SEN children uncollected while others delivered to wrong locations

Brent Council has apologised for the problems special needs pupils and their  parents encountered with the new school transport system introduced this term LINK. They admitted:

We know that many families have not had the information they needed, when they needed it, about the services for their child. We also know that in some cases transport has failed to arrive when it should have, some children have been delivered to wrong locations, and there have been problems with route timings. To compound these problems it has been extremely difficult to get through to the (West London Alliance) Transport Bureau on the phone. We understand how upsetting, inconvenient and difficult this is to all those affected and can only apologise. 

They went on:

It is clear that the Bureau was over optimistic about the timetables for implementing the new IT system on which they were relying and that serious problems about data transfer from former IT systems, incomplete testing of the system, and the relative inexperience of staff led to the problems that have occurred.

As a result of this failure Brent and Harrow Councils' transport staff temporarily took back the responsibility for designing routes last week and 'will develop new and reliable routes and schedules for their Boroughs based on last term's routes, using their previous software packages'.

Chalkhill stabbing victim dies

I have come back to the sad news that Aaron, who was stabbed outside the Community Centre in Chalkhill the week before last  and appeared to be making a recovery, collapsed and died yesterday.

Local people are very distressed at the news as Aaron was well-liked. I understand that Aaron was a twin but lost his brother Anton to cancer a few years ago despite donating one of his kidneys.

Community leaders and residents are working to keep the estate calm.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Retreating into the hills while Brent implodes

Off to the hills for a week so no postings on Wembley Matters for a while.

It looks as if I will return to a changed Brent Council landscape. Any tips on who will be acting Chief Exec if today's golden handshake negotiations succeed?

Any money on Andy Donald?

Will the Ann John loyalists strike back?

Keep up on Twitter @bktimes

Lorber calls for end to Brent Council infighting

Cllr Paul Lorber, Liberal Democrat and former leader of Brent Council has made the following statement on the current situation on the Council:

This is an extraordinary breakdown in relationships and poses a real risk to the effective running of Brent Council. I have had my differences with Gareth Daniel over the years but have always found it possible to maintain a professional relationship.

If Labour councillors are clumsily trying to ease Mr Daniel out of his position they are risking very large sums of public cash on redundancy and compensation payments, not to mention the damage to their and the council’s reputation.

It’s clear that the Labour group is split down the middle and Cllr Butt is being undermined even by his own Executive members. For the sake of Brent’s residents this infighting needs to end.

What future for education in Brent?

Education has been very much in the news recently from parental protests over the ending of hot meals at Our Lady of Grace Junior School hitting today's front page of the Wembley and Willesden Observer, to the failure of several free schools to open leaving children adrift and Michael Gove admitting the GCSE marking was 'unfair' but doing nothing about it.

In Brent the headteacher of Newman Catholic College (formerly Cardinal Hinsley High School) has admitted there is a danger of forced academy conversion after poor results and other schools are considering academy conversion or becoming cooperative federations. In nearby Harrow the biggest free school has just opened.

Brent Council has embarked on another round of school expansions creating primaries with more than 1,000 pupils and the possibility of more 'all through' schools. Headteachers are promoting a consortium public enterprise to replace Brent Council's School Support Service.

Sarah Teather has lost her job as an education minister but Michael Gove holds on to his position and will continue his 'reforms'.

So there couldn't be a better time (for the worse possible reasons!) to hold a debate about the future of education in Brent.

I hope as many people as possible make it to the debate that has been organised for September 20th at Copland High School. Details below:

Apology over new WLA bus service for special needs children

Monday's meeting of Brent Council will be debating the West London Alliance.  Ian Nichol, Chief Executive of the West London Alliance will speak on the progress being made on the work of the Alliance after which members will debate the issues arising. The WLA shares services across several boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow) LINK  in order to save money through rationalisation, sharing of resources and reductions in backroom expenses. Last year the then Brent Council leader Cllr Ann John expressed mixed feelings about the WLA remarking that it moved services one step further away from direct local accountability.

Coincidentally Brent Council has had to issue an apology today to special needs children after problems with the new WLA Transport Service:

Many children with Special Education Needs (SEN) will have experienced difficulties in their school transport arrangements this week. 

We apologise for the inconvenience and upset that we know these problems will have caused to children and their families.

The new transport system operated by the WLA Transport Bureau has experienced some significant problems in these early days. 

We are reworking transport arrangements to ensure that they work more reliably from Monday 10 September and will ensure that parents and carers have written confirmation of the arrangements for their child over the weekend.

This confirmation may be hand delivered.

In the meantime, if you experience problems, please call the WLA Transport Bureau on 020 8583 5530 / 5531 / 5536 / 5537 and we will work with you to resolve them.

Duckworth: Greens can be attractive to working class voters

I am proud to have voted for Will Duckworth who was elected deputy leader of the Green Party on Monday.  Here is what he has to say for himself:

I am thrilled to have been elected as the new Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. I am very much looking forward to working with new Leader, Natalie Bennett, who has a clear, strong and exciting vision for our Party.

I will do my very best to run with the baton passed on to me by Adrian Ramsey, who has done an excellent job as our Deputy for the last four years. I am sure I speak for everyone in the Party when I say that Caroline Lucas cannot be thanked enough for the incredible hard work she put in as our first ever Leader.
The next two years will be crucial for us. With important local elections due in 2013 and a great opportunity to increase our number of MEPs the year after I am looking forward to lending my support and enthusing members and voters alike, wherever possible.

As this Government's disastrous economic policies continue to hit the least well-off the hardest we will show that we have not only viable, but attractive social and economic alternatives to the ConDem's cuts and Labour's slightly watered-down version. I intent to make the most of being in the position of being able to communicate this to an ever widening audience.

2012 has seen the wettest summer in England for 100 years, the USA's worst drought for half a century, as well as the Arctic sea ice shrinking to an historic low. I will enjoy spreading the word about how the Green Party is the only one that understands the urgent measures needed to tackle climate change, while making the world fairer at the same time.

It is sometimes said that our policies are only attractive to the middle classes in leafy suburbs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Earlier this year I became the Black Country's first Green Party Councillor in a working class Labour stronghold. To me, this clearly showed that people in all walks of life agree with our way of thinking and that can achieve greater electoral success.

Here in the West Midlands we have gone from having three councillors to thirteen in just two years. I will take particular pleasure in working with local and regional groups to replicate that success, build the membership and strengthen the Party at all levels.

These are exceptional times. There are unique challenges for people and for our Party. We will only meet them by working together. I am confident that we can succeed.

The Brent leadership boil close to bursting

 Back in December 2011 in a posting on this blog about the relationship between Gareth Daniel and the then council leader, Ann John, I asked 'Brent Council: Who's in charge?' and questioned the apparent political role that Daniel had adopted. More recently in 'U-turn if you want to-this gent is not for turning'  (July 2nd 2012) I wrote:

The June 21st (Chief Executive's) 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'.:

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.

Now Muhammed Butt, according to the Brent and Kilburn Times (Council at War, front page today), has had enough and has stood up to Daniel.  I understand that that Butt's admirable decision to pay the London Living Wage to directly employed Brent council workers was opposed by Gareth Daniel and was the catalyst for the ensuing row.  The BKT reports that this has resulted in a split 'after a senior Labour councillor tried to put forward a motion backing Mr Daniel and other senior managers in the council rather than his leader' failed.

The 'senior Labour councillor' is not named but I have asked a senior councillor who has been on the frontline of cuts and closures and subject to much public flak, to confirm or deny rumours that he is challenging Muhammed Butt's leadership.

I have had no response as yet.

Meanwhile there will be much activity over the weekend culminating in possible fun and games at Monday's meeting of the full Council.

I am off on holiday tomorrow away from the internet so will miss it all!

Gove must go

From Guardian letters:

It's a shame David Cameron did not sack Michael Gove as education secretary. Cameron has complained about "dithering" in his government. Gove's response to the alarming shortage of primary school places is a case in point. We need 500,000 new school places by 2015. Gove's free-school programme will perhaps deliver 20,000. It is also costly and, in some cases, wasteful. Gove is so hidebound by ideology – the privatisation of education – that he cannot rise to the challenge. If we are to restore faith in our education system, Gove must go.

Alasdair Smith
Anti Academies Alliance

Teather: My priority is to represent my constituents

Sarah Teather has issued the following statement after losing her job in the reshuffle to fellow Lib Dem and preciously disgraced colleague, David Laws:

It has been a huge privilege to serve as an education minister in the coalition government over the last two and a half years. I'm hugely proud of the part I have been able to play in ending child detention, and rolling out the pupil premium, giving free nursery places to disadvantaged two year olds, amongst many other achievements.

Particularly close to my heart has been the work to reform the system of support for children and families with special educational needs and disability. It is a cause I have championed partly as a result of my own experience of illness and disability as a teenager. I would have dearly liked to be able to carry that work through to completion. I now hand that task over to others in Government to finish.

I am certain David will be an outstanding education Minister. We have been friends for many years and I am delighted for him that he has been given one of the best and most rewarding roles in Government. I shall support him and the Government now from the backbenches.

My number one priority will continue to be representing my constituents, which has always been my first love, and I'm also looking forward to having a little more time for myself.

Perhaps she will represent her constituents by joining the protest march against the closure of Central Middlesex A&E on September 15th.

Sarah Teather chopped in reshuffle

Brent Lib Dem MP, Sarah Teather, has lost her job as a junior education minister in David Cameron's reshuffle. Labour MP Steven Pound had teased her in the House of Commons yesterday, singing out, "You're going to get sacked in the morning".

Sarah Teather will be under pressure from her constituents to take a stand on Coalition policies now she is not restrained by ministerial guidelines. The most immediate issue will be the closure of  Central Middlesex Hospital. With the loss of Lib Dem membership in Brent and poor by-election performances by the party her prospects for the next General Election look poor.

James Lyons, deputy political editor of the Daily Mirror, tweeted this afternoon that Teather was standing down in order to fight for her Brent Central. Another explanation is that she was sacked as punishment for absenting herself from the House of Commons when there was a three line whip on the Coalition's welfare reforms. At the time a Tory back bencher asked David Cameron why she was still a minister and Cameron defended her LINK

Teather has been prepared to step out of line in the past, not least in previous battles over the Lib Dem leadership, so there is a possibility that she might become a critic of the Coalition from the left.

Watch this space.

Reshuffle blues after Gove stays in post

The news that Michael Gove has retained his job  is very disappointing for educationalists after summer rumours that he may may have been moved in the reshuffle. Despite the debacle with free schools, GCSEs, and ill-thought out back of the envelope initiatives, he is admired by the Conservative Right and deemed, despite all the evidence to the contrary.  a success. He is now free to carry on wreaking havoc on the education system and damaging the life chances of young people.

The removal of Lansley points to the success of campaign on the NHS and we urgently need a similar campaign on education uniting trades unions, teachers, parents and school students in defence of a fair, fully funded and democratically accountable school system.

The new leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, commented on the reshuffle today:

There's much excitement in the media now about the reshuffle, but the fact is that nothing significant is changing. George Osborne, the man who is clinging to the utterly discredited 'Plan A' of ideologically driven spending cuts, which are damaging the British economy and causing suffering and disruption in communities across the UK, is still in place. (That's despite the fact that even the IMF is saying this is the wrong direction.)

There's no sign of a government U-turn towards the investment that we urgently need to create jobs and provide the homes, public transport and sustainable energy infrastructure necessary to meet community needs and build a Britain fit for the low-carbon future.

And with Iain Duncan Smith remaining as Work and Pensions Secretary, there's no sign of any response to the strong, angry protests against the inhumanity of the benefit cuts, which threaten to make huge numbers homeless, drive families far from the support of friends, relatives and familiar schools, and which are causing great fear and ditressed among people with disabilities.

There are also individual moves that are cause for concern. The shifting of Justine Greening out of transport, after only 326 days in the job, makes Andrew McLoughlin Cameron's fifth transport minister, which can be taken as a sign of the government's inability to make sensible policy in this area.

It is a bad sign that a third runway at Heathrow is indeed back on the government's agenda, as reports have been suggesting. The aviation industry depends on huge public subsidies. The government seems happy to keep spending public money on increasing CO2 emissions in an industry that's slanted towards serving the wealthy(1), while making the lives of millions a misery through noise and air pollution.

The movement of Jeremy Hunt into Health is also cause for concern - both in its indication of the contiuing influence of the Murdoch empire on the Coalition, and also for the fact that he's a man who has a record of being anti-abortion.

Crackdown on defiant dog walkers

The Barnhill Safer Neighbourhood team are making a crackdown on 'professional' dog walkers who defy Dog Control Orders, a priority for this quarter. The orders stipulate a limit of 6 dogs per person but individuals have been seen with up to 15 dogs. At a going rate of £10 per hour for each dog this is clearly a lucrative business.

Complaints have come from ordinary members of the public, who walk their own one or two companion animals.and  who fear that the 'professionals' defiance will lead to a general clampdown on dog walking in Fryent Country Park.

The issue has been raised on this blog LINK   a week ago and complaints have been made by Barn Hill Residents Association. Barnhill ward councillors Michael Pavey and Shafique Choudhary have backed calls for action.


Some dog walkers have tried to get around the restrictions by bringing friends along to walk with them and thereby doubling the number of dogs to 12.  I hope that in the review of the orders due to take place in November that they could be revised so that the number of dogs being walked together as one 'pack' should never exceed 6 - 4 would be even better,

Financial management of Brent schools in the spotlight again

Brent headteachers getting ready for the start of the new term were greeted with further press coverage of alleged school financial mismanagement at the weekend. The Times Education Supplement of September 1st  had extensive coverage of the situation in the borough LINK.  The situation had already been extensively covered here in July LINK and I returned to it later in the month LINK

The TES quotes Clive Heaphy as warning that academy conversions could make things worse:

Clive Heaphy, Brent Council’s finance director, argues that the current vast expansion of academies is going to make the problem much worse.

“Inevitably there is a recipe there for difficult times ahead and potentially for some mismanagement issues and possibly some fraud issues,” he told TES, adding that increased autonomy for local authority schools had already made it much harder for town halls to guard against them misusing public money.

“I still retain personal accountability for schools’ finances and yet I see less and less data and have fewer and fewer levers to be able to do anything about it,” Mr Heaphy said. “There is very little action in reality you can take.”

On academies he said: “The only watchdog over them is the Department for Education itself. We have no relationship with them, but who does?”

The TES reveals details about the amount of debt accumulated by two Brent primary schools through exploitative financing arrangements:

Furness Primary is being sued by a finance company for £301,083 plus interest calculated at £14,579 in April and still rising. But Brent Council said the equipment involved was worth just £9,150 when it was sold off by the finance company in February.

Kensal Rise Primary is being sued by the same company for £287,000. Both schools have made counterclaims for money they say they have already paid “in error” - £805,000 in the case of Kensal Rise. The same school has also received a more recent claim from a second finance company for £253,000.

Brent says schools have been tempted into such deals by offers of up to £15,000 “cash back” a quarter from equipment suppliers that make initial lease repayments appear more favourable than the real long-term cost. Clive Heaphy, the authority’s finance director, said that primary heads were not always “business savvy” and cannot always “see through” such offers.

:

Brent designated Willesden Green a 'Public Square' 29 years ago

The designation of the open space at Willesden Green Library as a Town Square includes a requirement that it be proved that the open space has been used for leisure activities for 20 years. Both the developer Galliford Try and Brent Council have opposed designation.

A 1983 Brent Council development  document has now come to light that clearly shows the Council designating it a 'Public Square' 29 years ago.

More information on www.keepwillesdengreen.blogspot.co.uk

New GP deputy leader Will Duckworth targets the working class vote

Will Duckworth has been elected Deputy Green Party leader. The results (after elimination of the women candidates - see below) was:

Will Duckworth 1329 votes (52%), Richard Mallender 1245 votes (48%)

Will is a Green councillor in the Black Country who won a traditionally Labour ward. He comes from a working class background and was a trade union activist in  the NASUWT during a 30 year teaching career.

His campaign literature said:

If ever there was someone who understands how to communicate the Green Party message to working class people and win seats in wards like this then it is Will Duckworth.

I his election as a powerful corrective to the middle class image of a party that too often is seen as a green hued alternative to the Lib Dems.

Natalie Bennett elected as new Green leader

Natalie Bennett has been elected the new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.  Bennet is a former journalist, most recently editing the Guardian Weekly and is a member of Camden Green Party.  She is founding chair of Green Parry Women.

Her election statement included the following:

Our current economic model is broken. It doesn't work even in its own terms, and is built on treating the planets as a mine and a dumping ground, while treating the poor like rubbish.

We have a vision for a balanced sustainable;e society, with a living wage and decent benefits, fair taxes, and a restructured, low-carbon economy.  It's a radical, distinct vision.

3,127 ballot papers were returned (a turnout of 25.1%), of which 16 were spoilt, giving a total valid vote of 3,111.
The quota required for election is therefore 1,555.6
First preference votes were distributed as follows:
Bartolotti - 389
Bennett - 1,300
Cranie - 902
Phoenix - 492
RON - 28
No candidate achieved quota and so Bartolotti is eliminated and her votes redistributed as follows:
Bennett - 187
Cranie - 74
Phoenix - 93
RON - 7
Not transferable - 28
The totals for the second round are therefore:
Bartolotti - eliminated
Bennett - 1,487
Cranie - 976
Phoenix - 585
RON - 35
No candidate achieved quota and so Phoenix is eliminated and her votes redistributed as follows:
Bennett - 270
Cranie - 228
RON - 27
Not transferable - 60
The totals for the third round are therefore:
Bartolotti - eliminated
Bennett - 1,757
Cranie - 1,204
Phoenix - eliminated
RON - 62

 I will publish the deputy leadership result a soon as I can. To retain gender equality it must go to a male candidate (or RON - who is possibly male!)

Economic democracy motion highlights the Green Party's radicalism

Later this morning the results of the Green Party leadership ballot will be announced. Whoever wins the campaign has been a success, stimulating genuine debate and participation of rank and file members, and attracting coverage of the Green Party in mainstream media. Whatever the outcome the campaign of Romayne Phoenix and Will Duckworth has firmly put the battle against cuts and austerity and the necessity of working  with trade unions on the Green Party's agenda.

The results for the non-leadership positions have already been announced with the left of the Green Party well represented in the election of Derek Wall as International Co-ordinator and Howard Thorp as Campaigns Co-ordinator.

Howard has tabled a motion on Economic Democracy for the upcoming Conference which positions the Green Party firmly to the left of Labour on the economy:

Economic Democracy presents a package of resilient and community-based measures to help prevent a repeat of the financial crisis. Four key remedies will produce greater transparency, decentralisation of economic power, and accountability from corporations.

1.       Accountability will improve by requiring companies to include employee-elected directors and independent directors on to their management board. Not being drive by the profit-motive, they will act to ensure that company policies are taken with the interests of employees and consumers at heart.

2.       Decision making can be decentralised and democratised by giving employees a majority stake in the management of their companies pension funds.

3.       Create a Green National Investment Bank out of one or more of the currently ‘nationalised’ banks to aid funding investment in green technologies, renewable, and energy efficiency programmes.  A Green Bank would serve its customers and not its owners.

4.       Economic decision making can be further localised by granting employees the legal right to buy out their companies and turn them into workers co-operatives. Buy outs would be funded by the Green National Investment Bank.

For those interested in the detail of our elections it is worth noting that the Green Party ensures gender balance  in the leadership. Men and women must both be represented in the leadership team. If Peter Cranie wins the leadership, the deputy must be the top female candidate. If Natalie Bennett or Romayne Phoenix   win the leadership, then the deputy will be the top male candidate.

With voters at local and national elections often spoiling their papers with the equivalent of 'none of the above', readers may be interested to know that the Green Party also caters for them. Every internal election at national and local elections has a candidate called RON. RON stands for 'Re-open nominations' and is an important option, particularly when only one candidate stands for a post.

Squaring up for a battle in Willesden Green

Campaigning in the 'Town Square' (Photo: Kilburn Times)

The battle over the application to designate the open space outside the Willesden Green Library Centre as a Town Square is hotting up.

If the space is so designated it could torpedo the plans to build over 90 unaffordable flats on the present car park.  These plans require that the new building be moved close to the High Road roadside to make room for the flats. The present open space would be built over.  If the space is designated a Town Square, it cannot be built on and this would mean the former car park space available for the flats would be much less. The project depends on the developer making money from the land given to it by Brent Council to build the Cultural Centre at 'no cost' to the council. Fewer flats, less profit, no money for the Cultural Centre.

Not surprisingly the developer, Galliford Try-Linden Homes has put in an objection to the Town Square application. Rather more surprisingly, as Brent Council decides to approve or reject the application, the Council itself has also put in an objection.

In the meantime local historian Philip Grant has revealed that back in 1984 Brent Council itself supported the idea of an open space here:

In a document produced by Brent's Development Department (the forerunner of the present "Regeneration and Major Projects") in December 1983, an annotated plan of the site stated: 'The Council intend to preserve the little building on the corner with its turret and decoration - the wings behind are later additions, and these will be removed to provide some much-needed open space.'

 

Some councillors wanted to save money on the project, and demolish the whole of the old (Victorian) Willesden Green Library, replacing it with a public square which would run from the new Library Centre right down to the High Road. In a Council debate, reported in the "Kilburn Times" on 20 April 1984, Councillor Len Snow said that this 'would be a sad mistake', leaving 'a gap here, which will be open to wind and traffic noise'. He went on to say: 'If the square was protected by an interesting frontage it would be a haven of peace and on a sunny day a delight to sit in.' 

 

Len Snow's view, and that of like-minded Councillors, eventually prevailed, giving Willesden Green the public square that local people have enjoyed for more than 25 years, and still enjoy.

Philip's article and the response by Martin Redston to the developer's objection can all be found on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE

Never go alone to Atos assessment

Alan Wheatley and Pete Murry at today's ATOS demonstration

Guest blog by Alan Wheatley

The 'closing Atos' demonstration that Pete Murry (Brent Green Party) and I (Haringey Green Party) attended  was called by Disabled People Against the Cuts and UK Uncut, to protest at Atos Origin's sponsorship of the London Paralympics. The company is a 'top sponsor' of the London 2012 Paralympics even while what it gives to the International Paralympic Committee is but a fraction of the £112m Atos Healthcare is paid per year by the Department for Work & Pensions to assess -- and generally deny -- disabled people's eligibility for disability benefits.

About 40% of claimants denied Employment & Support Allowance take their cases to tribunal. about 40% of those win their cases to tribunal, and 40% of those win their cases. The success rate for those who go to tribunal with legal support is 70%, and cuts to legal aid will no doubt skew the tribunal results in favour of Atos. Atos and its staff who deny seriously sick and disabled people their benefit entitlements are never fined for their 'errors' when a claimant wins their tribunal, and a recent National Audit Office report stated that the cost to the taxpayer of 'clearing up the mess' at tribunal is £60m. The NAO called for the 'commercially sensitive' and thus confidential contract between the DWP and Atos to be rewritten so that Atos would be penalised for 'errors'.

I would urge anyone going for any kind of disability benefits entitlement assessment with Atos to go with someone. If you go alone, it is just your word against theirs regarding how you are treated under the examination that is really more of an observation. Moreover, I was on an anti-Atos demo outside their testing facilities adjoining Neasden Job Centre on Tuesday 28 August, with Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group. A woman with a walking stick and probably in her 50s came up to our group and told us her tale of having gone in their in her car from Hertfordshire for a 'Work Capability Assessment'. Though she had seen the adverse Panorama programme about how Atos Healthcare treats vulnerable people, it had not occurred to her that she should have someone to accompany her.

Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group has increasing experience of members accompanying others to such assessments, yet no experience under such circumstances of the way the lady we met was treated when she went alone. She said, "The woman 'doctor' was so rude! She said to me while I was having difficulties getting through the door into the examination room, 'Come on! I haven't got all day! I've got another patient to see after you,' and 'Your mobility problems can't be so bad if you wear lace-up shoes.'"

But she was not the only claimant to not think of getting others' support in attending the 'Work Capability Assessment'. Two of our members recently attended a meeting for unemployed workers groups aroung London that was hosted by TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber's Secretary Tom Mellish. None of those groups had thought of accompanying people to 'Work Programme' interviews or Atos 'examinations'.

While today's demonstration might not have actually closed Atos, more and more disability benefit claimants getting support in attending Atos 'Medical Examination Centres' are more likely to get civil treatment if they go with someone.

Sign petition for student amnesty at Metropolitan University

This Coalition government is making a pig's ear of education policy with the news this week that a number of free schools that have been rushed through now not opening in September, leaving children without a school place, and the collective punishment of students for administrative problems at London Metropolitan University.

A petition has been launched on the latter issue which states:

We believe that it is completely contrary to natural justice that students should be punished for problems emanating from their University.

We therefore demand that the UK Border Agency agree to an immediate amnesty for the international students at London Metropolitan University affected by the Agency's decision to revoke the University's ‘Highly Trusted Status’. This would enable them to continue their studies while the problems at London Met were addressed.

We believe that the UKBA's decision is a disproportionate reaction to a situation that could be addressed without the recourse to such drastic action. The UKBA's decision punishes thousands of students who are entirely innocent of any alleged immigration breaches and sends a disastrous message to the rest of the world that UK higher education is not accessible to international students. Its actions threaten the immediate futures of thousands of London Metropolitan students, as well as the future of the University, and casts a huge shadow over the very valuable contribution that international students make to the culture and sustainability of UK higher education.

Sign the petition HERE

Paralympic Torch Relay at Willesden Sports Centre

Plenty turned out despite the early start. In the end it was two hours late so additional people got to see it.

Brent Labour backs Central Middlesex campaign

Following a meeting between Cllr Krupesh Hirani and Cllr Muhammed Butt last weekend  three Brent NHS campaigners last week, Cllr James Denselow, Brent Labour Party's Communications Officer, has published the following statement:

Brent Labour fighting against the closure of Central Middlesex Accident and Emergency (A&E) services

Brent Labour Party has given its full support to the campaign against the Coalitions disgraceful plans. Labour Cllrs condemned the plans in the Council Chamber and have been working with campaigners to raise awareness of the issue. Both Cllr Butt and Cllr Hirani will address the march against the closures on 15^th September.

However, the reason Brent has been unable to run a Council backed campaign against the closures is because unlike in Ealing, there is not cross party support for the campaign. Both the Lib Dems and Conservatives in Brent have refused to criticise the plans put forward by their own Government.

Cllrs from both parties should get behind the campaign so we can fight the plans as a united Borough.

List of action being taken:

1.       Motion passed but only with support from Brent Labour

2.       Letter to Secretary of State Andrew Lansley MP to come

3.       We are out on the doorstep every single weekend in Brent talking to residents on this issue

4.       Online poll has been set up http://krupesh4brent.com/2012/08/20/poll-on-central-middlesex-hospital-ae/

5.       We are meeting with campaigners

6.       Council will be responding to the consultation through scrutiny

7.       Brent Labour will be at the march

8.       Difficult case to use taxpayer resources for a campaign in cases where we do not have cross party agreement – that is why we the Brent Labour Party will be campaigning on this issue without taxpayer resources

Gove's Olympic legacy in a nutshell

Don't let Reading Recovery get squashed pleads teacher

 I hope Michael Rosen doesn't mind me pinching this from his blog LINK but it is very relevant to children, parents and teachers in Brent.  I was trained to be a Reading Recovery teacher and taught it for many years, Tt is carried out very successfully in both Brent schools where I am chair of governors and in other primary schools across the borough.

It is an intensive, structured, 1:1 daily lesson by experts and so is 'expensive' - but it works.  With the change of college heading up the scheme, the possible demise of Brent School Improvement Services that provides training and continuing support, the government's exclusive emphasis on a particular phonics teaching method, and funding cuts, Reading Recovery is under threat.

This heartfelt post by a Reading Recovery teacher was carried on Michael's blog.

I am a Reading Recovery teacher. RR is based on more than 40 years of research and analysed data. It is proven to be cost effective. It works. The government knows it works. But it is not run as a business. RR's only purpose is to help children learn to read...

When we read we bring together 3 sources of information:
Visual, which means the words and letters and punctuation and layout etc
Structure, which means what is it possible to say in this language?
Meaning, does it make sense?

Children and adults who can read are using these automatically. When children learn to read, right from the start they are bringing together the 3 sources of information, as you well know.

When children who can read make mistakes on the phonic screener it is probably because their brains are overriding the nonsense; they are trying to make meaning because that is what reading is.
Lots of the readers at my school did not do well at the phonics screener. The head teacher was shocked - it is a high achieving / outstanding school in all other aspects. She said "But I can read and I know what the non-words say?" I said, "Yes but you are not 6 years old and you were expecting it. You are maybe more used to the world trying to catch you out?"

And from now on there will be even more phonic drilling, so that next year the schools will get 'better results', and the govt will say, 'Told you so, phonics is the answer'. We (but not me!) are going to be teaching children to deliberately switch off the use of structure and meaning and just decode using visual information like a robot can do.

At the moment the children get 30 minutes phonics a day and 10 minutes, if they are lucky, a WEEK reading with their teacher. They hardly ever get read to, just for the fun of it. Teachers don't have time for this. Given many children's impoverished oral language, these days, research shows that little children should be getting 3 stories a day. This never happens. Never.

Although I would make very different use of the time, 30 minutes phonics a day does have some relevance to real reading of real words, but is now going to morph into even more time spent on learning to sound out nonsense words.

Interestingly, the contract for supervising ECaR which also looks after Reading Recovery, has been removed from the Institute of Education and given to a university (Edge Hill) that is also now going to be responsible for pushing phonics schemes at us. The phonics people have been working very hard to squash RR and it looks as if they have done it. RR is trademarked and copyrighted etc, so is not available for someone to step in and make £millions out of it...

£millions have already been made out of phonics but it would seem the train is not yet full of gravy.

My soul is destroyed.

Do subscribe to Michael Rosen's blog it is a vital and entertaining ongoing  critique of the Coalition's damaging education policies.

Alf Filer's killer jailed for drunk driving

Alf with  students defending  the Harrow Mosque from the EDL in 2009

 The man responsible for the death of Alf Filer,  local activist in Brent, member of Brent Fightback and a lecturer at Harrow College before he moved to Worthing, has been jailed for drunk driving. Alf is greatly missed and often crops up in our conversations. If he was still alive he would be in the forefront of the current battles against cuts and austerity.

Here is the item as carried by the BBC:

A drink-driver has been jailed for six years for killing a man who was standing by his broken down car in East Sussex.

Joseph Lavelle, 36, of Worthing, West Sussex was two-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit when he hit Alf Filer, 58, on the A27 in Hangleton. 

He was jailed at Lewes Crown Court having admitted death by careless driving under the influence of alcohol.

The painter was also banned from driving for five years, police said. 

Mr Filer, also from Worthing, died at the scene on 23 June last year.

The political activist and former lecturer had only moved into the area from London in the past year.

Sgt Neil Walker, from Sussex Police, said: "This is another tragic example of the way in which drink-driving wrecks lives. This terrible incident has robbed a family and the community of a well-respected and much-loved man."

Kids needed to promote the outdoors

Using the sense of touch to get to know a tree in Fryent Country Park

Seeing the reaction of children when they visit Brent School Without Walls LINK with me in Fryent Country Park and have the chance to run through meadows, build shelters, pond dip and bug hunt, always reminds me of the importance of such experiences.  Often children seen as behaviour problems in school surprise their teachers by their engagement and on one occasion that I remember a child who was an elective mute in class chattered happily about what she was doing.

Now there's an opportunity for children themselves to find ways of encouraging more children to make use of the outdoors.

A group of advisors – made up entirely of children – is being recruited by the National Trust to provide advice on how to encourage more of the nation’s children outdoors. The idea follows the charity’s recent Natural Childhood Report of 50 things to do before the age of 11¾ campaign. It shows the Trust stepping up its game in encouraging children to explore the outdoors and to experience nature at first hand.

The National Trust is looking to sign up ten children aged between seven and twelve to the council where they are to take up an important role in developing the charity’s outdoor campaigns as well as making their properties more fun for younger children.

The perfect candidate will be brimming with enthusiasm and fun, plus having a natural love for the outdoors and fresh air. Potential applicants are also required to have an adventurous spirit and a wild imagination. A fondness for rolling down hills or jumping in muddy puddles would be considered a bonus.

 Offering children the chance to try out the National Trust and to gain inspiration on what might be improved, if appointed to the Kids’ Council, the Trust has opened up its doors to children for free during the whole month of August. Over 200 places are be free of charge to children, giving the opportunity to explore National Trust properties across the country.

Successful applicants to the council will be announced later in the year. These children will be offered free year-long access to places for themselves and their family. Canoeing, surfing and camping will be part of the winning prize to offer kids and their families access to the full range of the National Trust properties.

The Kids’ Council will meet throughout 2013 and will report its findings to the National Trust’s Visitor Experience Director so that suggestions can be put into practice, helping make the outdoors more fun for the nation’s kids.

The application process closes on 7^th September 2012. Application forms can be downloaded from the website at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/kidscouncil and sent back via email or handed in at National Trust properties.

Tony Berry, Visitor Experience Director of the National Trust, comments: 

We are really committed to helping kids enjoy the great outdoors and we want to make our places the most fun and family-friendly day out destinations in the UK.  I’m really excited that our new Kids’ Council will help us do just that. Our Kids go Free promotion for the entire month of August will not only give kids and their families the chance to go out and explore, but hopefully inspire them to apply for our Kids’ Council and so let is know what we can do better in future.

November review for Dog Control Orders

I understand that there will be a review of  Brent Council's Dog Control Orders in November, 6 month's after implementation (rather than six month's after the policy was approved which seems fair enough)..  Paul Hutchinson of the Sports and Parks Service  wrote to Barn Hill Residents Association

We agreed to a review of the orders,(six months after implementation) which will take place November this year. This will give us the chance to look at whether we think that 6 dogs is still problematic and seek to change this to 4 if we wish.

We are currently working with Brent’s legal team on how best to implement the orders and whether we should give fixed penalty notices or address the issue of repeat offence through the courts. (I have attached a copy of the actual orders that were agreed by the executive for the purpose of clarity)

It would be fair to say that the implementation is proving difficult with current staffing resources, but we are targeting the problem sites and hope by doing this we can solve the problem. I understand that the ‘Control’ notices at Fryent Country park are being taken down by the dog walkers and that the Parks staff will continue to erect them where necessary.

I can only agree that the idea of large packs of dogs roaming our open spaces is not what we would like to see, and I can fully understand that it certainly does spoil some peoples enjoyment of our local open spaces and Parks. I would like to assure you that we are doing all we can to minimise the problem.

 As I pointed out at the Executive the current orders leaves a loophole where two people walking together can still have up to 12 dogs between them which means that the problem of a large pack remains. I suggest that a simple amendment along the lines of 'The number of dogs being walked together by one or more persons should never exceed six (or 8)' would deal with the problem.

Teather fails to support battle for Central Middlesex A&E

Cllr Krupesh Hirani, Brent Executive member and lead member for Health and Social Care, has tweeted that he door-stepped Sarah Teather MP today with the petition to save Central Middlesex A&E.

He says she refused to sign.

A new primary school for Wembley and other children's issues

The September 19th Brent Council Executive will be a big night for Krutika Pau, Director of Children and Families, with several major reports from her department being discussed.

However the first on is being fronted by Andy Donald, Director of Major Projects and Regeneration and concerns the acquisition of a site in the Wembley Stadium area for a new primary school.  This has been on the cards for a while and was part of the original Quintain/Wembley Plan. It was expected to be in Fulton Road but concerns have been expressed about the proximity of 'bad neighbour' waste management facilities. These concerns will have been heightened by the recent problem with a vile stench from the Careys/Seneca MRF in Hannah Close.

Educationally, and this is where Krutika Pau comes in, it is likely to be controversial if the council follows through the Executive's August decision to vigorously purse partnerships with free school and academy providers.

Ms Pau will be leading on 'A Plan for Children and Families in Brent 2012-2015' which sets out how to keep Brent children healthy and safe, close the attainment gap between different groups, provide school places and integrate services to 'develop resilient families'. Complex and challenging.

The Executive will also consider the Local Safeguarding Children's Board Annual Report and will be expecting to see significant improvements in some areas that were only deemed adequate when last assessed.  The Annual Fostering and Adoption Annual Report is also due to be considered and attention will focus on whether there have been improvements in the rate of adoption placements, the number of adoption orders, increasing the number of Brent adopters for Brent children and earlier matching of children to adopters.

For fostering the council seeks to increase the number of foster parents recruited and move children out of Independent Fostering Agencies.

Brent parks: charging and privatisation

Poster for recent Eid event at Fryent Country Park

Following the council's cuts in festivals and other events, and the subsequent use of the parks and open spaces by organisations putting on their own events, the September Executive will consider a range of charges to contribute towards the council's costs in assisting the groups meet health and safety requirements. Having lost their grants the community organisations will now face charges when they try and put on their own events to replace those cut by the council!

I can confirm my July prediction LINK that Brent Council appears likely to combine waste management, recycling, street cleaning and parks maintenance in one new 'super contract'. The Council's Forward Plan LINK lists these items under the heading 'Managing the Public Realm' and states that it is considering collaboration with Barnet, Richmond and Hounslow councils on the delivering of the services.  Consultation on this will only be internally within the council and the decision on procurement arrangements will be made at the15th October Executive.

This seems to rule out any public debate on whether the parks maintenance service should be out-sourced (privatised)..

Better news is the declaration of Masons Field, Kingsbury as a Local Nature Reserve, and part of Fryent Country Park.

Nine reasons why public libraries are vital

The fight to save public libraries is happening in the US as well as the UK. Stephen Abram an American writer on strategies and innovations in public library provision has published this list on his blog LINK

“Here are some reasons why our libraries are still the place where we as a nation will achieve our destiny:

1. The house of the 99%: The foundation of democracy is an educated electorate. When the economy is down, it is all the more vital that we the people have access to information, education, news… and now in modern times the internet, computers, and other sources of media tools as well. Libraries do that. For everyone.
2. Libraries build equity: Research shows that depressed neighborhoods and declining communities are not just culturally enriched by libraries. The institutions serve as a community focal point, like a town square, and communities that have that resource rebound.
3. Community hope chest: Libraries don’t just curate the Harry Potter series and lend copies of the latest blockbusters on DVD, they also house special collections based on the needs and unique identities of the communities they serve. The library district where I live houses a special collection on a World War II magnesium plant that helped turned the tide of the war (as well as establishing the second largest city in Nevada). That’s living history that gets lost without a public space to keep it alive.
4. Renewable resource: How much do you save by being able to borrow materials from the library? How helpful is it to have this resource — especially now that even retail bookstores, movie rental shops, and record stores are closing? There’s a calculator for that.
5. Literacy: Studies show (PDF) that children’s literacy is greatly improved by access to summer reading programs and preschool reading programs at public libraries. And children’s literacy is a building-block of adult literacy. When I was in college I interned at a non-profit that worked on illiteracy, targeting at-risk youth. I worked in their summer reading program at an elementary school with one of the lowest rates of economic depression in the state (Oregon). This meant that most of the kids who went to that school were enrolled in summer school — even if they were good students — simply because it was a cheaper alternative to child care. At the end of the program each child got to pick out one brand-new book to keep. For all but just a few of the children, it was the first book they ever owned. Maybe you don’t “own” the books at the library (although, as a tax-payer I would argue we do), but the libraries are a place where the socio-economic realities that push the starting line so far back for so many can be equalized. And that’s like a small miracle in the life of a child who has already had to learn how to be hard in the face of a world that cuts them no breaks. There are very few individuals who could buy every child a book and start them on the road to literacy. (And it’s been shown that access to books in childhood is one of the biggest predictors of literacy.) But all of us together can buy a kid a building full of books. That is a miracle.
6. Leveling the playing field: Libraries offer vital resources for communities that might not otherwise be served or feel integrated. People learning English (or other languages), the elderly, deaf people, the homeless… the list goes on.
7. Safe space: In some communities, the public library may be the only free space available that is also a safe space. Young victims of bullying, kids who live with domestic violence, LGBT youth, and many more can find a safe place (and often a caring librarian) at the library. I know from personal experience — having spent time camped at my local library when I had no other safe place to go as a teenager.
8. Cultural touchstone: Many libraries showcase art — often by local artists. Likewise, the buildings themselves are often architecturally significant and enhance the beauty and character of the communities they serve.
9. Drop in or drop out: Libraries can also be a place that means the difference between a child’s success or failure in school. Many libraries offer tutoring programs, free classes, as well as access to volumes of information and technology that a kid might not have anywhere else. Believe it or not, even in these modern times there are kids who don’t have computers at home who need to type their papers for school. There are kids who can’t afford the expensive private tutor to get through Algebra. Libraries can make the difference to a kid teetering on the edge. And high school dropout rates have a direct correlation to the health of a community.”

Efficacy of dog walking limits need to be reviewed

Dog walkers on Barn Hill earlier this week

I spoke at the Brent Council Executive in November last year LINK on the proposed restrictions on the number of dogs one person could walk in Brent parks. The proposal was to restrict the numbers walked by 'professional dog walkers' who earn upwards of £10 per dog per walk, to six. I had witnessed one dog walker with 15 dogs.

I suggested that enforcement would be a problem with the number of wardens cuts and many of the walkers coming from outside Brent.  I was also concerned that they would bring along a friend and thus reduce the ratio to the prescribed limit.

At the same meeting Cllr Powney agreed to a suggestion by Cllr Gavin Sneddon that the dog control orders should be reviewed after 6 months.  This appears not to have been done yet.

Last week I came across the dog walkers above on Barn Hill in Fryent Country Park  (there is another dog out of the picture) and two women who appeared to be waiting for them to move on.  The  women told me that the previous day they had been jogging around the field and were pursued by a pack of dogs, they thought there more than in the above picture, and that the solitary dog walker with them was unable to call them off.  A confrontation ensued about her lack of control.  As a result the women were now fearful of jogging when large numbers of dogs are around and it had spoiled their enjoyment of the park. They did remark that the walkers in the above picture appeared to have their dogs under better control but they were not taking any chances.

I am concerned that if this situation continues the public will be put off using the park and, in the worst case, there could be a serious incident. One dog walker who contacted me by e-mail to berate  Brent Council for introducing the ban quite unselfconsciously referred to 'my pack' of dogs. We really shouldn't be in the position of having packs of out of control dogs roaming in one of our Green Flag parks.

A review of the effectiveness of this policy is urgently needed.

Northern jaws drop at sight of Civic Centre

This morning I  was asked by a couple of northerners down for tomorrow's rugby challenge final about the strange building arising opposite the Wembley Arena and the Stadium. They were staggered when they heard it was the council's Civic Centre and cost £100m. They thought we were all mad when I said the same council had closed down half our libraries.

Never mind, Cllr Powney still berates Brent Green Party  for opposing a fantastic green building. If the council erected a marble Stalinist Palace of Culture in his honour at a cost of £250m he would still expect us to support it if it had a grass roof!

Anyway make up your own minds. For my friends from the south who may not yet have seen it here are some pictures taken today. Decide for yourself if this is just a touch grandiose...

The cost of schooling - CAB campaign tries to help

Uniforms were not always the norm - my class in 1980s

I was chatting to a neighbour who has a child in the primary school at Wembley ARK Academy the other day.  She was remarking on how, although it was not a private school, she was finding herself paying out money every term - not least for trips. She had only one child at the school but pointed out that it was proving difficult for families with several children.

Trips are to be encouraged but their costs impact on family budgets at a time when many are hard up. If they contribute to learning it is clear that all chidlren should have an opportunity to gain from them.

Another factor for many parents is the high cost of school uniform when they are asked to purchase from specialist school uniform shops or from the school itself, rather than buy the generic uniforms available from stores such as ASDA. Rapidly growing children will requite new uniforms regularly but may end up, due to lack of money, sprouting out of clothes far too small for them.  Some schools help by arranging uniform swap shops or arranging sales of second hand uniforms. Grants or vouchers are available in some areas towards school uniforms but not in Brent.

The Citizen's Advice Bureau has set up a campaign to address these issues:

Get involved in the Adding Up campaign today and help families struggling to meet the costs of schooling
This is what you can do to help:

• Encourage: Does your local authority provides school clothing grants? Then make sure the grants don’t become victims of cuts by writing to the local authority. Here is a model letter ( 28kb) for you to use.

• Don’t know what your Local Authority Policy is? For a quick check type a post code into the section on school uniform grants on the Directgov website.

• Top tips: Could schools in your area do more to help parents by making uniforms, trips and kit more affordable ? If so then check out Citizens Advice top tips ( 160kb). Send a copy to your head teacher and/or chair of governors and ask what they are doing to help families.

• Tell us about it ? The Adding up campaign wants to hear your experiences on school costs. Do you feel you are paying too much for uniforms, trips and other essential equipment ? What help is available in your local authority area and what is your experience of accessing it ? email Citizens Advice campaigns

• Perhaps schools and the local authority in your area have helped parents ? If they have, then email Citizens Advice campaigns

The Adding up campaign helps families by:

• encouraging schools and education authorities to promote cost-cutting policies on school uniforms, trips, kit and other items. This can save families hundreds of pounds a year
• lobbying local authorities to tackle child poverty by offering school clothing grants to those most in need.

Astonishingly, no risk assessment carried out on NW London NHS proposals

The NW London NHS proposals for far reaching changes in health provision have not been subject to a risk assessment despite them involving the closure of four Accident and Emergency facilities, including that at Central Middlesex Hospital, and the down-grading of several hospitals in the area.  The proposals affect 700,000 people.

The revelation was made at the August 2nd meeting of the NW London NHS Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee on which Cllr Sandra Kabir is Brent's representative. Risk registers are a standard method of assessing the risks on a High, Medium or Low traffic light system, establishing the nature of the risk and who is affected, and the strategies for reducing that risk.  Brent Council has such a scheme in its Corporate Risk Register LINK

Instead the authors of the Shaping a Healthier Future proposals proposed that the risk assessment would only be made AFTER the consultation and when the proposals have been approved. This means that councillors and the general public will have no way of assessing the severity of the risk posed to residents,  which clearly could  be a matter of life or death, during the consultation period. In effect they will be making a response without knowledge of the potential impact of the proposals on people's health and well-being.

The committee was clearly concerned and agreed to 'revisit' the issue at a later meeting.Cllr Lucy Ivimy (Conservative, Hammersmith and Fulham) wrote to a concerned member of the public who attended the meeting:

I agree with you about the lack of a risk register and as you say, for the NHS to produce one only after the decision has been taken is extraordinary. The committee will be looking further into various aspects of risk. I am personally concerned that the full impact of the proposed changes has not been made clear in this consultation process.

A further critical issue was the consultation document's claim that the proposed changes were based on 'tried or tested ways of delivering healthcare' that it claims already work in many parts of NW London and the rest of the county (p20). The two expert witnesses heard by the committee were less sure. Asked about whether the structure worked in other parts of Europe Professor Welbourn admitted, 'there is no evidence the  system will work'. Asked whether it would be possible to deliver the necessary community services involved in the changes, Dr Honeyman said, 'no one knows, no one has ever been here before'.

These revelations show that we are being sold a pig in a poke and it is imperative that the proposals are subject to robust scrutiny at the appropriate committees at the  NW London NHS and local council level. They confirm the need for a broad-based campaign against the changes..

Brent Executive agrees free schools, academies and privatisation

Brent Executive took a few more strides along the privatisation road this evening.

They agreed to look for free school and academy partners in order to meet the demand for school places and approved school expansions increasing the size of some primary schols to more than 1,000 pupils. Although Cllr Arnold, lead member for children and families, said that this was an 'educational approach'  I fear for young children in such large institutions - particularly those on the autistic spectrum. Andy Donald's report did not mention the Gwenneth Rickus Building, currently the Centre for Staff Development Centre, in Brentfield Road. This was formerly part of Sladebrook High School and will become redundant when the Civic Centre opens next year.  It  may be put on the market along with Brent Town Hall - or perhaps it is ear-marked as a potential free school?

 The Executive  agreed to set up Brent Meanwhile Partnership (see previous blog LINK) which gives further powers to Andy Donald, Director of Regeneration and Major Projects - although Cllr Crane did not mention this in his very brief report which did not do justice to the wider repercussions of the policy..Donald will be delegated  to set up a London wide organisation as well as a local one and will be Brent's representative.

The public are not allowed to see how much of their money the council is going to pay to out-source the facilities management of the Council's entire property portfolio to Europa Facilities Services Ltd in a contact that will run from November until June 30th. Andy Donald's report outlines TUPE procedures for existing staff and says that the contractor has agreed to a staged voluntary redundancy process which he 'believes is acceptable to the GMB'. The staff concerned are older than the council average and have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities.

Following delays in setting up a new management agreement for the Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) the  Executive  agreed to delegate authority ot the Director of Regeneration and Major Projects (Andy Donald - of course)  in consultation with the Director of Legal and Procurement any  subsequent amendments between now and March 2013.

Chalkhill Park taking shape

The much delayed and keenly awaited new Chalkhill Park is beginning to take shape at last.  Many local residents had given up on ever seeing it completed with rumours that it was going to be used to build flats flying around the estate.

It is expected to be finished by November but final completion will be subject to planting conditions for trees and shrubs in the Autumn.

Meanwhile consultations are due to take place with local residents on the public art to be installed in the park.