Begone you pesky petitioners! Brent downgrades petitioner power.

In a constitutional change to be discussed at the Council meeting on May 16th Brent Council is proposing that petitions of 5,000 or more valid signatures should no longer be debated by full Council and that those containing 2,500  valid signatures should no longer require a senior Council officer to give evidence at an overview and scrutiny committee.

Although the Council says its proposal is  a result of the Localism Act 2012 repealing the requirement for councils to adopt a petition scheme and leaving it to the discretion of each authority, there can be little doubt that the Labour Council has been irritated by the petitions organised by the Hindu community over festival funding, library campaigners over the closure of half of Brent's libraries and Keep Willesden Green over the Willesden Green Library Regeneration proposals. The latter was particularly controversial when Democratic Services  refused to hold a Full Council meeting on the issue.

The Council argues that this change will 'make the process more transparent' and will 'direct petitions to the decision maker as set out in the current Standing Order 68(e).

That Standing Order refers to petitions with 50 or more signatures and refers the petitions on upcoming decisions  to the Executive or the General Purposes Committee who can 'make recommendations concerning the petition to Full Council'.

As far as I can see this continues the erosion of democracy in Brent Council removing further citizen's ability to make representations to Full Council rather than the rubber-stamping Labour Executive.  If I was a backbench councillor of whatever political party I would be asking some awkward questions on the issue.

Old Willesden Library demolition proposals published

The proposed development

Most of the planning documents for the proposed Willesden Cultural Centre are now available on the Brent Council website.  They are numerous and will need careful study. There is a main planning application for the demolition of the Victorian Library, 1980s Library, bookshop etc and the building of 92 flats and the Cultural Centre and an application relating to the Conservation Area. Most of the documentation is replicated on both sites.

Main Planning Application HERE

Conservation Area Application HERE

The future of the Old Willesden Library is of particular interest to many and the Heritage Statement is available below.

One key section states:

The loss of the Old Library is to some extent mitigated through ‘preservation by record’ and the undertaking of the historic buildings survey to English Heritage Level II standards, and which has been used in this report to understand the building’s significance. Should consent be granted for this or future schemes affecting historic fabric, it is recommended that additional recording be undertaken during demolition in order to supplement this report with further details of the building’s history.

It is also recommended that specific elements of the architectural fabric are retained, and where possible, reused within the new building as architectural details, art installations and/or exhibits within the museum space. While it is recognised that the scheme represents the total loss of the Old Library, the retention of certain elements would evoke the cultural memory of the building and help preserve the historic narrative of development on the site. Those pieces that should be considered for retention are as follows, though further elements may be revealed during the demolition process:

· Shell-hood above the former entrance way on the north elevation;

· Parge work on the north elevations and around the tower;

· Plaque commemorating the building on north elevation; and

· Weather-vane on summit of the tower

The remaining historic fabric and fixtures such as window frames should be considered for salvage, and where suitable, deposited in a suitable store such as the Charles Brooking Collection currently housed in Surrey.

Lucas: "I completely support today's strike action"

Caroline Lucas MP,  speaking at a Brighton union rally at midday today in support of today's public sector strikes, said:

"As Vice President of the Public and Commercial Services group in Parliament, I completely support today's strike action.

"This Government's drive to slash jobs, slash pay, and now slash pensions as well  is both socially devastating and economically illiterate.

"The best way to tackle the deficit is to invest in jobs, not to destroy them - and the fairest way to do it is to make those responsible for the financial crisis pay the highest price.

"It cannot be right to demand that ordinary workers up and down the country pay more, work longer, and get less in their pensions.

"The cynical changes to indexation from RPI to CPI inflation means pensions fall by up to 20%.

"Equally worrying, this indexation change will also apply to a number of important benefits, including Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit.

"That's why it's so important that civil servants, lecturers and other public sector workers come together today to defend each other, demand real negotiation with Government, and to demand no more cuts."

Children's play sliding down the agenda

 

In the wake of cuts to local government budgets, play is sliding down the agenda in many London councils, a survey by London Play has revealed. In the past year over 70 per cent of London's local authorities have either cut play provision - or do not have any play budget left to cut. And there are fears that the worst is yet to come. 

As the scramble for primary school places highlights the rate of growth in London's young population, it has emerged that opportunities for play are becoming fewer and further between. Despite pupil numbers in the capital being predicted to rise by more than nine per cent over the next three years, play facilities are being downgraded and cut back.  Of the 22 councils which responded to the London Play survey, 10 had made cuts to their play services in the past 12 months. Perhaps more worryingly, six had no budget left to cut. Only one council was making modest expansions to its service.

Having slashed its play budget by a massive 66 per cent, Camden stands out as the borough making the biggest reductions. Yet it remains one of the biggest spenders on play in the capital, with a budget of £1.5m - which will now be used to commission play services from the voluntary sector. In comparison, six of the local authorities responding to the survey had no revenue budget for play at all.

Many authorities have worked hard to limit the impact of the cuts on frontline services, and in some cases have developed innovative solutions to enable them to continue to support play. Some play services are linking up and pooling resources with housing providers or other partners who through play are able to engage better with groups they might otherwise have found difficult to reach.

Others are increasing income-generating activities. For example, in Richmond, play workers are being paid to run sessions in schools; the funds raised will support more open access play in future. Richmond's play development manager Barbara Morton explains: "Whilst charging for play ranger services may be controversial, developing a business model has been crucial in order to sustain the service for the future and to continue to offer play provision for the children in the borough." More controversially still, others are exploring the possibility of charging for services, as in the well-publicised case of Wandsworth council and its Battersea Park Adventure Playground.

London Play chair Melian Mansfield commented: "At a time when the number of children in London is rising dramatically, play is being cut. Play is crucial for the health and development of both children and London's communities and these cuts will have a disproportionate effect on both. Councils need to recognise this and treat play as a priority.  All children need to have access to opportunities to play, especially out of doors."