The price you pay for 'BIg Name' local convenience stores

Guest blog by Michaela Lichten, the Green party candidate fro the Kenton By-election

On the campaign trail one of the most common responses to a discussion on sustainable and local/farmer’s markets food shopping is: that it’s all right for people that have got money but that people living in the ‘real world’ have to watch their budgets and that means a trip to one of the big 4 supermarkets.

Let me share my response: if you use the small ‘local’, ‘express’ or convenience stores of the big 4 you could be paying up to 40% more for your shopping! 

Yes, in 2013 an orange in a Tesco Express shop cost 40% more than at one of their superstores according to The Daily Mail (13/5/13).

Prices analysis showed that Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco all put hefty premiums on the limited stock in their smaller outlets.

The average consumer doesn’t realise that there can be a routine difference of 11% in pricing between Tesco Express and its superstores whilst a sample basket at Sainsbury’s Local costs 10.2% more than at a larger store and Waitrose downsized branches can be up to 7% more expensive.

What price convenience indeed!

The second way that these giants hit at the pocket of those on a budget is, that they are often the only convenience store on estates, new builds, in poorer areas or in areas poorly served by transport links and so the poorest often find themselves paying the most for their food.

Plus we are changing the way we shop with an increase in ‘top-up’ shops fuelling a surge of almost 10% in the number of convenience stores owned by supermarkets in recent years. 

Therefore the perception that these large companies offer the best value is one that is costing us dear.

Powney: Cabinet's 'blatant disregard makes everyone involved look ridiculous'

 

Front page of this week's Kilburn Times

Former councllor James Powney takes up the issue of the Labour Group vote in favour of a Council Tax rise, and the leadership's decision to ignore the vote in his blog LINK

Cllr John Duffy has made a formal complaint to the Coinstiutional officer of the Labour Party over the issue.

This is what James Powney said:

Reports of the discussion of Council Tax increases cause me some embarrassment as a member of the Labour Party.  It seems that the Labour Group debated and voted on the issue, deciding in favour of a rise just short of what would trigger a referendum.  This seems eminently sensible to me for reasons I have explained. 

It now appears that the Executive plan to simply ignore the majority of the Group, and freeze the Council Tax.  I have never heard of such a thing in Brent or in any other authority, or indeed any other party.  Such blatant disregard makes everyone involved look ridiculous.

It is normal for Budgets to be subject to Group whipping, but since the majority voted in favour of an increase, I would have thought the Labour whip is in favour of the increase rather than against it.

Claim back our cash: Reclaim our Services! - Coalition to be invoiced tomorrow by Brent campaigners

Brent Fightback will be presenting an Invoice to local represenatives of the Coalition partners tomorrow for all the money that has been taken away from Brent residents through the cuts in local government funding.  Fightback encourages local people, suffering from the cuts, to join them for just a few minutes at Willesden Green (2pm) or Preston Road (3pm) or both.

Deferred Welsh School-King Eddie's Park planning application to be heard on March 4th

Here are the details from the Planning Department:
 

Bowling Club and Collins Lodge, King Edward VII Park, Park Lane, Wembley

I refer to the planning application for the above site which proposes:-

Change of use of the bowling pavillion and adjoining land (Use class D2) into a primary school (Use class D1) also including the erection of a single storey classroom block, and part change of use of the land adjoining Collins Lodge (Use class C3) into parkland (Use class D2)

The application will be formally considered at the meeting of the Planning Committee on 4 March, 2015. The meeting will be held at Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ starting at 7.00pm. You are welcome to attend the meeting and listen to the proceedings. It is possible to speak to the Committee subject to the restrictions set out in the Council's Standing Order. These provide for one objector and/or one supporter of the application to speak. The Chair has the discretion to increase this to two people from each side. In doing this, the Chair will give priority to occupiers nearest to the application site or representing a group of people. To address the committee you must speak to Democratic Services at least one clear day before the meeting and arrive at the Brent Civic Centre at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts. Please telephone the Democratic Services Officer, Mr Joe Kwateng, on 020 8937 1354 during office hours.

Whether or not you attend the meeting you will be subsequently informed in writing of the Council's decision.

The Chief Planner's recommendation for this application is to Grant Consent.

For a full copy of the report which Members will be considering AND to view information that explains who the members of the Committee are; the "Standing Order" of the Council which permits members of the public to address the meeting, details of the layout of the room and an explanation of the types of decisions Members can make, visit our website at www.brent.gov.uk/planningcommittee

Children, young people and parents will challenge Brent Cabinet over cuts on Monday

Monday's Cabinet will be approving the budget to go to the Full Council on March 2nd amidst press coverage of the row over the leadership refusing to take account of the vote of the Labour Group in favour of a Council Tax rise.

Meanwhile residents, and particularly the young and parents, have got togather to challenge some of those cuts.

The Cabinet will be receiving an unusually high number of petitions, accompanied by speeches from the petition organisers, which indicates the strength of feeling in the borough.

I am sure they will welcome support from the public at the meeting which starts at 7pm in the Civic Centre.

These are the petitions:

Cabinet – 23 February 2015

Petitions have been received in the following terms in response to the budget proposals:

1) Keep Stonebridge Adventure Playground Open “We the undersigned insist that the redevelopment of

Stonebridge School and the new housing, includes keeping the Stonebridge Adventure Playground open.”

From:         Brent Play Association

2) Keep Welsh Harp Environmental Study Centre open This petition comprises numerous letters from individual children at Chalkhill Primary School.

From:         Chalkhill Primary School

3) Save our youth service (paper and e petition)

“Youth services are vital for young people as well as the community and we

believe there will be an adverse effect if the service no longer exists. This will

put added pressure on statutory services such as the Youth Offending

Service, the police and social care. We call on Brent Council to consult with young people effectively before making any cuts to any youth provision in the borough.

We call on Brent Council to scrutinise existing provision to ensure that these

resources are appropriate and effective. The young people of Brent are willing and able to assist Brent Council with this important task. We call upon Brent Council to consider the voice ofyoung people in the light of these savings!”

E-petition: started by Roisin Healy (Brent Youth Parliament)

4) Save School Crossings Patrols

“Brent Council is under a legal duty to promote road safety and to promote sustainable transport, such as walking and cycling.  Road traffic accidents are the biggest killer of children in the UK (they peak when children start primary school and secondary school). 2011-2020 is the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety. School Patrol Officers are an integral partof the community, ensuring the safety of our children and they encourage children to have independence. Many schools in Brent are on busy roads (e.g. Salusbury Primary School and Islamia on Salusbury Road in NW6) which are only going to get busier with new housing developments with a new influx of cars and residents. Our roads should become safer places for our children, not more dangerous. And children should be encouraged to walk and cycle to school rather than be driven.”

E petition started by: Michelle Goldsmith on behalf of local residents .

5) Leopold Primary School - save our School Patrol

Officer

“Brent Council is considering removing our Lollipop crossing patrol at Hawkshead Road. The School is surrounded by several busy roads. We believe this is unacceptable and will directly put our children in danger of a road traffic accident.”

From:         the Parent, Teachers and Friends Association of Leopold Primary

                   School

6) Keep Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre Open

“The centre provides a venue for many members of our  local community and plays a vital part in our leisure time. Many of us use the facility on a weekly basis to play football, use the gym, relax in the steam and sauna and meet friends. The centre hosts children education, courses and activities th at are beneficial to their development. The centre serves as a venue where rooms can be hired to many different groups who hold meetings, training and celebrations. Closing Bridge Park would affect all of us in different ways. We need this Centre to remain open so that our young people have a place to meet and do sports in a safe environment.

Stonebridge is a deprived area and we feel that crime and unsocial behaviour will increase if the centre is closed. Unlike a few years ago the centre now is used by men and women of all ages and faith. People come to Bridge Park to get fit and improve their health. Although we understand that the council funds are limited, the cost of dealing with health and antisocial behaviour will far outweigh the cost of operating our leisure centre. We have signed below to show our opposition to the closure.”

From:         Mr Adam, Tordjok, local resident.

Moses makes passionate plea for Stonebridge Adventure Playground to be saved from closure

Speaking at the Brent Fights Back meeting on Tuesday, Moses, Chair of the Brent Play Association, made a passionate speech on why the playground should not be closed. The closure is due to be discussed at the Cabinet Meeting on Moday where the Brent Play Association will present a petition signed by hundred of Brent residents.

Meanwhile the spirit is strong as this sequence from Stonebridge Adventure Playground Facebook shows:

 

Councillor Sam Stopp Appeals to Wembley Matters on Affairs of the Heart

Well, have to have a headline that will make you read this message from Councillor Sam Stopp! Putting aside political differences it is for a good cause.

You may have heard through the grapevine that I'm running the London Marathon for the British Heart Foundation, with the aim of raising £1500 for the charity.

You probably know that Wembley Central, and indeed Brent at large, has a very high rate of cardiovascular-related diseases. But the British Heart Foundation commissions life-saving research to fight this blight on our lives.

I would therefore be grateful if you could share this tongue-in-cheek video I've made promoting the charity. Would be delighted if you could mention it on your blog :)

 

The video is HERE

Cheers,

Sam

Cllr Sam Stopp

Fighting spirit alive and well in Brent as community challenges the cuts

Reposted with permission from the Kilburn Unemployed Workers highly recommended blog LINK
 

By Dude Swheatie of Kwug

Paul K of the KUWG and I attended last night's Brent Fightback public meeting against Brent Council's further erosion of public services.

Platform speakers included writer and broadcaster Owen Jones, along with Anne O'Neil (Brent Mencap), Anne Drinkell (Defend London's NHS), Moses from Stonebridge Adventure Playground, Jasmin from Our West Hendon.

• Anne O'Neil said that under the proposed budget cuts, daycentre services would be substantially reduced if not completely destroyed, limiting support for people wanting help in applying for ESA. These matters should be referred to at General Election hustings and in any contacts with parliamentary candidates, she said. She also said that care workers' contact time with the vulnerable adults they support would be halved from 30 minutest to 15 minutes.
  Something she did not say about that that I know from previous painful 2005-2006 experience is that care workers do not get paid for the time taken in getting from one shift to the next, nor the travel expenses involved. That will make the plight of care workers untenable under Universal Credit, where people in paid employment would be liable to sanction of all their benefits for allegedly not trying hard enought to become financially independent of income-top-up payments!
• Anne Drinkell reported that older people have been largely scapegoated as a drain on A&E services; GP services are being largely privatised and the Health & Social Care Act should be scrapped; the Harmoni out of hours medical advice service has been taken over by the infamous CareUK; and hospital closures lead to a bonanza for property speculators. She too stressed the importance of General Election campaigning as an opportunity to put pressure on politicians.
• Moses from Stonebridge Adventure Playground said that Stonebridge has actually been a borough-wide service and its fiscal eradication would be a crime against the community. Stonebridge Adventure Playground allowed kids a safe place for recreation and a badly needed break for hard-pressed parents. Closure of such safe places would put kids more prone to mischief. Adventure playgrounds had given the speaker — an ethnic minority member — advantages for advancement in life that he would not otherwise have had access to.
• Jasmin, The Our West Hendon speaker told of the incremental displacement of social tenancies to make way for privatisation of housing, and also said that the tenants had become a force to be reckoned with collectively while their tenancy rights had become eroded over time.
• Owen Jones said that Brent Fightback had acquired a well-earned reputation for fighting back against public services cuts and people should make maximum use of the General Election 2015 for redressing the damage caused by 5 years of cuts in public services. He also referred to the benfit sanctions fiasco and the way victims of cuts had been maligned, and Ukip's attacks on migrant workers as yet another example of scapegoating. Instead of Cameron and Osborne enlisting the services of tax-dodger Sir Philip Green to advise Government on how to cut costs, it would be much better for public services funding in this country if Government squeezed the tax dodgers and reduced the influence of the big four accountancy firms and Google etc that find all the loop holes they can to preserve the wealthy's advantages at the cost of thhe public purse.

Several floor speakers followed, with about two minutes per speaker. I was first of the floor speakers and had already been photographed by Kilburn Times phoographer outside the venue with placard.

In my short floor speech I emphasised our motto 'Never Attend Anywhere Official Alone' and corrected Owen Jones' statement that we had had 5 years of cuts by saying that disabled people had experienced cuts in services for several years previous and that the big difference for the past five years was that cuts in public services had become more mainstream. The situation for disabled people as disadvantaged people was similar to that Martin Luther King referred to in his 1963 'I Have a Dream Speech' where he said that where it came to equality of opportunity for American blacks it was as if a checque had been returned to themmarked 'insufficient funds'. It's important to ask why people are disadvantaged, I emphasised. Eg, Q: why are there so many Polish migrant workers in this country? A: Because capitalism fucked up the Polish economy after the collapse of the Iron Curtain. [More specifically, as Naomi Klein reports "the fact that [Poland] accepted [the] radical prescription of free market economic shock therapy" led to a situation in which the restoration of capitalism in Poland has "created a social wasteland."]

Several other floor speakers followed, including a rep from Advice 4 Renters saying that she would welcome listening to people's stories of renting. I had great difficulties hearing most of the floor speakers, but there was a Trade Union & Socialist Coalition (TUSC) speaker as well as Marie Lynam. There was even a Ukip parliamentary candidate, whose contribution was generally unwelcome. For me, the best of the floor speakers was our friend and comrade Sarah Cox. She denounced the racism of Ukip and scapegoating as means of bringing in an anti-social agenda, and emphasised the forthcoming demonstrations outside Conservative and Lib Dem offices set for the afternoon of Saturday 21 February. 

Brent Fightback will also protest outside the Council budget setting meeing on 2 March, she said.

Brent Council's current budget proposals for the next few years seem to pre-empt the result of General Election 2015, I recall her saying, and we should make the most of the General Election campaign to say 'no' to further cuts and privatisation in public services.

Saturday 21 February 2pm protest outside offices of Brent Central MP Sarah Teather, Walm Lane, Willesen Green,  and at 3pm outside Brent Conservatives' offices, Preston Road, Wembley

And our friend Ben Samuel as Green Party parliamentary candidate for Hendon learned the hard way the value of getting up early to speak from the floor, as his potential contribution was timed out.

In platform speakers' follow-through Anne Drinkell said that the Ukip speaker should be ashamed of the way his party maligns migrant workers who are a mainstay of the NHS. And Owen Jones emphasised the difference between most Ukip members' desire for a free at point of delivery NHS and renationalisation of our railways with the plans of the Ukip leadership for privatisation of public services.

After the meeting, I noticed the presence of Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt who had apparently remained silent during the meeting. I wonder whether he 'got the message' that those present did not welcome his budget proposals?