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?

Parents and community members join NEU strikers on the picket line at Byron Court

 

 

The struggle to resist the handing over of Byron Court Primary School to the Harris Federation Academy Trust reached a crucial new stage on Friday when NEU members at the school went on strike. Having explored all avenues and marshalled support from parents, community Barry Gardiner MP and Gwen Grahl, Lead Brent Cabinet Member  for schools, without any move by the government, the NEU saw no other option but to take official industrial action supported by the requisite majority of members balloted.

Support on the picket line included Brent Trades Council, a speaker from the Lyon Park Primary School strikers who won most of their demands, and an NEU member from a school in Hackney facing similar academisation. A speaker from Brent Trades Council made a speech expressing solidarity as did Cllr Daniel Kennelly.

NEU co-secretary Jenny Cooper thanked parents for their support and recognised the practical difficulties that strike action would create, but emphasised that the long term aim was to safeguard the future of Byron Court as a locally accountable school, close to the community and offering a broad curriculum with support for SEND pupils and second language learners.

Hank Roberts, veteran anti-academies campaigner, called for a creative approach to the campaign to ensure maximum publicity.

The overall message on the picket line was the need for unity and resistance to efforts to divide and rule.

Brent Labour move to limit Opposition groups' call-in powers

Having apparently dropped plans to increase the number of councillors required to call-in Key and Cabinet decision for further scrutiny from 5 to 10 LINK, Brent Labour has come up with another proposal to be tabled at the Council AGM on May 22nd.

This time the proposal is that the number remains at five but must consist of members of more than one political group. As there are five members of the Conservative Group this means that a call-in will only be successful if also supported by the Liberal Democrats, or (very unlikely given whipping), some Labour councillors. The Liberal Democrats currently have three councillors so will not be able to call-in anything on their own.

As the Tories and Lib Dem differ on many aspects of policy it is likely that there will be fewer call-ins in the coming municipal year. It appears to be a deliberate political act as there are already safeguards in place to ensure the validity of call-ins.

The words in red below are the proposed changes.

I expect Brent Labour to again resist calls for opposition groups to be given a chance to chair or vice chair either of the Scrtutiny Committees.

Dawn Butler withdraws from Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival after allegation that the sponsor profits from investment in Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide