Update on Brent Conservatives rift

The Kilburn Times LINK has followed up my story on the row between the rival Conservative groups on Brent Council LINK.  I had offered Cllr Suresh Kansagra the opportunity to comment on my piece but he did not respond.

This is what he told the Kilburn Times:

Cllr Suresh Kansagra said they (the Kenton group)  did not attend the (Conservative HQ organised) meeting because they did not recognise it as constitutional and will challenge any decision not made in their favour.

He told the Times: “We called our (Kenton Conservative AGM) meeting on May 11, a proper legal meeting, our constitution and the constitution of the conservative central office. That constitution allows only the leader, the leader of the group and members. They (the Brondesbury Park group)  were not invited because they are not paid members of the group.

“As far as we are concerned we are the conservative group on Brent council unless I am told otherwise from anywhere. Central office does not have the authority to call other AGMs under the constitution of the group.”

He said they were notified to attend the meeting but not consulted.

“We do not recognise them as Conservative Party members,” he said.

 At the Council Annual General Meeting on Wednesday a vote will be taken by the whole Council (56 out of 63 of whom are Labour councillors) on who to recognise as the principal opposition group.

It could be lively.

Tories seek to strengthen Brent Council Scrutiny and accountability at AGM

Cllr John Warren (Conservative) has sent me the following regarding proposals to be put to Brent Council's AGM on Wednesday:

Item 13 of the Council AGM is "Changes to the Constitution." So I put forward a number of amendments for consideration by the meeting, but Council officers told me that they could not be considered because my amendments were nothing to do with the amendments being proposed in the report!!!

So what is " changes to the constitution,"  supposed to mean?

Anyway, I shall be speaking on this item and will circulate my amendments at the AGM. My proposals are in three categories....... 

1.To delete the elaborate and impossible procedure which currently exists if members wish to remove the Council leader.I propose that we revert to the time - honoured tradition of a straightforward yes or no vote on the night.

2.A radical restructuring of the scrutiny process .....it has failed abysmally over the past year.I cannot think of a single occasion when it has shown any teeth.I believe that each lead member and their portfolio should be subject to separate sub- committees so as  to scrutinise in a more forensic way.I also propose a separate sub- committee to scrutinise the Leader and deputy.I propose increasing the number of scrutiny members to 20 so that the heavier workload can involve more members. 

3.I am also proposing a " People's Question Time ."This should be a 15 minute slot whereby the Cabinet can answer questions from Brent residents without notice of the question in the same way as PMQs.

Welsh Harp Centre to be leased out by Brent Council

Readers will remember that as part of their cuts Brent Council proposed to close the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre and a campaign was mounted to keep it open. LINK

We were told that alternative sources of management and funding were being sought including a possible funding agreement with Careys, the parent company of  waste processing company Seneca, which is based behind Wembley Stadium. Careys has extensive property in the area and has its own charity arm. At present they fund an additional teacher at the Centre. Oakington Manor Primary and Roe Green Juniors were also mentioned as having an interest in the continuation of the Centre.

The above advertisement appeared in the Brent and Kilburn Times yesetrday and rang alarm bells.  I have therefore sent the following message to Brent Council:

I refer to the advertisement in the Brent and Kilburn Times Ref: JXH/609/121. (attached)

I would be grateful if you could send me a copy of the Drawing referred to in the notice plus a response to the following questions:

1. How long is it envisaged that the lease to land and premises, including the office in Planet House will last?
2. Is it envisaged that the use of the land and premises will remain for educational purposes?
3. Is the land in question consecrated land subject to any change of use being agreed by the Diocesan of London? (see http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/could-this-let-welsh-harp-rest-in-peace.html)
4. Is it intended that the building and land be leased to one of the following (or a combination): Carey's charity arm, Oakington Manor Primary School, Roe Green Junior School?

Many thanks,

Martin Francis

See below a copy of the drawing as requested above:

Stonebridge Adventure Playground: what has been lost (or stolen from us)

I thought this 'Tribute to the children'posted yesterday on the Stonebridge Adventure Playground Facebook site LINK deserved a wider audience.

It shows just what has been lost by Brent Council's thoughtless closure of a unique facility. 

Anti Academies staff and parents demand 'Give Us A Vote' at DfE Protest

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Wearing purple, the campaigning colour of suffragettes, parents, their children and staff from St Andrew and St Francis, protested outside the Department for Education (DfE) headquarters in Westminster this morning (14^th May). 

Braving the rain they chanted “give us a vote”. This referred to the Interim Executive Board’s (IEB) refusal to grant parents an independent secret ballot to prove, once and for all, their claim that the overwhelming majority of parents are against a forced academy. 

Irene Scorer, parents’ organiser, said, “They say they support parental choice. Why won’t they give us a fair vote in a secret ballot to establish what the parents’ choice is?” Irene handed in the petition signed by 230 parents asking for a vote to a representative from Nicky Morgan’s department at the DfE on behalf of the parents.  

Outside the Department for Education

Lesley Gouldbourne, Brent NUT Secretary, said, “Today was the seventh day of strike action taken by staff against an enforced academy. We have said all along we could have called strike action off if parents had been allowed an independent ballot”. She quoted from the Parliamentary Education Committee’s report on Academies and Free Schools, “We have sought but not found convincing evidence of the impact of academy status on attainment in primary schools.”

Hank Roberts, ATL Secretary, said, “Teachers and support staff have been standing up not just for themselves but for parents’ rights. We are pleased that the newly elected MP for Brent South Dawn Butler and Councillor Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council are calling for Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education to review the academy order in the light of claimed Ofsted irregularities, misrepresentations of parents true views to the DfE and the school already about to come out of special measures”.  The most recent Ofsted monitoring report after a two day inspection at the end of April 2015 says, “The school is making reasonable progress towards the removal of special measures”.

People's Assembly Call to Action: May 27th, May 30th and Jiune 20th

From the People's assembly against Austerity

The People's Assembly is calling an End Austerity Now protest at Downing St, marching to the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster for a rally on the evening of the Queens Speech.

Protest: Wednesday 27 May
Assemble: Downing Street, 5:30pm
March to: Emmanuel Centre for rally at 7pm, Marsham Street, London, Westminster SW1P 3DW
(speakers to be announced)

Share and invite your friends - click here

National Day of Action - Saturday 30 May

We're also calling a national day of action on Saturday 30 May to build for the 20 June demonstration.

We're asking all local People's Assembly groups, supporting organisations and individuals to do something on that day - anything ranging from a big scale event to a leafleting session for the demo. Some suggestions:

Organise...
 - an 'End Austerity Now' protest in your town or city
 - direct action - from occupations of empty housing to road blocks or banner drops
 - a stall in your high street to publicise the demonstration
 - a public meeting in your area (contact the office - we can send speakers)

In London the People's Assembly will be supporting a rally organised by the PCS union in support of striking workers at the National Gallery, against the governments attacks on the trade unions & against austerity:

Rally @ Trafalgar Square - 1pm
Saturday 30 May more info soon

Please let us know what you're planning and we'll advertise it on the website.

The big one...

National Demonstration - End Austerity Now
Saturday 20 June 2015

Assemble 12pm, Bank of England
More info on route soon. The website page will be kept updated with any news.

Invite your friends on Facebook

All these events need to lead into the biggest national demonstration against austerity yet. This looks like it's going to be massive. Please invite your friends and get involved.

In case you missed it... - Yesterday's newsletter: 7 reasons to demonstrate on 20 June
 - Thousands march in Bristol against austerity ahead of the national demonstration in June. Click here for report

Urgent appeal
This demonstration is more important than ever. It needs to be massive. We urgently need to raise funds to make sure we can reach as many people as possible.

We have launched an urgent appeal to all our supporters to make a donation. The more money we raise, the more coaches we can put on, meetings we can organise, leaflets we can print, and more people we can put on the streets.
No amount is too big or too small! Click here to donate

Brent Conservatives: splits, leaders and ultimatums

The split between the two Conservative groupings on Brent Council has widened following intervention of Conservative Campaign Head Quarters.

A Brent Conservatives' AGM was held recently attended by CCHQ and SE England officials at which Cllr John Warren was elected leader.

However the meeting was attended by only the three 'Brondesbury Park' Conservatives with the three 'Kenton Conservatives' absent.   I understand that the Kenton Conservatives had already held their own AGM of their 'official' group (recognised as such at the last Brent Council AGM) to which the Brondesbury Park Tories were not invited as they are not part of the group.

They elected Cllr Suresh Kansagra leader.

Conservative Campaign Head Quarters have now issued an ultimatum to the Kenton Group which expires at 1pm on Monday to accept Cllr Warren as leader following what they consider the constitutionally valid election, or forfeit their right to be considered Conservative Party councillors and to stand as Conservatives at the next local election.

Cllr Joel Davidson told me today that Brent residents had been 'ill-served by the weak opposition to Labour provided up to now by Cllr Suresh Kansagra and the Kenton Conservatives.'  He said that a stronger Conservative opposition would seek to represent not just Conservative voters but everyone who had not voted Labour.

Davidson went on to say that the failure of the Kenton Conservatives to vote for the Brondesbury Park no confidence motion in Muhammed Butt and the alternative budget proposals Kenton had put forward proved their cosy relationship with Brent Labour.

The results of the most recent AGM have been communicated to Brent Council officials ahead of the vote due to be held at the Council AGM on May 20th on who to recognise as the Principal Opposition Party.

Will Labour vote for Cllr Kansagra's group or the rather more militant Bondesbury Group?

Where does the power lie in Brent Council?

Muhammed Butt and Cara Davani

The Brent Labour Group will be meeting on Saturday for its Annual General Meeting ahead of the Council AGM LINK on Wednesday 20th May.

The meeting comes at a time when some Labour backbenchers are still angered at the failure to deal effectively with the Employment Tribunal case and the personnel involved, as well as concerns about who will be the next Chief Executive.

There have been mutterings about Brent CMT 's connections with Tower Hamlets and similarities in ethos, in the light of the Lutfur Rahman Inquiry findings.

It is unclear whether the vacant Lead Member for Environment post will be filled at the AGM or incorporated into an existing portfolio, plus reducing the size of the Cabinet.

The Council AGM will again decide which of the rival Conservative groups will be designated the official opposition, unbless the groups come up with their own agreed solution beforehand. The composition of Committees will also be decided at the two AGMs with Scrutiny the most important. The committee has been severely criticised for its failure to scrutinise effectively but 7 out of its 8 members will remain Labour councillors. The General Purposes Committee is effectively the Cabinet plus one opposition member.

If any councilor digs deep enough they may also be concerned about proposals to extend the powers of the Chief Executive in proposed constitional changes. Particularly 2.3.2 below:

“2.3.1 The Chief Executive shall also have the authority to carry out all executive functions in the interim in the event of there being no Leader, or Deputy Leader appointed and insufficient members of the Cabinet appointed to achieve a quorum.

2.3.2    Exceptionally, notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the Chief Executive shall be authorised to exercise either executive or non-executive functions where the matter is urgent unless this is prohibited by law.

2.3.3    If the Chief Executive acts in the circumstances set out in paragraphs 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 above, the Chief Executive shall notify, as appropriate, the Leader or Deputy Leader of the Council, the Lead Member with portfolio responsibility for the matter to which the decision relates and the Leader of the Principal Opposition Group of any such action.“