Brent Council Executive member backs Gladstone Park parents

Cllr Krupesh Hirani, lead member for Adults and Health, has become the second Dudden Hill councillor to back the Parents Action Group at Gladstone Park Primary.

In a meeting with representatives from the campaign he stated that 'enforced academy is wrong' and 'we think Gladstone Parl doesn't need to become an academy'.

He agreed to write a letter in support of the Save Gladstone Park Primary School campaign for dessmination and he also signed the parents, carers and friends petition.

Parents finally requested that Cllr Hirani ask Cllr Muhammed Butt (leader of Brent Council) to instruct  Christine Gilbert (Brent Chief Executive) or any other relevant Brent officer to write to DfE stating (a) that DfE’s is in breach of Civil service Codes of Conduct and acceptable behaviour in making decisions that impact on the general public and (b) that Brent is confident in GP leadership successfully seeing through improvement action plan in response to Ofsted report, without change in governance status. In this regard, Ofsted Principal Officer Deana Holdaway’s response to Sarah Cox was quoted: ‘The judgement that leadership and management are not inadequate is an important one; it shows that staff have the capacity to continue the school’s improvement’.   

In response Cllr Hirani said there was a distinction between Council and councillors and he would seek advice before making such a request.

Willesden Green Planning application descends into chaos

The Keep Willesden Green campaigners have long argued that there is a possibility of 'pre-determination' over the Galliford Try/Linden Homes planning application for Willesden Green: that the Council had already made up its mind and that the Planning Committee would rubber-stamp the Council's deal with Galliford Try.

Their worse fears seemed to have been realised when Brent Council sent out a message overnight saying that the Planning Committee had yesterday approved the two applications - despite the Council having previously announced that the decision had been deferred to a Special Planning Committee on February 21st for 'technical' reasons'.

A call to Democratic Services early this morning elicited the response that the release of this announcement had been a mistake and that the application hadn't been considered last night. The announcement was quickly removed from the website.

Doesn't look the model of efficiency does it - not to mention the number of heart attacks it might have caused at breakfast time in Willesden Green?

Dudden Hill Labour Councillor supports Gladstone Park Parents' forced academy resistance

Councillor Aslam Choudry (Labour Dudden Hill) has responded to an e-mail from a resident whose grandchildren attend the school with this message:

Let me make my position clear. I have been associated with Gladstone Park School for over 20 years . All of my four children attended Gladstone Primary School and I firmly believe that the school does an excellent service to the local community.

Last Friday, I spoke at the local mosque in Willesden Green before the Jummah Prayers in favour of the demonstration outside the school and, in fact encouraged the congregation to take part.

I am aware that at least 5 parents came to the demonstration .

So, I support your efforts and I believe the Gladstone School is already doing a great deal to improve the education for all children and therefore it should not be forced to go the academy route.

Please let me know if you wish to talk further on this.

Acad£mies and Lies - lessons from the movies

As the struggle of Gladstone Park Primary parents against a forced academy hots up and attention also turns to Kensal Rise Primary, this film shows how a community rose up in defence of its schools. The bullying of the DfE is challenged by parents and school staff. With more attempts at forced academies provoking revolt across London the Guardian, Independent and the Evening Standard (see below) have woken up to what is happening. LINK to coverage in yesterday's Evening Standard.

 As with the closure of Central Middlesex Hospital, Brent Labour councillors have been slow to react. As representatives of local residents who have shown such passionate support for their local school and commitment to the role of the local authority, surely they must state loudly and clearly that they oppose forced academisation and are confident (as Ofsted said - see below) in the capacity of the present leadership and management to improve the school and deal with the weaknesses revealed by the recent inspection.

London Councils act to improve HIV prevention services

Source: Health Protection Agency

 Press release from London Councils

Leaders of London’s councils yesterday agreed to take decisive action together to improve HIV prevention services in the capital.

As they prepare to take on new public health responsibilities from 1 April, London boroughs have recognised that the HIV prevention activity they are inheriting is not meeting the needs of Londoners.  They have today initiated joint work to improve future commissioning of such services.

In the meantime, Leaders have agreed that some of the contracts from the current Pan London HIV Prevention Programme due to terminate on 31 March should be extended subject to more robust programme management – initially for six months and, subject to performance, potentially a further six months to ensure provision continues.  Final details will be resolved in the next few weeks.

London Councils Executive Member for Health, Councillor Teresa O’Neill, said:

A new approach to HIV prevention is needed to make sure that Londoners are educated about HIV before it is too late.  An estimated 50 per cent of Londoners with HIV are diagnosed at a point where their immune system is damaged and treatment is needed.

Frankly, Londoners have not been well served by the approach to HIV prevention in the capital in recent years.  The transfer of responsibilities around HIV prevention to local authorities gives us an opportunity to look at the way services have been provided in the past and change them so they are more effective, better value for money and targeted in the right way.

Nearly half of people with HIV in the UK live in London and more than a third of new diagnoses take place in the capital.  Terrence Higgins Trust, the charity which campaigns on issues around HIV and AIDS, points to an over-use of specialist clinics and an under-developed approach to community-based testing, care and support. Directors of Public Health will lead joint work, involving stakeholders and experts, to develop a robust needs assessment to inform future commissioning of HIV prevention services.  This will also form the basis for decisions on the whether boroughs want to join together to commissioning some of these services on a pan-London basis in future

Planning Committee won't consider Willesden Green development on Wednesday

The Galliford Try planning application for the Wiillesden Green flats and library development has been deferred until February 21st for 'technical reasons'.  Keep Willesden Green campaigners have raised various issues about the legal status of the  application over the last week or so.

The email from Democratic Services to councillors on the Planning Committee is below:

Dear Member,

Due to technical reasons, the planning applications for Willesden Green Library (references 12/2924 and 12/2925) will be deferred from tomorrow night’s meeting.  As the applications will still need to be considered at the earliest possible time following tomorrow’s meeting, the Chair has asked me to confirm your availability on Thursday 21 February 2013 for the special meeting.

If for any reason you will not be able to attend the meeting please consider asking your alternate. I would appreciate it if you could respond to this request at the earliest opportunity preferably before 10:00am tomorrow morning.

Joe Kwateng

Democratic Services Officer

Legal & Procurement Department

( Direct Line: 020 8937 1354
joe.kwateng@brent.gov.uk

This is becoming a real headache for the developers, maybe Galliford Try/Linden Homes will pull out before the 21st?

Ofsted acknowledges Gladstone Park's strengths and confirms its capacity to improve

 Writing to a grandparent of a Gladstone Park Primary school pupil, Deana Holdaway, HMI , Principal Officer for Quality Assurance at Ofsted reiterated the areas where Ofsted found weaknesses in the school but went on:

However the report also gives due credit to the school's  strengths. The judgement that leadership and management are not inadequate is an important one: it shows  that staff have the capacity to continue the school's improvement. (My emphasis)

Clearly this raises a vital question: If Ofsted thinks the present leadership and management has the capacity to 'continue to improve' (ie the process of improvement is under way) then why should the DfE think that the school needs to be forcibly converted into an academy with all the upheaval that involves.

One can only conclude that there is a conflict between Ofsted's professional assessment and the DfE's political agenda.

Evening Standard covers Gladstone Park, Roke and Thomas Gamuel resistance to forced academy status

Parents join forces to fight academy takeovers

Campaign: families protest outside Gladstone Park primary in Brent

inShare

From today's Evening Standard LINK

Parents of pupils at London schools under threat of being forced to become academies are uniting to fight the plans.

A growing number of schools are at risk of compulsory takeover by private sponsors following unsatisfactory Ofsted reports. Parents from three primaries are working together to combat the plans and are due to contact campaigners at a fourth. They say the move is “politically-driven, disproportionate and undemocratic”.

At Gladstone Park primary in Brent, families have accused Education Secretary Michael Gove of setting the “attack dogs” on them and held a protest outside the school this weekend.

The school received an inadequate Ofsted report before Christmas and governors were told a sponsor would be chosen to take over the running of the school within weeks.

Roke primary in Croydon and Thomas Gamuel primary in Walthamstow are also on the “hit list” after inadequate Ofsted reports. Parents at the schools argue the reports are a “blip”
.
Alex Colas, whose daughter goes to Gladstone Park, said: “The Government has set the attack dogs on us. There is a sense we are being picked on. Bullied is a term that was used.” Parents at Gladstone Park dispute the Ofsted report. The school has previously been rated as “good”.

Mr Colas said they were getting advice from protesters at Downhills in Tottenham, who failed to stop the school becoming an academy last year. There are plans to contact Thomas Gamuel school where 180 parents have signed a petition against academy proposals.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We cannot just stand by if a school is failing children. We need to make changes quickly.”

She added that Ofsted’s report and representations from Gladstone Park were being considered before making a decision.

Brent Executive approves budget and Tokyngton Library sale

The Brent Council Executive tonight passed the 2013/14 budget, which involve cuts in services, frozen Council Tax and increased charges,  without discussion. It also approved rent increases in Brent Housing Partnership and Stonebridge properties and substantial rises in service charges. The Budget which also includes a free on Council Tax will now go before the full Council Meeting where it will rubber-stamped unless there is a (very unlikely) revolt by non-Executive Labour councillors.

A Local Welfare Assistance Scheme was approved which due to government cuts of 13% reduces the amount of emergency payments available to the vulnerable.

Labour Leader Muhammed Butt declared an interest in the sale of the former Tokynton Library to the Islamic Cultural Association (see LINK) and vacated the chair and left the room for the discussion of this item. Cllr Ruth Moher, taking the chair,  told the meeting that the sell-off did not involve councillors and had been carried out according to Council standing orders.

Issues around sale of Tokyngton Library to Islamic Cultural Association

The Brent Executive will tomorrow decide whether to sell the closed down Tokyngton Library in Monks Park to the Islamic Cultural Association for an undisclosed sum.

The week before last the Kilburn Times reported that an argument between leader of the Council, Muhammed Butt, and another Labour councillor, had been behind the ill-feeling in the Labour Group which contributed to rumours that Butt's leadership would be challenged. In the event an agreement to show mutual respect was agreed.

Brent Council's Register of Interests shows that Cllr Muhammed Butt has previously declared an interest in the Islamic Cultural Association, which is co-located with Monks Park Masjid at 72-74 Harrow Road. He declared an interest as a Trustee of the Association  on 25.08.2009, removed it on 04.2.10, declared it again on 18.03.2011 and removed it again on 07.06.12.

Whose schools? OUR schools!

Children grasp the key question and answer outside Gladstone Park on Friday

Today's news in the Independent LINK that Michael Gove is looking to privatise academies and free schools, and thus open them up to profit-making comes as no surprise. It would also decouple them from Whitehall removing any semblance of democratic accountability which has  of course already been lost at the local level.

Anti-academy campaigners have always thought this was the long-term intention. Why else would carpet millionaires and hedge fund speculators be interested in running schools? Cleverly getting their foot in the door at an early stage,  academy chains will be in a position to harvest the profits from seizing community assets.

She knew what Gove was up to

It is not just the bricks and mortars and land, paid for by taxpayers over many years, sometimes going back to the introduction of universal elementary education in 1870, that is important. It is also schools as a site for community solidarity and values beyond those of individualism and private profit that is being destroyed,. In essence it is another battle in the war against social solidarity and the welfare state, the post-World War 2 settlement, that is taking place.  It is an ideological attack where the proponents will accuse opponents of being ideological. George Orwell would recognise the technique.

In 1986 Michael Joseph and then then Department of Education focused on the individual aspirations of parents for their children. They promoted what could be seen as the 'ideal' parent and argued that establishing a market in education would benefit individual parents as consumers. Back then phrases such as 'wanting what any decent parent would want for their children' , 'hardworking motivated families' were used to try and recruit parents as ideological partners in pursuit of free market solutions to what was percieved as the education crisis.

Their plans were challenged at a practical level when parents at Drummond Middle School in Bradofrd organised a campaign against the alleged racism of headtecher Ray Honeyford. Margaret Thatcher showed where she stood by inviting Honeyford to an education seminar at Dowing Street. Drummond Parents Action Group took to the streets  to protest. The Tory subtext was that the 'ideal parent' did not include ethnic minorities. 'Parent Power' was only for those who accepted the Government agenda? Does this soubnd familiar?

Another comment may also sound familiar. The All London Parents Action Group (ALPAG) said:

But be warned - for a Government that is so keen to encourage parental participation in education, he (Sir Keith Joseph,  Gove's equivalent at the time) is remarkably reluctant to answer parents' letters.

The Inner London Education Authority election of 1986 was unique because the Greater London Council having been abolished by Thatcher it was an election ONLY about education.  Several activists from the parents' movement stood as Labour Party candidates with experience in the Camapign for the Advancement of State Education (CASE), National Association of  Governors and Managers (NAGM), Save ILEA Campaign, Wandsworth Association of School Parents as well as local Parents Advisory Committees.

The Tories used the election to put forward their right-wing, privatisation ideas as a rehearsal for the next General Election. The result was a thrashing. On a relatively high turn-out, considering this was a direct election only about education in a city with many non-parents, of 44%, Labour achieved 46,8% (45 seats), Conservative 30.2% (11) and SDP-Liberals 21.2% (2).  Thatcher then punished the voters by abolishing the ILEA and handing education over to the boroughs, However the election result contributed to the  Tories moving to the centre ground in education. Michael Joseph was replaced by Kenneth Baker.

Gove's policies on privatisation, academies and free schools represent a move back to the days of Thatcher, Tebbit and Joseph (known by some as the 'Mad Monk') and we need to mount a similar challenge against his ideas and policies.

Is there a potential for a 21st century version of the All London Parents Action Group?

A diverse community sharing common values

 In the building of such a group the slogan Whose Schools? OUR Schools  should be central. We are not talking only about the selling off of public assets but of them being given away to the private sector. It is our taxes and council taxes that have funded our schools, but even more fundamentally the investment of the time and effort of generations of unpaid governors and parents that have made them the successful inclusive institutions that they are.

Fund-raising at Spring, Summer and Winter Fairs, volunteering in the classroom, accompanying classes on trips, regular contact with the class teacher are all ways that parents make it 'Our school'.  It is this closeness and identification with the school that make parents, grandparents and carers a potentially formidable campaigning force.

More and more is expected of the governing body who are expected to oversee the financial management of the school, set targets for school improvement and performance manage the headteacher. They are expected to go on training, attend conferences, and visit the school regulalrly to see it in action.

Michael Gove's forced acdemisation tramples over the efforts of parents and governors, devalues the contribution that they have made, and through his threat of replacing non-compliant governing bodies with Interim Executive Boards flies in the face of democracy.

Make no mistake we are in a fight for control of our schools,  for the future of our children's education and well-being, and for an ethos that values social inclusion, equality of opportunity and democratic accountability.

Let the battle commence to reclaim OUR Schools!

The 'shoddy compromise' behind Charing Cross A&E ''victory'

Ann Drinkell speaking at this evening's Torchlight Vigil at Central Middlesex Hospital

Candlelit vigil marks start of week of action to save our hospitals

Campaigners marked the beginning of the Week of Action to Defend London's NHS with a candle lit vigil outside Central Middlesex Hospital tonight. The Central Middlesex A&E is threatened with closure under the Shaping a Healthier Future proposals. People from Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham joined in the vigil. Sarah Cox from Brent said that it was important that people across the three boroughs stayed united to guard against any attempts at divide and rule.

On Tuesday February 19th NHS NW London will be meeting at Central Hall Westminster to make decisions on the closure of A&E departments and many other services at Central Middlesex, Ealing, Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals. There will be a demonstration outside Central Hall from 8.30am.

Keep Willesden Green campaigners speak truth to power

Willesden residents in  the Keep Willesden Green campaign were able to question the developers and make comments on the plans for the new Willesden Green Cultural Centre today. The councillors who constitute the planning committee were on a site visit prior to the Committee's consideration of the planning application on Wednesday.

The residents were extremely well-informed and officers will be taking away some of the questions and evidence to consider before the  Planning Committee.

On Monday the Public Inquiry into the Town Square application will open at Willesden Green Library and is expected to continue meeting after the Planning Committee has made its decision - a fact that itself is puzzling as.  if successful, he Town Square application would stop the library development as currently planned.

More detail and videos of today's events can be found on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE

Mary Seacole win was based on People Power - let's use it on forced academies

Readers may have missed another concession by Michael Gove this week.I wrote a piece a few weeks ago  LINK supporting Operation Black Vote's campaign to retain the study of Mary Seacole in the National Curriculum. The campaign succeeded to the extent that Mary Seacole is now in the main curriculum rather than just an option. This is a victory for the thousands who supported the campaign but we now need to turn our attention to other fundamentally problematic issues in Michael Gove's history proposals

Operation Black Vote wrote:

We’ve won ! - Mary Seacole, Olaudah Equiano

Thanks to nearly 36,000 signatories, letters to the Secretary of State for education, politicians, unions, writers and activist, today we celebrate the fact that our children and the next generation of children will be taught about the great exploits of both Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano. Furthermore, the importance of diversity within our education system, particularly in history will now be greatly valued.

Back in December a leaked document suggested that Equiano and Seacole be scrapped from the Curriculum.

Simon Woolley stated:

This is a great day for education, but also a great day for the Black community and many others who demanded greater racial justice within our education system. There are too many people to thank personally but, The Voice, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, and Change.org all threw their considerable weight behind this campaign. Seacole and Equiano would both be saying our spirits fantastically live on with today's activist.  

Michael Gove wrote personally to OBV in response to the campaign:

We are lucky to be heirs to a very rich mix of exceptional thinkers, bold reformers and courageous political activists. I agree that is important that our children learn about difference that these figures have made, and it is right that we do more, not less to make subjects relevant to the lives of our children.

 Professor Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing, said:

Thanks to all 36,000 people who signed the Operation Black Vote Petition. Mary Seacole AND Olaudah Equiano & Florence Nightingale are all cited in Key Stage 3 of the proposed national curriculum. Brilliant, just brilliant!

Zita Holbourne of BARAC stated: 

This campaign just goes to show that if we stand our ground, stick together and assert our collective 'People Power' we succeed.

Let's now use People Power to defeat Michael Gove over forced academies. Yesterday's demonstration outside Gladstone Park Primary School was a great start.

'Wrong sort of parents' protest against Gove's diktat

I guess Michael Gove will think that these are the 'wrong sort of parents': passionately committed to their children's education;  strongly supportive of their children's school, teachers and headteacher; enthusiastic about the multi-cultural nature of the school's population, committed to equality and, worse of all, keen on the democratic accountability of the school via the local authority.

A group of middle class parents setting up a Free School for their children aimed at keeping out the riff-raff are clearly preferable, and why oh why can't these Gladstone Park parents realise that their school would be far better if it was run by a bloke who sells carpets?

There was a brilliant demonstration after school this afternoon by Gladstone Park Primary parents and children to oppose a forced academy.. A force to be reckoned with!

'Carry on cutting' (and charge more for less)

Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt, last night rejected making a needs based budget and drew back from committing himself to a united campaign with residents and other London councils against the Coalition Government's savage reduction in local government funding. He said that action through the organisation London Councils was not possible because some were Conservative or Liberal Democrat controlled.

Challenged on setting a deficit budget or refusing to make a budget he asked Fiona Ledden, Director of Legal and Procurement to answer, despite a cry of, 'We want a political answer - not a legal answer!'

Stung into a response he said, 'Councillors are elected to do a job. I'm not going to stand here and say I am not going to do my job (Cries of, 'You are doing the Tories' job!')  I've written lots of letters, I've told people. They're not doing this just to our borough. We still need to provide services.'

He had told the meeting that the situation facing the borough in 2014-5 was dire with £20m cuts required which could mean not providing services  such as youth centres, parks maintenance, street cleaning, employment support, arts funding and voluntary sector support.

His future strategy seemed to accept this as inevitable. He said that extracting extra money from the government was unlikely and apart from so-called efficiency savings the alternatives he offered were of allowing local authorities more freedom over tax and revenue (putting up the Council Tax, increasing charges and charging for services that up to now have been 'free') and removing statutory obligations to provide some services (ceasing to provide all but core services).  It didn't escape the audience that all this meant residents paying in one way or another.

He said that he had charged Interim Chief Executive Christine Gilbert with the task of investigating the future form that Brent Council could take including a 'Fair Council' and a Lambeth style Cooperative Council LINK   Admitting that he had been pushed into these public meetings after being reminded at a Brent Connects meeting that he hadn't yet consulted on the 2013-14 budget, he promised a 'community budget' next year.  The consultation would be over a longer period and it would mean him going out to local areas, schools, voluntary organisations and residents' groups to ascertain their views, rather than expecting them to come to him.

He said, 'I will listen to you but sometimes I may have to take decisions which are not palatable to you, not to your taste. That is leadership.'

Earlier members and trustees of Elders' Voice had told the meeting how another organisation had been awarded their contract after putting in a 'cheaper bid'. Despite Brent's promotion of the London Living Wage this organisation, unlike Elders Voice, did not pay it. They predicted that because of  staffing transfer costs, there would be eventually no difference in price but Brent would have lost the experience, expertise and community involvement of Elders' Voice.

As the meeting drew to a close one of  the Elders' Voice contingent stood up and addressed Muhammed Butt directly: 'I have been listening to you but where's your passion? I can't hear your passion. You need passion to lead people!'.

Butt replied, 'Passion is difficult isn't it?  I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't care.'

James Powney roasted in Kilburn Library

While his colleague Muhammed Butt was being grilled at Brent Town Hall James Powney faced a roasting at Kilburn Library. LINK

The occasion was the launch of veteran feminist and anti-racist Selma James' new publication, Sex, Race and Class: The perspective of winning. Cllr Powney was adopting a low profile in the audience. He might have been warned of what was to come if he had read Brent Council's press release on the event which included this quote from Selma James:

 I’m pleased to be talking with my community in our library and to support libraries as centres of learning and culture in every community. We need the libraries for our ongoing education to which we are all entitled.

When Selma started by stressing the importance of libraries and condemned Brent Council's closures of half the borough's libraries a member of the audience stood up and pointing to James Powney  said, 'We have the architect of the library closures in the audience here, Councillor James Powney, I hope he will listen and take note of some of the anger and outrage that residents feel about these library closures.'

The audience rose up up against the slight figure and angrily denounced Brent Council, library closures and capitulation to the cuts. Powney sarcastically said, 'Yes I am the evil architect of these library closures. I am going to defend myself' and gesturing to the refurbished library,  boasted of IT resources, new books and increased borrowing.

Needless to say the audience was not convinced.

Useful information for tonight's Public Brent Budget Meeting

There is another Public Meeting at Brent Town Hall (7pm) this evening to discuss the forthcoming Council Budget with Muhammed Butt. This Appendix to the main document sets out service areas where 'savings' will be made as well as increased fees.

It is worth trying to find out what the apparently innocuous statements really mean in terms of services:

Support Gladstone Park protest against forced academy on Friday

A message from the Parents Action Group at Gladstone Park Primary School who are campaigning against forced academy status:

A public protest will be taking place in front of Gladstone Park School on

Friday 8 February against academy status being forced upon the school.

The protest will take place at 3.15pm by the front entrance to the school in Sherrick Green Road.

Please come armed with placards and banners and please try to mobilise support in the wider community so that as many people as possible attend.

We believe the event will be covered by BBC London news and various other media.

Green Party welcomes Equal Marriage vote

THE GREEN Party has welcomed yesterday’s vote to legalise gay marriage as a “historic moment.”
The vote in the House of Commons passed by 400 to 175 votes, with the latter including 136 Conservative MPs – almost half of the party.

Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, said: “Yesterday's vote in the House of Commons for gay marriage marks a historic moment in the progress of equality in Britain. With the large Commons majority of 225, the elected representatives have spoken, and the House of Lords has no grounds for resistance.”

“Britain has joined other progressive states, including Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Belgium, in giving gay couples an equal right to marry as that enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

“Our Green MP Caroline Lucas was also leading in yesterday's debate, making the point that now there's a further equality issue be tackled. MPs have acknowledged that civil partnerships don't meet all couples' needs - now they need to go a step further, and acknowledge that marriage doesn't meet the needs of all heterosexual couples.”

“There can be no logical grounds for denying heterosexual couples the option of civil partnership as created under the Civil Partnership Act of 2004 - a simple, legal step that can resolve issues around child custody, inheritance, pension rights and a whole host of other issues.

“There's a further important issue to be addressed - an issue of education and understanding. There is no such thing as "common law marriage" in Britain, yet it's a phrase that you'll hear bandied about regularly, and a false belief in its existence has had severe financial and emotional consequences for many .

“There's also a recognised problem around inheritance when an unformalised partnership ends with the death of an intestate partner - a lot of work has been done around this issue; now's the time for action

“We live in a world of many different family arrangements - what we need to do is to give couples a range of legal tools (and full understanding of them) so that they can have security and certainty about the shape of their family life, and real choices about how to construct it.

“We took an important step forward yesterday - now we need to complete the work.”

Equal Marriage: Greens celebrate while Tweeters rise up against revolting Teather

The Green Party was jubilant yesterday after the vote on Equal Marriage.  This has long been Green Party policy and has been championed by Green Party member Peter Tatchell.

Before the vote Caroline Lucas, Green MP, said:

 While the Conservative catfight over today’s vote will fade into insignificance, the momentous occasion on which MPs were given the chance to stand up for equality in marriage will be remembered for many years to come.

The majority of the public sees no reason why people of the same sex who love each other and want to marry should not be able to do so – and despite claims to the contrary, this legislation will not force any faith groups to conduct gay marriages.

 Like many of the constituents who have written to me on this issue, I support the aims of the government’s proposed legislation and will therefore vote ‘yes’ to same sex marriage in Parliament.

However, while I’ll be voting for equal marriage, I’ll also be calling for more far reaching reform to allow everyone – same sex and opposite sex couples – to enjoy a civil partnership or marriage, as they choose.

 This is a question of equal love. It’s not about asking for special treatment for gay couples or straight couples, it’s about everyone enjoying the same rights regardless of their sexuality.

Speaking for myself I have always been suspicious of the way marriage is extolled by the right-wing alongside 'hard-working families' but if people want to get married then I see no reason why it should not be open to everyone.

Yesterday the internet was buzzing with comment on Sarah Teather's vote against Equal Marriage and many pointed out that this contradicted the banners on the Lib Dem website. Teather herself posted a long statement that can be found here which said that she had reflected for a long time 'as a life long liberal and a committed Catholic'.

It was a free vote, despite Equal Marriuage being Lib Dem policy, and she pleaded for understanding of her position:

I have found this a difficult decision because of my work previously on gay rights issues, and my judgment is finely balanced. I recognise that others may reflect deeply on these issues and come to a different view, in good faith. But it is my view that where the extra protections offered to same-sex couples are marginal, and where the potential negatives to society over a period of time may be more considerable, I am unable to support the bill.

Although the vote today was subject to a free, unwhipped vote, I understand that my views place me out of step with most of my liberal democrat colleagues and party members. I have not often found myself out of step with party members over the last twenty years. But one of the things that always impresses me about our party is that we are liberal enough to accept that others may hold different views. Our party members hold strong views, but recognise and cherish the space for difference. I am proud of that.

Cherishing 'the space for difference' does not seem to include gay people wanting the commitment of marriage. It's pretty ironic that the left, having urged Teather to revolt on a range of Coalition policies, now find her revolting on one that many of them support.

Among the comments on Twitter were:

Presume Sarah Teather objects to post-menopausal women marrying men as it will "decouple the definition of marriage from family life"? Ben Soffa

Brent's LGBT pop is approx 16,000. Sarah Teather's majority is 3,000. Pukka Punjabi

Just caught news Teather voted against  equal marriage Voted for cuts, for savaging welfare, but against equality. Sounds like a Tory to me Mike Katz

Teather free to vote the way she wants but not when it involves breaking promises made to local constituents Chavalim Bodedim

And Sarah Teather . Up there with Huhne in the talking utter bollox stakes. Suzanne Moore

"Lib Dems are tackling the inequalities faced by the gay lesbian bisexual & transgender community head on" Teather's website & she voted NO! Tweet for Labour

Sarah Teather didn't vote against the massive cuts the Government has made to Brent Central. Just gay marriage. Social liberal, you see. Tom Miller

 I’m sure the large Evangelical population in Brent Central has nothing to do with Teather opposing equal marriage  Nothing at all  Mark Ferguson

 Another aspect of the vote was noted by many Brent tweeters when all six Muslim Labour MPs voted for Equal Marriage.

Butt hangs on to the Labour leadership

The Kilburn Times LINK reports today that the move against Muhammed Butt's leadership at last night's Labour Group meeting was reduced to a unanimous anodyne motion pledging the factions to have mutual respect and work together.

It had become clear over the weekend, despite Labour Party members being instructed to keep the move secret, that numbers were insufficient for a vote of no confidence to succeed.

The leadership and Executive positions come up again at the Annual General Meeting of the party in May. A change of leadership then can be portrayed as a routine democratic process where the party assesses the performance of its leading members and after discussion makes any necessary changes.

Butt likely to hang on as rump fails?

No news on the Brent Labour leadership vote and I am off out for a Low Carbon Zone Meeting.

Latest intelligence is that Ann John supporters have been reduced to a rump so Muhammed Butt is likely to remain in post.

Officers miss the 'smack of firm government' from Ann, her efficiency and mastery of detail, but some councillors have recognised that their previous belief in TINATA (There is no alternative to Ann) was misplaced.

The Labour Group has battened down the hatches and there has been barely a tweet out of Twitter over the weekend so I may of course be completely wrong.

More later I hope...

Lycee confirmed for Brent Town Hall

The Kilburn Times LINK today confirms my story of December 21st 2012 that an independent French school has purchased Brent Town Hall.

Preston Library lives again for National Libraries Day!

Next Saturday, 9th February, is National Libraries Day. The Friends of Preston Library  will be celebrating with a special children's event in the  former Preston Library building on Carlton Avenue East.  The building is now housing extra classrooms for Preston Park Primary School and the Friends are very grateful to the headteacher, Mr John Redpath, for allowing them to use the building in this way.

The event will run from 12pm - 4pm and will include story-telling with a local author, an art corner, the pop-up library - and they are especially pleased to be able to welcome well-known children's writer, Saman Shamsie, who will be reading from her own stories and from the new Puffin Book of Magic Stories.

Do bring your children along to the library building on Saturday and help to celebrate the importance of libraries and reading in our community.

Dog walkers to be restricted to 4 dogs per person in Brent's parks

Following a review of the Dog Control Orders introduced last year,  Brent officers are recommending that the maximum number of dogs walked by one person in Brent's parks and open spaces is reduced from four to six. LINK

This follows complaints from the public about bigger packs of dogs nor being under control, consultation with the Kennel Club and discussion with insurers of  professional dog walkers.

Enforcement continues to be an issue.

Headline figures from the Brent Budget paint a dismal picture

If you are going to either of the public meetings about the 2013-14 Brent budget next week you may want to have a look at the documentation that is available on the Council website.  It is available on the Agenda for the February 11th Executive HERE and is item 21 of a 28 item agenda.

I will try and highlight the main points here.  As previously mentioned the Council Tax is unchanged despite a rise being built into earlier assumption and the Council intends to keep reserves at the current level.

Adult Social Care continues to be one of the main pressures on the budget. Here is a summary of the changes between 2012-13 and 2013-14:

Click on image to enlarge

The forecast of savings required until 2017, which now assume no rise in Council Tax, are:

Click on image to enlarge

One of the main clues to where the cuts will actually fall is on this grid LINK with an assumption of  substantial cuts in costs in 2014-15 through the out-sourcing of integrated health and the huge Public Realm contract which covers waste, recycling, street cleansing. parks maintenance and Brent Housing Partnership. The move to the Civic Centre is expected to yield net savings of  £500,000 in 2014-15 although I seem to remembers a figure of £4m being stated when the £100,000,000 cost of the Centre was queried. (Annual savings of £4m over 25 years was cl;aimed to mean that the Centre would pay for itself).

A fuller account of service costs pressures to 2017 can be found HERE . They include the transition of children with disabilities to adult social care, 'transitional clients (with learning disabilities) living longer into adult age', increased numbers of older people with dementia, increase in demand for children's social care placements, price increases from the West London Waste Authority and largest of all at £2.45m in 2013-14 for an increase in homeless demand as a result of the Local Housing Allowance changes. £0.3m is lost as a result of the Coalition's 28% reduction of the DWP grant for administering Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit. There is an increased cost of £0.75m for youth offending services with a rather hopeful suggestion that this might be reduced in future. I rather doubt that unemployment, benefit cuts,  homelessness and continuing austerity will enable that hope to be fulfilled.

All in all a dismal picture and which once again raises the issue of when will the Council decide 'enough is enough;' and go on the offensive against the Coalition and refuse to deliver their cuts.

Tokyngton Library to be sold to Islamic Cultural Association

Council officers are recommending that the Brent Executive agree to sell off the closed down Tokyngton Library in Monks Park to the Islamic Cultural Association for an undisclosed sum. A bid by Tokyngton Homes is kept in reserve in case the preferred sale does not go through.

Tanks at Brent Town Hall on Monday?

 

It is likely to be a busy and rather tense weekend in Brent Labour circles as final figures are totted up to see whether a potential plan to topple Muhammed Butt has enough support.

Action now would enable a new leader to take over before the final decisions are made on the 2013-14 budget with controversies remaining over the level of Council Tax, the London Living Wage and departmental budgets.

As I write it seems that the threat to Butt's has diminished slightly over the last few days but the arithmetic is very tight. He defeated Ann John by only one vote last May so in theory it only requires one vote to switch.

Rather than a left/right division it appears that this is almost a generation split with reports that the move has been spearheaded by a senior councillor and ex-member of the Executive who had a reputation as a left-winger in the 1980s.

During his period in office Muhammed Butt has promoted younger councillors such as Krupesh Hirani and Michael Pavey and built up a team of younger supporters whilst at the same time retaining the support of some Labour heavyweights.

As Brent Town Hall witnesses the last of its dramas (or will it all fizzle out?) the new Civic Centre awaits the triumphant entrance of the Leader.

Watch this space...

Meanwhile the battle for the Labour nomination for parliamentary candidate for Brent Central is hotting up with up to six names in the hat according to reliable sources.  Cllrs Val Kalwala, Choudry and Mashari have all been mentioned. The latter would benefit if Labour decides on an all-woman short-list and she would be pitted against Dawn Butler.

Brent Council Tax unchanged but rents increase in 2013-14 budget

The Budget Report going before the Brent Executive on February 11th recommends no change in the barometer Band D Council Tax and little change in the other rates.  This decision contrasts with early budget documentation that built in Council Tax rises over the next three years.  Since then Eric Pickles has declared that rises above 2% have to be approved by a local referendum and attacked Councils who were considering raising the tax to protect services. His mix of bribery and threatened opprobrium seems to have done the trick.

Brent Housing Partnership tenants will pay an average rent increase of 3.74% and there will also be rises in service charges. The table below shows that almost 4,000 households will face an increase of nearly £5 a week or £250 annually raising an additional million pounds.  Hillside Housing Trust (Stonebridge) rents will rise by 3.1% on average.

The new approach to social housing is explicit in the report's comment from the Brent Housing Partnership:

BHP agrees with the recommendation to increase rents on average by 3.74%. We recognise that this will place an additional financial burden on the 32% of Brent Council tenants that are currently are not in receipt of housing benefit. However BHP recognises that Brent is now operating a self financing housing business and that this increase is necessary to ensure the success of the Council's business plan.

Willesden Green regeneration: 'Never mind the deadline, let's make a decision'

Brent Planning Committee is to consider the planning application for the Willesden Green Cultural Centre on February 13th despite the Public Inquiry for the Willesden Town Centre continuing until February 14th.  This is also the final date for submissions on the planning application.

The Council get over this little problem by recommending that the Committee (which is supposed to be independent of the Council) grant consent in principle and delegate the final decision to the Deputy Director of Planning and Development who will make the decision:

(a) taking into account any further representations received on or before the 14th February 2013;
(b) any direction by the Mayor of London to refuse the application. In accordance with Article 5 of the Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008 following the Council’s determination of this application, the Mayor is allowed 14 days to decide whether to allow the draft decision to proceed unchanged or direct the Council under Article 6 to refuse the application;
(c) Satisfactory prior completion of a Section 106(s) under the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and/or other form(s) of agreement/undertaking in order to secure the S106 matters as detailed in this report

and for the conservation area consent:

 (b) any direction by the National Planning Casework Unit, the Secretary of State having considered the matter, to refuse the application

The planning application reports can be read on the Keep Willesden Green blog  HERE

Gladstone Park parents rally to protect their school from DfE dictators

Parents and carers are determined to make Michale Gove listen

 The parents campaign against the forced conversion of Gladstone Park Primary School to a sponsored academy swung into action this week.  A website has been set up HERE  and a Facebook page HERE

Brent Green Party has written to the campaign pledging its support and stating: 

We believe that  the DfE’s action  is disproportionate, destructive and  dictatorial...We wish you well in your efforts to  retain Gladstone Park Primary as a well regarded, democratically  accountable,  local authority school at the heart of the local community.

Save Gladstone Park Primary School  has published the press release below setting out their case:

Gladstone Park Primary School in Brent (North-west London) is being strong-armed into becoming an academy within weeks of receiving an ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted grade despite inspectors recognising some areas of strength. Staff and parents were told in January that the school, which had had its previouly ‘good’ performance sustained by Ofsted in 2011, will be fast-tracked for academy conversion after being judged as ‘inadequate’ just before the Christmas holidays, under the new Ofsted rules introduced in September 2012.

A letter from the DfE’s ‘Brokerage and School Underperformance Division’, dated 24 January, informed School Governors that an academy sponsor would be put forward by 11 February. Consultation will only take place after the deal with the Department’s nominated sponsor is secured.

Tactics employed by the consultant contractor working for the DfE include a forced withholding of the sponsor decision for five weeks, during which pressure was brought to bear on the school governors to convert; extremely short deadlines being imposed and a refusal to consider any involvement by the Governors or the school on potential sponsors. Parents, of course, have not been consulted.    

Parents, carers and staff at the school in Dollis Hill have launched a campaign against what they perceive to be a politically-driven, disproportionate and undemocratic rush to academy conversion. They argue that the school had already identified the areas of weakness referred to in the Ofsted report and was already addressing them (a point Ofsted also mentioned in their report), and that it is important for the school community to have final say on its future governance. 

Ishani Salpadoru, parent of an eight year-old pupil at the school said:

We do not recognise our children’s day-to-day experience in the Ofsted report. Over 90% of parents said they would recommend this school to others in the Parentview survey. We feel we’re being steamrollered into academy status, with no influence whatsoever on our children’s future.’ 

Other parents are concerned that forced academy conversion will create unnecessary upheaval and uncertainty, and are sceptical about academy status providing a panacea. Greta Kemper, parent of two children at the school commented:

We chose to send our kids to this school because it was a good community school. We liked the ethos, and we believed – and still believe – that it is a good school. Now a seismic change is being forceably imposed on the school and we are excluded from the decision being made and will be completely cut out of any future involvement if the Academy goes ahead. We feel that the DfE is not acting in “good faith” in their approach.’

The ‘Save Gladstone Park School’ campaign is making links with other well-performing schools that are being forced down the same route, like Roke Primary in Croydon. LINK

Parents believe popular schools like these are being deliberately targeted for academy conversion, as they are likely to improve in the medium-term, whatever their governance structures, and thus prove the government’s ‘Academies are better’ ideology correct. 

Gladstone Park is a large, thriving school in one of the country’s most multi-ethnic boroughs. The main body of pupils at Gladstone Park enters the school well below the national average for numeracy and literacy, with many pupils having English as an additional language. The school has shown that pupils make good progress across the early years (Nursery and Reception). It has SAT results above the national average, and twice the national average at level 6, so pupils leave well prepared for secondary school. 

The National Audit Office has already stated that disadvantaged children do less well at Academies which is an issue for most inner-city schools. 

Parents and staff at Gladstone Park Primary all want school improvement. But ownership of this process must rest with the school and its local community. We will not let it be dictated to us, top-down by faceless bureaucrats.