Carolyn Downs to be new Brent Council Chief Executive

Official Brent Council Press release

Carolyn Downs has been announced as the new chief executive of Brent Council.

Chief executive of the Local Government Association since November 2011, Carolyn will bring a wealth of experience to Brent.

Prior to her appointment at the Local Government Association, Carolyn was chief executive of the Legal Services Commission, where her role was to drive performance and secure a stronger financial future.

Carolyn was also previously deputy permanent secretary and director general of corporate performance at the Ministry of Justice. She was responsible for all corporate services, including finance, estates, personnel, risk management, business planning and communications.

From 2003 to 2009, Carolyn was Chief Executive of Shropshire County Council, where she was responsible for a budget of £500 million a year and a staff of 12,000.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said:

"I am delighted that after a rigorous and competitive recruitment process, we are able to offer the role of chief executive at Brent Council to Carolyn Downs.

"Carolyn was the outstanding candidate in what was a highly competitive recruitment process, and I am confident that she will bring with her a wealth of public sector experience and enthusiasm to Brent, at a time when this council and local authorities everywhere face such unprecedented challenges.

"I have no doubt at all that with Carolyn's passion for and experience in local government and her drive to succeed, that we have appointed the right person to help navigate the borough through the challenging times ahead and help make Brent a better borough."

Christine Gilbert, the current chief executive at Brent Council, said:

"I would like to congratulate Carolyn on her appointment, her experience and skills will be a huge asset to Brent.

"It has been a great privilege to have served as the chief executive for Brent Council. Brent is a wonderful place and I know Carolyn will be warmly welcomed both inside and outside the civic centre.

"I wish her every success in her new role."

Carolyn will take up the role later in the year, once her appointment has been ratified at a full council meeting on 22 June 2015.

End of Press Release

Further information about Carolyn Downs from the LGA

Carolyn Downs has been Chief Executive of the LGA since November 2011.

Before this she was chief executive of the Legal Services Commission where her role was to drive performance and secure a stronger financial future.

She was also previously deputy permanent secretary and director general of corporate performance at the Ministry of Justice. She was responsible for all corporate services, including finance, estates, personnel, risk management, business planning and communications.

From 2003 to 2009, Carolyn was Chief Executive of Shropshire County Council, where she was responsible for a budget of £500 million a year and a staff of 12,000.

Carolyn had worked for the same council as director of environment and community services since 1999 and before this, worked for a range of other councils including Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Stevenage Borough Council, the London Borough of Haringey, and Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council where she started her working life as a library assistant.

So no connection with Tower Hamlets or Ofsted, just shared intials with the head of Brent HR.

Conservative HQ tell Brent Council Warren's posse are official Conservative Group

The issue of who represent the principal opposition in Brent Council is to be resolved tonight at a Full Council Meeting.

On the eve of the meeting the Leader of the Council, Muhammed Butt,  and Christine Gilbert, Interim Chief Executive, have been forwarded the following email from the Conservative Party:

As you are aware it had been decided that the Conservative Party would formally recognise the Annual General Meeting of the Brent Conservative Group that was held on 13^th May.  All conservative party candidates elected to the Brent Local Authority were invited and the meeting was independently chaired by a North West London Area Officer.  All those entitled to attend were given proper notice and details of the nomination procedure for group officers.

Cllrs Warren, Shaw and Davidson attended the meeting.  However, Cllrs Kansagra, Colwill and Maurice chose not to attend and have subsequently refused to take part in the group.

As a result it is the Group led by Cllr Warren that the Party will formally recognise as the Brent Conservative Group.  Furthermore unless Cllrs Kansagra, Colwill and Maurice join the Group they will not be authorised to stand as Conservative Party candidates at future elections.

Please do feel free to contact me if I can be of any further help,

Mark Roberts.

Voluntary Party Manager for the Conservative Party

Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, North West London, Oxfordshire, Suffolk

Green MEPs call for compassion in Strasbourg migration debate today

MEPs will give their views on the European Agenda on Migration presented by the Commission in a debate with Vice-President Frans Timmermans, Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and the Council Presidency this morning in Strasbourg.

Ahead of the debate Jean Lambert, Molly Scott Cato and Keith Taylor, Green MEPs for London, the South West and the South East of England united in saying:

The European Commission seems, at least, to have understood that EU Member States must together face up to their collective responsibility for refugees.

More opportunities for legal access to the territory of the EU and greater commitment on combating the underlying reasons why refugees flee their country of origin are needed. Along with this, a humane and compassionate response should frame the debate, not a competition to see who can talk toughest.

Seizing and sinking smugglers' boats may have a short term effect, but it also risks more injuries and deaths. Rather than grab headlines, what is needed is a well-resourced, internationally co-ordinated effort to improve the quality of life in departure countries and put people smugglers out of business.

Defy the Tories-Build the Fightback: 2pm Saturday at the Jubilee Clock

Brent Fightback, the local campaign against cuts and privatiation has called a 'Speak Out' event for Saturday May 23rd, 2pm at the Jubilee Clock in Harlesden High Street. In a message to supporters and the public Fightback say:

Only 24% voted for the new Tory government, but that's not stopping them from gearing up to scrap the human rights act, restrict the right to strike, close our hospitals and make vicious attacks on welfare for the unemployed, elderly and disabled.Cameron's chosen a minister of justice who believes in hanging, a minister for equalities who opposes equal marriage. They're talking about ending statutory maternity pay, taking housing benefits away from young jobseekers.

WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS!!! We'll be holding an open air assembly in Harlesden with an open mic and speakers from a range of campaigns to get the word out: enough is enough, We've had five years of Tory attacks on our Welfare State and we're not going to take it anymore!!

BRING YOUR PLACARDS, RAISE YOUR VOICES AND HELP BUILD FOR A MASSIVE ANTI-TORY DEMO ON JUNE 20th.

'No return to New Labour' call by group of newly elected Labour MPs

In case you missed it this letter published in Saturday's Guardian suggest some at least of the newly elected Labour MPs will resist a return to New Labour policies and challenge austerity. It is interesting that they are mainly from the north of England with just one London Labour MP signing the letter:

Having arrived in Westminster as newly elected Labour MPs, and after speaking to tens of thousands of voters during our election campaigns, we know how important it is for the future of our party to move forward with an agenda that best serves the everyday needs of people, families and communities, and that is prepared to challenge the notion of austerity and invest in public services.

Labour must now reach out to the 5 million voters lost since 1997, and those who moved away from Labour in Scotland, renewing their hope that politics does matter and Labour is on their side.

We need a new leader who looks forward and will challenge an agenda of cuts, take on big business and will set out an alternative to austerity – not one which will draw back to the New Labour creed of the past. Labour needs a leader who is in tune with the collective aspiration of ordinary people and communities across Britain, meeting the need for secure employment paying decent wages, homes that people can call their own, strong public services back in public hands, and the guarantee of a real apprenticeship or university course with a job at the end of it. From restoring Sure Start to providing dignity and a good standard of living in retirement, these are the aspirations key to real Labour values today and will re-engage people across our country in the years to come.

We look forward to engaging in the debate in the weeks ahead to secure our party as being best able to meet the challenges faced by ordinary people at this time.

Richard Burgon MP (Leeds East), Louise Haigh MP (Sheffield Heeley), Harry Harpham MP (Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough), Imran Hussain MP (Bradford East), Clive Lewis MP (Norwich South), Rebecca Long Bailey MP (Salford and Eccles), Rachael Maskell MP (York Central), Kate Osamor MP (Edmonton), Cat Smith MP (Lancaster and Fleetwood), Jo Stevens MP (Cardiff Central)

Handful of 6th form students galvanise 3,000 into anti-austerity protest

I was heartened by this news from Bristol where a handful of 6th form students organised an anti-austerity protest in reaction to the Conservative election victory. They apparently did so independently of any political party.  This is an interview they gave after the event to the Student Assembly Against Austerity LINK:

On Wednesday (13 May), a group of A Level students organized a 3,000 strong protest in Bristol against the Tories and their austerity agenda - a protest which is hopefully a sign of things to come! 

Below Fiona Edwards from the Student Assembly Against Austerity interviews Bristol Against Austerity activist and A Level student Rosie Simmons who was one of the organisers of the protest.  


When we woke up last Friday morning to the news that the Tories won the election we were very shocked and disappointed.

Why did you decide to organise a protest following the Tories winning the election and why do you think its important for young people and students to get involved in the movement against austerity?

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We organised a protest for several reasons. Firstly because austerity doesn’t work, it is not the solution that our country needs. We don’t think that taking money from the people that are the most vulnerable and already suffering is right. 

We also disagree with the Tories themselves, as we think that they are fundamentally selfish party who over the next 5 years are going to make living in this country even harder for those that are less well-off. 

We finally disagree with the first past the post system, as 76% of those eligible to vote did not vote for the Tories, but they still won with a ‘majority’. We think it’s important for young people to get involved in the movement against austerity because whether or not it’s affecting you or someone you know, we need to take care of the people in our country that are struggling, not take away from them. 

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Students across the country were so inspired to see over 3,000 people march against austerity in Bristol this week. How did it all come together? 

After the general election, we were all really disappointed and unhappy with the results. We were tweeting about how we wished that we could get involved with some sort of protest, and annoyed that there wasn’t one in Bristol, so we decided to make one ourselves! We knew that there are enough people in Bristol angry about the election results to make it viable. So we made a group chat on facebook, made an events page, invited all our friends, and it really caught on! A lot of people felt that they needed an outlet to express their views and come together, and we provided that platform. 

What are the next steps in your campaign? 
We’re currently studying for our A-levels so we’re talking at a couple of events and then taking a break until exams are over! After that though we are planning on dealing with the direct effects of austerity; by helping at food banks and women’s shelters in Bristol. We’re really excited that as a result of the protest we now have sufficient contacts and support to be able to make a big difference in our community! 

On Saturday 20 June hundreds of thousands of people will be marching on the ‘End Austerity Now’ national demo. We are organising a student bloc – do you have a message on why people should join us? 
People should join this march because we, as people living in the UK need to make our voice heard. This isn’t about being bad losers, or expecting the Tories to magically disappear, but about seeing a massive problem in government policy that is going to affect so many people’s lives negatively and showing that we don’t like it and we’re not going to be complacent while austerity continues to affect the people in our communities that are already suffering. So please join us, the more people that come, the more of an impact we can make!


Inspired? Join the fight back today! Come along to the massive national demo on Saturday 20 June and find out about other actions you can take in the run up here (including local protests which are happening nationwide)

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Eleanor Southwood is Brent Council's new lead member for Environment

Cllr Eleanor Southwood (Queens Park) was elected to be the new Lead Member for the Environment at the Labour Group AGM today and joins the Cabinet.

She replaces Cllr George Crane who had decided to stand down.

The appointment is welcome as for a time it looked as if there might be no Environment lead member post at all following the outsourcing of most of the department's work to Veolia via the Public Realm contract.

Cllr Southwood was previously on the Scrutiny Committee.

Following her joining the Cabinet this picture of the new Cabinet was circulated on Twitter today:

 They may have been stuck in a lift.
 

New line up on Brent Council Scrutiny Committee

Reliable sources tell me that the Brent Labour Group AGM today elected a new Scrutiny Committee with Cllr Dan Filson as chair. He is joined by Cllr Tom Miller, Cllr Sam Stopp, Cllr Matt Kelcher, Cllr Shama Tatler and Cllr Harbi Farah.

The election involved Labour backbenchers and excluded Cabinet members. [added for clarity at request of those concerned- MF].

The single Scrutiny Committee had come under fire for its lack of bite and failure to interrogate lead members and officers sufficiently rigorously.

Dan Filson has a a reputation for independence and is known to actually read council documentation, a rare attribute amongst Brent councillors. He comes over as a cross between Monsieur Hulot and Victor Meldrew but has a sharp edge.

Whether the younger members will exhibit a similar streak of independence and be prepared to challenge the Cabinet remains to be seen.

On Twitter Matt Kelcher said, 'Looking forward to my chance to serve my Borough in a new capacity, I hope to be an effective and constructive voice.'

However, on Facebook, LINK Michael Calderbank wrote 'New Brent Council Scrutiny Committee elected - and full of inexperienced young councillors who will have an eye on leadership patronage'.