UPDATED: Labour rebellion over Principal Opposition designation

Brent Council's  CEO, Carolyn Downs, announced tonight at the Brent Council AGM that  she will be commissioning an independent person to review the whole episode of Cllr Tayo Oladapo's death going back to January 2016.  (This is not the same person as the Council's Independent Person. The reviewer's identity wil be made known in due course.) Any recommendations arising from the review would be brought to Full Council.

Downs  outlined the sequence of events that included reports earlier in the year that Cllr Oladapo had gone back to Nigeria, his country of origin.   These had not been reported to Council on February 22nd  because there was no confirmation that this was the case. There were then reports of his death that could not be confirmed as the Registrar said the death had not been registered.   Letters to his address in Harlesden got no response and attempts to contact relatives in Nigeria and the USA also drew a blank.

On the 9th March police were contacted and on 10th March they had confirmed the councillor had died on January 29th. On March  11th his death was announced by the Council. LINK  (WM note -The announcement posted by Brent Council on March 11th did not mention the earlier date of death).

Cllr Oladapo's death was not officially registered by his mother until May 11th.  Carolyn Downs had then been able to convey her and the Council's condolences.

Councillors from all sides of the chamber paid tribute to Cllr Oladapo. Cllr Stopp was not called but his tribute appears HERE .

Later in the meeting some Labour councillors abstained on a vote to recognise the Conservative Group as the official opposition. This is the group based in Kenton now led by Cllr Reg Colwill. Earlier the Brondesbury Park Brent Conservatives  had failed in a bid to occupy the front  bench seats currently occupied by the Conservative Group.

A senior councillor told me that  the Brondesbury Park Conservatives would make a better, and much needed, Opposition. Apparently some felt that it was an abuse of Labour's huge  majority to use it to install a tame opposition that would give the ruling group an easy ride. It was better to leave the seven opposition councillors to decide between themselves. That would of course have Cllr Helen Carr wielding the casting vote..

Abstainers were Cllrs Perrin, Nerva, Collier, Chan, Marquis, Stopp, Long, Thomas, Tatler, Kelcher, Duffy  and Ramesh Patel.

Cabinet posts approved were:

Butt (Leader), McLennan (Deputy). Farah (Housing) Hirani (Community Wellbeing), Mashari (Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills, Mitchell Murray (Children and Young People), Pavey (Stronger Communities) Southwood (Environment).

Mashari adds Regeneration to her portfolio while Pavey's post is a clear demotion after his leadership challenge.  It is not clear whether McLennan will take on the Finance and Human Resources responsibilities previously led by Pavey.

The key Planning Committee,  is still chaired by Cllr Marquis but the membership is relatively inexperienced with the exception of Cllrs Long and Moher. Other members of the Committee are Agha, Hylton, J Mitchell Murray and newly elected Kilburn councillor Pitruzzella.

Joining the controversial Cllr Allie on Standards are Collier, Kabir (former whip) and Krupa Sheth. Collier will have his work cut out to persuade his colleagues to adopt a strong stance in dealing with any referrals. Mandip Johal was recommended for appointment as an Independent Person.  The recommendation said that Mandip had over 10 years experience of dealing with professional misconduct complaints within the legal profession.

In an almost one-party Council strong Scrutiny Committees are essential and the memberships announced this evening slightly better than I feared.

The Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee is chaired by Ketan Sheth and other members are Hoda-Benn, Conneely, Hector, Jones, Nerva and Shahzad.

Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny is chaired by Cllr Kelcher. Committee members are Aden, Choudhary, Ezeajughi. Miller, Tatler and M Patel.

Cllr Stopp, previously on the Scrutiny Committee has now relegated to Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing  (with Cllr Perrin) and the  Trading Standards Joint Advisory Board.  Duffy remains out in the cold.

Committee chairs going forward to Brent Council AGM tonight

Ahead of the AGM tonight the main committee chairs of Brent Council are:  General Purposes - Butt, Planning - Marquis, Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny - Ketan Sheth., Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny - Kelcher and Standards - Allie.

The membership nominatiosn have been fluid over the past few days bit it will be worth watching the fate of some of the Labour members who have been exercising some criticical judgement recently including Cllrs Pavey, Duffy and Stopp.

Recent rumours of a possible defection from Kenton Tories to Brondesbury Park Tories has been denied, so barring such an event or an agreememnt between the two groups, councillors will again be deciding who to designate the Principal Opposition Party.  The lone Lib Dem, Helen Carr, will get no substantial committee position.

The two Scrutiny Committees means that this year there are more committee places  available to share among the 56 Labour councillors and six Tories.

Deadline May 20th for appeal to save Metropolitan Open Land from Harrow School development

From Harrow Hill Trust

Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) will be lost if the Harrow School replacement Sports Hall is relocated and enlarged to include a conference suite, as proposed.

We believe that there is a better location and design that the school should consider.

Please give your support by 20 May by signing our petition on change.org. Also, help us by rejecting application P/1940/16 on the Harrow Council planning portal http://www.harrow.gov.uk.

Access to appreciate the current wonderful views is already restricted to footpaths and London's Capital Ring walking route, and they will be blocked or blighted by the proposed positioning. This includes the views of our only Grade II Listed Park which was set out by Capability Brown in 1768.

The solution is to redevelop the existing brown field site, use more subterranean construction and a green roof/ walls. Also to use a temporary sports 'Bubble' and the nearby John Lyon swimming pool, during construction.

The conditions for developing on MOL have not been met and the public have not been consulted on the MOL aspects. If we can’t protect a site which is MOL, in a Conservation Area, an Area of Special Character and alongside a Grade II listed Park then what can we protect? 

Show your support: sign our petition by 20 May

UPDATE; Newly elected Chairs of Brent Council committees and an audacious nomination for Standards Chair

Cllr Allie at Full Council  February 22nd

More appointments will be made this evening but I now have fuller information for readers on appointments to positions on Brent Council committees etc.

One nomination, if true,  is particularly audacious - that of Cllr James Allie who sat reading the Catholic Herald through much of the budget setting meeting on February 22nd, which included discussion of the impact of  cuts to services.

A complaint was made to Fiona Alderman who replied:

I have considered the complaint under the Members’ Code of Conduct complaints procedure and have consulted the Independent Person, the Chief Whip and the Chief Executive. In all the circumstances, I have decided that on this occasion your complaint does not warrant any further action under the Code of Conduct. I have, however, reported your complaint to the Chief Whip for the Labour Group and written to Councillor Allie to advise him that the conduct you complained of must not be repeated.

Cllr Butt has apparently nominated Cllr Allie to be chair of the Standards Committee which may well be charged with responding to complaints about Cllr Butt's conduct over the Tayo Oladapo case as well as the  double Planning Committee shenanigans. Sandra Kabir, the Chief Whip who managed the Cllr John Duffy case, is nominated as Vice Chair. Other members are Cllr Krupa Sheth and Cllr Tatler.

Cllr Allie has been a staunch Butt supporter following his defection from the Lib Dems and was one of the few to support Butt's bid to end elelctions for Deputy Leader.

Although Allie was never charged with any offence in a 2011 fraud case, he was referred to the borough solicitor for not declaring an interest by the then Labour leader Ann John. At the time Allie was a Lib Dem councillor for Alperton and chaired the budget scrutiny committee. LINK

Krupa Sheth is a close relative of Cllr Ketan Sheth and replaces Bernard Collier who one councillor said was known to 'ask tough questions'.

Many observers thought Cllr Liz Dixon, a woman of principle, would have been a more independent occupant of the position.

The chairs of the  two Scrutiny Committees elected on Saturday are Matt Kelcher and Ketan Sheth. Kelcher is the chair of the present single Scrutiny Committee and Sheth previously chaired Planning.

Sarah Marquis was elected as Chair of the Planning Committee.  She was interrupted mid-speech  on Saturday by applause when she promised that she would be politically independent in the role. Cllr Agha was challenged to distance himself from Cabinet pressure if he got the role but replied that it was important that all members contribute to the Planning Committee, including the Council leader.

The leadership are claimed to have ignored Marquis' plea that the process of appointing members to the Planning Committee should be opened up to reassure the public that there was not a lack of independence from councillors which would open up claims of political interference in the Committee's work.

I understand that one Cabinet candidate, who was not elected to a position, when asked which other council they admired, replied 'Tower Hamlets.'

Given Cllr Butt's narrow majority for leader and the tied vote for deputy it is not certain that his nominations will get through this evening  but doubtless considerable pressure will be applied on individual councillors.

The Green Party bids farewell to Natalie Bennett and will have new leader in September

 

A very human leader Pic: documentary.com

Announcement from the Green Party

Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has announced that she will not to stand for re-election in the Leadership elections, which take place this summer and culminate at the Green Party’s Autumn Conference.

During her hugely successful two-term, four-year stint as leader, Natalie has guided the Party through a period of extraordinary growth and increasing impact.

Under Natalie’s leadership, the Party has increased its number of MEPs by 50% in the 2014 European Elections, recorded its best-ever result in a General Election in 2015 (amassing over one million votes for the first time and saving 123 deposits compared to 4 in 2010) and, most recently, recorded its best-ever performance in London elections, where Greens are now the undisputed third party.

Membership of the Green Party of England and Wales has increased five-fold under Natalie’s watch, supported enormously by her efforts to engage with and inspire local and regional parties from Stroud to Solihull, Sunderland to St Ives.

The party broke in to the televised Leaders’ Debates ahead of the May 2015 General Election and Natalie used the high-profile media opportunities to share widely Green Party values and policies.
Reflecting on her successful spell at the helm, Natalie said:

I have been proud to lead a party through a period of phenomenal expansion and increased impact. With the support of our passionate members and supporters we have been able to achieve much in a relatively short period.

The Green Party offers a genuine alternative to the tired status quo and I am proud that Greens do politics differently.

There’s greatly increased public understanding that when you want the honest, caring, committed view – one that isn’t guided by the views of the latest focus group or fear of a tabloid backlash but by fundamental principles and values – you should come to the Green Party.

Looking to the future, in which I intend to remain fully engaged in Green Party politics, I’m confident the Green Party is going to become increasingly influential on the political scene. We’re the only party with a platform that recognises the essential interrelationship between economic and environmental justice – that we must have a society in which no one fears hunger or homelessness while we collectively live within the environmental limits of our one fragile planet.

 Richard Mallender, Chair of the Green Party Executive, commented:

On behalf of everyone in the Green Party I thank Natalie for her outstanding leadership over the past four years. Without Natalie we would not have been able to achieve all that we have achieved. I am delighted that Natalie will remain active in the party - her support will be invaluable to the new Leadership team as we continue to grow.

Nominations for the Green Party Leadership elections open on 1st June 2016 and close on 30th June. A campaign period will run from 1 July until 24 July, at which point the one-month balloting period begins. The new Leadership team will be unveiled at the Green Party’s Autumn Conference in early September.

Note from Wembley Matters

The leadership of the Green Party is rather different from the more traditional leadership of other political parties.  The Greens previously did not have leaders ,but 'Spokespeople', and the leadership model was only adopted after a vigorous debate.

However in many ways the leader is still a spokesperson as policy continues to be made by the twice yearly conference, with positions in between decided by an elected committee of the party.  This means that the leader cannot make up policy on the hoof and causes problems when TV or radio interviewers expect immediate answers assuming the role is the same as that for traditional parties. The process is sometimes cumbersome but in my view more democratic.

With policy decided by Conference there is less scope for a leadership contest based on policy differences, although differences in emphasis will be significant.  In some ways, Caroline Lucas, the only Green MP, has been more free to put forward policies such as the 'progressive alliance' and this creates some tension at times with some members wary of being bounced into post facto policy.

Within the party there are different perspectives ranging from 'deep greens' very much concerned with prioritising the environment and eco-socialists who see capitalism,  by its very nature, as not being able to deal with the challenge of climate change.  A particular issue that differentiates the green left from the Labour Party is the latters emphasis on economic growth, which is also the basis of capitalism's need for ever expanding markets. The eco-socialist left looks to a socially useful economy rather than a natural resources gobbling, climate change inducing, consumerist economy.

The Party's decision to give equal weight to environmental and social justice has informed the development of policy over  last few years and contributed to the 'Green Surge' of new members in reaction to the neoliberalism of the Labour Party pre-Corbyn.  The Green Party Trade Union Group and Green Left have been reaching out to sections of the labour movement. The Green Left Facebook has nearly 8,000 members and is a lively forum for eco-socialist ideas in the movement.

Inevitably perspectives on the Labour Party under Corbyn, assessment of Labour's developing policies on the environment, economy and voting reform will inform the Green Party's summer of debate, but the unique nature of the Green Party will shape the discussion.

London Mayor's Deputy approved 'Twin Towers' two days before election

It has emerged that Sir Edward Lister, Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff of the then London Mayor, Boris Johnson, decided not to intervene in the 'Twin Towers' development on the site of Chesterfield House, Park Lane, Wembley. just two days before the GLA election.

The borough's decision was subject to a Stage 2 referral to the Mayor's Office.

This was one of several decisions made in the last few weeks of the previous administration.

Butt narrowly retains Brent Labour Group leadership - Margaret McLennan will be his deputy - cabinet details

Despite the furore over the alleged concealment of the  death of Tayo Oladapo and the row over the  double Planning Committee to approve Quintain's Wembley development  Muhammed Butt retained the Labour Group leadership at today's AGM by just four votes.

Margaret McLennan, having stood on a platform that the role is 'non-political', was elected Butt's deputy following a re-ballot when the initial vote was a tie with Michael Pavey.

Their names now go forward as nominations to the Full Council meeting on Wednesday.

One councillor commented that there were now two factions in the Labour Group with no middle ground between them adding that strong whipping was evident.

Michael Pavey, (Barnhill ward)  who had challenged Butt, survived as a Cabinet member and others elected to Cabinet were Roxanne Mashari (Welsh Harp), Harbi Farah (Welsh Harp) Krupesh Hirani (Dudden Hill), Wilhelmina Mitchell Murray (Wembley Central) and Eleanor Southwood (Queens Park).

This means that Ruth Moher and James Denselow leave the Cabinet.

Roles will be allocated later.

Other key posts will be Chairs of the two Scrutiny Committees and Chair of Planning Committee.

Although Cllr Butt won the election, albeit by a narrow margin, he may not be out of the woods yet as there is likely to be an internal Labour Party inquiry over the Tayo Oladapo allegations and a possible reference to the Brent Council Standards Committee.

Has the time come for a People’s Forum on Planning? It surely has.

An amazingly speedy response to my  previous blog from Jaine Lunn
 

I am hoping you will publish the blog in response to final paragraph contained in your most recent post regarding how the council should operate when they own the property.

Recently Wembley Youth Centre was closed, citing that Brent Council had held a consultation on Youth Services and could no longer fund this particular centre.  As a Council owned building, Wembley Crime Prevention who were running most of the projects, quickly realised that the youth of Wembley would have nowhere to go and submitted an Expression of Interest for a Community Asset Transfer.  Whilst this was accepted and acknowledged that it met with the Borough Plan objectives, it was refused on the grounds that this land had been earmarked for a housing development (!) butthey  may consider leasing it in the short term, until the property was put up for sale/lease and planning applications and consultations were submitted. 

Contrast this will the Tokyngton Library which Labour closed in 2011.  Brent Council Officers prepared a detailed Housing Plan of up to 20 units inclusive of a Shared Community Facility for the local community.

In round one of consultations one of the highest bidders was a developer who accepted the Councils plans in full.  However, this was not to be, amazingly a second round of bidding was allowed and the former Library was sold to a party associated with Councillor Butt and his family LINK, with no housing or community centre for the local residents/public.

In King Eddies Park, only a year ago when the Bowls Club Pavilion was  was rescued from development, an Expression of Interest for Community Transfer for the Pavilion  rejected, and the interested parties were told, this is not an option and will not be listed as an asset of community value as “the council need to make money”.

This Bowling Pavillion and associated land is now up for lease at £25,000 per annum along with parking allowance and unlimited access to the Park!

And finally,  what happened to the last remaining public use Green Open Space in Wembley Central, now part of the new development of Ark Elvin Academy.  This was public land that in 1998 was transferred to the Governing Body of Copland Community High School, a grant maintained school of which the infamous Sir Alan Davies KBE was head.  No public consultation, no exchange of money for land that is worth millions and certainly in double figures.  Which now belongs to Ark Elvin Academy whom I assume also haven’t paid any money for it.  LINK

At the same time despite Brent Council receiving objections to the removal of the Public Right of Way, Footpath 87, people in the the wards of Wembley Central and Tokynton are prevented from entering or crossing the land, which they have had use of for over 50 years.  The objection has been sent to the Secretary of State for the Environment and is yet to be decided.  Keir the Constructor of the new school has chosen to ignore the rules and traffic order and quite happily sealed off the Public Right of Way, and installed a temporary footpath which is higgledy piggeldy over the field, a muggers’ paradise if ever I saw one and very unsafe.  On calling the Council regarding this I got the response “Oh well I’m afraid there is nothing I can do, but it won’t look good for them with the Secretary of State”!
 

So yes Martin, we do need a peoples’ panel to stop them running rough shod over us with regard to the planning committee decisions.  It is obvious they read little or even try to understand what is being conveyed in the committee reports,  evident when listening to the questions they ask and observing who votes for what.