167,004 fewer library visits concealed by Brent Council

Ahead of a meeting tonight at Brent Town Hall, at which a “progress” report will present what SOS Libraries claim is misleading and incorrect information on the so-called “Libraries Transformation Project” to the new Labour executive, Brent SOS Libraries has submitted its own report on the library closures (LINK). It shows:

• There have been 167,004 fewer library visits since half of the borough’s libraries were closed in October compared with the same period year on year.
• 158,809 fewer books have been issued.
•  Library visits and lending have fallen 20% will continue to fall with the imminent closure of Kilburn and demolition of Willesden Green libraries.
• This has been a net loss of 191 opening hours per week.
•  Most of the users of the closed libraries ARE NOT USING the remaining libraries, as the council claims.

The report that will go before the council on Monday will fail to mention these key indicators and will misrepresent a failing, wasteful service as a success. 

Brent SOS (Save Our Seven) Libraries will present the true picture to the executive on Monday night. Representatives of the six closed libraries (Barham, Cricklewood, Neasden, Kensal Rise, Preston and Tokyngton), and of Willesden Green, which is due to be demolished this summer, will also make presentations.

This data will also be considered by Jeremy Hunt’s Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS), which is investigating whether Brent Council has breached its statutory duties.

Brent SOS Libraries was asked last month to give evidence to the DCMS of Brent Council’s use of misleading and incorrect data, and of the effects of the withdrawal of the library service on local communities.

Brent SOS Libraries campaigner Samantha Warrington said: "Young people in Brent are working hard to pass their GCSEs and A levels, and the loss of study space and facilities in the local libraries closed by this administration will only make their lives harder."

Brent SOS Libraries campaigner Samantha Warrington said: "Young people in Brent are working hard to pass their GCSEs and A levels, and the loss of study space and facilities in the local libraries closed by this administration will only make their lives harder."

Act tonight to Save Our Libraries

Have they learnt anything post AJ?

Tonight is the first meeting of the Brent Executive under the new leadership of Muhammed Butt. It is a chance to impress on him that the library campaigns remain as vociferous as ever and will not go away. He needs to make a fresh start on the issue.

The Executive will consider a report on the progress of the Libraries Transformation Project which glosses overs its failings and especially the fall in the total number of visitors and book issues since the 6 libraries closed.

Brent SOS Libraries has prepared a response to the report which is available HERE

Library campaigners will be outside the Brent Town Hall from 6pm. The Executive meeting starts at 7pm.

New plan to attack Brent's air pollution problem

The Green Party tried to make air pollution an issue at the GLA election with limited success - perhaps because it is what is often called an ' invisible menace'. Its impact on health occurs at an individual level and over the long-term so it is often not seen as an urgent issue. More visibly air quality and air pollution became a worry as a result of several big fires recently in the borough that released noxious smoke.

However, Brent Council recognises the seriousness of the problem and an Air Quality Action Plan 2012-2015 is on the agenda for Monday's Executive.

The accompanying report notes that levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulates continue to exceed national air quality objectives in some areas of the borough and will not meet future targets. The aim of the new AQAP is to reduce levels of Nitrogen Dioxide and fine particulate matters (smaller than 10 microns) which are the key pollutants in Brent.

It is proposed that the Council should lobby the government over the relationship between licensing of waste sites and the achievement of air quality improvements reflecting the air pollution association with waste sites around Neasden Goods Yard. Air quality there breaches the daily mean air quality objectives and as one of the few in the country reporting such excesses could lead to sanctions from the European Union.  Brent has worked with waste operators and the Environment Agency to enclose the majority of dust generating activities on the site but they admit that a significant proportion of waste handling and transfer operations there still take place in the open air.

The Council estimate that fine particles have an impact equivalent to 133 premature deaths across the whole of Brent. They are unable to estimate the local impact around the Goods Yard as the standard estimating methods are not applicable to smaller populations.

The report notes that the most economically and socially deprived areas in the borough, the south of the borough as well as Stonebridge, Neasden and St Raphaels suffer the poorest air quality.

Worryingly DEFRA will no longer fund air quality monitoring and as a result Brent has reduced the number of its monitoring stations from six to three. The Council warn that there is a significant risk that DEFRA may not fund the costs of intensive cleaning and application of dust suppressants at Neasden Lane once the Olympic Games is over.

The 2012-15 Plan lists 15 actions and can be found HERE .  It includes integrating air quality improvements into local health plans, increasing the planting of trees in new developments, reviewing planing policies to safeguard against environmental impacts of new and existing waste facilities, reducing car use and congestion, a 10% reduction in business energy use, a 20% decrease in energy use in council housing stock and 25% in council emissions and a 10% reduction in emissions from major commercial fleet operations in the borough.

The aim is to have a holistic approach that fits with the framework of Brent's Climate Change Strategy.

I welcome these measures and hope that national and local government cuts will not prevent their effective implementation.  Air pollution apart from causing premature deaths also condemn some of the young and the vulnerable to regular occurrences of respiratory illnesses.

Children at Risk

• Children are more susceptible to the effects of air pollution for several reasons related to their physical development and behaviour.
• Children’s respiratory organs are not fully developed and thus are more vulnerable to toxic substances in the air.
• Children have narrower airways that are more severely affected by the tissue inflammation that occurs due to air pollution.
• Children have weaker immune systems that are more vulnerable to the foreign substances found in air pollution.
• Children inhale more air (and more air pollution) per pound of body weight than adults.
• Children often breathe through their mouths, rather than their noses. This route bypasses the cilia and mucous found in the nose that trap foreign particles in the air and stop them from entering the lungs.
• Children do not recognize or acknowledge the effects of air pollution as quickly as adults. This may exacerbate the effects of air pollution, because symptoms are not treated as quickly.

Dollis Hill-Lib Dem, Barnhill-Labour, Dudden Hill?

A game of cat and mouse between Labour and Lib Dems over a possible by-election in Dudden Hill seems to be developing. The Rev David Clues holds the seat for the Lib Dems at present but he has been living in Brighton for 6 months and the Brent and Kilburn Times hinted last week that he might resign soon.  Seems a bit of a waste of money when the by-election could have been held earlier this month alongside the GLA and Barnhill by-elections.

New Executive member Krupesh Hirani tweeted earlier today that he was off door-stepping in the ward for Labour and according to his blog LINK he saw Sarah Teather there and a couple of residents said they had been canvassed by Lib Dems.  I suspect the Lib Dems are just testing the temperature and will make a decision on whether Clues should hold on for the time being based on their canvassing returns.

With their current poor position in the polls and their failure to stand in the Barnhill by-election they are likely to be ultra-cautious and willing to endure the embarrassment of having a semi-detached councillor rather than face losing the seat.

Poor David Clues must be longing to be able to get on with his new life in Brighton....

Ann John joins Planning Committee shortly after being cleared of wrongdoing

A few weeks after being cleared of illegally bringing pressure on a Labour Councillor on the statutorily independent planning committee, Ann John has become a member of that committee.  This means that she will be considering the controversial Willesden Green Library Centre redevelopment for which she has publicly expressed strong support. The planning application is submitted in the sole name of the developer Galliford Try despite the project being a partnership between them and Brent Council.

The full list of the new committee is:

Attendee	Role
Councillor Ketan Sheth	Chair
Councillor Mary Daly	Vice-Chair
Councillor Abdi Aden	Committee Member
Councillor Eddie Baker	Committee Member
Councillor Mark Cummins	Committee Member
Councillor Sami Hashmi	Committee Member
Councillor Ann John OBE	Committee Member
Councillor Chandubhai J Patel	Committee Member
Councillor Ramesh Patel	Committee Member
Councillor Krupa Sheth	Committee Member
Councillor Harbhajan Singh	Committee Member

Support the parents, teachers and children of Downshill Primary

Parents of children attending Downhills Primary School  in Haringey, which Michael Gove is trying to force to become an academy are organising a fun event in support of striking teachers on Tuesday May 22nd.

Click here for more information about the campaign in Downhills

The parents at Downhills are continuing their brilliant campaign to stop their school becoming an academy. You can follow them on facebook and their website is www.savedownhills.org

Please rush messages of support to the strike:
Haringey NUT – secretary@haringey.nut.org.uk
Phil Brett NUT rep at Downhills - philbrett@msn.com

Brent defends record on school finances monitoring

Krutika Pau, Brent's Director for Children and Families, has written to the Times Educational Supplement after they published a critical article drawing attention to the number of cases of financial mismanagement in Brent Schools, which obviously raised the question of  the effectiveness of Brent Council's monitoring and auditing processes. I posted on this issue recently LINK asking why there was no report from Children and Families on this issue tabled for Monday's Executive Meeting.

I was very dismayed to read the article entitled, “Financial scandal continues to plague Brent Council” that appeared in the TES on 4 May, accusing Brent Council of being negligent in its duty to oversee school finances robustly and effectively.

Brent Council takes its role in ensuring sound financial management in schools very seriously and takes firm action against schools whenever there is evidence of it taking place.

In the case of Malorees Primary School, a thorough audit of the school identified that a number of improvements in financial management were necessary and the current head teacher is actively engaged on making these changes.

Brent has over 80 schools which receive an audit on a two or three year basis. It would be impossible within current resources to audit every school each year. Auditing schools on a rolling programme basis, so that each one is audited every two to three years, is very normal within local authorities and Brent does more than most in relation to school audits and has a very detailed audit brief.

In fact, the very detailed nature of our audit brief is precisely why Brent has managed to uncover these, thankfully rare examples of financial mismanagement that have occurred in the four schools your article mentions, over a fairly long period of time.

Schools have a duty to monitor their financial position on an on-going basis and this can throw up potential overspends that could worsen in the future unless corrective action is taken. In the case of Malorees School, the current head teacher has identified potential issues and is working proactively with Brent Council to take decisive action now to ensure that any potential problems are averted in the future.

Whenever irregularities occur we do not attempt to conceal them but are open and transparent at all times about our investigations and provide appropriate support to schools so that corrective action can be taken.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Krutika Pau
Director of Children and Families

Pressure from within Labour Party on Kensal Rise Library

In an unusual development Queens Park Labour Party has set up a petition calling on new council leader Muhammed Butt to open talks with library campaigners and All Souls College:

Petition for Kensal Rise Library

SIGN HERE 

At its May AGM, Queen’s Park Labour agreed a motion supporting the new leader of Brent Council, Cllr. Muhammed Butt, to meet with Kensal Rise Library campaigners and All Souls College to see if the building can be re-opened as a reading room under community management.

The petition above states that:

We welcome the pledge made by the new Leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, to host a summit with All Souls College and campaigners who are looking to take over the running of Kensal Rise Library building . 

We welcome the proposal for Brent Council to use Ward Based Working money to enable the building to be refurbished and run as a community facility 

We urge All Souls College, ( an Oxford college that has an endowment of over £230 million and owns the building ) to support this by offering the building on a rent free basis 

In addition to signing this petition, please email cllr.muhammed.butt@brent.gov.uk

To find out more about the recent magnificent events at Kensal Rise library go to the great I Spy In Queen's Park blog HERE