Boris must act as water and utility companies squeeze Londoner's pockets

Guest Blog from Navin Shah (Labour), London Assembly member for Brent and Harrow
 

After months of campaigning, the water regulator Ofwat has announced it will order Thames Water to slash Londoners’ bills by 5% over the next 5 years.

For the many Londoners struggling to cope with years of stagnating wages and rising living costs that announcement will be a great relief. Water isn’t one of those bills you can avoid, nor do we have a choice about our supplier. For too long water companies have had customers over a barrel – there was nowhere to turn when prices rose.

The 5% reduction will, on average, mean a £17 cut to bills in Brent and Harrow. Whilst that’s encouraging, water companies are still allowed to increase their overall prices with inflation. That will mean people could quite quickly end up paying more. 

The Mayor of London has taken his eye off the ball in not taking on the utility companies that are squeezing Londoners’ pockets, we on the Assembly will continue to be vigilant to ensure Londoners get their very best value from their water and energy bills.

Thames Water was one of the only water companies in the country to propose price rises, in part it said to fund the new Thames Tideway Tunnel. Whilst the so called super-sewer is important, Ofwat rightly recognised that the project cannot be funded by squeezing yet more out of Londoners' pockets – something I totally endorse.

School place vacancies and waiting lists in Brent

School Census Day in October gives a snapshot of the current position regarding school places in Brent. The actual figures change constantly as places are taken up. Brent Council adopted a School Places Strategy recently that includes the aim of having spare capacity in each school to aid parent choice.

This has an impact on schools faced with competition from a populat neighbour.  Pupil 'churn' occurs when a child leaves a school to take up a place at their preferred school where had been on the waiting list. These children are often replaced by children new to the country, sometimes without previous schooling, who present a challenge to teachers.  Such children usually do extremely well in the long-term, aided by the expertise Brent teachers have developed in this area, but as one would expect there is a short-term impact on SAT results. Continuous 'churn' can have a destabilising effect.

Ark Academy Primary had 208 children on its Reception waiting list on Census Day. I predicted that all-though schools would have an impact on neighbouring primary schools when Ark was set up - parents are effectively choosing their child's secondary school when their children are four years old. It is of course easier for large families if all their children are in one school.

However Ark's waiting list is sharply reduced to 21 in Year 1 and 10 in Year 2 when children settle into their schools.

Recently expanded Harlesden Primary and Strathcona - Roe Green, had vacancies in their Reception classes on Census Day as did Carlton Vale Infants and Furness Primary.  Byron Court, which is currently consulting on expansion to five forms of entry had 7 reception vacancies but a waiting list of 18.

Across the borough and age groups there were 153 pupils not in school with the highest number in Alperton ward (33) and Wembley Central (21) with Year 6 children the largest group in each.

The secondary data shows a sharp divide between schools

The waiting lists appear high but these are children in school who would prefer another - not children out of school. In fact the ward data shows no Year 7 child out of school and  only 2 year 8s.

Three secondary free schools were due to open in Brent in September but only Michaela managed to do so. The DfE estates department failed to find Gladstone and Gateway sites but the data shows that they were not necessary in terms of pupils numbers although they may be in terms of parental choice, however there is no clear data on that.

Gladstone School accounts to the end of December 2013 showed an income of £190,056, expenditure of £77,218 and a carry forward of £112,838 - for a school with no pupils or premises.

The full details are in the Excel spreadsheet below:

A chance for rank and file Brent Labour Party members to make a stand on cuts

Rank and file Labour Party members in Brent will have a chance to challenge the cuts being imposed by their Cabinet and Councillor colleagues at an 'All Member' Forum meeting on January 10th.

The call to members includes the information that the proposed cuts package exceeds the required amount by £6m which presumably gives some limited room for manoeuvre and minor concessions. Among the cuts under consideration are the ending of the Youth Service, closure of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre and closure of 10 out of 17 Children's Centres, cutting back on many of the Council's green initiatives and the redundancy of 40% of central employees.

I hope that Labour Party members who have not bought into the austerity agenda and dented shield argument will mount a challenge.

The meeting will run from 9.45am to 1pm at Neasden Methodist Church.

The email  from Rob Grover, Secretary of Brent Local Campaign Forum, tells members that the proposals include some 'really controversial ideas':

Detailed proposals to make £54million worth of savings over the next two years were unveiled by Brent Council on December 5. 

The draft list contains options that total £60million through a combination of efficiency savings, new opportunities to create income and service changes.

Massive cuts in central government funding to local authorities have left Brent Council with the huge task of finding nearly £54million worth of savings by 2017. These savings are in addition to the £89million already delivered since 2010.

More details, and a link to the full report, can be found on the Brent web site at:

 

http://brent.gov.uk/council-news/press-releases/pr5932/

 

Lead Members will be attending the meeting on the 10th to answer questions on the possible cuts and to hear the views of members. 

 

The proposals include some really controversial ideas.  Please study them in advance of the meeting.

 

Winter Solstice Sustenance for the Soul in Fryent Country Park

Light at the end of the tunnel?

After a week of Christmas meals, concerts, Nativities (yes, both schools where I am a governor had one despite the usual media stories) and exceptional traffic on Wembley Matters caused by the Kensal Rise Library controversy, I felt the need for quiet contemplation this morning and enjoyed a walk from Wembley to Kingsbury via the meadows and woods of Fryent Country Park.

It was food for the soul in winter sunshine on the eve of the Winter Solstice. The subtle winter colours and beautiful tree shapes revealed by the loss of leaves often stopped me in my tracks and the wide blue skies lifted my spirits.

Click below to see more images.