Cracks in the Wall - Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel - November 20th 7.30pm Granville Centre - with Ben White

A story from Sufra Foodbank as Universal Credit rolls out in Brent

From the Sufra Newsletter

It's been over 6 weeks since Saira applied for Universal Credit. Ever since, she has been turning up to the Food Bank literally every day. Dishevelled and forlorn, she sits for hours, sunk into a folding chair next to the disabled toilet. 

Universal Credit hasn't quite rolled out in most of North West London, but Saira recently moved from Brent to Islington and was forced to switch to the new ‘flagship’ scheme.

To be fair, the overall aim of Universal Credit is noble (or should I say economically expedient for a government determined to cut costs). Universal Credit aims to simplify access to the benefits system, make work pay and help those in itinerant employment receive some extra help as and when they need it. But frankly, it's an absolute shambles. A Universal Shambles.

Saira's first challenge is that she must apply online. She doesn't have a computer. She doesn't have internet. And even if she did, she wouldn’t know how to use it.  

And then there’s the big waiting game: applicants must wait 5 weeks to receive any money (it was 6 weeks before, but Mrs May, bless her socks, felt that a 5-week wait was sufficiently punitive for the poor). It is therefore no surprise that food bank use in areas afflicted by Universal Credit has seen a 50% increase in demand. 

All this, alongside computer glitches and multiple changes to rules and regulations (one DWP official at the local job centre confessed that he couldn't keep up with the chaos), has left people in debt, rent arrears and financial ruin. And at risk of suicide, according to this article in the Guardian.

From 21 November, Universal Credit is coming to the London Borough of Brent. So, if you're applying for benefits for the first time, or your circumstances change, you can say goodbye to the Christmas cheer. You won't be eating a traditional turkey dinner. You won't be switching on your heating or boiling the kettle. You won't have any credit on your phone. And your landlord will be threatening you every day that he's calling the bailiffs.

With all the government’s Brexit woes, will anyone be thinking about these families in need? 

Do come along to the public information meeting on Universal  Credit at Chalkhill Community Centre on Friday November 23rd at 7pm.

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Spurs ask for up to 17 games at Wembley Stadium as contingency to May 2019 - so what about the steps project?

Wembley National Stadium Limited has applied to Brent Council for permission for Tottenham Hotspur to hold up to 17 games at the stadium between January and May 2019.  They emphasise that this is a contingency plan as completion of Spurs' new stadium is awaited.

10 of the games would be up to 62,000 capacity and 7 at full capacity.

Consultation on the application closes on December 19th 2019.

The application can be found HERE

An obvious question is how this will affect the replacement of the stadium pedway by steps which was already a very tight schedule. Work will not take place on event days so if option takes up the contingency the project will lose 17 of the 87 days scheduled for completion of the scheme.

Unfortunately the Site Management Plan for the steps project is no longer available on the Brent Council website. LINK

The pre-planning advice offered by Alice Lester, Brent Head of Planning has been redacted. I wonder if this referred to the steps?

Court rules ex Brent headteacher has to payback £1.4million plus to Brent Council

A former head teacher and his previous colleagues have today  been ordered to pay back a total of £1,395,839, excluding costs, for their part in a school bonuses scandal by the High Court.

Alan Davies, the former head teacher of Copland Community School in Wembley, was found to have benefitted from the “vast sums” he received in unlawful bonuses over several years before he was suspended in May 2009.

Davies, who had previously been knighted for services to education, now faces having to pay the whopping sum of £1,395,839 plus 75% of the Council’s assessed legal costs. He had previously taken home more than £400,000 in one year, three times the going rate for a head teacher. He was convicted of false accounting in 2013 and stripped of his knighthood in 2014. 

In August earlier this year, the High Court found that his justifications for the excessive payments were “patently untrue” and “false”.

The payments to Davies and three associates were approved by former Chair of Governors Dr Indravadan Patel and former Vice Chair of Governors, Martin Day, who were both criticised by the Judge for “wholesale failures” and “reckless indifference”. Dr Patel and Mr Day now need to pay back £552,729 between them plus 65% of the Council’s assessed legal costs. 

Cllr Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of Brent Council, said:

We are delighted with the verdict as it means the money, which had been swindled, is now going to be returned and can now be used for the benefit of local people.

Davies and his colleagues were arrogantly paying themselves ridiculously high and unjustified bonuses, including Davies pocketing a whopping £400,000 in one year - which is around three times the going rate for the job.

It has taken years of stamina and determination to win this victory but justice has finally been done.

The scandal was revealed by the whistle blowing of  teacher trade unionist Hank Roberts

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Allied Healthcare collapse impacts on Brent adult care provision

Care for older and disabled people in Brent who receive care from Allied Healthcare are facing uncertainty tonight with the news that the company is seeking to off-load its contracts to other providers.

The Care Quality Commission had warned the company last month that it had concerns about its financial viability and issued a notice to this effect. Some council had already begun the process of finding new providers although at the time of writing it is not clear whether this includes Brent.

Allied Healthcare claimed that the CQC statement had 'negatively impacted' on the company leading to loss of customers an d affecting staff retention and recruitment.

The BBC said tonight that it understood the company had been able to extend its credit for three weeks.

Ian Hudspeth, of the Local Government Association LGA, told the BBC that councils had "robust contingency plans in place". 

"Councils are confident of ensuring care for people affected and are also focused on retaining the highly valued staff that deliver these services to help keep the transition in business ownership as smooth as possible.'

In 2014 the Care Quality Commission inspected Allied Healthcare provision in Brent and found it needed improvement due to concern over the safety of its clients. LINK

Cllr Harbi Farah, Brent Council Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care told Wembley Matters:

We have a contingency plan to ensure vulnerable adults in Brent are supported, this is a priority for me and the department. I will update you.

A new Blue Plaque in Wembley – remembering Henry Cooper

Guest post by Philip Grant

For the past 40 years, Wembley has only had one Blue Plaque commemorating a famous former resident*. This week it got its second!

Thanks to the efforts of local resident, Tony Royden, the plaque was installed on the wall above a shop at 4 Ealing Road, near the junction with Wembley High Road:

        A new Blue Plaque in Wembley – remembering Henry Cooper

Photo of the plaque, courtesy of Tony Royden

As well as fighting some of his most famous boxing matches in Wembley (at Wembley Arena, and most memorably against Cassius Clay - later known as Muhammed Ali - in front of 55,000 people at Wembley Stadium in 1963), Henry Cooper lived at 5 Ledway Drive (near Preston Road) from 1960 until 1975.

He is probably less famous for his three years as a greengrocer (while still British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion), at the shop which he opened on 9 November 1965. His former home is a bit off the beaten track, so the plaque above the shop is a much better location to publicise this famous Wembley resident.

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Cuttings on the shop’s opening from the “Wembley Observer” and “Wembley News”, November 1965

* If you don't know who Wembley’s first blue plaque commemorates, or where it is, you can find the answer on the Brent Archives website LINK .

Philip Grant

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Community shows up in force to back Northwick Park Community Garden

The site beside the main railway line at Northwick Park

The Community Garden will run in a strip parallel to the railway line

The local community came out in force last night to puts its weight behind plans for a Community Garden in Northwick Park.  The idea hatched up initiaally by a group of  Northwick Park dog walkers has gathered support from local residents, professional gardeners and Brent Council.

After a presentation on developments so far and an explanation of the principles of forest gardens residents fed-back on the plans and made their own suggestions for what the garden should contain.

The group is a registered charity and has its own Facebook page HERE. One of the essentials is that in order to get funding for the project it needs local people to indicate their support - the more the better.

The project introduces itself:

In a special area of Northwick Park we are planning on creating a naturalistic green space where local residents, schools, visitors to the area including Northwick Park Hospital can unwind, learn about trees, plants and wildlife, and harvest seasonal produce. The produce will be organically grown without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizer.

The garden design will be based on the permaculture concept. Permaculture mimics natural patterns within ecosystems. The ecosystem will take care of the garden in the long term. It will be a self-sufficient and sustainable natural development.

Fruit and nut trees, shrubs with edible berries, herbaceous perennial with edible leaves, flowers and herbs may feature in the garden design. It’s also important that we provide places for people to sit within the community garden and enjoy the natural surrounding.

The charity called ‘Northwick Park Community Garden’ was established in October 2018 to put all this in place. We are going to apply for Community Infrastructure Level (CIL) funding in December 2018. We’ll keep you updated on progress.

The construction of the garden will be done via the permablitz process where volunteers gather together to build the garden LINK. This is usually done in one day but a bigger project will need several phases.

Fascist graffiti removed from railway footbridge at Gladstone Park

The fascist graffiti that was painted on the railway footbridge bridge linking Kendall Road and Gladstone Park has been painted out ahead of the community 'paint out' that had been planned for 5pm this evening.  LINK

As I understand it Network Rail had also undertaken to remove it but a local resident beat them to it.

A clear message to  fascist individuals or groups that they are not welcome here.


UPDATE FROM  A READER November 14th:  A resident had done the initial paint-out and then Network Rail followed overpainitng not just the area of fascist graffiti but all the other graffiti too, in regulation green. Yesterday evening  a number of Brent residents and councillors gathered at the bridge in a gesture of solidarity with the people of Dollis Hill.