Little celebration in Brent this year

"Now, is Brent's strategy as good as mine was?"

Brent Council's Executive will tomorrow decide its policy on the funding of cultural events and festivals. Officers propose that the Council should stop funding any events that are not inclusive to all of Brent's diverse communities. Although the Council claims to be positive about the borough's diversity it will cease organising events for  Chunuka, St Patrick's Day, Eid, Diwali, LGBT Month and International Women's Day and will no longer fund Navratri or the Christmas lights.

Instead it proposes to organise one 'Brent Celebrates'  Event and to continue to provide fireworks night and Holocaust Memorial Day. I am still unclear how celebrating the failure of an attempt to blow up parliament and the burning of an effigy of a Catholic conspirator is 'inclusive to all Brent residents' - but there you go...

The report says that no major events were planned this financial year as this would have pre-empted the Council's decision. It also states that there is no time to programme any large events this year such as Respect, Countryside Day and Diwali because recruitment of specialist staff was put on hold pending the outcome of the report. No preparatory was has therefore taken place with communities and schools.

Officers suggest that this be treated as a 'transitional year; with a 'new inclusive programme' next year. They do suggest there could be some small scale events this year but these would have to take place within the reduced budget available.  With an eye on potential headlines they state that the Council is not stopping the celebration of any dates or events, and would be encouraging them - but these would have to be 'community led', which presumably also means community funded.

Before we all get too dreary, Brent whips its new all-purpose white rabbit out of the conjurers hat - cheer up everyone, the Civic Centre will save us all! From the summer of 2013 the Civic Centre's halls, galleries, garden and foyer will be able to host events for 'community and income generation purposes'. So there we are, Brent Council will be competing with the Wembley Arena. James Powney is going to be Brent's very own Simon Cowell

Vodafone mast goes up despite local opposition

Regular readers will remember that residents, the council and Brent Green party opposed the erected of a Vodafone mast at the Avenue in Wembley on environmental grounds. Brent Council refused pemisision but this was over-turned on appeal.

The Council's submission said:

The siting of the development would be considered inappropriate to this existing setting. The resultant clutter of equipment would be considered to harm the visual amenity value of this site, which as described above has an open and green character. The proposed mast would be an incongruous feature in the streetscene, and would be harmful to views out of the nearby Barn Hill Conservation Area.

You can make up your own mind on its impact on the area from this photograph. Incidentally the mast is about one metre shorter than the proposed floodlights on the Preston Manor School multi-use games area,

No to Pinkham Way - Public Meeting

This public meeting is organised by Haringey, Enfield and Barnet Green Parties on Thursday July 21st 7.30pm-9pm at Hollickwood School, Sydney Road, Muswell Hill N10 2NL.

One of the largest MBT waste processing sites in Europe is being proposed to be built on land that is very close to houses and schools and is currently a mature wildlife habitat that acts as a green buffer from the North Circular. It will also increase traffic congestion in an already congested area and further pollute the already poor air quality which will affect the health of nearby residents.

Come along and have your say – and hear about the possible alternatives! 

Speakers include:  

Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly Member, Colin Parish, local resident and founder of the Pinkham Way Alliance and Quentin Given, Friends of the Earth.

Brent to decide on library disposal strategy before Judicial Review application heard

Brent Executive has been asked to decide on a strategy for disposal of the six libraries ear-marked for closure at their meeting on Monday, just one day before the Judicial review case is heard at the Royal Courts of Justice. The Council claims that this is justified by the need to avoid delays and maximise savings as long as the decisions are not irrevocable. However, they advise councillors to merely note the Save Preston Library campaigner's petition against any sale or disposal of that library 'that does not include a public library for the use of local citizens' because 'there are no current proposals put forward for the use of the Preston Road site upon sale or disposal'.

The report says the Council's initial approach will be to see if there is any alternative Council use for the buildings but states that to date the only alternative considered is use to satisfy the surplus demand for school places.


The Proposals
Kensal Rise and Cricklewood affected by Covenant in favour of All Souls College. The Council has asked the College to consider use by community groups. They have responded by saying that they wish to await the outcome of the Judicial Review and are not likely to want to deal directly with a community group, but might consider allowing occupation via the Council. The Council state that this would be dependent on All Souls agreement, variation of the covenant and a community group proposal of such economic, social or environmental benefit to the Council's are that it would out-weigh a decision to revert.

Neasden Library - leasehold (lease expires in September 2027, rent £55,000 per annum plus utilities and rates). The landlord was not interested in surrender of the lease in current conditions but agreed sub-letting to a third party. As there was 'no community interest' expressed during the consultation period and it doesn't appear suitable for school use it has been placed with local agents.

Preston Library freehold, the report says that it that the site appears suitable for a variety of uses ranging from educational use such as a private nursery to residential use. Note there is no mention of use for surplus school places as above. The Council propose to discuss suitable uses with the planning department and then instruct consultants to prepare a marketing brief for this site and Tokyngton Library which they think is suitable for an in-fill development of 2-4 houses.

Barham Library held in Trust by the Council along with other Barham Park buildings. The short-term proposal is for use by the adjacent children;'s centre on a care-taking basis and to undertake a feasibility study for the complex of buildings in the longer term.

Brent Civic Centre costs shrouded in secrecy

Opposition to the Civic Centre, now under construction opposite the Wembley Arena, is increasingly evident and Cllr Ann John has been forced to defend the project at the current round of area consultative forums. Residents in Kilburn have criticised the Council for being 'Wembleycentric' and neglecting land that could be redeveloped in South Kilburn while others have been frustrated when trying to pin down the actual cost of the scheme and mistrustful of assurances that the project is 'self-financing', 'cost neutral' and 'won't cost residents a penny'. They are told that the £100m centre will make annual savings of amounts ranging from £2m to £4m due efficiencies' and moving out of other Brent buildings, and pay for itself in 25 years. Transferred to personal housing this is tantamount to saying that a new house 'costs nothing' if expenditure over 25 years is equal to the amount saved from not renting.

In the light of the cuts ahead and the diminishing role of local government it is not clear how many council staff will be left in 25 years and whether the building will even last that long - think of Willesden Green library, scheduled for demolition by the Council, which was opened only 22 years ago.

My Green Party colleague, Shahrar Ali, has made a freedom of information request for financial details of the Civic Centre, which have been shrouded in secrecy.

There are however some clues in the budget document. The medium term forecast for central items included a forecast of an increase in debt charges from £23.359m in 2011/12 to £26.563 in 2012/13, £27.603 in 2013/14 and £29.104m in 2015/15 as 'a result of capital programme commitments including the civic centre'. The report states that the estimated borrowing requirement for the Civic Centre is £53.868m over the next two years.  In a key comment Clive Heaphy, Director Finance and Corporate Services states:

Clearly capital money is not free - it has a revenue impact and hence the strategy for future years will be to support programmes which are externally funded and those which deliver revenue savings which are equal to or greater than the debt costs. Conversely schemes requiring unsupported borrowing and have net debt costs must be reduced to a minimum or eliminated.

This gets to the nub of the issue of information. We need figures from the Council that will enable council taxpayers to assess whether the Civic Centre project meets this criteria.

More Brent Council cuts ahead

Click on image to enlarge

The financial difficulty facing Brent Council is starkly illustrated by this table from the Budget document going before the Executive on Monday. More light may be shed on the situation when the local Government Review is published later this month and the Council is able to forecast its revenue more accurately. However, the figures are not likely to change very significantly and further cuts are likely if the Council continues its present policy.

The situation makes it even more important to develop mass resistance to cuts and challenge the government's policy.

Clive Heaphy, Director of Finance and Corporate Services, outlines savings that can be made through the One Council Programme and tight control of expenditure elsewhere. The sharing of more services with other borough and a full review of grants to voluntary organisation are envisaged. In a key passage Heaphy refers to:

Areas no longer funded by specific grants (e.g. Sure Start) where it can be assumed that no service will be continued  by the Council unless a business case can be made to justify their continuance along with identified funding.

There will be a budget 'Away Day' shortly when councillors and officers will consider the areas for review for the 2012-13 budget (see below):

Click to enlarge

Waste Strategy Crisis: street sweeping cut as Veolia extracts more profit from Brent Council

Brent Council's negotiations with Veolia over the new waste strategy seem to be in trouble and have resulted in proposals for even more drastic reductions in street cleaning services than first expected. Officers say these have to be rushed in time for the October implementation of the new waste strategy despite negotiations with Veolia not being completed.

It is now proposed that in addition to the reduction in Zone 5 sweeping to one per week  that:

• Sweeping in industrial areas (Zone 7) reduced from 7 per week to 2
• Cease afternoon sweeping at weekends
• Reduce mechanical sweeping on weekday mornings
• Reduce weekend day service moving to a skeleton service with mobile teams
• Reduction in frequency in secondary shopping areas (Zone 2) to twice a day
• Stopping the seasonal leaf fall  service

Welcome to Brent - the Dirtier Olympic Borough

Clearly these reductions are going to make an impact on the appearance of the borough as well as making 50 street sweepers redundant. Probing a little deeper it is clear the the Council has not fared well in its negotiations with Veolia. The report to the Executive states:

In outline, it has not been possible to agree the reductions sought by the Council in respect of the waste collection arrangements partly because Veolia are seeking, through this significant change to the contract, the opportunity to try and improve profitability for the remainder of the contract which has, in their view, been eroded by a number of factors since the original start of the contract. Similarly, they are seeking to ensure through the negotiation of the changes to the street cleaning element of the contract, that they have a higher level of profitability for the remainder of the contract than they have recently been enjoying. In consequence, the reductions to the street cleaning regime recommended to meet the 2011-12 and 2012-13 budget requirements, are larger than might have been expected.

This is an understatement. The report reveals that as well as Veolia adding back into the contract indexation, costs that they claim to have been bearing in previous years, an inflation increase of 1% to which they were previously not entitle, there are additional costs of hiring vehicles rather than purchasing them (see my previous blog) and what the report calls 'other refinement by Veolia of figures'. All this added £362k to the budget gap. The report considers various ways of closing the gap but admits that if the savings are not made they will have to be found elsewhere in Environment and Neighbourhood Services. Cllr Powney will be responsible for finding these savings - or more bluntly, making these cuts. The proposals will go to Monday's Executive. The agenda and documents can be found HERE

One controversial element of the savings is Veolia's offer of  reduction in 'gate fee' for dry recyclables from £30 to £22 but this is contingent on less than 5% contamination which will be difficult to achieve with co-mingled collections.

The Brent waste contract comes up for renewal in 2014 and Veolia are also a likely bidder for the huge West London Waste Authority contract LINK The report notes that Veolia are seeking 'through the negotiation of the street cleaning element of the contract, that they have a higher level of profitability for the remainder of the contract than they have recently been enjoying'. Officers recommend that negotiations continue and are escalated to a higher level.

The budget is outlined below but other information in appendices to the report have been declared 'confidential' and not published: (click on image to enlarge)

"Let's all go down the Strand and bring your banner..." - library closures hearing next week

Campaigners' application for a judicial review of Brent Council's decision to close six of the borough's 12 libraries will be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice next week.  The hearing will take place on Tuesday 19th July and Wednesday 20th July. There is a possibility that it will spill over to the morning of Thursday 21st July.

Brent SOS Library campaigners and Brent Fightback supporters will be assembling outside the Court on Tuesday and Wednesday at 9am (the hearing is expected to start at 10.30am) and again at 4.15pm with banners and placards. Please try and get along and bring your own placards.  There should be seating in the court for between 60 and 80 people and the presence of those affected can be positive in terms of curtailing the more outrageous claims that the defendants could make in their absence.

The case is significant because it is the first legal challenge to library closures. There are almost 4000 pages of documents before the Court and over 200 pages of witness statements. In a nutshell, campaigners argue that the Council decision was flawed because it:

• started from the false premise that library closures were an inevitability (therefore closing its mind to reasonable alternatives);
• failed to assess local need at the right time, or adequately;
• failed to comply with equality legislation, and its own impact assessment policies; and
• failed to disclose its criteria, and reasons, for rejecting alternative community-based means of retaining some or all of the libraries earmarked for closure.

The Royal Courts of Justice are in the Strand and the nearest tube is Temple MAP