Lib Dems request Call In of Leaflet Licensing Plans

Alison Hopkins, new elected Liberal Democrat councillor for Dollis Hill and several other Lib Dem councillors have requested a Call In of the proposals to license the distribution of leaflets and flyers in designation streets in the borough.

If successful the Call In would be heard at the Call In, Overview and Scrutiny Committee scheduled for Wednesday May 9th.

Look out for lost Liverpool supporters this weekend

It looks as if we will be seeing lots of coaches in Wembley on Saturday for the FA Cup Final or lots of lost Liverpool fans trying to find their way home after this statement from the British Transport Police:

Virgin Trains is warning Liverpool football fans that there are no realistic options for return train travel from London after the FA Cup Final on Saturday 5 May. 

Major route improvement works by Network Rail over the Bank Holiday weekend will mean extensive route closures.

Passengers from Liverpool to London on Saturday 5 May will need to travel via Manchester or Chester, or use Stoke-on-Trent station but the decision by the Football Association for a 17:15 kick-off means there are no options for fans to return north the same day after the game.

With the route out of London closed on Sunday 6 May, the earliest that fans could return to Liverpool would be on Monday 7 May.

A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "We always try and help football fans get to and from matches on our network, and did this very successfully for Everton and Liverpool supporters travelling to the semi-final. However, on this occasion, as we explained to the FA, the choice of both a 17:15 kick off and the staging of the FA Cup Final on a Bank Holiday weekend when Network Rail had already planned essential route improvement works means we cannot offer fans the level of train service they have come to expect."

There appear to have been no advance warning to fans from the police, Brent Council,  the FA or Wembley Stadium about the street drinking ban as there was for the the semi-finals. On that occasion the police turned a blind eye to the public drinking but the late kick off on Saturday gives more than 4 hours extra drinking time compared with that much earlier kick off.

Now Kilburn Library to close for 16 weeks

Following the closure of half our libraries and just before the closure of Willesden Green Library for redevelopment Kilburn Library is to close for refurbishment for more than three months.

The Council's press release appears to be a cut and paste job - spot where they have got their libraries mixed up:

Kilburn Library will be closing for refurbishment from Monday 21 May 2012 until Sunday 9 September 2012. During this time the library will be redecorated and redesigned, with a brand new children's library, heating, lighting, furniture and extra computers installed.

The library is scheduled to reopen on Monday 10 September 2012.

Customers wanting to renew their items can do this by phoning our automated 24 hour service on 0115 929 3388 (these calls are charged at a national rate) or by renewing online.

The nearest libraries to Ealing Road are:

• Willesden Green Library
• Harlesden Library Plus.

During the exams study period from Monday 21 May until Friday 6 July 2012, study spaces will be available at BACES Carlton Centre, Granville Road, Kilburn NW6 5RA. The centre will also have internet and wi-fi facilities.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Private bidder to take over Treetops Nursery

The Save Treetops Nursery Facebook page is reporting that Brent Council has officially  accepted a private bid to run the nursery.  The nursery was designated for closure along with the Harmony nursery but parents swiftly organised a public campaign to keep it open.

An on-line petition to save both Treetops and Harmony gained 235 signatures.

 When the Council were adamant that they were not willing to fund the nursery the parents successfully campaigned for additional time to put a bid together themselves but encountered difficulty in raising the necessary funding

The takeover by a private company obviously raises the issue of affordability of fees as well as how the parents, who have been so involved and committed, will be represented in the new set up.

Meanwhile on Saturday Cllr Ann John leader of Brent Council will be at Harmony Children's Centre, where the Council closed the nursery, to present certificates to parents who have taken part in the 12 week, Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) course.

I leave it to readers to decide whether Ann John herself would deserve an award for her work in strengthening families and strengthening communities.

Has anyone seen any Tories in Chalkhill?

It looks as if campaigners in the Barnhill by-election are going to have one sunny day before polling takes place on Thursday and I will be out and about all day today.

A certain camaraderie developed yesterday when I encountered Labour canvassers on Chalkhill with us all dressed as if for an ascent of a rain and windswept Welsh mountain.  Soggy leaflets are even worse when printed with environmentally friendly vegetable based ink on recycled paper!

Although I have seen their leaflets I have still not encountered one Conservative canvasser which makes them rarer than a Boris bus.

As always when canvassing in Brent I am struck by the tremendous variation within one ward.  However there are surprises such as the resident in a mock-Tudor villa at the top of Barn Hill who spoke out in favour of squatting as a way of protecting some of the empty properties in the area from deterioration.

On the Chalkhill Estate I encountered some real militancy against the Tories based on national issues and there was often a residual reflexive support for Labour until we got into a discussion about the Labour council's record.

Contrasting images of Barnhill ward

Making the most from  small garden on Chalkhill

Sunday morning waiting for ASDA to open

Mock Tudor on Barn Hill Estate

Fly-tipping on Chalkhill Estate

Front garden, Shakespeare Drive

Bluebells on Barn Hill

The site of the proposed Chalkhill Park

Ann John makes a bid to be Brent's Humpty Dumpty

Ann John, the leader of Brent Council is quoted in the Kilburn Times as saying that the report on licensing of free literature is clear and purely about preventing litter.

It wasn't clear to the Council's communication team who issued an apology to the Times for 'issuing an inaccurate statement' on which the Times report was based. Michael Read, Assistant Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services had to write to the Times to 'clarify any confusion' about the 'clear' report.

And of course Brent's own 'Mr Confused', Cllr Powney, accused us of 'inventing a campaign' when in fact the Council had misinformed the public with their original 'inaccurate' statement.

What is clear is that the only reference to exemptions in the document is:

3.4 These powers do not apply to materials promoting charities, for religious purposes or for political purposes.

So now Cllr Ann John throws her own interpretation into the ring by saying , in response to concerns voiced by Tony Antonio chairman of Brent Safer Neighbourhoods, that their literature does not not fall into the exempt category because they are a group of volunteers, not a charity, that 'The exemptions include community safety literature'.

This is just not true if you look at 3.4 above which are the only exemptions listed. Nowhere does the document mention 'community safety literature'.  This illustrates the problem and the weakness  that campaigners have been highlighting. It is not good enough for Ann John, James Powney or any officer to make up exemptions as they go along with nothing in writing. This opens the way to political, social, generational or even ethnic bias and potential legal action.

Ann John puts herself in the position of Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass:

  "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."

The housing emergency that will soon devastate Brent families

The entrance to a Chalkhill block of flats

 "They are making the poor, poorer," was the reaction of one parent when Chalkhill Primary School held a briefing about the Coalition's welfare reforms.

The school, recognising that many of its families would be hit in the near future had arranged for Reed in Partnership and Brent Housing to explain what was happening and 50 or so parents attended the meeting on Friday morning.

As the parents realised,that their lives were about to be turned upside down, the anxiety in the room deepened.

Brent Housing admitted there was little good news but emphasised the need for planning ahead of the main impact of the changes which will hit in April 2013.  They offered advice on how to bid for properties and transfers for council and housing association tenants (Call 020 8937 5211) and help for those renting in the private sector (020 8937 5211/4441/2369).

They suggested that the reforms might mean moving to Barnet or Harrow or further afield for some tenants. They were able to offer to help negotiate new rents with private landlords when the London Housing Allowance (LHA) no longer covered the full rent, perhaps with a 9 month protection if the rent was increased pending finding new accommodation.

For many, the combination of the reduced Housing Benefit,. the overall income cap, changes in the hours needing to be worked for Working Tax credit, and the likely charging of at least 20% council tax to all but the most vulnerable,  will bring about a drastic reduction in income The red columns add up to the £500 weekly limit):
 

Household size	Total Income (IS/JSA, CTC, CB –approx)	Max HB from April 2013	LHA rate South Brent	LHA rate North Brent
2  adults, 2 children	£260.70	£239.30	£290 (2 bed rate)	£219.23 (2 bed rate)
2 adults, 3 children	£332.10	£167.90	£340 (3 bed rate)	£288.46 (3 bed rate)
2 adults, 4 children	£403.50	£96.50	£400 (4 bed rate)	£346.15 (4 bed rate)
2 adults, 5 children	£474.90	£25.10	£400	£400
2 adults,  6 children	£546.30	£0	£400	£400

It is clear that many families will not have enough to spend on food, heating and necessities after rent has been paid and thus will have no option but to move out of London unless they can find work.

This was where Reed In Partnership came in with its offer to help 'progression into work' , emphasising that it was not 'forcing people into work'. They offered:

• Individual appointments to make 'better off' calculations comparing income from work with income from benefits. 
• Opportunities to go on courses, develop English language skills, and help looking for long-term sustainable jobs.
• Step by step help with housing, childcare, budgeting, connection with appropriate programme
• Help into volunteer activities that would contribute to a CV
• Help with interview skills and appropriate clothing
• Help with public transport , providing travel cards while waiting for first pay packet

A mother who had received help from the programme spontaneously stood and said how much it had helped her. She said that they had helped her buy clothes for her job interview and that now she was employed she was better off than when she was on benefit and less socially isolated at home.

Reed In Partnership contacts: Marilyn Grundy 07534 189 557
Wembley Works, Forum House, Lakeside Way, HA9 0BU
Sessions: May 3, 17, 31 9am-noon

I am sceptical that with the numbers of people involved and with current high levels of unemployment in Brent how many people will be able to benefit but it clearly offered some a glimmer of hope. However for some mothers with very young children at home it does not seem to be an option. For many moving to 'cheaper' areas, probably with even fewer job opportunities (that's one reason why property is cheap after all) will be the only alternative to penury.  While Reed claims it isn't doing the forcing it is clear that the policy is doing just that and agencies such as Reed deliver that policy on behalf of the government.

Overall, the impact of all this must be to increase the number of children living in poverty with inevitable consequences for health and educational progress. If families are forced to move out of London children's schooling will be disrupted and nuclear families will be separated from support from their extended families and communities, finding themselves isolated and possibly facing racism and prejudice from the receiving communities.

According to Saturday's Guardian, back in 1994, Housing Minister Grant Shapps stood in what they call the London ward that represented Chalkhill, then a notorious concrete block estate.  Shapps boasts, "My brilliant slogan was 'Vote for me on Thursday and we'll start knocking your house down on Friday', and I came within 103 votes of taking a safe Labour ward".

I would like Shapps to come back to the Chalkhill Estate and  talk to people whose lives he and his Coalition colleagues are about to wreck.
 
It appears to me that this government is like the military, making war and killing people in a far away country. by clicking on a computer screen. They are as remote from the lives of ordinary people in places like Chalkhill and the impact these 'reforms' will have on their lives, as those military personnel were from the lives of ordinary people in Iraq. I suppose the question is are they oblivious to the consequences, or is that what they want?

For more on these issues go to this article LINK

The Chalkhill meeting showed the importance of outreach work by the Council at a venue where they can meet families affected by the welfare 'reforms' and rise awareness of the issues. I hope other schools will hold similar meetings.

From Shelter

Missing, presumed losing...Brent Lib Dems

I asked nearly  month again why the Liberal Democrats were not standing in the Barnhill by-election. This week they broke their silence telling the Brent and Kilburn Times that they did not stand in order to focus their efforts on the London Assembly and Mayoral elections.

Strangely enough I haven't received any leaflets from them on the GLA and Mayoral election. It has been refreshing to fight a by-election without a plethora of Lib Dem leaflets  and their often misleading presentation. The candidates in the Barnhill by-election have been straightforward with more of a focus on policies.

 I suspect that the Lib Dem leadership recognise that in Alison Hopkins in Dollis Hill they had an exceptional candidate with deep local roots and connections but who nonetheless had a narrow win. They have retained Cllr Rev David Clues in Dudden Hill despite his move to Brighton, thus avoiding putting a Lib Dem seat at risk.