Have your say on Brent Council's budget 2012/13

Having called for the Council to have a public debate about its budget I thought it only right to reproduce the following item from the Council website.  Rather than tell them where to make cuts and the divide and rule this entails, I think we should call on them them to work with residents to devise a 'needs led budget' which would set out what services local residents need to maintain their quality of life. They can then use this budget as a campaigning tool to call on the government to reverse their cuts to local authority funding and work with other councils on directly challenging the Coalition's approach.


Have your say on the proposed budget for the 2012/13 financial year by joining the discussions at our Area Consultative Forums.

Residents and businesses are invited to take part in the Area Consultative Forums that are being held early 2012 as we want to hear all the views about our budget priorities.

Each of the five area forums will be discussing the budget proposals and will include a presentation by either Brent Council Leader Councillor Ann John OBE or Deputy Council Leader Councillor Muhammed Butt. There will also be a question and answer session to share views and to get answers first hand.

As well as setting the council's expenditure priorities, the budget process also sets the council tax rate which households must pay and the local authority's spending and provision of services.

The proposals for the 2012/13 budget recognise the difficult financial position faced by Brent Council because of the loss of central government grants and other funding, which will be equivalent to a 26 per cent loss in funding between April 2011 and March 2015 and which will continue through to 2017.

The Executive's proposals for the 2012/13 budget will be scrutinised by the Budget and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee before going to the Executive on 13 February 2012. The final decision about the budget and council tax for 2012/13 will be made at the Full Council meeting on 27 February next year.

The dates for the next Area Consultative Forums are:

• Harlesden Area Consultative Forum, 7pm, on 10 January 2012 at All Souls Church, Station Road, Harlesden
• Kilburn and Kensal Area Consultative Forum, 7pm on 11 January 2012 at Granville Plus Community Centre, Granville Road, Kilburn
• Wembley Area Consultative Forum, 7pm on 17 January 2012 at Patidar House, 22 London Road, Wembley
• Willesden Area Consultative Forum, 7pm on 18 January 2012 at College of North West London Denzil Road NW10
• Kingsbury and Kenton Area Consultative Forum, 7pm on 8 February 2012 at Kingsbury High School, Princes Avenue, NW9.

Council tells Willesden Bookshop to quit by April 17th 2012

Steve Adams and other workers at the Willesden Bookshop have sent me this comment on  my story about the bookshop's uncertain future if the Willesden Green Library redevelopment goes ahead.

We are mystified and a little confused by the fact that both the November and December Executive meetings did not have the redevelopment proposals on the agenda. We had originally been told that a decision would be made at the November meeting, and just prior to that the Property and Management division of the Council served a Section 25 notice on us: a legal notice giving us 6 months' notice to terminate our tenancy and requesting vacant possession by April 17th 2012. They made it clear that there would be no provision for retail space in the new building.

Naturally, we are dismayed at the prospect of our tenancy being terminated. Having looked at rent levels on the High Road we are not confident that we could afford to relocate - given all the current pressures on independent bookshops in this new age of the Kindle and Amazon's dominant market position - although we have not taken any final decision on this.

We will circulate a link to your blog amongst various customers and local residents who have offered support in trying to make the Council aware of the strength of local opposition to these plans for a mammoth apartment complex with a library and museum buried somewhere in its midst. No local residents we have spoken to want this development - and consider it further folly that when 6 libraries are being closed, one of the few remaining large libraries should then be closed for al least two years with only some adhoc temporary facility taking its place.

The Kilburn Bookshop  closed at the end of March last year. You can see the manager's comments on its demise HERE

Brent Library Judgment on Monday

Lord Justices Pill, Richards and Davis are to give their judgment into the closure by Brent Council of six of its 12 libraries at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London.

The judgment will be handed down at 2 pm in Court 72. Brent SOS Libraries appealed against a High Court judge’s decision that Brent’s closures were lawful at a two-day hearing  on 10-11 November.

Dinah Rose QC argued on behalf of library users and Brent SOS Libraries Campaign that in deciding to close six libraries, the library had failed to prevent discrimination against groups such as Asians, young children and local school children, by neglecting to assess the impact on such groups.

Using the very same data that the council executive used to decide to close the libraries, Dinah Rose showed that 28% of Brent’s population is Asian and that 46% of active library users were Asian, so it was
obvious that the closure of the libraries would disproportionately affect Asian council residents.

She also showed that the highest concentrations of Asian populations in the borough were concentrated around three libraries – Preston, Barham and Tokyngton – all of which were closed. She had evidence to show that since closure, the library that users of these three libraries were expected to use instead – Ealing Road – was overcrowded.

Meanwhile the Council Executive has twice deferred its consideration of a report on the redevelopment of Willesden  Green Library which would mean its closure for two years and it has been revealed that the lease on Kingsbury Library Plus expires on September 2013. This work case scenario would leave only four fully-functioning libraries left.

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has since launched an inquiry into library closures to which the Save Preston Library Campaign, Brent SOS Libraries and library users from Brent will submit evidence.

Be prepared to support the Willesden Bookshop

An invaluable community resource

The report on the redevelopment of the Willesden Green Library was deferred again this week as the Council awaits the result of the High Court appeal. However it does appear that there are developers interested in redeveloping the site and things are likely to move quickly in the new year with the library closed for two years during the building works.

Although some less than adequate plans have been made for the continuation of library services nothing has been said about the provision of alternative premises for the Willesden Bookshop that shares the site.

The magic of children's books

The well-established bookshop is an invaluable community resource and is widely used by local schools because of its excellent children's book service and generous discount. The bookshop also supports local authors and is a vital cultural resource for the local community.

The Guardian newspaper recently launched a campaign to celebrate in dependent  local bookshops and their role in the community and it is a campaign that as a Green I fully support.  The Willesden Bookshop:

• Keeps money in the local economy
• Provides local employment
• Reduces journeys to central London and thus helps the environment
• Contributes to the diversity and health of Willesden High Road
• Provides expertise through staff's knowledge of authors and new publications
• Provides an expert service in children's books for schools and nurseries as well as study materials for local students

We must be ready to campaign to safeguard the future of our local bookshop.

Hospital Merger Plans Challenged

36 people turned up at the Sattavis Patidar Centre, Forty Avenue last night to discuss the proposed merger of Ealing and North West London Hospitals Trust (covering Central Middlesex, Northwick Park and St Mark's hospitals). This compared with 100 at the recent Ealing meeting and a 'client' base of 800,000 people.


Professor Rory Shaw, Medical Director, made the case for the merger. The organisational merger would enable the joint Trust to have larger specialist teams which would be more viable than the present small teams, enable shift-work to take place and would attract high calibre staff Economies of scale would mean the Trust could keep pace with developments by buying up to date equipment and make resources, including scanners and operating theatres 'work harder' and the buildings 'earn their keep'. 

He said that Northwick Park's  stroke care unit was a good example of the merits of large, centralised teams and had led to better survival rates and fewer cases of paralysis.


Although the Chair of Brent LINk (Local Involvement Network) had stipulated that the meeting was not to discuss services, Shaw said that the merger was being proposed against the consultation on the commissioning of services that would take place in Summer 2012.  The focus would be on prevention and long-term conditions and more care and treatment in the community. He claimed that the latter was bothe cheaper and more effective.


He said that the move was taking place as a time when there was a general recognition that bigger was better. Other speeches from the six suited males on the platform extolled the merits of 'an army of generic workers', with an implication that these might be volunteers, who could help patients at home with hospital-home transition. We were treated to the management  mantra 'Localise where possible, centralise where necessary'.


Challenged that the presentation had not mentioned the financial plight of the NWLH Trust and that the merger proposal was a cover for cuts, the platform said that there was a financial saving involved of £7m and that this was specified in the Business Plan. Savings would be made in management and through reduction in 'back office' costs. Asked if  'developing the estate' meant selling off prime sites, especially in the light of the apparent running down of the Ealing and Central Middlesex hospitals, they said that sell-offs were not in the Business Plan but 'there may be scope for that in the future'.

Carers criticised the emphasis on volunteers and a speaker from the Sickle Society was concerned about the speed of the changes and poor consultation with users. He said that there had not been sufficient consideration of the needs of people with Sickle Cell and Central Middlesex Hospital's historic role in providing specialist care.

The platform was challenged on the implications of patients having to travel further for treatment and concern that the disadvantaged population of South Brent would be further disadvantaged if Central Middlesex was run down. Health inequalities would increase. A speaker from the floor made a strong demand for a Equality Impact Assessment. Despite repeated requests the platform were un able to advise which bus patients should get from Harlesden to Northwick Park Hospital.

Behind it all was the implication that larger teams would mean each site would have different specialisms which would not be offered at other hospitals in the Trust. The platform argued that routine care would still be provided at each hospital. A question asking if the new arrangements would be able to cope with a 'major incident' in South Brent with its many railways, the North Circular, waste sites and commercial premises; was not answered.


Brent LINk will be putting together its response and you can contribute: brentlink@hestia.org Tel: 020 8965 0309. Brent LINk Unit 56, The Designworks, Park Parade, Harlesden, London, NW10 4HT

Harrow LINk will hold its own consultation:
HARROW LINk: Thursday 12 January 2012. Registration and refreshments from 5.30pm. Event starts at 5.50pm and will close at 8pm. Premier House Banqueting, Canning Road, Harrow, HA3 7TS. Places are limited. If you like to attend please contact Harrow LINk at info@harrowlink.org.uk
or call 020 8863 3355.


TIMETABLE
November 2011 Outline Business Case for merger signed off by NHS London
March/April 2012 Full Business Case approved by the Trust Boards and NHS London
May 2012 Submission for approval by Department of Health Transaction Board
July 2012 Merger takes places
Autumn 2012 Commissioning of Services

Shahrar Ali's report on the meeting is HERE

Different views in Wembley Central today

Rubbish in London Road that Labour councillors and canvassers walked past today

A front garden today, a rare sight amongst the 'car parks with houses attached'

I bumped into about 10 Labour party canvassers in London Road today who had just walked past a prime example (above) of the impact of Brent's waste management cuts. We were all out and about canvassing for the Wembley Central by-election to be held on December 22nd.

Afifa Pervez (Lib Dem) is campaigning on car parking charges and Madhuri Davda (Conservative) is calling for the end of traffic calming measures which deliberately 'slow down traffic', 'unnecessary bus lanes' and narrowing of the main roads. Both ignore the root of the problem which is that we have too many cars on our roads. Front gardens are paved over with two or more cars per household. Pervez claims that local people need their cars to get to work, take their children to school and do their shopping while Davda claims 'as Wembley's population grows, this problem will only get worse'. Of course it will if everyone of an age to drive insists on having their own cars and parents insist on driving their children to school rather than (horrors!) walking, or (even more horrifying!) using a bus.

There is something pretty illogical about assuming unblocked roads would make things easier if the driving population increases - not to mention longer bus journeys when buses lose priority, which would force people back into cars, and increased traffic placing children in danger from speeding vehicles on 'unblocked roads'. Then of course there is the increased air pollution from all those vehicles.

I support 20mph limits in built up areas and increased investment in public transport to get people out of their cars. Good local schools would reduce the need for all those school runs. While we are at it let's have some controls over the paving over of front gardens - our local streets are becoming nothing more than car parks with houses attached.

The Lib Dem's 'Focus' By-election newspaper states 'Wembley campaigner Afifa Pervez is leading the campaign to save Brent libraries'. Well, no. The Brent SOS Library Campaign is a non-party campaign made up of non-affiliated residents and some who are members of Labour, Green, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties. It is not owned by an political party and Pervez does not lead it.  Davda is also campaigning for the libraries but neither mention the fact that it is Coalition cuts to local government funding that has led to Brent Council's cuts.

Which brings us to Krupa Sheth, the Labour candidate who is in the unenviable position of having to defend Labour's cuts. Abracadabra - she copes with the problem in a twinkling by ignoring what the Labour Council has been doing. Instead she assures us that she 'believes in our local schools' but doesn't tell us that her parents believed in them so much they sent her to the private, fee-paying Swaminarayan School. She goes on to say that she will fight the government's 'unfair' cuts to 'Brent's schools, hospitals, police and more'. Well the Labour Council hasn't made much of a fist of that so far.

I go back to basic position: the Tory and Lib Dem candidates deserve no respect if they do not acknowledge that their Coalition government is responsible for the massive reduction in local government budgets as well as abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance, cutting of the  Building Schools for the Future programme which affect our children;s education and the potentially devastating consequences early next year of the Housing Benefit cap which will see many of our families made homeless. Standing up for the rights of motorists seems at the very least 'inadequate' in those circumstances.

And Labour has to be honest. They have to admit that they have been forced to do the Coalition's dirty work and that Brent Council cuts are going to hurt people and damage life chances. No more hiding behind euphemisms such as 'transformation' and 'efficiencies'. There appears to be no appetite amongst Labour councillors for a united fight, alongside the community, for justice for the people of Brent but that is what would bring them back some respect.

E-Zone solutions an attack on democracy - Greens

The Green Party has dismissed current solutions to the Euro-zone crisis as short-sighted, economically unsustainable and tantamount to an attack on European democracy.

Current solutions to the sovereign debt crisis all amount to the same thing: the poorest paying the bill.
Two solutions are currently being discussed; first, a €2trillion fund to bail out indebted countries so that they can pay their debts to banks; second, a multi billion euro project to recapitalise the banks so that indebted countries can be allowed to default without bankrupting banks.

The first solution asks European tax payers to underwrite a €2trillion fund. The second asks Europeans tax payers to underwrite banks. Essentially they are the same regressive solution, which hits the poorest hardest and does nothing to resolve a systemic crisis.

The current solution does nothing to prevent future unsustainable debt and subsequent future crisis. Instead, it undermines democracy by putting the survival of banks before the interests of society.

The Green Party has come forward with an ambitious alternative to the neo-liberal, pro-corporate ideology that is governing economic policy in Paris, Berlin and the European Central Bank.

The alternative is twofold. First, banks must pay for themselves. The level of capital reserve must be raised and new ratios of fractional reserve banking need to introduced and enshrined in legislation. In this way, unsustainable sovereign debt will be paid for by the banking creditors who decided to make a profit by taking the risk; not the societies who stand to suffer.

This will mean that the financial sector will need to reduce its asset base which will hit lending to the real economy. To offset this, a massive Green Investment Bank (GIB) must be created to lend to sustainable businesses and industries, where the financial sector fails to do so.

Such a GIB could be funded by the same capital that is being discussed for the €2trillion bailout fund and the recapitalisation of European banks. In addition, the GIB could be funded by a higher banking levy and a financial transaction tax. The difference would be that tax payer's money would not be going into the financial black hole of hedge fund balance sheets. Instead, the money will be used to create real - tax payer owned - assets, in affordable homes, renewable energy and sustainable industry.

The Green Party calls on European governments to dismiss the needs of private financial institutions, provide millions of jobs and give tax payers control over their own economy. You might call it a democratic solution to the Euro-zone crisis.

Greens at Wembley again this weekend

At the Climate Justice March with Jean Lambert Green MEP and Jenny Jones Green AM and Mayoral Candidate

Off canvassing again on Sunny Saturday and Soggy Sunday for the Wembley central By-election.  If you would like to help meet us as 11am outside Wembley Central Station and we'll do some door-knocking and leaflet delivering.

Great Indian veggie food afterwards.