No Brent councillors sign anti-austerity anti-funding cuts statement

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Almost 150 Councillors from across the country have signed a letter slamming the Government for massive funding cuts and and will be joining the tens of thousand of people who will be marching in London for the People’s Assembly ‘Health, Homes, Jobs and Education’ demo on Saturday April 16^th.

Although councillors from neighbouring Harrow and Camden have signed thare are none from Brent.
 

The letter followed George Osborne’s ill-fated budget which piled on more misery for millions as the Government laid out plans to cut support for disabled people while offering tax breaks for big business and the wealthy.

With an extra £3.5 billion axed from public spending, Local Authorities are among those that will be bearing the brunt of the failed Tory austerity agenda.

People’s Assembly National Secretary Sam Fairbairn said:

The Tories are increasingly out of touch with the reality of life for most people. Every time they say ‘we all in it together’ it’s another slap round the face of millions of people. The revelations that have unfolded with the ‘Panama Papers’ show the super-rich hiding their wealth in tax havens on an industrial scale. This means they avoid taxes that would pay for all the social benefits that are currently under attack and people are understandably angry. We’re now seeing the potential for big unrest across the country and it wont be long until this government face a movement for change they can’t control.

This is why we believe that the demonstration for ‘Health, Homes, Jobs and Education’ in London on April 16^th will be significant as the anti-austerity movement and opposition to Tory cuts grows and thousands take to the streets. We call for Cameron to resign and for the Tories to be booted out of office

The letter reads:

As Councillors we believe this Tory Government’s ideological opposition to public services lies behind the deliberate underfunding of Local Authorities.

Councils have faced unprecedented cuts; Local Authority grants in England have been slashed, with £12.5 billion of cuts and half a million Council workers losing their jobs since 2010. Osborne has forced through 40% cuts to Council budgets meaning that local authorities face the reality of cutting frontline services including Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, leaving those that rely on them at risk.

We believe that austerity is a political choice. We oppose all cuts from Westminster and believe Osborne’s plans for Local Government will only make a bad situation worse.

We call on the government to reverse cuts to council funding so we are able to provide essential services our communities rely on. Furthermore we call for an end to austerity that is seeing living standards for the majority fall. This is why we also support the national march for Health, Homes, Jobs & Education on Saturday 16 April 2016 in London organised by the People’s Assembly.

If you are a councillor and wish to add your name, please go to www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk

Cllr Aaron Shotton	Flintshire County Council	Labour
Cllr Abi Mills	Lancaster	Green
Cllr Alan Gosling	Rotherham Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Alan McGuckin	Cumbria County Council	Labour
Cllr Alex Phillips	Brighton & Hove City Council	Green
Cllr Alice Grice	Nottinghamshire County Council	Labour
Cllr Amanda Brown	Ashfield District Council	Labour
Cllr Amanda Cartwright	Kidsgrove Town Council	Labour
Cllr Andrew Austin	Louth Town Council	Labour
Cllr Andrew Boswell	Norfolk County Council	Green
Cllr Andrew Cooper	Kirklees Council	Green
Cllr Andy Hannan	Devon County Council	Labour
Cllr Anna Key	Liverpool	Green
Cllr Anna McMullen	Bristol City Council	Green
Cllr Bob Price	Sunderland	Labour
Cllr Brian Grocock	Nottingham city council	Labour
Cllr Brian Steele	Rotherham MBC	Labour
Cllr Bryn Truscott	Reigate & Banstead Borough Council	Green
Cllr Carla Denyer	Bristol City Council	Green
Cllr Carole Jones	Nottingham City	Labour
Cllr Carolyn Thomas	Flintshire County Council	Labour
Cllr Charlie Bolton	Bristol	Green
Cllr Chris Furlong	Rochdale	Labour
Cllr Chris McFarling	Forest of Dean District Council	Green
Cllr Chris Spence	Silverdale Parish Council	Labour
Cllr Chrissie Rumsby	Norfolk County Council	Labour
Cllr Craig Simmons	Oxford City Council	Green
Cllr Dani Glazzard	Bristol City Council	Green
Cllr Daniella Radice	Bristol City Council	green
Cllr David Evans	Flintshire County Council	Labour
Cllr David Gibson	Brighton and Hove City Council	Green
Cllr David Healey	Flintshire	Labour
Cllr David Raby	Norwich City Council	Green
Cllr David Roney	Flintshire County Council	Independent
Cllr David Stockdale	Newcastle City Council	Labour
Cllr Dean Collins	Derbyshire County Council	Labour
Cllr Denise Carlo	City of Norwich	Green
Cllr Denise Elliott	RMBC	Labour
Cllr Dick Page	Brighton & Hove City Council	Green
Cllr Donald Davies	North Somerset	Independent
Cllr Douglas Beattie	London Borough of Camden	Labour
Cllr Dr Tim Jones	Norwich City Council	Green
Cllr Elizabeth Morgan	Norfolk County Council	Green
Cllr Emma Corlett	Norfolk County	Labour
Cllr Gary Johnston	Caerphilly	Labour
Cllr Gavin Lloyd	Coventry	Labour
Cllr Gerri Bird	Cambridge	Labour
Cllr Ginny Klein	Nottingham	Labour
Cllr Gloria Tanner	Swansea City & County	Labour
Cllr Graham Chapman	Nottingham City	Labour
Cllr Gus Hoyt	Bristol City Council	Green
Cllr James “Bert” Bremner	Norfolk County Council	Labour
Cllr James “Bert” Bremner	Norwich City Council	Labour
Cllr James Doyle	Worthing Borough	Green
Cllr Jennifer Rowlands	Luton Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Jim Creamer	Nottinghamshire county Council	Labour
Cllr John Coughlin	London Borough of Lewisham	Green
Cllr John Dickinson	Chesterfield Borough Council	Labour
Cllr John Marjoram	Stroud Distrist	Green
Cllr John Wilkinson	Nottinghamshire County Council	labour
Cllr Jonathan Essex	Redhill East	Green
Cllr Jonathan Perkin	Staffordshire Moorlands District Council	Independant
Cllr Joshua Booth	Warrington	Labour
Cllr Julian Roskams	Malvern Hills District Council	Green
Cllr Julie Brociek-Coulton	Norwich City Council	Labour
Cllr Julie Reid	Manchester City Council	Labour
Cllr Karen Allison	Kirklees	Green
Cllr Kate Lewis	Salford	Labour
Cllr Kathleen Nickson	Rochdale	Labour
Cllr Keith Brown	Chesterfield Borough	Labour
Cllr Kevin Bennett	Warrington Borough Council	TUSC
Cllr Kevin Cranston	Stroud District Council	Green
Cllr Lachlan Morrison	Ashfield District Council	Labour
Cllr Lawrence Brown	Liverpool City Council	green
Cllr Leo Littman	Brighton & Hove City Council	Green
Cllr Lesley Grahame	Norwich	Green
Cllr Lin Martin-Haugh	Stevenage Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Lin Patterson	Bath and North East Somerset	Green
Cllr Lisa-Marie Derbyshire	Chesterfield Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Louise Nixon	Stafford Borough	Labour
Cllr Lucy Howard	Norwich City Council	Green
Cllr Maggie Godfrey	Rotherhan	Labour
Cllr Margaret E Davies	Rhondda Cynon Taff	Labour
Cllr Mark Rivers	Luton	Labour
Cllr Martin Fodor	Bristol	Green
Cllr Martyn Rawlinson	Preston	Labour
Cllr Mary Stirzaker	Fleetwood	Labour
Cllr Matthew Brown	Preston City Council	Labour
Cllr Meric Apak	Camden	Labour
Cllr Michael Haley	Watford Borough	Labour
Cllr Michael Hou	Essex County Council	Green
Cllr Mick Bowman	Newcastle City Council	Labour
Cllr Mick Wall	Chesterfield Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Mike Pringle	Notts county	Labour
Cllr Mike Rowley	Oxford City Council	Labour
Cllr Mohammed Ibrahim	Nottingham city council	Labour
Cllr Naomi Fearon	Fleetwood Town Council	Labour
Cllr Nigel Gawthrope	Cambridge City	Labour
Cllr Noel Kavanagh	Cambridgeshire County Council	Labour
Cllr Norma Wright	City of Sunderland	Labour
Cllr Oliur Rahman	Tower Hamlets Council	Independent
Cllr Oscar Gillespie	Cambridge	Green
Cllr Pamela Fitzpatrick	Harrow	Labour
Cllr Pat Cleary	Wirral	Green
Cllr Patrick Hacon	Norfolk County Council	Labour
Cllr Paul Neale	Norwich City	Green
Cllr Paul Shotton	Flintshire	Labour
Cllr Paul Stewart	Sunderland	Labour
Cllr Pete Lowe	Dudley	Labour
Cllr Peter Innes	Chesterfield Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Peter j Curtis	Flintshire	Labour
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty	Brighton and Hove City Council	Green
Cllr Phelim McCafferty	Brunswick & Adelaide	Green
Cllr Phil Rackley	Basildon	Green
Cllr Rachel lancaster	Coventry	Labour
Cllr Richard Alderson Bell	Sunderland City Council	Labour
Cllr Richard Price	Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council	Labour
Cllr Rishi Madlani	Camden	Labour
Cllr Rob Telford	Bristol City Council	Green
Cllr Rob White	Reading	Green
Cllr Robert Taylor	Rotherham	Labour
Cllr Rose Bulfin	South Normanton Parish Council	Labour
Cllr Ruthi Brandt	Oxford City	green
Cllr Sam Coates	Oxfordshire	Green
Cllr Sam Hollick	Oxford City Council	Green
Cllr Sam Webster	Nottingham city	Labour
Cllr Samantha bellamy	Salford	Labour
Cllr Samuel Gibbons	Keele Parish Council	Green
Cllr Sandra Crawford	Cambridge	Labour
Cllr Sarah Pickup	Newcastle under Lyme borough council	Labour
Cllr Shane Collins	Mendip district council	Green
Cllr Shelly Darwin	Ipswich Borough	Labour
Cllr Sian Berry	London Borough of Camden	Green
Cllr Simon Bull	Bournemouth	Green
Cllr Stephen Clarke	Bristol City Council	Green
Cllr Steve Battlemuch	Nottingham City	Labour
Cllr Susan Murray	Lewes District Council	Green
Cllr Susan Press	Calderdale MBC	Labour

Bellevue Place Education Trust statement on Mossack Fonseca connection

This statement was posted on the Bellevue Place Education Trust  on Sunday April 10th by Mark Greatrex.  The Wembley Matters blog and Sunday Times article on BPET were published on the same day. LINK

Governance of Bellevue Place Education Trust

In response to the recently published Sunday Times article Bellevue Place Education Trust wishes to be very clear that the Bellevue shareholder who made an investment in Bellevue Education via a company registered by Mossack Fonseca in the British Virgin Islands has no connection with the Trust.

Bellevue Place Education Trust is a not for profit charitable trust set up with the sole intention to establish and maintain high performing schools in and around London.  The Trust was established by two parties, Bellevue Education and Place Group.  The Trust’s governance structure is clear as to the structure and who the members and trustees are.

Below for transparency, is our statement we sent to the Sunday Times.  We have made it very clear that Bellevue Place Education Trust is a not for profit charity that was approved by the Department for Education to manage and maintain state funded free schools.  The Trust is a separate, independent organisation from Bellevue Education that is solely focused on offering high quality education provision to its pupils.  We have some fantastic staff and governors who are supporting the delivery of this vision and we aim to see off these allegations as promptly as possible, enabling us to focus on our core purpose.

Below is the statement we have issued we have also included the Department for Education’s clear statement.

Statement from Bellevue Place Education Trust send to Sunday Times:

“Bellevue Place Education Trust is a multi-academy Trust, sponsoring seven primary Free Schools across London and the South-East. The Trust’s core purpose and responsibility is to establish, maintain and manage state funded Free Schools.  All Bellevue Place Education Trust schools are focused to deliver high quality education provision in areas where there is a shortage of primary school places.”

“Bellevue Place Education Trust is an independent charitable organisation, with six trustees, of which one is Mark Malley.  Trustees delegate responsibility to a Local Governing Body for each school, who appoint all staff (except the Headteacher), set the schools budget and ensure the curriculum meets the needs of the pupils, in line with the vision of the Trust.”

“In applying to be a Free School promoter, the Trust undertook stringent due diligence and was approved by the Department for Education and Charity Commission.”

A DfE spokesperson:

“We demand the highest moral and professional standards from anyone involved in educating our children and, in common with every free school proposal, Bellevue Place Educational Trust (BPET) was subject to detailed scrutiny. We are clear that no-one will be handed control of a school unless we are entirely happy with the result of the checks.

“Bellevue Education and BPET are separate organisations. Our records show the individual named is not in any way involved in the governance of BTEP schools. There are strict rules that prevent free schools and academies being run as for-profit organisations.

“These include due diligence checks, credit checks, and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) checks and may include police and other checks necessary to ensure the suitability of people to be part of the free school programme.  As part of those checks, we would look at an individual’s association with other people or organisations.”

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This is what the Evening Standard wrote about BPET in February 2014 LINK

Both partners clearly have interests in financial returns.

Bellevue Place Education Trust is a partnership between two companies, Bellevue Education, founded in 2003 by former prep school headmaster Mark Malley, and chaired by private equity investor Mawan Naja, and Place Group, a provider of educational advisory services, including “potential income generation” and the identification of “appropriate investment vehicles”, to groups setting up free schools and academies.

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These are the most recent accounts of the Belleveue Place Education Trust that I can find: 

 

Brent Council has £95.5m in LOBO loans and does not intend to withdraw at present

Michael Pavey, deputy leader of Brent Council and lead member for finance has confirmed that Brent Council has £95.5m in LOBO (Lender Option, Borrower Option) loans which have been the subject of much criticism. LINK

Cllr Pavey says that the loans were taken out prior to 2010 and none since. He states:

The council has no plans to take out further LOBO loans.

If opportunities arise to withdraw from these loans in a financially advantageous way, the council will look at this very seriously. But our current estimate is that the lowest-cost option to Brent residents is to allow the loans to mature in the usual way.

Please be assured that I'm keeping an eye on this. Cllr Filson also took a close interest in this matter when he was chair of scrutiny. Obviously sadly he is no longer here to give his opinions, but I think it's fair to say that he was supportive of our current position - though critical of our predecessors for investing in the first place.

MPs, Council leaders and others have come together to request that the Treasury Select Committee look into the matter LINK:

We are writing in response to coverage of Lender Option, Borrower option (LOBO) loans sold to local authorities and housing associations – exposed by Channel 4 Dispatches and recently covered by the Evening Standard, The Independent and Financial Times (9-12 March), where banks are reported to have made up-front trading profits of £1.5 billion.

We believe it is important to understand how 250 local authorities came to take out at least £15 billion in LOBO loans, containing embedded derivatives. Since the 1989 Hammersmith and Fulham swaps case, the use of derivatives by UK local government has been potentially unlawful.

LOBO loans are described by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) [April 2015] Bulletin as “inherently risky” products. 

We note that this is the third time in eight years there have been calls for a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) inquiry into brokers and treasury management advisors (TMAs) to local government, the last occasions being during the 2008/09 Icelandic banking collapse when councils lost £1bn on deposit, and in July 2015 following the Channel 4 Dispatches expose of LOBO loans in “How Councils Blow Your Millions.”

On each occasion, calls for the FSA/ FCA to investigate the conduct of regulated treasury advisory firms it supervises, including Capita and ICAP were ignored, with DCLG accusing the FSA in 2009 of: “deliberate obfuscation [119].”

As councillors, MPs, citizens and civil society organisations, we wish to lend our voice to calls from MPs John Mann and Clive Betts for an inquiry into LOBO loans, and the conflicts of interest between Banks, Brokers, and Advisors who promoted them, by the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) and The FCA, and demand a financial system that operates in the interests of society.

At the heart of this matter is the assertion by regulators, acting under FSMA 2000 that local authorities are “sophisticated” investors, able to transact safely with global investment banks and brokers selling derivatives products, including LOBOs.

A string of municipal swaps and derivatives mis-selling legal cases across Italy, France, Germany, Portugal and Belgium are testament to the fact that local authorities were not in a position to safely use complex products like derivatives, and could not be accurately described as “sophisticated” investors with full understanding of derivatives risks.

Banks pitched highly complex, opaque and risky products such as ‘inverse floaters’ and ‘range LOBOs’ which were inappropriate for the needs of local authorities. In the case of Newham council, this has had a significant adverse financial impact on its position. 

The Communities and Local Government Committee inquiry into local government bank loans heard testimony from Abhishek Sachdev (CEO Vedanta Hedging) and Rob Carver (a former LOBO loan trader with Barclays) that even FTSE 200 Treasurers would be unable to accurately price LOBO loans. 

Unlike professional investors such as hedge funds, local authorities did not understand the inherent risks with LOBO loans, being reliant upon external treasury management advisers (TMAs) – who received undeclared income streams in the form of commissions from brokers when councils borrowed from banks.

Brokers held themselves out as offering best execution services for local authorities and prior to 2009, failed to disclose relationships with treasury advisers and banks.

It should be remembered that local authority finance is entirely unregulated, and that ultimately, it is local taxpayers picking up the tab when councils are mis-sold risky financial products. 

With the closure of the Local Government Audit Commission in 2015, severe cuts to town hall budgets since 2010, and plans outlined in the Devolution for Cities agenda granting additional financial powers to local authorities, it has never been more important to stamp out market abuse along the financial advisory chain to town halls.

CIPFA and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) both assert that it should be the FCA, not councils, which investigate and regulate the conduct of financial consultants and advisors. to councils.

We call upon the Treasury Select Committee to conduct an inquiry, and to ensure the FCA is given appropriate powers/ forced to investigate and regulate the conduct of treasury management advisors (TMAs) and financial consultants to local government.

From Panama to Kilburn - time for some questions to be asked

I was a little surprised when last year the Brent and Kilburn Times reported a House of Lords celebration of the achievements of Kilburn Grange Free School before it had opened.

This aroused my curiosity but it has been sharpened even further by a report on the  Panama off-shore funding controversy which appears to link  Kilburn Grange, funded by the DfE and with just 53 pupils, according to their website, with Mossock Fonseca.

Kilburn Grange Free School is part of a Multi Academy Trust, Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET) and according to their website LINK:

Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET) is a multi academy sponsor and we sponsor seven primary Free Schools across London and the South-East. Bellevue Place’s core purpose and responsibility is to establish, maintain and manage state funded Free Schools.

All Bellevue Place schools are focused to deliver high quality education provision in areas where there is a shortage of primary school places.

Bellevue Place is a new model for education delivery in the state sector. The Trust is a joint venture between two organisations who are passionate about providing high quality education provision. They bring together the very best of the fee-paying Independent sector – Bellevue Education Ltd – experienced in running 15 independent schools in the UK and Switzerland; with a highly-regarded education consultancy – Place Group – with experience in the state sector for efficiency of supply in setting up new schools and converting academies, along with driving value for money and compliance.

The BPET accounts are posted on the Rutherford School website LINK

The Bellevue Education Group Limited part of the Trust is of interest to the Sarawak Report LINK:

One of the clients of the off-shore incorporations firm Mossack Fonseca, exposed in the so-called Panama Papers this week, was PetroSaudi’s Tarek Obaid.

Using a web of off-shore vehicles, he and fellow director Patrick Mahony secretly invested some of the millions they obtained in illegal backhanders from Malaysia’s Development fund in a private education company that bought up some of the UK’s poshest private schools.

Documents acquired by Sarawak Report reveal that the two men are the secret funders behind the self proclaimed entrepreneur, Marwan Naja, who acts as Chairman of Bellevue Education, a fast growing business, which has acquired 12 lucrative schools since 2010.

The Bellevue Education Group, previously named The Really Great Education Company Limited, is officially run from Geneva, although its UK registered company address is the PetroSaudi headquarters in Curzon Street. In fact, the business is primarily owned by two vehicles named Plato One and Plato Two based in Hong Kong, which are in turn controlled by Mahony together with an off-shore company owned by Obaid called Maplehill Property Limited (BVI).

In the course of setting up the complex ownership structure in 2010 Marwan (who has just one share) reported he had:

 “taken specific tax advice from a firm of internationally recognised accountants which has confirmed to him in writing that no Tax will be payable.. as a result of any dividends, distributions or other returns..whether during the Investment or following an exit from the Investment”

The revelations will be an embarrassment to the high profile educationalist, Mark Malley, who set up the company, after what he claims was a highly successful stint as a headmaster, turning around failing schools.

He is the Chief Executive of Bellevue Education Group and owns shares in the fast expanding venture, which plainly seeks to cash in on a perceived burgeoning market for private early years schools in and around London.

  See LINK for Directors etc

Click to enlarge

It appears that the DfE is funding a free school  with taxpapers' money which has some slightly worrying connections.   We know according to some reports that eventually free schools and academies may be allowed to become profit making  but it would be worth the authorities checking where the money is going at present.

The staff, governors and parents of Kilburn Grange may have little idea of the ins and outs of the Trust and the school itself may do a wonderful job but perhaps they should be asking some searching questions about the Trust and its partners.

 

Natalie Bennett 'fully supports' Arms Fair protesters who are on trial from Monday

A group of protesters, including a Green Party councillor from Cambridge, accused of blocking access to a global arms fair in London last year will have the backing of the Green Party’s leader when they stand trial from Monday April 11th.

Natalie Bennett says if the group who disrupted the Defence & Security Equipment International arms fair were able to prevent arms sales to a dodgy regime then it will have been worthwhile.

The defendants are accused of having disrupted the setup of the arms fair by blocking the access roads to the site with their bodies and by locking themselves to the gates.

Multiple defendants are accused of having blockaded a road during the Stop The Arms Fair main day of action on  September 12th 2015. This includes Angela Ditchfield, a Green Party councillor from Cambridge.

Bennett, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said:

The protesters have my full support. Their peaceful act of civil disobedience will increase people's awareness of this dreadful market place in our country, which damages our own security as well as that of other nations.

They were aiming to prevent or delay delivery of arms that could be used in deadly, criminal and human rights abusing acts around the world.

Defendant Tom Franklin, 57, of Clifton Without, York said:

It is intolerable that the government is supporting the sale of illegal weapons and weapons being used to kill ordinary people from the West Bank to Yemen and Sudan.  'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.' So I had to try to prevent evil.

In a joint public statement the defendants’ campaign said:

We know that the tools of the type promoted for sale at DSEI will be used to reinforce apartheid, to surveil and brutalise communities from Brixton to Bahrain, and to perpetuate the border regime that kills thousands every year – as European states wage a war against the refugees they helped create.

We know that weapons promoted at DSEI are used to incinerate whole families at the touch of a button in places from Palestine to Pakistan. We know that such weapons will continue to devastate landscapes and do permanent environmental damage across the globe. And that these weapons have been used in systematic forced evictions and ethnic cleansing; such as against the people of Kurdistan. And we know that weapons of the type promoted at DSEI will be used to torture and repress people based on their political views, faith, gender, or sexuality in places like Saudi Arabia.  Sometimes the tools of oppression are literal – and they are for sale at DSEI arms fair.