The Scrutiny Committee's recommendations on the Cabinet's Roe Green Strathcona closure decision has been rushed on to the agenda of Monday's Cabinet, which already has an over-loaded agenda. There is no report of the Scrutiny's deliberations and recommendations on the Council website - they are 'to follow' - this gives the public little or no time to prepare any representations to Cabinet which surely undermines democracy and transparency. On such an emotive and controversial issue you would think the Council would be careful not to alienate people further.
I queried this and was told, 'A covering report and report from the Strategic Director of Children and Young People will be made available in due course.' The meeting, like all Cabinet meetings currently, will be held at 4pm which means people working normal hours will be unable to attend and Roe Green Strathcona staff and parents will be hard put to get to the meeting in time after work. Anyone available is asked to get to the Civic Centre for 3pm to make their feelings known before the meeting.
Research by the National Housing Federation shows just how inadequate
Local Housing Allowance now is for the 1.3million families who rely on
it to cover the high cost of private rent.
This is contributing to children living in overcrowded and poor
quality accommodation, as well as increasing levels of poverty and debt;
with families who can’t find anywhere affordable to rent likely to end
up homeless. The number of homeless children in temporary accommodation
has increased by 83% since 2011 to 126,020.
The National Housing Federation, which represents housing
associations in England – social landlords to over 6 million people,
analysed 75,000 rental homes advertised on Zoopla in July 2019. It
compared the cost of rent for each property with the rate of Local
Housing Allowance that a family requiring that sized property would be
entitled to.
Local Housing Allowance was initially designed to cover bottom 50% of
market rents in any area. However this was reduced to 30% in 2011.
Rates were then divorced from market rents altogether in 2013; and
finally frozen in 2016, so they stopped keeping up even with inflation.
There are now parts of the country where less than 1% of private
rented properties are covered by the Local Housing Allowance rate, at a
time when record numbers of low income families have no other option for
finding a home, due to a severe lack of social housing.
The most unaffordable places include:
Area
Total properties advertised for private rent
Not affordable
Affordable
% affordable
Huntingdon
227
226
1
0.44%
Thanet
217
216
1
0.46%
Stevenage & North Herts
159
158
1
0.63%
Ipswich
390
387
3
0.77%
Milton Keynes
508
504
4
0.79%
Peterborough
627
621
6
0.96%
Dover-Shepway
176
174
2
1.14%
Central London
3,747
3,703
44
1.17%
Outer East London
865
854
11
1.27%
Bury St Edmunds
227
230
3
1.30%
The National Housing Federation is urgently calling on the government to:
End the freeze and increase LHA payments so that they cover at least the bottom 30% of private rent homes in any local area.
Commit to investing £12.8bn annually in building new social
housing, so that fewer families have to depend on unaffordable and
insecure privately rented accommodation.
Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation said:
Low income families in England are being punished two fold, no
longer able to access social housing because of the dire shortage of it,
they now can’t access enough housing benefit to rent privately either.
The crippling effects of the housing crisis and significant cuts
to benefits have forced thousands of parents into impossible situations
in order to keep a roof over their children’s heads, many having to
choose between crippling debt, overcrowding or homelessness.
The time to act is now - government must increase LHA payments
in line with at least the bottom 30% of rents; as well as investing in
building more social housing so we can ensure there are secure and
affordable homes for these families in the future.
Case study
Emma Langdon is 30 and lives with her two young sons in a private
rented property in Plymouth. After splitting up with her partner, Emma
had to move out of their shared home, and struggled to find anywhere
affordable to live. After looking for several months, she could not find
a single property covered by the rate of Local Housing Allowance she is
entitled to.
To avoid being made homeless, Emma had to move eight miles away from
her children’s school. She still has to find an extra £60 each month to
pay for the rent. She said: “It’s a nightmare. As well as trying to
afford the rent, I’m now spending £50 a week on fuel to get the children
to school and back.”
After a year of looking, Emma is still unable to find anywhere more
suitable or affordable for her family to live. She said: “It’s
practically impossible to find anywhere affordable that accepts people
on housing benefit. If we lived nearer the children school it would cost
an extra £100 each month in rent, but at least I would save money on
petrol and they would be near their friends. There are so many families like us in this situation. I’m lucky to
have my father as a guarantor or we wouldn’t have been able to find
anywhere to live.”
Although I am a Green Party member I certainly agree that Brent needs to be 'transformed' although that has to be in the right direction (remember the Libraries Transformation project in which our Labour Council closed half our libraries!) Ironically the venue, Kensal Rise Library, is one of those the Council closed. It is run by volunteers after a long struggle to safeguard the building and raise funds.
The event has been mounted by Brent Momentum. This is the description of the event on the Eventbrite page. I will be contributing to a panel on the media and politics
An exciting day of interactive talks and workshops
discussing the ideas and policies that can transform Brent for the many,
not the few.
About this Event
Inspired by ‘The World Transformed’ festival held alongside the
Labour Party conference since 2016, Brent Momentum is holding a day of
discussion, debate, and organisation on practical ways to make Brent and
the wider world more radically equal, just, democratic and sustainable.Brilliant panel members, including...
James Meadway (Former advisor to Shadow Chancellor)
Kerry-Anne Mendoza (The Canary)
Hilary Wainwright (Red Pepper)
Rebecca Newsom (Head of Politics, Greenpeace)
David Wearing (Author of Angloarabia)
Lara McNeil (Labour NEC Youth Rep)
Emma Dent Coad MP (Kensington)
A great set of topics, including...
Climate crisis and climate justice
Workers in the gig economy
Corbynism
Global Brent / Internationalist solidarity
Municipal Socialism
Media and politics
Youth politics
Inadequate, over-priced housing
Standing for office
Essential shortlisting criteria in order to be eligible
Amount of money available in each neighbourhood and neighbourhood boundaries
A list of projects who have received the award ( not including the last round)
CVS Brent Training sessions
Who to contact for 1:1 support
How to apply through our Grants Portal
If you see us tweet about NCIL or a Facebook post we would most appreciate it if you could retweet, share etc. as we want to get the word out. Please put up this flyer in appropriate public areas. We are keen for those who have not heard about this fund to hear about it!
If you need any further information or support please do not hesitate to email us or call.
We will see more scenes like this if Brent Council does not devise a strategy in partnership with headteacher and teacher unions to manage falling pupil rolls.
This is the presentation I made as a local governor and former Brent headteacher at last night's Scrutiny Committee on the Roe Green Strathcona proposed closure.
When schools
were asked to have bulge classes or expand as a result of rising pupil numbers
some declined for various reasons often to do with school vulnerabilities or
the size of the site.
Roe Green infants,
despite the difficulties did agree and are now paying for their selflessness
and willingness to help the authority out.
They have
been treated very poorly.
Governors
from other primary schools are watching how this is dealt with very carefully. Some
have expanded with new buildings but have not filled the additional spaces,
others may be on two sites as Strathcona is and have heard the Council’s
argument that such schools are ‘too expensive.’
The vast
majority of primary schools in Brent have not academized, choosing to remain
under local authority oversight, believing as we do in democratic
accountability.
But
accountability goes two ways and the meetings I have attended about Strathcona
have undermined my trust in the democratic process.
·The
inaccuracies in the officer’s report were not addressed.
·The
arguments of parents, pupils and staff (including the headteacher) were
ignored..
·The
school’s proposal for additional provision on the site was misrepresented
and not responded to.
Instead the
Lead member just read aloud extracts from the officer’s report.
People were
left with the impression that the
closure was a result of cuts and the council need the money elsewhere , but
school funding is ring-fenced so any savings would go into the general schools
budget rather than towards other services. It would mean a tiny percentage
increase in other school’s budgets and I for one would not want that to be at
the expense of the Strathcona community.
If we still
had a committee system, with a separate education committee, I feel that this
and other proposals would have been properly debated and scrutinised. Some
councillors in Sheffield are suggesting a return to that system to ensure
better accountability -perhaps Brent should too.
The
authority’s initial response to rising school rolls was often ad hoc. We
now need a well thought out strategy to address falling rolls.
Treat Roe
Green Strathcona’s staff, pupils and parents fairly and win back their trust
and respect as well as that of others in the borough.
Cllrs Chan and Kennelly with Jenny Cooper and staff after the meeting
There was jubilation tonight when the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, after hearing representations from Cllrs Jumbo Chan and Daniel Kennelly, Jenny Cooper of the NEU, staff from the school and community supporters, decided to ask the Cabinet to reconsider its decision to close Roe Green Strathcona School and in particular to look at the proposals for additional provision at the school.
Jumbo Chan addresses school staff, union reps and supporters before the Scrutiny meeting
This does not mean that the school will definitely survive - Cabinet may decide additional provision is not required or will not be for the primary age group - but it is a significant victory for campaigners who were determined to put up a fight.
During the debate Gail Tolley, Strategic Director for Young People and Families, said that in the event of closure and because of the difficulties in recruiting teachers in the borough, she 'had no doubt we would be able to avoid compulsory redundancies.'
Opponents of the closure were infuriated when after detailed presentations by staff and supporters critiquing the evidence used by officers to justify closure rather than answering them the lead member just read from a typed manuscript prepared before the meeting. He did not answer any of their points and this repeated behaviour in other meetings where he just read from the officer's report. The chair of the school's governing body's Finance Committee gave a detailed rebuttal of some of the financial information in the Cabinet report, others focused on pupil numbers, the failure of the local authority to publicise the school on its admissions website and the Headteacher revealed that the Council's own admissions department had stymied a parent's attempt to send her children to Strathcona because it would affect the school from which they were going to be transferred budget.
Fortunately Brent CEO Carolyn Downs intervened to summarise the questions and points raised and asked the Lead member, Strategic Director and Operational Director to respond and members of the Committee followed up with their own questions. There was a considerable amount of repetition on both sides but deficiencies in the process and evidence base soon became clear.
Much will depend on the issue of Additional Provision. This is a proposal to site additional provision for primary special needs children on the Strathcona site alongside the mainstream provision. This would enable a degree of integration to take place to the benefit of both sets of pupils and enhance inclusion. Gail Tolley insisted that there was adequate provision for primary SEND children in the borough - in mainsteam schools, units attached to schools and the recently opened Avenue school which is due to expand. She said that the real need was for 16-25 year old provision and could be considered for the site. She made clear several times that such provision was completely separate from the survival of primary provision at the site.
Gail Tolley went on to reject other uses proposed by the school including a teacher training base for the borough, and a refugee resource centre. She suggested that there was not a need for a training centre as the Brent Schools Partnership already provided a service for the schools that bought into it. The borough Teachers Centre at what is now the Leopold School annex was closed some years ago and BSP training takes place at a number of venues including the Crown Hotel in Cricklewood.
Tonight staff, parents, pupils and supporters from the community will converge on Brent Civic Centre in Wembley to demonstrate solidarity with Roe Green Strathcona School's spirited fight against Brent Council's decision to close the school. There will be a demonstration outside the Civic Centre from 4.30pm and then people will attend the 6pm Scrutiny Committee which is hearing the call-in of the Cabinet's decision made by eight Labour councillors.
A broad range of speakers are expected to argue that the closure decision was based on inaccurate information with the Council failing to properly consider the strength of local feeling and the alternative proposals put forward by the school.
The closure decision is important as it sets a precedent for other potential moves to close, shrink or amalgamate schools as a result of falling pupil numbers. The National Education Union will be keen to protect their members, who now include support staff as well as teachers, from compulsory redundancy. Most Brent primary schools still come under Brent Council oversight and the Council is the ultimate employer.
The last time falling school rolls hit the primary sector was in the middle and late 1970s resulting in considerable disruption and despondency. With Brent primary schools currently performing well against national standards it is essential that parents and staff have confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the local authority.
At a national policy level falling rolls present an opportunity to reduce class sizes in the state sector to begin to match those of private schools.
44 Queens Walk on the corner of Salmon Street and Queens Walk (view from Queens Walk)
The view from Salmon Street
Neighbours of a proposed
development on a site at the junction of Salmon Street and Queens Walk in
Kingsbury are expressing consternation at plans for the development of what was
a single family house into a block of 8 flats.
Queens Walk has been seen as one
of the most handsome suburban streets in the area with a number of different
individual style houses that nonetheless blend into a pleasing whole.
Like many such streets there have been unsympathetic refurbishments and
extensions which Brent Council has allowed and of course front gardens given
over to car parks.
However, for many the latest
application is seen as a step too far and possible opening the possibility, by
establishment of precedent, to more such applications. Number 44 Queens
Walk has been empty for some time and has clearly deteriorated and was purchased
at a fairly knock-down (sorry!) price for demolition and redevelopment.
The conversion from family house to 8 flats (2 three bedroomed, five 2
bedroomed and one 1 bedroom) to be sold at market prices will yield a
considerable profit - tempting to other developers.
I see little reason to disagree
with what one of the objectors had to say about the application:
Queens Walk is typical of the
leafy suburban character of many parts of Brent. The properties in Queens Walk
are all two-storey detached or semi-detached houses, set well back from the
road and of individual yet complimentary appearance. The proposed four storey
development at number 44 would be significantly taller than any other property
in the road and the design makes no attempt to blend in with the architectural
style of Queens Walk.
One of the reasons that previous applications have been denied is that the
design, layout and appearance are out of character. The developer has come back
with a design that is even taller than the previous submission and makes even
less attempt to reflect the suburban architecture of the area. How can this be
acceptable?
The Brent Local Plan that is being consulted on at the moment promotes a vision
of "respecting the predominantly suburban low rise character of the
area" The current Core strategy states even more strongly that one of the
aims is "to protect and enhance the suburban character of Brent and to
protect it from inappropriate development."
Queens Walk has a distinctive suburban character. The building is totally out
of character with the rest of Queens Walk and is in fact an ugly building.
Whatever is put on this plot will be there for a considerable length of time.
Surely, we should be improving the environment with buildings that enhance the
surrounding area, not buildings that will spoil it?
