Questions at Brent Full Council reveal issues for consideration by the Auditor

 

 As predicted the Labour Group with its massive majority pushed through the reduction in Opposition time to speak on the budget at last night's Full Council meeting.

 The cut in Council Tax support was also passed despite hitting the poorest most in the borough's most deprived wards. A few councillors from those wards looked a little embarrassed but none abstained on proposals that had been overwhelmingly rejected by residents in the 'consultation' and expert advice from Brent Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Similarly, the alternative budget proposals by Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups were dismissed and voted down. The 'debate' on the budget was dominated by a 20 speech by Muhammed Butt and a long commentary by Cllr Mili Patel, Cabinet Lead on Finance, about the Tory Prime Ministers of the last decade or more with little additional budget information of interest to Brent resident. They were followed by a troupe of Cabinet Ministers reading speeches from their smart phones.

It was left to a four-minute exchange between the Auditor and Cllr Paul Lorber (Lib Dem Group Leader) to inject something of value into the 2 hours plus meeting.

I have preserved the exchange in the video above (they have a time limited existence on the Council website) as it is of interest in terms of transparency and accountability in the future.

The Auditor said that the issue of £4m loss in the abandoned Stonebridge Altimira project had not been referred to him by the Council. If the evidence was forwarded to the auditors, they would consider if there were any audit actions required.

On the issue of councillors' declarations of gifts and hospitality the Auditor said that they had remarked that they were 'light on detail' in the level of disclosure and that there was scope for more detail to be provided in the more complex arrangements. Readers interested in the fairground and sports and concert ticket giveaways will be pleased that this is receiving attention.

 Lastly, the Auditor said that they had not been asked to consider the Barham Park Trust account but because the Trust was associated with the Council, they could consider them if there were any concerns

 

Wembley Manor School taking shape rapidly in London Road. Due for completion in September with places for 150 SEND pupils

 The new Wembley Manor School for 150 children with special needs and disabilities is taking shape at the end of London Road near the path and bridge to Lyon Park is rapidly taking shape. It is part of a project to offer 400 places across the borough.

The school consists of modules built off-site and transported as wide loads to Wembley - no mean feat given current road works etc on the High Road.

I am grateful for our Wembley Central stringer for the video and photographs:

 

 Module being hoisted into position

 

 Wide load lorry

 

 The finished school will have 3 storeys

 

From the Elsley School footpath

The wards that will be hit hardest by cuts in Council Tax Support Scheme. Budget cuts, rise in Council Tax and cuts in Council Tax Support will be voted on tonight.

 

Working age claimants of Council Tax Support bu ward

Earlier this month Wembley Matters wrote about Brent Council proposals on  cuts to the Council Tax Support Scheme LINK. Although those changes, which demand that everyone pay something towards Council Tax despite low incomes and the Cost of Living Crisis, were rejected in the public consultation, the Labour Group will approve them at tonight's Full Council. Brent Citizens Advice Bureau tabled a paper that showed the poorest would be hit hardest and that is evidenced by the ward breakdown above,

The cuts amounts to £8m but a £1.5m hardship fund has been proposed. In their budget proposal Lib Dems will propose that this be doubled to £3m.

Cllr Lorber, Lib Dem leader, told Wembley Matters:

It will be interesting how the Councillors from these wards will react and vote.

The changes have of course been implemented in very short time. They could have started discussing this in April 2024. The consultation was pointless as they already decided what they were going to do and no views would be taken into account.

The result is that many residents will be charged Council Tax for the first time or will see a very high increase. The officers predict that  many will not be able to pay and debts will simply rise - and many will need to be written off. In the meantime the individuals concerned will end up with more worry and more stress.

Councillors were presented with this far too late and needless to say when I went to Cabinet no one was listening.

The overall impact on the claimants is £8 million. They are setting up a £1.5 million hardship fund but this is not enough.

The key point is that the claimants have simply not been given enough time to rearrange their affairs. Finding jobs is hard and the extra charges (£600 a year for some) will hit many as a bombshell on 1 April 2025.

 

In our view the changes should have been introduced in a staggered way rather than the massive hit implemented immediately. 

We are therefore proposing that the support is doubled this year to £3 million to provide some help to as many people as possible.

In the past rather than vote against the Budget and Council Tax motion, dissident Labour councillors have left the Council Chamber before the vote is taken, and returned once next business is underway. Tonight this might well be what happens when the Council Tax Support Scheme is discussed.

You can watch the meeting on Brent Live from 6pm HERE

The Budget and Council Tax is Item 6.

Review of the Council Tax Support Scheme Item 8, 

 

 

Brent Council reduces Opposition and Scrutiny time to speak at tomorrow's Budget and Council Tax Setting meeting. Leader gets more time.

 A late change announced yesterday evening deprives Brent opposition parties of time to present their alternative budget proposals at tomorrow's Full Council Budget Setting Meeting. It also reduces the time allocated the the chair of the Scrutiny Budget Task Group.

The new order is set out below with previous timings set out on Monday February 26th in brackets:

• Leader to introduce the main budget report - up to 20 minutes. (15 mins)

• Leader of the Conservative Group (or their nominated representative) to respond and move their alternative budget proposals –up to 10 minutes. (15 mins)

• Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group (or your nominated representative) to respond and move their alternative budget proposals – up to 5 minutes. (10 mins)

• Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources – up to 15 minutes to speak on the budget and alternative proposals that have been moved. (10 mins)

• Councillor Conneely (as Chair of Scrutiny Budget Task Group) – up to 5 minutes to introduce the main outcomes and recommendations within the Scrutiny Budget Task Group report. (10 mins)

These timings will be subject to a Procedural Motion moved at the start of the meeting by the Majority Group Whip.  Once the debate on the budget has concluded (for which any members wishing to speak will still have up to 3 minutes each to contribute) the Leader will then have up to 10 minutes  (5 mins) to sum up and close prior to the Mayor moving on to conduct separate roll call votes on firstly the alternative budget proposals moved by the Conservative Group and then the Liberal Democrat and then the final substantive budget recommendations, which will all be taken en bloc.

Cllr Paul Lorber, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group said:

This is not acceptable to the Lib Dem Group.

This is total abuse of power and should have (but has not been) discussed at the Constitutional Working Group.

To increase the time allocated to Labour Leader and others and reduce the amount of speaking time for the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Leaders is a pathetic attempt to suppress democratic debate.

The result of the recent Alperton by election clearly shows how unpopular the Labour Party has become in Brent and this action by the Labour Leader is another example of his dictatorial abuse of power.

I trust that the Chief Executive will at long last intervene and to stop the nonsense which is turning Brent into a laughing stock.

 

Labour's Budget Proposals

Conservative Group Proposals

Lib Dem Group Proposals

A longer wait announced for completion of HS2 Canterbury Works in South Kilburn

 Apparently not so 'Upcoming' as advertised, according to the Enquirer:

Shaft and headhouse sites at Adelaide Road and Canterbury Works will remain on pause over the next two years while parts of the Euston drive including the station cavern, crossover tunnels, portal and scissor box are being rescheduled.

The Enquirer understands that suppliers and subcontractors were given the bad news by main contractor SCS JV on Friday. The Canterbury works will remain on pause for the next two years.

Two giant tunnelling machines have been assembled and are ready to dig the HS2 tunnel between Old Oak Common and London Euston after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed funding for the project in last year’s budget.

A spokesperson for HS2 said: 

When HS2 opens, services will initially run between Birmingham and Old Oak Common in west London and this section of the railway remains the focus of our delivery.

Last autumn, the government confirmed that HS2 will be built to Euston and we are now preparing for construction of the tunnel from Old Oak Common. Construction on associated works including the tunnel shafts, headhouses and station approaches will start at a later date.

We are currently reviewing the whole HS2 programme as part of a major reset – making sure the building blocks of the scheme are in the correct sequence.

UPDATE - repair completed yesterday evening: Low water pressure Chatsworth Ave, Harrow Road and Wembley High Road after water main damaged

 

 From Affinity Water

 

Tuesday 25th February 2025

 NOW REPAIRED UPDATE FROM AFFINITY WATER.

(19:10) The main has been repaired and your water should return back to normal.

(17:10) Second repair team and mini digger have arrived on site, further excavation of the mains has commenced.

(15:25) Another repair team is on route with a mini digger as the mains needs to be exposed some more to complete the repairs, however, it is encased in concrete and hand dig team not able to break through.

(14:45) The mains had to be throttled to allow for repairs to take place, customers within this zone may experience low pressure, please see streets affected above.

(12:40) We received a call to advise that a third party has hit our mains during their works, a technician and dig team have been requested and are on route.

Low pressure in Wembley

We’re really sorry you are experiencing low pressure. We’ve been made aware of damages caused by a third party to one of our mains on High Road which may be causing this.

Streets affected: Chatsworth Avenue, Harrow Road and High Road

What we’re doing

Our repair team have stayed on High Road and are continuing to repair the damaged water main. As soon as we know how much longer this will take, we’ll let you know.

We’re really sorry for the disruption. We’re working hard to get your water flowing again soon.

What you can do

Because it can cause problems, until we’ve sorted this, please avoid using your:

• Washing machine
• Dishwasher
• Electrical appliances that use water

If you still have water, we recommend you put some in your kettle or fridge for drinking in case your water needs switching off for the repair. We’re really sorry about this, we’re working to get your water back to normal as soon as possible.

We updated this message at 14:50 and we'll update it again after 18:50

 

826 students to occupy Matalan in Cricklewood

 

Alas, not a radical student demonstration in these dark times, but a developer's revised plans for the Matalan site on Cricklewood Broadway.

An almost entirely new plan has been put forward for the site which in December 2023 was consented for 238 homes as C3 flats:

Previous consented scheme

The developer cites new building regulations, including the post-Grenfell requirement for a secondary fire staircase, for their change of mind and presumably financial gains play a  part.

The new scheme is for 826 student beds across 164 rooms and 82 clusters (662 beds) in two blocks. Block A 5-9 storeys and Block B 3-7 storeys. There will be commercial space on the ground floors.

 

New proposed scheme

 

 So far there are no comments on the Brent Council Planning Portal and the developer claims favourable community responses from their consultations and a letter of support for the provision from Middlesex University.

 

The site in current context - bottom right building is Wickes

 The Planning Reference is 25/0413 and details and link to make comments can be found HERE

Brent Community Skips March to Early May - Full List giving dates, times and locations

 

See Brent Council website for what you can put in them LINK