Local press continue to hold Brent Council to account

Following my recent posting on the importance of the local press in ensuring the accountability of councillors and the counter claim that the BKT was too close to the council, it was heartening to see the front page of the newspaper this week. LINK

Clearly the BKT is continuing to dig up stories that ensure resident know what is really  going on in the Town Hall.

The Wembley and Willesden Observer also has a story this week about the importance of the local press with post-Leveson comments from campaigners about the part local newspapers have played in enabling them to put their message across.

McDonnell: Let's form a national coalition against poverty

John McDonnell MP has sent the following open letter to his Labour colleagues:

Dear Colleague,

Proposed Welfare Benefits Bill

As you know, Osborne announced that the Coalition is to bring forward before Christmas a Bill to sanction the cuts in welfare benefits set out in yesterday’s autumn statement.

We all know that there is no need for primary legislation to implement these cuts and that this is his crude and blatantly cynical attempt to lay what he considers will be a political trap for Labour.

In his crude political terms, his obvious aim is to be able to claim that if Labour votes against or abstains on his Bill then we are on the side of the so called skivers whilst the Tories are the champions of the strivers. If we do vote for the Bill he will then cite our vote as support for his attack on benefits.

Like many right wing politicians over the years, when their policies are demonstrably failing they reach for a scapegoat. It’s often the poor simply because they haven’t the power to defend themselves.

I believe that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be dragged into the gutter of politics by Osborne’s exploitation of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

Instead of falling for this grubby trap us let’s take them on, on this issue.

If we have the courage and behave astutely, we could turn this cynical ploy by Osborne into an opportunity for us to transform the debate on the issues of welfare, poverty, unemployment and fairness in our society.

 

This means stop all hesitation on this matter and making it clear now that we are not voting for this cynical attack on the poorest, which includes cutting benefits to many people in work and struggling to survive on low pay and often poverty wages.

It means saying now that we are taking the Tories on, on the issue of fairness. Nobody, especially ordinary working people, likes a skiver but there are mechanisms that can deal with this and if they need improving well let’s have that debate. The fact is that it is becoming increasingly obvious to our people that it is the rich and wealthy, who are ripping us off with tax dodging. It is equally becoming obvious whose side the Tories are on.

Let’s seize upon this opportunity to highlight the real facts about the hardship that so many of our people are facing. Most of our community are under pressure. Many are only a couple of pay packets away from a life on the edge. Many others have tipped over into debt and poverty.

Let’s turn the tables on Osborne and use this opportunity to expose this reality and offer our alternative of a fair tax system and investment for growth led employment.

Let’s get out there and build the coalition of all those people and organisations who are willing to speak out on what is happening to our people. That means nationally and locally bringing together not just all the charities and campaigning organisations that take an interest in poverty and welfare but all the churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, community organisations and anyone with a conscience on this issue.

Let’s lead in forming a new national coalition against poverty and those who attack the poor.

Let’s enlist the support of people from all walks of life, including artists and performers, in the same way we did in the fight against the prejudice of the Nazis against black people and ethnic minorities.

In many ways it’s the same struggle against prejudice mobilised by cynical politicians.

It should start though by making it clear immediately that we are not playing Osborne’s cynical political games. We are not voting for his cuts to the poor.

Yours ,

John McDonnell MP

Greens' alternative to 'cuts at all costs'

The Green Party is calling for positive economic policies instead of the Coalition’s dogmatic, self-perpetuating and failed “cut at all costs” approach.

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said:

We reject this government’s self-defeating and contradictory approach of trying to cut its way to growth while providing tax giveaways to large corporations, including environmentally and socially destructive fossil fuel companies.

And we reject its inhuman and inhumane pressure on the poorest in society - households with members in work and those without - with non-pensioner benefits restricted to real-term decreases (below inflation, 1% increases) for the next three years. That’s £3.7bn being squeezed from people whose lives are often already insecure and desperate.

One certainty George Osborne has ensured is that the foodbank “industry” is going to become a permanent feature in Coalition Britain, the world’s seventh-wealthiest economy.

Britain needs to invest in environmentally-positive, jobs-creating policies, rather than using the UK’s historically unremarkable debt to GDP ratio to justify slashing state expenditure and further tax cuts for the wealthiest.

A Green government would immediately invest the £4bn windfall from the 4G phone spectrum auction and the £35 billion quantitative easing surplus to create jobs in low-carbon infrastructure and in sectors such as renewable energy, energy-efficiency, low-carbon finance and manufacturing and in our contracting construction sector. The Green New Deal group has called for green quantitative easing to fund solar PV, insulation and other efficiency schemes that could create 140,000 jobs.

Despite Osborne’s best efforts to hold them back, green industries are already providing essential goods and services that we need - from insulation to clean power from wind turbines - having contributed over 9% of UK GDP in 2011 - yet they retain enormous job creation potential.

The Green Party would  ‘reboot’ the tax system to ensure that wealthy individuals and multinational companies pay their fair share, levelling the playing field for small businesses that are currently paying their taxes and struggling to compete against the tax-avoiding business giants.

Ms Bennett said:

Our reformed tax system would replace council tax and business rates with a land value tax, a wealth tax to recover some of the gains from those who benefited from the boom years and have surfed unscathed through the bust. Furthermore, we would end tax relief on private pensions, putting the savings into a Citizens’ Pension that would immediately lift all pensioners out of poverty.

There would be a financial transaction tax to discourage casino-style financial trading, moves to force transparency in the books of multinational corporations and a genuine, effective crackdown on tax avoidance.

And it is difficult to have faith in the Chancellor’s announcement of new infrastructure projects, as his government announced a similar scheme in 2010, which has actually delivered a decrease in spending on construction. The government has also delivered just £750m of a £5bn expenditure it promised for public works at last year’s Autumn Statement.

Natalie added:

In recreating the failed PFI schemes of the last Labour government, this government is repeating its predecessor’s mistakes and announcing headline projects that are unlikely to be delivered. According to the Office for National Statistics, we already have future PFI liabilities of £144bn. Renegotiations that have saved £2.5bn are small beer in comparison.

A Green government would provide genuine government investment in the new schools and transport infrastructure that we need. What we don’t need is spending on new roads, an action shown to simply move congestion from one place to another.

Power from Pee process invented by schoolgirls

HS2 or Incinerator - what a choice for Willesden Junction!

Well, here's a dilemma!

The Brent and Kilburn Times is reporting LINK that the Willesden Junction site ear-marked for an incinerator may be required by HS2 to transport waste from nearby tunnelling operations.HS2 under its safeguarding rights would have prior claim to the site.

Brent Greens are opposed to both the incinerator proposal and HS2 - perhaps we should campaign for a much needed green space on the site or an Alternative Technology Centre

Sing-along to a musical critique of bankers

I couldn't resist sharing this with you. Even I can sing along with it!

A new dangerous neighbour in Kensal Green

Atos abandon wheelchair user in fire emergency

Cameron's Britain continues to shock. This happened just down the road in Neasden: (From The Independent) LINK

Recently, there have been several  reports of Atos carrying out their fitness to work assessments in buildings which are not wheelchair accessible.

Considering the number of wheelchair users who undergo fitness-to-work assessments, this is only seen as yet another thing to add to the long list of serious problems that disabled people and carers  have with the way the company operates.

The latest story of an inaccessible assessment centre appears to be the worst one yet, with the most serious potential consequences for a severely disabled person. It also illustrates clearly exactly why it is so important that all centres and offices used by Atos should be completely wheelchair accessible.

Geoff Meeghan, 32, has early-onset Parkinson’s disease and cannot walk more than three metres unsupported. He was being assessed by Atos on the second floor of a building in Neasden, North West London. A few minutes into his assessment, the fire alarm went off.

Staff evacuated the building, but left him behind in his wheelchair.

Disabled people are supposed to be asked whether they can exit the building unassisted. Mr Meeghan, for some unknown reason, was apparently not asked this question.

He also said that they were not allowed to use the lift and when they asked a security guard for help, he said he would send some, but no one came. Eventually, another security guard arrived at the scene and stayed with Mr Meeghan and his carers, even though he had been told to evacuate.

Mr Meeghan can tackle stairs supported, he said, but in the “highly stressful situation” he felt it was “far too risky.”

Most shocking of all, it was a real fire. Mr Meeghan said “It wasn’t a drill. We could see the fire engine arriving outside.”

He went on to strongly criticise the company, saying: “I feel like there was a general lack of respect for disabled people at Atos – they make you feel as though you’ve done something wrong by being disabled – like you’re being persecuted.”

An Atos spokesperson said: “This should never have happened and we apologise unreservedly. We will be getting in contact with Mr Meeghan directly. We have since reviewed this case internally with the building security and management team to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

“This is a DWP building and the fire warden in charge on the day followed the appropriate evacuation procedures and advised that everyone had to leave the building except for a security guard who was asked to stay with Mr Meeghan.”

Mr Meeghan is extremely lucky to be alive after this incident. And this story transpires after we hear of the Atos boss getting a £1million bonus.

It is now hoped that all Atos workers and assessment centres are made aware of this incident at the very earliest opportunity. It is also hoped that all assessment centres used by Atos will, in light of this case, now make every possible effort to provide ground floor rooms to wheelchair users for assessments at all times. At the very least offering respect and safety to the disabled people they are testing.

Mums against Harlesden Incinerator

This Soapbox has been posted  on the West London Mums website LINK

Contributed by: Virginia Rowe

Be afraid! Be very afraid! A new dangerous neighbour has set its sights on West London.

Yes mummies, daddies and kiddies, disturbing plans are afoot to build a giant waste incinerator at Willesden Junction, with devastating effects for family-friendly neighbourhoods for miles around.  So what would we be looking forward to if Ealing planning department give this the green light? (And folks, they really are leaning towards giving this the green light…)

Four 25 metre chimneys chugging out burnt toxic fumes 24/7 + in excess of 60 heavy duty trucks rumbling in and out of the area every day and night, polluting the lives of not only the poor residents that live on the doorstep of the proposed site, but also the whole area around Kensal Rise, Queens Park, North Kensington, Willesden Green, Harlesden, Ealing, Acton….. all family-friendly neighbourhoods.

Incinerator chimneys emit dioxins and heavy metals, associated with cancer, hormonal issues, reduced immune system capacity, effects on foetal development, lung and kidney disease and nervous system problems. These emissions travel for miles!

Despite mass public appeal, this planning application, submitted by a property company located in an offshore tax-haven, is actually being favoured by Ealing Council who will be making their decision on whether to go ahead with it on 19th December.

Few local residents have been informed or consulted on this toxic plan and the wording in the proposal is designed to deliberately mislead those who read it, using smoke and mirrors and a whole array of PR new speak.  At no point do they use the word ‘incinerator’ even though the ‘pyrolysis’ part of the plant, which will be burning gases, is actually deemed an incinerator by the European Union Waste Directive.

This would ruin our neighbourhoods and put our collective health at risk. There is no place for incinerators in highly populated residential areas. It is inhumane. And taking into account the overwhelming public response against them – undemocratic.

Say NO to our West London neighbourhood being turned into a toxic waste dump by a tax-haven based company that cares nothing for our area.

Contact your local MP, councillors and most importantly vote NO to the NW10 incinerator here:

Virginia is a creative director living and working in Kensal Rise. Follow her campaign against the proposed west London waste incinerator on twitter @NOincineratorNo

Calling Brent Youth: All I want for Christmas is a Future that works

 A one-day rally and workshop for 16-27 year olds on Youth Unemployment, Education, Apprenticeships and a welfare system that works.

Tell your story on youth unemployment and find your voice in our activism workshops.

Organised by Brent Youth and SERTUC Young Members Network

CONTACT: David Braniff on 020 7467 1283 or email LondonYouth@TUC.org.uk

 Saturday December 8th, 11am-4pm
 Harlesden Methodists Church,

25 High Street, Harlesden, NW10 4NE London, United Kingdom

View Map · Get Directions

Leveson: Green Party wants conscience clause, union representation and action on concentration of press ownership

 The Green Party has welcomed many aspects of the Leveson report, while expressing disappointment that there was little in it to practically address the concentration of ownership in the press.

 Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said the call from Lord Justice Leveson for a new independent self-regulatory body, with the majority of its board comprising non-industry representatives and no serving editors, was a step forward.

 "We would welcome the creation of independent oversight with majority civil society involvement.”

"But although there is the call for independent regulation here, the mechanism suggested is indirect, clunky and open to subversion, rather than the direct creation of an independent body along the lines of Ireland's Press Council. There's also no reference to union representation, which would provide an important expert, hands-on view within the new regulatory body."

 Natalie said that although the call for the new regulator to run a whistle-blowing hotline, and for a "conscience clause" to be inserted in journalists' contracts of employment was positive, the judge had failed to recommend direct action to ensure this happened.

"The NUJ has long been calling for journalists to be protected if they refuse to act in manners they consider unethical, and it is essential for a future decent, independent press that this right is provided."

 Natalie also welcomed the judge's call for a legal duty for the freedom of the press to be enshrined in law, which is not currently the case. She said: "Whilst the Leveson inquiry has rightly focused a spotlight on inappropriate and outright illegal behaviour by the press, we must never forget that a tenacious, questioning, independent press has in the past served Britain well, from the Sunday Times thalidomide campaign, to the Guardian's exposure of Jonathan Aitkin.

"This must be preserved and protected, and Leveson has rightly made his opposition to government regulation clear right from the start."

 Natalie also welcomed the judge's recognition that the public was rightly suspicious of close relations between press and politicians when it came to lobbying about media issues.

"He was right to say that this undermines public trust and confidence, and his call for transparency in the form of registration of lobbying contacts was a good one, and potentially revolutionary, insetting a model that could be used across other industries and sectors. Registration of lobbyists is something the Green Party has long been calling for and this report provides a real opportunity to return to that broader issue."

 The Green Party's chief criticism of the report is in the area of media ownership. While the judge makes a strong statement about the importance of plurality, he fails to make a direct recommendation for action, or taken board submissions made to him about limits for media concentration.  Natalie said:

"His call for greater transparency when ministers consider whether or not to refer a media merger to the competition authorities on plurality grounds is welcome, but does not go far enough. An independent regulator or overseer should have the power to make this referral."

Brent spends £11m annually on temporary staff

A report LINK going before the Brent Executive at their December 10th meeting reveals that the Council spent £10.7m on temporary agency staff last year. A new contract is proposed giving the Council more say over  who is hired  The fee element of the current contract was £735,282.56 and the new arrangement is expected to reduce this by £212,966.51 as a result of employing a 'Master Vendor' that directly employs some categories of agency staff and sources the remainder from other agencies. Previously the contract was held by a 'Vendor Neutral' Supplier who employed nobody directly but sourced all Brent temporary staff from a number of agencies. Thus there was a fee to the Master Vendor and to the agencies.

Nevertheless the new contract is valued at £11m.

Wembley Matters passes 200,000 page view barrier

Wembley Matters today went through the 200,000 all time page views barrier. The blog currently gets between 400 and 700 page views a day.

Another planning application for an ex-Conservative Club

The Red House behind hoardings

Hot on the heels of the sale of the Queensbury pub in Willesden Green by its former Conservative Club owners, a planning application has been made for another former Conservative Club.

The Red House in South Way, next to the Ibis Hotel and opposite Wembley Stadium Station, used ot to be the Wembley Conservative Club. It has been empty since 2006. There still seems to be a linen cloth and glasses on a table in the upstairs bar.

Now a planning application has been made on behalf of a company called Anitan Limited for change of use to a leisure facility. Anitan was only registered with Companies House in July 2012 with capital of £100,000.

The proposal, unlike the Queensbury application, leaves the Red House itself intact. The planning application is for the building to be used as a indoor play facility with a soft play area, storage area, room for classes and a cafe for customers of the play facility only.

The play facility is for younger children and aimed at visitors to the nearby London Designer Outlet Centre as well as local residents. The application claims that it will revitalise the area and provide up to 10 jobs.

Climate Change: Fears and Failures

Submerged footpath at West Hendon Playing Fields last weekend

Let's face it, the turnout at Saturday's Climate Change march, whether the BBC estimate of 300 or the organiser's 500, was poor. A climate crisis billed as threatening the very future of humankind could only get a handful of humans out on the street.  In the circumstances the media coverage we achieved was generous helped by the spectacle of a the erection of a fracking rig outside the House of Parliament.

Chatting in the crowd we speculated why with Hurricane Sandy, the floods in the UK, harvest failures in the US, more people were not concerned enough to come out. We joked that perhaps we needed the Thames Barrier to fail and Westminster to flood, before MPs took notice.  After all it was only when the stench of the Thames got severe enough to penetrate the Palace of Westminster that action was taken to build a proper sewage system.

However, also on Saturday, Anne Karpf's article in the Guardian LINK  reviewed the recently published Engaging with Climate Change, Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Perspectives LINK .

Confessing to being a 'Climate-Change Ignorer' she says despite not being a sceptic she 'tunes out' when she hears apocalyptic warnings about global warming:

The fuse that trips the while circuit is a sense of helplessness. Whatever steps I take to counter global warming, however well-intentioned my brief bursts of zeal, they invariably end up feeling like like too little, too late.  The mismatch between the extremely dangerous state of the earth and my own feeble endeavours seems mockingly large. 

She goes on to describe some of the coping mechanisms described  in the book, including blame-shifting, technoptimism, hedonistic fatalism and dark optimism. It is argued, against the view of my colleague Brian Orr, that apocalyptic warnings are counter productive:

As Ed Miliband has observed, Martin Luther King never inspired millions by saying 'I have a nightmare'.

I would argue that the sense of helplessness is caused by the failure of politicians, governments and the UN, to face the crisis head on. It is as  if, faced with the Nazi menace in the second war, the government had, rather than mobilise troops and the economy and pour money into production and research,  instead asked everyone just to perform the home front task of digging for victory. Of course people would have felt helpless as German troops massed at the channel and bombs fell on our cities. Politicians now are in the equivalent position of those who ignored or down-played the rise of Nazism for fearing of frightening the people.

Here in Brent, in our own small way, following the briefing for councillors and the public, a paper has been produced outlining the extent of the crisis and some ideas for moving forward. A copy is available by clicking the link below:

 

Another dimension is making a link between the current economic crisis and climate change and on Sunday the following resolution from Green Left was passed by an overwhelming majority at the AGM of the Coalition of Resistance:

This conference notes that the current economic crisis is closely linked to a global ecological crisis particularly involving human caused climate change,. Neither crisis, in so far as they can be separated, is soluble under capitalist socio-economic arrangements. Technological fixes and geo-engineering enacted under capitalism can only be short term at best, since ecologically damaging forms of consumption and production are engendered and maintained by capitalism.

We therefore call on the coalition of resistance to recognise this publicly and include combating climate change in its campaigning agendas.

Scenes from the Climate Change March

Green Party stall at Grosvenor Square

Laying the pipeline from US Embassy to Canadian Embassy

International support

At Wesminster

The fracking rig is erected outside Parliament

Natalie Bennett's speech at Climate Change Rally

Join the Brent contingent on Climate March today

As often happens at the weekend  I am torn about which of the several events happening Saturday  I should attend. The Counihan Family March takes place in Kilburn High Road at 1pm, the Chalkhill Community Festival from 1-4pm and a crucial conference on the future of primary education is being held in Lambeth. All these events are important and worth supporting.

The Campaign Against Climate Change March in taking place in Central London. The threat posed by climate change is huge, so huge that it is almost impossible to comprehend its impact, and therefore so tempting to turn to something more manageable. It is almost like knowing we our all going to die eventually - too difficult to really take in so we ignore the inevitable and carry on living day to day because worrying about it will do no good.

Well, I believe we can do something, although the window of opportunity is shrinking rapidly. We have to shout from the rooftops about the issues and demand action from governments across the world. Tomorrow's march is a tiny part of that campaign.

Reasons to march tomorrow:

• The rapid melting of the Arctic ice cap.
• Floods and droughts driving up food prices and world hunger.
• Hurricane Sandy the most powerful Atlantic tropical storm since records began.
• Over 200 Flood Warnings and one Severe Flood Warning in Britain recently.
• Climate change will worsen the economic crisis as food prices soar and land is used to grow fuel instead of food
• Food and water shortages will cause armed conflict between countries
• Mass migrations will take place from affected areas with homes and livelihoods lost.
• The greed for fossil fuels will see oil companies turning to more and more dangerous extraction methods  that damage the environment.

Whatever the outcome of the UN talks in Doha, we have to step-up the pressure on governments to take the necessary action NOW to limit climate change.

NATIONAL CLIMATE MARCH  DECEMBER 1st
Assemble 12.00 noon in Grosvenor Square
or
Join the Brent contingent at the entrance to Willesden Green tube at 11.15am  

12.00 -1.30 Assemble Grosvenor Square and build the "Grosvenor Square Keystone pipeline" from the Canadian High Commission to the US embassy !
1.30 - 3.30 March to Parliament
3.30 - 4.30 Build a giant mock fracking rig outside parliament !

Come to the Chalklhill Community Festival on Saturday

This Saturday 1st December there is a Community Festival from 1-4pm at Chalkhill Community Centre with 35 stalls and activities offering the chance to try out and meet many of the groups and activities in Chalkhill including:

• Team GB Olympic fencer James Honeybone
• Magician
• Jewellery making
• Pilates
• Singing
• Free hot lunch from 1-2pm, choice of Caribbean, Asian, British and African with halal and vegetarian options
• fire engine
• football skills
• taekwondo
• pampering

The choir of Chalkhill Primary school will be performing.

The event is completely free and for all ages.

113 Chalkhill Road,  Wembley, Middlesex HA9 9FX

"A farrago, a sham, an utterly dishonest exercise"

It reminded me of those Victorian pictures of the ragged, scrawny child, barefoot in the snow, with nose pressed against a restaurant window staring at the big-bellied rich tucking into their suppers in a warm glow of complacency.

We were in the opulent surroundings of a ballroom in the Hilton Metropole, Edgware Road trying to tell the smooth, expensively suited gentlemen from NW London NHS on the platform just what untold damage their 'Shaping A Healthier Future' (SAHF) proposals would do the people of Harlesden and Stonebridge, two of London's poorest wards. The whole consultation exercise to reach a foregone conclusion has cost £7,000,000

We were presented with a IPSO/MORI consultation report that ignored the thousands who had signed petitions against the proposals but instead went on to suggest that that the far fewer people who had submitted a response to Options A, B or C (all rejected by the petitioners) somehow represented some kind of democratic endorsement. 66,000 signatories on 18 petitions were apparently counted as 18 responses.

Andy Slaughter MP summed it up:

This is a complete farrago,  a complete sham, a completely and utterly dishonest exercise!

This was the beginning of many exchanges about the consultation which I felt rather let IPSO/MORI take the fire that should have been aimed at NW London NHS for the inadequacy and downright dangerousness and dishonesty of their proposals.

Ann Drinkell, put her finger on the dangers towards the end of the Q and A session. She claimed that SAHF had been dishonest about the ability of community care being suddenly able to pick up on the slack when fewer people were admitted to hospital or stayed for a shorter period.

Everyone know we aspire to good community care, good palliative care, but everyone also knows how difficult it is.  It is disingenuous to suddenly think it will be unproblematic. The impact of restructuring and budget cuts on community care and social care will be enormous. You are treating us like children.

Dr Mark Spencer then proceeded to do just that, treating us to a couple of anodyne PowerPoint slides on the 'Programme of Work' and 'Clinical Review of Responses' that would now begin. We were not allowed to ask questi9ons about this.

After a buffet supper (those ragamuffins in my head again) we went into 'Stakeholder Workshops'. These were introduced by Lucy Ivimy, Chair of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a Conservative councillor in Hammersmith and Fulham.

She said that the initial impetus for the proposals had been the rationalisation of Accident and Emergency wards in the area and the fall out was a consequence of this, The virtual closure of two hospitals had been hidden deep in the plans, Given the wide geographical area and the propensity of people wanting to protect their own local facilities it had not been possible for the Committee to reach agreement.

She said that there were two main concerns:
1. SAHF was premised on success of the out of hospital strategy. This had been promoted for years but in real life admissions had continued to rise. We need more evidence on the strategy and a firm path to follow.
2. Transport was a big issue. Although there was a claim from the ambulance survey that there was little impact on the 'blue light' journeys the majority of journeys to hospital are by other means including public transport. There had been no analysis of these journeys.

A skirmish followed about whether this represented the committee and it emerged that an initial very critical report had been replaced by a much sifter version which was the 'official report'.

The workshops that followed were actually very interesting and dealt with issues that should have been discussed prior to the formulation of the plans. The public were feeding back on their real lived experiences - not going through a desk-top exercise. The world turned upside down.

In the workshop I attended I protested once again that schools as stakeholder had not been consulted at all and that children had been left out at a time when the child population is rising and they will be making demands on the health service. Gurjinder Sandhu, a specialist in infectious diseases, working at Ealing Hospital backed this up describing the importance being able to access hospitals and their presence aiding recovery, how A&E picked up child protection issues and that the difficulty schools would have in trying to deal with fragmenting services.  A&E had a role in detecting TB which was very high in Southall and Ealing - not to mention  HIV.

In the workshop on Urgent Care Centre a disagreement became apparent between practitioners about how reliable UCCs were with a suggestion that staffing levels and expertise were poor and that this represented a risk to patients. This was even more so when there was no A&E on the same site as will be the case with Central Middlesex Hospital.

The strong underlying thread was that health services and access to health services would worsen for the most vulnerable. The ragamuffin has been left out in the cold.

Consultation feedback below:

Brent forms Waste Warriors team to beat fly-tippers

Following an increaser in fly-tipping this year Brent Council is to create a 'Environmental Crime Prevention Team' to tackle graffiti and fly-tipping. There will be a refreshed focus on waste enforcement, dealing particularly with fly-tipping and business waste.

A report going before the One Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee on December 5th admits that one reason for the increase in fly-tipping is the 'council's new household waste collection arrangements that restrict the volume of waste that is collected'.

The council no longer collects additional sacks that are left next to the bins. They say 'this has led to residents dumping excess/uncollected waste on footpaths and near litter bins in some areas'.

A second reason is to do with the street cleansing cuts introduced last year. The report says that less frequent sweeps mean items are left for longer and more likely to be reported.

A third reason is increased commercial waste disposal charges which has led to 'dumping by unscrupulous trades who wish to avoid these charges'. The report notes that commercial waste disposal cots rise each year and 'can be particularly burdensome' for small and medium-sized businesses in difficult economic times.

If the 'no side collection' rule is causing more fly-tipping there is likely to be pressure from some quarters for this rule to be relaxed. 

These impacts were predicted by campaigners at the time the new recycling system and street cleaning cuts were introduced last year.

The immediate impact of the £2m cut in street cleansing has been addressed through various measures including paying particular attention to known problem areas and 'bespoke' arrangements around very difficult areas such as Harlesden town centre. Veolia have now introduced a 'recycling pick-up of waste dumped in town centres which ensures a second additional early morning clearance in those areas.  A concerted anti-litter campaign is being considered.

On a more optimistic note  the council claim that the measures they have taken to increase recycling have resulted in an average of 45% for 2012-13 compared with 32% in the same period last year. The target is 60%.

Swaminarayan to bid to become a free school

 The independent, fee paying,  Hindu,  Swaminarayan School in Neasden is considering becoming a free school. The school for 4-19 year olds currently charges between £2,600 and £3,600 per year according to the pupil's age.  A few scholarships are available for those unable to afford the fees. The Swaminarayan is rated as one of the top performing independent schools in London and emphasises the 'best of English education combined with Hindu tradition'.

The Swaminarayan School was founded in 1991 and is housed in the former Sladebook High School building in Brent field Road, opposite the Swaminarayan Mandir.

The school's admission information states:

In order to qualify for entry, a child must reach a certain academic standard in the Preparatory School entrance examinations in English and Mathematics. He/she will have to pass an oral and written examination. Although Kindergarten/Nursery children are not tested academically, an informal interview is arranged between the parents, Head of Nursery and Head of Preparatory School. Assessments of the following areas will be carried out: child’s spoken language, vocabulary, nursery rhymes, ability to listen to instructions, solving simple puzzles, social skills and hand-eye co-ordinations are carried out

Free school status would mean that the school would become directly funded via the Department for Education. It was the first 'all-through' school in Brent combining primary (or Prep as the Swaminarayan call it) and secondary departments, and was followed by the Ark Academy and Preston Manor.  I doubt that the school could keep the admissions procedures if it becomes state funded - nor should it.

I understand that some parents are concerned that direct funding would result in class sizes becoming larger and I am not sure whether the regulations allow for some residual fee charging to enable school class sizes to be retained.  Parents, particularly those with several childrem, will save a considerable amount of money if the bid is successful.

I asked the Principal to comment on the reports about a possible free school application and also on rumours that the school might buy the neighbouring Centre for Staff Development when Brent Council vacates it next year.

Mr Mahendra Savjani, Principal of Swaminarayan School said:

The Swaminarayan School is considering applying for Free School status. Whilst we have not found a site, we would wish to locate to a site in the heart of the Hindu community. The excellent education that the school provides at present will be open to all.

There were rumours several years ago when Brent Council was looking for school sites that the Swaminarayan may move to Harrow but these reports were denied. Brent is expecting a shortage of secondary school places in the future as the swelling primary school population moves through the system.

The previously independent fee paying Batley Grammar School converted to free school status last September with much flag-waving from the government. LINK

Brent Council has decided that it will actively seek free school partners to address the shortage of school places.

There are a considerable number of small fee paying prep schools in Brent that might consider a similar move.  St Christopher's in Wembley upset parents a few years ago when it announced at short notice that it would be unable to run a Year 6 class the following academic year because numbers were not viable.

Boris Johnson fails to answer key questions on his free school policy

Following Boris Johnson's announcement that he wanted to encourage more free schools in London and find GLA surplus property for them, Darren Johnson Green Assembly Member put a number of questions to him in order to delve deeper into his policy which could threaten equality of access for children with disabilities and special educational needs as well as reduce public accountability of schools.

The answers indicate that in fact there is no depth to the policy and that it has not been thought through. Londoners deserve more than 'off the top of the head' thinking when it comes to educating our chidlren. Today's league tables for regions and local authorities show London local authoirty secondary schools are rated higher by Ofsted than the England average.

Here are the questions which Boris Johnson apparently found too hard to answer:

Accountability of Free Schools

Question No: 3469 / 2012

Darren Johnson

How will you ensure that free schools you support, financially, with sites or otherwise, are democratically accountable to the local community as well as to the Secretary of State for Education?

Written response from the Mayor

Policy on free schools is set nationally. Please contact the Department for Education for information about free schools and accountability. More information about free schools is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools.

 

*

Free School policies (1)

Question No: 3470 / 2012

Darren Johnson

How will you ensure that there is fair access to free schools for pupils with special education needs, disabilities or on the free school meals register?

Written response from the Mayor

Policy on free schools is set nationally. Please contact the Department for Education for information about free schools and Special Educational Needs, disabilities, and Free School Meals. More information about free schools is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools.

 

Free School policies (2)

Question No: 3471 / 2012

Darren Johnson

How will you ensure that all free schools you support, financially, with sites or otherwise, commit to a close working relationship with the local authority in order to maintain an appropriate focus on borough-wide priorities, including local authority nomination of a member of the governing body and a commitment to sharing performance information?

Written response from the Mayor

Policy on free schools is set nationally. Please contact the Department for Education for information about free schools and their relationship with local authorities. More information about free schools is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools.

 

Free School policies (3)

Question No: 3472 / 2012

Darren Johnson

How will you ensure that all free schools you support, financially, with sites or otherwise, commit to appropriate staffing arrangements to ensure high quality teaching and learning from qualified staff and good employment practices, including in relation to support and contracted staff?

Written response from the Mayor

Policy on free schools is set nationally. Please contact the Department for Education for information about free schools and staffing. More information about free schools is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools.

 

Free School policies (4)

Question No: 3473 / 2012

Darren Johnson

How will you ensure that all free schools you support, financially, with sites or otherwise, commit to community access and use of facilities through agreed extended opening and lettings policies?

Written response from the Mayor

Policy on free schools is set nationally. Please contact the Department for Education for information about free schools and community access. More information about free schools is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools.

 

Free School policies (5)

Question No: 3474 / 2012

Darren Johnson

Will you rule out financial support and the provision of GLA group owned sites for free schools that teach creationism as scientific fact?

Written response from the Mayor

The Department for Education has made very clear that it will not grant approval to any free school application that plans to teach creationism as scientific fact.

 

Building new community schools

Question No: 3467 / 2012

Darren Johnson

Will you press the Government to allow London boroughs to build new community schools in areas where there is a shortage of school places?

Written response from the Mayor

London is facing a severe shortfall of school places and I am grateful that the Government has doubled its funding for basic need addressing the shortage left by the previous Government. I will continue to make the case for London to the Treasury as I have previously successfully done when making joint representations with London Councils. Government funding for new schools, including free schools, presumes that they will be academies. I also want to encourage a new generation of free schools in our capital, to help address the shortage of school places and give parents more genuine choice.

 

Building schools where they are most needed

Question No: 3468 / 2012

Darren Johnson

What steps are you taking to ensure that public funding for new schools is directed towards areas of London where there is the largest anticipated shortfall in school places?

Written response from the Mayor

The GLA currently runs a pan London school roll projections service for boroughs. I will explore how we can expand this to cover all boroughs, and how we can work more effectively to develop an improved, strategic picture of school places in the capital. I will also support the creation of new free schools where there is strong parental demand though not necessarily a shortage of places.

 

'Super primaries' behind 'village' free school proposal

Mary Seacole celebrated on a Jamaican stamp

 Another free school proposal is being pursued in the Queen's Park, Kensal, North Kensington area. This school, Seacole Primary Free  LINK, presumably named after the Jamaican nurse heroine of the Crimea War, is being marketed as a 'A Village School in the heart of London'.

Although the shortage of primary places in the area is cited as making a new school necessary there are links to parental criticism of the increasing number of very large primary schools, some of which will have more than 1,000 pupils:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17012972

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17273218

On this blog I have predicted that Brent Council's expansion of primary schools into much larger units could produce proposals for smaller primary schools where children feel secure in a family atmosphere and parents find staff readily accessible. My arguments against free schools are set out HERE but I have sympathy for those who find 'super primaries' alienating. The answer should be the building of more community local authority primary schools of a modest size but this is made almost impossible by Coalition policy.

The Seacole Primary proposal is set out below:

SEACOLE PRIMARY SCHOOL will strive for academic excellence and an all-round education that allows every child to flourish. Here’s how:

Class sizes: small classes – no more than 24 pupils – so that each child is supported to achieve their full potential.

Curriculum: a strong foundation in core subjects like maths and English complimented by art, music, drama and regular sport.

Collaboration: we believe that a good education is built on a partnership between teachers and parents. We will aim to assist working parents with breakfast and after-school clubs.

Community: each child should feel happy at school to instill a love of learning, confidence and good behaviour. We want to build a school that is a community.

In the Queen's Park, Kensal Rise and North Kensington area there is an acute shortfall of primary school places. A group of local parents are applying to open a mixed, 4 to 11 free school.
We are applying for permission to start with classes from Reception up to Year 4. If our application is approved the school will open in September 2014.

Focus on Israeli house demolitions on the West Bank

Salusbury Primary avoids having academy sponsor foisted on them by choosing their own partner

The Brent and Kilburn Times LINK is reporting that Salusbury Primary School has found a partner (unrevealed) and will convert to an academy. The school which received a poor Ofsted report was faced with the possibility of being forced to become an academy by Michael Gove who would himself have found a sponsor.

It appears that the governing body moved quickly so they at least had a say in who would be their partner. Downhills Primary in Haringey,  who fought hard against academy status were eventually faced with a similar situation ended up with Lord Harris of carpet fame being chosen by Michael Gove as their sponsor.

Cuts to Services to Schools treat staff shabbily and pose risks for Brent's children

The full extent of the reduction in Services to School provided by Brent Council through the Children and Families Department is made clear in a report going before Brent's General Purposes Committee on Tuesday.

This is the latest reduction in council services and follows out-sourcing of school meals and cleaning to private companies many years ago, the ending of the Brent Council Supply Teachers desk with that role going to competing agencies  that take a large cut out of the fee schools pay, and the recent news that Brent Council will no longer provide a payroll service. Schools will have to find another provider by April 2013. The Council deemed the pay roll service non viable after may schools opted out, employing 'cheaper' private companies instead. Many of the payroll companies also provide a human resources service so  Brent HR may also be under threat in the future.

The reduction in Services to School is linked to the overall cuts in the Brent Budget, Coalition policy encouraging great school autonomy, the ending of ear-marked grants which the council previously administered, the loss of council revenue caused by schools becoming academies and upcoming changes in the way schools are funded.

As I have argued before on Wembley Matters as cuts are made by the council and services are provided by fewer staff - more work by fewer people for less pay - the quality of the service deteriorates and schools feel forced to consider sourcing from other providers.

Headteachers through the Brent Schools Forum have opted to set up a Brent Schools Partnership which aims to provide support and development between schools which will also buy-in to services provided by both the council and private providers.

Schools' Forum has also decided that much of the money currently retained by the council to provide services will instead be paid into individual school budgets. The budget for these services of £1,119,626 will now go to schools.

Services to Schools are funded from various sources:

• The Council's General Fund
• The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)
• Income provided by schools purchasing services
• Specific programme grants provided by health bodies and the Department for Education

This results in an indicative budget for 2013/14 of £1,579,800 compared to £2,130,000 this year, a reduction of more than half a million pounds. The report proposes a 'core school improvement service' with 7.47 full-time equivalent posts funded from the Council's General Fund and 13.2 fte posts funded by the DSG.

Apart from the core services the Schools' Forum also decided that the following services would be retained by the LA

• Early Years Quality Improvement Service £577,000
• Early Years  Special Education Needs and Disability Service £167,444
• Learning Zone at Wembley Stadium £81,000
• Specialist  Educational Need staff £162,959

Those no longer funded include the ethnic minority achievement and support for travellers, refugees and asylum seekers service  (£754, 830) and continuing support  for the reading recovery programme. Both these services have played a major role in the raising of standards of achievement in Brent schools. Surely this raises major equality issues?

The education welfare service which supports schools and parents in ensuring children attend school regularly and on time; the pre-exclusions teams which works with schools, pupils and parents to prevent them from being excluded, and the behaviour support team will no longer be managed from with the Services to Schools department and will 'be located elsewhere in Children and Families' alongside the Pupil Referral Units and other services for vulnerable pupils. However it appears that staff employed here cannot relax about their jobs as there will be a staffing reorganisation for them in 2013.

The report states that a total of 28 posts will be affected by the proposals. 11 are vacant and 17 currently filled. The report says there is a potential indirect discrimination as regards women in the proposed redundancies but suggests that this could be rendered lawful if 'any potential discriminatory effect is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim'.  A predictive Equalities Impact Assessment identifies that the majority of the staff affected are female with a significant proportion over 50. The report suggest that all 'reasonable' steps be taken to obtain alternative posts in 'Brent schools or around the council' for them..

Apart from job losses the new core service will also mean changes for those left behind (the 'more work by fewer people for less pay' principle).  The structure includes:

 ...generic posts whereby each school improvement lead will be expected to undertake some common general duties as well as to provide specialist leadership in one or more of overall co-ordination of the work of the team:

• Special Educational Needs
• Ethnic minority achievement and equalities
• Statutory assessment
• Behaviour, safety and well-being

I am concerned about these proposals for a variety of reasons:

•  The present team is successful with Brent schools achieving above the national average now, having been seen as failing in the past
• Experience shows that such teams once lost are extremely difficult to rebuild
• The proposals, taken alongside the development of academies and free schools in the borough, will further weaken the local authority
• The statutory role of the council in overseeing the interests of children and young people in Brent will be made more difficult by the proposals
• The performance of schools can change suddenly as a result of social and economic conditions as well as key staff changes and the council will lack the resources to deal with this
• The strategic guidance for schools provided by the School Improvement Service will be reduced and may not be strong within the proposed and untested Brent Schools Partnership
• The Brent Schools Partnership decisions were made without the agreement of school governing bodies who are responsible for strategic decisions
• The Partnership may take up the time of headteachers in terms of planning and administration that would otherwise b devoted to the improvement of teaching and learning in their schools
• Mutual support may be difficult for smaller schools or schools that are struggling to improve or dealing with reorganisation or major building works
• Although surviving staff will transfer to the Civic Centre with a Staff Development Centre as a facility survive and will the Brent Schools Partnership as a separate have to pay for training space
• The decline in the role and services of the local authority will provide ammunition for those arguing for conversion to academy status - 'What benefit is there in us staying an LA schools?'

To sum up I think we are taking a huge gamble which could put at risk our children's education. I also think that this is a shabby way to treat dedicated staff who have done so much for Brent children and their schools.

I'm Barry - Fly Me!

Today's Independent draws attention to the number of flights and expenses paid trips undertaken by members of parliament LINK 

242 MPs declared an average of £6,500 for 'fact finding missions' and trips.


Barry Gardiner MP, who ironically is Ed Miliband's Special Envoy on Climate Change got a special  mention:

Barry Gardiner, the MP for Brent North, has accepted £52,071 in foreign trips since the election, spending a total of 73 days out of the country as Vice-President of Globe International – an international group representing parliamentarians.

Support local democracy - buy the Kilburn Times

 Regular readers of the Brent and Kilburn Times will have noticed that the paper has been a lot slimmer recently.  This is the result of cost saving measures that also include a reduction in reporting staff. The Archant Group, along with other local newspaper groups such as Trinity South who produce the Wembley and Willesden Observer, are facing economic difficulties as a result of the loss of advertising revenue in the  recession and declining leadership.

The increase in free distribution of titles is one way of boosting circulation and thus making the papers attractive to advertising. As the remaining pages have to carry the advertisiments this reduces space for news item. The Letters Page has been a casualty of this squeeze on space in the BKT recently so it is good to see it back this week - not just because a letter I wrote about Central Middlesex A&E and schools was published! There was no editorial his week, presumably to squeeze in more letters, but it would be a shame to lose this feature as in my opinion they have been very influential in the past.

Letters pages in local newspapers are part of the lifeblood of local democracy and vary a great deal. The Ham and High and Camden Journal in our neighbouring borough have particularly lively pages and are often the first pages turned to by readers.

So far the slimmed down BKT has continued its high standard of reporting and they continue to originate stories and break exclusives  rather than recycling press releases which unfortunately is the role of many local newspapers with reduced reporting staff.

Our local newspapers  are particularly important in these times when both council and government cuts mean community is losing vital health, police and fire services and many families face hunger and  homelessness. With a weak opposition in  the Council the BKT has a vital role in holding our local politicians to account.

Help keep them going: buy it and advertise in it.

Slippery statement from Brent on leaf clearance

Last autumn Brent Fightback launched a campaign to reverse street cleaning cuts.  Amongst the concerns was the ending of the seasonal autumn leaf clearance. Instead, responsibility for cleaning leaves this was to be combined with normal street cleaning of litter with street sweepers now cleaning streets less regularly.

A section of the petition to the council stated:

The ending of the seasonal leaf service will result in hazardous conditions for pedestrians as leaves rot and will open the council to compensation claims for injuries. (September 2011)

The impact depends a lot on conditions - dry weather results in crisp and crunchy leaves but wet conditions and frost result in slimy, slippery leaves that rot on the street. Last year conditions favoured the council but this year there has been wet weather which has produced complaints from residents and criticism from Cllr Daniel Brown at the council meeting earlier this week. In response Cllr Jim Moher seemed to imply that residents should clean up their own leaves.

Brent Council issued this statement:

We are operating a reduced leaf clearance programme in 2012. In previous years we deployed extra, seasonal resource to clear leaves. That resource was removed this year.

The onus is now firmly on street sweepers to clear leaves as they go about their normal duties.

Dealing with this extra workload is obviously more difficult, especially as litter clearance remains our firm priority.

We must reasonably expect that leaves will take longer to remove this year and full clearance will only be done over a number of weeks.

We are coming to end of the period of 'leaf fall' so things should start to improve.

For a reminder of last year's campaign watch this video: (apologies for the horrible pic of me on screen - can't get rid of it!)