Mark Twain House: Brent needs 'mental food'

Dear Secretary Hunt, Minister Vaizey and Brent Council Members, 

Good morning!  I would like to grab a moment of your time and some brief attention as you hurriedly prepare for the arrival of the Olympians this Summer.  Stateside, we are all very excited to see how you celebrate this monumental event!  There is great anticipation for the Olympics as it is a wonderful opportunity for the world to come together in the spirit of competition and excellence.  It is, of course, also an opportunity for you to showcase the assets of your great city.

One of the assets of any city, any culture or any society great is its repository of knowledge.  Mark Twain, the man we honor here at his home in Hartford, CT, USA, knew this when he said:

“A public library is the most enduring of memorials, the trustiest monument for the preservation of an event or a name or an affection; for it, and it only, is respected by wars and revolutions, and survives them.”

The one thing Twain might not have anticipated a library having to survive is our current economy.  Another of his wonderful quotes:

“The lack of money is the root of all evil.”

I understand, due to tight budget constraints, you have had to close or are considering closure of several libraries in the Brent borough of London.  This may seem necessary to bring shortfalls in budget in line.  Being an American, I may not know the difference between a chip and a crisp or a loo and a lift, but I do know that closing a library is an Olympian decision where everyone loses.  We all know that libraries are important, vital and essential to the livelihood of a community, especially a financially challenged one. 

In 1900, Mark Twain on a visit to Dollis Hill attended the opening and dedication of your historic Kensal Rise Library.  It is dismaying to hear of its closure, but the reason is not so surprising.  Twain, in a way, anticipated it at its opening:

“If the community is anxious to have a reading-room it would put its hand in its pocket and bring out the penny tax.  I think it a proof of the healthy, moral, financial, and mental condition of the community if it taxes itself for its mental food.”

I would heartily encourage you in your decision-making roles to reconsider the closure of libraries and find the means to reopen ones like Kensal Rise that may have already found themselves on the chopping block.  

What you are losing in a library cannot be replaced in a community.  You are leaving a legacy, much as Twain left a legacy of 5 books when he helped dedicate Kensal Rise’s library.  I pledge, on behalf of The Mark Twain House & Museum, to personally come over to Kensal Rise with another 5 books to donate at the rededication of this irreplaceable institution.  

Looking at the Brent Council website, I can see that you are all incredibly attractive.  On top of that, you are incredibly diverse.  I hope that in your diversity you can find unity of purpose to make sure that you nourish your community with, as Twain called it, “mental food.”

I wish you the best with your Olympic preparations and hope you can clear the hurdles to return your libraries to full operations.

Sincerely,

Jacques Lamarre

Director of Communications

The Mark Twain House & Museum

351 Farmington Avenue

Hartford, CT 06105

Kilburn celebrates despite the rain and tennis

Despite grey skies, sudden heavy rain showers and a tennis match on the other side of London, Kilburn came out to celebrate yesterday at the Kilburn Festival.

Tara Brady, senior reporter at the Kilburn Times (pictured), was there with colleagues, once again in solidarity with the local community. This time the paper supported people as they battled with rain and mud, rather than the usual struggles over cuts and closures.

It was good to see all ages and ethnicities coming together, epitomised by communal dancing drawn from Brent's many cultures, and sad to reflect that following cuts in the Festivals' budget there are fewer such opportunities now.

New Wembley Plan sets out future development

The new Wembley Action Plan will be discussed at the Brent Executive on Monday July 16th. The document is large and highly detailed and the key policies have been modified in the light of consultation to which Brent Green Party contributed.

The plan covers new housing, education and health facilities as well as open space. The definition of 'affordable housing' as being 80% of market rents, still puts such housing out of reach of many local people on low incomes, particularly in the light of the housing benefit cap.  The plans include a new primary school and a new community swimming pool in the area and there is a cap of 20% of total housing on the provision of student accommodation.

There is a welcome section on climate change and  open spaces. A possible pedestrian bridge over the railway line that would link Chalkhill with the Wembley regeneration area is an interesting proposal.

The full report is available on the Brent Council website but the preferred options are summarised below:

The following are a summary of the key policies in the Plan by topic. There are also a

number of major site proposals which provide further detailed guidance for developers on individual sites.

Urban Design & Placemaking

• Character & Urban Form - Development should seek to reinforce and emphasise the distinctive character of each locality

• A Legible Wembley - The council will continue to focus of the three stations as the principle gateways into the Wembley area, whilst the enhancement of nodes around key junctions will be sought

• Public Art - Contributions towards public art will be sought from development within the area, particularly at key gateways or where new open spaces are proposed

• Tall Buildings - will be acceptable only in a limited number of locations within the Wembley area. These are shown in the Plan. A number of views to the stadium will be protected

• Olympic Way - Development must be carefully designed and scaled to respect the predominance of Wembley Stadium and its arch.

Business, Industry & Waste

• Strategic Industrial Locations (SIL) - de-designation of relatively small areas of land including on South Way (temp. Stadium car park) and the Euro Car

• Wembley Stadium Business Park - area reduced in size with waste management limited to east of the area

• Offices - Purpose-built offices promoted in area close to Wembley Park station Town Centres, Shopping, Leisure And Tourism

• Town centre boundary - defined for area extending from Forty Lane to Ealing Road

• Sequential approach to development - is emphasised, with large foodstore directed to High Road location, preferably Brent House site.

• Large-scale leisure/tourism/cultural development – is appropriate east of Olympic Way

• Hot-food takeaways - No more within 400m of a school entrance and no morethan 7% in any stretch of primary or secondary frontage (currently 7% in Wembley as a whole).

• Vacant sites or buildings - promoted for occupation by temporary, creative uses.

Transport

• Improved access - for public transport, pedestrians and cyclists, particularly along the Wembley Hill Road / Forty Lane corridor.

• Improved highway access - for car travel from the North Circular by improving the Stadium Access Corridor (via Great Central Way / South Way) and the Western Access Corridor (via Fifth Way / Fulton Way). Land take required for a number of improvements.

• Buses - incrementally provide improved penetration of the masterplan area by buses as development is built out.

• Car parking - encourage car parking in locations on the edge of the town centre. Parking standards to be tighter to facilitate level of development proposed.

• Through traffic - package of measures to discourage through traffic on Wembley High Road.

• Pedestrian access – to be improved between the Masterplan area and High Road.

• Coach parking for stadium- criteria based approach for locations including within 960 metres. 

Housing

• Affordable Rent at up to 80% of market rent, including service charges and determined with regard to local incomes and house prices.

• Family Housing – at least 25% of new homes in Wembley should be family sized.

• Supported Housing – Existing supported housing protected. Extra care housing sought on sites where development is primarily residential, where residential amenity is good and where it is near to open space.

• Private Rented Sector – high quality, purpose-built, private sector rented accommodation will be encouraged through a flexible approach to the proportion of affordable housing and unit size mix.

• Student Accommodation – will form part of major mixed use development but will be capped at 20% of the projected increase in population 

Social Infrastructure

• Primary Schools - Provision of school land on the Wembley Industrial Park site

- identified in Site Specific Allocation. A further (minimum) two form entry school in the vicinity of the town centre.

• Secondary Schools - Contributions towards secondary provision will also be sought through CIL

• GP/Dentists provision - where other local capacity (e.g. Chalkhill Health Centre) is used up-long term provision as population grows

• Community Halls - provision as provided in the NW Lands (i.e. smaller areas at no rent) and use this as a basis of achieving space across the masterplan area

• Creative workspace - Cross reference to the created in NW Lands application & intention to provide more low cost creative workspace in mixed used developments across the area

• Sports and play infrastructure - Cross reference to that may sit in open space and housing chapters

• Temporary uses - reference to provision of meanwhile and temporary uses that will provide opportunities for social interaction

Climate Change

• Decentralised Energy - major developments will be expected to connect to, or contribute to, the Decentralised Energy System where feasible. Developments completed before the energy centre should be designed for future connection

• Energy from Waste - major energy from waste facilities will be allowed only east of Fourth Way. Smaller scale proposals to recover energy from waste generated locally will be supported subject to impact assessments

• Greening Wembley - development proposals must incorporate urban greening including green roofs, green walls, trees and soft landscaping

• Flooding – proposals within Flood Risk Zones must not reduce floodplain storage or increase maximum flood levels. All major proposals will be required to apply Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems

Open Space, Sports and Wildlife

• Open Space Provision - require a new park of 1.2ha adjacent to Engineers Way, orientated E-W and 3 parks of 0.4 ha. Support enhancement and improvements e.g. a new pedestrian bridge link across Met. /Jubilee lines to Chalkhill Open Space

• Food Growing - require major new residential development to provide space for food growing and encourage the use of vacant spaces for temporary food growing

• Sports Facilities - use development contributions to improve the provision of sports facilities and the council will make new or upgraded sports facilities available for community use out of school hours

• River Brent and Wealdstone Brook – adj. development sites to undertake opportunities to provide amenity space, biodiversity improvements and semi-naturalisation of Wealdstone Brook

Harlesden Area Consultative Forum Postponed

Brent Council has announced that the Harlesden Area Consultative Forum planned for Tuesday 10 July 2012, has been postponed and will be re-scheduled for a future date towards the end of July.

Harlesden is the area where the closure of Central Middlesex Hospital Accident and Emergency Department is particularly controversial.

Barclays 'a proud British institution'- Boris Johnson

Brent's unaffordable rents - have your say

Click on image to enlarge

Darren Johnson, Green Party Member of the London Assembly, has published an interactive website LINK which demonstrates the difficulty of finding a home at an affordable rent across the London boroughs.

An affordable  rent is defined as one which takes up no more than 35% of take-home pay after tax. Based on a working week of 48 hours (the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive) spread over five days of 9.6hr shifts, you should have earned enough to pay the rent at the end of Tuesday.

In the London Borough of Brent you would have to work until the end of Wednesday on the National Minimum wage for 18-20 year olds (£4.98 an hour) to rent a room in a shared home. However, on the London Living Wage (£8.30/hr) supported by the Green Party, you could afford this by the end of Tuesday.

For an adult on the National Minimum wage needing a 2 bedroomed home, it is just not possible even if all the wages went on rent. If they were paid the London Living Wage they would not have earned enough to pay the rent until the end of Friday i.e. 'extremely unaffordable'.

Currently these unaffordable rents are topped up through housing benefit, the Local Housing Allowance, but these are now being capped and cut, making it more difficult to find affordable homes to rent when with a job and benefits.

Go to the website for more details and to feed back your views on the issue to Darren Johnson

Bank robbery

Governors feel marginalised in school improvement changes

School governors meeting to discuss the future of  Brent Council's services to schools expressed some disquiet at being left out of discussion of the Primary Headteachers' Group proposal  that, outside core statutory services,  the local authority should opt out of providing traded services. This would mean schools providing the services to each other or buying them in from the private or voluntary sector.

The local authority has proposed that it provides 'Targeted Intervention' (Option B from 3 possibilities) with a staffing of 19 posts and a budget of £1.5m..  This new core service plus would include support to schools in a Ofsted category (special measures, notice to improve etc) and those 'stuck at satisfactory' as well as providing an overview of SEN provision, quality of provision and assessment in the Early Years, 14-19 education, pre-exclusion intervention, attendance compliance and targeted intervention and data collection and analysis. This new core service would run from April 2013.

The benchmarking data on school improvement expenditure shows how this has been cut back in comparison with other local authorities, although those authorities may also be much lower next year:

Local Authority	Number of Schools	Stated spend 2012-13	Stated spend per school
Harrow	61	£1.2m	£19.7k
Camden	64	£1.0m	£15.6k
Wandsworth	81	£1.1m	£13.6k
Brent (Option B)	78	£485k	£6.2k

Although governors were concerned about the low  spend, we were told that the council was confident that this is sufficient  to maintain the service. I am still doubtful.

At the same time services funded by the Direct Schools Grant (DSG) are under review. These include support for English and Mathematics in primary schools £370k; special educational needs and inclusive education £163k; ethnic minority achievement £589k;  Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers £166k;  Early Years SEN £167k; and Early  Years quality improvement £577k. The latter two also include the voluntary, private and independent sector. These will be reviewed in October 2012 by the Schools Forum and some may be discontinued with the money reverting to schools.

Governors were concerned that all this may lead to a reduction in the quality of teaching and learning in Brent schools. Cllr Helga Gladbaun made a passionate intervention about the danger of Brent, now achieving well in terms of national comparisons, going back to the bad old days when children crossed council boundaries to seek education in neighbouring boroughs because our schools were so poor.

John Simpson, the consultant who ran the session, said that Brent Council had made their calculations on the assumption (not the expectation) that all secondary schools and half of primary schools would become academies. They could still run Option B based on this scenario and could run the minimum statutory service of Option A if all schools opted out. The local authority would still be responsible as the 'champion of parents' and pupils' interests'.

In answer to a question he said this also applied to academies and although they had funding to compensate for lost council services, the local authorty would still have to fund any intervention required if the academy was failing.

There were many concerns about the consortium school support services proposed by the primary headteachers (although the course was advertised as having a primary headteacher  as a co-tutor, they were not present at the morning session). Concern centred around the lack of quality assurance, the lack of consultation with governors, whether the expertise existed within the schools to provide the service, the contradiction between the market environment of schools where they compete with each other and the cooperative framework required, how schools with major needs would pay for the service, and the impact on the workload of  headteachers of small schools when they would have to spend time on making these support arrangements. One contributor thought it would be a mess and if schools fell apart there would be no one available to pick up the pieces.

If schools work in partnership with the local authority the Civic Centre will provide space for teacher in-service education and training. If schools are completely autonomous they will have to provide their own training and venues.

Although we were initially told that there was plenty of time to consider these issues it became clear that with the DSG services review in October 2012 and  the results announced in November 2012, and the new Core Service to be launched in April 2013 (based at the Civic Centre from July 2013), there would really be little time for governors to consider all the implications.

In the light of these changes there was some support for re-launching an Association of Brent School Governors as a way of empowering governors.  John Simpson concluded by stating that the local authority would take note of governors' concerns but this left the question hanging over how they would influence the primary headteachers' proposals.  A start will be to ask challenging questions at governing body meetings about the proposals and insist on the strategic role of governors.

Round 1 to Keep Willesden Green campaigners as developers withdraw planning applications

Galliford Try, the developers of the controversial housing development (with Cultural Centre attached) has withdrawn its two planning application for the site.

Galliford Try and Brent Council say that this is to extend the consultation period for the redevelopment and use the summer to seek local people's views.

The planning applications have received an overwhelming thumbs down from local residents with the planning department unable to keep up with the enormous flood of objections.

Cllr George Crane, lead member for Regeneration and Major Projects insisted that 'this redevelopment has never been a foregone conclusion as some people have claimed and this extra time for discussion demontrates that' but went on to state that the development 'needs to be at no capital costs and result in a quality development - these principles remain unchanged'.

Martin Redston, joint chair of Keep Willesden Green, said that he was overjoyed at the decision but that the campaign would not put its guard down: 'We will be looking for genuine consultation leading to community engagement at all levels'.

Details about consultation events and the time line will be publicised shortly. The further consultation will include the design of the new cultural centre and the activities that people want to see in the building once it's complete.  I understand that the original architects are now working on designs that will include keeping the historic Old Willesden Library.

The shows what a well-informed and determined community based campaign can do. Congratulations to all  all concerned.

Ealing Council opposes casualty closures and calls for fightback

Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, has publicly opposes plans to close four casualty departments in  North- West London Hospitals, including that at Central Middlesex and called for a public fightback against them.

He told the Evening Standard yesterday:

When these half-baked plans were announced, all our worst fears were realised. It beggars belief that essential keath services like A and E could be cut nearly in half without damaging health care.

The council is committed to fighting these proposals but we need people power.  I want local people to join our campaign and to tell their friends and neighbours, relatives and colleagues to do the same. With a powerful single voice we can save our hospitals.

There were promising signs yesterday that Brent Council may follow when Cllr Krupesh Hirani, lead member for Adult Care and Health, released a series of tweets on Twitter:

• This hospital serves the poorest part of the Borough 
• The Tory Liberal move to close A&E at Central Middlesex Hospital is bad for Brent 
• If we were redesigning NHS services in Brent from scratch, we would have an A&E service at Central Middlesex Hospital

Area Consultative Forums start tonight

The latest round of Area Consultative Forums starts this  evening. Remember to get there early to register to speak at a Soapbox or e-mail consultation@brent.gov.uk


TUESDAY JULY 3RD 7pm  KILBURN AND KENSAL (Wards: Brondesbury Park, Kilburn, Mapesbury, Queen's Park) Kensal Rise Primary School, Harvist Road, NW6

WEDNESDAY  JULY 4TH 7pm WEMBLEY (Alperton, Northwick Park, Preston, Sudbury, Tokyngton, Wembley Park) Patidar House, 22 London Road, off Wembley High Road, HA9

TUESDAY JULY 10TH 7pm HARLESDEN (Harlesden, Kensal Green, Stonebridge)
All Souls Church, Station Road, Harlesden, NW10 (next to Lloyds TSB)


WEDNESDAY JULY 11TH 7pm  WILLESDEN (Dollis Hill, Dudden Hill, Welsh Harp, Willesden) College of NY London, Denzil Road, Willesden NW10


TUESDAY JULY 17TH 7pm KINGSBURY AND KENTON (Barnhill, Fryent, Kenton, Queensbury)
Kingsbury High School, Princes Avenue, Kingsbury, NW9

Labour's Denis MacShane backs Kensal Rise campaigners

From yesterday's Evening Standard LINK

Emboldened by the success of the campaign to save Gaby’s Deli in Charing Cross Road, Labour MP Denis MacShane has a new cause, the Kensal Rise Library. MacShane wrote some blistering letters about Gaby’s to its landlord, the Marquess of Salisbury, saying it was the only place he could buy a decent salt beef sandwich.

Now he has chosen a similar tactic by writing to Sir John Vickers, currently in the news as chairman of the Independent Commission on Banking. Sir John is also Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, which gifted the building to the north London community 100 years ago when it was opened by the great American writer Mark Twain.

The library has many champions, notably Alan Bennett, Zadie Smith and Tim Lott, but somehow MacShane is the one who goes for the goolies. “I write on behalf of one of my oldest friends, Maggie Gee, the novelist,” writes the former Minister for Europe, showing her how to write a letter combining praise with threat. “She was at Somerville and myself at Merton in those far-off days and have been friends ever since. The college is a community of scholars, of readers, of page turners and this historic connection to a community of readers in a poor part of north London should not be terminated just because the finance people say so.

“I hope All Souls can work with Friends of Kensal Rise Library and keep it alive. I will copy this to one or two colleagues and friends who are Fellows.” That should do the trick. 

Meanwhile Preston Library campaigners met with Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council yesterday.  After the meeting they released the following statement:

This afternoon campaigners from Friends of Preston Library met Muhammed Butt, the new leader of Brent Council, at his request. In what was a very friendly meeting, we spent an hour or so discussing the future of Preston Library and agreed to meet again in the very near future to continue the discussion.

U-turn if you want to - this gent is not for turning!

"I will not bend"

The Newsletter of Brent Council's Chief Executive always makes fascinating reading - particularly between the lines:

The June 21st Newsletter exalts in the close relationship between officers and councillors and gives this insight into Gareth Daniel's view of decision making. It sounds as if he has formed his own version of the 'No Turning Back' group which was formed to prevent any change of mind on Margaret Thatcher's 'reforms'.:

Gareth Daniel in 1982

Once any necessary consultation has taken place, we should always move confidently into action mode and when we make a decision we need to stick to it.  Nobody respects an organisation that bends to the demands of every pressure group or the inevitable special pleading of sectional interest groups.

Presumably this is what he is saying to Muhammed Butt, the recently elected  'official' leader of Brent Council.

I guess people who believe in the importance of libraries are a 'sectional interest' group, as are those who believe in the importance of early childhood provision, or even those who think it is quite nice if people have a roof over their head...

Plans to close Central Middlesex Accident and Emergency confirmed - now organise!

The Brent and Kilburn Times website reports today that Central Middlesex A&E is 'certain to close' as part of the 'Shaping a Healthier Future (sic)' proposals which were launched today LINK:

Speaking at the launch, Dr Mark Spencer, medical director for the programme, said:

We looked at all the options but it is not possible to keep the A&E department open and running as it is now.

Unfortunately when the hospital was built, it was far too big and with too many departments for the people it served so it is not viable to keep it open.

The hospital still has an Urgent Care Centre which is open 24 hours a day and can treat patients within 4 hours of arrival and that will remain open.

The certainty of closure will be challenged by local residents and campaigners who are meeting tomorrow evening at The Trades Hall/Apollo Club 375 High Road, NW10 2JR (close to Willesden Bus Garage) to mobilise opposition.. The meeting will begin at 7.30pm. All welcome.

Early years experts launch campaign to 'save childhood'

From Katy Morrison Nursery World, June 28th 2012

   A new website has been launched  LINK to promote a campaign by early years experts to save childhood. The Save Childhood Movement expands upon Open Eye’s Saving Childhood Network, which was set up last October following the publication of ‘Too much, too soon?’ by Dr Richard House. It has been launched in response to concerns of an ‘erosion of childhood’ in modern culture, and aims to bring together a team of experts to consolidate relevant research and protect and promote children’s natural development and learning.

    Behind the movement is Wendy Ellyatt, founder of the Unique Child Network, Child psychologist Dr Richard House, from the University of Roehampton, and Kim Simpson, co-founder of the Early Childhood Action Group.

   Members of the Save Childhood Movement’s advisory group include Professors Lillian Katz and Janet Moyles, early years consultants Wendy Scott and Margaret Edgington and Catherine Prisk - director of Play England. It is hoped the new website will help to gain sponsorship for the movement ahead of its official launch next spring at the first of a series of annual seminar series.

The next six months will be spent consolidating the advisory board and gaining support to grow the movement.

   Ms Ellyatt, the group’s development director, said, ‘The movement has been set up in recognition of the rapidly growing evidence about child health and well-being in the UK. According to the Children’s Society 2012 Good Childhood Report at any one time more than half a million children are unhappy with their lives and, with increasingly sedentary lifestyles. One in ten children are suffering from mental health problems, and there is what is being called an "alienation of experience".'

   ‘We have some of the most academically pressurised children in the world, with an increasing focus on targets and measurable outcomes rather than the more holistic nurturing of positive learning dispositions. We think such evidence calls for urgent action and we are now bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of experts who agree with us.’

Brent Labour desperately seeking council candidates for 2014

Brent Labour Party is looking for people to stand as Labour councillors in 2014. They are possibly a little desperate so I thought I would give them a hand by publicising the invite. Note you do not have to be a member of the Labour Party to attend:

The Brent Labour Party will soon be starting its selection process for Brent Council elections in 2014. With this is mind, the Brent Labour Party is holding an event on the 4th of July for people interested in becoming a Labour Councillor.

If you are interested in putting yourself forward, this is a fantastic opportunity to come along, and learn a bit more about what being a councillor really entails, and how to go about applying.
The meeting starts at 7pm with presentations by current councillors talking about their experiences of getting started and what it’s like to be a councillor.

There will then be a chance to ask questions. This will last approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour. After the presentations you will be able to talk to the councillors informally.

If you know someone that might be interested in coming along but isn’t on this email list please pass this information on – everyone is welcome to attend, even if they’re not a Labour Party Member

The information for the evening is the following::

Wednesday the 4th of July 2012 – 7pm

The Stonebridge Hub, Hillside, NW10 8BN (10 minute walk from either Harlesden or Stonebridge stations)

Let us know if you would like to attend by emailing brentlabour@live.co.uk

I will be happy to publish any suggestions from readers about questions that could be asked after the presentation.

HS2 doesn't stack up - Caroline Lucas

Find out about Green Party candidates for leader and deputy

With nominations now closed we can look forward to an interesting election campaign for Leader and Deputy Leader of the Green Party.  It is a strong list of candidates and I hope we will have  wide-ranging debate about the party's political direction and its strategy for increasing the party's membership and activist base.

All the candidates have set up websites which you can find below:

Candidates for Leader of the Green Party (Alphabetical order)

Pippa Bartolotti

http://pippabartolotti.com/

Natalie Bennett

http://www.natalie4leader.org/

Peter Cranie

http://petercranie.org.uk/

Romayne Phoenix

http://www.romayneandwillforgreenleadership.org.uk/

Candidates for Deputy Leader of the Green Party (Alphabetical order)

Caroline Allen

http://carolinefordeputy.org/

Will Duckworth

http://www.romayneandwillforgreenleadership.org.uk/

Richard Mallender

http://www.richardfordeputy.org/

Alexandra Phillips

http://www.alexfordeputy.org.uk/

Election Timetable

·  late July/early August - ballot papers issued with Green World

·  31 August 2012 - voting closes

·  11am, Monday 3 September 2012 - declaration of results

Wembley Consultative Forum on July 4th

The next Wembley Area Consultative Forum will be held on Wednesday 4th July at Patidar House, London Road, off Wembley High Road. The meeting starts at 7pm. Get there a little earlier to fill in a form if you wish to speak at a Soapbox.

Agenda

• Parking Charges - an update
• Tackling illegal waste dumping
• Shaping a Healthier Future
• Localisation of Council Tax Benefit
• Wembley Area Action Plan
• Draft Cemeteries Strategy

We are being denied 'rightful access' to funding for day-to-day living - Disabled People Against Cuts

Report from Kate Belgrave.com

I Went down to the Royal Courts of Justice this morning, where an application had been made by members of the Mental Health Resistance Network for permission for a judicial review of the work capability assessment process. A judge was deciding whether or not people with mental health issues should be able to apply for a judicial review of the WCA process. 

Adam Lotun, press spokesperson for Disabled People Against The Cuts, said that Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments had developed “into a vehicle that is being used to deny people [with disabilities] their rightful access to funding and resources to assist them in their day-to-day living.” 

He said that the other reason for seeking the review was to stop the same damaging process being used to assess people on disability living allowance as DLA is phased out and replaced with the personal independence payment – “we want to stop the killing of the disability living allowance.” 

“These (benefits) were brought in to ensure that people of all different levels would be able to get access to funding, or resources, to enable them to cope and exist with the rest of society. Well, now that’s being taken away from us.”

 Claimants argue that the work capability assessment process discriminates against people with mental health issues.

 Result from the end of the day: Adam Lotun texted to say that: “The judge will give a decision early next week. In closing remarks, the judge said that this is something that involves hundreds and thousands of people,” and that there was concern that people would ultimately fill the court system with individual claims.

Campaign for Barclays to lose its banking licence launched

Following yesterday's revelations an e-petition has been launched on the government website asking that Barclay's banking licence be withdrawn.

The petition reads:

Within a capitalist economy banks perform a vital function in facilitating the production and exchange of goods and services. In return for fulfilling this role responsibly they are allowed to hold a banking licences, which brings them great benefits in terms of the ability to create money through making loans. The systematic manipulation of the LIBOR value to serve its business interests makes clear that Barclays is not a fit company to hold a banking licence. We call upon the government to withdraw Barclays banking licence.

The petition can be found HERE

RBS IT failure may affect Brent council tax transactions

Following from Brent Council:

Brent uses the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as its clearing bankers.

On Wednesday, 20 June, a software upgrade at the bank failed, resulting in services being unavailable. This was a nationwide problem affecting individuals and businesses that bank with RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

The problems affecting reporting systems meant that whatever transactions were undertaken, neither customers nor bank staff could accurately identify transactions or balances.

As a result we have been unable to verify some customers' payments including Council Tax. This could result in us writing to some customers to recover 'debts' which have actually been paid.

We will do everything possible to minimise the impact on customers and at the moment we are not aware of any transactions that have either failed or been duplicated. We will keep customers informed as more information becomes available.

Support Romayne Phoenix for Green Party leader

I am pleased to be able to support Romayne Phoenix's election campaign for the leadership of the Green Party and Will Duckworth as her running mate for the deputy leadership.

My endorsement which is on the campaign website HERE reads:

In a time of unprecedented global climate and economic crisis and with the welfare state under sustained attack, the Green Party needs a leader with grit and determination, firmly rooted in campaigns for environmental and social justice. Romayne Phoenix has demonstrated that she is able to forge alliances with other groups and trades unions, communicate across the social spectrum, and inspire all those in struggle. She would make an excellent leader.

Among others endorsing Romayne's campaign are:

Peter Tatchell (Human Rights campaigner)
Sasha Khan (Croydon Green Party)
Shan Oakes (Equalities and Diversity Officer, Green Party executive)
Lindsey German  (Stop the War Coalition and Coalition of Resistance)
Paul Mackney (former NATFHE General Secretary and the Coalition of Resistance)

 Romayne and Will want to position firmly in the anti-austerity movement:

The Green Party must be at the heart of the battle against austerity, becoming centrally involved in anti-cuts campaigns where they already exist and encouraging their formation wherever absent. We must also work towards such campaigns including a Green agenda, for instance seeking to defend and expand public transport provision in localities as part of the fight against public spending cuts.

Our position against austerity remains a fundamental differential between us and the other parties. We must have an effective campaign strategy, led by a dynamic and properly resourced campaigns committee. We should seek to involve trade unions, tenants associations, community organisations and students in broad and inclusive organisations at local level.

Since its creation in 2010 Romayne has chaired the Coalition of Resistance, a broad grouping of organisations and individuals who are building a national and international movement of opposition to cuts, privatisation and the victimisation of the most vulnerable in society. These connections and experience make Romayne and Will ideally placed to build the network needed to secure this alliance.

By becoming more effective allies in their defence of jobs and living standards we might hope to become the party that nurses, teachers and transport workers identify with most.

The Campaign FACEBOOK page is HERE

NOTE: I give this support and endorsement as an individual member of the Green Party. Other members of Brent Green Party may well support other candidates.

Save Hopscotch Nursery

News from Gurgle.com LINK

Brent parents are up in arms. First the council decided to close two valued nurseries, Treetops Children’s Centre in Willesden and Harmony Children’s centre in Neasden, and now they are planning to close a third, highly sought after nursery. Another blow to the community in troubled times. Hopscotch Nursery, which was awarded 'outstanding' in it's ofsted report in 2011 and 2012, has been in the Queen’s Park area for 20 years and has been providing parents with a private nursery and also daily stay and play facilities, much needed by parents in the community.

Leigh Steckler 36, has 3 children and lives in the local area, 2 of which have been at Hopscotch nursery.

 

“If Hopscotch closes, there just isn’t an alternative nursery in the area. There is a serious lack of nursery places in our area, and I was lucky to get my son into Hopscotch in the first place. Brent Council seem to have given up on the situation arguing that they don’t have a duty to keep Hopscotch as it’s not council run.. it’s very sad for all the local parents”

Interestingly, Brent do in fact have a statutory duty, under the 2006 childrens act, to ensure sufficient childcare for working parents. The act says that local authorities must take the strategic lead in their local childcare market, planning, supporting and commissioning childcare by working with local private, voluntary and independent sector providers to meet local need.

So, families in Brent have grounds to require that Brent council provide childcare, but what can be done; a full campaign has been launched to save the long running nursery which sets out to highlight the real lack of nursery provision in the area and the terrible loss to the community if the nursery and drop-in were to close.

Another Hopscotch Mum, Claire Hind 31, says

“I had just moved into the area and had a new baby. I was slightly daunted at the prospect of meeting other mums but I found the drop in details online and went along. I met so many local mums, all with the same age children as me, it was like a little community”

The situation in Brent

• Brent has a high and increasing birth rate relative to the national average and to the London average.
• 30% of families who already use childcare predicted their need for childcare will increase in future (compared to 10% who said it would decrease.)
• 38% of Brent families surveyed need childcare between 8am and 6pm
• 25.8% of parents surveyed reported they were unable to find childcare within the hours they required

The situation in the area surrounding Hopscotch

In the report, 'Kilburn' means Kilburn, Brondesbury Park, Mapesbury and Queen's Park.

All points below were true at the time of publication (Feb 2011.)

• There are 3, 253 nought to four year- olds in Kilburn.
• Compared to other Brent localities, families in Kilburn require the most hours of childcare (average = 28.1 per week)
• Kilburn has no childcare places at playgroup or pre-school (Kingsbury and Wembley have more than 100.)
• It has the lowest number of childminder places in the borough (120 compared to 222 in Willesden.)
• It has the lowest number of vacancies in the borough at both childminders and nurseries
• In 2011 there were only 12 part- time nursery vacancies for 2- 5 year- olds and only two for children over 3 (full time nursery vacancies not reported.)
• In a survey, Kilburn families were the least satisfied in the borough with availability, choice and ease of obtaining childcare
• 54% of Kilburn parents disagreed with the statement: 'there is plenty of childcare available.'
• The report concludes that:

“there may be a lack of choice of childcare (in Kilburn) compared to other localities (and that) The availability of childcare may be more of an acute problem faced by families in Kilburn than it is for families in the rest of Brent.”

This ‘acute’ problem faced by family’s needs to be addressed by the council in providing more childcare in the area and making available there facilities to make sure parents have access to daily drop in centre’s and have a choice about their childcare. Having no option is not an option.

Parents also relayed their fears for affordable childcare if plans to close Hopscotch go ahead. Parents in the borough say that many of them will be forced to give up jobs because of a shortage of affordable nursery places. While Hopscotch costs £33 a day, other local nurseries are said to cost up to £70.

In a report written by the Director of Children and Families in Brent, it states,

“A growing body of evidence shows that good pre-school childcare gives children a head start and leads to better outcomes as they move through school. It also allows children to take part in a wide range of interesting activities that foster their personal development in a safe environment”

Brent are obviously well aware of the advantage of the children in their borough getting the best start in their educational and social lives, so putting parents and children under financial and emotional stress by giving them no alternative childcare seems illogical.

For more information about the possible closure of the much loved Hopscotch nursery, please click here.

To join the Save Hopscotch Nursery campaign, please click here http://savehopscotch.org.uk/

Lib Dem councillors give verdict on the Coalition

If only......

Lib Dems wake up to school places crisis but where's Teather?

It is good to see that Brent Lib Dems have woken up to the school places crisis with their press release today (see below). Other urgent issues still remain to be addressed regarding academies, free schools and the future of the School Improvement Service. See my recent posting HERE

Liberal Democrat councillors are demanding urgent confirmation from Brent Council Education chiefs about whether there will be enough reception places available for four and five year-olds due to start school in Brent this September.

A newsletter circulated to councillors and governors recently admits:

…we will be able to provide Reception places to all the on-time applications received and offer places for most of the unplaced children in other years.
However, this still leaves us with insufficient places for the large numbers of late applications for Reception places which continue to arrive and are difficult to predict.

Liberal Democrat councillor Barry Cheese, who sits on the Children & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said:

Every year hundreds of parents miss the main closing date in January 2012. Often this is through no fault of their own: for example they may have recently moved into Brent. This is why the council organises eight further rounds of applications between May and August.

Brent Council has received £55 million from the government to pay for extra primary school places – equivalent to a dozen new primary schools.
We owe it to local children to make sure that they aren’t stuck at home when they should be starting their exciting journey through school. We need answers from the Council.

Sarah Teather MP, Minister of State for Children and Families, has announced millions of pounds more funding for Brent Council to provide more primary school places.

Currently the Labour councillors who sit on the council’s decision-making Executive are not due to consider the school places issue until August, less than a month before the start of term.

As they have illustrated their Press Release with a picture of Sarah Teather it is pertinent to ask their position on the apparent Coalition policy of restricting funding of new schools to address the places shortage to academies or free schools, rather than the local authority community schools favoured by most Brent residents.

I hope they and other governors will bring these issues up at today's Conference for Brent School Governors at the Crown Moran Hotel in Cricklewood.

Meanwhile John Prescott and others have been active on Twitter asking why Sarah Teather was missing from the Education Debate in the House of Commons LINK

Oppose Brent Parks Service privatisation - support park workers

View across Fryent Country Park meadows to Kingsbury

I was looking at this view with a class of 7 and 8 year olds recently and telling them how we owed the preservation of Middlesex countryside in Fryent Country Park to the far-sighted councillors of Middlesex Country Council who in 1938 purchased the farmland on either side of Fryent Way to preserve some open space from the encroaching housing.

Since then this remaining fragment of Middlesex countryside has escaped proposals to build housing, a golf club, a zoo and even an Olympic Village for the unsuccessful 1988 London OIympics bid.

Now the councillors of Brent Council are making a proposal that could do considerable harm to Fryent Country Park and other Brent parks and open spaces. This week the Brent and Kilburn Times LINK confirms my fears of December 2011 LINK that the Council were considering privatising the parks service. The Council refused to answer my questions on this on the grounds that Wembley Matters was not 'official media' and then refused to answer a Freedom of Information request on the same matter.

According the the BKT the 80 park and cemetery  maintenance service workers have already received letters warning them that the Council is considering out-sourcing the service. The management of the Parks Service was merged with the Sports Service under one Head of Serice recently after the retirement of Shaun Faulkner, a champion of Brent's Green Flag winning parks and open spaces. It will come as no surprise to regular readers to hear that Cllr James Powney is the lead member for this service.

Brent Council says that it spends £3m on parks maintenance and.."we face unprecedented financial pressures, so we are looking at all our services, including saving money on grounds maintenance while also protecting the quality wherever possible". That "wherever possible" should serve as a warning  to all who love and appreciate our local parks.

It is those 80 maintenance staff who have enabled our parks to win Green Flag awards, who have got to know and cherish them and maintain the spaces sensitively, preserving and enhancing natural habitats. Although staff will have rights under TUPE,  if money is to 'saved' whilst giving the private company a profit, hours, numbers of staff and conditions of service will be reduced.

My fear is that this will result in the sort of parks maintenance that is evident in the private contractors operating in some of our housing estates where trees and shrubs are not pruned or cut-back by experts but 'shaped' by a workman with a chain-saw and grass cut whatever the weather resulting in churned up lawn areas.

In the Wirral last year there was a huge row over the privatisation of parks with Labour opposing the plans put forward by the previous Lib Dem-Conservative coalition and a dispute over the possibility of an 'in-house' bid for the contract. LINK Here Labour is putting forward the plans and although Council Leader Muhammed Butt tweated this weekend about Brent's oldest building, Old St Andrew's Church in Kingsbury, Labour has a poor record on preserving our heritage.

As I pointed out to that primary class, parks are part of our heritage.  That heritage should not be threatened by short-term financial cost saving to the detriment of our long term social and environmental capital.

Brent residents should oppose parks privatisation. If despite opposition the plans go ahead everything should be done to provide support for an 'in-house' bid to run the service.

Building a mass movement against austerity and privatisation

Romayne Phoenix, from the Green Party and Chair of the Coalition of  Resistance, launched last week's rally with panache and demonstrated that the Green Party, alone of the Westminster parties, is prepared to question the current ideological attack on the welfare state that is being made under the guise of deficit reduction.

Len McCluskey urged the coming together of trades unions, community organisations, churches, students and pensioners in one movement to oppose the privatisation of the NHS that is happening in front of our eyes. He urged a combination of industrial action and civil disobedience and said that the London Olympics were a legitimate target for protest.  He told the audience that People Power can bring down governments and tyrants: "Don't despair, don't let the media debilitate us, have faith in our values of truth and justice".

Mary Cross, of Disabled People Against the Cuts, said that the destruction of the welfare state is the destruction of peoples' lives and reminded that audience that anyone can become disabled through accidents or illness. Mary said that 1 in 4 families with disabled children are unable to afford to heat their homes and drew attention to the rise in hate crimes against disabled people. People under 65 leaving hospital after a stroke were being immediately assessed for fitness to work. Cuts in housing benefits were making disabled people homeless. She claimed that these attacks amounted to crimes against humanity.

Salma Yaqoob in a passionate speech drew attention to the Guardian's reports on working  families being one bill away from disaster and said that although the government did not like being told this, that they had launched a class way, and were all about  'divide and rule'. With only 10-15% of cuts made so far this was the first generation since WW2 who would be worse off than the generation before them.  Declaring that solidarity does matter she said that it was people who gave each other strength. She said, "If we do our job well we will expose austerity as a poison, just as we exposed the lies used to launch the war in Iraq".  Supporting a Financial Transaction Tax of 0.5% she said that this "would not turn the rich out of their homes" but would raise £30bn to challenge the 'need' for cuts.

A delegation from the Coalition of Resistance, which included Romayne Phoenix,  had recently visited Greece and the events there resonated throughout the rally. Vassilis Fouskas, from Syriza, was received enthusiastically. He  spoke about the conditions for left success in challenging austerity in which bail outs were really a  'bonanza for bankers'.  He said that the social devastation and poverty now hitting Greece was familiar to the people of the global South and Eastern Europe. The only original factor was that it was being applied to a country of the EU. There had been 17 general strikes in Greece over the last two years and hundreds of demonstrations and occupations. The Greek people had rejected the guilt inducing mantra of 'lazy south' stereotypes and formed alliances. Without this mobilisation the break through from the left could not have happened. Their experience led people to realise that what was needed was a proper political alternative.Syriza had become the only credible alternative on the left, present in organisations but respecting their autonomy and unifying the anti-austerity movement. Solidarity was an essential requisite for success.

In his concluding speech, Tony Benn said that he had learned a lot from the previous speakers, "What we have been doing is part of a national education campaign". He defended public expenditure saying that it was vital for democracy and transferred "power from the market to the polling station". Coalition policies were reopening battles we fought and won over centuries and that imposition of policies on Greece and the Egyptian military takeover showed that all over the world the issue was an attack on the peoples' democratic rights. What was happening was the imposition of poverty and we needed to take inspiration from previous vociferous campaigners such as the Miners Women's Support Groups.  He said that 87 he was more encouraged to go into battle now than at any other time in his life.


I enjoyed the meeting but feel strongly that although it is important to mobilise for the TUC's October 20th action that even more important is to bring together all the various groups and individuals affected by austerity, most of whom are not in trade unions.  One day TUC actions often end up in an anti-climax the day after, 'Was that it? What now?' October 20th should be a medium term marker on the way to the longer term goal of building an alternative economic and social strategy supported by people across the social spectrum.

You can see videos of the above speeches and those from other speakers HERE

Damning report on hospital closure plans

Plans to drastically cut health services are exposed in a hard hitting Report “North West London’s NHS - Under the Knife”, written by John Lister, Director of London Health Emergency.

 

The Report, commissioned by Ealing, Brent and Harrow Trades Union Councils, shows that far from improving or modernising services, the outcome of the NWL NHS plans, “Shaping a Healthier Future” , would inevitably be a massive reduction in both hospital beds and services, without any corresponding increase in alternative provision.

  

Dr Lister states that the proposals “could result in the loss of 1750 NHS jobs in 12 months, and 5,600 jobs by 2015, along with the downgrading and downsizing of many local hospitals and services, and the closure of up to 4 of its 8 A&E units.”

 

Although NWL NHS try to avoid stating which hospitals and A&E Departments are under threat; Dr Lister’s analysis shows that the targets of the cuts are likely to be Ealing, Central Middlesex, Charing Cross and Hammersmith, leaving a massive area of London without A&E provision.

 

He goes on to say that “trendy arguments ... suggesting that new “settings” can deliver services more efficiently and effectively than hospitals: the only snag is that these “settings” and services exist only on paper, lacking the funds, facilities, staff and any political commitment to make them a reality.”

 

Dr Lister will be the headline speaker at the Ealing TUC public meeting on Tuesday 26th June at 7.30pm in Ealing Town Hall.  

The report is posted below:

Navin Shah opposes Brent Labour's library demolition

Last month Navin Shah, Labour London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow wrote to Andy Bates, the planning officer for the Galliford Try planning application, regarding the demolition of the old Willesden library building.. This is what he wrote:

Dear Mr. Bates,

Application for Conservation Area Consent for the demolition of the old library building. Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF

I am writing to you about the conservation area consent application for the proposed demolition of Willesden Green Library. I strongly object to the proposal for demolition on the following grounds.

As the London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow I have been contacted by a number of residents in Brent who are extremely dismayed at the proposals to demolish the library. I fully share their dismay as I feel that this is a historically important building of local interest and importance which should be preserved.

As an architect by profession with special interest in listed buildings of architectural and heritage value I feel preserving Willesden Green Library is extremely important. The old building of ‘Arts and Crafts’ design contributes greatly to character of the area and should be celebrated as an iconic building, rather than be demolished.

This library building is a social and cultural tool and knocking it down would destroy the historical and architectural contribution it makes to the Borough of Brent and its special significance to the character of the area. This is a much loved building making positive contribution to the surrounding areas which is recognised by its local listing by Brent council and local people love it, as do I. So why destroy local heritage?

I’m not against the principle of regeneration for the site but there are other options available to the Council without destroying this cute little local landmark. Once a building of this character is destroyed, you will never get it back. I urge the members of planning committee to save Brent’s heritage by refusing the consent for demolition