Shining a light on Brent Central nomination struggle

Let your little light shine.... (Source Waltham Forest Guardian)

Dawn Butler and Zaffar van Kalwala were selected as female and male Brent Central Labour parliamentary candidates last night giving them the first two wards to nominate.

Labour insiders suggest that not too much should be read into this as Tokyngton and Stonebridge, along with Harlesden, are the pair's strongest wards and the six other wards may come up with a more mixed result.

Willesden Green will nominate tonight where Bernard Collier is also standing as a councillor. Harlesden and Kensal Green are on Monday; Dollis Hill Tuesday, Mapesbury Wednesday and Dudden Hill and Welsh Harp on Thursday.

Meanwhile Patrick Vernon went on a mini-offensive today posting backing from  the Unison London Region and Lord Herman Ousley. He also issued a statement on the Central Middlesex A&E closure.

Vernon claims that the failure to scrutinise and challenge the NHS over recent years meant that Central Middlesex A&E was easier to close than Ealing or Lewisham. LINK

A name I was not familiar with has also emerged. Dr Tony Breslin has his own public policy company LINK and has this to say about his suitability for the position of MP:

· A Labour Party member for 32 years, originally in Manor Ward, in what is now Brent Central
· A Harlesden resident throughout my childhood and youth, and during the early years of my
career, with a range of enduring local friendships and connections, and the kind of rich local
knowledge that derives from being “Made in Harlesden”
· A seasoned political campaigner on issues as diverse as eldercare, mental health, educational
reform and youth participation
· A confident media performer, with radio, TV and print experience, who is ready to handle the
spotlight that will fall on Brent Central as the election approaches
· A teacher by profession and an experienced charity leader who has influenced and helped to
develop policy nationally in fields as diverse as education, participation and community
cohesion
· Confident about re-winning this seat for Labour and willing and able to put in the hard work that will be required to do so
· Ready to play an effective role in Parliament as a champion for all of the people of Brent
Central

Some local Labour Party members, after the expenses scandal, are get to have a 'clean candidate' with no skeletons in the cupboard. They have not been impressed by revelations that Liaquat Ali  MBE ran into trouble, when a councillor in Waltham Forest,  with his 'house of lights' (photo above) for which he had not received planning permission. He was the cabinet member for communities at the time. He was ordered to reduce the size of the structure by council officers. LINK  Earlier, in 2008, the Daily Mail headlined his fine, from Waltham Forest Council, for the unauthorised  absence from school of his daughter who he took on Hajj.LINK

The Council said:

Waltham Forest Council does not condone removing young people unnecessarily from education during term time. This disrupts their learning and may lead to young people missing vital lessons.The Council will seek to punish those responsible regardless of status or position within the local community.

Liaquat Ali was a magistrate until 2007 when he stepped down to become Mayor.

Brent to investigate if it has powers to ban fracking

Following the campaign by Friends of the Earth and the recent demonstration by Brent FoE at Willesden Green station. along with my own modest suggestion that local authorities declare 'Fracking Free Zones' LINK along the lines of the 'Nuclear Free Zones' of the 70s and 80s, Brent Council today announced that they are the first London Council investigating whether it has powers to ban fracking in the borough.

Some may argue that this would be gesture politics as fracking is unlikely in the borough but I think as with the Nuclear Free Zones it would make a clear statement of principle that may well come in useful in the future as technology advances. As such it will be welcomed by Brent Green Party.

This is the Council Statement

Brent Council is to become the first local authority in London to investigate whether powers under the Localism or Planning Acts allow it to ban fracking in the borough.

Residents of the borough and Friends of the Earth have been campaigning for councillors from all parties to pledge to prevent any fracking from taking place within the borders of Brent. The council has now promised to look at utilising any legal avenues it has at its disposal to stop shale gas extraction. It is believed to be the first step of this kind by a council in the UK.

Campaigners and residents are concerned that fracking can lead to mild earthquakes, large quantities of methane gas being released and a poisoning of the water supply, while many organisations also worry that the industry, because of how new it is, is still not regulated or supervised closely enough.

Scores of councils, states and local authorities around the world have banned fracking in their areas but Brent would be the first council in the UK to do it.

Brent Council is also argues that the Big Energy Switch, where residents can sign up to bulk buying their electricity through their local authority which would save people money on their energy bills in the short term.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Muhammed Butt, said:-

While there may be advantages to fracking in some parts of the country it would be dangerous and reckless for companies to start drilling in Brent. I will do everything legally within my power to address the concerns of residents and keep Brent a frack-free zone.

Councils have significant and widespread powers which allow us to stand up for the rights of residents. I am determined to use these powers to help reassure people that fracking in Brent will always be a non-starter.

While fracking may not be planned for Brent yet, the rapid pace and scale of fracking technology means that we need to act now if we are to ensure we have the necessary examination of the powers we have to potentially prevent it from happening in the future.

Gardiner: Councils must be allowed to build new schools

I wrote to Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, recently, asking him to support the campaign for local authorities to be restored the right to build new schools to deal with the school places shortage.

This is his response:

Thank you for contacting me recently regarding school places and the related campaign by the NUT.

I share your concern and that of many parents, teachers and headteachers about the growing crisis in school places. Indeed, the number of primary schools with more than 800 places (so-called 'titan; schools) has trebled since 2010 and the number of infants in classes of 30 or more has doubled in the past year.

Recent figures from the National Audit Office (NAO) has also found that 256,000 new school places need to be provided by 2014/15 to meet increased demand and the Local Government Association (LGA) has also warned that 1,000 of the 2,277 local school planning districts will be  over capacity by 2015/16. Here in Brent there are currently 3.2% more children than school places which could rise to a 10.3% shortfall in 2016/17.

Providing a proper, high quality place for every child is one of the foremost duties for any Government and it is clear that responsibility for this growing crisis in school places rests squarely with the current Government.

Firstly, the Government has prioritised its Free School programme, which has often delivered new places in areas where there is not shortages. I firmly believe that in the current economic climate funding for new school places should be prioritised for areas where there is a genuine need and it cannot be right that millions of pounds have been spent opening free schools with a surplus of places.

The Government have also failed to provide a fair deal for capital spending in education, with the cut to education capital being greater than that of all other Government departments.

The Government have also refused to give Local Authorities the power to set up schools to respond to shortages. I believe that allowing local authorities this power could be a practical solution to ease the pressure on places and I know that many parents and organisations, including the NUT, are calling for urgent action to address this. I also believe it is important to look at how local communities could be given a bigger say when new schools are being created and how a local accountability framework for schools could be strengthened.



The Government should also ensure that there is a qualified teacher in every classroom.

I can assure you that I will continue to press the Government to address this growing crisis in school places and ensure that new schools are created in areas where they are most needed.

Barry Gardiner: Central Middlesex A&E closure 'devastating'

This is the exchange between Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North and Jeremy Hunt following the latter's announcement of the closure of Central Middlesex A&E in Parliament yesterday:

Barry Gardiner (Brent North, Labour)

This decision is devastating for my constituents. The Secretary of State will know that in the last winter period, Northwick Park hospital and Central Middlesex hospital, which comprise the North West London Hospitals Trust, were the worst-performing hospitals when it came to meeting A and E targets not only in London, but in the country. The trust scored 81.03%. That is an appalling record. What he has done today, by announcing the almost immediate closure of Central Middlesex, can only make that much worse. The College of Emergency Medicine has said that his reconfigured hospitals should have at least 16 consultants in their emergency departments, but his decision will give them 10—and that is not for major trauma centres. Will he elaborate on what he will do to bring the number of consultants up to the level required by the college?

Jeremy Hunt (South West Surrey, Conservative)

Has the hon. Gentleman, who is so against these proposals, not noticed the proposals for more emergency care doctors, more critical care doctors and more psychiatric liaison support for A and E departments, which will reduce pressure on A and Es and mean that people admitted through A and Es for emergency care will not have a 10% higher chance of mortality if they are admitted at weekends? His constituents will be among the first to benefit from that. I would caution him, therefore, against saying that this is devastating for his constituents. We were reminded in Prime Minister’s questions earlier of how Labour suffered from predicting massive job losses, when in fact there was an increase in jobs. This announcement is good news for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, and he should welcome it

Chalkhill: A Growing community

The day after media publicity about the health benefits of gardening it was good to spend yesterday helping out with other volunteers on the Chalkhill allotments.

We were clearing the raised beds for the new season and topping them up with compost. There were problems with growing last year because there was no water source on the allotment that runs alongside the Metropolitan railway line.

That should be resolved shortly after an agreement between Metropolitan Housing and the Well London project on Chalkhill to install a water supply.  Anyone interested in  growing healthy local food and improving their own health through the exercise involved in gardening should look out for publicity regarding bagging one of the plots.

Brent Council to separate Children's and Adult's Social Care

In March this year I spoke to the Brent Council General Purposes Committee about the proposed restructuring of departments and in particular voiced concern about  the proposal to put Children's Social Care and Adult Social Care along with Education and Health  under one Director. LINK  It would create a department where there was a risk of high profile failures regarding vulnerable adults and children. In the wake of tragedies involving the death of children and adults it was essential to have clear lines of responsibility on safeguarding.

The General Purposes Committee on November 7th will receive a report recommending separating the roles:

It was agreed that during August and September, Gatenby Sanderson (recuitment agency) would continue in their search for suitable candidates for the post of Strategic Director, Education, Health and Social Care. However, this has not proved successful. Many candidates considered the role too large and though a couple of experienced candidates were interested, we could not match their expectations in terms of salary. Director posts involving children’s social care are perceived as high risk in local government and remain the most difficult job to fill. As Ofsted’s recent Annual Report on social care indicates, there is considerable volatility in leadership and ‘one in three local authorities has had a change in their director of children’s services last year alone’. (Ofsted, 2013)

The General Purposes Committee is asked to agree to the revised structure as follows:

a. deletion of the posts of Strategic Direcor, Governance and Corporate Services and Strategic Director Education, Health and Social Care
b. deletion of the posts of Strategic Director, Adult Social Care
c. establishment of the new post of Strategic Director, Adults
d. establishment of new post of Strategic Director, Children and Young People

I welcome this move as establishing clearer and more manageable responsibilities and thus establishing a more robust safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults.

Harlesden Incinerator: A community's plea to Ealing Council

Butt: Central Middlesx A&E closure puts residents at risk

Responding to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s announcement earlier today that Central Middlesex Hospital’s Accident and Emergency department is to be closed, the Leader of Brent Council Muhammed Butt said:

Central Middlesex Hospital provides vital emergency services for some of the most vulnerable people in our borough. Mr Hunt’s reckless and politically-motivated decision to close this busy and well-used A&E unit will put chronically sick, mentally ill and elderly Brent residents at risk.

The Coalition has not produced any evidence to suggest that more out of hospital services will result in better care for local people, or to reassure residents that Northwick Park and Ealing Hospitals will be able to plug the gap it intends to create in our local health service.

Brent Council objected to the Government’s savage plan in the strongest possible terms in a submission made directly to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel on NHS service change, and I will continue to campaign against this decision.