Brent TUC and ex-Labour councillor join call for independent investigation into Brent Council following racism judgment

Brent Trades Union Council (Brent TUC) has followed Brent Green Party in calling for an independent investigation into Brent Council and their Corporate Management Team:

This is the resolution passed at their meeting yesterday:

DEMAND FOR AN INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO BRENT COUNCIL AND THEIR CORPORATE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Brent Trades Union Council considers that the Employment Tribunal judgement that Brent Council has been guilty of racial discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal brings shame on the Council, especially in a borough that rightly prides itself on its diversity.

We call for the dismissal of Cara Davani, whose position is now clearly untenable, using the Council’s disciplinary procedures.  

In the light of the tribunal findings, we call for an investigation headed by an independent expert in race relations acceptable to both Councillors and Council Unions of:

1. The extent of racism and discriminatory practices within the Council;

2.  The working culture of the Human Resources department;
3.  Brent Council's Whistle Blowing Policy to ensure that it adequately protects whistle-blowers from harassment and retribution;

4. Corporate Management Team officers being paid through their private companies rather than normal payroll;
5. The contractual arrangements for CMT officers and interim appointments;
6. Previous employment and business connections between senior offices appointed by Brent Council on an interim basis.

In addition former Labour councillor and member of the Labour Representation Committee, Graham Durham has written to all the current Labour councillors:

I trust you have read of the finding of race discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal against Brent Council.

I recommend that you find time to read the full report of the case ( Employment Tribunal Case Number 3302741/2013.)

I  am sure you will agree that this is a shocking indictment  of an  individual senior manager but also  of the apparent culture which was allowed to flourish in Brent Council management. It is a disgrace to all of us in Brent and especially to the Labour Party which was in control of the Council throughout the period referred.

I am sure that you will want to ensure appropriate disciplinary action commences promptly. Perhaps more importantly I hope you will support the demand of Brent Trades Council that an independent enquiry is established headed by an independent expert in diversity practice and with membership agreed by Council trade unions and the Council members. The enquiry should cover diversity policy, management behaviour and culture and the rights of staff to be  protected  from victimisation.

Many of you will know that Brent Council once had an international reputation for challenging racism and promoting equalities. In the 1980’s the Tory press attacked the Labour Council ,of which I was proud to be a member, for our determination to challenge decades of racist behaviour. Journalists from The Sun and other papers harassed us but we stood firm. Our stand then led to a proud history of record numbers of black councillors and MPs in Brent and for Brent having a reputation as the equality Council.

This proud reputation is now in tatters. It will be important for us to debate in the party how the Council leadership allowed this to occur.

I urge you to take immediate action to try to restore our reputation

'Positive' stories from Brent Council to drown out racism findings?

A regular reader writes to point out his suspicions of news management by Brent Council

• The Kilburn Times website published an article about the Rosemarie Clarke tribunal decision on Monday lunchtime (22 September). 
• This story will hopefully appear in tomorrow's paper edition, which they would have been finalising the content for on Tuesday (23 September), with only a limited space available for Brent Council related stories.
• Also on Tuesday, Brent Council issued four press releases, each containing a "positive" story.
• Two of these press releases contain quotes from Cllr. Butt.
• Cllr. Butt is at the Labour Party conference this week, and unable to deal with important issues, such as what to do about Cara Davani in the light of the Rosemarie Clarke tribunal decision.

Brent Council's Commications Director Cheryl Curling was made redundant in January 2014. Her department was then restructured and expanded from 9 staff to 11. Existing staff had to reapply for their jobs.

This is the current structure of the folks paid to give Brent Council a great public image and mitigae any negative stories:

Recruitment for the Head of Communications was handled by our old friends Bloomsbury Resourcing LINK

Here are the 'positive stories' released on Tuesday. Hold the front page!

Free activities for National Fitness Day

Bid to build more homes in Alperton and Wembley 

Reduced waiting lists for Brent allotments

Win for Brent in prestigious horticultural awards 

One more for luck was released today:

Wembley Crossrail key to Brent's backing for Old Oak Regeneration

The latter may make it into the Wembley and Willesden Observer which always has one Brent story on the front page but very little about Brent inside.

However this was relased 8 days after Brent Cabinet made the decision about Old Oak. Not exactly hot off the press!

Brent Council: 'Key financials' for Gilbert and Davani private companies

The use of private companies by local authorities to pay senior staff has been a sourc eof considerable controversy within the Labour Party nationally.

In Brent the revelation that Christine Gilbert, Acting Chief Executive,  had her salary paid into her private company was the subject of debate in a full Council meeting. Her current salary is listed as £187,044 with more for additional duties as Returning Officer during elections. LINK

  Her company website, http://www.cgilbertassociates.com/ is currently unavailable.

These are the latest figures I could find on her company. It is due to report again in 2015.

Cara Davani also has her own Human Resources company but her website www.caradavani.com  is also unavailable.

She was paid £700 per day by Brent Council when she started as Acting Director of Human Resources

She is also an associate (but not a director) of the HR Lounge whose website IS available:http://thehrlounge.co.uk/cara-davani


Below you can find the key financial data from Cara Davani Limited which is due to report again in two months time.

 Both companies are exempt from audit due to their small size.

HR Lounge key financial data:

Fiona Ledden, Brent Chief Legal Officer and Head of Procurement and Democratic Services, has no website available but a Fiona Margarent Ledden is listed as Company Secretary and Director of Ledden Associates Ltd, registred at 4 Belmont Road, Wallington, Surrey which was dissolved in 2009. She is also listed as Director and Company Secretary of Sutton Regeneration Partenership  Ltd dissolved in 2003 and as a Director of Potters Field Management Trust, dissolved 2009. She has no current active directorships.

London marches for urgent action on climate change

Thanks to Lewisham Green Party for this video which shows the energy and urgency demonstrated on the streets of London on Saturday as we march to bring the attention of world leaders to the need to act quickly on climate change.

Newly selected Green candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn pledges support for railway renationalisation

Camden and Brent Green Parties today announced that international security expert Dr Rebecca Johnson has been selected to stand as the Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.

Rebecca with Shahrar Ali, Green Party deputy leader

Rebecca is co-chair of Compass Greens, and Vice President of CND. With a PhD from the University of London (LSE), she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and works on international security with the UN. She used to live in Kilburn, and now lives in Hackney, but has continued to cycle to Hampstead Heath, where she loves to walk and swim.

Rebecca said:

I got to know this constituency when I volunteered for Glenda Jackson's campaign in 1992. I've been talking to local people in recent weeks, and have heard them highlight the need for more affordable housing, finding environmentally sustainable alternatives to the dam nonsense that will protect both Hampstead Heath and homes from flooding, and defending local businesses and homes against the folly of HS2, while supporting the renationalisation of our rail services, on which so many of us depend.

In standing for the Greens, I will work for these goals and a raft of other policies to protect our environment and secure fair distribution of resources to help all of London's communities, especially our most disadvantaged citizens.

Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader and candidate for the neighbouring Holborn and St Pancras constituency said:

Throughout Camden voters are looking for a credible alternative to the three business-as-usual parties, and Rebecca will be a brilliant new Green voice for Hampstead and Kilburn.  With record results across Camden and Brent in the local elections this year, and Rebecca as our candidate, we're confident that we will inspire voters from across Hampstead and Kilburn that we have the policies people need.

Three candidates contested the selection and the results were declared to local Green Party members on Sunday. Greens select candidates under the single transferrable vote system, and Rebecca secured 36% of votes in the first round, equal with Brent Green Party’s Scott Bartle and ahead of Islington Green Party member Benali Hamdache. She was declared the winner with 63% of the total after second preferences were reallocated.

The process of selection of Green party candidates for Brent Central, Brent North, Harrow East and Harrow West began this weekend and the result will be known in October.

Cllr Butt had been told about concerns regarding Cara Davani well before the Employment Tribunal

Nan Tewari sent this as the comment on the piece below but I think it deserves a posting ot its own. Cllr Butt is currently at the Labour Party Conference and has made no comment on the Emplyment Tribunal Judgment against the Council and Cara Davani.

Well before this matter was lodged with the Employment Tribunal, I took the opportunity of speaking to Cllr Butt in some detail about the deleterious effect Cara Davani was having on both HR staff and across departments generally.

I explained that I had worked for a number of organisations that had needed to make improvements in staff performance and service delivery and that in every case I had managed to do this both rapidly as well as in a civilised way that did not destabilise individuals or organisations. In all instances I had delivered the service improvements required.

And yes, I did do this work as a daily paid interim working for each organisation for a few months and always with the result of leaving the organisation in better shape than I had found it on arrival.

In saying all of this to Cllr Butt, I pointed out that Davani was causing an enormous amount of damage in trying to achieve her objectives and that this was entirely unnecessary, not to say gratuitously done, as though she bore a grudge against the staff she was working with.

With reference to the piece above, I have looked through the policies in existence at the time that Davani arrived. Whilst they could have benefitted from a tidy-up and a lick of grammatical polish, they were perfectly adequate. What was wrong was that managers were untrained in how to apply the policies - a failing in many organisations, not just Brent. The policies in force pre-Davani did have the merit of affording staff a measure of protection in their contractual (employment) relationship with their employer (the council) whilst I fear that the Davani policies lack this.

As a resident in the borough, I have enormous difficulty in recognising the "modern flexible, service-first culture" lauded above. Staff are tired and resigned in the face of the deteriorating services they have to front and who can blame them? The public is treated just as badly by the council as Davani treats council staff. Notwithstanding cuts in expenditure - aka 'savings' - it is entirely possible for staff to offer a decent service if they, the staff, are well treated to begin with.

Staff do not go to work to fail - they want to go home satisfied in the knowledge that they have done an outstanding job. Good management acts as an enabler for this to occur naturally. Poor management just ensures staff 'serve their time', or clock watch.

This said, there is a notable number of staff who do succeed in rising above the oppressive conditions and I salute their dedication and professionalism.

London's Climate weekend brings out the Greens

A lovely September afternoon brought thousands on to London streets today to put pressure on governments to take action on climate change.  The demonstration coincided with others taking place in cities throughout the world.

The Green Party was particularly prominent alongside Friend sof the Earth and other environmental actvists. The demonstration included many family groups and was marked by a relaxed, friendly and very creative atmosphere.

For why we should be concerned about Climate Change read this: LINK

On Saturday, as a member of the Green Party Trade Union Group and Chair of Brent Campaign Against Climate Change, I attended the Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group conference: For A Future That Doesn't Cost the Earth: The International Fight For Climate Jobs.

With the miracle that is Skype, we heard from Fernando Losada, Director of Environmental Health and Climate Justic at National Nurses United, speaking from New York.  He talked about the work of the climate justrice movement in shifting the stance of trade unions, where the American Federation of Labour often allied themselves with oil and fracking businesses in order to protect  or create jobs large infrastructue jobs..

The movement had challenged this and their arguments for socially useful jobs had been partially successful - AFL statements in favour of big energy projects had become less bold.  One of the big battles will be over the latest phase of the Keystone Pipeline LINK

Organising this weekend's demonstration had galvanised some local unions to take a positive position that contrasted with that of their union nationally, creating dialogue about the climate change issue. Some local unions had endorsed the march forcing their national leadership to also back it.

Kjersti Barsok, Vice President, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Oslo) concentrated on their national campaign to reduce oil use which had in the 2013 Oil Alliance united 100 organisations in its demands.  This was very much a 'climate solution from below' campaign and included a  national petition to reduce oil production at source. The campaign had made links with popular movements and with May Day rallies but also put forward demands to protect workers during transition.

Dipti Bhatnagar, Friends of the Earth Internmational and Justica Ambiental addressed the conference from Mozambique via Skype. She said that many national governments and the UN had been 'captured' by corporates. The battle  was to reclaim them: 'they mist listen to the people and not to the polluters'.

Phil Pearson, TUC Senior Policy Officer for Climate Change and Energy,  suggested that TTIP was in conflict with the  UN Commission on Climate Change's argument for growth compatible with reducing climate change.  However the latter's  10 point plan was purely voluntary whereas as TTIP states combatting climate change should not restrict economic growth.

He argued that climate change measures need to be regulated on the basis of the rights of citizens but there are currently no legal machanisms in this regard. But there are regulations in place in the interests of trade,

The conference saw the launch of the new edition of  the pamphlet  One Million Climate Jobs.  Written by a group of trade unionists, environmental activists and experts it sets out in great detail  the nature of the problem and sector by sector the jobs that could be created, Practical, rather than  polemical, it is a useful tool for trade unionists working in their union to get the issue of climate change taken seriously.

We need a different, supportive & conciliatory working culture at Brent Council

I have received many comments about the Empoyment Tribunal Judgment on Brent Council and Cara Davani,  This one I thought was worth publishing separaely as it gives a different, contextual view:

First the good stuff. Before Cara Davani arrived Human Resources in Brent was not fit-for-purpose. The few staff that were under-performing or not contributing could not be tackled by managers due to inadequate policies and procedures and HR advisors who were risk adverse, without realising the damaging impact that this was having on front-line services. CD did not do all the work, and cannot take all the credit, but be in no doubt whatsoever that under her leadership HR changed and is now fit-for-purpose, helping managers to build performing teams, establishing a modern flexible, service-first (not staff-first) culture. Without CD this would not have happened. She deserves enormous credit for this. As they saying goes, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

I cannot definitively tell, but from what I have seen, CD is not a racist or prejudiced. Nevertheless, since Gareth Daniels left, the number of BME staff working in the top three tiers of managers, has unhelpfully plummeted - going down to just one at one stage. This era appeared to involve the recruitment of a number of people that had worked with the new senior officer leadership for previous employers. Perhaps this is a more benign reason for the reduction in BME senior managers?

CD's private website states that she is in a relationship with the Council's Senior Employment lawyer. Some worry that this might influence advice given and action taken. it would be a disciplined relationship indeed if both never talked informally about staff employment matters before formal employment advice is given on the same cases.

However, it is the case that many senior managers are wary of CD, the CEX and Leader. They all seem to come to quick judgements about people's careers based on small issues. CDs email in the Judgement that expressed her disappointed that a colleague did not say hello to her, is pretty typical. All three seem to have a view that managers that pre-date their coming to power 2 or 3 years ago, are somehow inferior and in many cases must go (and have gone). There has been a very strong centralisation of power, with even relatively senior managers no longer being authorised to make fairly mundane decisions. This engenders a sense that senior leaders, mistrust staff and junior managers to take those decisions, and culture of fear if small things like not saying hello, help build their view of you as an employee.

The coming year will be brutal, as heavy Government austerity cuts are implemented. This will hit services much harder than previously, as many of the softer options have already happened. Many more staff will lose their jobs in the next 18 months, and this further builds a culture of fear.

Be clear, Brent Council needed the shake-up, which Gareth Daniels launched, and CD played a big part in delivering. But it is now a brutal place to work, where expectations of staff - despite their being far fewer - is unhealthy and unreasonably high. We now need to move forward with a different supportive, conciliatory and team-building culture.