Oppose anti-semitism and support free speech Brent councillors urged

Brent and Harrow PSC have written to Brent councillors about the motion on anti-Semitism to be discussed at the Council meeting on Monday 18^th September.

Dear Councillor 

RE: Full Council – 18 September 2017

Motion selected by the Conservative Group ADOPTION OF INTERNATIONAL

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE ALLIANCE DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM

Councillor Joel Davidson Brondesbury Park Ward 

We welcome the discussion on how to combat anti-Semitism in the ongoing battle against racism in all its forms.

The International Holocaust Remember Association’s definition is as follows:

“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” 

However, the guidance issued by the IHRA uses a number of controversial examples of forms of anti-Semitism, most of which (7/11) refer to Israel. We submit that the effect of adopting the guidance would be to prevent criticism of the actions of the Israeli State and of a legitimate critique of Zionism as a political ideology. For example, the guidance states that to call Israel a racist enterprise can be anti-Semitic. This has been used to describe anyone who refers to Israel as an apartheid state as ‘anti-Semitic’ and to withdraw meeting facilities from them.  Similarly, the example of not holding Israel to a standard has been used to say calling for boycott is anti -Semitic, which in the opinion of eminent QC Hugh Tomlinson is a threat to legally protected freedom of expression.

Mixing the issue of anti-Semitism with the policies and actions of the Israeli State, it is likely to make it harder to identify and oppose anti-Semitism, a goal to which we are all committed. DETAILS

If you wish to support the adoption of the (38 word) definition, we ask therefore, that this does not include the highly controversial guidance. In this way, opposition to anti-Semitism is made clear, without any limitation of legitimate criticism of the Israeli State or the ideology of Zionism. 

Michaela deputy has controversial start at his new school

Barry Smith

Barry Smith, deputy headteacher at Michaela Academy for three years has had a rough start in his new job as principal of the former Great Yarmouth High School, now relaunched by Inspiration Trust as Great Yarmouth Chartered Academy.

Smith has hit local and national headlines as a result of importing Michaela methods into a school with its own ethos and history, rather than a brand new free school as Michaela was.

Parents admit that things were not perfect at GYHS but some are objecting strongly to the school rules and  disciplinary methods as well as the tone of Smith's communications, written and verbal, with parents.

Parents have set up a Facebook page 'Yarmouth High Worried Parents'  which currently has more than 1,000 members. A fascinating exchange of views is taking place on the page which cover the specific rules and their implementation but go wider to look at the rights of children and parents.  At present pupils are also making contributions on the page and opinions vary with some welcoming the 'calm' that the rules bring and others finding themselves at the receiving end of the demerits. Similarly some parents are keen to challenge, if not the rules, the way they are being implemented. Parents with children with special needs are concerned about whether their child will be able to follow rules such as 'tracking the teacher' where every child has to have his or her eyes on the teacher throughout the lesson. Children on the autistic spectrum often have a problem with making and maintaining eye contact.

The local authority has set up and investigation into the school's exclusion policy which had not been updated to reflect recent DfE guidelines LINK

Tomorrow parents are to meet with Mr Smith. It should be interesting.

Progress as TUC takes on the issue of Climate Change

The TUC has unanimously passed the motion below on Climate Change. Although it does not contain everything Green Party members would want to see included it marks a step forward in trade union recognition of the issue. It is now even more important for the Green Party at national and local level to work closely with trade unions and local trades councils on practical policies to combat climate change and the promotion of a low carbon economy.

Congress notes the irrefutable evidence that dangerous climate change is driving unprecedented changes to our environment such as the devastating flooding witnessed in the UK in 2004.

Congress further notes the risk to meeting the challenge of climate change with the announcement of Donald Trump to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Similarly, Brexit negotiations and incoherent UK government policy risk undermining measures to achieve the UK carbon reduction targets.

Congress welcomes the report by the Transnational Institute Reclaiming Public Service: how cities and citizens are turning back privatization, which details the global trend to remunicipalise public services, including energy, and supports efforts by unions internationally to raise issues such as public ownership and democratic control as part of solutions to climate change.

Congress notes that transport is responsible for a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and believes that a reduction in carbon dioxide levels must be the basis of the UK’s future transport policy in addition to building public transport capacity and moving more freight from road to rail.

Congress believes that to effectively combat climate change and move towards a low carbon economy we cannot leave this to the markets and therefore need a strong role for the public sector in driving the measures needed to undertake this transition.

Congress notes that pension schemes invest billions of pounds into fossil fuel corporations. To this end, Congress calls on the TUC to:

i.                     work with the Labour Party and others that advocate for an end to the UK’s rigged energy system to bring it back into public ownership and democratic control

ii.                   . advocate for a mass programme of retrofit and insulation of Britain’s homes and public buildings

iii.                  . lobby to demand rights for workplace environmental reps iv. lobby for the establishment of a Just Transition strategy for those workers affected by the industrial changes necessary to develop a more environmentally sustainable future for all, and develop practical steps needed to achieve this as integral to industrial strategy v. consult with all affiliates to seek input into the development of a cross sector industrial strategy that works towards delivering internationally agreed carbon emission reduction targets

iv.                 . investigate the long-term risks for pension funds investing in fossil fuels, promote divestment, and alternative reinvestment in the sustainable economy.

Mover: Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union

Seconder: Communication Workers Union

Supporters: Fire Brigades Union; ASLEF; TSSA

A welcome education manifesto from Rescue Our Schools

The Rescue Our Schools LINK campaigning group has published a manifesto which should be of interest to parents and teachers. It brings together many issues which have become prominent in later years. It has much in common with Green Party education policy:

It’s time for a new vision for education fit for the 21^st Century

Young people in 21^st Century Britain need the skills to ensure they can thrive in an increasingly automated world. We need an education system that encourages them to think creatively, critically and confidently,  and nurtures a more cohesive society. Rescue Our Schools believes we must overturn many of the education strategies successive governments have adopted.

Here is our Six Point Plan for a 21^st Century Education System:

1. INVEST IN ALL OUR FUTURES
2. PROVIDE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR ALL
3. PROMOTE EDUCATION OVER EXAM FACTORIES
4. DEVELOP CREATIVITY IN ALL ITS FORMS
5. LET EXPERT EVIDENCE INFORM POLICY
6. ENSURE LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL SCHOOLS

        1 . INVEST IN ALL OUR FUTURES

• All children have the right to the best possible education we can provide. A successful education system should reduce inequalities and promote fulfilment. Better educated, more fulfilled children become better educated, more fulfilled adults. This benefits the individual, society and the economy in the long term.
• There must be enough money in the new funding formula so no school or child loses out.
• Teachers and school leaders must be valued as highly skilled professionals. Their workload should ensure a healthy work-life balance. A well-motivated workforce benefits everyone.
• Schools should be encouraged to collaborate and share resources in order to work in the best interests of pupils and the local community. Making schools compete in an artificial market creates winners and losers. No child benefits from being in a losing school.
• Local Authorities must have sufficient funding to retain expertise and provide schools with the support and challenge they need to thrive.
• Learning isn’t limited to school. Our vision is for an education system that provides free, universal access to learning from early years onwards.

2. PROVIDE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR ALL

• Parents and carers want good schools for everyone, not just some. The world’s most successful education systems have no selection and there’s no evidence it improves standards or life chances.
• Children with special education needs deserve the same opportunities as other children. Specialist SEN provision should match local need, taking into account the views of parents and professionals. Children with disabilities or difficulties in mainstream schooling have a right to additional support in the classroom and their funding for this must be ring-fenced.
• Good early years support narrows the educational equality gap; it should be properly funded and supported, and available to all.

3. PROMOTE EDUCATION OVER EXAM FACTORIES

• Pupil assessments must be for their benefit. Linking assessment to school accountability puts inappropriate pressure on staff – which in turn can be passed on to parents and pupils. League tables based on SATS and GCSE results say nothing more than how good schools are at getting children to pass exams.
• We need a truly independent review of primary assessment and its purpose in our children’s education. SATs are damaging primary school children and teachers, narrowing the curriculum and forcing schools to teach to the test. The government’s proposal for “baseline” tests on four year olds will be a judgement on parenting, without reducing inequality.
• We need a secondary level assessment system that allows students to demonstrate all their talents, not just academic. A General Certificate of Secondary Education should be a general assessment of what a pupil has achieved during their time in education. Other more successful education systems do this; so should we.
• School Inspections should consider the quality and breadth of students’ understanding across many areas, how well schools support emotional and physical wellbeing, and staff retention. Judging schools only on test results is harmful for everyone involved.

4. DEVELOP CREATIVITY IN ALL ITS FORMS

• Children need time to learn how to learn. Evidence shows that effective, play-based, early years education helps children acquire vital life skills such as how to communicate and work in groups.
• Children need a broad ranging, engaging and balanced curriculum. Make space for creative and vocational subjects as well as sport. Research shows these help children’s wellbeing and learning across all subjects. High-stakes testing is pushing out music, art, drama, sport and more creative approaches to learning. Let’s give schools genuine freedom to innovate.

5. LET EXPERT EVIDENCE INFORM POLICY

• 21^st Century education policy-making must be evidence-based, not dominated by the ideology or school experiences of government ministers.
• Rescue Our Schools is calling for an independent, expert-led review of all education provision from early childhood to early adulthood. Its goal would be to recommend the best possible curriculum, assessment and structures for the 21^st
• Education and mental health experts should join forces with regular national surveys to find out what is causing the rapid rise in wellbeing issues among children and young people, including the possible impact of high stakes testing and ‘boot camp’ schooling.

6. ENSURE LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SCHOOLS

• Parents and carers need to know who to turn to when things aren’t right. Lines of accountability within schools must be clearly set out.
• Schools should be rooted in their communities. Parents and communities should be empowered, through governing bodies, to influence change when it is needed.
• There is no evidence that the academy structure improves educational or financial performance. Government should stop wasting millions handing over schools to multi-academy trusts which are not accountable to families or local communities.
• Local Authorities should be given back the ability to plan school places, opening and maintaining new schools when and where they are required. The Free Schools programme should be abolished.

Cllr Tatler challenged on Wembley Regeneration's alleged benefits

 

Brent Council 2002

I have received the following Anonymous guest blog in reaction to the lead members' Q&As published earlier LINK:

I read your blog about the forthcoming Full Council Meeting with intrigue, particularly the question  “1. Question from Mr Wadhwani to Councillor Tatler, Lead Member for Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills:”  and the fantastical answer given by Councillor Tatler. I have added a few follow up questions that should now be asked. 

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “The Council takes a plan-led approach to the regeneration of the borough, in order to prevent development schemes coming forward in an ad hoc, unplanned fashion.”

Additional Questions:  The public consensus is that they have failed miserably in their task, even the Daily Mail agree.

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “Wembley has a comprehensive planning framework, including the dedicated Wembley Area Action Plan (adopted 2015), which sets out how development of the area will progress”.

Additional Questions: That may be true, but it is a shame it has produced such an unqualified mess, just ask residents and the Daily Mail. The planning process has created a shambolic development becoming know as Rent City where there is no community, just a never ending churn of unknowns.

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “The ongoing regeneration provides and plans for infrastructure and facilities to support current and future residents across the Wembley area, including:  A 7 hectare public park”.

Additional Questions: Where is this then? Not another paved concourse with token raised planters and a few sapling trees, I hope.

Cllr. Tatler Response:   “New 3 form entry primary school, including a 2 form entry nursery school, plus 2 additional forms of nursery provision”.

Additional Questions: Where abouts are these then?

Cllr. Tatler Response:   “Primary health care facility (1500m minimum)”.

Additional Questions:  According to the Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) at a recent meeting in public, this facility was turned down by the Council and is now used as a Gym.  If untrue, where is the Primary Health Care Facility?

Cllr. Tatler Response:   “ Contributions towards secondary education in the wider area”.

Additional Questions:  Details please?  How much?  Aren’t all Brent Secondary Schools academies? Aren’t academies funded directly by the DoE!!!

Cllr. Tatler Response:   “6-lane 25m swimming pool available at local authority facility rates”.

Additional Questions: Where is this located then??

Cllr. Tatler Response:   “Significant investment in and improvement to the main rail and underground - stations to improve capacity and the environment”.

Additional Questions:  Details please? or is this the £17million of CIL the Council are going to spend to improve the Quintain Development Area? This includes Olympic Way? where the Stadium ramps will be replaced by stairs (no doubt to fit another tower block or two? 

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “Community facility fund of £1.4m plus to spend on community projects”.

Additional Questions:  Isn’t this money being spent across the Borough so has nothing to do with the question asked?

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “Physical transport improvements e.g. the Triangle, Wembley High Road”.

Additional Questions:  Example please? The roads around the Triangle are normally at a standstill which delays the buses and other vehicles alike. Queues regularly form all the way back to Forty Lane.

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “and elsewhere, together with significant developer contributions to Transport for London (TfL) for public transport, including buses”.

Additional Questions:  What are these?

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “Developers have additionally contributed a significant cash sum of Community Infrastructure Levy”.

Additional Questions:  What are the council spending this money on? How much money excluding the CIL spent on items above?  How much is in this cash pot? 

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “part of which will be spent on neighbourhood projects”

Additional Questions:  This money is not being spent in the Regeneration/Development areas, it is being spread across the Borough so has nothing to do with the question asked.

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “and the remainder on strategic infrastructure needs to support growth in the immediate Wembley area and wider Brent Borough”.

Additional Questions:  What is it going to be? Does the Council have any idea?

Cllr. Tatler Response:   “The Local Plan and in particular the Wembley Area Action Plan sets out the regeneration and development strategy for the Wembley area”.

Additional Questions:  You wouldn’t have known it, is the current public consensus.

Cllr. Tatler Response:  “The Local Plan is now to be refreshed and to examine how the whole Borough will develop over the next 15-20 years” .

Additional Questions:  15-20 years? The powers that be cannot construct reliable plans for the short

term, so what hope have they in planning for the next 15-20 years? Is this new plan as advised by officers implying Metroland developments with their large gardens are being targeted for redeveloped into high density housing?

Cllr. Tatler Response:  "Everyone is invited to get involved in this exercise and various public sessions are being held across the Borough throughout September for people to come along and contribute" .

Additional Questions:  The Council CONSULT but do not LISTEN , and they certainly DON'T consider the views of residents or any criticism from these groups. How will this be different?

Activist slams Capita & Barnet Council over Brent Cross regen plans

Local activist Alison Hopkins has written to the current Public Inquiry into the the compulsory purchases of the Brent Cross Regeneration Scheme outlining its impact on local residents. It is long so please use the 'Read more'  button to get the whole picture

I am writing to you as a long-time resident – over forty years - of Humber Road NW2 in the London Borough of Brent, and as the former Brent councillor for this ward, Dollis Hill. I am also representing many local residents and associations in this letter.

I request that you pass the following to the Inspector leading the Public Inquiry into CPO3 for the Brent Cross Regeneration scheme as a matter of urgency.

This is on the grounds that not only are Barnet Council and Capita utterly failing to listen to local people, as has been their pattern for over a decade, but are also gravely misleading the Inspector. I have been personally attempting to have proper discussions and gain true answers to the points raised here for almost a decade. I have constantly been stalled by Barnet, Capita and their partners, especially G L Hearn.

Most recently, residents who attended the so-called public consultations in Dollis Hill were promised full responses, but these have never been forthcoming. G L Hearn promised to arrange a meeting with Barnet officers after the latest consultation meeting in April. Despite repeated emails from me, and others, this has never happened. We are being neglected and ignored by Barnet/Capita deliberately.

As we are in a neighbouring borough, they feel entirely free to do so, to our huge detriment, presumably because we do not constitute their electorate. Dollis Hill is DIRECTLY ADJACENT to the development and will be more affected by these proposed road changes than ANY residential part of Barnet. This is unfair under common law.

The Story of Wembley Park Studios - Preston Library Sat Sept 23rd

Brent Council reviews processes after 1,000 resident's e-mail addresses were circulated by accident

Brent Council has rather belatedly responded to my story of September 1st LINK on a data protection breach where more than 1,000 visible email addresses were sent to Brent residents in a notice about a meeting venue change.

A Brent Council spokesperson said:

The email was sent out by a council employee to provide information about upcoming events. A mistake was made in sending the emails, the sender intended to use bcc but accidently used the To field. This meant that the email addresses were visible to others. An apology was sent out straight away to all recipients. No personal data about the individuals was disclosed, only their email addresses and they were not linked to any particular forums or groups. 

The council’s policy is to use the blind copy feature when sending bulk emails and the Council is satisfied that this was down to human error. The Council has reviewed its process and is taking further technical  measures to reduce the chances of this happening in the future.