Lib Dems make AGM bid for Scrutiny changes to ensure 'healthy and functioning' governance

 Brent Liberal Democrats are making an attempt to enhance scrutiny in Brent Council with a raft of constitutional amendments to be put to the Annual General General Meeting of the Council on Wednesday.

Their first amendment to Item 7 sets out their case for Opposition chairs of Scrutiny:

Democratic scrutiny is a pillar of healthy and functioning governance. To ensure it is effective there should be a clear separation between Councillors who lead Scrutiny Committees and the governing party in the borough.

Changes made by the current Labour Administration in Brent to the way the two Scrutiny Committees are chaired and Vice-Chairs are appointed have effectively locked Opposition Groups from having a meaningful say in the way scrutiny is led.  This includes in the setting of the work programme for each of the Committees.

 

To ensure renewed confidence in the scrutiny process in the borough it is important that the two Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees in the borough are appointed from the Opposition Groups.

 

To safeguard the effectiveness and independence of Brent’s Scrutiny Committees we therefore propose the following change to Standing Order 49 relating to the appointment of Chairs for the scrutiny function:

 

(1)    Standing Order 49 (ii) be amended to require that the Chairs of the existing Scrutiny Committees are Opposition Group appointments (in order to emphasise the independence of Scrutiny from the Executive).

 

(2)    That Standing Order 4 in Part 1 of the Constitution be waived in order to enable the above changes to come into immediate effect during the meeting.

 If that amendment is not approved they propose that Vice-Chairs are members of the Opposition Groups:

 

(1)    Standing Order 49 (ii) be amended to require that the Vice-Chairs of the existing Scrutiny Committees are Opposition Group appointments (reverting to the previous arrangements for appointments to these positions)

 

(2)    That Standing Order 4 in Part 1 of the Constitution be waived in order to enable the above changes to come into immediate effect during the meeting.

 

 Under Item 11 Review of Call-in Arrangements where the Labour Group want to make any call-in subject to a rule that call-ins must be made by 5 councillors of more than one political group (See LINK for explanation) they submit the motion below:

 

Review of Call-In Arrangements

 

The replacement of the Committee System of decision making by Local Councils with a Cabinet/ Executive system was made by the Blair Labour Government.

 

The then Labour Government recognised that handing decision making power to a small group of councillors had to be balanced by a strong and effective scrutiny function.  As part of this there had to be a meaningful ability of any councillor or Political Group to call-in decisions for review.

 

To ensure effective democratic practices in the London Borough of Brent it is essential to ensure that:

 

1.         The Cabinet can make decisions based on sound information and advice; and

 

2.         That Cabinet and their decisions can be held to account through an effective scrutiny process.

 

To maintain the objectives of effective democratic scrutiny, as intended by the Labour Government which introduced the current decision making process, we therefore propose, having taken account of the current review of arrangements for call-in:

 

(1)    That any Cabinet decision which has implications for the whole or a large part of the borough can be called in by any three Councillors (for the avoidance of doubt these can be Councillors of one or more than one group).

 

(2)    That any Cabinet decision which has implications for just one ward within the borough can be called in by any one councillor.

 

(3)    That’s subject to the approval of (1) and (2) above the necessary amendments are made to Standing Order 14 (Call In of Cabinet, Cabinet Committees and Officer Decisions) to reflect the change in arrangements.

 

(4)       To confirm, the current arrangements for review by officers of any call-in to ensure that it is relevant and justified will remain in place.

Walney report: Government is seeking to ban groups it disagrees with, says Good Law Project

 

Responding to Lord Walney’s review of protests, Good Law Project executive director Jo Maugham said: 

We are firmly into the territory of our government banning organisations whose politics it disagrees with. This is a sinister and shameful development, which moves us closer to the plastic democracies of Turkey and Hungary and further from our peers.

Clamping down on dissent does not make issues like global conflict and the climate crisis go away. A competent government that values freedom of speech would be trying to solve the big issues, not criminalise the messengers.

The man responsible for this report, Lord Walney, has links to an arms manufacturer supplying weapons to Israel which has been targeted by Palestine Action and he has close links to the oil and gas industry whose ecocide Just Stop Oil targets. LINK

What really motivates this report - the public interest or money?

Cost of Brent Civic Centre redesign rises by £67,744.93

 

 

Extract from Wilmott Dixon Design Statement

 

The redesign of Brent Civic Centre has met rising costs. The redesign 10 years on from the opening of the new £90m (£100m by some accounts) Civic Centre has been vigorously opposed by the Liberal Democrats who argued that the £2m could be better spent on more urgent issues affecting Brent residents. LINK

 The cost has now gone up by £68,000 despite some efforts to find savings in the quality of fittings and fixtures.

The decision is made by council officers in consultation with the  Cabinet Members  who 'have been engaged throughout the project and are supportive.'

As such the decision is not subject to call-in.

The Decision

To approve the triggering of the second stage of the design and build contract with Willmott Dixon Construction Limited for the redesign and refurbishment works at Brent Civic Centre for a sum contract value of £2,087,744.93 (an uplift of £67,744.93).

 

Reasons for the decision:

The Council requires works to be undertaken to customer-facing spaces in Brent Civic Centre following completion RIBA Stages 3 and 4 of the project, including the detailed technical design by Wilmott Dixon Construction Ltd (WD), a single contractor appointed under Lot 2 of the Major Projects Framework established by the Procurement Hub. The commencement of the second stage of the contract by Wilmott Dixon Construction Ltd is recommended as it will enable the Council to manage any potential risks, and will provide efficient and consistent delivery of the works, as the redesign and associated services were undertaken by Wilmott Dixon. This will ensure that the anticipated improvement works are carried out to schedule, with completion by autumn 2024.

Alternative options considered:

Brent Council has worked with Willmott Dixon Construction Limited since 2022 to develop a feasibility study for the redesign works, followed by RIBA Stages 3 and 4 from 2023-24. Over the past two months, Brent Council has worked closely with WDI to amend the design plans in order to bring the costings in line with agreed budgets. Through a value engineering process, changes to fixtures and fittings have been agreed to minimise costs. Key internal stakeholders have suggested that further amendments to the design will compromise the benefits of the project to residents and customers. It is therefore considered that the increase in the contract value of around £67k is reasonable.

 

Brent Council outlined what they see as the necessity of a redesign in an earlier press release:

Work to revamp Brent Civic Centre and improve access for residents gets underway.

The transformation follows an extensive review into the evolving needs of residents and customers and aims to create a more accessible, welcoming and functional space for all visitors to the building.

The redesign will see changes to Wembley Library, the Community Hub, the Customer Services Centre and the Registration and Nationality space.

The benefits for residents include:

• Improved accessibility: A new welcoming main entrance on Exhibition Way (next to Sainsbury’s). The building will be more accessible for visitors with wheelchairs, pushchairs, and complex needs, ensuring inclusivity for all
• Dedicated customer area: The ground floor will have a brand-new customer area, including a digital hub for support with accessing online services
• Community hub: The Wembley Hub will have a new space on the ground floor equipped with meeting rooms for private and confidential conversations

• Enhanced library: A new purpose-built and enclosed children’s library, a repurposed mezzanine floor with flexible library spaces and increased study areas
• Registration and Nationality space: A new flexible space that customers can hire to Work is now underway with completion expected in autumn 2024. Throughout this period, all services will remain operational. A temporary library service will be available on the first floor of the civic centre. All library services will be available, but events will take place at other library locations.

 

As with many changes in Brent, members of the public talking to Wembley Matters on a recent visit appear to have been taken by surprise  by the changes. Often the first they knew was when they visited the Civic Centre to change their library books and found the library had been moved from the ground floor to temporary accommodation alongside the Wembley Hub on the first floor.  The temporary library has only a few shelving units and no electronic return and borrowing machines. 

 

Jaws dropped when they were told the new main entrance would be situation between the pasty shop and Sainsbury's: 'But wasn't the current entrance designed to lead to the impressive atrium and wide wooden staircase?'

 

Some questioned how a modern purpose-built building could have proved inadequate for purpose 10 years on but that doesn't take into account the huge increased resident demand for face to face meetings with council officers as a result of austerity, the pandemic and rising homelessness. Now most of the ground floor will be given over to customer services.

Roots of Brent: Climate Heritage Walk Saturday June 1st

 From Church End and Roundwood Environmental Network

We will be visiting sites in Brent where the community are taking climate action. Their efforts are contributing to a cleaner, greener Brent, as well as help us to reach net zero carbon emissions in Brent by 2030. Sites for this tour will include:

· Church Road Greening Projects

· Harlesden Town Gardens

· Nature Connects Centre, Roundwood Park

· Nillys Flowers, Park Parade

We will end the event with a plant based & vegetarian lunch (provided by Nillys Flowers, Harlesden) with special talk about sustainable food by Nureen Glaves, Feed Me Good

Places are limited so please sign up as soon as possible.

 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roots-of-brent-tickets-895297969327

Cost of new SEND school in London Road, Wembley Central, rises by a third (£7.4m)

 The second stage of the 150 pupil Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) school in London Road, Wembley Central, has risen from an inital cost anaylsis of £14.8m to £22m.

The Key Decision Report says that the reasons for the rise in cost are set out in an Appendix but that is restricted and not open to public viewing.

The report states:

The two alternative options available to the recommended option in this report would be to seek a re-procurement of the main works contract or not deliver the project at all. Within the alternative option to seek a re-procurement, the Council would have the following sub-options:
 

a. Seek tenders from alternative Modular Contractors – this has been discounted as the school has been designed by a specific Modular Contractor to their module sizes so any new contractor would need to
undertake a redesign which would lead to an increase in cost and time.
 

b. Seek tenders from alternative main contractors – this has been discounted as the school has been designed by a Modular Contractor. Any Main Contractor would add their own Overheads and Profit to subcontract the scheme. Alternatively, they could seek to amend the design to a traditional build method. Either way, these options would require a redesign which would lead to increased cost and time.

 The option not to deliver the school build has been discounted as the 150 SEND places to be provided at London Road would not be delivered. The Council would therefore continue to transport SEND pupils out of borough for school places and this would put further revenue pressure on the High Needs Block.

The school will be run by an Academy Trust. The officers' report states that the rise in cost is affordale within the available budget:

As set out in the SEND Programme approved by Cabinet, the project is funded by Basic Need, High Needs Capital Grant and Special Provision Funding all from the DfE.

The programme budget was £44.2m. At the time of drafting this report, £7m has been spent, leaving £37.2m. Therefore, there is enough funding in the programme to award the works contract. Further, any additional costs to the project or programme can be funded via the unallocated 2021 High Needs Capital Grant £3.65m and the recently provided 2024 High Needs Capital Grant of £7.4m from the DfE.

This is a Key Decision and therefore subject to call-in for further scrutiny. The deadline for call-in is tomorrow (May 23rd). If the new call-in conditions are approved at tonight's AGM any call-in would require both opposition parties to support call-in or Labour backbenchersto join in.

 

Wembley Tile Murals – Open email to Cllr. Butt about 28 May Cabinet vote

 Guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity

Wembley Tile Murals – Open email to Cllr. Butt about 28 May Cabinet vote

Earlier this month, Martin published a reminder about the petition I had launched, calling on Brent’s Cabinet to award a new advertising lease only for the parapets of the Bobby Moore Bridge, which would allow the heritage tile murals in the subway to be put back on public display. The petition attracted 114 signatures (thank you!), more than enough to allow me to present it to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 28 May.

 

The agenda for that meeting was published on the Council’s website last Friday, including the Officer Report for item 7, about the award of the new advertising lease. I will be writing more about this subject in the coming days, but there was one matter which I thought needed to be raised with the Cabinet Chair / Council Leader in advance of the meeting.

 

The opening section of the Report makes a clear statement:

 

‘It was agreed by the Chief Executive that the final award decision should be made by Cabinet.  This report explains the outcome of procurement for Bobby Moore Bridge Advertising and requests a decision between the two options below: 

 

Option A - Advertising on the parapet walls of the bridge only where the existing digital screens are located. This will not affect any of the tiled areas.   

 

Option B - Advertising on the parapet walls of the bridge, plus the underpass walls excluding the mural with plaque.’

 

I have, in the past, raised concerns about decisions that are meant to be made, openly and publicly, at Cabinet meetings (Democracy in Brent – are Cabinet Meetings a Charade?). How could I try to ensure that both options were considered at the meeting, and the decision between the two options made fairly?

 

This seemed particularly important because the key recommendation in the Officer Report is that Cabinet: ‘Approve the award of a contract for Bobby More Bridge Advertising on the basis of Option B to Quintain Ltd’, and the Report is heavily biased in favour of Option B.

 

This is the full text of the open email I sent to the Council Leader, with copies to the other members of Brent’s Cabinet, first thing on Monday morning, 20 May:

 

 

‘To: Cllr. Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council.

 

This is an open email

Dear Councillor Butt,

 

Cabinet meeting on 28 May - Voting on the new Bobby Moore Bridge advertising lease 

 

Last year, at an event in Olympic Way, you kindly and publicly thanked me for keeping Brent Council “on its toes” over heritage matters. That is what I will try to do when I present the public petition on the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals to the Cabinet meeting on 28 May.

 

The relevant Officer Report to that meeting sets out that the Cabinet ‘is required to decide whether to award a contract for Bobby Moore Bridge Advertising on the basis of’ either Option A or Option B, as set out in the procurement process. 

 

You may already have thought how you will ensure that this decision is taken fairly, but I hope you will consider the request I am making below. This would ensure that not only is the decision fair, but that the wider public, interested in the tile murals at Wembley Park, can see that it is fair.

 

The Officer Report recommends that Cabinet approve the award of the contract under Option B, because that will provide a higher level of income to the Council. That is understandable, as it is their job to generate as much income as possible from Council-owned assets.

 

The petition I will present to the meeting urges the Cabinet to approve a new advertising lease under Option A, as although that would provide a slightly lower income, there would be added value in putting the heritage tile murals in the subway back on public display.

 

Individual Cabinet members may have different, yet both perfectly legitimate, views on which option should be approved. As this will be a Cabinet decision, each member should be entitled to vote according to their honestly held view.

 

From my previous experience of watching Cabinet meetings, you would usually ask members whether they agree with the recommendation(s) made by Officers in their Report. 

 

In this particular case, I am requesting that you invite individual votes for “those in favour of Option A” and for “those in favour of Option B”. In the event of an equal number of members voting for each option, you would, of course, have the casting vote as Council Leader and Chair of the meeting.

 

I look forward to seeing this form of voting used at the meeting on 28 May. Thank you. Best wishes,

 

Philip Grant.’

 

Regular readers may remember my recent correspondence with Brent’s Corporate Director for Law and Governance, about Cabinet Member Forewords in Officer Reports. Her view is that they ‘provide an opportunity for the council policy context of decisions to be made explicit in reports to Cabinet by the Cabinet Member who is accountable for initiating and implementing council policies within the relevant portfolio.’

 

The Cabinet member handling the award of the new Bobby Moore Bridge advertising lease is Cllr. Butt himself, and for your information, this is his Leader Foreword in the Report:-

 

 

 

Byron Court complaint against Ofsted going to external complaints process as strikes continue tomorrow and Wednesday over forced academisation

 

From Brent National Education Union

 

NEU members at Byron Court Primary School are continuing their strike in a fight to save their local community school which is threatened with a forced privatisation by the huge Harris Federation chain of academies. PICKET LINES OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL TUESDAY 21^st and WEDNESDAY 22^nd May.

 

[Subsequent dates: 4^th/ 5^th/ 6^th June]

 

Staff at Byron Court Primary School in Wembley went on strike last week and will be striking again this week to save their local community school from a forced “academy order” following an intimidating Ofsted inspection which has left some staff fearing for their mental health and their futures. Many of these long-serving staff served the school’s community throughout the pandemic and face uncertainty in their jobs, pay and conditions as they face a takeover by the hostile Harris multi-academy trust.

 

NEU MEMBERS, PARENTS, COUNCILLORS AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY HAVE BEEN TURNING OUT TO SUPPORT THE PICKET LINES AND PROTESTS FOLLOWING A HIGH PROFILE PARENT CAMPAIGN which is also supported by the local MP Barry Gardiner.

 

Staff and parent supporters are continuing to lobby the Secretary of State to get their academy order revoked, asking for a reinspection, handled fairly and proportionately. There is a live complaint lodged with Ofsted which has exhausted the internal complaints process in which Ofsted “mark their own work” and will now be sent to the external complaints process. It is hoped this may halt the takeover.

 

Jenny Cooper of the NEU national executive has stated:

 

We will not be stopping this fight any time soon as there is too much at stake here and we know we have the support of the community. Gillian Keegan knows what she can do: commission a reinspection and pause the academy order; this could resolve our dispute.

The Brent Council Change Programme: what does it mean?

 Deep in the documentation for tomorrow's Brent Council AGM there are some constitutional amendments most of which are routine. However, there is a substantial section about a change in how the Council works.

The language is such that I asked CHATGPT to translate it for me:

BRENT COUNCIL:

 

A Strategic change programme has recently been adopted, designed to harness our strengths, focus our ambitions, and ensure that as an organisation we improve and evolve to tackle current and emerging challenges in meeting the needs of our local communities.

 

The Change Programme is about the key cross-cutting enablers that form the building blocks of an effective organisation and will drive our operating model in the future. And at the heart, it is about how we will do things going forward, with a focus on developing a culture that enables us to work much more collaboratively with each other, with partners,and, crucially, with our residents, establishing a real sense of place. The changeprogramme is organised into the following eight workstreams:

 

- Organisational culture and workforce strategy

- Strategic Partnerships

- Community power and resilience

- Place making

- Strategic Commissioning and capacity building

- Digital and Data

- Property and assets

- Customer Access

 

 

CHATGPT:

 

We've recently started a big change programme to use our strengths, focus our goals, and make sure we improve and grow to meet the needs of our local communities.

 

This programme focuses on the important parts that make our organisation effective and will shape how we operate in the future. It’s mainly about how we will do things from now on, emphasizing working better together, with partners, and with our residents to create a strong community.

 

The change program includes eight main areas:

• Building a positive work culture and developing our workforce
• Forming strategic partnerships
• Empowering the community and building resilience
• Creating strong, vibrant places
• Improving strategic planning and capacity
• Using digital tools and data effectively
• Managing property and assets efficiently
• Enhancing customer access and service

 

Will CHATGPT take over from the Plain English campaign? 

Will Brent Council officers start using it? 

As for the 'Change Programme' itself, will Brent residents notice any difference?