Brent: Managerialism versus Democratic Accountability

Brent as seen by the Independent, 25th October 1986

A Labour councillor greeted me at the Green Fair on Saturday by asking if I was taking a "break from having a go at the Council", before reminding me that the Green Fair was funded by Ward  Working. I can see how councillors may feel under siege at the moment with their library closures under attack from local people, the national media and the government. This blog is small fry compared with all that but the remark does imply that the Council is not being given credit where it is due.  The reasons behind this negativity deserve some consideration.

Three interconnected factors serve to remove the council from true accountability. Firstly the cabinet system of government leaves the majority of councillors, both from the ruling group and from the opposition, relatively powerless. The Executive makes the real decisions and full council meetings, because of Labour's big majority, merely rubber stamp decisions. Cllr Ann John, Brent's own 'Iron Lady' keeps a firm grip on any dissent within the Labour group.  Overview and Scrutiny Committees are ineffective and used mainly for grandstanding by the opposition rather than meticulous scrutiny and informed debate. The Willesden and Brent Times this weeks highlights poor attendance at council meetings by Councillors Simon Green (Lib Dem), Hayley Matthews (Lib Dem), Chris Leaman (Lib Dem) and Bhiku Patel (Conservative). Matthews is particularly criticised for not attending three children and young people overview and scrutiny committee meetings since last December.  The WBT editorial argued that it has been residents who voted for these councillors who have ended up doing the councillor's work, airing concerns about controversial decisions at council meetings. The real decision making often occurs outside public scrutiny at pre-meetings and Labour group meetings.

Secondly since the mid-80s when a Labour led Brent Council was pilloried by the national media, led by the Daily Mail, Labour has shied away from overtly political leadership. Instead, influenced by New Labour, the approach has been managerial. The council's role is to manage services and resources efficiently. This sounds sensible but leads to the situation where Labour has implemented the government imposed cuts, arguing it is their duty to 'balance the budget' rather than mount a political campaign against the cuts  of the kind advocated by Labour Party member and former councillor, Graham Durham, in a letter to the WBT this week.

This managerialism contributes to the third factor which is the blurring of distinctions between councillors and council officers, particularly at the senior level.After the inconclusive borough elections in 2006 there was a long period when the political parties could not agree a coalition and instead the officers under the leadership of Gareth Daniel ran the council. This inevitably increased the power of the officers and they were further strengthened because subsequently they were dealing with what was at the time a very inexperienced group of Liberal Democrat councillors. At council meetings currently it often feels that councillor's are representing officer reports rather than putting forward a political case for particular policies. Activists in campaigns such as the libraries, often see the officers as targets as much as the councillors, and at area forums officers often have to come to the aid of the councillor chairs.  Recent moves by the council to delegate more decision making to officers on Regeneration and Major Projects, Planning and the Waste Strategy reinforces the trend.

All these factors serve erect a barrier between the council and residents with decision making increasingly opaque. The controversy around consultation is an example where the council sees it as merely explaining their decisions to local people and activists seeing it as a opportunity to change decisions. The managerial approach implies that managers make the decisions and impose them on those below. Unless a manager has a particularly collegiate philosophy they tend to resent opposition from below and see it as illegitimate. That appears to be behind the council's resentment at criticism from within their own ranks, from opposition parties, from local activists, and from the local media.

The ability to make these criticisms is essential to local democracy and we must all continue to hold the council to account.

Question your political representatives on green issues tomorrow

As well as all the fun of the stalls, Brent Green Fair tomorrow will offer you the chance to listen to what your political representatives have to say on green issues and ask them questions. Sarah Teather MP (Liberal Democrat, Brent Central) will speak at 1pm, followed by Barry Gardiner MP (Labour, Brent North) who will speak about the Energy Bill at 2pm. They will be followed by three local councillors at 3pm who want to hear your ideas about making Brent greener.

Make your voices heard on NHS - Consortium details here

Following the Save Brent NHS Meeting last week there has been interest in the consortia that have been set up in Brent and concern that they were already well on the way to commissioning services. It was suggested that the public concerned about changes in the NHS should contact their consortium to ask for a public meeting on the health reforms or to put their views forward. The Brent consortia have been granted 'pathfinder' status and the Wembley Consortium states that it will be" live on patient commissioning" by April 2013. This is a list of the consortia, all part of the Brent GP Federation, the surgeries that they include and contact details:

Harness GP Cooperative 10 Kingfisher Way, NW10 8TF lindsey.welsh@nhs.net
Church End Medical Centre, Acton Lane Surgery, Freuchen Medical Practice, Buckingham Road Surgery, Park Road Surgery, Brentfield Medical Centre, Oxgate Gardens Surgery, Stonebridge Surgery, Aksyr Medical Practice, Hilltop Surgery, Church Lane Surgery, Harrow Road Surgery, Chaplin Road Surgery, Harness Wembley Practice, Wembley Park Drive
Wembley Consortium1b Wyld Way, Wembley, HA9 6PW  ashwin.patel@nhs.net   jahan@nhs.net
Hazeldene Medical centre, The Surgery, The Beechcroft Medical centre, Kenton Medical Centre, Alperton Medical centre, The Sunflower Medical Centre, Lanfranc Medical Centre, Sudbury and Alperton Medical Centre, Premier Medical Centre, Sudbury Court Surgery, Preston Medical Centre, The Eagle Eye Surgery, Lancelot Medical Centre, Stanley Corner Medical Centre, SMS Medical Practice
Willesden Consortia no postal address given edward.coker@nhs.net
Burnley Practice, Crest Medical centre, Gladstone Medical Centre, Greenhill Park Medical Centre, Neasden Medical Centre, Roundwood Park Medical Centre, St Andrew's Medical Centre, St George's Medical Centre, Village Medical Centre, Willesden Medical Centre, Walm Lane Medical Centre
Kilburn Primary Care Cooperative Ltd 51 Staverton Road, NW2 5HA jenny.poole@nhs.net
Law Medical Group, Staverton Surgery, Willesden Green Surgery, Chamberlayne Surgery, Peel Precinct, Chichele Road Surgery, Sheldon Surgery, Blessing Medical Centre, Park House Medical Centre, Kilburn Park Medical Centre, Lever Medical Centre, Windmill Practice
Kingsbury 245 Stag Lane, London, NW9 0EF natasha.harnett@nhs.net
Forty Willows Surgery, Uxendon Crescent Surgery, Willow tree Family Doctors, Stag-Holly Road Practice, Ellis Practice, Chalkhill Family Practice, Fryent Way Surgery, Brampton Health Centre, Stag Lane Medical Centre, Preston Road Surgery, Primary Care Medical Centre, Girton Practice, Tudor House Medical Centre, Kings Edge Medical Centre, Fryent Medical Centre

Carbon Budget Deal "Flawed" says Lucas

Responding to the Energy and Climate Change Secretary's announcement that the Government has agreed a deal to set the fourth carbon budget, committing the UK to a 50 per cent cut in greenhouse gases - compared with 1990 levels - by 2025, Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, said:

After weeks of dramatic politicking and bitter Cabinet clashes, I welcome this deal on the fourth carbon budget, setting the UK's long term climate targets in line with the recommendations of the independent Committee on Climate Change.

But the fact that this budget, which ironically will cost the Government nothing during this Parliamentary term, was ever in danger hints at the ferocity of anti-green resistance within the Coalition - especially in the Treasury, making a mockery of George Osborne's pre-general election claim that it would, under his Chancellorship, be "a green ally, not a foe".

Furthermore, this deal is seriously flawed thanks to the Government's failure to heed CCC advice on three crucial points. First, it has refused to toughen up the existing targets for 2013-2023, making the fourth budget harder and more costly to achieve.

Second, officials have slipped in a concessionary review clause which will allow the Government to backtrack on the fourth carbon budget in 2014 - reducing long term certainty on emissions reductions and potentially harming investor confidence in green technologies.

And finally, on the crucial issue of how we now meet the targets, the Government has shunned the CCC's recommendation that the budget should be met through domestic action alone. Allowing the use of trading mechanisms such as offsetting essentially means outsourcing our emission reduction responsibilities to other countries - thereby weakening the drive to achieve more green technologies and industries, with all the jobs those can bring, here in the UK.

A deepening unease

Village of the Damned (1957) adapted from John Wyndam's novel Midwich Cuckoos

We are all familiar with the science fiction technique of starting with apparent normality and then the developing sense of disquiet as it becomes apparent from small clues that things are far from normal.

I am finding that more and more people have that sense of unease about climate change. This Spring has felt rather like the beginning of a science fiction film with things gradually getter stranger: a hot spell in early Spring, the driest Spring on record and the absence of April showers in the south, cracked and fissured London clay out in the fields of Fryent Country Park and abnormally early flowering and fruiting of plants.

We associate English strawberries with Wimbledon which starts this year on June 20th and runs until the first week of July but strawberries are already ripening on my allotment in Birchen Grove, Kingsbury. Self-seeded tomatoes sprung up in my unheated greenhouse about three weeks ago and courgette plants started  flowering in outside beds a week ago.   Sweetcorn plants are flourishing at a time when we are usually only just thinking about putting them outside under fleece.

Corn and courgette plants at Birchen Grove allotment last week

I am well aware of the difference between weather and climate and that all this might be a one-off but the long term trend has been warmer so that as a gardener I am now able to grow tender plants such as chillies and aubergine outside with some success in most summers. Last year's cold Spring seems to be an exception to the overall trend (see Note). It appears that Spring 2011 may ell be over before the BBC's Springwatch is aired.

All this may seem moderately interesting but hardly world shattering. However I think it opens up a way of discussing climate change which isn't so extreme and apocalyptic that people run away and hide under the bedclothes. That sense of disquiet is something that a lot of people have felt but not voiced. Talking about it can start a dialogue leading to a deeper understanding and a recognition that action has to be taken.

Note:
The Woodland Trust publishes information on the latest UK Phenology surveys.  The findings suggest that by  2005 Spring was 11 days earlier for 80% of Spring events than it was in 1976 and that the trend has been accelerating in the last decades.
You can take part in monitoring Spring and Autumn events by registering at the website HERE

Kill the Bill!

Green Party activists joined the NHS demonstration at University College Hospital last night and there was a good turnout from Brent Fightback supporters.  The pressure is now really on the government with Nick Clegg wavering and the profiteering motives behind the Bill exposed..  The message from trades unionists, health workers and patients' groups is clear - a few minor revisions to the Bill is not enough. It must be completely withdrawn.

The Brent News Company TV report on the Brent Fightback Meeting on the NHS which took place last week in now available on their website HERE

The Big Crunch on Climate Targets

As the government's position on climate change targets remained confused after differing reports over the weekend, protesters gathered outsiide Lib Dem Head Quarters at 8am this morning to deliver the following letter to Nick Clegg:

We in the Campaign against Climate Change organised a demonstration outside your party headquarters on hearing the news that there could be a risk that recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change might not be accepted. We are still dismayed at the position reportedly taken by Vince Cable on this issue.

However we are relieved to hear that the government has now decided to accept the recommendations of the independent committee for the 2023-27 carbon budget – because to allow short term economic considerations to take precedence over the Committee’s recommendations at this stage, would have set a precedent that could have effectively undermined the whole of the UK’s emissions reduction program.

Nevertheless we feel it will be a big mistake to disregard or delay acceptance of the Committee’s recommendation for a cut of 60% by 2030 (we would say at least) and even more important the recommendation to tighten up the nearer term targets (2013 to 2023) because above all we need strong action as soon as possible.

Further to that we would like to take this opportunity to warn you that the recommendations of the Committee are still in themselves insufficient, and to demand yet more robust action on climate. We appreciate how difficult this is to achieve politically but we believe there can be nothing more compelling than the spectre of a climate catastrophe that could kill billions. Our reasons for believing that the recommendations of the Committee are inadequate include three main considerations.

First, the recommendations include an increase in agro-fuels – that is biofuels produced through intensive agriculture. Already the increased demand for agrofuels is boosting the rate of deforestation and destructive land use change in Indonesia, South America and other places. In climate change terms we believe the increase in use of agrofuels will do substantially more harm than good. So called sustainability criteria are ineffective and probably unworkable on the real world.

Second, the Committee do not take into account the UK emissions that have effectively been outsourced to countries like China as they feed our increased demand for consumer goods.

Third, the targets enshrined in the Climate Act are now themselves, inadequate in the light of the latest climate science and represent un an acceptable level of risk. There is a good chance they would be insufficient to prevent a catastrophic destabilisation of global climate that would be devastating for human populations around the world, especially, and most immediately, the poorest and most vulnerable. This is the clear implication of those at the sharp end of climate change research like Professor Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre who suggests that we should be aiming at something more like a 10% cut in emissions per year1, or Doctor James Hansen who heads NASA’s research effort on climate change and who says that two degrees of warming represents too great a risk.

We could add to that a fourth, namely that the international situation around the climate negotiations currently looks bleak, so that there is an even greater need to set a conspicuously bold example to break the deadlock and move things forward.

We therefore believe that the quite unprecedented situation that we find ourselves in amounts to a global emergency and requires a quantum leap in the scale of our response, over and above what the Committee on Climate change are currently recommending. The Campaign against Climate Change, for instance, are calling for an end to agro-fuel use, ten per cent cuts in emissions per year and a more or less fully decarbonised economy in a “Zero Carbon Britain” by 2030.

To do any less is still to court disaster.

NHS is for public service - not private profit

 About 60 people attended Thursday's Save the NHS meeting at Willesden Green library and many were genuinely shocked when they heard about the proposed changes and their repercussions.

Dr Ishani Salpadoula from the Kilburn Park Medical Centre tol for which they are financially rewarded. They had been organised in clusters for three years with the aim of improving performance by working together and improvements had resulted. She said that GPs were therefore some way along the government's route already but this was because GPs were 'practical people' - they were not committed to privatisation.  She said, 'GPs are not bad guys, but they are not politicised'. Although the government emphasises 'choice' the public are not being given what they asked for. Patients want their own GP who will see them in timely fashion.

Dr Ishani said that if the changes were pushed through fragmentation through privatisation and external  proviers will result and 60 years of networking between hospitals, mental health, district nurses etc would suddenly change. Patients and GPs would find themselves dealing with agencies and communication would be difficult and the system much more complicated for patients.

She said there was nothing GPs could do without having the patients behind them. She urged the audience to see their GPs and tell them what they want - including accessibility and familiarity.

In discussion one member of the audience said that what he wanted was for GPs not to be taking part in the commissioning meetings at all but to be challenging the changes GPs were trained in medicine and that is what he wanted them to do - not run businesses. Dr Ishani said that surgeries should be holding meetings with patients to ascertain their views but there was no way one GP could contact 7,000 people on his or her books. Meetings tended to be advertised in surgeries and the information only seen by 'active' patients. There were suggestions from the audience for public meetings in the cluster areas for all patients. One speaker said that there was little democratic control over the NHS already but the proposals would make things even worse and the new system was utterly opaque. There was general agreement that residents should go to their GPs and find out what consultation was planned and ensure their voices are heard.

The meeting heard that a private company was already doing triage at Central Middlesex A and E and there was potential for hiving off services such as physiotherapy, speech therapy and mental health services at the beginning of the process. One speaker emphasised that the role of health professional was vital - if professional don't cooperate the new system won't work.

Navin Shah, Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow told the meeting about his attempts to raise the issue in the GLA, He said PCTs had their problems but they were better than non-accountable private quangos. . He'd  had no response to his questions about local monitoring and auditing. A multi-disciplinary London Improvement Board would be set up and 3% of the London government grant will go to that body. Shah said he though that body should be government funded - not reduce local money available to health. He went on to say the if the reforms don't work health inequalities would increase. 

Jim Fagan from Keep Our NHS Public said it was  important  to fight the reforms in London: 'If they pacify London they've got the NHS'.

Much more was said than I can report. Videos of  the speakers and the contributors are available on Brent Greens' blog HERE

Those attending the meeting and readers of this blog are urged to join the March to Save the NHS assemble 5.30pm Thursday 17th May at University College Hospital, Gower Street WC1 (Euston, Warren Street, Euston Square tubes) to march on the Department of Health in Whitehall. Health workers should wear their uniforms.