Butt: First priority is maintaining budget integrity and making savings

In his report on administration priorities for the November 19th Full Council meeting, Council Leader Muhammed Butt outlines the pressures on the council and the likelihood that cuts in public expenditure will continue up to 2020, and concludes:

The Council therefore has a twin challenge. First to reorder its priorities to further provide individuals and communities with support in the face of these problems and secondly to make more cuts in expenditure whilst avoiding what the Local Government Association term the ‘Graph of Doom’. This Graph of Doom concept is a projection that if both cuts to public expenditure and demand for services remain on the same trend then by 2020 Local Government will end up only delivering waste and high end social care services. 

To achieve these two goals we are therefore proposing a package of proposals to address some of the immediate issues facing people. At the same time we are beginning a fundamental review of all the Council’s services. We must divert people from high end provision by supporting as many people as possible to live independent, fulfilling lives. It is only by fundamentally recasting what we do that we can serve the needs of local people.

However, these aspiration have to be seen in what he deems the first priority:

The first priority must remain protecting the integrity of the Budget and making savings.

He says that the One Council programme will deliver £80m savings by the end of the spending review period  but because of the pressures Members need to consider further project areas. The 'Members' may need help with translating the next section of his report:

However, as fundamental change is the only way to achieve genuine savings, long 'lead in times' will be necessary to reflect the growing complexity of cross council, and complexity of cross-partnerships, change and early indications form Members of avenues to follow will be vital.

Butt says that the Executive has set for itself 'three key and critical policy outcomes' for the next three years:

1. To promote fairness
2, To strengthen our community and
3, To support growth in the local economy

The question is whether those can be maintained given the funding gap that has to be bridged and whether   a more radical strategy is needed to avoid the 'Graph of Doom',  including setting a 'needs based' budget and mobilising against the Coalition's attack on local government.

The public are unlikely to have much information on the detail and extent of Brent Council cuts until early 2013 now due to slippage in the timetable.

Confirmation of central government funding for local councils will not be known until mid-December and the London Mayor will submit his draft budget on December 17th. Consultation with 'resients, businesses, voluntary sector, partner agencies and trade unions' on the Brent budget propoals is scheduled to take place 'up to Januaruary'.  The Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee  will discuss the evidence collected and the 1st interim report on January 15th and the General Purposes Committee will agree the Council Tax and Business Rate bases on January 22nd.

The detailed  budget proposals will not be discussed by the Budget and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee until February 5th and just a week later, on February 11th,  the Executive  will consider the final proposals, including fees and charges for 2013-14 and cuts in the housing budget as well as rent increases.

The timetable means that public  'consultation' will take place over a very short period and that over the busy Christmas period.

Never mind the polar bears, what will WE eat?

A meeting on the rapidly melting Arctic ice cap and implications for Brent residents will be taking place at the Pakistan Community Centre in Willesden Green on Wednesday 21^st November.

 

The purpose of the meeting is to brief councillors, policy-makers, trade unionists, and community leaders on the seriousness of the situation and its possible consequences for people in Brent. The meeting, ‘Never Mind the Polar Bears, What Will We Eat?’, is being organised by Brent Campaign against Climate Change and Brent Friends of the Earth.

 

The speakers will be: Phil Thornhill, National Co-ordinator of Campaign against Climate Change, who will review the latest scientific evidence of the depletion of Arctic ice and its possible effect on the world’s weather systems; and Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Campaigner in  Land Use, Food and Water Security from Friends of the Earth, who will talk about the vulnerability of the world’s food supply.  They will also answer questions and open a discussion on what further action we should be taking in Brent.  The meeting is being chaired by Tariq Dar, Chairman of the Pakistan Community Centre.

 

Recent reports show that 70% of Arctic sea ice has melted since 1980 [1] and that there will be no Arctic sea ice in the summer months by 2016. This is likely to have a serious impact on world weather patterns, affecting the price of food internationally and increasing the vulnerability of regions of the world already prone to droughts and floods. Some of these regions will be those in which members of the Brent community have family and friends.

 

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says:

The melting of the Arctic is a wake-up call to all of us about the urgency of tackling climate change while we still can. This meeting will present the latest scientific information and discuss how it will affect us here in Brent and the people we may know in other parts of the world. We believe that the seriousness of the situation means that we have to assist Brent Council to develop a community response, both in terms of measures we can take locally, and by raising our concerns with our representatives in Parliament.

Lia Colacicco, Co-ordinator of Brent Friends of the Earth, and member of Brent Climate Change Steering Group, says:

People may know the ice caps are melting, but believe that if it’s so serious then surely somebody else must be taking care of it. But Governments worldwide don’t think beyond the next election, so no one IS planning for the immense repercussions of drought, flooding and food shortages we face in future years. I hope that this meeting will galvanise Brent residents and councillors to put pressure on those in power.

 

It’s like the Butterfly Effect.  Melting ice affects the Gulf Stream which brings warmth to the UK - and we all saw how our Jet Stream got stuck this summer bringing weeks of rain.  The price of apples and pears has already increased due to the resulting shortage – my pear tree produced a tenth of its usual harvest.

The meeting will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday 21^st November at the Pakistan Community Centre, Marley Walk, Station Parade, Willesden Green, NW2 4PU (just behind Willesden Green tube station).  This is a free event and all are welcome.

 

South Kilburn residents exposed to demolition risk

I had a look around South Kilburn Estate earlier this week with a resident. The estate is being regenerated which means demolition of tower blocks and their replacement by  low rise high density blocks and a consequent loss of some of the estate's green spaces.

What concerned me most was what  appeared to be little thought on the part of the developers of the health risk posed to developers by the demolition of the Wells Court tower block.

The well used Coventry Close link between Kilburn High Road and the estate was covered in a thick layer of dust from the demolition.  There was no safety netting up to stop debris landing on the roadway or hitting pedestrians, On the other, posher,  Cambridge Avenue, side of  Wells Court, there was a 6 foot hoarding up and a much higher mesh netting fence on the north side of the Avenue.

With Health and Safety under attack from the Daily Mail and its Tory allies this is a clear example of the importance of health and safety and the need for local authorities to enforce the rules. This development, funded by Brent Council, is clearly their responsibility and they need to take swift action to ensure residents' safety.

At the very least safety  fencing and regular washing down of dust covered surfaces should be measures required of the contractors by the Council.

Clive Heaphy leaves Brent Council voluntarily after gross misconduct allegations withdrawn

Clive Heaphy, former Brent Director of Finance, has written to me to draw my attention to the fact that he is no longer suspended. I am happy to put the record straight.

Brent Council has issued the following statement:

The Council wishes to announce that the allegations of gross misconduct against its Director of Finance and Corporate Service, Clive Heaphy, have been withdrawn.

Mr Heaphy has decided, however, to voluntarily leave the Council's employment to pursue other career opportunities.

 

Powney opposes Harlesden waste plant

Cllr James Powney has blogged his opposition to the Harlesden Waste Plant LINK on grounds very similar to those submitted by Brent planning officers to Ealing Council:

Having gone into more detail on the proposed waste plant to the south of Harlesden, I have now written to Ealing Planners objecting to the plans.  The objections that I consider valid on planning grounds are:

1) the proposal ignores zoning of waste activities outlined in the West London Waste Plan
2) the proposal claims reduced vehicle movements, but this is very implausible, and Harlesden Town Centre suffers from this to an extreme in any case
3) there are significant odour pollution issues that are not clearly deat with
4) there are also noise pollution issues yet to be addressed
5) air quality is likely to suffer.

I encourage all other  Kensal Green and Harlesden residents to object.  The Ealing officer responsible is Peter Lee at leeP@ealing.gov.uk.

Labour councillors attack out-sourcing and call for in-house services

No, not Brent Laboiur councillors I'm afraid but there colleagues in Barnet at an Extraordinary Council Meeting last night in a lively debate on a No Confidence motion tabled by the Labour opposition regarding the Council's  One Barnet  programme that will see 70% of services out-sourced.

One after another Labour councillors made the case against out-sourcing and privatisation. They pointed to the inadequacy of private providers, the dangers of bankruptcy that had already hit some providers and therefore the uselessness of 'guarantees' provided by such companies, the use of Council Tax to fund private profit,  the concealment of financial details of deals and the lack of direct democratic accountability via councillors when services are out-sourced. They pointed to the decision to move waste management 'in-house with a stretch' as an example of the right way to go.

Tory Leader Richard Cornelius, who replaced the suspended Brian Coleman, defended the policy and pointed out the number of Labour boroughs, including Brent, who were also out-sourcing.

Despite the absence of some Tory councillors the No Confidence vote was lost, but the arguments in the motion deserve consideration elsewhere:

‘No confidence’ in Barnet’s Conservative Leader and Cabinet

Council believes that this Conservative administration has completely lost its way over the One Barnet Programme.

Council believes the process to outsource 70% of council services in two large contracts under One Barnet has been dogged by a lack of transparency. Scrutiny of One Barnet by elected councillors has been severely compromised by the administration scrapping the dedicated One Barnet Scrutiny Panel, and by preventing administration and opposition councillors outside the Cabinet from having sufficient time to scrutinise detailed financial information for the project – information which has been presented to elected members on blue exempt papers at the beginning of committee meetings, and then taken away at the end of the agenda item. 

Council notes that the One Barnet Programme has so far not made any net savings, and that we are now in the third year of the programme. In fact the One Barnet Programme has actually incurred a net cost for the Council of at least £663,000.

Council further notes that the Leader and Deputy Leader seem to disagree over the appropriateness of the preferred model for the Development and Regulatory Services contract – Joint Venture – and that therefore the project seems to be in complete disarray.

Given the level of risk involved in the procurement of these two enormous One Barnet contracts, NSCSO and DRS, and the gambling of £1 billion of council tax payers’ money that is involved, Council resolves that the Executive Leader be removed from office and that a vote be taken on electing a new Leader who can propose a new way forward for Barnet Council and appoint a new Cabinet.

It was interesting to see an Opposition group instigating a passionate and informed debate, something that is missing in Brent with the Lib Dems often caught out on not doing their homework and lying low as they delay two by-election,   waiting for more popular times. The Tories are of course invisible for months at a time. It is too often left to community groups and campaigns to provide the real opposition.

First public discussion of Brent's 2013-14 budget on November 15th

Brent Council  will be holding its first reading debate for the 2013/14 budget at its  meeting on 19th November 2012.

The Deputy Director of Finance will set out the budget and finance issues that will form the background to the debate at the Budget and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday November 15th 7.30pm at Brent Town Hall. This will give residents some idea of the extent of cuts to be expected in the budget and whether a rise in Council Tax is on the cards. The impact of changes in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and the rise in demand for Adult Social Care are likely to be major issues.

Muhammed Butt, Brent Council leader and Ruth Moher, Lead Member for Finance and Corporate Resources will attend the meeting to answer questions from Members

The meeting is open to the public and there is space on the agenda for delegations to be heard.

Contact: Lisa Weaver, Democratic Services Officer  020 8937 1358, Email: lisa.weaver@brent.gov.uk

LINK: http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=1794&x=1&