Brent Council set to appoint Kim Wright, presently of Lewisham Council, Brent's new CEO

 Kim Wright

 

Kim Wright is set to become the new Chief Executive of Brent Council subject to ratification from Full Council on Monday January 23rd.

Brent’s Senior Staff Appointments Committee (Councillors M. Butt, M. Patel, Knight, Krupa Sheth and Kansagra) has recommended Kim for the Chief Executive role following what the Council called  'a rigorous and competitive recruitment process.'

Brent Council on its website announcement said:

Kim Wright has been Chief Executive of Lewisham Council since October 2019 where she led the council’s response to the global pandemic as well as being the lead Chief Executive for South East London as part of the resilience arrangements that were set up at the time. During Kim’s time at Lewisham the authority has been praised for its work supporting homeless people while the number of residents saying the council runs things well and provides value for money improved significantly. There were also improvements in staff satisfaction levels.

Before joining Lewisham, Kim held a number of Corporate Director roles at Hackney Council which all involved working as part of the senior leadership team to drive improvement and change. Before that Kim worked at Barnet Council and before that Spelthorne Borough Council where she started her local government career in leisure services.

Kim holds a number of pan London roles – as Chair of the London Recovery Board’s Tackling Structural Inequalities sub group; as co-Chair of the London local government Tackling Racial Inequality Group; and as Deputy Chair of London’s Local Resilience Forum, representing all 33 local authorities.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said: "Kim is an outstanding Chief Executive with a fantastic range of abilities and skills that are just right for Brent. We have made lots of progress in Brent over recent years, despite the tough circumstances we have faced. I am keen to welcome Kim to Brent and continue that journey as we seek to build a better Brent and leave no one behind.”

Last year, Brent’s long-serving and highly respected Chief Executive Carolyn Downs announced her intention to retire in April 2023 after a hugely successful career in local and central government.

Kim is set to take up the role of Chief Executive from May 2023. She said: “I am delighted and excited to be recommended as Brent’s next Chief Executive as it is a fantastic place that is one of the UK’s most diverse boroughs, and which is bursting with opportunities. I know how ambitious everyone at Brent is to make a positive difference to local people’s lives. I am really looking forward to working closely with colleagues, members, partners, and residents to do everything we can to create a fairer and more equal borough.

“I’d also like to say what an honour it is to take over from Carolyn Downs who has been one of the most respected public sector chief executives in the country for decades. Carolyn has been an inspiration to so many people, including many women due to the glass ceilings she has broken, and I am determined to build on the impressive legacy she leaves.”

 

Nation-wide protests against forced prepayment meters - outright ban and removal demanded

 From Fuel Poverty Action

 

Today, Fuel Poverty Action and allied groups begin several days of protest against fuel poverty in the UK. An announcement from the group stated that:    ‘From Edinburgh to Exeter, we will join together with the National Pensioner’s Convention, Don’t Pay, Disabled People Against Cuts and Extinction Rebellion for vigils, warm-ups and digital actions.’    The date coincides with the Office for National Statistics announcing the excess winter death figures for 2021/22. Fuel Poverty Action and the National Pensioner’s Convention have historically protested around this annual event and will mark the day with events in London and Cardiff.   The groups are collectively demanding the UK government ban forced prepayment meters. The government has come under increasing pressure to take this measure since an investigation by the i paper revealed that energy companies have secured half a million warrants to enter people’s homes and install meters since July 2021. Further reports have uncovered that only 72 warrant applications in total were refused by magistrates. Citizens Advice also announced that 3.2 million people were disconnected due to being unable to top up prepayment meters in 2022, more than the previous 10 years combined. Grant Shapps has stated officials are ‘actively working’ on the issue but is yet to announce a concrete ban or moratorium. Ruth London, Fuel Poverty Action Co-Founder, said:   We need an outright ban, and urgent removal of the hundreds of thousands of meters that have been installed where they are not safe or practical in defiance of suppliers' licence conditions. The energy suppliers were quick to find men to drill out locks and break into homes to install these meters, now they must act quickly to take them out.  People are being left in the cold and dark even when they are dependent on heat or on power for disability aids, medical equipment, for light and for charging phones.  Every delay will lead to deaths.  In Westminster, attendees will gather at 11.30am to hear speeches before a minute's silence as Big Ben strikes 12 to commemorate those who have been killed by living in cold and damp homes. Speakers will include Lord Prem Sikka, Ruth London, Jan Shortt the NPC General Secretary, Paula Peters of DPAC and Simon Francis, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition Coordinator. The event will conclude with a short march and rally outside Downing Street. A similar event, organised by NPC Wales, will begin at 11am on the same date in Cardiff Central Square. Jan Shortt, General Secretary, the National Pensioners’ Convention said:     It’s shameful that anyone in this country should die as a result of the cold. Yet tens of thousands more will do so if the government does not act as a matter of urgency. We would cautiously welcome Business Secretary Grant Shapps’ announced intention to stop forced transfers to pre-payment meters, which is a step in the right direction.  But we will monitor just how successful that is and what his intentions would be for energy providers who ignore it. Further vigils will follow on Friday 20th January, as locals meet at Brighton War Memorial, Old Steine, at 10.30am. As well as on Saturday 21st, when gatherings will take place at Leicester Town Hall at 11am and a Shell garage on Newnham Road, Cambridge, at 12pm. Saturday 21st January will also mark the date for a next round of ‘Warm-Up’ protests, a form of direct action used by Fuel Poverty Action throughout its nearly 12 year history. Participants will enter public spaces or buildings to keep warm together due to unaffordable fuel bills and poor housing conditions at home. A similar day of action in December involved Warm-Ups in locations including Scottish Power HQ, the British Museum, Harrods and a Barclays Bank. Fuel Poverty Action have released a number of meeting points and say to expect more of the same. Actions will conclude on Sunday 22nd January with a demonstration taking place outside Octopus Energy Sales Hub in Birmingham. The groups are also calling on individuals to sign a petition calling for an end to forced prepayment meters and encouraging them to either phone or email Grant Shapps’ office demanding he implement a ban. The week of action forms part of Fuel Poverty Action’s Energy For All campaign; the demand for a universal, free amount of energy to cover people’s necessities like heating, lighting and cooking - paid for by an end to all public money subsidising fossil fuels, a more effective windfall tax on energy companies and higher tariffs on luxury household energy use. The campaign also encompasses an end to prepayment meters and a national retrofitting scheme to bring housing up to standard. Stuart Bretherton, Fuel Poverty Action, Energy For All Campaign Coordinator, said:   In the world’s sixth richest economy and one of Europe’s largest producers of oil and gas, failing to meet people’s basic energy needs is a political choice. Energy For All is a proposal for a system that works for people and the planet, not profiteers or polluters. The polar opposite of this is struggling people having their homes broken into, or meters switched remotely without warning, to a method of payment that could prevent them from heating their home this winter.   Visit https://www.fuelpovertyaction.org.uk/ to see all assembly points. Contact e4a@fuelpovertyaction.org.uk for questions and comments.

 

How can the 'You Decide' process for Council grants be made fairer?

 November's Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee, which was also attended for two items by the Chair of Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny, was notable for the contribution of residents to the item on Brent Council's Grants Programme. Key points were made questioning the fairness of the 'You Decide' meetings that allocate grants including the packing of meetings by some groups and the disadvantage of not being used to public speaking.

The Committee also considered the Borough Plan with questions asked abou the lack of much mention of the council's climate emergency structure.

The Committee made a range of recommendations.

The Minutes of the meeting are now available so I have embedded them below for your perusal and as an example of effective scrutiny.

Dawn Butler on Minimum Service Levels Bill: ' It is dishonest; it is an insult to trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle of the working class; and it is an insult to Parliament and parliamentary procedures.'

This is the text of Dawn Butler's speech on the  'Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Bill delivered yesterday in Parliament.

 

A lot of time is spent in courts in some countries arguing about minimum service level agreements. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud trade unionist: I worked for the GMB for more than a decade representing Members of Parliament, I am a member of Unite the union, and, after this debate, I might join a few more trade unions.

 

The Secretary of State took great joy in reading out how much hon. Members receive from trade unions, which is, as my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft) said, the cleanest money in politics. I wonder if, when he returns to his place, he will let the House know how much Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox have received in payments.

 

In the short time that I have, I will talk about the Bill. It is dishonest; it is an insult to trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle of the working class; and it is an insult to Parliament and parliamentary procedures. A lot of time is spent in courts in some countries arguing about minimum service level agreements. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud trade unionist: I worked for the GMB for more than a decade representing Members of Parliament, I am a member of Unite the union, and, after this debate, I might join a few more trade unions.

 

The Secretary of State took great joy in reading out how much hon. Members receive from trade unions, which is, as my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft) said, the cleanest money in politics. I wonder if, when he returns to his place, he will let the House know how much Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox have received in payments.

 

In the short time that I have, I will talk about the Bill. It is dishonest; it is an insult to trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle of the working class; and it is an insult to Parliament and parliamentary procedures. Most of  the detail of the Bill is missing and the Government have said that they will add it later—that is not how we are supposed to do politics or make legislation. It contains wide, prospective Henry VIII powers, and as we saw during the pandemic, if we give the Government such powers, they abuse them—but they are putting them in legislation. It allows the Government to amend and revoke any future legislation passed in this Session, so what is the point of Parliament? No matter what we say or pass, the Government can turn around and say, “We want to change it,” or, “We want to revoke it.” That is against what every single Member of Parliament has been elected to do.

 

Ministers are trying to have power over Parliament—that is all the Bill is about—and to encourage employers to have power over workers. When I was a trade union official, it said on our office wall, “To make rich people work harder, they pay them more. To make poor people work harder, they try to pay them less.” Safety does not appear anywhere in the Bill. 

 

The House of Lords debated a report, “Democracy Denied?”, which said that we must rebalance power between Parliament and the Executive. The Government are asking Parliament to vote on a Bill that does not really exist, because there is no detail.

 

If the Government are serious about having minimum service levels, and if they are serious about negotiating, which nobody in the Government seems able to do, they should agree to compulsory arbitration or mediation to resolve disputes, but they are not interested in that. They are interested in trying to paint trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle of the working class, in one light and themselves in another.

 

I say to the Government, however, that the public are not stupid and they see what the Government are doing by trying to take away their rights at every single level, including the right to protest and the right to vote. We see what the Government are doing and we will stand up and stop them at every opportunity.

 

Most of the detail of the Bill is missing and the Government have said that they will add it later—that is not how we are supposed to do politics or make legislation. It contains wide, prospective Henry VIII powers, and as we saw during the pandemic, if we give the Government such powers, they abuse them—but they are putting them in legislation. It allows the Government to amend and revoke any future legislation passed in this Session, so what is the point of Parliament? No matter what we say or pass, the Government can turn around and say, “We want to change it,” or, “We want to revoke it.” That is against what every single Member of Parliament has been elected to do.

 

Ministers are trying to have power over Parliament—that is all the Bill is about—and to encourage employers to have power over workers. When I was a trade union official, it said on our office wall, “To make rich people work harder, they pay them more. To make poor people work harder, they try to pay them less.” Safety does not appear anywhere in the Bill.

 

The House of Lords debated a report, “Democracy Denied?”, which said that we must rebalance power between Parliament and the Executive. The Government are asking Parliament to vote on a Bill that does not really exist, because there is no detail.

 

If the Government are serious about having minimum service levels, and if they are serious about negotiating, which nobody in the Government seems able to do, they should agree to compulsory arbitration or mediation to resolve disputes, but they are not interested in that. They are interested in trying to paint trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle of the working class, in one light and themselves in another.

 

I say to the Government, however, that the public are not stupid and they see what the Government are doing by trying to take away their rights at every single level, including the right to protest and the right to vote. We see what the Government are doing and we will stand up and stop them at every opportunity.

 

Brent Fights Back organising meeting January 18th 7pm in-person and on zoom

 

Brent Fights Back will be holding an organising meeting on 18th January at 7pm to discuss how we can share information and support local activity across the borough led by different Brent Campaigns. The meeting will be held at BBMC, 386 High Road, London NW10 2JR

If you are interested in coming (it will be in person and on zoom) and would like to be kept informed of local activities, please email

Pete Firmin at petefirmin@btinternet.com.

The zoom link for the meeting is:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74994912332?pwd=hpRfNzbneb82LauaplxdJOcHIrvqsZ.1

Meeting ID: 749 9491 2332

Passcode: 4mHfmn

Barry Gardiner lambasts the government's Minimum Service Levels Bill

When I was young newspapers used to publish long account of parliamentary speeches but this has long ceased to happen, instead we have the BBC Parliamentary Channel that few watch, except on special key or theatrical occasions.

I think it is worthwhile to publish in full Barry Gardiner's speech on government proposals to impose minimum service levels on strking public service workers.  He pinpoints the weaknesses and dangers in the proposed legislation.

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a proud union member.

The Bill is an affront to Parliament. It will not protect the public, it will worsen industrial relations and it will undermine the unity of the United Kingdom. It should be voted down tonight. There has been much heated argument about the provisions in the Bill. On all the moral and pragmatic arguments, I stand firmly on the side of working people and their right to withdraw their labour, and against what the Government seek to do in the Bill. However, I do not consider that those moral and pragmatic arguments are likely to change the minds—or more importantly the votes—of Conservative Members. I therefore want to put forward an argument against the Bill that I believe they both can and should accept: it is damaging to our constitution and to the Union.

The reason the Bill is so short is that it delegates to the Secretary of State the power to set out all the relevant law in regulations through statutory instruments—regulations which receive only the most minimal scrutiny in this place and cannot be amended. So it is the Secretary of State, not Parliament, who will make regulations to determine the levels of service in relation to strikes, who gets to define the nature of the services to be provided, the number of people who are to provide them, the time at which they are to be provided and the manner in which they are to be provided during a strike. Extraordinarily, the Bill also proposes that the Secretary of State should have the power by regulation to

“amend, repeal or revoke provision made by or under primary legislation” in this House. So statutes passed by Parliament can be amended by regulations drafted by the Minister without full parliamentary scrutiny. In a recent report by a Committee of the House of Lords, “Democracy Denied?”, their lordships state:

“A substantial groundswell of concern is developing about the shift in power from Parliament to ministers.”

This Bill is perhaps the most egregious example yet of a measure brought forward by an increasingly autocratic Executive to strip Parliament of its role in determining what, for many of us, is a critical area of employment and human rights.

It gets worse. The primary legislation that the Secretary of State can amend or repeal is defined to include an Act of the Senedd or the Scottish Parliament. That should set alarm bells ringing for all of us, nationalists and Unionists alike. What is being proposed is that the Secretary of State in Westminster should have the power by regulation to override devolved legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd—and to do so with minimal scrutiny in this House. If the Executive had intended to provoke constitutional outrage and call into question the very basis of the devolutionary settlements, they could not have designed a piece of legislation better guaranteed to do so.

That the Secretary of State in Whitehall should claim the power to legislate by regulation to interfere in devolved areas of government and to impose restrictions in different parts of this Union on the right to strike in transport, education, health and other public services in Scotland and Wales is more than unwarranted. It is more than inappropriate. It is a deliberate provocation and offence.

I call on all Conservative Members, if they care about the Union at all, to vote against this wrecking ball of a Bill, which will only provide succour to those voices seeking to destroy our constitutional settlement and our United Kingdom. Under the Bill, the employer has the unilateral right to identify in a work notice the individual workers required to operate the MSL. A worker who refuses to comply after having been requisitioned in this way will lose unfair dismissal protection.

The Government are thus authorising employers to do what not even a court in this country can do. Under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992:

“No court shall…compel an employee to do any work or attend at any place for the doing of any work.”

However, once the union is notified of the identity of the workers to be requisitioned, the Bill requires the union to take “reasonable steps” to ensure that all its members identified in the work notice comply with it. It is ironic that, under the Bill, the same trade union may be required to discipline or expel— (cut off by Speaker).

NEU teachers vote in overwhelming numbers for strike action. Local strike days 1st February, 2nd March, 15th March, 16th March

 

Teachers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in one of the biggest ballot seem for years. Support staff in Wales also voted for strike action as did those in England, but the latter did not meet the 50% of eligible members voting threshold.

The NAHT also balloted and again members voted for action but did not meet the threshold. It was a disappoining result as school leaders, teacher and support staff all strking would have been extremely powerful but as it is the NEU vote is very strong. After the announcement the NAHT put out this statement:

 

School leaders’ union to consider re-running industrial action ballot due to postal disruption, as leaders in England and Wales vote to take action

School leaders’ union NAHT, which represents leaders in the majority of schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, today (Mon 16 Jan) announces the results of its formal industrial action ballots on pay and funding, which began on Fri 11 November and closed on Weds 11 Jan.

The ballot results in England show an extraordinarily strong appetite for taking industrial action amongst leaders, with 87% voting ‘Yes’ to action short of strike (ASOS) and 64% voting ‘Yes’ to strike.

This means almost 10,000 school leaders across England are willing to take industrial action.

However, the legal requirement for turnout in England was not met, with votes counted for 42% of the union’s membership – short of the 50% needed.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “It is incredibly frustrating that anti-trade union and anti-democratic legislation compelled us to conduct the ballot by post during a period in which the management of the Royal Mail refused to take action to ameliorate the disruption to the postal service.”

There is a sharp contrast between the turnout in NAHT’s electronic consultative ballot for England, which received 64%, and the postal ballot that was restricted by the legislation.

In the final week of the ballot, NAHT surveyed those that had recently requested a ballot paper and 73% of respondents said they had still not received one.

Mr Whiteman continued: “We have to conclude that our democratic process has been compromised by factors outside of our control.

“It is ironic that legislation which the government claims protects the democratic rights of members has actively worked against that objective by not affording an alternative means of voting or allowing a clear ability to extend the deadline. It is notable that elections for party leaders are not constrained in the same way.

“There has been a very strong appetite for action from those we have heard from, with a higher percentage voting ‘Yes’ to both strike and action short of strike than in our consultative online ballot. It is clear our members’ resolve to stand up for themselves and for education has only hardened.

“It is my first priority that we conduct ourselves as a truly democratic union, which means every member’s vote must be counted. If our members feel that they have not had the chance to be heard during this ballot, it may be that we have no option but to start again. The National Executive Committee will meet this week to establish our next steps.

“I warn the government that they are on notice. 10,000 thousand school leaders have made it clear that they are at breaking point with the way things are. That is something that must be listened to. We remain formally in dispute with the government. If progress is not made urgently NAHT members will not be able to keep the show on the road and I have no doubt they will join their NAHT colleagues in Wales and Northern Ireland in taking action.”

School leaders in Wales have voted decisively to take industrial action. NAHT Cyrmu today announces that 95% of its members have voted ‘Yes’ to action short of strike, and 75% have voted ‘Yes’ to strike, with a 55% turnout.

NAHT’s analysis shows that postal disruption was less of a factor in Wales. 96% of the duplicate ballot papers requested were in England.

Mr Whiteman said: “The results of the ballot in Wales are unprecedented and reflect the sheer strength of feeling among school leaders in Wales that the system is broken. They feel they have no choice but to stand up and fight for themselves and for the children and staff in their schools.

“School leaders are relentlessly reasonable people and they have held their schools together throughout a decade of underfunding of education, eroded salaries, and a pandemic. But our members are telling me now that they cannot continue to run their schools in the current circumstances.

“Insufficient pay has caused a severe recruitment and retention crisis, and the lack of resources, funding, services and staff means that the education and support that can be given to pupils is suffering as a consequence. School leaders are doing their best with what little they have, but with their own salaries expected to be worth as much as 22% less this year than in 2010, many are reaching breaking point.

“No school leaders would take industrial action lightly and we will now return to our National Executive Committee to agree what the action voted for will look like and when it will take place. But this is a huge wake up call for Local Authority employers and the Welsh Government. For school leaders to be driven to voting to strike means things have gone very wrong indeed. They urgently need to listen to our members’ concerns and to take action to avoid the consequences of the industrial action to come.”

School leaders in Wales will join their colleagues in Northern Ireland in taking action. Members of NAHT Northern Ireland have been engaged in action short of strike since 18 October 2022.

Notes to editors:

For workers to take legal industrial action, union ballots must reach a 50% turn out. In England, for members in 'important public services’, such as education, at least 40% of all those entitled to vote must vote in favour.

NAHT balloted approximately 25,500 eligible members. This included serving school leaders in state funded schools in England and Wales, but excluded various member categories such as School Business Leaders whose salaries are covered by different bargaining arrangements, not the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB). There are 24,413 schools in England.

In England, the union’s dispute is with the government, i.e. the Secretary of State for Education. In Wales, the dispute is with school leaders’ employers i.e. Local Authorities.

In October, NAHT conducted an online survey, to establish members’ views on pay and funding. In that survey, 84% of respondents indicated they would be willing to take action short of strike, and 55% of respondents indicated they would be willing to strike.

STRIKE! Melissa Benn in conversation with Len McCluskey - January 25th 7pm

 

It's great to see Kensal to Kilburn Better 2023 up and running. Kensal to Kilburn have hosted many fine non-sectarian political discussions over the years but in-person meetings were limited by Covid:

We’re hosting a new event, and we’d love to see you there. Join us for STRIKE!  Melissa Benn in conversation with Len McCluskey, 25 January 2023 at 19:00.

Register soon because space is limited.

We hope you’re able to join us!

 

As the rich get richer, so many are taking major cuts in real income, and can’t afford food, rent and energy bills. And now Tory austerity and malfeasance have brought the NHS to collapse.

Union members saying enough is enough are in the middle of the biggest campaign of strikes in years. What hope can we find in this? Should we in Kensal & Kilburn support the strikers? If so, how?

What lessons can be learned from previous experience of strikes? How has the union movement changed, with so many women now at its forefront? Could the strike wave help force a general election?

Join writer and campaigner Melissa Benn in conversation with Len McCluskey, former leader of UK’s biggest trade union Unite, to discuss these questions and more. Plenty of time will be allowed for open discussion. Live in person, not online - free to attend!

BOOK A PLACE