved.
This Council therefore calls
on Cabinet to:
(1) Set and publish
measurable targets for reducing Brent’s reliance on nightly paid and other
high-cost temporary accommodation, together with a clear trajectory for
achieving those reductions.
(2) Review the process for
bringing newly acquired and leased properties into occupation, identifying
avoidable delays and establishing clear performance targets for the time
between a property becoming available to the Council and a household moving in.
(3) Continue to pursue
longer-term leasing, acquisition and other supply options where these provide
demonstrably better value and greater stability, while regularly assessing
whether the savings and cost avoidance anticipated in business cases are being
achieved.
(4) Introduce and publish a
monthly Temporary Accommodation Performance Dashboard, reporting where
possible:
The total number of
households in temporary accommodation;
The number in nightly paid
accommodation and B&Bs;
Expenditure on temporary
accommodation and the cost of nightly paid provision;
The number of households
moved into more stable accommodation;
The number of acquired or
leased properties awaiting occupation and the average time taken to bring them
into use;
The number of households
placed outside Brent;
Progress against the
Council’s published reduction and savings targets.
(5) Use the Council’s new
Temporary Accommodation and Private Sector Leasing Digital Management Platform
to improve management information, performance monitoring and scrutiny.
(6) Report progress to the
relevant scrutiny committee, including actual savings achieved, progress in
reducing nightly paid accommodation and any barriers preventing the Council
from moving families into more stable housing more quickly.
Councillor Anup Patel
Kenton Ward
Green Group Motion
Addressing Urban Heat and
Climate Inequality in Brent
This Council Notes:
Extreme heat is an
increasing public health risk, with an estimated 2,877 heat-associated deaths
in England during the May and June 2026 heatwaves.
The risk of extreme heat
in Brent is acute. Brent and London Risk Registers identify heatwaves as a
major risk requiring local adaptation.
That social and
environmental justice go hand in hand. Extreme heat disproportionately affects
communities already experiencing social, economic and health inequalities.
Brent's Heat Vulnerability
Index identifies Park Royal as a hotspot alongside other areas where existing
and pipeline data centres are located.
Tree equity mapping
demonstrates a need for increased tree canopy and urban greening across central
and southern Brent.
In June and July following
investment of £1.14m the newly refurbished Kilburn Library had to close due to
inadequate heat mitigation measures.
Brent published a Climate
Adaptation and Resilience Framework in December 2025 and is strengthening
climate adaptation measures across the borough.
This Council Believes:
Whilst Brent has taken
important steps towards climate adaptation the increasing frequency and
intensity of extreme heat requires further action.
Natural green spaces act
as heat sinks and should be protected and developed to reduce urban surface
temperatures, including partnership with residents.
The Council has a
responsibility to ensure that public spaces are accessible and safe during
periods of extreme heat and council housing tenants are protected from heat
impacts.
Existing guidance does not
provide sufficiently specific or consistent guidance for assessing the
cumulative local heat impacts of data centres, particularly where multiple
facilities are concentrated within a small area.
This Council therefore:
(1) Requests the necessary
action be taken to:
(a) Expand the network of
Cool Spaces across Brent, update the GLA water refill map to reflect all the
stations in Brent and explore all options for increasing the number of refill
stations across the borough.
(b) Integrate natural
materials, shading and strategic planting in new playground designs to reduce
heat exposure.
(c) Begin a dialogue with
the NEU about mitigation for over-heating in local authority schools, and
review protections for council workers and contractors during periods of
extreme heat.
(d) Conduct a review of heat
risk in public buildings, mapping buildings at high-risk and developing an
action plan.
(e) Commission a feasibility
study into community-public partnerships for the greening and maintenance of
spaces such as pocket parks, derelict land and larger areas of hard surfacing
to reduce heat and increase access to shade.
(f) Ensure that the Local
Plan is informed by future climate risks and that future developments assess
urban heat and incorporate heat resilience measures
(2) Request the Leader of
the Council write to the Mayor of London seeking clearer guidance on how local
authorities should assess overheating risks and cumulative impacts arising from
clusters of data centres.
(3) Invites the relevant
Cabinet Member to set out the Council’s approach to managing overheating risks
in council housing including responsibilities under Awaab’s Law.
Councillor Mary Mitchell
Willesden Green Ward
DEPUTATIONS TO THE FULL COUNCIL (ITEM 6)
a) Progress towards divestment (requested by Sheila
Guhadasan representing the Brent & Harrow Palestine Solidarity
Campaign)
(b) Engagement
of council members in monitoring progress on the delivery of the
Council’s climate and biodiversity commitments and in setting
future priorities in relation to Brents Climate & Ecological
Strategy and delivery plan (requested by Elaine Sheppard,
representing Action on the Climate and Ecological Emergency (ACE)
Brent)
