Emergency Rally: Save our NHS - No to the Imposition of the Junior Doctors Contracts

From People's Assembly

Following the Governments shameful decision to impose the new contracts for junior doctors, we are working with doctors, nurses, trade unions and NHS campaigners to organise an emergency rally in London this Wednesday in defence of our NHS. We'll be proposing further action & discussing how everyone can support the doctors and NHS workers.

Emergency Rally: Save our NHS - No to the Imposition of the Junior Doctors Contracts
6:30pm Wednesday 17 Feb
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, WC1R 4RL

Speakers:

Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis, BMA Junior Doctors Committee
Danielle Tiplady, Student Nurse
Vanessa Redgrave, Actress
Francesca Martinez, Comedian
Ken Loach, Filmmaker

With additional contributions from:
Natalie Bennett, Green Party
Jolyon Rubinstein, The Revolution Will Be Televised
Rehana Azam, GMB National Officer for Health
Dave Ward, Communication Workers Union, General Secretary
Sam Fairbairn, The People's Assembly
Dr Mona Kamal Ahmed
Plus a performance from the NHS Choir, 2015 Xmas No.1

PLEASE REGISTER YOUR PLACE

Government attack on ethical procurement and divestment slammed by Greens

New government guidance aimed at restricting the ability of public bodies to boycott suppliers is a muzzle on free speech says the Green Party's new business spokesperson.

Rachel Collinson, the party’s Business, Innovation & Skills spokesperson says that the proposals will restrict the ability of public bodies to make “ethical choices”, particularly in moving away from dirty fossil fuels.
 
Collinson said:

The Tories say they are the party of freedom, choice and free markets. This announcement shows that emperor to be stark naked. If this government really believes in freedom of choice, it would not restrict publicly funded bodies from making ethical choices. They are trying to shove oil down our throats.

The Green Party believes that investment in fossil fuels not only damages the earth, it is a foolhardy financial gamble, given the volatility in oil prices. We encourage all government bodies to divest from polluting industries and arms companies as quickly as possible before this becomes law.

Down the drain in King Edward VII Park, Wembley

From Friends of King Eddies blog LINK
 
Thames Water are investigating drainage works in King Eddie's by putting cameras in the drain that runs down towards Castleton Avenue through the park.
The Council have said:

"Work to this drain would hopefully stop the overflow issues we experienced this time last year near the play area... They have been instructed to provide signage informing residents of the proposed works."
Hopefully solving this drainage problem will help with the work to the western half of the park.

A large section of the park has been fenced off since summer 2015 LINK

'Denied Entry' film Q&A fundraiser March 4th Queens Park

Brent Friends of Palestine fundraiser for Palestine Trauma Centre Gaza, Friday 4th March 7-9.30pm  Interfaith Centre, (Anne's & St Andrew's Churches) 125 Salusbury Rd, NW6 6RG Directions:  LINK

"Perspectives on Palestine" film "Denied Entry" by award winning film maker Kate Jangra,

Introduction by Kate Jangra followed by discussion with Panel

Panel: Kate Jangra, 

Dr.Mohamed Altawill  Director of the PTC ,

Freya Aquarone sociology student involved in developing and running music projects in Palestine.

Refreshments

Transport: Queens Park Bakerloo line and Overground  and Brondesbury Park Overground and 206 bus. Free parking after 6.30

Proposals that might breathe a little more life into Brent Council meetings

Brent Full Council meetings have become a bit of a joke with a familar structure of leader grandstanding from both sides, ritual party political exchanges in a pale imitation of the House of Commons that get worse nearer election time, brown-nosing questions from Labour backbencher to Cabinet members, and motions that the public are not able to see in advance.  It is a long time since there has been a debate on a petition from the public.

Not to forget of course the regular attempts by John Warren's Conservative Group to wrest the front row seats from Suresh Kansagra's Conservative Group. After their failure they spend the rest of the Full Council meeting gleefully inserting knives between the shoulder blades of  nominal colleagues seated in front of them.

Changes suggested in an officer's report introduce measures that may improve things to some extent. It is noteworthy that a decision on whether to accept a deputation rests with the Chief Executive, advised by the Chief Legal Officer.

 


3.0  Detail

.         


Questions from members of the public 


.        3.1  It is proposed that a new Standing Order will be inserted which allows members of the public to ask questions of Cabinet members. The revised Standing Order which in the Appendix 1 appears as Standing Order 40 would allow for questions to be submitted in writing and circulated with the agenda for full Council. A written answer would be circulated by close of business the day before full Council. One supplementary question could be asked during the full Council meeting. 


External speaker

.        3.3  Provision is included in Standing Orders for an external speaker to be invited to attend full Council and speak for up to 10 minutes on an issue of relevance to Brent and for there to be an ensuing debate for up to 45 minutes. This will not be a standing item on the agenda but will be added to the agenda with the agreement of all Group Leaders. The relevant Lead Member will be permitted to speak for 5 minutes and will submit a motion in accordance with the normal rules on motions. Speeches by other members will not exceed 2 minutes.

  


Non cabinet members’ debate 


.        3.4  It is proposed that, following a recent trial of such a debate, at two Full Council meetings, that there should be a regular debate for a maximum of 21 minutes on a topic selected by backbench members. Up to six members can speak for up to three minutes and the Lead Member will be permitted to speak for up to three minutes and shall provide a written report, for information only, at the next Full Council meeting with what follow up action has been taken. 


Petitions scheme 


.        3.5  It is proposed that the existing petitions scheme is retained but in addition there is provision for ward members, or a chair of a scrutiny committee to make reference to the receipt of a petition to Full Council. In the event that a petition submitted via the Brent petition scheme attracts more than 200 signatures then Standing Orders will allow for a debate at full Council to be requested. 


Motions 


3.6. It is proposed that the timescales for motions will be amended so that motions must be submitted 5 days in advance and that amendments to motions must be submitted close of business the previous working day. This will allow members of the public to have available to them printed copies of the motions and amendments and to follow the debate more easily.

Deputations

.        3.7  It is proposed that the Chief Executive should have a power to determine whether or not a deputation should be accepted, on advice from the Chief Legal Officer. 


Leader’s report 

 

.        3.8  It is proposed that the Leader should have the opportunity to present an Annual report to Full Council. The Leader will be permitted to speak for 5 minutes and there will follow a debate for 20 minutes. Opposition Group 
Leaders will be able to speak for 2 minutes each and all other members will be able to speak for 2 minutes each until the time runs out.

Questions to Cabinet Members

.        3.9  It is proposed that the existing Standing Order is amended so that the original question and answer are provided in written form at the meeting of Full Council and there is provision for a member to ask one oral supplementary question lasting up to 1 minute and for the Cabinet member to reply taking up to 2 minutes. 


Privately owned 'public' space an issue for Mayoral election as Greens fight for democratic rights to the city

Proposed Elvin Square, Quintain, Wembley Park

 
Many of the regeneration schemes in Brent, especially the Quintain development around Wembley Stadium, boast of new open space in the form of squares, piazzas etc. The sting in the tail is that these are privately owned public spaces and the public's rights are unclear to say the least.

Sian Berry, Green Party candidate for Mayor of London, has pledged to introduce rules to ensure that new publicly accessible spaces in the capital are governed by the law of the land.
Her modification of the London Plan would prevent controversial projects such as the proposed Garden Bridge excluding the public at the whim of its owners. It would also stop any future absurdities such as the situation at More London, where Assembly Members had to negotiate for eight years before they could do TV interviews outside City Hall.

She said: “As more and more of London is redeveloped, it’s vital that public spaces are preserved for the public’s use in the most democratic way possible.”

Her announcement came in advance of yesterday’s Space Probe Alpha event near City Hall,  attended by novelist Will Self, comedian Mark Thomas and “guerrilla geographer” Daniel Raven Ellison. The event highlighted the fact that the adjacent More London development is a so-called privately owned public space (POPS), where photography, public speech and protest are banned.

Similar POPS are proposed for a growing number of projects including the Broadgate complex at Liverpool Street, Kings Cross Railwaylands and the controversial Garden Bridge, which will not be a public right of way even though £60 million of public money has been committed to it.

Sian Berry, who attended Saturday’s event with Green AM Baroness (Jenny) Jones, said: 

I’m proud to support a broad coalition of thinkers, writers and speakers at Saturday’s event to show how our rights to access and enjoy public space, including exercising our rights to protest, are being curtailed by arbitrary corporate rules that are not currently able to be challenged by the community.

As Mayor, I’ll reassert our right to enjoy and govern the public sphere in the public interest.

 She plans to introduce new rules within the London Plan which will mean new publicly accessible spaces must be governed by local authority by-laws. Her proposals will not prevent developers arguing for restrictions on types of activity to protect residents and businesses from problems, but will mean that any such rules will need to be formulated transparently and accountably.
 
Academic Anna Minton, an organiser of Saturday’s event, said: 

These privately owned places are taking over towns and cities all over the UK but especially in London where there’s so much development going on at the moment, directly threatening democratic rights to the city.

Her fellow organiser Dr Bradley Garrett added: 

Where public land can not be sold off to private interests, it is often now being controlled under Public Space Protection Orders, which criminalise activities like busking and rough sleeping. These quasi-legal orders target the weak, the poor and the vulnerable in our communities.

REVEALED: IKEA''s tax avoidance - more complicated than its flat-pack instructions?

A new report commissioned by the Greens in the European Parliament has revealed that furniture multinational IKEA has dodged €1 billion in taxes over the last 6 years using onshore European tax havens.

IKEA is using a series of tax loopholes in different European countries, namely the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, to avoid paying taxes. Molly Scott Cato MEP, a member of the European Parliament’s special committee on tax, said:

Just like its flat-pack furniture, assembling a tax dodge is simple if you know the right tricks. And it’s easy to tuck away out of site where tax administrations will barely notice it. This report deconstructs the massive scale of IKEA’s tax avoidance practices. 

Ikea Bremt Park

This is a company which is held in some affection by British people, so what is revealed will come as a shock to many and risks damaging IKEA’s reputation with UK customers. It is time that corporations such as IKEA realised that being an ethical company goes beyond checking the credentials of suppliers and treating your staff well. Complex tax avoidance schemes are unethical and British people expect companies to pay a fair share of tax to fund the services they rely on.

Scott Cato  has joined other Green MEPs in signing a letter to the EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, and tax commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, presenting the report as evidence and urging the Commission to carry out a further investigation to verify possible infringement of EU law. Molly said:

This cynical ‘tax hopping’ is reprehensible and we want the European Commission to fully investigate if and how it infringes on EU law, and take action to address this. EU finance ministers, for their part, should work immediately on trying to recoup the tax revenues, which have been denied to them.

Greens also say that a Corporate Tax Package published by the European Commission at the end of January will not go far enough in preventing IKEA using its different tax loopholes. Molly concluded:

There is an urgent need to change the regulatory framework which facilitates corporate tax avoidance in Europe. We badly need public country-by-country reporting rules for all sectors to provide transparency and ensure the tax strategies of corporations can be properly scrutinised. 

We also need a minimum corporate tax rate to end the race to the bottom of tax dumping in Europe. Such measures require the active cooperation of EU governments and most have so far shown no enthusiasm for truly tackling corporate tax avoidance.

Details of new uplifted Brent councillor allowances for 2016-17

Perhaps it is not a great  public relations strategy to be discussing a 1% increase in councillor allowances at the same Full Council Meeting which will be agreeing a budget that cuts services, but that is what will happen on February 22nd LINK

Apart from the uplift there are other changes due to the proposed revised Scrutiny arrangements (see below). It is also proposed that councillors will be able to claim travelling and subsistence allowances for conferences they attend outside of the borough. This will be set at the same level as council officers.

In a move that might not sweeten relationships between the two Conservative Groups on the Council it is proposed to remove the  deputy leader allowance for the Conservative Group (led by Cllr John Warren) from Cllr Carol Shaw. Instead £9,000 will go to the leader of the Brent Conservative Group, Cllr Suresh Kansagra.

The report reminds councillors of the principle behind the allowance scheme:

 Members are reminded that the 2014 Report advocates the setting of allowances at a level that enables people to undertake the role of councillor while not acting as an incentive to do so. It is equally important, as acknowledged, that there should not be a financial disincentive. 
It is also worth mentioning that in 2014 Members allowances were set at a reduced, or much reduced, level than the amount recommended by the independent panel. The difficulty in increasing allowances for Members given the current financial austerity, was recognised by the independent panel

These are the proposed new allowances for 2016-17:

BASIC, SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CO-OPTED MEMBER ALLOWANCES WITH EFFECT FROM 1 APRIL 2016

Basic Allowance

Payable to all councillors = £10,100

Special Responsibility Allowances
(No more than one allowance per member)  This is in addition to the Basic Allowance.

1. Leader of the Council = £39,354


2. Deputy Leader of the Council = £28,681


3. Other Cabinet Members (x6) = £18,898


4. Chair of the Scrutiny Committee = £14,140 (under current scrutiny arrangements until 18 May 2016)


5. Vice-Chair of the Scrutiny Committee = £5,050 (under current scrutiny arrangements until 18 May 2016)


6. Chair of the Community and Well-being Scrutiny Committee (under new scrutiny arrangements from 19 May 2016) = £14,140


7. Chair of the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee (under new scrutiny arrangements from 19 May 2016) = £14,140

8. Vice-Chair of the Community and Well-being Scrutiny Committee (under new scrutiny arrangements from 19 May 2016) = £5,050


9. Vice-Chair of the Resources and Public Realm Community and Well- being Scrutiny Committee (under new scrutiny arrangements from 19 May 2016) = £5,050


10. Members of the Scrutiny Committee (x6) (under current scrutiny arrangements until 18 May 2016) = £3,202


11. Members of the Scrutiny Committees (x12) (under new scrutiny arrangements from 19 May 2016) = £3,202


12. Chair of the Planning Committee = £14,140

13. Members of the Planning Committee (x6) = £3,234


14. Chair of the Standards Committee = £2,155


15. Co-Chair of the Youth Parliament = £2,155


16. Chair of the Pension Fund Sub-Committee = £2,155


17. Chairs of the Service User Consultative Forums (x5) = £2,155


18. Chairs of the Brent Connects Area Consultative Forums (x5) = £4,873


19. Members of the Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Committee (x15) = £2,155

20. Member of the Adoption and Permanency Panel = £3,234


21. Member of the Fostering Panel = £3,234


22. Leader of the Principal Opposition Group* = £12,913

23. Other Group Leader(s) = £9,000


24. Group Whip for the majority group with over 50% of councillors = £5,583


25. Deputy Whips for the majority group (x2) = £2,155


26. Mayor = £9,090


27. Deputy Mayor = £7,070 

*For the purposes of this Scheme this is the second largest group of the Council. If there are two or more opposition groups of the same size, it is such group as the Council shall decide.

Co-opted Member Allowances

1. Chair of the Audit Committee (non-voting) = £423


2. Independent member(s) of the Standards Committee (non-voting) = £423


3. Education voting co-opted members of the Scrutiny Committee (x4) (under current scrutiny arrangements until 18 May 2016) = £224


4. Education voting co-opted members of the Community and Well-being Scrutiny Committee (x4) (under new scrutiny arrangements from 19 May 2016) = £224

The introduction of two Scrutiny Committees is the main source of the increase in spending on allowances.  The overall budget cannot be predicted because it is not possible to forecast claims under the new conference expenses system and because only one special allowance can be paid even if a councillor takes on several roles.  The allocation of these roles will not be known until after the AGM.

The allocation of roles has been controversial in the past with accusations of unfairness to councillors with an independent mindset and favouritism towards the compliant. The increase in the number of potential roles may satisfy more of the 56 strong Labour Group.

With the leadership of the Labour Group (and therefore the Council)  to be decided at the AGM in May things could become quite interesting.