Calling all Brent cyclists - meet Jenny Jones and tell her about local issues

Jenny Jones, Green Party candidate for the London mayoral elections,  will be coming to Brent on Friday to meet cyclists and investigate with them how cycling could be improved.

Her visit will start at Wembley Park station at 10am on Friday August 19th where anyone interested should come and meet her. She will then be able to cycle to any spots in the borough which give cyclists particular difficulties.

Could everybody who decides to come respond to Collette.Bird@london.gov.uk with their telephone number in case of any emergencies or delays.

Brent Council seeks views on tackling child poverty

The high number of children in  most deprived wards

Click image to enlarge

Brent Council yesterday launched a consultation on its draft child poverty strategy. The Government requires each local authority to have such a strategy in place in 2011. The Council is keen to have feedback on any gaps in  the information they provide which will enable them to refine the final strategy. The consultation is aimed at council staff, community groups and young people.

Some key facts:

• Brent has become more deprived. It was the 35th most deprived borough in 2010 compared with 53rd previously.
• The highest rates of child poverty are in Stonebridge ward, Harlesden and South Kilburn. There are pockets of deprivation in other parts of the borough including in the south of Welsh Harp ward which was not deemed as deprived four years ago.
• Overall there  are up to 23,000 children (34.1%) in Brent living in poverty according the the Child Wellbeing Index.
• The numbers of children eligible for Free School Meals is a good indicator of poverty. The national average is 15.9% but Stonebridge 44.2%, Harlesden 38.7%, Dollis Hill 33.4%, Kilburn 33.2%, Dudden Hill 31% were much higher compared with Kenton at 11.6%.
• 72% of homeless cases have children or are pregnant. (This is likely to get worse when the housing benefit cap is fully implemented early next year). There has been a recent increase in the number of young Somali people who are homeless.
• There is lower educational attainment in early years and schools compared with London and national averages and lower attainment evident in some Black African and African Caribbean children.
• The highest number of lone parents is highest in Harlesden (570) and Stonebridge (560) compared with 95 in Northwick Park and 60 in Kenton
• Unemployment is highest in the most deprived areas with a Brent average of 9.3% compared with 8.7% in London and 7.7% nationally
• 7.6% of Jobseekers Allowance claimants are 18-24 years old compared with 6.7% in London and 6.9% nationally
• The Tellus Survey showed that lack of aspiration and fears about future prospects including jobs, further education and money are concerns amongst most young people and parents.

The consultation report says that Brent Council is responding to this situation by:

• Completing a child poverty needs assessment
• Drafting a strategy
• Consulting on the strategy

The Council gives its child poverty vision as:

For no children or young people to be disadvantaged by poverty by 2021 in Brent. Over the next decade we will ensure that each child has the best possible start in life and not be disadvantaged by family circumstance or background by breaking the cycle of deprivation

The problem is of course in achieving this vision against the back of Coalition policies whose overall impact, despite innovations such as the pupil premium, are increasing child poverty through reducing benefits, the housing benefit cap, and reducing the number of public sector jobs. The Council's own scope for initiative is clearly limited by the cuts in local authority funding and some of the cuts and higher charges they have made as a result will also impact on families and educational provision.

Faced with the statistics and the reality of  Coalition policies the objectives outlined in the consultation document  seem well-meaning but lacking in establishing a clear, practical policy direction. 'But how?' keeps coming into your mind:

Our objectives for 2021

1. To provide a safe and secure environment where all children are respected and cared for so that they grow into successful and responsible people.

2. To ensure all children have a happy life and life style to be able to progress and thrive.

3. To provide children with the best possible education in an environment where they can thrive; socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.  

4. To ensure all children are happy, confident and ambitious capable to aim high and achieve what ever they aspire to.

The officers concerned hope that by establishing an over-arching framework they will enable different Council departments to produce more detailed plans. The consultation will be longer than usual and will involve 15 face to face meetings with various stakeholders covering the full range of provision.

The diagram below shows the framework:

Click on image to enlarge

The consultation itself is qualitative and asks open-ended questions including What are the causes of poverty? and In a ideal world what actions could be take to a. prevent children from living in poverty and b. deal with those who are already in poverty? There are 13 questions in all so whoever writes this up will have an enormous job to do as some of the questions invite mini-essays in response!

The consultation website is HERE and a PDF of the consultation document is HERE
The consultation closes on September 26th and comments should be sent to andrea.lagos@brent.gov.uk

Daily Mail Rules Dave

David Cameron today: "Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline.* Reward without effort. Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged - sometimes even incentivised - by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally de-moralised."

Gang members possibly should, Duncan Smith suggested, receive a knock on the door once a day from the police and arms of government such as the TV licensing offices, tax authorities and DVLA.

Children out late at night would be offered places at newly created young offenders' academies to "take the anger out of their lives".

From today's Guardian LINK 

So the Daily Mail is  running the UK now that Murdoch is in the dog house. Melanie Phillips for Home Secretary? We can't create jobs for youth but we can create jobs to control them. 'Offenders' Academies'- brilliant! I did research back in the 80s into Units for Disruptive Children where all the disruptive kids in an area were gathered in one institution. They learnt brilliant new ways of being disruptive from each other in a competitive environment and some ended up being expelled before they all burnt the place down.

"Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences."......Bankers?

* "Government without brains"?

Making Brent A Dirty and Dangerous Borough

Brent Fightback supporters demonstrated on Kilburn High Road on Saturday morning against Brent Council's proposed cuts in street cleansing and school crossing patrols.

Most residential streets will now be only swept once a week, compared with three times under the previous administration which vowed to make Brent  'a cleaner borough'. The seasonal leaf service will be stopped with even Labour councillors warning of accidents when elderly residents slip on wet, decomposing leaves. Local solicitors should open their files now ready for a rush of custom in October when the cuts are implemented and the leaves (and the elderly) fall.

The Labour council are still reviewing school crossing patrols but intend to cut them forcing schools which want to ensure that their children are safe to pay for the crossing patrols themselves. This is a departure from the basic understanding that road safety is a responsibility of the whole community and provided through that community's local council which residents  fund.

I was just going to add as a joke that perhaps local businesses will start sponsoring lollipop patrols with their logo on the back of high visibility coats - then realised that this Council will probably leap on the idea. Or perhaps we'll end up with 'pay as you cross' with the kids thrusting 10p into the hand of the crossing patrol officer to see them across the busy roads with the ones unable to afford it having to cross at their own risk!

Protecting the vulnerable?

The full report on the street cleansing cuts can be found HERE

Riots: The danger of growing inequality mixing with a culture which puts consumerism above citizenship.- Caroline Lucas

As I posted Barry Gardiner's comments on the disturbances earlier it is only fair that I report what Caroline Lucas, the only Green MP, said in the same debate on August 11th:

We reject and condemn the horrendous violence, arson and looting that we have seen on the streets of Britain. But we must seek to understand why this happened to prevent it being repeated. If we stop at denunciations and crackdowns, nothing will be learned about why sections of our own population feel they can riot, loot and treat their neighbours and communities so appallingly.

The bigger picture has to be considered. Britain is deeply unequal. Last year, London's richest people were worth 273 times more than its poorest. Given the growing evidence, from Scarman onwards, that increasing inequality had a role to play in at least some of the rioting, the government must commit to an impact assessment of any further policies to establish if they will increase inequality.


If individuals are defined as consumers not citizens, there is danger that those who cannot afford to consume feel they have no stake in their community and become more likely to turn against it.


The Prime Minister has said this is 'Not about poverty but about culture.' But it is about both. It is about inequality and culture and how dangerous it is when you mix growing inequality with a culture which puts consumerism above citizenship.
 

Young Voters' Passionate Debate on the Disturbances

Last night's Young Voters' Question Time on BBC 3 focused on the recent disturbances. The young people in the audience were passionate and articulate. A wide variety of views were expressed and at the end I felt optimistic and a sense of admiration for them. That verve and energy harnessed to promote real change would be incredibly powerful. LINK to BBCiplayer

Barry Gardiner's interventions in yesterday's Disorder Debate

Barry Gardiner intervened several times in the debate to question the Prime Minister and Michael Gove.  Has anyone heard anything from Sarah Teather?

 

Deferred Division: Public Disorder

Barry Gardiner: Despite what the right hon. Gentleman has just said, does he understand the concern not just in the House but across the nation that a public inquiry should be held into the events that have gone on? This has been a national event; it has affected people in every part of the country, and if it is simply left to a Select Committee, they will not feel that it has been properly addressed.

Deferred Division: Public Disorder 

Barry Gardiner: Does my right hon. Friend share my hope that when Parliament resumes, those hon. Members whose constituencies have been affected but who have not been able to engage in this debate due simply to lack of time today will have a chance to revisit the issue and put on record their constituents’ concerns, including about their livelihoods, which have been threatened?

Public Disorder 

Barry Gardiner: Does the Prime Minister accept that the events of the past five nights in London have changed the nature and context of the debate about police cuts? If he persists with them, the people of London will not understand and they will not forgive. Even his own party’s Mayor now opposes him on that policy.

Give Our Kids a Future! Demonstration on Saturday in Dalston

Brent Fightback's demonstration against street sweeping and crossing patrol cuts is now going to be limited to 30 minutes 11am-11.30am (Kilburn Square) so there will be time to get to this important demonstration in North London:

A North London Unity Assembly Demonstration

Give Our Kids A Future!
Saturday 13th August, 1pm
Assemble Gillet Square, Dalston, N16 at 1pm. March to Tottenham Green, N15

Our communities need a united response to both the riots and the causes of despair and frustration that can result in riots.

We call for:

- A culture of valuing, not demonising, youth and unemployed people
- Support for those affected by the rioting, including the immediate rehousing of people made homeless, grants for affected small businesses, and restoration of damaged areas
- Reversal of all cuts to youth services in our boroughs
- No cuts to public services! Instead, investment into community-led regeneration of our communities, including access for all to decent housing, jobs, education and sports facilities
- An independent community inquiry into policing methods in our boroughs, and an end to discriminatory stop and search
- Availability of legal support for all those people arrested by police. Young people face potential sentences that will affect them, their families and their wider communities for years to come. Recommended solicitors are Bindmans 0207 833 4433 and Hodge, Jones and Allen 07659 111192

We are responding to the events of the last few days, in particular the Tottenham protest over the killing of Mark Duggan and the disturbances that followed in Tottenham and Hackney.

By coming together and calling for unity we want to encourage all sections of our local communities, young and old, black and white, residents and workers, to work together to find solutions to some of our long-standing problems.

We know there are all kinds of strong feelings and differing views. We do not claim to represent the whole community, but merely seek to promote unity in the communities in which we live and work.

Simply labelling rioters as opportunistic criminals does little to relieve tensions and provides a poor explanation for the worst riots in decades. While the shooting of Mark Duggan provided the trigger, against a background of oppressive policing, especially towards ethnic minorities, the root causes are deeper.

Our communities have been blighted by high levels of deprivation, poverty and lack of opportunity for decades. Inequality is growing and recent funding cuts to local services, particularly youth facilities, along with rising unemployment, and cuts to EMA and benefits have exacerbated the conditions in which sections of frustrated young people turned to rioting, which unfortunately has resulted in people losing their homes and small/family businesses losing their livelihoods.

Britain is a wealthy country, but with deep inequality. The economic crisis created by greedy bankers and financial speculators is further impoverishing already poor areas like Tottenham and Hackney. The £390 billion of combined wealth of the richest 1,000 people in Britain should be redirected to fund the services we all need.

In the last few months we have seen mass local protests against cuts, student occupations to defend free education, a half-a-million strong demonstration on March 26th, and 800,000 public service workers out on strike on June 30th.

We need to build on these and other inspiring local and national struggles. Let's work together for a decent society, based not on greed, inequality and poor conditions, but on justice, freedom, sharing and co-operation.

The North London Unity Demonstration has been called by an ad hoc open assembly of 70 community activists on Tuesday 9th August. It is supported by the Hackney Alliance to Defend Public Services, Haringey Alliance for Public Services, Haringey Trades Union Council, Day-Mer (Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre), NLCH (North London Community Centre), Day-Mer Youth, Alevi Cultural Centre, Fed-Bir, Kurdish Community Centre: Roj Women, Halkevi, Gik-Der (Refugee Workers Cultural Association). Britania Peace Council: Hundred Flowers Cultural Centre, TOHUM, Socialist Party, Youth Fight For Jobs, Right To Work, Red Pepper.


There is a thoughtful posting on the recent social unrest on the Haringey Green Party blog HERE