Brent Labour concentrates power in proposed constitutional changes

The Brent Council Executive will be replaced by a Cabinet of between three and ten members in constitutional changes going before Full Council on Wednesday 4th June. Report HERE

Along with other proposed changes the overall impact is greater centralisation of power in fewer hands. The changes enable Muhammed Butt to reduce the size of the new Cabinet compared with the previous Executive if he so wishes. There have been rumours that this may happen but other sources suggest that a reduction would leave a large number of potentially disruptive Labour councillors disgruntled by thwarted ambitions.

The new Labour group is meeting on Saturday to decide positions in the new adminstration.

Half of Cabinet Meetings will now take place during the day, alternating with evening meetings. At the same time the Council's five scrutiny committees will be reduced to one.

Deputations will now be allowed at meetings of Full Council, allocated a maximum of 15 minutes with a maximum of 5 minutes per speaker. The criteria for such delegations are limiting and leave a considerable amount of power with the officers:

Any deputation must directly concern a matter affecting the borough and relate to a Council function. Deputations shall not relate to legal proceedings or be a matter which is or has been the subject of a complaint under the Council's complaints processes. Nor should a deputation be frivolous, vexatious or defamatory. The Director of Legal and Procurement [Fiona Ledden] shall have discretion to decide whether the deputation is for any reason inappropriate and cannot proceed.

There shall be a maximum of 3 deputations at any one council meeting on different subject matters. There shall be no more than one deputation made by the same person or organisation in a six month period and no repetition of the subject.

Standing Order 40 for Full Council which allowed for debate on 'Key Issues affecting the borough' is deleted as 'it no longer serves a purpose'.

Standing Order 39 'Questions from the Opposition and Non-Executive Members' will be amended to provide that questions are given in writing 7 days in advance with no supplementary questions allowed. The number of questions will be amended 'to reflect the new political balance of the Council'.

Further it is proposed under Standing Order 45 that 'the number of motions and the debate in relating to motions be amended to reflect the new political balance of the Council.

Following the Labour landslide the membership of Council committees is revised with no Liberal Democrat representation:

General Purposes Labour 9 Conservative 1
Planning Labour 10 Conservative 1
Audit Labour 4 Conservative 1
Standards Labour 4 Conservative 1
Corporate Parenting Labour 4 Conservative 1

The Scrutiny Committee, now a single entity and clearly important in terms of holding the Council to account, will have 7 Labour and 1 Conservative member plus 4 voting co-opted members and 2 non-voting co-opted members. This gives the Labour members a voting majority.

Only Labour and Conservatives will qualify for the appointment of political assistants.

The Appendix below which contains tracked changes to the Constitution reveals the extent of the proposals:

Public Discussion: The Legacy of World War 1/Hero Stones in Willesden Green

From Brent Stop the War

A discussion with DEFEND SCHOOL HISTORY on Teaching WW1

and with the NO GLORY CAMPAIGN ARTISTS GROUP

on Hero Stones in Willesden Green

The Government is trying to rehabilitate WW1 as a noble war fought for a just cause and to use the centenary as a celebration of Britishness. Michael Gove tried to introduce a new history curriculum modelled seemingly on Billy Bunter’s at Greyfriars School and has criticised Blackadder, Oh What a Lovely War! and Horrible Histories for detracting from the glorious sacrifice of those who died. Defend School History is a campaign that was set up to counter Gove’s proposals for the History Curriculum and has succeeded in forcing considerable changes.

One of the Government’s schemes to celebrate the glories of the war is to lay paving stones commemorating every soldier who was awarded a Victoria Cross. This is something that the VCs themselves would have opposed strongly. The first of these ceremonies will be in Willesden Green in August. The No Glory Campaign aims to use art and performances to counter the myth of the Glorious war. Their artists group is looking for ways to shift the emphasis from individual “heroes” to the many whom were killed or maimed in the conflict.

There will be speakers from these two campaigns at our meeting. Camden Stop the War and teachers from Brent and Camden are cordially invited.

Monday June 9^th  Doors open 7.00 pm, meeting starts 7.30 pm sharp  Rumi’s Cave 26, Willesden Lane NW6 7ST

London and Brent European voting figures

The main party results for the European elections in London and Brent were:

(Brent in brackets)

Labour 806,959 (34,451)
Conservative 495,639 (13,277)
UKIP 371,133 (6,414)
Greens 196,419 (5,123)
Liberal Democrats 148,013 (7,333)

Full results for each London borough LINK

Greens celebrate election of three MEPs in Euro poll

I was relieved this morning this morning to find that Jean Lambert had been re-elected as a London Green MEP.  In the face of UKIP's gains and signs that the other parties are moving right in an effort to match their anti-immigrant policies, it is important the Jean's principled anti-racist voice has a platform.

In spite of the national swing to UKIP, the Green Party has been able to overturn the odds and now has triple the number of MEPs that the Lib Dems do. The wins, powered by 1.2 million people voting Green on May 22, come on the back of extremely positive local elections results which saw the Greens become the official opposition on Solihull, Liverpool, Lewisham, Norwich and Islington Councils.

Jean Lambert, who has been Green MEP for London since 1999, said:

I am delighted and honoured that Londoners of all backgrounds have supported the Greens in this European election and voted again for a strong Green voice in the European Parliament. Greens will continue to put forward positive policies to tackle the growing inequalities between rich and poor, whether in London or beyond, and to continue the push to a low carbon economy, which combats climate change while creating new jobs.

I was delighted to see Molly Scott Cato elected as the new MEP for the South West and reacting to her win she said:

It is fantastic that the South West now has a Green voice in Europe. I would like to thank everyone who voted Green on Thursday and I am looking forward to representing the South West in Brussels.

Keith Taylor was also returned again as Green MEP for the South East region. He tweeted:

So very proud to be re-elected as an MEP. Will stand up for my constituents, wherever they come from, every single day.

Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett, put the wins in context:

The growth of our number of seats in the European Parliament reflects growing support for Green Party policies and values around the country. Increasing numbers of voters are inspired by our message of positive change for the common good. They support, as do a majority of the public, our views on many issues, from renationalising the railways and reining in banks, from banning fracking to making the minimum wage a living wage.

Clean up tasks for the new Labour Brent Executive

As the new Labour group prepares to meet to decide the size, portfolios and membership of the new Executive, just a reminder of the issues that need to be addressed.

First there is the matter of the Human Resources management at the Council and associated issues of interim contracts and salaries paid into private companies.

The Green Party has called for an independent investigation of:

1. Corporate Management Team officers being paid through their private companies rather than normal pay roll
2. The contractual arrangements for CMT officers and interim appointments
3. Previous employment and business connections between senior offices appointed by Brent Council on an interim basis
4. The working culture of the Human Resources department 
5. Brent Council's Whistle Blowing Policy to ensure that it adequately protects whistle-blowers from harassment and retribution

To which a reader has added:
6. Instances of council policies, procedures, standing orders, scheme of delegation etc being circumvented.

Secondly, there is the important issue of the appointment of Chief Executive.  Christine Gilbert's acting role was extended by the Brent Executive  until after the local elections on the recommendation of Fiona Ledden, Head of Legal and Procurement. The report stated:

The recruitment process for a new permanent  Chief Executive should be delayed because the current recruitment process for  three other CEs in London boroughs would limit the quality of candidates, to allow the restructuring of council senior management to go ahead smoothly, and  to ensure continuity and reputation management over the move to the Civic Centre and the 2014 local elections. 

At the time Paul Lorber, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition, opposed the extension and raised the important issue of how the permanent appointment would be made.  Given the new overwhelmingly Labour composition of the council and the revelations about previous connections between members of the Corporate Management Team at Ofsted and Tower Hamlets, as well as personal relationship connections, a transparent recruitment process is essential.

Such a process would exclude from the recruitment process any officer with such connections and include opposition councillors as well as Labour backbenchers.

Thirdly, there is the task of ending all interim arrangements so that a permanent team with fully compliant contracts and paid through the council payroll are in place for the next four years. 

June 3rd Meeting - Continuing the housing struggle in Brent

A message from Brent Housing Action and Housing4All

Brent Housing Action and Housing4All are co-hosting a NorthWest London Radical Housing Network meeting on Tuesday June 3rd.

The meeting will start at 7pm at Brent Trades Hall Club (aka Apollo Club), 375 High Road, Willesden NW10 2JR. Nearest tube is Willesden Green or Dollis Hill ( both Jubilee Line). The Apollo Club is a two minute walk from Willesden Bus garage.

On Tuesday 3rd June, activists from Brent Housing Action and Housing4All (formerly the Counihan-Sanchez Housing Campaign) would like to open their regular bi-monthly meeting to all those concerned with housing and related welfare issues in NW London. This is to build upon the links made during the Inequality Bus Tour of 26/4/14, to bring in new activists looking to form groups that have contacted the Radical Housing Network since that weekend and to compare ideas of how we should continue the struggle against the triple whammy of market-rent "affordable" housing, regeneration/gentrification projects and welfare state reforms.

Ideally each housing group will give a brief outline of their campaign( 5 minutes approximately).
We'd like to hear what groups would find the meeting useful for so that we can build an agenda - please respond with any brief ideas nic.lane2@googlemail.com .

The agenda - so far - could also include the following:

How can NW London best support its various Housing Action Groups? (Anti-eviction teams/ duplication of Intel etc.):
MIPIM - the international land sales/housing conference- comes to Earls Court in October: joint protests?
Interaction with European/National/London Housing Networks?
Future Priorities

Invited groups include:

Housing4All (co-host)
Brent Housing Action (co-host)
Radical Housing Network (co-host)
Jubilee Sports Centre Campaign
Barnet Housing Action
Our West Hendon
Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group
Unite Community
Stable Way Residents Association
Save Earls Court
Gibbs Green
Sutton Estate
Grenfell Action Group
Advice4Renters

How the Greens performed in the Brent local elections

The Green Party stood one candidate in every Brent ward except for Willesden Green, which was where we put in most of our campaigning, where we stood two candidates. We left the third slot free so as to make space for Alex Colas the independent Make Willesden Green candidate.  In the event many voters voted two Green plus MWG . MWG were the single choice of some voters and shared with parties other than the Green Party  in other cases.

The combined percentage vote of the three candidates in Willesden Green was 21%: Make Willesden Green 9%, Sharara Ali 6% and Martin Francis 6%.

The Greens beat both Tory and Lib Dem candidates in Harlesden, Kensal Green and Kilburn. We beat all the Lib Dems in Dudden Hill, Fryent, Kenton, Northwick Park, Preston, Queen's Park, Queensbury and Welsh Harp. We beat all the Tories in Mapesbury and Willesden Green.

Greens were ahead of two out of the three Lib Dem candidates in Barnhill, Brondesbury  Park and Willesden Green and two out of three Tories in Queen's Park.

Our highest percentage votes were in Brondesbury Park, Kensal Green, Mapesbury, Queen's Park and Willesden Green.

Brent Green Party has limited financial and human resources compared with the other parties and therefore had to concentrate on a few wards. However, it is clear that there are many potential Green voters in the borough if only we can reach them through leafleting and personal contact. Our aim must be to substantially increase our active membership and network of supporters while at the same time maintaining and improving our campaigning record.

The Euro election results later today should give us further indications of our potential support.

Looking forward to the General Election in 2015 the 'Vote for Policies' website  LINK shows Greens ahead of the other parties in Brent Central. People vote purely on policies without knowing which party they emanate from until completion:

Green Party 25.95%
Labour 23.07%
Liberal Democrats: 17.47%
Conservative 14.77%
UKIP 10.51%
BNP 8.23%

The figures for Brent North also put the Greens ahead LINK

Green Party 24.01%
Labour 22.74%
Liberal Democrats 16.13%
Conservative 15.12%
UKIP 12.48%
BNP 9.52%

Meanwhile, for any individual their political party  affiliation is a matter of 'best fit'  rather than 'I agree with every item in the manifesto'. I hope that some Wembley Matters readers will take note of this election result and come and join us.

More than ever, we are the alternative.

Ecosocialist Conference June 7th, London

A space for thinking and discussion after the local and European elections:

Saturday June 7th 11am-6pm

Venue:
SOAS, Vernon Square Campus, Penton Rise, Kings Cross, London WC1X 9EW
(not the main campus at Russell Square)

Speakers:

Natalie Bennett, Ewa Jasiewicz, John McDonnell, Daniel Tanuro, John Stewart, Jonathan Neale, Eva Barker, Tatiana Jarzabek, Estelle Cooch, Graciela Romero, Gareth Dale, Alan Thornett, Amy Gilligan, John Cowsill, Fiona Brookes, Brian Ashley, Sean Thompson, Clara Paillard, Ozlem Onaran, Derek Wall

Book HERE

Workshops on:

Fracking; Zero Growth; Food and Land Grabs; Transport; Ruling Class Strategies for Climate Change; Energy Justice; What Revolution Do We Want?; Climate Jobs, Marx’s Ecology.

Creche provided on reservation – Further details will be posted as speakers and other arrangements are finalised.
  
Hosted by Socialist Resistance and Revolutionary Socialism in the 21^st Century