HS2 doesn't stack up - Caroline Lucas

Find out about Green Party candidates for leader and deputy

With nominations now closed we can look forward to an interesting election campaign for Leader and Deputy Leader of the Green Party.  It is a strong list of candidates and I hope we will have  wide-ranging debate about the party's political direction and its strategy for increasing the party's membership and activist base.

All the candidates have set up websites which you can find below:

Candidates for Leader of the Green Party (Alphabetical order)

Pippa Bartolotti

http://pippabartolotti.com/

Natalie Bennett

http://www.natalie4leader.org/

Peter Cranie

http://petercranie.org.uk/

Romayne Phoenix

http://www.romayneandwillforgreenleadership.org.uk/

Candidates for Deputy Leader of the Green Party (Alphabetical order)

Caroline Allen

http://carolinefordeputy.org/

Will Duckworth

http://www.romayneandwillforgreenleadership.org.uk/

Richard Mallender

http://www.richardfordeputy.org/

Alexandra Phillips

http://www.alexfordeputy.org.uk/

Election Timetable

·  late July/early August - ballot papers issued with Green World

·  31 August 2012 - voting closes

·  11am, Monday 3 September 2012 - declaration of results

Wembley Consultative Forum on July 4th

The next Wembley Area Consultative Forum will be held on Wednesday 4th July at Patidar House, London Road, off Wembley High Road. The meeting starts at 7pm. Get there a little earlier to fill in a form if you wish to speak at a Soapbox.

Agenda

• Parking Charges - an update
• Tackling illegal waste dumping
• Shaping a Healthier Future
• Localisation of Council Tax Benefit
• Wembley Area Action Plan
• Draft Cemeteries Strategy

We are being denied 'rightful access' to funding for day-to-day living - Disabled People Against Cuts

Report from Kate Belgrave.com

I Went down to the Royal Courts of Justice this morning, where an application had been made by members of the Mental Health Resistance Network for permission for a judicial review of the work capability assessment process. A judge was deciding whether or not people with mental health issues should be able to apply for a judicial review of the WCA process. 

Adam Lotun, press spokesperson for Disabled People Against The Cuts, said that Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments had developed “into a vehicle that is being used to deny people [with disabilities] their rightful access to funding and resources to assist them in their day-to-day living.” 

He said that the other reason for seeking the review was to stop the same damaging process being used to assess people on disability living allowance as DLA is phased out and replaced with the personal independence payment – “we want to stop the killing of the disability living allowance.” 

“These (benefits) were brought in to ensure that people of all different levels would be able to get access to funding, or resources, to enable them to cope and exist with the rest of society. Well, now that’s being taken away from us.”

 Claimants argue that the work capability assessment process discriminates against people with mental health issues.

 Result from the end of the day: Adam Lotun texted to say that: “The judge will give a decision early next week. In closing remarks, the judge said that this is something that involves hundreds and thousands of people,” and that there was concern that people would ultimately fill the court system with individual claims.

Campaign for Barclays to lose its banking licence launched

Following yesterday's revelations an e-petition has been launched on the government website asking that Barclay's banking licence be withdrawn.

The petition reads:

Within a capitalist economy banks perform a vital function in facilitating the production and exchange of goods and services. In return for fulfilling this role responsibly they are allowed to hold a banking licences, which brings them great benefits in terms of the ability to create money through making loans. The systematic manipulation of the LIBOR value to serve its business interests makes clear that Barclays is not a fit company to hold a banking licence. We call upon the government to withdraw Barclays banking licence.

The petition can be found HERE

RBS IT failure may affect Brent council tax transactions

Following from Brent Council:

Brent uses the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as its clearing bankers.

On Wednesday, 20 June, a software upgrade at the bank failed, resulting in services being unavailable. This was a nationwide problem affecting individuals and businesses that bank with RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

The problems affecting reporting systems meant that whatever transactions were undertaken, neither customers nor bank staff could accurately identify transactions or balances.

As a result we have been unable to verify some customers' payments including Council Tax. This could result in us writing to some customers to recover 'debts' which have actually been paid.

We will do everything possible to minimise the impact on customers and at the moment we are not aware of any transactions that have either failed or been duplicated. We will keep customers informed as more information becomes available.

Support Romayne Phoenix for Green Party leader

I am pleased to be able to support Romayne Phoenix's election campaign for the leadership of the Green Party and Will Duckworth as her running mate for the deputy leadership.

My endorsement which is on the campaign website HERE reads:

In a time of unprecedented global climate and economic crisis and with the welfare state under sustained attack, the Green Party needs a leader with grit and determination, firmly rooted in campaigns for environmental and social justice. Romayne Phoenix has demonstrated that she is able to forge alliances with other groups and trades unions, communicate across the social spectrum, and inspire all those in struggle. She would make an excellent leader.

Among others endorsing Romayne's campaign are:

Peter Tatchell (Human Rights campaigner)
Sasha Khan (Croydon Green Party)
Shan Oakes (Equalities and Diversity Officer, Green Party executive)
Lindsey German  (Stop the War Coalition and Coalition of Resistance)
Paul Mackney (former NATFHE General Secretary and the Coalition of Resistance)

 Romayne and Will want to position firmly in the anti-austerity movement:

The Green Party must be at the heart of the battle against austerity, becoming centrally involved in anti-cuts campaigns where they already exist and encouraging their formation wherever absent. We must also work towards such campaigns including a Green agenda, for instance seeking to defend and expand public transport provision in localities as part of the fight against public spending cuts.

Our position against austerity remains a fundamental differential between us and the other parties. We must have an effective campaign strategy, led by a dynamic and properly resourced campaigns committee. We should seek to involve trade unions, tenants associations, community organisations and students in broad and inclusive organisations at local level.

Since its creation in 2010 Romayne has chaired the Coalition of Resistance, a broad grouping of organisations and individuals who are building a national and international movement of opposition to cuts, privatisation and the victimisation of the most vulnerable in society. These connections and experience make Romayne and Will ideally placed to build the network needed to secure this alliance.

By becoming more effective allies in their defence of jobs and living standards we might hope to become the party that nurses, teachers and transport workers identify with most.

The Campaign FACEBOOK page is HERE

NOTE: I give this support and endorsement as an individual member of the Green Party. Other members of Brent Green Party may well support other candidates.

Save Hopscotch Nursery

News from Gurgle.com LINK

Brent parents are up in arms. First the council decided to close two valued nurseries, Treetops Children’s Centre in Willesden and Harmony Children’s centre in Neasden, and now they are planning to close a third, highly sought after nursery. Another blow to the community in troubled times. Hopscotch Nursery, which was awarded 'outstanding' in it's ofsted report in 2011 and 2012, has been in the Queen’s Park area for 20 years and has been providing parents with a private nursery and also daily stay and play facilities, much needed by parents in the community.

Leigh Steckler 36, has 3 children and lives in the local area, 2 of which have been at Hopscotch nursery.

 

“If Hopscotch closes, there just isn’t an alternative nursery in the area. There is a serious lack of nursery places in our area, and I was lucky to get my son into Hopscotch in the first place. Brent Council seem to have given up on the situation arguing that they don’t have a duty to keep Hopscotch as it’s not council run.. it’s very sad for all the local parents”

Interestingly, Brent do in fact have a statutory duty, under the 2006 childrens act, to ensure sufficient childcare for working parents. The act says that local authorities must take the strategic lead in their local childcare market, planning, supporting and commissioning childcare by working with local private, voluntary and independent sector providers to meet local need.

So, families in Brent have grounds to require that Brent council provide childcare, but what can be done; a full campaign has been launched to save the long running nursery which sets out to highlight the real lack of nursery provision in the area and the terrible loss to the community if the nursery and drop-in were to close.

Another Hopscotch Mum, Claire Hind 31, says

“I had just moved into the area and had a new baby. I was slightly daunted at the prospect of meeting other mums but I found the drop in details online and went along. I met so many local mums, all with the same age children as me, it was like a little community”

The situation in Brent

• Brent has a high and increasing birth rate relative to the national average and to the London average.
• 30% of families who already use childcare predicted their need for childcare will increase in future (compared to 10% who said it would decrease.)
• 38% of Brent families surveyed need childcare between 8am and 6pm
• 25.8% of parents surveyed reported they were unable to find childcare within the hours they required

The situation in the area surrounding Hopscotch

In the report, 'Kilburn' means Kilburn, Brondesbury Park, Mapesbury and Queen's Park.

All points below were true at the time of publication (Feb 2011.)

• There are 3, 253 nought to four year- olds in Kilburn.
• Compared to other Brent localities, families in Kilburn require the most hours of childcare (average = 28.1 per week)
• Kilburn has no childcare places at playgroup or pre-school (Kingsbury and Wembley have more than 100.)
• It has the lowest number of childminder places in the borough (120 compared to 222 in Willesden.)
• It has the lowest number of vacancies in the borough at both childminders and nurseries
• In 2011 there were only 12 part- time nursery vacancies for 2- 5 year- olds and only two for children over 3 (full time nursery vacancies not reported.)
• In a survey, Kilburn families were the least satisfied in the borough with availability, choice and ease of obtaining childcare
• 54% of Kilburn parents disagreed with the statement: 'there is plenty of childcare available.'
• The report concludes that:

“there may be a lack of choice of childcare (in Kilburn) compared to other localities (and that) The availability of childcare may be more of an acute problem faced by families in Kilburn than it is for families in the rest of Brent.”

This ‘acute’ problem faced by family’s needs to be addressed by the council in providing more childcare in the area and making available there facilities to make sure parents have access to daily drop in centre’s and have a choice about their childcare. Having no option is not an option.

Parents also relayed their fears for affordable childcare if plans to close Hopscotch go ahead. Parents in the borough say that many of them will be forced to give up jobs because of a shortage of affordable nursery places. While Hopscotch costs £33 a day, other local nurseries are said to cost up to £70.

In a report written by the Director of Children and Families in Brent, it states,

“A growing body of evidence shows that good pre-school childcare gives children a head start and leads to better outcomes as they move through school. It also allows children to take part in a wide range of interesting activities that foster their personal development in a safe environment”

Brent are obviously well aware of the advantage of the children in their borough getting the best start in their educational and social lives, so putting parents and children under financial and emotional stress by giving them no alternative childcare seems illogical.

For more information about the possible closure of the much loved Hopscotch nursery, please click here.

To join the Save Hopscotch Nursery campaign, please click here http://savehopscotch.org.uk/