In Defence of Ward Working

Art display at Chalkhill Primary

The amount of money spent on Ward Working by Brent Council has been attacked a number of times since the council started making cuts. Opponents have argued that the money could be used to retain services that will otherwise be closed, including libraries. Ex Conservative and Democratic Conservative Councillor, Robert Dunwell, renews the attack in the current Willesden and Kilburn Times.

In the absence of a concerted anti-cuts strategy by the Labour Council it is all too easy for divide and rule tactics to pitch groups against each other.

Ward Working enables the local community to decide with their ward councillors what their ward of £20,000  should be spent on and I would argue that it unites rather than divides the community. When it works well it can produce real change in an area and brings councillors and the community closer. With the current cabinet system excluding rank and file councillors it also provides councillors with an opportunity to make a real difference at grassroots level.

The council sets out the remit clearly:

Ward Working operates in every ward in Brent. Every ward has a budget of £20,000 to tackle the top issues of concern. The money is for one-off capital projects. We aim to find new or innovative ways of tackling issues to provide lasting solutions. The money isn't used to substitute for things that should be done anyway.

To declare an interest, I approached Barn Hill councillors on behalf of Chalkhill Primary School  last year for some help with funding the temporary swimming pool installed at the school. This funding enabled people to learn to swim who would not otherwise have had the chance. The Ward Working section of the council website HERE has full details of the projects and is a good example of transparency.

Using Barn Hill ward as an example this is how the money has been spent:

• Chalkhill Primary school swimming pool for £5,000 - installation of temporary swimming pool
• Brent Town Hall library activities for £600 - Manga art sessions
• Kingsbury and Preston Somali youth project  for £4, 000 - support for homework club
• Chalkhill DJ project for £2,170 - support for youth engagement project to engage young people
• Brent Town Hall library homework club for £510 - support for volunteer reading help at homework club
• Chalkhill Wanderers football project for £5,350 - support for pitch hire and other costs for locally-run team
• Chalkhill allotments for £1,000 - gardening and growing project
• burglary reduction initiative for £350 - purchase of security equipment for vulnerable elderly people.

At the other end of the borough in Harlesden ward money was spent on:

• alley-gating scheme at St Thomas's Road for £1,905 - installation of alley-gates to prevent fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour 
• Athletic Football Club (AFC) Wembley football project for £6,500 - contribution towards IT and music mentoring and support towards coaching qualifications. A joint project with Dudden Hill ward
• Harlesden Primary School equipment for £3,726 - contribution towards the cost of media equipment to enhance school provision and for community groups who wish to use it
• Cricklewood Homeless Concern winter night shelter project for £2,000 - support to homeless members of the community who are in need of shelter during the winter at All Souls Church
• Harlesden responsible traders scheme for £200 - support for a pilot a scheme in Harlesden Town Centre paying for boundary markers for shops licensed to trade on the pavement
• Challenge Close soil survey for £4,000 - funding of a soil survey for Challenge Close with a view to assessing the suitability for developing an allotment for community use
• Bang Radio and Harlesden SNT project for £400 - funding towards a partnership radio programme with Harlesden Safer Neighbourhoods Team to raise awareness of community safety issues
• Fortunegate Elders Forum £1,000 - contribution towards a community celebration to bring together elders to combat social exclusion
• energy solutions scheme for £270 - provision of emergency heaters to loan to vulnerable residents whose heating systems have broken down

Both wards have made a comparatively small amount of money go a long way in making a real difference to the quality of life of people in their community.  It would surely be a shame if all these opportunities (there's a list for every ward) were to disappear.

Pile on the Pressure: e-mail your MP on NHS now

A message from 38 Degrees:

In just one week, your MPs have to vote on massive changes to our NHS. But 38 Degrees members now have something our MPs don’t – thorough, independent legal advice about what these changes really mean.

Our expert legal advice is sobering. Despite the “listening exercise”, the government’s changes to the NHS plans could still pave the way for a shift towards a US-style health system, where private companies profit at the expense of patient care.

MPs are being told by the government that the NHS is safe. If they read our evidence, they’ll know that the spin doesn’t stand up. We can put them under massive pressure to vote to save our NHS. So we need to work together to get the legal advice to our MPs right now!

Email your MP now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/email-the-evidence

Our independent lawyers identified two major problems in the new legislation:

• The Secretary of State’s legal duty to provide a health service will be scrapped. On top of that, a new “hands-off clause” removes the government's powers to oversee local consortia and guarantee the level of service wherever we live. We can expect increases in postcode lotteries – and less ways to hold the government to account if the service deteriorates.

• The NHS will almost certainly be subject to UK and EU competition law and the reach of procurement rules will extend across all NHS commissioners. Private health companies will be able to take new NHS commissioning groups to court if they don’t win contracts. Scarce public money could be tied up in legal wrangles instead of hospital beds. Meanwhile, the legislation lifts the cap on NHS hospitals filling beds with private patients.

So who are MPs going to listen to when casting their vote – you, or lobbyists from private health companies? This is our NHS, and it’s up to us to defend it. Email your MP now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/email-the-evidence

It’s pretty extraordinary what we’ve managed to achieve together already. Nearly half a million of us have signed the petition to save the NHS. And after Andrew Lansley announced the last round of changes, thousands of 38 Degrees members immediately chipped in to get top independent legal advice on the new plans.

Barrister Rebecca Haynes found that the government's plans could pave the way for private healthcare companies and their lawyers to benefit most from changes, not patients. Another barrister, Stephen Cragg, found that we were right to be worried that Andrew Lansley was planning to remove his duty to provide our NHS.

This is the conclusion of a top legal team paid to have no other interest at heart but yours.

MPs vote in just seven days. Seven days to not only get the evidence, but be convinced there’s way too much public concern to ignore it. The good news is, with over 800,000 of us now armed with expert legal advice, we are just the people to speak up. Let’s give MPs from all parties the mandate they need to think again and vote against these changes to the NHS.
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/email-the-evidence

Eid Celebration a Lesson in Inclusivity

I had a stroll around the Eid funfair and celebration in Fryent Country Park earlier this week and was impressed by the friendly family atmosphere which managed to combine fun, food and prayer in a novel way.

The celebration was in Fryent for the first time having transferred from Barham Park where it was held last year and the move seemed to have been successful. Many local people, Muslim and non-Muslim, were enjoying themselves despite the dodgy weather.

The mixture was interesting in the light of Brent Council's decision not to fund religious festivals because they claim that they are not inclusive of all communities. This event has never claimed council funds and is funded by sponsorship and donations but the organisers, 1Eid, make it clear where they stand on inclusivity, They state that their mission is to strengthen and unite local communities by reviving, celebrating and sharing the essence of Eid and their aims include:

• Sharing Eid with the family of mankind
• Empowering women through Eid by including them
• Providing the opportunity for the development of unbiased opinions about Islam
• Delighting local communities with funfairs, food and culture

They call on the community to:

STAND WITH US FIRM and help us eradicate islamaphobia through celebration and smiles

As I remarked the organisers have never claimed government or council funding but what they are doing certainly challenges some of the ideas expressed by councillors and council officers about festivals and inclusivity.

Pub Quiz to Raise Library Campaign Funds

Click on image to enlarge

Private Tenants Need Protection - Jenny Jones

Responding to the National Housing Federation report projecting a decline in home ownership in the UK, Jenny Jones, Green Party Assembly Member and London Mayoral candidate said:

Home ownership in London has been in decline for a decade, dropping from 60% to 52% of households. This means that more and more Londoners rely on one of the most insecure rental sectors in Europe, where tenants are unable to resist rent hikes and are scared to challenge slum landlords.
 
Ireland is more enlightened - after six months you get an automatic right to stay for another three and a half years and landlords need a good reason to evict you. In the UK you can be kicked out with two months' notice and the landlord doesn’t need to give you a reason. We urgently need to protect London's private tenants, whether they live there by choice or because they're priced out of home ownership. 

Write to Jeremy Hunt urgently on Brent library closures

Brent SOS Libraries has asked supporters to write to Jeremy Hunt calling for him to use his powers to order a public inquiry into the Brent Library closures. Letters should be sent urgently (address below) as he is likely to reach his decision in early September. Follow this LINK for details and letter writing ideas.

This is the letter I have sent:

Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing to express my deep concern about the potentially devastating impact on children of Brent’s libraries strategy, which involves the closure of half of its libraries. I urge you to use your powers under the Museum and Libraries Act 1964 [s10(1)(b)] to ascertain whether its closure plans will mean it no longer meets its s7 duties to provide a comprehensive and efficient service to local people.

I am a retired primary headteacher  and Chair of Governors at two local primary schools so I have a particular interest in how these changes will impact on children. I outline below some factors that I think make a public inquiry vital.

Schools in the borough face a formidable challenge in educating their pupils due to Brent’s high levels of child poverty, high pupil mobility and high numbers of children at the beginning stages of learning English. I know from experience that many pupils have few if any books in their homes. Headteachers and teachers need every weapon in their armoury in tackling these issues and easily accessible, local libraries are absolutely essential. Older primary school children are able to go to local libraries independently and this is important when they have a single parent at home with young children or parents who work long hours and are unable to take them to the library.

Children also use these local libraries to attend homework clubs or access the internet for school work when they do not have a computer at home. I visited Neasden Library which is the nearest library to one of my schools on a Friday after school to find it buzzing with a homework club in session, children working on computers and others choosing reading books. The pupil School Council has told me how much they will be affected by the library’s closure. Other libraries will be too far away for them to travel to alone. Removal of these facilities will increase inequality in the borough.

Schools arrange regular class visits to their local library which gets children new to the country familiar with the public library system and encourages the habit of regular reading. These visits will no longer be possible if the nearest library is no longer a walkable distance. During the holiday I met an eight year old child from one of my schools at the local library who was going their every day to borrow books as part of the summer holiday Reading Challenge. Closure of libraries will mean that this extremely worthwhile nationwide programme is not accessible to some of our children.

In the light of the above I ask that in any inquiry you should decide whether:

1. The Council has properly considered the impact on children of its plans and whether these will impact disproportionately on those from particular backgrounds or from specific geographic locations.
2. The  Council has adequately assessed the potential impact of loss of access to books and IT equipment on educational achievement and cultural enrichment of young people.
3. The Council has assessed the potential negative impact on GSCE and A Level grades caused by  loss of quiet study facilities for older children  for research, study  and revision. Many come from over-crowded homes or temporary accommodation where it is hard to study. 

Brent schools have done a tremendous job in improving educational outcomes which are now often above national averages. The closure of local libraries will undermine these efforts.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Francis

Write your letters to:

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics Media and Sport

Department for Culture Media and Sport

2-4 Cockspur Street

London SW1Y 5DH

huntj@parliament.ukor e-mail  
dempster.marples@culture.gsi.gov.uk

MUGA Battles

Residents of the Chalkhill Estate, and particularly local youth, have recently protested that the Council has dropped plans for a MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) in St David's Close.  They see this as an important facility for young people in the area who lack such provision. The Council claim that there were never any plans for a MUGA on that site.

Meanwhile, just up the road residents near Preston Manor High School are protesting about plans to build a MUGA in the school grounds as part of the changes associated with the construction of a primary school on the site. This MUGA will be floodlit and that is the aspect particularly vexing the school's neighbours.

The planning committee originally attached a condition to the planning application that would prevent harm to local amenities from light spillage. The Council is now seeking a 'non material' variation that would allow 'restricted light spillage' to neighbouring gardens.

Residents are concerned about how late the MUGA will remain open and worried about noise.  They claim that the plans are a result of pressure from Sports England to compensate for the playing field space lost through the building of the primary school. They suggest that a sports centre for secondary pupils has been smuggled through on the back of the primary expansion with residents kept in the dark (not for long!). They suggest that a grassed area for primary school pupils to play on would have been a much better use of the space.

MUGAs are a great resource and I support school facilities being open out of hours for the community but there are clearly issues around whether this facility is of the right type in the right place. It is important that the Council, school and local residents engage in a dialogue to find a solution that is satisfactory for all parties.

24 Free Schools Is a Weak Start to Coalition Campaign Against Local Authority Schools

Wandswoth lobby against an ARK free school proposal

24 new 'free schools' are to open in September. 17 are primary, 5 secondary and 2 'all-through'. The government will pay capital costs of between £110m and £130m  for these schools, which will open in a variety of buildings including former shops, offices and libraries. Their running costs will also be provided by the government and they will operate outside local democratic control.  The capital costs are much higher than first suggested and budget issues may have restricted the number approved this year. If the budget is increased it will impact on already  stretched local authority budgets.

The government will try and sell the 24 schools as a great policy success but the number is actually very low in comparison will earlier government claims and the receipt of 323 applications in the first round and 281 in the second.  However numbers are likely to be artifically boosted because the government will insists that any new schools needed to address a rising pupil population must be free schools or academies. They will of course spin that the resultant increase in numbers reflects public support for the policy.

This is a similar tactic to that used under the Labour government to ensure that the new school needed in Brent was an academy: the Tory-Lib Dem Council administration were told that there was no chance of a new local authority secondary school. The same argument is being repeated today as the Labour council struggle to address the shortage of school places. Denied the possibility of new local authority primary schools  the Council will be under pressure to support free school bids. Providers such as ARK will claim they are performing a valuable service by providing for children who would otherwise be without a school place.


In fact, rather than being initiated by parents or teachers the list  includes two ARK primary schools which are run by hedge fund speculators,  while former fee paying Batley Grammar School will now be state-funded giving what one parent referred to as an unexpected 'bonus' when he no longer has to pay fees. The list also includes a significant number of faith schools.

Aldborough E-ACT Free School Redbridge
All Saints Junior School Reading
ARK Conway Primary Academy Hammersmith & Fulham
ARK Atwood Primary Academy Westminster
Batley Grammar School Kirklees
Bradford Science Academy Bradford
Bristol Free School Bristol
Canary Wharf College Tower Hamlets
Discovery New School West Sussex
Eden Primary School Haringey
Etz Chaim Primary School Barnet
The Free School, Norwich Norfolk
Krishna-Avanti Primary School Leicester
Langley Hall Primary Academy Slough
Maharishi School, Lathom Lancashire
Moorlands School Luton
Nishkam Free School Birmingham
Priors Free School Warwickshire
Rainbow Free School Bradford
Sandbach School Cheshire
St Luke's Church of England Primary School Camden
Stour Valley Community School Suffolk
West London Free School Hammersmith & Fulham
Woodpecker Hall Primary Academy Enfield