I accuse the Coalition of knowingly increasing child poverty

Blurb of 'Born to Fail?' 1973

A month or so ago during morning play at a local primary school a 5 year old boy came up to me, rubbing his stomach looking at me with pleading eyes, and saying 'I'm hungry'.

Sympathetic school staff  found some biscuits and fruit to keep him going until dinner time. Apparently it wasn't the first time he had made that appeal. 

Inevitably schools are the first to see the direct impact of economic pressure on families, not just hunger but inadequate clothing, worn out shoes, tiredness caused by lack of sleep through living in one room in a bed and breakfast or shared housing. We are also seeing children disappearing from the school roll as they are rehoused out of London away from family and support systems.

Although the Coalition is keen to shift the blame on to 'work shy' families, fecklessness and dependency culture in an effort to divide and rule the working class, the truth is that 62% of children currently in poverty have one working parent. However the Coalition  seem determined to punish children for the perceived sins of their parents.

Coalition policies including the Housing Benefit cap, the Universal Benefit cap, and the move to restrict child benefit to the  first two children, will reduce disposable income and thus amount available to buy food.

The Coalition are taking food out of children's mouths.

There has been some progress recently in closing the gap in educational achievement between the poor and the rich, a gap so vividly illustrated by the National Children's Bureau in 'Born to Fail' in 1973. More recently the Child Poverty Action Group has listed the impact of child poverty:

• There are 3.6 million children living in poverty in the UK today. That’s 27 per cent of children, or more than one in four.
• There are even more serious concentrations of child poverty at a local level: in 100 local wards, for example, between 50 and 70 per cent of children are growing up in poverty.
• Work does not provide a guaranteed route out of poverty in the UK. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of children growing up in poverty live in a household where at least one member works.
• People are poor for many reasons. But explanations which put poverty down to drug and alcohol dependency, family breakdown, poor parenting, or a culture of worklessness are not supported by the facts.
• Child poverty blights childhoods. Growing up in poverty means being cold, going hungry, not being able to join in activities with friends. For example, 62 per cent of families in the bottom income quintile would like, but cannot afford, to take their children on holiday for one week a year.
• Child poverty has long-lasting effects. By 16, children receiving free school meals achieve 1.7 grades lower at GCSE than their wealthier peers. Leaving school with fewer qualifications translates into lower earnings over the course of a working life.
• Poverty is also related to more complicated health histories over the course of a lifetime, again influencing earnings as well as the overall quality – and indeed length - of life. Professionals live, on average, eight years longer than unskilled workers.
• Child poverty imposes costs on broader society – estimated to be at least £25 billion a year. Governments forgo prospective revenues as well as commit themselves to providing services in the future if they fail to address child poverty in the here and now.
• Child poverty reduced dramatically between 1998/9-2010/12 when 1.1 million children were lifted out of poverty (BHC).This reduction is credited in large part to measures that increased the levels of lone parents working, as well as real and often significant increases in the level of benefits paid to families with children.
• Under current government policies, child poverty is projected to rise from 2012/13 with an expected 300,000 more children living in poverty by 2015/16.This upward trend is expected to continue with 4.2 million children projected to be living in poverty by 2020.

The last Labour government pledged to reduce child poverty with some limited success and the goal was supposed to have cross-party support. Clearly the Coalition is going in the opposite direction.

'Born to Fail' in 1973 concluded:

...if it is accepted that many parents are expected to cope with impossible burdens and that their material circumstances provide a major contribution to those burdens then there is much to be said for tackling  more earnestly the poor housing and low income that our study has revealed, Arguably it could eliminate a large part of many families' difficulties. And on humanitarian grounds alone large numbers of children need a better chance to grow, develop, learn and live that they currently received...

Are we more interested in a bigger national cake so that some children get a bigger slice eventually - or are we ready for disadvantaged children to have a bigger slice now even if as a result our personal slice is smaller. 

How many of our pleasures are bought at the expense of the disadvantaged.

It is not just the immediate hunger that a child might feel today but the way that will affect their life chances in terms of education attainment, health and income. For society it raises questions about polarisation, alienation, disaffection and conflict.

In 2011 the Institute for Fiscal Studies in Child and Working Age Poverty 2010-2014 modelling the changes ahead in welfare and fiscal policy concluded:

The results therefore suggest that there can be almost no chance of eradicating child poverty - as defined in the Child Poverty Act - on current government policy.

 

Although this project did not assess what policies would be required in order for child poverty to be eradicated, it is impossible to see how relative child poverty could fall by so much in the next 10 years without changes to the labour market and welfare policy, and an increase in the amount of redistribution performed by the tax and benefit system, both to an extent never before seen in the UK. IFS researchers have always argued that the targets set in the Child Poverty Act were extremely challenging, and the findings here confirm that view. It now seems almost incredible that the targets could be met, yet the government confirmed its commitment to them earlier this year, in its first Child Poverty Strategy, and remains legally-bound to hit them.

There is no shortage of evidence about the damage that is currently being done and that will increase over the next few years.  The only conclusion I can reach is that the Coalition  is prepared to see children suffer as they pursue their aim to destroy the welfare state.

Harlesden incinerator plans put on hold

The Brent and Kilburn Times is reporting that the application for an incinerator at Willesden Junction have been put on hold by Ealing Council. This follows a letter from HS2 regarding their need for the proposed site.

How the poor will be hit by Council Tax Support scheme

The Special Meeting of Brent Council on Monday will be making decisions on the new Council Tax Support scheme that will leave many residents worse off. This follows the Coalition handing implementation of the schemes to local councils whilst at the same time reducing the money available by at least 10%.

The overall result in Brent is that residents who used to receive Brent will now generally  have to pay double the contribution to Council Tax that they used to pay.   These residents will also be hit by other benefit changes including the Housing Benefit cap and the Universal Benefit cap. 24,604 residents will be affected by the changes which can only have the effect of pushing more people into poverty.

The following table gives an overall picture but the full document needs to be read for detail on excemptions and the means-testing involved.
 

Description of deduction	Amount of weekly deduction 2012/13	Proposed weekly CTS scheme deduction	Annual change in 2013/14
Adult in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit or savings credit	Nil	Nil	Nil
Adult in receipt of employment support allowance (income related) main or assessment phase	Nil	Nil	Nil
Adult in receipt of job seekers allowance (contribution based) or employment support allowance (contributed based)	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60
Gross income of adult  in remunerative work is less than £183	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60
Gross income of adult in remunerative work is greater than or equal to £183 but less than £316	£6.55	£13.10	£340.60
Gross income of adult in remunerative work is greater than or equal to £316 but less than £394	£8.25	£16.50	£429.00
Gross income of adult in remunerative work is greater than or equal to £394	£9.90	£19.80	£514.80
Adult in receipt if job seekers allowance (income based)	Nil	£6.60	£343.20
Adult in receipt of income support	Nil	Nil	Nil
Adult working less than 16 hours per week or is on maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60
Any other adult not included in the above descriptions	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60

There are likely to be difficulties concerning collection of council tax where resident are already financial pressed or where they have not paid anything before.

A second decision that the Full Council will have to make is on changing the amount of tax paid on empty properties. Owners of such properties will now have to pay more Council Tax and in the case of long-term empty homes this could be a 150% tax after two years.

These are the proposals set out in the report:
 

• Class A empty properties (requiring major repairs or undergoing structural alterations) – reduce the current 100% exemption to 50% discount for the first twelve months.

• Class C empty properties (vacant and substantially unfurnished) – reduce the current 100% exemption to zero so that the owners of such properties pay 100% of their Council Tax liability with immediate effect from the date of vacation.

• Second Homes – Remove the current 10% discount so that owners of such properties pay 100% of their Council Tax liability

• Long term empty properties – charge a 50% premium after they have been empty and unfurnished for 2 years so that the Council Tax liability for such properties is 150% (after two years).

This is the full report:

 

Local press continue to hold Brent Council to account

Following my recent posting on the importance of the local press in ensuring the accountability of councillors and the counter claim that the BKT was too close to the council, it was heartening to see the front page of the newspaper this week. LINK

Clearly the BKT is continuing to dig up stories that ensure resident know what is really  going on in the Town Hall.

The Wembley and Willesden Observer also has a story this week about the importance of the local press with post-Leveson comments from campaigners about the part local newspapers have played in enabling them to put their message across.

McDonnell: Let's form a national coalition against poverty

John McDonnell MP has sent the following open letter to his Labour colleagues:

Dear Colleague,

Proposed Welfare Benefits Bill

As you know, Osborne announced that the Coalition is to bring forward before Christmas a Bill to sanction the cuts in welfare benefits set out in yesterday’s autumn statement.

We all know that there is no need for primary legislation to implement these cuts and that this is his crude and blatantly cynical attempt to lay what he considers will be a political trap for Labour.

In his crude political terms, his obvious aim is to be able to claim that if Labour votes against or abstains on his Bill then we are on the side of the so called skivers whilst the Tories are the champions of the strivers. If we do vote for the Bill he will then cite our vote as support for his attack on benefits.

Like many right wing politicians over the years, when their policies are demonstrably failing they reach for a scapegoat. It’s often the poor simply because they haven’t the power to defend themselves.

I believe that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be dragged into the gutter of politics by Osborne’s exploitation of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

Instead of falling for this grubby trap us let’s take them on, on this issue.

If we have the courage and behave astutely, we could turn this cynical ploy by Osborne into an opportunity for us to transform the debate on the issues of welfare, poverty, unemployment and fairness in our society.

 

This means stop all hesitation on this matter and making it clear now that we are not voting for this cynical attack on the poorest, which includes cutting benefits to many people in work and struggling to survive on low pay and often poverty wages.

It means saying now that we are taking the Tories on, on the issue of fairness. Nobody, especially ordinary working people, likes a skiver but there are mechanisms that can deal with this and if they need improving well let’s have that debate. The fact is that it is becoming increasingly obvious to our people that it is the rich and wealthy, who are ripping us off with tax dodging. It is equally becoming obvious whose side the Tories are on.

Let’s seize upon this opportunity to highlight the real facts about the hardship that so many of our people are facing. Most of our community are under pressure. Many are only a couple of pay packets away from a life on the edge. Many others have tipped over into debt and poverty.

Let’s turn the tables on Osborne and use this opportunity to expose this reality and offer our alternative of a fair tax system and investment for growth led employment.

Let’s get out there and build the coalition of all those people and organisations who are willing to speak out on what is happening to our people. That means nationally and locally bringing together not just all the charities and campaigning organisations that take an interest in poverty and welfare but all the churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, community organisations and anyone with a conscience on this issue.

Let’s lead in forming a new national coalition against poverty and those who attack the poor.

Let’s enlist the support of people from all walks of life, including artists and performers, in the same way we did in the fight against the prejudice of the Nazis against black people and ethnic minorities.

In many ways it’s the same struggle against prejudice mobilised by cynical politicians.

It should start though by making it clear immediately that we are not playing Osborne’s cynical political games. We are not voting for his cuts to the poor.

Yours ,

John McDonnell MP

Greens' alternative to 'cuts at all costs'

The Green Party is calling for positive economic policies instead of the Coalition’s dogmatic, self-perpetuating and failed “cut at all costs” approach.

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said:

We reject this government’s self-defeating and contradictory approach of trying to cut its way to growth while providing tax giveaways to large corporations, including environmentally and socially destructive fossil fuel companies.

And we reject its inhuman and inhumane pressure on the poorest in society - households with members in work and those without - with non-pensioner benefits restricted to real-term decreases (below inflation, 1% increases) for the next three years. That’s £3.7bn being squeezed from people whose lives are often already insecure and desperate.

One certainty George Osborne has ensured is that the foodbank “industry” is going to become a permanent feature in Coalition Britain, the world’s seventh-wealthiest economy.

Britain needs to invest in environmentally-positive, jobs-creating policies, rather than using the UK’s historically unremarkable debt to GDP ratio to justify slashing state expenditure and further tax cuts for the wealthiest.

A Green government would immediately invest the £4bn windfall from the 4G phone spectrum auction and the £35 billion quantitative easing surplus to create jobs in low-carbon infrastructure and in sectors such as renewable energy, energy-efficiency, low-carbon finance and manufacturing and in our contracting construction sector. The Green New Deal group has called for green quantitative easing to fund solar PV, insulation and other efficiency schemes that could create 140,000 jobs.

Despite Osborne’s best efforts to hold them back, green industries are already providing essential goods and services that we need - from insulation to clean power from wind turbines - having contributed over 9% of UK GDP in 2011 - yet they retain enormous job creation potential.

The Green Party would  ‘reboot’ the tax system to ensure that wealthy individuals and multinational companies pay their fair share, levelling the playing field for small businesses that are currently paying their taxes and struggling to compete against the tax-avoiding business giants.

Ms Bennett said:

Our reformed tax system would replace council tax and business rates with a land value tax, a wealth tax to recover some of the gains from those who benefited from the boom years and have surfed unscathed through the bust. Furthermore, we would end tax relief on private pensions, putting the savings into a Citizens’ Pension that would immediately lift all pensioners out of poverty.

There would be a financial transaction tax to discourage casino-style financial trading, moves to force transparency in the books of multinational corporations and a genuine, effective crackdown on tax avoidance.

And it is difficult to have faith in the Chancellor’s announcement of new infrastructure projects, as his government announced a similar scheme in 2010, which has actually delivered a decrease in spending on construction. The government has also delivered just £750m of a £5bn expenditure it promised for public works at last year’s Autumn Statement.

Natalie added:

In recreating the failed PFI schemes of the last Labour government, this government is repeating its predecessor’s mistakes and announcing headline projects that are unlikely to be delivered. According to the Office for National Statistics, we already have future PFI liabilities of £144bn. Renegotiations that have saved £2.5bn are small beer in comparison.

A Green government would provide genuine government investment in the new schools and transport infrastructure that we need. What we don’t need is spending on new roads, an action shown to simply move congestion from one place to another.

Power from Pee process invented by schoolgirls

HS2 or Incinerator - what a choice for Willesden Junction!

Well, here's a dilemma!

The Brent and Kilburn Times is reporting LINK that the Willesden Junction site ear-marked for an incinerator may be required by HS2 to transport waste from nearby tunnelling operations.HS2 under its safeguarding rights would have prior claim to the site.

Brent Greens are opposed to both the incinerator proposal and HS2 - perhaps we should campaign for a much needed green space on the site or an Alternative Technology Centre

Sing-along to a musical critique of bankers

I couldn't resist sharing this with you. Even I can sing along with it!

A new dangerous neighbour in Kensal Green

Atos abandon wheelchair user in fire emergency

Cameron's Britain continues to shock. This happened just down the road in Neasden: (From The Independent) LINK

Recently, there have been several  reports of Atos carrying out their fitness to work assessments in buildings which are not wheelchair accessible.

Considering the number of wheelchair users who undergo fitness-to-work assessments, this is only seen as yet another thing to add to the long list of serious problems that disabled people and carers  have with the way the company operates.

The latest story of an inaccessible assessment centre appears to be the worst one yet, with the most serious potential consequences for a severely disabled person. It also illustrates clearly exactly why it is so important that all centres and offices used by Atos should be completely wheelchair accessible.

Geoff Meeghan, 32, has early-onset Parkinson’s disease and cannot walk more than three metres unsupported. He was being assessed by Atos on the second floor of a building in Neasden, North West London. A few minutes into his assessment, the fire alarm went off.

Staff evacuated the building, but left him behind in his wheelchair.

Disabled people are supposed to be asked whether they can exit the building unassisted. Mr Meeghan, for some unknown reason, was apparently not asked this question.

He also said that they were not allowed to use the lift and when they asked a security guard for help, he said he would send some, but no one came. Eventually, another security guard arrived at the scene and stayed with Mr Meeghan and his carers, even though he had been told to evacuate.

Mr Meeghan can tackle stairs supported, he said, but in the “highly stressful situation” he felt it was “far too risky.”

Most shocking of all, it was a real fire. Mr Meeghan said “It wasn’t a drill. We could see the fire engine arriving outside.”

He went on to strongly criticise the company, saying: “I feel like there was a general lack of respect for disabled people at Atos – they make you feel as though you’ve done something wrong by being disabled – like you’re being persecuted.”

An Atos spokesperson said: “This should never have happened and we apologise unreservedly. We will be getting in contact with Mr Meeghan directly. We have since reviewed this case internally with the building security and management team to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

“This is a DWP building and the fire warden in charge on the day followed the appropriate evacuation procedures and advised that everyone had to leave the building except for a security guard who was asked to stay with Mr Meeghan.”

Mr Meeghan is extremely lucky to be alive after this incident. And this story transpires after we hear of the Atos boss getting a £1million bonus.

It is now hoped that all Atos workers and assessment centres are made aware of this incident at the very earliest opportunity. It is also hoped that all assessment centres used by Atos will, in light of this case, now make every possible effort to provide ground floor rooms to wheelchair users for assessments at all times. At the very least offering respect and safety to the disabled people they are testing.

Mums against Harlesden Incinerator

This Soapbox has been posted  on the West London Mums website LINK

Contributed by: Virginia Rowe

Be afraid! Be very afraid! A new dangerous neighbour has set its sights on West London.

Yes mummies, daddies and kiddies, disturbing plans are afoot to build a giant waste incinerator at Willesden Junction, with devastating effects for family-friendly neighbourhoods for miles around.  So what would we be looking forward to if Ealing planning department give this the green light? (And folks, they really are leaning towards giving this the green light…)

Four 25 metre chimneys chugging out burnt toxic fumes 24/7 + in excess of 60 heavy duty trucks rumbling in and out of the area every day and night, polluting the lives of not only the poor residents that live on the doorstep of the proposed site, but also the whole area around Kensal Rise, Queens Park, North Kensington, Willesden Green, Harlesden, Ealing, Acton….. all family-friendly neighbourhoods.

Incinerator chimneys emit dioxins and heavy metals, associated with cancer, hormonal issues, reduced immune system capacity, effects on foetal development, lung and kidney disease and nervous system problems. These emissions travel for miles!

Despite mass public appeal, this planning application, submitted by a property company located in an offshore tax-haven, is actually being favoured by Ealing Council who will be making their decision on whether to go ahead with it on 19th December.

Few local residents have been informed or consulted on this toxic plan and the wording in the proposal is designed to deliberately mislead those who read it, using smoke and mirrors and a whole array of PR new speak.  At no point do they use the word ‘incinerator’ even though the ‘pyrolysis’ part of the plant, which will be burning gases, is actually deemed an incinerator by the European Union Waste Directive.

This would ruin our neighbourhoods and put our collective health at risk. There is no place for incinerators in highly populated residential areas. It is inhumane. And taking into account the overwhelming public response against them – undemocratic.

Say NO to our West London neighbourhood being turned into a toxic waste dump by a tax-haven based company that cares nothing for our area.

Contact your local MP, councillors and most importantly vote NO to the NW10 incinerator here:

Virginia is a creative director living and working in Kensal Rise. Follow her campaign against the proposed west London waste incinerator on twitter @NOincineratorNo

Calling Brent Youth: All I want for Christmas is a Future that works

 A one-day rally and workshop for 16-27 year olds on Youth Unemployment, Education, Apprenticeships and a welfare system that works.

Tell your story on youth unemployment and find your voice in our activism workshops.

Organised by Brent Youth and SERTUC Young Members Network

CONTACT: David Braniff on 020 7467 1283 or email LondonYouth@TUC.org.uk

 Saturday December 8th, 11am-4pm
 Harlesden Methodists Church,

25 High Street, Harlesden, NW10 4NE London, United Kingdom

View Map · Get Directions

Leveson: Green Party wants conscience clause, union representation and action on concentration of press ownership

 The Green Party has welcomed many aspects of the Leveson report, while expressing disappointment that there was little in it to practically address the concentration of ownership in the press.

 Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said the call from Lord Justice Leveson for a new independent self-regulatory body, with the majority of its board comprising non-industry representatives and no serving editors, was a step forward.

 "We would welcome the creation of independent oversight with majority civil society involvement.”

"But although there is the call for independent regulation here, the mechanism suggested is indirect, clunky and open to subversion, rather than the direct creation of an independent body along the lines of Ireland's Press Council. There's also no reference to union representation, which would provide an important expert, hands-on view within the new regulatory body."

 Natalie said that although the call for the new regulator to run a whistle-blowing hotline, and for a "conscience clause" to be inserted in journalists' contracts of employment was positive, the judge had failed to recommend direct action to ensure this happened.

"The NUJ has long been calling for journalists to be protected if they refuse to act in manners they consider unethical, and it is essential for a future decent, independent press that this right is provided."

 Natalie also welcomed the judge's call for a legal duty for the freedom of the press to be enshrined in law, which is not currently the case. She said: "Whilst the Leveson inquiry has rightly focused a spotlight on inappropriate and outright illegal behaviour by the press, we must never forget that a tenacious, questioning, independent press has in the past served Britain well, from the Sunday Times thalidomide campaign, to the Guardian's exposure of Jonathan Aitkin.

"This must be preserved and protected, and Leveson has rightly made his opposition to government regulation clear right from the start."

 Natalie also welcomed the judge's recognition that the public was rightly suspicious of close relations between press and politicians when it came to lobbying about media issues.

"He was right to say that this undermines public trust and confidence, and his call for transparency in the form of registration of lobbying contacts was a good one, and potentially revolutionary, insetting a model that could be used across other industries and sectors. Registration of lobbyists is something the Green Party has long been calling for and this report provides a real opportunity to return to that broader issue."

 The Green Party's chief criticism of the report is in the area of media ownership. While the judge makes a strong statement about the importance of plurality, he fails to make a direct recommendation for action, or taken board submissions made to him about limits for media concentration.  Natalie said:

"His call for greater transparency when ministers consider whether or not to refer a media merger to the competition authorities on plurality grounds is welcome, but does not go far enough. An independent regulator or overseer should have the power to make this referral."

Brent spends £11m annually on temporary staff

A report LINK going before the Brent Executive at their December 10th meeting reveals that the Council spent £10.7m on temporary agency staff last year. A new contract is proposed giving the Council more say over  who is hired  The fee element of the current contract was £735,282.56 and the new arrangement is expected to reduce this by £212,966.51 as a result of employing a 'Master Vendor' that directly employs some categories of agency staff and sources the remainder from other agencies. Previously the contract was held by a 'Vendor Neutral' Supplier who employed nobody directly but sourced all Brent temporary staff from a number of agencies. Thus there was a fee to the Master Vendor and to the agencies.

Nevertheless the new contract is valued at £11m.

Wembley Matters passes 200,000 page view barrier

Wembley Matters today went through the 200,000 all time page views barrier. The blog currently gets between 400 and 700 page views a day.

Another planning application for an ex-Conservative Club

The Red House behind hoardings

Hot on the heels of the sale of the Queensbury pub in Willesden Green by its former Conservative Club owners, a planning application has been made for another former Conservative Club.

The Red House in South Way, next to the Ibis Hotel and opposite Wembley Stadium Station, used ot to be the Wembley Conservative Club. It has been empty since 2006. There still seems to be a linen cloth and glasses on a table in the upstairs bar.

Now a planning application has been made on behalf of a company called Anitan Limited for change of use to a leisure facility. Anitan was only registered with Companies House in July 2012 with capital of £100,000.

The proposal, unlike the Queensbury application, leaves the Red House itself intact. The planning application is for the building to be used as a indoor play facility with a soft play area, storage area, room for classes and a cafe for customers of the play facility only.

The play facility is for younger children and aimed at visitors to the nearby London Designer Outlet Centre as well as local residents. The application claims that it will revitalise the area and provide up to 10 jobs.

Climate Change: Fears and Failures

Submerged footpath at West Hendon Playing Fields last weekend

Let's face it, the turnout at Saturday's Climate Change march, whether the BBC estimate of 300 or the organiser's 500, was poor. A climate crisis billed as threatening the very future of humankind could only get a handful of humans out on the street.  In the circumstances the media coverage we achieved was generous helped by the spectacle of a the erection of a fracking rig outside the House of Parliament.

Chatting in the crowd we speculated why with Hurricane Sandy, the floods in the UK, harvest failures in the US, more people were not concerned enough to come out. We joked that perhaps we needed the Thames Barrier to fail and Westminster to flood, before MPs took notice.  After all it was only when the stench of the Thames got severe enough to penetrate the Palace of Westminster that action was taken to build a proper sewage system.

However, also on Saturday, Anne Karpf's article in the Guardian LINK  reviewed the recently published Engaging with Climate Change, Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Perspectives LINK .

Confessing to being a 'Climate-Change Ignorer' she says despite not being a sceptic she 'tunes out' when she hears apocalyptic warnings about global warming:

The fuse that trips the while circuit is a sense of helplessness. Whatever steps I take to counter global warming, however well-intentioned my brief bursts of zeal, they invariably end up feeling like like too little, too late.  The mismatch between the extremely dangerous state of the earth and my own feeble endeavours seems mockingly large. 

She goes on to describe some of the coping mechanisms described  in the book, including blame-shifting, technoptimism, hedonistic fatalism and dark optimism. It is argued, against the view of my colleague Brian Orr, that apocalyptic warnings are counter productive:

As Ed Miliband has observed, Martin Luther King never inspired millions by saying 'I have a nightmare'.

I would argue that the sense of helplessness is caused by the failure of politicians, governments and the UN, to face the crisis head on. It is as  if, faced with the Nazi menace in the second war, the government had, rather than mobilise troops and the economy and pour money into production and research,  instead asked everyone just to perform the home front task of digging for victory. Of course people would have felt helpless as German troops massed at the channel and bombs fell on our cities. Politicians now are in the equivalent position of those who ignored or down-played the rise of Nazism for fearing of frightening the people.

Here in Brent, in our own small way, following the briefing for councillors and the public, a paper has been produced outlining the extent of the crisis and some ideas for moving forward. A copy is available by clicking the link below:

 

Another dimension is making a link between the current economic crisis and climate change and on Sunday the following resolution from Green Left was passed by an overwhelming majority at the AGM of the Coalition of Resistance:

This conference notes that the current economic crisis is closely linked to a global ecological crisis particularly involving human caused climate change,. Neither crisis, in so far as they can be separated, is soluble under capitalist socio-economic arrangements. Technological fixes and geo-engineering enacted under capitalism can only be short term at best, since ecologically damaging forms of consumption and production are engendered and maintained by capitalism.

We therefore call on the coalition of resistance to recognise this publicly and include combating climate change in its campaigning agendas.

Scenes from the Climate Change March

Green Party stall at Grosvenor Square

Laying the pipeline from US Embassy to Canadian Embassy

International support

At Wesminster

The fracking rig is erected outside Parliament

Natalie Bennett's speech at Climate Change Rally

Join the Brent contingent on Climate March today

As often happens at the weekend  I am torn about which of the several events happening Saturday  I should attend. The Counihan Family March takes place in Kilburn High Road at 1pm, the Chalkhill Community Festival from 1-4pm and a crucial conference on the future of primary education is being held in Lambeth. All these events are important and worth supporting.

The Campaign Against Climate Change March in taking place in Central London. The threat posed by climate change is huge, so huge that it is almost impossible to comprehend its impact, and therefore so tempting to turn to something more manageable. It is almost like knowing we our all going to die eventually - too difficult to really take in so we ignore the inevitable and carry on living day to day because worrying about it will do no good.

Well, I believe we can do something, although the window of opportunity is shrinking rapidly. We have to shout from the rooftops about the issues and demand action from governments across the world. Tomorrow's march is a tiny part of that campaign.

Reasons to march tomorrow:

• The rapid melting of the Arctic ice cap.
• Floods and droughts driving up food prices and world hunger.
• Hurricane Sandy the most powerful Atlantic tropical storm since records began.
• Over 200 Flood Warnings and one Severe Flood Warning in Britain recently.
• Climate change will worsen the economic crisis as food prices soar and land is used to grow fuel instead of food
• Food and water shortages will cause armed conflict between countries
• Mass migrations will take place from affected areas with homes and livelihoods lost.
• The greed for fossil fuels will see oil companies turning to more and more dangerous extraction methods  that damage the environment.

Whatever the outcome of the UN talks in Doha, we have to step-up the pressure on governments to take the necessary action NOW to limit climate change.

NATIONAL CLIMATE MARCH  DECEMBER 1st
Assemble 12.00 noon in Grosvenor Square
or
Join the Brent contingent at the entrance to Willesden Green tube at 11.15am  

12.00 -1.30 Assemble Grosvenor Square and build the "Grosvenor Square Keystone pipeline" from the Canadian High Commission to the US embassy !
1.30 - 3.30 March to Parliament
3.30 - 4.30 Build a giant mock fracking rig outside parliament !

Come to the Chalklhill Community Festival on Saturday

This Saturday 1st December there is a Community Festival from 1-4pm at Chalkhill Community Centre with 35 stalls and activities offering the chance to try out and meet many of the groups and activities in Chalkhill including:

• Team GB Olympic fencer James Honeybone
• Magician
• Jewellery making
• Pilates
• Singing
• Free hot lunch from 1-2pm, choice of Caribbean, Asian, British and African with halal and vegetarian options
• fire engine
• football skills
• taekwondo
• pampering

The choir of Chalkhill Primary school will be performing.

The event is completely free and for all ages.

113 Chalkhill Road,  Wembley, Middlesex HA9 9FX

"A farrago, a sham, an utterly dishonest exercise"

It reminded me of those Victorian pictures of the ragged, scrawny child, barefoot in the snow, with nose pressed against a restaurant window staring at the big-bellied rich tucking into their suppers in a warm glow of complacency.

We were in the opulent surroundings of a ballroom in the Hilton Metropole, Edgware Road trying to tell the smooth, expensively suited gentlemen from NW London NHS on the platform just what untold damage their 'Shaping A Healthier Future' (SAHF) proposals would do the people of Harlesden and Stonebridge, two of London's poorest wards. The whole consultation exercise to reach a foregone conclusion has cost £7,000,000

We were presented with a IPSO/MORI consultation report that ignored the thousands who had signed petitions against the proposals but instead went on to suggest that that the far fewer people who had submitted a response to Options A, B or C (all rejected by the petitioners) somehow represented some kind of democratic endorsement. 66,000 signatories on 18 petitions were apparently counted as 18 responses.

Andy Slaughter MP summed it up:

This is a complete farrago,  a complete sham, a completely and utterly dishonest exercise!

This was the beginning of many exchanges about the consultation which I felt rather let IPSO/MORI take the fire that should have been aimed at NW London NHS for the inadequacy and downright dangerousness and dishonesty of their proposals.

Ann Drinkell, put her finger on the dangers towards the end of the Q and A session. She claimed that SAHF had been dishonest about the ability of community care being suddenly able to pick up on the slack when fewer people were admitted to hospital or stayed for a shorter period.

Everyone know we aspire to good community care, good palliative care, but everyone also knows how difficult it is.  It is disingenuous to suddenly think it will be unproblematic. The impact of restructuring and budget cuts on community care and social care will be enormous. You are treating us like children.

Dr Mark Spencer then proceeded to do just that, treating us to a couple of anodyne PowerPoint slides on the 'Programme of Work' and 'Clinical Review of Responses' that would now begin. We were not allowed to ask questi9ons about this.

After a buffet supper (those ragamuffins in my head again) we went into 'Stakeholder Workshops'. These were introduced by Lucy Ivimy, Chair of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a Conservative councillor in Hammersmith and Fulham.

She said that the initial impetus for the proposals had been the rationalisation of Accident and Emergency wards in the area and the fall out was a consequence of this, The virtual closure of two hospitals had been hidden deep in the plans, Given the wide geographical area and the propensity of people wanting to protect their own local facilities it had not been possible for the Committee to reach agreement.

She said that there were two main concerns:
1. SAHF was premised on success of the out of hospital strategy. This had been promoted for years but in real life admissions had continued to rise. We need more evidence on the strategy and a firm path to follow.
2. Transport was a big issue. Although there was a claim from the ambulance survey that there was little impact on the 'blue light' journeys the majority of journeys to hospital are by other means including public transport. There had been no analysis of these journeys.

A skirmish followed about whether this represented the committee and it emerged that an initial very critical report had been replaced by a much sifter version which was the 'official report'.

The workshops that followed were actually very interesting and dealt with issues that should have been discussed prior to the formulation of the plans. The public were feeding back on their real lived experiences - not going through a desk-top exercise. The world turned upside down.

In the workshop I attended I protested once again that schools as stakeholder had not been consulted at all and that children had been left out at a time when the child population is rising and they will be making demands on the health service. Gurjinder Sandhu, a specialist in infectious diseases, working at Ealing Hospital backed this up describing the importance being able to access hospitals and their presence aiding recovery, how A&E picked up child protection issues and that the difficulty schools would have in trying to deal with fragmenting services.  A&E had a role in detecting TB which was very high in Southall and Ealing - not to mention  HIV.

In the workshop on Urgent Care Centre a disagreement became apparent between practitioners about how reliable UCCs were with a suggestion that staffing levels and expertise were poor and that this represented a risk to patients. This was even more so when there was no A&E on the same site as will be the case with Central Middlesex Hospital.

The strong underlying thread was that health services and access to health services would worsen for the most vulnerable. The ragamuffin has been left out in the cold.

Consultation feedback below:

Brent forms Waste Warriors team to beat fly-tippers

Following an increaser in fly-tipping this year Brent Council is to create a 'Environmental Crime Prevention Team' to tackle graffiti and fly-tipping. There will be a refreshed focus on waste enforcement, dealing particularly with fly-tipping and business waste.

A report going before the One Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee on December 5th admits that one reason for the increase in fly-tipping is the 'council's new household waste collection arrangements that restrict the volume of waste that is collected'.

The council no longer collects additional sacks that are left next to the bins. They say 'this has led to residents dumping excess/uncollected waste on footpaths and near litter bins in some areas'.

A second reason is to do with the street cleansing cuts introduced last year. The report says that less frequent sweeps mean items are left for longer and more likely to be reported.

A third reason is increased commercial waste disposal charges which has led to 'dumping by unscrupulous trades who wish to avoid these charges'. The report notes that commercial waste disposal cots rise each year and 'can be particularly burdensome' for small and medium-sized businesses in difficult economic times.

If the 'no side collection' rule is causing more fly-tipping there is likely to be pressure from some quarters for this rule to be relaxed. 

These impacts were predicted by campaigners at the time the new recycling system and street cleaning cuts were introduced last year.

The immediate impact of the £2m cut in street cleansing has been addressed through various measures including paying particular attention to known problem areas and 'bespoke' arrangements around very difficult areas such as Harlesden town centre. Veolia have now introduced a 'recycling pick-up of waste dumped in town centres which ensures a second additional early morning clearance in those areas.  A concerted anti-litter campaign is being considered.

On a more optimistic note  the council claim that the measures they have taken to increase recycling have resulted in an average of 45% for 2012-13 compared with 32% in the same period last year. The target is 60%.

Swaminarayan to bid to become a free school

 The independent, fee paying,  Hindu,  Swaminarayan School in Neasden is considering becoming a free school. The school for 4-19 year olds currently charges between £2,600 and £3,600 per year according to the pupil's age.  A few scholarships are available for those unable to afford the fees. The Swaminarayan is rated as one of the top performing independent schools in London and emphasises the 'best of English education combined with Hindu tradition'.

The Swaminarayan School was founded in 1991 and is housed in the former Sladebook High School building in Brent field Road, opposite the Swaminarayan Mandir.

The school's admission information states:

In order to qualify for entry, a child must reach a certain academic standard in the Preparatory School entrance examinations in English and Mathematics. He/she will have to pass an oral and written examination. Although Kindergarten/Nursery children are not tested academically, an informal interview is arranged between the parents, Head of Nursery and Head of Preparatory School. Assessments of the following areas will be carried out: child’s spoken language, vocabulary, nursery rhymes, ability to listen to instructions, solving simple puzzles, social skills and hand-eye co-ordinations are carried out

Free school status would mean that the school would become directly funded via the Department for Education. It was the first 'all-through' school in Brent combining primary (or Prep as the Swaminarayan call it) and secondary departments, and was followed by the Ark Academy and Preston Manor.  I doubt that the school could keep the admissions procedures if it becomes state funded - nor should it.

I understand that some parents are concerned that direct funding would result in class sizes becoming larger and I am not sure whether the regulations allow for some residual fee charging to enable school class sizes to be retained.  Parents, particularly those with several childrem, will save a considerable amount of money if the bid is successful.

I asked the Principal to comment on the reports about a possible free school application and also on rumours that the school might buy the neighbouring Centre for Staff Development when Brent Council vacates it next year.

Mr Mahendra Savjani, Principal of Swaminarayan School said:

The Swaminarayan School is considering applying for Free School status. Whilst we have not found a site, we would wish to locate to a site in the heart of the Hindu community. The excellent education that the school provides at present will be open to all.

There were rumours several years ago when Brent Council was looking for school sites that the Swaminarayan may move to Harrow but these reports were denied. Brent is expecting a shortage of secondary school places in the future as the swelling primary school population moves through the system.

The previously independent fee paying Batley Grammar School converted to free school status last September with much flag-waving from the government. LINK

Brent Council has decided that it will actively seek free school partners to address the shortage of school places.

There are a considerable number of small fee paying prep schools in Brent that might consider a similar move.  St Christopher's in Wembley upset parents a few years ago when it announced at short notice that it would be unable to run a Year 6 class the following academic year because numbers were not viable.