Money Recovered from Icelandic Banks

It looks like Brent Council is going to get most of the money that the previous Tory / Liberal Democrat administration lost in Icelandic Banks back.

Campaigning in Wembley Central

Out in Wembley Central at the weekend, I was struck by the lack of canvassers from the other parties.  We had a large group, and covered quite a swathe of the local roads, yet we saw no signs of other parties.  I believe that there have been a number of leaflets, but the lack of canvassing is quite a contrast to previous by elections, including the quite recent one in Kenton.

Asking the Right Questions

I found this piece on parliamentary select committees interesting.  I am sure he is right that they don't have the questioning skills necessary.  However, I think his strictures apply even more to local government.

On our scrutiny committees, the questioning sometimes never happens at all.  Indeed I have been to meetings where members simply make speeches, and treat the whole thing as a mini-debating forum.  If we want scrutiny to be more effective, either within the Council or engaging outside partners, we will need to ensure that councillors are better trained.

Seema Malhotra Selected in Feltham and Heston

Congratulations to Seems Malhotra for getting selected in Feltham and Heston yesterday.  I have known Seema for many years, and I know she will be a superb candidate and MP.

The campaign headquarters is Feltham Labour Club, Manor Place, off Belfont Lane, TW14 9BT.  This is apparently about five minutes walk from Feltham Rail station, and there is campaigning going on all day (10am to 7pm).  The campaign hotline is 07872417252.  If you travel by train from Willesden Junction, it only takes about 40 minutes.  You go to Richmond, and change for Feltham.

Good News at John Keble School

There is good news that John Keble School has improved, according to the latest Ofsted report.. 

Falling Living Standards

The ONS has confirmed that living standards are falling dramatically, except for the wealthy.  If someone suggests that wealthy people should pay more, the Tories claim it is class war.  Yet, if the poor pay more, there is silence.

Nick Clegg's Hypocrisy

As my colleague Cllr Krupesh Hirani points out, Nick Clegg criticises other organisations for failing to have ethnic minorties in the higher reaches of their organisation despite the fact the Liberal Democrats have no ethnic minority MPs at all (and have only ever had one _ a short lived MP in Leicester).

Congratulations Krupa Sheth

Congratulations to Krupa Sheth who has been selected to be the next councillor by Wembley Central Labour Party.  The By election is due on 22 December.  If you live in Wembley Central, and you need a postal or proxy vote, you can download a form here. 

Delay on Treetops Decision

Some local parents have contacted me about the proposed closure of Treetops daycare.  They are interested in the possibility of a Community Interest Company taking it over.  I don't know if such an idea is viable or not, but the consultation period has now been extended to allow more time for these and other issues.  Along with Mary Arnold (Lead, Children & Families), I will be meeting them to work out whether such a solution could indeed work.

Political Purpose

There is an unusual piece recognising the role of political leadership here.  Whatever the merits of the suggestions in the NLGN report, it is fundamentally right that the choices to be made depend fundamentally on values and strategy.  This fundamental is almost always lost in the media debate.

Remodelling Local Government

I still don't think most people realise the extent to which the Con Dem government is brutally remodelling local government.  This being done simply by stripping Councils of their resources at extraordinary speed.  The kind of implications are well covered here.

Paul Lorber Falls Under Scrutiny

Last night we had two Council meetings_ a normal one and another called specifically on School Crossing Patrols by the Liberal Democrats.  During the second, Paul Lorber complained plaintively about the way in which Brent Scrutiny fails to work as well as it should because the atmosphere is so politically partisan.  I think this is true although to be told by Paul Lorber that you are too partisan is like being lectured on humanitarianism by Attila the Hun.

Our Scrutiny efforts also fail to engage with those outside the Council sufficently, in my view.  If Paul Lorber is really concerned about such issues, I think we would be perfectly willing to discuss the reform of the Council Constitution.

Local Government and the Cuts

According to the LGiU, only 5% of the population blame local authorities for the Budget cuts.  However, it is worrying that so many continue to blame the Labour Party.  There is no doubt that the Tories have been effective in the propaganda war on this subject, despite their vacuous economic policy.

Budget Debate Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Brent Council will be having what is called its "First Reading" debate on the budget.  This is intended to allow non-Executive members to put forward suggestions on how to shape the budget.  However, I will be very surprised if the other two parties do more than moan about individual items and ignore their parties responsibility for imposed spending cuts on local government.

Green Boxes

The green boxes that we used under the old recycling system seem to fascinate some people.  We offered to collect them on demand, but only about 200 people have asked us to do so.  To put that in perspective, about 88,000 households in Brent had at least one green box.  I would like to think that people followed our suggestions of reuse as planters or storage containers, but I suspect many have just left them lying around.

Harlesden Town Centre Walkabout

I am about to go on a walkabout with a gaggle of Brent Council officers in Harlesden Town Centre (Is that the right collective noun for local authority officers?).  It should mainly focus on various streetscene issues.  Although they may seem simple, such issues can be intractable to solve.

Vandalised Street Signs

Out doorknocking in Stonebridge at the weekend, I found this vandalised street sign.  What always puzzles me about this sort of thing is the motivation.  It must have taken a great deal of effort to hack this sign down.  What is the reward?

Urban Air Quality

Parliament has passed a new report on air quality.  It has some fairly grim reading about the effects of air pollution on health.  Of course Kensal Green and Harlesden are particularly affected by this because of our proximity to Park Royal, and the huge volume of traffic going through Harlesden Town Centre

Brent Recycling Figures

We now have some recycling figures for our new collection system, and they look very good.  Two major facts stand out:

Dry recycling (i.e. the blue topped bin) has gone up to 25% in October  from 14% in September.  Together with garden/food waste going up from 18% to 20%, that gives us a combined recycling rate of 45% for the first month of the new system.  That should improve more as people get used to the new system, and we further extend the services to include blocks of flats.

The other noticeable figure is that landfill has dropped from 6,574 tons in September to 3,890 tons in October, a drop of 41%. 

There is obviously a lot more to do, but this is a very encouraging start.

Another Boris Johnson Cronyism Scandal

Dave Hill reports on more accusations of cronyism by Boris Johnson at City Hall.  There are far too many accusations like this in Johnson's career for comfort.