Muhammed Butt promises to consult on Brent budget

Following my posting on the lack of consultation on the Brent Budget LINK, Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt has sent me this comment:

I can assure you that we will be consulting on the budget. I am formalising dates and times with the consultation team and will get back to you and we will let everyone know as soon as things have been set.

We have not been able to put the budget on the agenda due to the government giving us our funding settlement figures so late and they are still giving us the data in chunks which is making setting the budget process very difficult.

Everyone has the opportunity to use the soap box to highlight any issues and concerns to us at every forum and would encourage you to use that and you can always suggest topics of conversation for the forums.

We are always looking to find different formats and topics that will allow us to engage better with our residents.

Better data needed to monitor successful recycling

'Green' bin in Salmon Street, Kingsbury this week

Green groups in Brent expressed fears that the new co-mingled recycling (everything put into one bin and emptied into one truck) would produce more contamination than the green box system where different materials were sorted at the pavement stage and put into different compartments of a lorry. This would result in more material being rejected at the recycling plant and ending up in landfill.

Now that the scheme has been running for some time I put in an Freedom of Information request to see if the amount of recyclates collected, which have increased now that some plastics are collected, was affected by increased contamination.

Unfortunately some data is not recorded so it is hard to get a full picture but the recent rejection rate seems to vary between  4% and 12%. It is argued that the recycling rate has still increased taking this into account.

Here are the full answers. Thanks to Chris Whyte for another quick response (Answers in bold)

1. What proportion of material collected in the co-mingled 'blue top' bins has been rejected at the Material Recycling  Facility (MRF)  since the new system was introduced as:

  a. Contaminated. The most recent sampling shows the prohibited fraction can range from 4% to 12%

b. Not recycled under the present scheme: As above. This is the same waste. The overall recycling rate has increased from 31% to 45% and this accounts for the prohibited fraction.

 2. How does this proportion differ from the previous separated green box system? Not recorded. This was a different system that saw prohibited items removed at source. Thus there is no real comparison.

 3. Please provide a table to show whether the proportion rejectedhas declined over time as residents have become familiar with the system. Regular sampling is not undertaken and the prohibited can
fluctuate from period to period. Our records show an overall increase in the amount, and percentage of, waste recycled since the new service began.

 4. If data is available please provide the above information for recyclables collected from communal recycling bins from flats. Not separately recorded.

5. What has been the cost of sending these rejected materials to landfill? There is no additional cost to the council for landfilling prohibited waste that is rejected. The  cost is contained within the £22
per tonnage charge for accessing the Material Recycling Facility (MRF). This represents a £70 per tonne reduction on waste collected for landfill through the refuse service.

 

Was Brent Council's leafleting licensing a success?

Brent Council's revised regulations regarding the licensing of leaflet distribution designated areas  the borough caused considerable controversy last Spring. Initially said to be aimed at limiting litter during the Olympics it was later justified as merely tightening up existing regulations. LINK

There were concerns that voluntary organisations and campaigning groups may have had to request a licence months in  advance of any events and the impact this would make on free speech. The complex regulations seemed to be using a sledgehammer to break a nut and suspicions that it was a disguised money making venture that would impact on small business.

No one has come to me to say that 'political' leafleting has been affected but I made a Freedom of Information request top find out how much licensing had actually take place.

I got a very quick response (thanks, Yogini Patel ) and here are answers to my questions (Answer in bold):

1. How many licences were issued after the introduction of the new regulations up to December 31st 2012?  20
   

2. How many were refused? 4

3. List the number of licences issued for each designated area? Wembley 18, Neasden 2

4. List the number of licences issued during the period of the Olympic Games 2012 compared with the normal period. 9 during Olympics, 11 outside Olympics 


5. How many unlicensed distributors were given warnings by council officers? 28

6. How many leaflets were confiscated from unlicensed operators and on how many occasions was this? Leaflets were confiscated on 15 occasions ranging from 150-300 on each occasion

6. How much increase was there in the amount of littering in designated areas during the Olympic Games 2012 compared with normal times? This information is not gathered but observations suggest that during the Olympics streets appeared to have less litter.

Bigging up Brent Connects, but what about the budget?

Some of Brent Council's sternest critics are featured in this new video from Brent Council extolling the virtues of the council-resident 'dialogue' that take place at the Brent Connects Forums (formerly Area Consultation Forums). I didn't attend Brent Connects Kilburn and Kensal featured in this video but that panel debate format here certainly seems to have produced a livelier meeting. The format hasn't been adopted for all the Brent Connects events. This notice  for Brent Connects Wembley to be held at the Patidar Centre, London Road on Tuesday Jan 15th, with due respect to the councillors concerned, failed to excite me:

 One half of the forum will be devoted to portfolio updates from two members of the council’s Executive

* Cllr Krupesh Hirani – Lead Member for Adults and Health

* Cllr George Crane – Lead Member for Regeneration and Major Projects.

 This is an excellent opportunity for residents, service users and stakeholder groups to put questions on specific council portfolio to key-decision makers to help foster greater understanding of council initiatives. A full agenda will be available at the forum. 

The most important decision the council will be making this year, the 2013-14 budget proposals, does not feature on any of the current  Brent Connect agenda and by the time the next round comes round the cuts and increased charges wil have been implemented.

I criticised the lack of substance in the consultation last year, with no detailed proposals available, but this year there is no consultation at all.