Council seeks views on equality as it proposes cuts that hit the vulnerable

When Brent Council is considering cuts that will affect  children with disabilities, special needs and mental health problems as well as adult social care, it is more than ironical that it is launching a public consultation on equality. The Council has also faced strong criticism over the Equality Impact Assessments it made regarding the closure of libraries last year.

The press release from the council says:

Brent Council is inviting local people to have their say on the development of its equality objectives for the next few years.

Open to all residents, service users and other stakeholders, the council wants to hear their views to help ensure the best possible services are provided for all communities.

Over the past six months the council has been looking at everything it does to make sure that it is complying with the Equalities Act 2010 and published its equalities information on the Brent Council website at the end of January.

The consultation will run until 12 March 2012 and can be accessed at www.brent.gov.uk/consultation

For more information contact the Corporate Diversity Team on 020 937 1069 or visit www.brent.gov.uk/equality

Benefit cap row: Curtains for Teather?

The Independent carried a story on Thursday about Sarah Teather which I reproduce below for any constituents who may have missed it:

A Coalition dispute erupted yesterday over a Liberal Democrat minister missing a Commons votes on welfare cuts.

Sarah Teather, the Children's minister, has previously criticised the move to impose a £26,000 cap on the annual amount of benefits that families can claim. She was absent in Sheffield on "ministerial business" when MPs voted on the policy last week.

Conservative MPs have called for her to be sacked and David Cameron's spokeswoman said her absence had been cleared in advance. He told MPs: "She supports Government policy, as all Government ministers do."

Later a Downing Street source said: "If she speaks out again, it will be curtains for her."

A Liberal Democrat source countered: "That is just nonsense. She is a very highly valued member of the Government. This is being whipped up by the Tories."

Ms Teather, who is regarded as on the left of the Liberal Democrats, insisted she backed the Government's agenda, but did not explicitly say she supported the benefits cap.

Brent Council consults on carers' services

The following notice has been published on the Brent Council website:

Carers are invited to have their say on Brent Council and NHS Brent's proposals for the services provided to carers.

The consultation meetings will be an opportunity to discuss the:

• background to existing services 
• priorities for services for carers
• proposals and choices
• future for carers                                                                                                   

The sessions will take place on:

• Monday 27 February 2012 from 4.30pm to 8.00pm at Brent Town Hall, Committee Rooms 1,2 and 3, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 9HD
• Thursday 8 March 2012 from 12noon to 3pm at Patidar House, 22 London Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 7EX

LINK TO BRENT  COUNCIL CONSULTATION PAGE

To reserve your place email dipti.naker@brent.gov.uk or call 020 937 2394 by 22 February. Please advise if you have any special requirements

Pilgrims Way ward 'walkabout' tomorrow

Saltcroft Close this morning

Barnhill councillors will meet up with residents of Pilgrims Way, Summers Close and Saltcroft Close tomorrow for a Ward Working 'walkabout'  to hear views on how the area can be made better. They will be joined by representatives of Brent Housing Partnership, Brent Parks Department and the Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

The meeting place is the Robert Hartley Centre which is between Saltcroft Close and Kings Drive with a 2pm start. If the weather continues to be snowy and cold most of the discussion will take place in the Centre. Tea and coffee with be available.

"We can't continue to deliver these services"-Brent police chief on closure of Willesden Green Police Station

The Brent and Kilburn Times LINK is reporting that Brent's police chief is considering closing Willesden Green Police Station.  At a meeting at Brent Town Hall last night Chief Superintendent Matthew Gardner, in what appeared to be a political comment, said:

There are currently three officers behind the front counter at Willesden police station which I am looking at closing.

Do I have officers behind a desk and not doing anything?

As soon as you start taking away libraries and closing up police counters people get angry but we can’t continue to deliver these services.

We need them to listen and to understand. It is going to be difficult.

Willesden Green campaigners get organised

KEEP WILLESDEN GREEN

 Please join us to discuss the development of the

WILLESDEN GREEN LIBRARY

and the impact the proposals may have on Willesden Green

FEBRUARY 16TH 2012 7pm

KINGS HALL, 155 Harlesden Road, Willesden Green, NW10 2BS 

 
Residents have organised a meeting to discuss the Willesden Green Library development proposals and the impact on the Willesden Green area for Thursday of next week (details above)

Details of some of the issues involved can be found on the Keep Willesden Green website LINK but among the issues are:

• Lack of consultation over the original proposals and the 'offer' to be made in the proposed Cultural Centre
• The handing over to developers of council land to finance the development with all profits from housing going to the developer
• The Council-Private Partnership which leaves a lot of decision making to the developer
• The developer's apparent decision that retail in the Centre would not be viable (despite provision for a cafe when there are many available in the vicinity)
• The subsequent loss of premises to the much valued Willesden Bookshop
• The developer's advice that the historic old  locally listed 1894 Willesden Library could not be accommodated in the new plans
• The subsequent loss of  a base for the Brent Irish Advisory Service
• The apparent lack of public meeting rooms in the new Centre when the current rooms have been well-used and are essential to local democracy
• The adequacy of the council's alternative arrangements during the 18month-2 year building period and proposals to reopen some of the closed libraries instead
• Loss of the open space in front of the library
• Lack of parking spaces for disabled visitors

Meanwhile ePetitions are gathering support on the council website and paper versions are also gaining support.

The ePetition calling on the council to allocate space for the Willesden Bookshop currently has 417 signatures and can be accessed HERE 

The ePetition calling for the retention of the Old Willesden Librray building currently has 474 signatories and can be accessed HERE

Wembley Park cut off again this weekend

Despite all the promises from TfL, Boris etc we have no trains AGAIN from Wembley Park station this weekend. There is no Metropolitan Line service Rickmansworth/Watford to Aldgate and no Jubilee between Stanmore and Willesden Green.

Brent 'transforms' Town Hall Library into a rubbish dump

In January I posted an article, 'Town Hall Library invaded from the south' LINK about the books stock and shelves from the closed down Neasden Library being off-loaded into the Town Hall Library and the subsequent over-crowding and mess. The library is still in chaos as the pictures above,  from the Preston Library Campaign website LINK, show.

Local people have begun to complain bitterly about the state of the library and it is clear there aren't enough staff available to clear it, and more importantly, make the stock available to the public as promised.  Instead it is  in boxes on the floor, sometimes stacked at a dangerous height; on trolleys and in the staff work room. In addition there are empty shelving units, and some books from the usual stock, such as those in Hindi, are no longer accessible. Windows and blinds are inaccessible because of the additional material and parts of the library are cordoned off.

Is this a comprehensive and efficient library service?

As well as the state of the library itself, local people are having misgivings about the move to the Civic Centre next year. The library, despite being based at the Town Hall, also serves a community function as the local library for the families of the Chalkhill Estate (and its primary school), Pilgrims Way Estate, and the flats on Kings Drive. They use the homework club,  half-term activities and the Summer Reading Scheme. All will be far less accessible to them  when the library moves all the way to the new Civic Centre. Older chidlren wil no longer be able to go there independently and it will be further for school trips from Chalkhill Primary and Ark Academy's primary phase.

A further question being asked is, 'Will the Civic Centre Library be closed on event days?' . Having seen the crowds of fans in the triangle formed by the Civic Centre, Stadium and Arena my answer would be that even it is open, it will hardly be the place for families to battle against the mass of boisterous fans to go and change their library books. This will mean that the new library won't really be open the promised 7 days a week. If you take the current period until May the stadium will be in use for sports activities on 8 weekend days and one evening. There may be other events in addition to these as well as those on at the Arena.