Brent Library Closures Fail the Evidence Test

Samantha Warrington of the Save Preston Library Campaign made an impressive speech to last week's Brent Executive setting out the areas in which the Council had failed to make an assessment of local needs in its 'Transformation' project involving the closure of half of Brent's libraries.

• No analysis or projection of the return on investment from the libraries transformation programme - so no measurable targets on which to assess the success of the project. We could just be throwing money into a bottomless pit.
  • No evidence that people want larger libraries and will travel to them
  • No projections of how many people will travel to alternative, more distant libraries
  • No environmental impact assessment
  • No assessment on the effects on literacy on the schoolchildren of Preston ward
  • No adequate plans for the children of Preston Park school to have access to a library
  • Equality impact assessment is still not complete
  • No assessment on the health and fitness of the people of Preston ward and beyond who walk to the neighbourhood facilities
  • No assessment of the effect on community cohesion
  • No assessment of the effect of closure on local business
  • No assessment of the effect on people who do not speak English as a first language
  • No adequate transport assessment
  • No accessibility impact assessment for people with mobility issues or disability
  • No assessment of Preston Library users alternative access to computers and the internet
  • No assessment of the impact on people with learning difficulties
  • No exploration of opportunities to co-locate additional services at Preston Library
  • No attempt to leverage private sector involvement to support the operation of Preston Library
  • No exploration of innovative property solutions such as sale-and-leasebacks to facilitate continuing library provision at the Preston Library site
  • No exploration of opportunities to leverage private sector funding and/or sponsorship at the £3m Wembley Stadium mega-library ("no time" said Sue Mackenzie)
  • No exploration of alternative revenue streams
  • No exploration of charitable donations or educational grants from the private sector to fund library facilities
  • No attempt to scale back the £100m Civic Centre and £3m mega-library
  • No analysis or projections of the uptake of computer-based ebooks which form the basis of the library provision in the future

Preston Manor Travel Plan Deficient

The Travel Plan for the proposed primary school  submitted to the Council by Preston Manor High School ahead of the Planning Committee to be held on Wednesday was given a 'FAIL' by the council officers. Apart from missing detail there is some uncertainty about the geographical source of pupils. If the majority of pupils come from the local area this may have a destabilising impact on existing local primary schools. If they come from further away increased car traffic and congestion may be involved.

The Travel Plan is very light on detailed information for the school (e.g. general

background, assessment of existing transport network, policy review, detailing of the Travel Plan Co-ordinator’s role and detail around the implementation of the Travel Plan, such as an Action Plan and details of how it will be secured and funded). It is also missing some key measures, such as the operation of breakfast and after-school clubs to assist in staggering arrivals and departures and an on-site car parking management system (such as giving priority to car sharers).

A further major issue that has not been addressed in the Travel Plan is the proposed catchment area for the school. The Transport Assessment alludes to the shortage of school places for children in the southeast of the Borough, which could result in a large proportion of the future school roll initially coming from areas some distance from the school. This would make implementation of a number of the key travel plan measures, such as promotion of walking, very difficult and would require consideration of alternative measures, such as dedicated school buses from key population centres.

The Travel Plan has been assessed by the Council’s Highway officers using TfL’s ATTRIBUTE  programme and has scored a “FAIL” (29/83).

The applicants consider that although initially there may be a higher than usual percentage of children travelling to the site, this will balance out over time as the school's criteria for attendance becomes applicable. The applicants have therefore not anticipated that a dedicated bus route is necessary.

What is a Green Job?

Fuming in the rain, just fuming in the rain...

Residents at the Preston Manor Primary School site

Brent Council hasn't covered itself in glory regarding the expansion plans for Preston Manor High School.

Initially it did not inform most of the residents of the plans, and then organised a consultation meeting at a time when most of them were still at work.  Its statutory notice documentation had to be revised three times due to inaccuracies and many of the planning documents on its website were so poorly scanned as to be illegible. Many questions raised by consultees were not answered in the expansion documentation that went to the Executive last week.

Damagingly the Council failed to make adequate searches ahead of the planning application and were taken by surprise when residents uncovered covenants that appeared to limit development of the site.  The Council fast-tracked the planning application so that it will be decided on Wednesday February 23rd ahead of a decision on the statutory application on Monday February 28th.

When residents queried why a site visit had not been organised by the Planning Committee a visit was hastily organised for Saturday morning.  However the committee turned up late on a rainy morning day and  did not possess the right keys for the site. This had also happened previously at the site meeting for the temporary primary school building in Ashley Gardens. According to one resident who attended, councillors began to drift off halfway through the proceedings and residents were left fuming when the chair cut off the discussion prematurely.

Perhaps not the best way to win hearts and minds?

Squalid Gateway to Wembley 2012

Wembley will be hosting football, gymnastics and badminton for the 2012 Olympics. Spectators using Wembley Central Station will be greeted by a dilapidated station where the new lifts have been installed but have never been commissioned, destination boards don't work and platforms are flooded. The facade of the station looks like an allotment shed amidst the gleaming new development. During the May election Barry Gardiner MP claimed the credit for a 'new' station but the truth is that it has never been finished after money ran out and quarrels about responsibility between the Council, Railtrack and Transport for London were never resolved. With only a year to go urgent action needs to be taken.

The 'allotment shed' entrance

 

Destination boards don't work

 

 

The flooded Bakerloo/Overground platform

 

 

Flooded platform on the Southern East Croydon-Milton Keynes line

The exit from the Southern platforms

Could a 'Needs Budget' unite us?

It was clear as I was chatting during the by-election count on Thursday evening that there is a great deal of disquiet amongst some Labour councillors about the Council's cuts programme.

 "Me! Closing libraries... I can't believe it!" was the comment from one Labour councillor, while a former Lib Dem councillor lamented the lack of political power of ruling group councillors who aren't on the Executive. He said that the new 'cabinet' form of local government sharply reduced the role of 'back-bench' councillors.  It is those Labour councillors, often newly elected, who stood last time in order to improve the quality of life of Brent residents, who will be faced with a stark choice on February 28th when the full Council meeting is due to vote on the budget.

The Labour leadership has undermined its own position to some extent because they have denied that the cuts they propose will have a detrimental impact on already disadvantaged local people. To make the cuts palatable they have sought to placate opposition by insisting that those most in need will be protected and that the quality of service, despite massive staff cuts, will be maintained.   Added to this they have sometimes echoed David Cameron's 'Big Society' smokescreen by calling for volunteers to run libraries and other services. The people of Brent aren't fools and can see through the spin.

The Labour leadership thus separates itself from local community activists, users' groups and trades unionists who seek to defend public services. Rank and file councillors find themselves at odds with erstwhile friends, colleagues and comrades and some are sickened by the position they find themselves in.

Rather than act as the Coalition's bailiff's, Labour could be taking the lead in fighting the Coalition's cuts imposed at local and national government level by constructing a 'needs-led' budget in collaboration with local activists.  Rather than deny that the cuts will hit the most vulnerable they would analyse what services local people need to survive the forthcoming period of  economic turn-down and social stress and cost them.  They would also look at what investment and job creation needs to be made locally order for Brent  to move out of recession.   Such a budget would, for example,  immediately show that cuts in children centres, youth provision and Brent Law Centre are counter to the needs of local people.

Armed with this budget, and the detailed analysis on which it is based,  the Council could fight a campaign, alongside organisations such as Brent Fightback, against the Coalition cuts and make the case for fair funding for Brent based on the needs of the population.   They could also unite with Labour councils elected across London at the last election in a London wide campaign publicising the irrevocable damage public service cuts will cause.

LINK to report on similar campaign in Portsmouth

Gardiner's attack on Brewnt library closures

Full story on Barry Gardiner's attack on Brent's library closures HERE. This is a key extract from his speech:

“But I remember Nye Bevan said that priorities are the song of socialism. These libraries are our priorities, and they should not be taken away. They should be expanded."

Speaking about the ‘genteel decline’ of the nation’s reading rooms, the former junior Northern Ireland minister added:

“It is a trick councils do up and down the country. They look at resources like libraries and they find that they are not as well used as they used to be.

“But instead of thinking they can improve the resources, they say ‘OK, let’s run it down’. They use it as a justification for taking that resource away."

Shambolic government policy making exposed

Caroline Lucas MP released the following statement yesterday on the Coalition's u-turn on forests:

On behalf of the many hundreds of my constituents who have written in to oppose the sell-off of our public forest estate, I welcome the Government's decision to ditch these reckless plans - and am encouraged by the commitment given to me by the Secretary of State that those people who led the inspirational grassroots movement against the sell off will be included in the new panel of experts set up to consider the future of the forests. Now it will be vital to ensure that the panel itself operates in public. This major u-turn exposes the shambolic nature of the Government's policy-making - and is the inevitable consequence of ministers blindly charging ahead with ideologically driven cuts.

Lib Dems beaten into 4th place in Kenton by-election

Robert Dunwell, a former Conservative and latterly Democratic Conservative councillor, beat the Lib Dems into 4th place in the Kenton by-election on a turn-out of less than 25%.

RESULT
Suresh Kansagra         CONSERVATIVE          1063
Eleanor Southwood                  LABOUR             907
Robert Dunwell             INDEPENDENT             185
Chunilal Hirani    LIBERAL DEMOCRAT          179
Alan Mathison                             GREEN                75              

Barry Gardiner tells Cllr Powney that the Council is wrong to close libraries

At a packed meeting of 120 local people to oppose  library closures at Preston Park School yesterday, Brent North Labour MP Barry Gardiner  told the meeting and many Labour councillors present, that he was opposed to the proposal to close six libraries.

Graham Durham,Secretary of Save Cricklewood Library Campaign commented:

'Under the pressure of the huge campaigns to save six  libraries in Brent the local Labour party is now at war with itself with many Labour councillors threatening to join Barry Gardiner in opposing and voting against library closures. In Doncaster Labour leader Ed Miliband is actively campaigning against local library cuts and his lead should be followed in Brent .Everyone understands that the massive cuts demanded by the Con/Dem government will, if implemented,devastate services in Brent. Labour councillors have a clear way forward - stop doing the Con/Dem Coalition's dirty work and join the huge resistance across Brent.'

Brent Fightback are organising a leafleting campaign to maximise attendance at the full Council meeting on February 28th at Brent Town Hall.

Meanwhile the Save Cricklewood Library Campaign are holding a FUN DAY AND 'READ-IN' at Cricklewood Library on SATURDAY 26TH FEBRUARY  10.30AM-2pm.  There will be story-telling, plays and games and all ages are welcome.

You MUST see this

Willesden Green Library Interim Arrangements?

Just a small item from last night's Executive. The meeting also passed the proposal to explore ways of regenerating the Willesden Library Centre to raise money, which would mean it closing for two years while redevelopment took place.

Cllr Ann Hunter (Lib Dem, Willesden Green) proposed that if this went ahead that Cricklewood and Neasden libraries be kept open in the interim.  Cllr Powney said that some interim arrangements would have to be made and did not rule the proposal out.

Preston Manor Governors asked to 'cease and desist' building works

Local residents yesterday served a 'cease and desist' order on the governors of Preston Manor High School over building works for a primary school on the school playing fields.  The order follows residents' investigations of covenants on the land which appear to prevent the building of a school.  The governors and/or Council will have to go through a consultation process to change the covenants.  Money for a new school has to be spent by August 2011.

Meanwhile temporary reception classes are operating at the Christian Centre on the corner of Elmstead Road and Forty Avenue.  They are due to move into temporary buildings at Ashley Gardens after half-term. A parent who enquired about a place for her child was told that only two thirds of the 60 places have been filled despite claims that there were more than 70 chidlren without a school place in the area.

I once again tried to raise the educational and equality issues connected with secondary schools expanding into primary provision at the Executive last night. Once again my questions were not answered. My speech is HERE

Brent Labour Executive Vote for Cuts

The largest public attendance at Brent Executive for years

Tonight's meeting of the Brent Executive was crowded with the public who had turned up to protest about various cuts and closure plans. Some were locked out when the room became too crowded but the mood was subdued as if everyone knew that the Labour councillors would just nod it all through. And so it came to pass.

The biggest turn-out was from Charteris Sports Centre and the various library campaigns. Speeches were eloquent and often emotional.   The Council's consultation processes once again came under attack with figures described as inaccurate and often misleading and with overwhelming lack of evidence for some of the claims made in documentation.

One library campaigner described the Civic Centre as a 'white elephant which nobody wants' and evidence of the Wembley-centric nature of the Brent Council. He said, "The Council knows the price of the libraries but not their value" and claimed closing libraries was as much a crime as burning books.

Another said that by saving money in the short-term the Council was permanently damaging the borough in the long-term.

Supporters of the Charteris Sports Centre said that it had above average use by youth and disabled groups and that the local police had said that crime was likely to go up in the area  if it closed. They were proposing a council-community partnership and condemned the lack of an Equalities Impact Assessment on the closure plans. To cheers the representatives  expressed their determination to keep up the fight.

An amendment to the budget motion from Cllr James Powney, stating that the council remains in talks over library services and Charteris Sports Centre which may have an effect on the budget, was adopted by the Executive.

Jamie Ritchie spoke on behalf of the Brent Law Centre and said that the Council had given a demonstration on how NOT to treat the voluntary sector. They should not tell an organisation that they had funding for a year and then cut it halfway through and not say that they will consult and the decide to close it before the consultation was completed. He said the Law Centre was experiencing a double whammy from the Council and the Government. He pointed out that law centres ave the authorities 10 times as much money as the amount that is spent on them. Law Centres were required more than every and demand was increasing. Deprived of such assistance people would turn to 'self-help' in the form of crime.

In a heart-felt presentation two parents who use the Three Trees Children's Centre in Kensal Rise described the strong support they had received from staff and how it had changed their lives. Councillor Ann John stated that there was no intention to remove any substantial services and that there would be consultation over changes. She insisted that no Children's Centre would be closed, but did not mention that  three planned ones will not now open.

There was no debate about the budget proposals on the Executive and no questions. There were brief presentations from the lead members, often inaudible to the public, and then each proposal was agreed unanimously.

Action will now move to the full Council meeting on February 28th where Brent Fightback will be holding a lobby from 6pm outside the Town Hall. Campaigns are urged to bring banners and placards and as many supporters as possible.

CLICK, CLICK - DO YOUR BIT!

 

The Save Our Libraries campaigns will continue right up to the deadline. The official non-party e-petition for the Save Preston Library campaign is on the Brent Website HERE.  Please encourage as many people as possible to sign and make sure you sign it yourself. Pass on the link via Facebook etc.

A couple of clicks and you've done  your bit!

Even better  also come to the SAVE PRESTON LIBRARY PUBLIC MEETING AT 7.30PM on WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 16TH at PRESTON PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL 7.30pm. 

The more the merrier so that Brent Council gets the message loud and clear:

SAVE OUR LIBRARIES!

Say NO to Coalition Attempts to Divide Us

Caroline Lucas, Green MP, along with Peter Hain MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP , Salma Yaqoob (Councillor and leader of Respect) and many others from many backgrounds have signed the statement below. I intend to do so and hope you will too.  Brent is a brilliant example of a multicultural society that works.

We the undersigned believe that our multicultural society and the respect and solidarity it is built on is a cause for pride, and reject any moves by this government to undermine and destroy it.

We must not allow this coalition government to turn the tide back to the days when it was acceptable, through ignorance and fear, for people with a different religion, culture or skin colour to be scapegoated and treated as inferior or outsiders.

To add your name to this statement go to http://www.gopetition.com/petition/42826.html

Charteris Campaign will lobby Brent Executive on Tuesday

Lobby Brent Council

on Tuesday, February 15^th 6pm

at Brent Town Hall Wembley

Save

Charteris

Sports

Centre

For more details and help:

Join our campaign on facebook

Web: www.savecharteris.wordpress.com

E mail : saveourcentre2012@gmail.com

BRENT BELTS BARNET'S BRENT CROSS BALONEY

The Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood (BXC) Plan has learnt of bitter criticism by Brent Council of transport plans for the proposed £4.5 billion Brent Cross Cricklewood development.

In a draft document for its "Local Implementation Plan" (LIP) for the Mayor of London released in January, Brent tears into the Brent Cross Transport Assessment and wants neighbouring Barnet Council to stop the whole Brent Cross development until revised modelling and assessments are carried out.

In its LIP document  Brent says:

"Brent Cross / Cricklewood ... Brent has concerns about the potential negative impacts of aspects of the proposals on parts of Brent. There are particular concerns about the robustness of the transport assessment."

"Brent will have to object to the proposals until revised modelling and assessments are carried out."

Brent objected at the time of the Brent Cross planning inquiry, but Barnet Council played down the scale of Brent's objections. A promise made since by Barnet, to jointly consider increased traffic congestion on the A5 Edgware Road, has not changed Brent's position.

Brent also insists that road changes around Staples Corner:

"should not prejudice future opportunities to provide light rail, or other fixed link, to the [Brent Cross area].”

This follows Brent Council’s endorsement of a future North and West London Light Railway (NWLLR) project at a full Council meeting on 24 January.

Brent Council, Harrow Council and Ealing Council  have all now voted unanimously, to support in principle the "North and West London Light Railway" as one of several solutions for an orbital railway line across outer London.

John Cox, BXC Coalition member and transport campaigner says,

“Brent Council is right to reaffirm its concerns about the Brent Cross transport figures, and the resulting road congestion we will all suffer. It was due to questions that the "Brent Cross Coalition" raised about Barnet Council's figure of over twenty-nine thousand extra cars a day (including at West Hendon) that led Barnet to magically revise this figure down. After five years of the high figure, It now states a more "politically acceptable" nine thousand cars, somehow managing to lose twenty thousand.

"Barnet has misrepresented the numbers by assuming car journeys would account for one third rather than two-thirds of trips. Brent also recognises that the transport assessment needs to be revised again in view of other new plans, such as the Wembley regeneration. However, the desire for extra money from the Brent Cross developers has completely stopped the council from representing the public interest.

“In common with Brent Council, we just don’t believe these dubious figures. Barnet and the developers need to go back to the drawing board. We know the real impact their car-based scheme will have on congestion and air pollution in Barnet, Brent and the surrounding areas.”

Shafique Choudhary, Brent Councillor and BXC Coalition member, says:

“Alongside many local residents, councillors from all parties have been campaigning against this damaging development and the impact it will have on us. I am pleased that Brent Council planning and transport department are yet again pointing out major concerns about the severe congestion that the Brent Cross development will bring.

"I am dubious about the quality of the 'A5 Corridor Study' that Barnet is now trying to palm us off with. It is not going to reduce the car levels from Brent Cross one bit.

“I am also delighted that all political parties at Brent Council are supporting proposals for a North and West London Light Railway – a sustainable public transport project that will go a long way to ease the gridlock and provide alternative routes right across north and west London."

There are campaigners in Barnet who want to extend such a light-rail line across Barnet, via Colindale and Mill Hill East, to benefit even more people. The Coalition believes that the car-based developments at Brent Cross (costing £4.5 Billion) , Colindale (£1.5 billion) and elsewhere could pay for it, if only the political will is there.

COALITION FOR A SUSTAINABLE BRENT CROSS CRICKLEWOOD DEVELOPMENT WEBSITE  HERE

Summing up the 'Big Society'

Simon Hoggart has the ability to put things in a nutshell sometimes. In the Guardian today he says the shape of the Big Society seems to be forming:

It seems to be along these lines: librarians and people who work in citizens' advice bureaux or run community centres, are going to be fired. This will leave them with loads of free time to do voluntary work in libraries, citizens' advice bureaux and community centres.

Green alternative to destruction of public services by Tories, Lib Dems and Labour

Caroline Lucas, Green MP and Green Party leader, had the following letter published in the Independent today.

“Deficit denier” is a very ugly term for those of us who have a positive and constructive viewpoint on managing the country’s financial and other problems.

We can make full acknowledgement of the deficit, and still identify different options for dealing with it. The response of ruthless cuts and austerity measures is an ideological choice made by the big three parties. For Labour and some Lib Dems to criticise the “pace and scale” of the cuts is still a pro-cuts, pro-austerity choice.

The Green Party, many unions and some economists have proposed an alternative choice. This would involve cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion, saving billions every year. It would involve the wealthiest people in society pay a fairer share. It would mean saving £100bn over thirty years by scrapping Trident and its proposed replacement. It would involve a windfall tax on bank profits as well as a heavy tax on bankers’ bonuses. It would mean reducing the deficit more slowly, and thus avoiding these savage cuts. It would mean smart switching of funds from high-carbon to carbon-reduction spending (for example away from motorway-building and into public transport), and other ways of generating funds such as a green investment bank. 

It would mean having enough cash to invest heavily in a Green New Deal – a major plan to kickstart the transformation to a post-carbon economy while creating a million new jobs and training places. And the new jobs would in turn bring in extra revenue to support public spending (whereas cuts will cost the country a million jobs).

Greens and many others who do not “deny the deficit” would prefer the government to make this ideological choice – based on fairness and sustainability – not the one based on destroying public services and punishing the poorest people in society.

Let the Kids Carry on Shining!

Learning from the outdoors

Shine, an extended learning programme for 60 disadvantaged youngsters based at the Preston Manor City Learning Centre could be affected by the possible closure of the Welsh Harp Environmental Centre.

The students attend the programme every Saturday during term time and focus on activities connected to the science, maths and English curriculum using technology and creative media as motivational tools.

In the Summer term they are working on 'Powerscape' which is centred around teaching children about alternative energy sources.  Each student will be travelling to the Welsh Harp and working on environmental sculptures related to this theme. The sculptures will be nestled in the woodlands and unveiled in July.

They will also be working on an informative advertising campaign (print and film) to educate young people about considering reducing the energy they use and the things they can to do to help reduce energy consumption.

Shine has made real impact over three years and helped young people to aim higher and bridge learning gaps. It would be a terrible shame if the twin threats hanging over the Welsh Harp Centre and the City Learning Centre should end the project which enhances learning and contributes to Brent's Climate Change Strategy.

Brent as a Self-Harming Black Knight

The Green Party strongly supports the role of Local Authorities in ensuring adequate and effective educational provision including that for children with special educational needs and disabilities, with fair admissions procedures and support for schools in difficulties.

Unfortunately the cuts and charges being implemented by Brent Council as a result of the Coalition Government's reduction in grant have the effect of the council actually reducing its own role and may eventually lead to its demise as an education authority. It is as if the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail cut his own limbs off!

In addition to the cuts outlined in previous posts the Brent School Improvement Service based at the Centre for Staff Development in Brentfield Road near the Swaminarayan Temple  faces cuts of  nearly £500,000. The staff there provide support services for schools across the borough in terms of management, curriculum development and pedagogy training teachers and support staff as well as school improvement advisors. The Centre has itself come under threat in previous rounds of cuts.  The training and support provided has contributed to the great improvement in the quality of education in Brent over the last few years with local schools out-performing similar schools in other boroughs. It also provides a forum for staff from different schools to learn from each and collaborate with successful programmes such as the Learning Project which also involves the London Institute of Education.  Training in Reading Recovery and other intervention projects  all contribute to support for children who are falling behind their peers.

This reduction in central support will mean that schools will now need to buy-in these services from private companies or consultants adding to the pressure on their budgets. Where central services still continue but with reduced staffing they are likely to become less efficient and headteachers may choose to buy-in educational psychologists and other advisory staff. Inevitably this will lead to a spiral of decline in the central support services leading to further cuts in staffing. This spiral is already evident in some departments after last year's staffing cuts.

The budget proposals already include an increase in charges to schools for the Brent Music Service of £50,000. The  BMS provides singing and instrumental tuition in schools and coordinates the amazing annual  Brent Schools Concert at the Wembley Arena. Follow this link to see the 2010 I Have A Song To Sing event: LINK  I challenge you to watch it and not be moved.

Just as the council has had to make decisions on what to cut governing bodies of schools will be faced with choices of what to buy in. If services do not attract enough support from schools their future will be put in doubt.

The real danger is that as support from the local authority is reduced or becomes inadequate,  schools will be tempted to go it alone and opt for academy status as the advantages of being an LA school become less evident. There are already rumours that secondary headteachers have informally agreed that if they decide to  opt  for academy status that they will do so as a group, rather than individually. The Brent NUT and ATL have already intervened at Claremont to ensure that this isn't a headteacher's decision but one for the whole school community. As schools become academies the amount of money available to the local authority is reduced.  Academies and free schools will erode local democratic accountability despite being funded by our taxes: taxation without representation.

The Local Schools Network recognises these issues LINK and deserves wider support. Their basic principles are:

1. Every child has a right to go to an excellent local state school, enabling every child to achieve their full potential.
2. Every state school should have a fair admissions procedure.
3. Every local school should be responsive to their parents and pupils’ needs and wishes and be accountable to the local community.
4. That local schools in difficulties should be supported to improve, not attacked and  demoralised.

Trade Unions and Climate Change Meeting Tomorrow

REMINDER...

TRADE UNIONISTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Thursday 10 February 7.30pm, Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, NW10 2SF

1. THE FIGHT FOR CLIMATE JOBS - Chris Baugh (PCS) Nick Grant (NUT)
2. THE FIGHT FOR GREEN WORKPLACES - Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project)

Chair: Pete Firmin (CWU, President Brent TUC)

Brent Youth Slashed

From Brent Connexions Website

The budget outlines cuts in youth provision that brought about the mass meeting at Brent Town Hall last week LINK 

Restructuring of the Brent Youth Service including job cuts will slash £153,000 from the budget with the cutting of the Dennis Jackson Centre (in Wembley) £36,000, St Raphael Centre £70,000, and Wembley Centre (£101,000). Cuts to Connexions which offers vital  information, advice and support to 13-19 year olds LINK will lose staff.

So the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition has stopped this generation of youths' schools being refurbished and taken away their EMA; and the Labour Council has closed their youth clubs and removed support.

Stand by for a summer of discontent!

Protecting the Vulnerable? Looked after Children and Those with Disabilities and SEN Hit

Victoria Climbie

'Transformation' is the Council's sub-Orwellian speak for cuts. The 'Social Care Transformation' is due to save £1,800,000 and I have been able to find few details about it. However the budget document going to the Executive on Tuesday  says that costs will be reduced in: foster placements, children in residential homes, semi-independent living, payments for adopted children as well as families 'without recourse to public funds'. They also expect to save costs on the Youth Offending Team.

A further  £1,300,000 will be saved through 'rationalisation' of fostering and adoption services and a 'rationalisation' of the safeguarding service through a 'streamlined' child protection conference process. The Young Carers Centre will no longer be funded - a vital support for younger children who are carers to older children or adults in their families.  These children often have to have time off school, take responsibility far beyond their years, and probably save other services thousands of pounds. There will also be reductions in the Crisis Intervention Service.

We were told that there would be no cuts in 'front-line' services - nothing could be more front-line than the services above. In a borough that in the past has been no stranger to scandals over inadequate child protection LINK this is just storing up problems for the future.

The budget also impacts on children with Disabilities and SEN. The valued Easter holiday play schemes will be axed. Alongside the cuts in children centres there will be a reduction in Special Educational Needs support for early years.  What many regard as an already under-staffed Education Psychology Service will be decreased further and a whacking £108,000 charge for non-statutory services will be shifted to schools.

All this will delay help for children most in need and add extra pressures on school staff and school budgets. Again the most vulnerable are being hit.

Three Children Centres Axed, others have budgets reduced

How many will be damaged irreparably by these cold calculations?

The budget going to the Brent Executive on Tuesday includes proposals to save a total of £2,250,000 from early years provision and children centres. An additional £1,300,000 will be cut in 2012-13

The Sudbury and Cricklewood Children Centres and the  Kingsbury Intergenerational Centre  will not start . The existing  centre teams will be restructured which not only will mean a loss of jobs but probably a reduction in the quality of staff as 'expensive' well-qualified early years specialist will no longer be recruited.. Sure Start central expenditure will be reduced as will allocations to each centre. In addition the Council is negotiating with Preston Park Primary, Wykeham Primary and Mount Stewart to persuade them to take over the running of modified children centres on their sites.

Although the document argues that the offer to vulnerable families can be maintained it is hard to see how this will be possible. It must be deeply troubling to Labour councillors to find themselves in this position.  Early intervention has been proved time and time again to be more effective than later intervention and to save money in the long run. It will not only cost more in financial times but the social cost for economically and socially disadvantaged families will be enormous.  Schools already facing funding cuts in real terms will in the future have to make additional provision for pupils who made insufficient progress in early years.

We will be failing a generation.

Save Cricklewood Library Public Meeting

SAVE CRICKLEWOOD LIBRARY

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday February 10th 6.30pm-8pm

Cricklewood Library, Olive Road, NW2

ESOL Cuts Will Be Devastating for People on Low Wages, Women and Asylum Seekers

David Cameron demanded in his 'multiculturalism' speech that  immigrants should learn English.  At the same time his government is cutting entitlement to English classes at colleges of further education such as the College of North West London. 37% of the students at CNWL attend ESOL courses.  The Action for ESOL Campaign make the case against proposed changes in funding:

People who move to the UK need English language skills to access training, gain employment and participate in society. Enabling new arrivals and longer-term residents to fulfil their potential is essential. Migrants bring with them valuable skills, qualifications and experience which can lie untapped unless they have the chance to learn English.

The best way to achieve this is through publicly funded English language provision known as ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

Adequate and sustained funding of ESOL is not a luxury. It is an essential public service. This was recognized by Skills for Life, the national strategy for the improvement of adult literacy and numeracy. Thousands of migrants achieved levels of English which enabled them to join the jobs market, access training and participate more fully in their local communities. The strategy created a national curriculum for ESOL, training and qualifications for ESOL teachers and a research centre, the National Research and Development Centre. But now, the funding made available through the strategy is under threat and the good work begun by Skills for Life could be lost.

The government proposals indicate that:

- Full funding will be only be available for unemployed people on job-seeker’s allowance (JSA) or on employment support allowance (ESA), described as ‘active benefits’.

People on other benefits, described as ‘non-active benefits’, such as income support, or on low wages, and their dependants will have to pay the co-funded rate of 50% or the full cost of the course.

- Asylum seekers and people on Section 4 support will not be eligible for full public funding - they will be expected to pay 50%.

- There will be no public funding for ESOL in the workplace. Learners or employers will be expected to pay full cost.

- Since 2007, ESOL learners on benefits or low incomes have been able to get help towards fees from the discretionary Learner Support Fund for ESOL. We fear this will be unavailable in 2011-12.

- The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) grant which provided support for 16 - 18 year old ESOL learners will be withdrawn.

- The weighting for ESOL and Literacy, which was reduced from 1.4 to 1.2 in 2009, is to be further reduced to 1.0.

We predict devastating effects on ESOL provision, teachers' jobs and ESOL students. We believe that people on low wages, women and asylum seekers are likely to be worst hit.

Sign the Action for ESOL petition HERE

Many Reasons To Save Preston Library - Act Now

Save Preston Library campaigners at action meeting on Saturday

A message from the Save Preston Library Campaign

Brent Council wants to close 50% of libraries in the borough including Preston Library. It will close in June. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. It is likely that the land will be sold to developers and you will have to spend time and money travelling across the borough to access the books and services you pay for with your council tax. Is this fair? First it was education, then disabled centres, then the libraries. What next? Brent Council should be working for you. Don't let them ignore you. Act now!

You can help in many easy ways:

Fill out Brent’s consultation questionnaire at

www.brent.gov.uk/consultation. Paper copies are in the library.

Deadline is 4 MARCH 2011

PLEASE "STRONGLY DISAGREE" WITH COUNCIL PLANS. OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT COUNT.

Come to the Public Meeting: WED 16th FEBRUARY 7.30 - 9.00 pm at Preston Park Primary School, College Road, Wembley, HA9 8RJ.

The more people there, the more the council will take notice.

Sign the online petition (it takes just 30 seconds):

LINK or if this link doesn't work, go to

http://bit.ly/SavePrestonLibraryPetition. (Please sign only one.)

The more signatures, the more councillors will listen. Stand up and be counted.

*****Forward it! Facebook it! Tweet it! ******

Contact your local councillors. They work for you.

Their contact details are posted on http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/ or ask in the library.

Contact your MP. If you live in Brent North, your MP is Barry Gardiner.

Email him at gardinerb@parliament.uk or write to him at The House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

Join the campaign. Subscribe to our emails: SavePrestonLibrary-Subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk;

Join the Facebook Group: http://on.fb.me/fVJNK2.

Publicise the meeting on Wednesday 16th February 7.30pm Preston Park Primary School

If Preston Library is the only library that is accessible to you for whatever reasons, we need to hear from you as soon as possible.

When Preston Library closes for good, the nearest libraries will be Kingsbury Library Plus on Kingsbury High Road, and the Town Hall which will close when the proposed £100 million Civic Centre is built, moving it even further away. Both libraries will only be within walking distance for the very fit and able bodied. For many of us, it will involve transport costs.

Five local primary schools regularly use Preston Library: Preston Park, Byron Court and Wembley Primary as well as children from Uxendon Manor and Mt Stewart. Pupils from Preston Manor and nearby senior schools cram the tables after school to do their homework and revision. They will have to find alternative places much further away from home.

Brent Council wants to close our library. Attend the public meeting! Sign the online petition. 

KEEP OUR LIBRARY LOCAL!

We Love Our Libraries

This video applies to ALL libraries, in London or in country towns...

Primary teacher: Why we must retain the Welsh Harp and Gordon Brown Centres

Magic! The Welsh Harp at dusk

I think it's vital we maintain funding for both Welsh Harp and the Gordon Brown Centre. I've been taking groups to the Gordon Brown Centre for almost 20 years now. Every group has thoroughly loved the experience and learn much - it's simply an outdoor learning centre - learning in a fun way. ! Having taught year six for so many years every Science opportunity is brought out from the rings on tree trunks to the bees pollinating the flowers ( depending on the season) !

The same applies to the  the Welsh Harp. We have taken groups for geography over a number of years and our students attending the Shine programme have also used it in their programme on Saturdays for the past three years. We will also be using it for kayaking this summer as we have done before.

In all both are valuable as outdoor learning centres and it would be criminal for the little green space we have in Brent to be taken from us with the increasing number of flats being built. What lungs will we have left in Brent?

Mark Betts St Joseph's Junior  School,Wembley

What do you want your Green councillor to fight for?

Alan Mathison is standing as Green Party candidate in the Kenton by-election. This Channel 4 Political Slot makes the case for Green councillors.

'Savings' list published for February 15th Executive Meeting

The full list of cuts ('savings') have been published as part of the Budget document for the Brent Council Executive meeting on Tuesday February 15th.

They are reproduced on the blog under PAGES. Click on the image to enlarge.

The list will need careful analysis to assess the impact on residents.

School Crossing Patrols Essential for Safety

I was shocked by the lack of a School Crossing Patrol (lollipop man/woman) when I started work at Park Lane Primary in Wembley in 1996.  Park Lane is an extremely busy route and the school is situated on a sharp bend. Several bus routes use Park Lane and it is a short-cut to Wembley Park from the High Road.Before it was re-named Park Lane the road was called Blind Lane in recognition of the fact that it was hard to see oncoming traffic.  A short, vigorous campaign resulted in the employment of a crossing patrol and there were no accidents thereafter.  Last year a special school assembly said farewell to Tracey who had kept children safe for many years and she was showered with cards, gifts and poems. The children knew how important her job was.


I now hear from parents at the school that her successor may be cut. I can't emphasise enough how this will put children in danger. A better example of the need to protect the most vulnerable from cuts couldn't be found.

Track Library Action Day Events Here

LINK

Libraries Day of Action - local campaigns

The Save Preston Library Campaign have started an e-petition on Brent Council's site. The petition reads:

Keep Preston Library Open We the undersigned petition the council to keep Preston Library open and give full consideration to alternatives to the removal of essential local library services to the Preston ward under the Brent "Library Transformation Project". We oppose the sale or redevelopment of the site that does not include a Brent public library. : We oppose the closure of Preston Library, a cost-efficient local service that is well used by all the local community.

It provides essential facilities for some of our community, particularly senior citizens and those with limited mobility, schoolchildren, and the unemployed and others who may not have access to a computer.

Preston Library service is more accessible and meets the needs of a greater number of local people than would a multimillion-pound mega-library at Wembley Stadium, to which many users would find it difficult to travel.

We demand that Brent Council give adequate time and due consideration to alternatives plans to the closure of Preston Library, including the revision of proposals for the library at the Civic Centre.

We also oppose the sale or disposal of the Preston Library site for any redevelopment that does not include a public library for the use of local citizens.

 To sign the petition follow this link. The campaign needs at least 50 signatories LINK

The campaign is holding an organising meeting at 3pm today at the library and also encouraging as many people as possible to use it and borrow as many books as possible.

There will be a public meeting in  support of the campaign on Wednesday 16th February, 7.30pm Preston Park Primary School

The Cricklewood Campaign has a public meeting on Thursday 10th February 6.30pm at 6.30pm at the library.

The Willesden and Wembley Observer petition to save ALL Brent libraries has now got 71 signatures. More are urgently needed.  SIGN HERE

Finally you can see a map of library protests across the country HERE and follow action in today's Day of Action on Library Closures HERE

Kensal Rise Library Children's Read-in Today

Gordon Brown Threatened Too?

Generations of Brent children have had their first taste of the country here

The Gordon Brown Outdoor Education Centre is a Brent outpost near the village of Rotherwick in Hampshire. It is used for 3 or 5 day residential trips by many Brent schools. Its possible closure often comes up during periods of cutbacks and it sits on a potentially valuable site in beautiful countryside.

However the Centre has over the years built up a whole range of activities apart from residential tips including themed activity days, corporate events, birthday parties and team building. All this has been in order to become more self-sufficient so that the Centre can stave off any more closure threats.

Rumours are circulating that it could be up for closure again or face the possibility of being sold off to a private company. there may be confusion with the Welsh Harp Centre but meanwhile you may like to read something I wrote in the Independent several years ago about children's experience at the Gordon Brown Centre. LINK

Trade Unions and Climate Change Meeting on Thursday

Trade Unionists in the Fight against Climate Change

An evening conference for north London trade unionists and climate activists organised by BRENT TRADE UNION COUNCIL and BRENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE. Supported by BRENT UNISON.

Thursday 10 February 7.30pm, Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, NW10 2SF 

Nearest tube: Willesden Green, Jubilee line. Buses: 52, 98, 260, 266, 302, 460 Free parking behind the library centre, disabled access to all parts.

Agenda

Keynote address John Stewart (Campaign against Climate Change) Session 1 – The fight for climate jobs Speakers: Chris Baugh (Assistant General Secretary PCS) Nick Grant (National Executive NUT) Session 2 – The fight for green workplaces Speaker: Sarah Pearce (TUC Greenworkplaces Project Leader) Chair: Pete Firmin (CWU, President Brent Trades Union Council)

Time for questions and discussion after each session. All welcome.

Further information: go to contact@brentcacc.com.

Former Mayor backs Welsh Harp Campaign

The Willesden and Brent Times reports that Jim O'Sullivan, former Conservative Councillor for Barn Hill ward and a former Mayor of Brent has come out in support of the campaign to save the West Harp Environmental Education Centre.

He said, "It is a valuable asset for the schools in Brent and beyond. It should be saved in the interests of young people". Recalling past threats to the centre he said,  “There is a new generation of people who will hopefully have the same energy and determination to fight to keep the centre."

Brent Primary School Expansion Plans Threatened

Brent's primary school expansion programme is in turmoil following indications that the government timetable may not be met.   The government grants have to be spent by August 2011. £2.932m to be spent on the Islamia Primary School  in Salusbury Road, Queens Park, may now be spent on other schemes as the Council consider there 'is no longer enough time for the school's scheme to be completed to a phase which would allow the money to be spent by the deadline'.

The building of a new two-form primary school on the site of Preston Manor High School may also be delayed despite the fast-tracking of planning consultation: planning permission had been sought before the Council's Executive Meeting on February 15th considers the results of statutory consultation.

The Council has established that there may be restrictions on the use of the school's land through a historical covenant.  The covenant reads:

No building shall be erected upon the land or any part thereof except a private dwelling house or private dwelling houses with or without rustic summerhouses, motor-care houses, cycle houses and greenhouses appurtenant thereto or pavilions in connection with a Sports Ground.

No trade manufacturer or business (except a Sports Ground) shall be carried on upon the land or any part thereof nor shall any building than that of a private dwelling house and appurtenances thereto...

 In a letter to residents (1) Matthew Lantos, headteacher of Preston Manor High School and Richard Barrett (Assistant Director, Regeneration and Major Projects) say that the view of Council officers is that the covenant was probably intended to prevent ad hoc commercial development and not to prevent the school's expansion.

They say an application to the Upper Tribunal to vary the covenant is likely to realise a positive outcome. The school intends to make an application to modify the existing covenants by seeking to limit the use of the land for Educational, Recreational and Community purposes only.

It is unclear how long this will take and there must be some possibility that it won't be successful. The original intention was to open the permanent new school in September 2011, thus meeting the August deadline. Any delay now pay impact on the timetable.

Several school building and refurbishment programmes have been affected by delays stemming from the council re-organisation last year which saw them moved from Children and Families'  Asset Management Team to Regeneration and Major Projects, coming under different assistant directors. This was compounded by the loss of key staff after council cutbacks.

(1) Letter dated 2nd February 2011

Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre - A History of Struggle

Previous demonstration in support of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre (1980s?)

Willesden and Brent Times reporter Kate Ferguson managed to dig this photograph out of the archives after I mentioned there had been school pupil demonstrations in support the the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre in the past.  Along with the Gordon Brown Outdoor Education Centre, Brent's Hampshire residential field centre, it is non-statutory and is therefore threatened whenever cuts are needed.  Non-statutory does not of course mean 'not valuable' and Brent primary headteachers, governors and pupils have rushed to defend the Welsh Harp, deluging councillors with letters and e-mails.

Latest intelligence is that negotiations are going on with a private company that might fund the centre to some extent as a method of showing its green credentials and commitment to the community.  However, rather than just relying on this the campaign continues.

Viv Stein of Brent Friends of the Earth and Brent Campaign against Climate Change said, “Closing the Welsh Harp education centre will deprive Brent’s children of the unique opportunity to learn about our natural environment that this vital facility offers.  Teaching children about ecology and respecting nature is an invaluable life lesson that we all need to learn to protect our declining wildlife and precious natural habitats.

“This damaging decision is somewhat at odds with Brent’s responsibility to take a lead in improving green space projects and sustainability in schools, as part of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy.  It raises further questions about the credibility of the Labour administration’s supposedly “green” charter, and comes barely a year after cross-party groups successfully fought off a planning application that would have devastated the Welsh Harp nature reserve.”

Primary Academy Under Fire

ARK's new primary academy close to Brent's southern border with Westminster has caused controversy over the lack of consultation on the proposals and fears that it could destabilise local primary schools. The Ark Atwood Primary Academy will be housed temporarily for two years in Third Avenue, off the Harrow Road.

Susanna Rustin has written an article about the issues involved HERE