Cllr Butt's bad news week as he is accused of 'social cleansing' and Brent Central CLP swings left

Kilburn Times October 18th

With Cllr Abdirazak Abdi proving to be as courageous at revealing the short-comings of Brent Council as his Kilburn ward predecessor Cllr Duffy and Brent Central Constituency Labour Party swinging to the left, this has not been a good week for Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council.

The Kilburn Times LINK followed up my story of a week ago  LINK about South Kilburn residents being faced with eviction by the council, without their councillors being informed of a crucial  meeting about the issue. Cllr Abdi minced no words when he accused the Labour council of social cleansing.

Abdi is strongly backed by Kilburn Labour Party which is still campaigning over his removal from the Planning Committee by Cllr Butt. Now the Brent Central Labour Party looks as if it too will be a thorn in Butt's side with the left winning all but one officer position in the CLP  LINK.  Significantly the left filled all 10 places on the Local Campaigns Forum (LCF) which organises councillor selections and election campaigns.  The CLP also nominated at 6 left slate candidates for the National Constitutional Committee elections.

The LCF result may be most significant in the long run as it sets priorities for campaigns over the coming period when Butt and his cabinet are putting forward a cuts budget LINK and continuing the council's unhealthy close relationship with developers.

Cllr Butt has been criticised for not doing more to fight the local government cuts and for not signing a key letter protesting against the cuts signed by other council leaders. However, he turned up this week at the Local Government's Association lobby of Downing Street over funding and managed a photo opportunity with Nick Forbes leader of Newcastle Council and the LGA Labour Group.

It will take more than the odd photo opportunity to persuade Butt's critics that he is responding to their concerns.

Hitherto, opposition to Cllr Butt's leadership has been more about his personal leadership style and controlling approach rather than policies. The relationship between Brent Council Labour Group and the three local CLPs (Hampstead & Kilburn, Brent Central and Brent North) in terms of the latters' ability to influence specific policy is ill-defined and the Council leadership have been able to shrug off or ignore critical motions.

The LCF may now become the forum for a battle over the future political direction of the council.

Willesden Green 'Foxy Mystery' solved as Yana, the guide dog, is reunited with her toys

Just a month after Wembley Matters LINK reported on the Foxy Mystery of Willesden the puzzle has been solved - by a chance chat between neighbours. Nicole Davy of Chandos Road was chatting with a neighbour from Cranhurst Road who began to tell her about the foxes that had been leaving soft toys in her garden, apparently as presents in exchange for feeding them. The gardens of the two roads back on to each other.

After hearing about two teddies and a rabbit, the penny dropped when the final present of Eeyore was mentioned.

'They're Yanna's toys! They've been missing for weeks.'

After establishing that Yana was a dog, and a very special one, and not a tearful toddler,  Liz told Nicole the whole story and they pieced events together.

While Nicole, who has been blind since the age of 19,  was away on a week's holiday the foxes nabbed the soft toys that had been left out on the lawn and presented them, one by one, over several days, to their friend Liz.

Yana, a labrapoodle, is Nicole's guide dog and usually chases the foxes out of her garden. She has never had puppies and enjoys licking and cuddling the toys.

The toys were advertised as 'Found' on street posters as well as on Wembley Matters but the real owner came as quite a surprise.

Despite the toys having been washed in detergent to remove the foxy smell, Nicole described Yanna's excitement when she was reunited with them and accepted them immediately.

Yana, Nicole and Teddy

'I took Floppy out of the bag and she leapt on it in excitement and rushed into the front room, jumping around and playing with it. When she came back and I gave her another, and then another, she was beside herself with excitement.

I had searched the house and garden when I returned from holiday and they just couldn't be found. I was going to buy replacements from a charity shop but then I bumped into Liz and here we are - I have a very happy dog.

Yana is very serious when she is in harness and doing her job, I sometimes tell her to relax, but out of the harness she is really playful and these toys clearly mean a lot to her.'

Tackling Anti-Muslim Hate Crime in Brent - October 26th

Information and RSVP to rehman@tellmamauk.org

Windrush, War & Welfare October 25th Brent Civic Centre

TICKETS HERE

Will skipping reduce fly-tipping?

When I lived in Shepherd's Bush a couple of decades ago the Council used to leave skips in key sites for the collection of bulky items that would be otherwise fly-tipped. It worked pretty well and quite a few items used to disappear overnight as people raided the skip for useful or saleable bits and pieces.

Cllr Butt & Cllr Sheth (see comments)

Now Brent Council is trialing a similar scheme.

Will the skips initiative encourage people to get rid of surplus items they've been keeping in their shed, loft or the cupboard under the stairs?

Will it result in more landfill?

Will it reduce fly-tipping on our streets and open spaces?

This is is the announcement from Brent Council:

Community skips are coming to Brent, as part of a trial providing a new and easy way to help residents get rid of their household junk.

Under Brent Council's Love Where You Live campaign, the community skips will be manned by local residents and will give people the chance to dispose of unwanted household items and learn more about how we can all do our bit to create a cleaner, greener Brent.

Waste such as furniture, garden clippings, small electrical items, recycling and mattresses can be deposited in the skips. Each household can drop off up to five bulky items or five black bags (or a mixture of both) and will be required to bring one form of identification, which can include a drivers licence, council tax or utility bill.

Under the new trial, community skips will be at the following locations over the next six weeks from 8am - midday:

• 20 October 2018 - Townsend Lane, Fryent
• 03 November 2018 - Ken Way, Barnhill (opposite Lidl)
• 17 November 2018 - Shaftesbury Avenue, Kenton (bottom end)
• 01 December 2018 - Essoldo Way, Kingsbury

The community skips are for residents only and no trade waste will be accepted. The skips will not accept the following items:

• Asbestos
• Car tyres
• Fridges / freezers
• Oil / oil drums
• Paint cans

UPDATE: WEMBLEY STADIUM SALE OFF Big players sideline locals and Brent Council as they tussle over Quintain and Wembley Stadium

The Financial Times reported yesterday that the sale of Quintain by its owner Lone Star is at a stand-off over the price with the area of contention between £2bn and £2.3bn. The Delaney led consortium according to the article has not yet moved into formal talks with Lone Star as discussions over the price continue.

The Delaney Consortium includes Canadian, Quatari and Dutch firms as well as Delaney itself while rival bidders are based in the US and Germany, along with LRC founded by a London-based Israeli investor.

With both Quintain and Wembley Stadium up for sale to big players it feels as if it is not only Brent residents but Brent Council that have been sidelined.

UPDATE: THE FA HAS CALLED OFF THE WEMBLEY STADIUM SALE FOR NOW

Caroline Lucas tells Hammond to fully fund teachers' salary increase & reverse per pupil funding cuts

Caroline Lucas MP has written to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, ahead of the Budget regarding school funding:

Dear Philip,

 

I am writing to you ahead of the Budget and following the recent protest by over 1,000 headteachers about the funding crisis in our schools.

 

Yesterday morning I received the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter on school funding from the Secretary of State of Education about the Department’s use of OECD figures on education spending. The purpose of the letter appears to be to rebut the criticism from Sir David Norgrove, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, that education ministers have made "exaggerated" claims that "do not give the full picture" on school funding. You will be aware of Sir David’s concerns about repeated misuse of statistics, and the Government’s deliberate distortion of data on the schools crisis: “…figures were presented in such a way as to misrepresent changes in school funding. In the tweet, school spending figures were exaggerated by using a truncated axis, and by not adjusting for per pupil spend.” [1]

 

I am writing to you ahead of the Budget to make it clear that Damian’s letter has not allayed my concerns, nor those of the headteachers, staff, parents and children in Brighton Pavilion, and no doubt across the country. Given that Sir David’s letter specifically raises the key issue of adjustment for per-pupil spend, it beggars belief that the letter did not address the Institute for Fiscal Studies finding that total school spending per pupil fell by 8 per cent in real terms between 2009/10 and 2017/18 [1]. Moreover, the National Audit Office have also identified an 8 per cent real-terms reduction in per-pupil funding for mainstream schools between 2014/15 and 2019/20 due to cost pressures [2].

 

It is vital that the Government reverses the per-pupil funding cuts and also fully funds the 3.5 per cent pay rise recommended by the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) for all pay ranges and allowances. Heads are talking about being forced to make redundancies in order to afford well-deserved pay rises for their teachers. 

 

Heads, teachers, teaching assistants, parents and pupils all know the impact of the cuts. There are particular concerns for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). I have received heart-breaking emails from headteachers for many months. Counselling services cut, vital SEND support cut or not provided, staff not replaced, enrichment activities and trips cut back, basic supplies paid for by charity, repairs not undertaken. To provide just a few examples of the most recent messages from headteachers in Brighton Pavilion:

“…if it was not for our parents and friends we would not manage”

 

“Already we have had to rely on parent fundraising to update our reading books”

 

“…significant undervaluing of and mean spirited approach to children's education in this country and the totally inadequate funding”

 

"where do I find the money from?... We don't have the money.”

 

“…the building is falling apart, there is no money for trips, enrichment activities or other things that help to enhance children's learning.”

 

For children with SEND: “we have nothing left to provide for their needs adequately.”

 

“We increasingly rely on volunteers”

I am also receiving representations from sixth form colleges who face a serious shortfall between the funding they receive and the amount they need to educate their students. I urge you to take account of the new report produced by London Economics on behalf of the Sixth Form Colleges Association: Understanding the funding shortfall in sixth form education [2]. It shows the dramatic impact of the government freeze on sixth form funding combined with a sharp increase in running costs. The report found that sixth form colleges need an increase in funding of at least £760 per student in 2020/21 to continue providing a high quality education to young people. The report also found that, in real terms, sixth form colleges received £1,380 less per student in 2016/17 than they did in 2010/11 – a 22 per cent decline in funding [3]. I trust you will urgently address the issue of sixth form funding in the forthcoming Budget.

 

Lastly, and in short, the purpose of this letter is to ask that we do not get the same barrage of lame excuses about OECD spending comparisons on Budget Day. As you will understand from the quotes and information above, they simply do not wash, and I urge you to directly address the issue of rising pupil numbers in schools. Talking about ‘more money’ is an old political trick that fools no-one and leaves this funding crisis unaddressed. Educational standards are in jeopardy. Yet, with the per-pupil funding they need, our schools could deliver great outcomes for all children. Without it we are letting down a generation. The Budget is yet another chance for you to respond as the crisis requires and I sincerely urge you to do so.

 

Best wishes,

 

Caroline

Brent Council austerity cuts to hit the old, the poor, the young & the environment

Monday's Cabinet Meeting will be considering 'savings', known to most of us as 'cuts', of some £20million for 2019/20-2020/21 with cuts totally £40 million expected over the four year term of the current administration.

The Council Tax base (number of households paying the tax) is expected to rise by 2.5% per year and the Council expect to raise Council Tax itself by 4.99% in 2019-20 and 3.99% in 2020-21. At the same time there are proposals to cut Council Tax Support by up to 15% over the period.

The Council's Financial Position

Demographic Pressures

The process following the Cabinet meeting is: 

·      These proposals, together with any changes made by Cabinet, will form the basis of consultation between October 2018 and January 2019 with local residents, businesses and other key stakeholders; 


·      The three scrutiny committees will review the budget proposals and report accordingly; 


·      In November the General purposes committee will review the calculation of the council tax base; and

·      After consultation, a budget report will be presented for Cabinet to recommend a final budget and council tax to the February 2019 Council meeting.

The Officers' Report states:

The proposals have been categorised as follows:

Appendix A:

Appendix B:

Appendix C:

Appendix D:

A.  Recommended budget proposals that have relatively minor impact on residents, business and other stakeholders. Typically these proposals represent generating additional income, general efficiencies in order to reduce expenditure and transformation programmes in order to deliver services within a reduced budget envelope.

B.  These proposals are considered to be ‘difficult’ in that they will have a direct impact on residents, businesses, the voluntary sector and other key stakeholders. Typically these proposals represent a service reduction or a transformation in the way in which services are delivered.

C.  These proposals are considered to be ‘very difficult’ as they represent a greater reduction in key council services and will have a greater impact on key recipients of council services, including vulnerable clients.

D. These proposals are considered to be the ‘most difficult’ as they represent a significant reduction in key council services, including to the most vulnerable residents in the borough.

Officers’ expectation is that savings of £40m will be needed over the lifetime o f this Administration. The profile of these is broadly balanced, and so officers’ advice is that the Administration should seek to agree savings of at least £20m in order to be able to agree a balanced budget for at least the next two years. However, it is important to note that, on the current funding estimates, significant further savings will need to be agreed at the Council meeting of February 2021. As a result the current working assumptions is that anything not agreed in this budget round may need to be considered again at the point in time, and further options identified.

There are usually some items in the report that the administration  do not intend to implement but where they can claim in not implementing then that they have 'listened' to residents. (Forgive me for my cynicism!)

There are 161 pages on detail on the proposals so I cannot summarise them hear but I have embedded them below.

Headline items that will impact on the old, the young and all residents include

•  renegotiate adult social care costs to bring them down to the lowest current level (this may mean some agencies will withdraw from bidding),  renegotiate Supported Living and Housing Related Support, and reducing carer visits to 15 minutes.
•  ending Youth Service provision at the last remaining Youth Centre in Brent, Roundwood
• reduce the number of Children's Centres from 17 to 8, transforming into Family Hubs ( there is a further option of closing them all)
• reduction in Early Help Service staffing and increase in fees
• reduce Connexions Service further
• reducing Library opening hours and possibly closing one library
• making 40 full time equivalent Environmental Services staff redundant (producing 'leaner teams' !)
• ending street cleaning of residential streets (Zone 5) and removing their litter bins
• reduce the opening hours of Abbey Road Recycling Centre or close it completely
• reduce or end grants to Brent's voluntary organisations 

Details (click on bottom right square to enlarge):