Waste Strategy Crisis: street sweeping cut as Veolia extracts more profit from Brent Council

Brent Council's negotiations with Veolia over the new waste strategy seem to be in trouble and have resulted in proposals for even more drastic reductions in street cleaning services than first expected. Officers say these have to be rushed in time for the October implementation of the new waste strategy despite negotiations with Veolia not being completed.

It is now proposed that in addition to the reduction in Zone 5 sweeping to one per week  that:

• Sweeping in industrial areas (Zone 7) reduced from 7 per week to 2
• Cease afternoon sweeping at weekends
• Reduce mechanical sweeping on weekday mornings
• Reduce weekend day service moving to a skeleton service with mobile teams
• Reduction in frequency in secondary shopping areas (Zone 2) to twice a day
• Stopping the seasonal leaf fall  service

Welcome to Brent - the Dirtier Olympic Borough

Clearly these reductions are going to make an impact on the appearance of the borough as well as making 50 street sweepers redundant. Probing a little deeper it is clear the the Council has not fared well in its negotiations with Veolia. The report to the Executive states:

In outline, it has not been possible to agree the reductions sought by the Council in respect of the waste collection arrangements partly because Veolia are seeking, through this significant change to the contract, the opportunity to try and improve profitability for the remainder of the contract which has, in their view, been eroded by a number of factors since the original start of the contract. Similarly, they are seeking to ensure through the negotiation of the changes to the street cleaning element of the contract, that they have a higher level of profitability for the remainder of the contract than they have recently been enjoying. In consequence, the reductions to the street cleaning regime recommended to meet the 2011-12 and 2012-13 budget requirements, are larger than might have been expected.

This is an understatement. The report reveals that as well as Veolia adding back into the contract indexation, costs that they claim to have been bearing in previous years, an inflation increase of 1% to which they were previously not entitle, there are additional costs of hiring vehicles rather than purchasing them (see my previous blog) and what the report calls 'other refinement by Veolia of figures'. All this added £362k to the budget gap. The report considers various ways of closing the gap but admits that if the savings are not made they will have to be found elsewhere in Environment and Neighbourhood Services. Cllr Powney will be responsible for finding these savings - or more bluntly, making these cuts. The proposals will go to Monday's Executive. The agenda and documents can be found HERE

One controversial element of the savings is Veolia's offer of  reduction in 'gate fee' for dry recyclables from £30 to £22 but this is contingent on less than 5% contamination which will be difficult to achieve with co-mingled collections.

The Brent waste contract comes up for renewal in 2014 and Veolia are also a likely bidder for the huge West London Waste Authority contract LINK The report notes that Veolia are seeking 'through the negotiation of the street cleaning element of the contract, that they have a higher level of profitability for the remainder of the contract than they have recently been enjoying'. Officers recommend that negotiations continue and are escalated to a higher level.

The budget is outlined below but other information in appendices to the report have been declared 'confidential' and not published: (click on image to enlarge)

"Let's all go down the Strand and bring your banner..." - library closures hearing next week

Campaigners' application for a judicial review of Brent Council's decision to close six of the borough's 12 libraries will be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice next week.  The hearing will take place on Tuesday 19th July and Wednesday 20th July. There is a possibility that it will spill over to the morning of Thursday 21st July.

Brent SOS Library campaigners and Brent Fightback supporters will be assembling outside the Court on Tuesday and Wednesday at 9am (the hearing is expected to start at 10.30am) and again at 4.15pm with banners and placards. Please try and get along and bring your own placards.  There should be seating in the court for between 60 and 80 people and the presence of those affected can be positive in terms of curtailing the more outrageous claims that the defendants could make in their absence.

The case is significant because it is the first legal challenge to library closures. There are almost 4000 pages of documents before the Court and over 200 pages of witness statements. In a nutshell, campaigners argue that the Council decision was flawed because it:

• started from the false premise that library closures were an inevitability (therefore closing its mind to reasonable alternatives);
• failed to assess local need at the right time, or adequately;
• failed to comply with equality legislation, and its own impact assessment policies; and
• failed to disclose its criteria, and reasons, for rejecting alternative community-based means of retaining some or all of the libraries earmarked for closure.

The Royal Courts of Justice are in the Strand and the nearest tube is Temple MAP

Francis decides to go back to the Labour Party

Francis Eniola who quit Labour to join the Tories in 2009 and subsequently lost his Welsh Harp council  seat at the local elections, has now decided to rejoin Labour because he is "ashamed" of the government and "disappointed" by them.

He told the Willesden and Brent Times

They promised to look after old people and to ensure they would care for them in their homes and now they are doing the opposite.This government does not look after the most vulnerable people especially those who are poor.

I understand that Francis is expert at doing the hokey-pokey.

Kingsbury High School Academy Bid - democracy must prevail say unions

Following the decision of Kingsbury High School governors to go ahead with an application for academy status, Hank Roberts NUT/ATL Secretary and Shane Johnschwager NASUWT Secretary,  have issued a statement to Kingsbury High staff vowing to work together so that democratic values prevail.

The Kingsbury decision follows that of Claremont High which was also criticised for failure to consult properly and ignoring the views of staff, parents and pupils as well as the more recent controversy at Holland Park where a consultation and decision took place in less than a week. If Kingsbury High became an academy it would join Ark and Claremont in the north of Brent, Crest Boys' and Girls' in the east and City Academy in the south

The unions' statement says:

·        At the Governors meeting Thursday night (14^th July) the Head concealed from Governors the fact that he had received formal notification from the Teacher Unions of a ballot for industrial action if the vote to apply went ahead.

·     In advance of the meeting he refused requests by the Local Secretaries for a meeting to seek a mutually agreeable way ahead to avoid a ballot for industrial action. Even on the day he failed to respond to repeated phonecalls.

·     The Head broke his promise to parents that he would tell them in advance of the Governors meeting whether or not he would advocate a pause in the process and a parental ballot.

·     He misled parents by saying they would be told the result of the staff ballot. They have not been told. They clearly should have been told before the vote to apply.

·     The Head advocated going ahead with no business plan having been provided, with no risk assessments having been done or provided, with no parental ballot having taken place and no proper pupil consultation.

·     The Head of the Finance Committee said that they had 'chosen to have a deficit'. This despite the Head telling parents that the deficit was due to Governors failure to 'grasp the nettle' regarding the school's financial situation.

·     The Head said that becoming an Academy, that is doing what Gove wants the school to do, would put Kingsbury in a better position to fight Gove if necessary. This despite the fact that the Secretary of State will ultimately have sole control of the school and its finances.

·     The Head misled Governors by saying that the staff's only real objections were the loss of the requirement for national pay and conditions and it being part of the privatising of state education agenda. He did not state that the prime concern of staff is the long-term harm this would do to the education of Kingsbury pupils.

·     Unions were accused of scaremongering about the potential loss of pay and conditions.

·     Statements were made about long-term financial gains to the school ('for the life of this Government') on the basis of no supporting evidence.

·      The main and longest speakers at the meeting were the Headteacher (in favour), a so-called 'neutral' advisor (clearly in favour), 'Associate members' of the Governing Body, (members of the Senior Leadership Team - in favour). All of these people are paid by the school. It is not in the spirit of good governance to have non-volunteers with such influence on such important decisions. Those who asked in advance of the meeting to speak against were told 'no'.

We believe a good Headteacher:

·     Would not ignore the views of the overwhelming majority of their staff.

·     Would have properly and democratically established parent's views (as he did teachers) before pressing ahead.

·     Would not have concealed from Governors that the school had received formal notification for a ballot for strike action if the Governors went ahead at this time.

The situation is now becoming ludicrous. How can any school be considered normal, consultative and democratic where a small group of individuals propose such significant changes, without the support of any of their stakeholders?

The literally thousands of staff, parents and pupils who ARE the school

All pretences of consultation and democracy have now been exposed as the sham they clearly always were. For the Headteacher to expect any member of staff to accept his 'guarantees' on pay and conditions when he has acted so dishonourably on this matter would be absurd.

In light of Mr Waxman's behaviour we suspect that he may also:

·        Like Claremont, seek to bring forward the date for conversion despite promises to the contrary.
·        Seek to rush and manipulate the parental ballot (if one occurs at all).

• Not have any proper and democratic consultative process with pupils

Despite this, we believe, Kingsbury WILL NOT become an Academy. It will  be too difficult to resist staff opposition, industrial action and united parental and pupil opposition.

To press ahead with all their stakeholders clearly and overwhelmingly against would turn Kingsbury into a cause celebre for all those who hold democratic values.  It would be unprecedented – not just in Brent but nationally. To risk this would be a step too far for a Head or Governor who values their reputation in the school and community.

The democratically untenable position of the Head and Governors cannot be sustained. Together we will ensure democratic values prevail.

An e-mail sent by a Kingsbury High School parent to other parents supported the teachers:

As parents we need to strongly support the staff in this, they are the ones who so ably provide our children’s education. The final step towards conversion would happen around October so we need to step up our campaign between now and then to stop this.

The governors have decided to take action that they know a majority of stakeholders are against. Please use the time now to talk to other parents before the public meeting (planned for Autumn term). We can stop the school from going down this reckless path, but to do so parents, staff, pupils and others all need to work together.

Ha

How many butterflies can we find in Brent?

The Big Butterfly Count starts this weekend and you only need to find a sunny 15 minutes to take part.Numbers of butterflies and day flying moths are a good indicator of the health of our environment and can be an early indicator of problems.

The website includes a downloadable identification chart as well as easy ways to record your observations. There is still time for schools to take part in the last week of term. The Count will finish on July 31st.

LINK

Air pollution - the stealthy killer

Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for South East England will today launch a report about air pollution and its health impacts. Each year in the UK air pollution causes 29,000 deaths and contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths, yet public awareness of this killer is very low. Keith Taylor aims to raise awareness of the issues with his new report, ‘Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer’. The report asserts that air pollution is creating an invisible public health crisis which is not being addressed by the UK government.

Dirty air has a greater health impact than many high profile public health issues, such as passive smoking and obesity, yet unlike the smog of the 1950s it is an invisible killer. Long term exposure to air pollution is associated with heart and lung disease. The report includes recent research from California which has shown that children growing up near motorways can suffer permanently reduced lung capacity. This is an extremely worrying finding which highlights the desperate need for more research into the health effects of air pollution. Government figures show that the health costs of just one pollutant, PM2.5, are already £15 billion each year.

The UK government is currently failing to implement legally binding EU levels on air quality. In 2009 the EU started legal action against the UK for breaching safe levels of pollutants, but the government has now been granted more time to meet the EU’s deadline. If the UK doesn’t comply with safe levels the government risks being fined up to £3000.

The UK government is currently preparing to report on Nitrogen Dioxide levels to the European Commission in September and has indicated that it is likely that safe levels will not be achieved in many areas. ‘Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer’ contains a map which shows that air pollution is widespread across London and South East England. Many local authorities in the region have declared that they are likely to exceed the required EU safe levels for pollutants. Keith believes that this inertia on such an important health issue is unacceptable.

Up to 70% of air pollution in urban areas is from road transport. Keith’s air pollution campaign is calling for national government to provide adequate funding to local authorities to invest in public transport, promoting walking and cycling and introduce public information systems to alert people to air pollution.

Keith said: “The right to breathe clean air is fundamental. Yet thousands of lives in the South East are being shortened because air is heavily polluted in many places, mostly by traffic. Government data shows that air pollution contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths every year in the UK. This is an invisible public health crisis which urgently needs to be tackled. ”

“This is a widespread problem which is getting worse. The UK government has recently admitted that they will not meet the required EU limits for Nitrogen Dioxide and must now explain this sorry state of affairs to the European Commission. The EU air quality standards have been put in place and agreed on by Member States, including the UK, because they set safe limits for the air we breathe. I am putting pressure on the European Commission to make sure that they do not allow the UK government to shirk its responsibility. The Commission must take urgent action to address air pollution and its harmful effects in areas where the UK is breaching, or likely to breach, EU limits.”

Kingsbury High Governors vote for academy conversion despite massive staff opposition

Kingsbury High School governors decided last night to seek academy status by 15 votes to 3 despite being given the result of the staff ballot which showed 84.5% of staff were opposed to the move.  The three unions in the school will call a public meeting about the decision in September and have already notified the school that they will be balloting for strike action.