The funding crisis facing Brent Council

The current round of Brent Connects forums (this week there is one for Wembley on Tuesday (see side bar for details) will hear a presentation about the Borough plan.  That plan will incorporate a worsening financial situation for the borough over the next 4 years which seems unlikely to be mitigated by any change of government.

This is the budget cycle for the 2015-16 budget:

The Council Tax Base shows a slight increase due to increased population and more properties being built in the borough. Additionally more people are paying Council Tax after the Council Tax Support changes. However Central Government funding of local authorities continues to reduce. New Social Care legislation which caps the amount people pay and a reduction in parking charges revenue also affect the picture.

The overall impact is a reduction in funding of £50 by 2018-19:

It is also likely that changes in education funding nationally will see a decrease in London, and of course Brent, after 2015 with some envisaging school budget cuts of 12%.

The report LINK going to the Cabinet tomorrow contains the usual structures on legality:

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A local authority must budget so as to give a reasonable degree of certainty as to the maintenance of its services. In particular, local authorities are required by the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to calculate as part of their overall budget what amounts are appropriate for contingencies and reserves. The Council must ensure sufficient flexibility to avoid going into deficit at any point during the financial year. The Chief Financial Officer is required to report on the robustness of the proposed financial reserves.

Under the Brent Member Code of Conduct members are required when reaching decisions to have regard to relevant advice from the Chief Finance Officer and the Monitoring Officer. If the Council should fail to set a budget at all or fail to set a lawful budget, contrary to the advice of these two officers there may be a breach of the Code by individual members if it can be demonstrated that they have not had proper regard to the advice given.

This is the source of the claim, likely to be heard at Brent Connects, that the Council has no alternative but to administer Coalition cuts.

Willesden Green Cultural Centre space to be let for 'income generation' rather than One Stop service for residents

When residents opposed the redevelopment of Willesden Green Library and the consequent loss of the Willesden Bookshop, cinema, cafe, museum, art gallery and meeting rooms they were assured that the community would gain not only a Cultural Centre but a Brent Council customer service that would mirror that on offer at the new Civic Centre in Wembley. LINK

The Future Customer Service Project aims to improve efficiency and clarity of the services offered to citizens. The strategy is dependent on developing a new customer contact centre at WGLC providing a service for the south of the borough, an area where many of the Council‟s high need customers reside.

Now a report from Andy Donald to be considered by the Cabinet tomorrow will recommend as part of a new  'Customer Access Strategy' that this be ditched.  The new strategy will rely mainly on Internet access where library staff might help residents get on to the system and a replacement for the telephone system that was installed at the Civic Centre just two years ago.

The report LINK states:

There are other implications for this approach in respect of the new Library at Willesden, including the opportunity to make use of the surplus space in the new building for alternative uses that are of public benefit and in keeping with the ethos of the building. It is proposed that the Council enter into a local dialogue about options for alternative uses in the space. Any use of the space will need to be income generating and as a minimum will need to cover the proportionate running costs such as Business Rates, heating, lighting, cleaning and maintenance.

This news comes on top of the controversy over the  development's luxury apartments, which have already been onward sold twice by property companies before completion, and which have been marketed abroad as investment opportunities with the 'benefit' of  no affordable or key worker housing on site.

Latest prices included £450,000 for a one bedroom flat.

The new strategy will also include changes at the Civic Centre:

The Civic Centre Service Centre includes dedicated self service space on the ground floor which has proved to be very popular with visitors. Members of staff are available within this area to assist visitors to use the self service facilities and also to encourage use of on line services where these are available. The current configuration of the Service Centre will need to be adapted to meet the increasing demand for self service with a concurrent reduction to the numbers of visitors requiring a more traditional face to face interview. Proposals are therefore being drawn up to change the layout of the service centre at the Civic Centre to reflect the need for greater self service provision in the future and to relocate the reception from the mezzanine floor to the ground floor to ensure that visitors’ needs can be quickly assessed when they approach the ground floor area.

It sounds like one of those supermarkets where you find all the tills are self-service.

The report states (original English in the report retained):

Face to face interview will continue to be available for residents who need a more help and assistance in resolving their enquiry.

But it appears that these are likely to be only available on a weekly basis and by appointment:

.        An equality impact assessment for the new community access strategy is attached as Appendix C. The overall impact assessment indicates that the extension of on line access to services could benefit many protected groups providing easy and convenient access on a 24/7 basis. As all channels of contact will remain available, the strategy offers all residents, including those in protected groups enhanced and improved access arrangements. The reconfiguration of the Services centre at Willesden will reduce the availability of face to face interviews with officers, however these will still be available at the Civic Centre and at Willesden by way of a weekly surgery. Residents using self service computers located in the library at Willesden will also be able to speak to an officer using free phones to assist them with any enquiries or to support them through the self service process. During the early stages of the opening of the new Willesden library, staff will be available to provide details about the options available for face to face enquiries from both the Civic Centre and Willesden.

How the Hands Off Hove Park campaign successfully opposed academisation

Natasha Steel of the Hands Off Hove Park campaign told the Anti Academies Alliance yesterday how a group of parents, teachers and community activists successfully opposed the academy conversion of their school.

Brent Council to expand & merge schools & seek free school partners to tackle places crisis

The Brent Cabinet will tomorrow consider the School Place Planning Strategy 2014-18. It includes the above actions and the following schemes:

Expansion of the following schools in 2015 at a cost of £19.5m:

• Byron Court Primary to increase by two forms of entry (2 additional classes in each age group)
• Leopold Primary school to increase by two forms of entry on the site of the Gwenneth Rickus Building in Brentfield Road (2 additional classes in each age group)
• Oakington Manor Primary to increase by one form of entry (one additional class in each age group)

Amalgamations of the following separate infant and junior schools into all-through primary schools. It should be noted that the second two  involve expansion as well as amalgamation and in the Kilburn case a new building. This is a significant challenge to headteachers in terms of disruption.:

• Lyon Park Infants and Juniors (currently operating under one  headteacher)
• Carlton Vale Infants and Kilburn Park Juniors (subject to agreement on a suitable shared site for an expanded school in the South Kilburn regeneration area)
• Malorees Infants and Malorees Junior  (subject to agreement by the governing bodies of both schools to amalgamation and expansion)

 The Cabinet will also consider the use of a former school site in The Avenue, Brondesbury for educational use. The site is currently owned by a developer. The site could potentially be used for SEN provision.

The report notes that proposed free schools in the borough will potentially provided a total of 10 forms of entry for primary pupils and 9.3 for secondary pupils in the 2014-18 period.

The report notes:

....to be funded directly by the Education Funding Agency (EVA) at no cost to the council. There is a risk to the council that if all of these places are not provided via this route that the council will need to provide places  and fund the associated expenditure.

This September both Gateway and Gladstone secondary free schools failed to open despite recruiting pupils.

The council's policy to seek free school partners (Action 5 above) will be controversial in the light of problems associated with free schools not opening on time, having fewer pupils than designated so provided at considerable expense, and often without the backers having a proven track.

The report can be found HERE and the full Strategy HERE

Natalie Bennett explains Green Party policy on education

Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green party, spoke yesterday at a meeting of the Anti Academies Alliance on Green Party policy. My apologies for the jerkiness of the video at the beginning.

Natalie Bennett to debate Green Party Education Policy ahead of the General Election

Natalie Bennett will be speaking on Saturday at a meeting on 'Education and the election - a discussion meeting about education policy' ahead of the General Election.

Cllr Peter Downes will be speaking on behalf of the Liberal Democrats and Cllr Emine Ibrahim for Labour.

Natasha Steel will be speaking from the Hove Park Campaign which successfully defeated academisation plans.

Education and the Election – which way forward for education?
Saturday 11th October 2-4 pm
Open Meeting ALL Welcome
Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

Organised by the Anti Academies Alliance

Green Party Education Policy LINK

Pavey Review won't address the real issues at Brent Council

On Tuesday Brent Council issued a statement expanding on the Pavey Review of Human Resources at Brent Council following the Employment Tribunal.  I reproduce it below for your information.

I am afraid that the review completely fails to recognise and address the seriousness of the allegations about the conduct of HR in Brent Council and the evidence in the Employment Tribunal papers. It does not encompass the wider problem of apparent collusion by senior council officers in that conduct.

The Pavey Review is unsatisfactory because:

1. It will be conducted while staff remain in fear of victimisation and bullying and their eventual loss of job as a result of revealing what is going on inside the Council. At the very least the senior staff concerned should be suspended (a neutral act) while the review takes place. The emails and phone calls I have had from Brent staff as a result of Wembley Matters' coverage of the issue leave me in no doubt that current staff will need a lot of persuading to speak openly. There is also the question of staff who have left and the gagging clauses imposed by HR as well as HR's ban on staff (on pain of dismissal) speaking to elected councillors about employment issues.

2. Michael Pavey is very close to Muhammed Butt, leader of the Council.  Cllr Butt has been alleged to be the 'prisoner' of members of the Corporate Management Team as a result of the machinations that took place over the sacking and replacement of previous Chief Executive Gareth Daniel.  Pavey has said he sees his role in the Council as backing Muhammed Butt's leadership and has excelled at this since his appointment in the role. It is doubtful whether he will produce any findings that are critical of Butt's leadership.

3. Michael Pavey as well as being Deputy Leader is lead member responsible for  Council as Employer, Legal Service, Complaints and Equalities. At least three of those areas of which he is in charge are those that have failed to some extent according to the Employment Tribunal and its accompanying evidence.  In effect Pavey will be investigating the effectiveness of his own oversight of these departments.

4. The last sentence of the Council statement appears to preempt the outcome of the investigation by assuming that the result will be in the form of 'individual action plans'. If the problem is systemic then there has to be action at that level.

In the light of the above the appointment of an independent investigator, acceptable to both sides, is still the only viable option if the aim is to get to the root of the problem.

BRENT COUNCIL STATEMENT

A review of Brent Council's HR and equalities practice and procedures is set to be spearheaded by Councillor Michael Pavey, Deputy Leader of the Council, in light of the recent employment tribunal.
The review aims to identify where improvements can be made and ensure that appropriate action plans are developed and delivered. The review will include a comprehensive survey of all HR and equalities policies and procedures and will ensure that a diverse range of views and perspectives are considered.

Advice from external experts will be sought and the review will look to learn from best practice at other local authorities.

Councillor Pavey says: “The diverse nature of Brent Council’s workforce is one of our core strengths and, importantly, is reflective of the diversity of local people. Therefore, it is vital that we shine a light on our existing policies and procedures to ensure that we constantly strive for best practice to support people of all backgrounds to achieve their full potential.

“I am committed to leading a full and detailed review to determine where improvements can be made. I will be working closely with colleagues inside the council and external experts to achieve this and will ensure there is involvement from members of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities throughout the process.”

The first draft of the report is scheduled for December 2014, with a commitment to the delivery and implementation of individual action plans in January 2015.