Cuts will have 'enormous and profound' impact on Brent - Ann John

I was a bit miffed at having to leave a particularly good edition of Radio 4's, 'I'm sorry I haven't a clue', to attend last night's meeting of Brent Council.  I needn't have worried as the Council seemed to be running its own version.

There was a lot of the usual knockabout stuff with taunts running along well worn lines and Cllr James Allie doing his impression of a recalcitrant adolescent challenging the teacher (Mayor)  from the back of the class.

The mood darkened when Ann John, leader of the council, spoke about the 'enormous scale' of the Coalition government's 'social engineering'  which would have 'an enormous and profound' impact on the people of Brent with 10,000 households s unable to afford local rents.  Alongside this  was the enormous impact of a 38% cut in Brent's grant from central government.

She said that 10,000 households in Brent would find their rent unaffordable and that this would have a 'huge and profound' impact: Tory policy was taking us back to the 80s. Brent Central had seen a rise in youth unemployment of 106% since January and we were producing a generation that would go straight from school into unemployment 'never knowing work'.

John said 700 council jobs had already gone and that there would be another 300. By the time the Council moves into the new Civic Centre the Council workforce would have shrunk by 1,000. For me of course, this raised more questions about the project. How many people will be working for Brent Council in 25 years time when the project has finally paid for itself, if indeed Brent Council still exists? Will the 'Civic Centre' be mainly let out to other organisations?

Cllr John said the the Council would in future be much smaller and what it does will change significantly. She outlined the Council's priorities for next year on creating opportunities for employment through training and apprenticeship schemes, improving quality of life through neighbourhood ward working, provision for young people before they leave school, integrating social care with health provisions and continue the improvements created by regeneration.

Opposition parties in their response did not challenge these priorities. Instead the Lib Dems pointed out that the Council had spent more money on closing libraries that would have been spent on keeping them open. Both Lib Dems and Tories called for the libraries to be re-opened. The Tories said that the Council should not put the £2.6m grant for freezing Council Tax into reserves but use it to protect services and keep the libraries open. They also said that monies recovered from the Icelandic banks, 'that had almost been written off' should not be put into reserves.

The issue of reserves deserves wider discussion. Last December a report was published that showed Brent reserves were the lowest of London boroughs and below what was financially prudent. The Tory argument is that they have not be used this year and so should not be added to. LINK to reserves report

A further are for discussion before the 201213 budget is set is the decision on whether to raise the Council Tax. The Budget Report warns about the erosion of the Council's tax base caused by year on year freezing of Council tax and Cllr Moher from the front bench said that he saw no reason not to ask council tax payers to pay for 'quality services'.  It appears that the Labour group see raising of Council Tax as an option to be considered.

I have called before for wider discussion of the budget so that it involves the wider public, rather than decisions made in committees and at 'away days'. There is still time for this to be done before final decisions are made.

Call for reduced dog walking limits

An ePetition to Brent Council has been organised by Carol Nicholls calling for the limit on the number of dogs walked by any one person in Brent Parks to be reduced to four, rather than the limit of 6 agreed at the Executive last week:

The petition can be signed HERE

We the undersigned petition the council to change the decision of the Executive, which sat on the 14/11/2011, which was to allow a person to walk up six dogs in the parks and open spaces of Brent.

The only people who would wish to walk such a large number of dogs at one time are professional dog walkers. Many of whom do not live in Brent, but come here because their own councils have a far lower number. These people do not pay Council Tax to Brent whilst those that do have to pick up the bill via the Parks Department budget.

Local park users of all ages are apprehensive, if not frightened, by such large numbers of excited dogs who are allowed to run free off of their leads. It is impossible for a person to have proper control of six dogs or to see when and where they have fouled. This means that the walker is unable to pick up the faeces. It just lays there until an unsuspecting child or adult comes across it. Dog faeces on a child or adult's shoes is at the very least unpleasant, but worm infested faeces has severe health implications should a child or football player get some on their skin, in a wound, or in their eyes.

All park users, whatever their age, have the right to walk, play, socialize or just sit in Brent's beautiful parks and open spaces without the fear of six excited dogs disturbing their peace, or have to look before taking a step, just in case they tread in something unpleasant.

For all these reasons we ask that the councillors rethink their decision and make the maximum number of dogs a person can walk to be four.

Most Brent schools will be closed by pensions strike on November 30th

Most schools in Brent will be closed on November 30th as staff from the teacher, headteacher and support staff unions show their anger at the Government's plans to make them pay more, work longer and get less in their pension. The National Association of Headteachers has voted overwhelmingly to strike alongside the other teachers and lecturer unions ATL, NASUWT, NUT and UCU as well as the support staff unions UNISON and GMB.

On visits to schools around the borough staff have raised concerns with union representatives s, not only about their own pensions,  but how the Government’s proposals will put off young graduates from entering teaching. Already those young teachers with large loans to pay back are thinking twice about staying in the teaching profession if their contributions rise by 50%.

But the idea that teachers will not be able to retire on a full pension until they are 68 is the one that causes the most disbelief and anger.

Jean Roberts, Joint BTA Secretary said, “Everyone knows that teaching is a stressful and demanding job, one that requires a great degree of stamina particularly with younger children. Do parents want their children educated by 68 year olds? This proposal for a start shows that the Government have no idea of the realities of teaching today.”

Shane Johnschwager, NASUWT secretary said, “Teaching is a hard job that no one ever gets rich doing. A good pension has always been part of the deal and all Brent teachers are asking for is a dignified retirement. We are sure that Brent parents recognise how hard their children's teachers work. The Government wants us to pay more, teach until 68 years of age, and receive less. Can anyone see the logic of this? Striking is a last resort. We feel we have been left with no choice.”


Hank Roberts, ATL Secretary added, “ The bankers and financiers, with the Government aiding and abetting them, nearly bankrupted the country. We, the taxpayers, were forced to bail them out and now they are trying to make us, who did not cause the crisis, pay. George Osborne had said our pensions are being made worse and we have to pay more to pay off the deficit. We are not going to. We are fighting for a fair pension for teachers and a fair pension for all.”

On 30th November the joint unions are holding a rally at 9.30 am outside The Torch pub in Wembley Park (Bridge Road, opposite the ARK Academy and close to Wembley Park station). Speakers include Mary Bousted, ATL General Secretary and Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary who have made a special effort to attend before leading the march of thousands of education workers which will be held in central London.

Comment
As a school governor, retired teacher and NUT member I am strongly in favour of this strike for all the reasons stated above. Our teachers and our children deserve much better than the treatment they are receiving from the Coalition government. Most public sector pensions are not enormous, despite what the Tories say, and of course mean that such workers do not have to have recourse to pension credit and other benefits.

Rally around the Torch of solidarity on November 30th

Click on image to enlarge

 November the 30th will see a powerful show of solidarity when striking education  workers rally at the Torch pub in Wembley Park before departing for a rally in Central London. The rally is supported by  seven unions and will hear speeches from Mary Bousted (ATL), Christine Blower (NUT), Terry Hoad (UCU) and Shane Johnschwager (NASUWT). Mary Turner of the GMB has also been invited and the rally and strike is also supported by the National Association of Headteachers and UNISON. The unions cover headteachers,  support staff, lecturers; nursery, primary and secondary teachers and many others.

The rally will commence at 9.30am and is open to all who support the action to safeguard pensions. Strikers and supporters will then leave en masse about 11am to join the central London demonstration in Lincoln Inns Field before marching to the rally at Victoria Gardens.

2012-13 Budget and School Crossing Patrols to be debated on Monday

Brent Fightback's demonstration against school patrol and street sweeping cuts

 Monday's Council Meeting will debate the Council's Budget priorities for 2012-13 - Town Hall 7pm.

At the end of the Council Meeting which debates the  First Reading of the 2012-13 budget or at 8.30pm, whichever is sooner, there will be an Extraordinary Council  Meeting on a motion from the Lib Dem  Opposition about school crossing patrols:

School Crossing Service

Council notes:
• That the council’s proposal to axe 30 out of 47 school crossing patrols in Brent aroused immense public concern
• That as a result the administration brought forward revised proposals in September,which were agreed by the Executive
• That whilst the new policy has reprieved some of the most high-profile crossing patrol sites it will still result in the council reducing the number of school crossing patrols over time, initially at so-called “low-priority” sites
• That the following schools have crossing sites designated by the administration as “lowpriority”

o Malorees Infants & Junior (Brondesbury Park) – Aylesstone Avenue & Brondesbury Park
o Swaminaryan School (Stonebridge) – Brentfield Road
o St Marys RC Primary (Kilburn) – Canterbury Road
o Kensal Rise Primary (Queens Park) – Chamberlayne Road
o Fryent Primary (Fryent) – Church Lane
o Our Lady of Grace Juniors (Dollis Hill) – Dollis Hill Lane
o Our Lady of Grace Infants (Dollis Hill) – Dollis Hill Lane
o Stonebridge & Our Lady of Lourdes (Stonebridge) – Hillside
o John Keeble Primary (Kensal Green) – Manor Park Road
o NW London Jewish School (Brondesbury Park) – Mapesbury Road
o Salusbury Primary (Queens Park) – Milman Road
o Wembley Lyon Park Schools (Alperton) – Mount Pleasant
o Oakington Manor Primary (Tokyngton) – Oakington Manor Drive
o Convent of Jesus & Mary Infants (Willesden Green) – Park Avenue
o Roe Green Infant & Junior (Queensbury) – Princes Avenue
o Salusbury Primary (Queens Park) – Salusbury Road
o Sudbury Primary (Sudbury) – Harrow Road

Council believes:
• That school crossing patrols are an important road safety service
• It is wrong for the council to seek to blackmail schools into paying for crossing patrols by threatening to withdraw crossing patrols unless schools contribute, especially as schools are unable to use their delegated schools budget for this purpose and many school crossing patrols service children from more than one school.

Council resolves
• That the implementation of the policy should be suspended pended a referral to scrutiny to consider:
• That the council should provide school crossing patrols at the sites listed above at no cost to local schools
• That the council should withdraw its policy not to recruit and fund replacement crossing patrol staff at the above sites when the existing member of staff leaves
• That the council should withdraw its policy of ‘poaching’ staff from “low-priority” sites to fill vacancies at “high-priority” sites.

Stark impact of government 'social cleansing' housing policy in Brent

Post eviction scene?

Brent Council expects 512 families to lose their homes through being unable to afford their rent in private accommodation as a result of  the Housing Benefit cap in January 2012, a further 714 in February and 799 in March. 

The weekly loss of benefit will be:
1 bedroomed accommodation £7.69
2 bedroomed £34.40
3 bedroomed £98.74
4 bedroomed £200
5 bedroomed £282.24

Clearly the cuts will affect people with large families disproportionally.

Jacky Peacock, Executive Director of Brent Private Tenants Group, in quietly setting out the figures at today's meeting organised by Barry Gardiner at Brent Town Hall. did more to bring home the seriousness of the situation than any passionate politician's speech could have done.

She reported that in 2009 there were 22,281 privately rented homes in Brent, representing about 84,000 people. There were more children in privately rented housing than in social housing.  Tenants were young and not so young professionals often having to stay in rented accommodation into their 40s or 50s, half of all  renters were on housing benefit. There were students, migrant workers and older tenants with regulated tenancies.

She said that in 2010/11 Brent Council had to find private lettings for 548 families and between April and October another 173. Anyone moving into 'temporary accommodation' as a result of losing their home could expect to be in it for 10-11 years. Many rents in the cheapest third of rental accommodation were already above the capped amounts.

Rents had already increased by 5.7% this year and landlords were expecting another 6% over the next 12 months. One third of privately rented homes fall below Decent Homes Standards and 15% have serious damp problems compared with 8% owner occupied and 10% social housing. Private tenants were four times more likely to live in a cold home with resultant health problems. May were forced to go to bed to keep room rather than  try to keep warm sitting in their room.

Jacky said we had never seen a situation like this before: families would be forced to move out of London to find affordable accommodation with the resultant dislocation of support from friends and families and disruption of children's education.

Cllr Janice Long, Brent lead member for housing, told the full hall that she had nothing but doom to convey.  She said she could see no light at the end of the tunnel. She told tenants that the worse thing they could do was to not pay the rent and get into debt - it would  be better to move, She said that if they got accepted as homeless by the Council that was not the end of the problem as there was no spare bed and breakfast accommodation - it would be provided outside of Brent. She said that making the argument that children's education would be disrupted if the family moved far away wouldn't wash - they would have to find a school elsewhere.

Looking forward to the future Janice said that 'affordable' housing wasn't the answer as the Coalition government had changed the definition of 'affordable' to 80% of the market rent - making it not affordable to Brent residents on the average Brent wage. In addition the government would cut housing benefit to those without a job whom they deemed able to work.

She said, 'The Council is not to blame. It's the government that has decided on the social cleansing of London."

Contributing from the floor Shahrar Ali admired Cllr Long's honesty but wondered if rather than merely manage the consequences of the cuts ('You sometimes sounded like a member of the Coalition') the Council should be doing more to engage in the fight against them.  We heard about landlords harassing 80 year olds to get them out of property, landlords giving tenants notice to quiet who tried to get the landlord to improve insulation through the Green deal, a 25 year teacher who could not afford to move out of her mother's home, people who had the income:price ratios to get a mortgage but not the hefty deposits now required, a woman who been forced to move six times in rapid succession losing deposits and fees with each move.

The social cost in terms of health problems, disrupted education and temporary accommodation costs would outweigh the 'savings' made by the government through their benefit cap, according to several contributors. However, as I murmured to my neighbour, most of those costs would be shifted to already hard-pressed local authorities and away from central government budgets.

In my contribution I told the meeting that my experience at Chalkhill School was that families were already being evicted as tenancies came to an end and there were already increased numbers in temporary accommodation. Families were being offered accommodation as far away as Birmingham and Milton Keynes. Sometime ago I met a Nepalese family who had moved to Milton Keynes who had to move again because of racial harassment from local youth there.Brent families, used to living in a multiracial environment, might face similar problems.

I noted that the recent consultation on the Wembley Plan stated that developers were not currently willing to build affordable housing because of low profits. Plans had been put on the back burner and they were instead investing in private student accommodation. The Council needed to negotiate with Quintain, the main developer, to ensure the housing was built. Cllr Janice Long confirmed that the Wembley Plan's definition of affordable was the old one, rather than the new 80% of affordable rent definition.

When  I asked that more be done about locating and taking over empty housing, Janice Long at first said that often such housing had a story attached to it, but later said that the present Compulsory Purchase of Empty Properties policy inherited from the last Brent administration was gummy (lacked teeth) and could do with strengthening. Jacky Peacock said that despite problems her experience was that if the local authority had a robust CPO policy on empty properties and implemented it, for every one property compulsorily purchased owners would put anothet100 on the market.  Jacky also agreed that with Sarah Cox that other empty property in Brent could be purchased and converted to housing where appropriate.

Chris Williamson, Labour MP a member of the shadow housing team, said that the previous Labour government hadn't got everything right on housing but would learn from its mistakes. The Labour Party wanted to bring the private rented sector up to standard but accepted its role in society. He stressed that the Labour Party was in 'listening mode'. He said that the supply of affordable housing needed government intervention and investment in it would provide a stimulus to the economy.

The meeting ended with a call for a big campaign on the issue and requests for people to join the Brent Private Tenants' Rights Group. LINK Navin Shah, Labour AM for Brent and Harrow, reminded the audience that they would have a chance to express their views electorally in next year's Mayoral and London Assembly election.

Find out more from  Brent Private Tenants' Rights Group 36-38 Willesden Lane, Kilburn, London NW6 7ST Tel: 020 7624 4327 info@bptrg.org   Website: www.bptrg.org

Climate change havoc must be addressed urgently

With the economic crisis wreaking havoc on people's lives  it is hard to maintain a focus on an even greater threat:  climate change.  I think the economic crisis is like the aftermath of an earthquake with everyone concentrating on getting people out of the wreckage and saving lives. Meanwhile on the horizon a huge tsunami, representing climate change, is inexorably heading towards us, and will sweep away our feeble efforts...

On Friday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report stating that heavier rainfall, fiercer storms and intensifying droughts will have a devastating effect in coming decades.  The Guardian reported Connie Hedegaard, Europe's climate chief, as saying, 'Last week, the serious warning from the International Energy Agency. Today this IPCC report...With all the the knowledge and rational argument in favour of urgent climate action, it is frustrating to see that some governments do not show the political will to act. In light of the even more compelling facts, the question has to be put to those governments in favour of postponing decisions: for how long can you defend your inaction?'

Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE said, 'The report shows that if we do not stop the current steep rise atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, we will see much more warming and dramatic changes in extreme weather that are likely to overwhelm any attempt human populations might make to adapt to their impacts.'

A recent meeting Food, Floods and Climate Change held at Willesden Green Library was very timely in dealing wiuth these questions.  It was addressed by Cllr. Jonathan Essex (Green Party) and Barry Gardiner MP, Ed Miliband's Special Envoy on Climate Change.  Full videos of the meeting can be seen HERE

Extracts are below:

Introduction and Cllr Jonathan Essex (Green Party)

Barry Gardiner MP (Ed Miliband's special envoy on Climate Change)

Chalkhill demonstrates its 'Get Up and Go' at community event

Willow plans - will Chalkhill residents lose out?

Chalkhill residents displayed a 'get up and get things done' attitude yesterday when they met for their AGM and Community Information fair.   The regeneration of the estate and the recent positive publicity around Chalkhill Primary School's excellent 'good with outstanding features' Ofsted report fed a mood of optimism, although the impact of cuts cast a shadow over the future.

On the optimistic front we were told that there was a meeting in a few days to consider the bids for the work on constructing the new Chalkhill Park and work should begin within 4 weeks. It is hoped to open the park by June 2012 but things could be delayed in the event of severe winter weather.

Winston Small, the new manager of the Poplar Grove Youth Centre told the meeting he had already taken action to restore the MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) at Poplar Grove.  Along with a possible restoration of the BMX track at St David's Close and installation of a skateboarding area, the shared community/school play area at Chalkhill School, and the new park with its two children's playgrounds, adult exercise equipment and 'kickabout area' much needed facilities for children and youth seem to be taking shape.

Barry Gardiner spoke about his work with youth and particular concerns about disproportionate use of stop and search of black youth. Gardiner and Chalkhill youth had raised the issue of lack of respect and transparency in the way stops were carried out with the Borough Commander. A new App had been adopted as a pilot in Brent. This will allow youth to record the reference number of the stop, the officer's number and whether they had been treated respectfully.  The information would be publicly available making the process more transparent and accountable.

We applauded Elmi. who had worked on this issue with Barry Gardiner,  a member of the CRA and the Chalkhill Wanderers football team, who has just been awarded a Masters degree. He said that he would not have been able to achieve what he had without the support of the Residents' Association. Louisa, another young member who works with local youth spoke about the success of the Chalkhill Sports Academy, which is funded by Ward Working. She said, "We're all neighbours but we don't know each other. Working together lets you know that we have issues in common and we can do something about them".  She paid tribute to the support they received from Barry Gardiner and Shafique Choudhary, one of the local ward councillors.

Among issues that residents felt needed to be addressed were confusion over the new recycling arrangements and the 'cyber inequality' experienced by residents who could not afford land telephone lines.  I told residents that we had 20 free (15 hour) nursery vacancies at Chalkhill available for any children who have their 4th birthday before August 31st and some residents said that full-time places would be really appreciated by the community.

The current consultation on the future of the Willow Children's Centre was a concern. There was some confusion over what the proposals might actually mean for local families.  It was strongly felt that the Willow was a resource that formed an integral part of the regeneration of the estate and a route to tackling deprivation. If the number of places was reduced because it was switching the priority to providing for disabled and special needs children this would impact on the community.

The information note to parents and carers states (LINK):

Nursery services will continue at Willow but the focus from 2012 onwards will be towards providing places for children with disabilities or children in need. Although there will no loss in terms of the number of places at Willow, the allocated places for children with disabilities and children in need will increase. The current children will not be affected in terms of places but in the future this will lead to a reduction in the number of general fee paying and NEG (15 hour free entitlement) places. In addition to this as a result of the proposed restructure your child’s key worker may change

It is not clear what proportion of the available spaces will be taken up by children with SEN or disabilities and how many ordinary places will be left for local children. The proportions will also dictate whether the Willow is mainly a 'special nursery' or an integrated provision.

Full consultation details are HERE. The consultation ends on December 14th and decisions on the reorganisation of the Willow Children's Centre and closure of Treetops and Hamony nurseries will be made in January 2012.