Poor Reporting in the Willesden Times

Welovelocalgogernment has a largely justified rant about unreasonable reporting on local government, and its corrosive effects on local democracy.  The Brent and Kilburn Times has a striking example of something similar this week (No link; it appears not to be on their web site.

The story is that a private land owner illegally converted his house into 12 bedsits, and the story starts "Brent Council has come under fire..."  Why should Brent Council come under fire for what a private householder has done?  In fact, Brent Council, as the planning authority, is the body sorting the problem out through enforcement action.

The Need for Growth

The Con Dem government has seen its enire economic strategy fail, with the public sector cuts widening the deficit rather than reducing it, as was predicted.

I suspect that Labour has failed to capitalise this Cameron's political failure, because we don't yet have a convincing economic alternative.  Thinking about this, which is the main theme of the Fabian Society's New Year Conference this year, I thought the following areas might give scope for broad themes:

• The "Green" economy theme: This has been touted widely, but without many specifics.  However, locally we have examples of (for instance) retraining people to install the kind of green technologies that will help to adapt or reduce climate change.
• Using welfare as a means of supporting people in their wider social committments, and keeping them in work.  For instance, supporting working parents.
• In some cases, changes to regulations could stimulate growth.  For instance better air quality regulation can encourage investment in technology, at the same time as improving health outcomes.
• Pretty much anything to help the housing market.
• In the shorter term, there is plenty of infrastructure einvestment _ in roads, schools and so on _ that would stimulate the economy at the same time as improving long term economic growth.

All of these could contribute to a broader economic narrative for Labour.

The Failure of the Big Society

The Guardian covers some of the problems of charities here.  I don't think the article fully gets across that the government's policies are contradictory.  There is all the rhetoric about the "Big Society", but changes to procurement and the search for economies of scale mean that an increasing share of public funding is likely to go to commercial operations that have the scale and expertise to bid for big contracts.

Olympics Performers

London 2012 is looking for performers for the Olympics ceremonies later this year.  You can find out more here.

Willesden Library Centre Redevelopment

The next Brent Executive will be considering proposals for the redevelopment of Willesden Green Library Centre.  Campaigning against this has started early.  Indeed some of the people campaigning against cannot possibly know what the proposal is that they are opposing.  I thought it might be worth clearing up some myths about the proposals.

No one knew about this.  In fact the in-principle proposals have been in the public domain for some time, as this story shows.  I also recall it being discussed at the Willesden Area Forum, when I was presenting the Libraries Transformation Project there.

There will be no replacement library.  This is a fairly extraordinary suggestion, which is untrue and nonsensical.  The plans, which should be available at the next Executive meeting show a much improved library as well as other facilities.

There will be no interim arrangement during the construction period.  In fact, during the 18 month construction period, there will be interim arrangement to provide library and other services.  To some extent, these will be less convenient, as is the case whenever you rebuild anything.  In other ways, extending the Museum outreach for example, the changes may throw up new opportunities. 

There will be a negative effect on Willesden High Road.  In fact, having a prestigious new development in Willesden should enhance the High Road and build on the work already done through Outer London funding to create jobs in the area.

The loss of open space at the front will make for a worse environment.  The current proposals suggest an improved open space between the new centre and the housing behind it.  The space at the front is poorly used, not flexible and tends to hide the existing Centre.  As I have pointed out before, Willesden Library centre has a very poor relationship with the surrounding streets.

There is nothing wrong with the building.  The existing centre was poorly designed, expensive to heat, fails to draw users in, and difficult to find a way around.  That is one of the main reasons that both the cafe and the cinema failed commercially.

Those are some of the myths.  No doubt more will be produced on the night of the Executive meeting.

Hazel Road Open Space Fencing

Passing through Hazel Road Open Space recently on my way back from Kensal Green Tube, I noticed that part of the fencing is leaning at an angle of almost 45 degrees.  I have asked the parks services to fix this either by replacing the fence, or possibly removing it.

Improving Park Signage

At my surgery a little while ago, someone suggested that Brent Parks service should use more signs like this (in Tubbs Pocket Park).  The idea is that the child designed sign makes the point about looking after the park in a less authoritarian way than the Council's standard "don't let your dog foul because you will be fined" type.

Dollis Hill House Demolition Proceeds

The demolition of Dollis Hill House is underway, as reported in the Brent Times.  Contrary to the story, there have been repeated attempts to find a viable future for Dollis Hill House.  I have detailed them here.  They have foundered on three aspects: lack of capital, planning objections and lack of ongoing funding.

Lack of capital: All projected schemes over the past eighteen years during which the site has been derelict have involved millions.  This was unaffordable even in good times, as repeated refusals by various politicians to fund any restoration have clearly demonstrated.

Planning Objections: The big issue is that all the suggested solutions have needed car parking to make them viable.  The House is to far from Dollis Hill Tube to pick up enough traffic for (say) a restaurant.  Nobody has managed a viable plan.

Ongoing funding: All the suggested schemes have failed to put forward a credible ongoing revenue model.  Not having enough money to keep any solution would simply result in the House becoming derelict again, and the target of arson attacks as in the past.

Harlesden Area Forum

As the Harlesden Town web site points out, the next Harlesden Area Forum is due on 10 January.  Most of the time is allocated to the Council budget, although I suspect that the housing benefit changes will have a much more dramatic effect than most people realise.

Rising Class Sizes

The LGiU has an interesting comment on the effect of government education policy on class sizes.  The example they are using is Liberal Democrat run Sutton.  I wonder whether Michael Gove or his little helper Sarah Teather are looking forward to making decisions on class sizes in the way the LGiU suggest?

Flytipping in England

Thanks to the Guardian for a map of flytipping in England in 2011 here.  One of our most popular policies during the 2010 election campaign was the pledge to collect bulky waste for free.  This amounts to up to three collections per year, each of up to five items, which I should think s enough for any normal household.  However, by itself this is still not enough to stop the dumping, so we are looking at how we can improve enforcement, and also whether we can improve the disposal of waste for businesses.

London Air Quality

Dave Hill gives a quick summary on Boris Johnson and Air Quality here.  Having caused the original delay, Boris has now started to pose as a champion of air quality in the six months prior to the next Mayoral elections.

Libraries Round Up

There are some characteristically intemperate comments on this post.  However, there are a couple of points worth clearing up.

1) The books and equipment removed from the former libraries are all being stored in the Library Services existing buildings, so clearly we do have sufficient room for them.

2) The books and equipment may well need some new shelving and reconfiguration in order to be displayed to best effect.  That is something the library staff are currently working on.

3) To the anonymous comment on 31 December, a number of campaigners have publicly stated that they would seek to prevent the Council from accessing its property in Preston Road and elsewhere, so asking for the Police to be present was entirely reasonable.  The books and equipment concerned were purchased by Brent Council for use by Brent library users; Brent Council has made an entirely lawful decision to follow a particular strategy in managing its library service, and is entitled to implement it.  The legal action of the litigants has simply sought to obstruct this strategy.

4) The library staff, who run Brent's library service, have done an excellent job in maintaining that service despite the constant attempts of a small and unrepresentative group of people to obstruct them.

Furness Pocket Park

Very surprised to see this wooden gate at Furness Road Pocket Park this morning.  It doesn't look like something the Parks Service would install.

Station Approach Progress

I haven't updated on Station Approach near Willesden Junction for a long time.  TfL are now involved, and there is said to be someone at Network Rail identified with a budget to upgrade the road, but this person remains elusive.  So progress, but at a glacial pace.

Keynesian Solutions

Paul Krugman concisely lays out the need for a Keynesian response to the oncoming recession.  What he says about the US seems to me to be just as applicable to the UK.

Recycling in Flats

We are still extending our recycling services to flats.  This should be rolled by the end of this month, and help to increase our recycling rate even more.

Odd Language

I was struck by a word used in the second paragraph of this piece in The Economist. Ron Paul is said to hew to his principles.  Has the writer just misused hew for cleave, or is this a common usage? If so, hew must join cleave as one of the few English words to have diametrically opposite meanings: cleave as in cut, or cleave as in "cleave to the roof of my mouth".

Harlesden Gallery at the Tricycle

As we prepare for the New Year, you may want to look forward to the Harlesden Gallery's show at the Tricycle Theatre this coming January.  More details are to be found here.

Brent Council Implements its Decisions Shock

There is local paper coverage of the clearing of Preston Library yesterday here.  It is puzzling that the campaigners are acting all surprised.  It was obvious that the Council would seek to implement its policy once the legal obstructions had been removed.  I understand that the Borough Solicitor told them what we planned to do before Christmas, so the attempt to pretend that they did not expect this is disingenuous.

It is also ironic that people who claim to be in favour of libraries are devoting all their energies to preventing the Council from making its book stock available to Brent residents for lending.  After all, that is why the Council bought the books in the first place.

UPDATE:

I have tried to deal with some of the issues raised by comments here.

Tell Brent Once

The Tell Us Once service has recently been launched by Brent Council to reduce the bureaucratic demands put upon the bereaved.  I am surprised that this sort of innovation, which seems so obvious, is not more common.

VAT on EBooks

The UK continues to refuse to reduce VAT on ebooks, allegedly because of an EU Directive, when France and Luxembourg apparently can. Does the answer from David Gauke (who, incidentally once stood for the Conservatives in Brent East) simply provide an example of the UK government seeking to blame the EU for a position that it wants to hold anyway?

Cameron's Cuts to Education

The Guardian has a gloomy piece on the effect of education cuts by the present government.  Much of what they say applies to Brent, although there is a significant difference to the national picture in that we have a pressing need for secondary places as well as primary.

Eric Pickles Awards

When I first saw that Eric Pickles was presenting the LGiU awards for Councillor achievements, I thought it was an Onion style parody.  Eric Pickles has usedhis office to systematically denigrate local government in the hope that Councils will take the blam for his government's assault on public services.

Air Pollution

The American Right is turning its back on environmental regulation.  Much the same is happening here, with Cameron and Osbornee both retreating from their pre-election pledges to be the "greenest government ever".  Boris Johnson's hostility to cleaner air has ben well known for a long time, but his opposition to pollution controls appears to have spread across the Anglophone right.

Wembley Central Win

Krupa Sheth won the Wembley Central by election last Thursday.  Turnout was surprisingly good at just short of 28 pc, given how close it was to Christmas.

Obviously, the Labour Party has the best reason to be pleased given that we won with an enhanced share of the vote and a bigger percentage majority than either in 2010 or in the 2009 by election.  I imagine the Liberal Democrats will be relieved not have seen their vote fall further, given their national unpopularity, and the Tories disappointed that their vote is sliding yet again.

I don't see any pattern in the Green vote, although the sheer grumpiness of their candidates election report suggests that they were not pleased.

More Legal Wrangling

Following the Council's victory in the Appeal Court over the Libraries Transformation Project, the litigants are now trying to take the case to the Supreme Court.  As in the original hearing, and the subsequent appeal, their lawyer is predicting inevitable victory with all the sunny optimism of Mr Micawber waiting for something to turn up.

I am surprised that it never seems to occur to them that the four judges who have ruled against them have done so because their case is very weak.

Big Society Report

The Public Accounts Committee has published a report on the ongoing mystery of what the "Big Society" may be   Some might argue that the whole concept has been destroyed by the funding cutsa that the Con Dem government has determined, but I think that the problem goes much deeper than that.  David Cameron essentially issued a press release, and assumed it would happen.  If he is serious about making the "Big Society" work as a concept he would need major changes to European and UK law, as well as solutions to problems of moral hazard and backdoor privatisation that he has not even begun to address.

Wembley Central Polling Day

Today is polling day in Wembley Central.  I hope as many voters as possible will turn out for Labour's Krupa Sheth.  However, the low turnout in the parliamentary by election in FEltham suggests that a Council by election even closer to Christmas will attract even fewer voters.

Debts in Perspective

Paul Krugman has a graph on UK debt which helps to put the "necessity" of the Con Dem government's austerity programme in perspective here.

Brent Libraries Appeal Judgement in Full

There are some not entirely accurate accounts of the Appeal Court judgement circulating in various places.  An accurate account, including a link to the full text of the judgement can be found here.

From Winning Here to Saving Your Deposit

After Thursday's election in Feltham, I came across this posting on a Lib Dem blog.  It claims victory since the Liberal Democrats saved their depositOn polling day and in the campaign, the Liberal Democrats were claiming to be the main challengers to Labour.  After the event, they seek to spin that even saving their deposit was a mioral victory.  Shameless.

Brent Council Wins Libraries Appeal

Brent Council has won the Court case in the verdict handed down at the Court of Appeal this afternoon.  As with the original judgement, the terms of this one are emphatic.

Health and Waste Collection

WRAP has published a study on health and waste collection.  It argues that, contrary to what Eric Pickles thinks, alternate weekly collections have no recognisable effect on householder health.  However, there may be some issues that the contractors may need to address for their staff.

Another Libraries Judgement

The Court of Appeal will hand down its judgement in the Brent libraries case at 2pm today.

Harlesden Town Centre Plans

The plans to transform Harlesden Town Centre are well advanced, and likely to go out to consultation in January.  Brent officers deserve enormous credit for getting investment of about £5 million to improve the Town Centre at a time of enormous cuts.

Evictions in Brent

Shelter has published figures on evictions, which are likely to become far more common as a result of the Con Dem government's changes to housing Benefit.  They reveal that Brent is likely to be one of the areas worst affected.

Furness Primary School

Alan King, the former headtecher at Furness Primary School, has now been officially dismissed.  Hopefully this will help the school to move forward.

Seema Malhotra Wins in Feltham

Seema Malhotra has won the Feltham and Heston by election.  The seat is essentially a Labour vs Tory fight, and the 8% plus swing looks good from the Labour point of view.  Given that this would be the kind of seat that the Tories would need to win to get a parliamentary majority of their own, I imagine that they will be gravely disappointed.  It also confirms that the Liberal Democrats are fast falling in London as in the rest of the country.

Budget Discussions

Today, I am going to be in discussions about the Brent Council budget all day, meaning that I will not be able to attend polling day in the Feltham and Heston By Election, much to my regret.  After £42 million in cuts last year, Brent is facing even more this year, and more than £100 million over a four year period.  At the same time, the cuts have choked off recovery and we are likely to see increasing demand for Council services as a result of recession.  Worse still, there will be not always predictable effects from the government's other changes.  For instance, changes to housing benefit are likely to force vast numbers of people out of London creating oversupply of school places in some parts and chronic undersupply in others.  Currently, the Con Dem government is refusing to supply sufficent funding for the school pupils Brent is preducted to have.

Volunteer Libraries in Lewisham

The London Borough of Lewisham was somewhat ahead of Brent in its changes to its library service.  Unlike us, they decided to create a number of community run libraries.  They have recently published usage figures.

Libraries Judgement

There is still no word on when the Appeal Court judgement will be handed down in the Brent Libraries case.  If word does not come soon, it is likely to drag out over Christmas.

Feltham and Heston By election

Once again I was out and about in the Feltham By election today, which seems to be going very well for Labour.  I was in Heston where I saw nothing but Labour posters.

Street Cleaning

Out in Hounslow on Thursday, I noticed that there was a major problem with street cleaning caused by their collection system.  In Hounslow they have open green boxes like our old ones, and the rest of the waste is put out in bags.  It was a very blustery morning, and the lighter waste was being blown out on to the streets of Feltham.  Our new wheelie bin system avoids this.

Transformation Through Cuts

Patrick Butler gives an overview of the scale of the public sector cuts here.  I still don't think this has really got across to people.  The Con Dem government is using these cuts to fundamentally change the role of government and shrink the state more dramtically that Thatcher ever attempted.

Brent Council Pay

The BBC reports on the brutal approach of Shropshire Council to its own employees.  Occasionally, I get asked why Brent Council doesn't do something similar to its workforce.  Surprisingly, this suggestion doesn't always come from rightwingers.  In fact most of the people suggesting pay cuts for Council employees to me would probably consider themselves to be on the left.

It is worth enumerating the reasons why Brent has not gone down this route.

Firstly, staff are already suffering from a pay freeze and an increased workload.  Like everyone else they face a rising cost of living, so the idea that Council staff are getting off lightly is wrong. 

Secondly, the kind of confrontational approach you see in Shropshire risks both industrial action and serious demoralisation.  The demoralisation of Council staff would probably be more damaging in the long term.  Councils are primarily service deliverers, and they are dependent on motivated staff to deliver those services.  Staff who are bullied and told that that they are not valued are unlikely to feel motivated.

I have even been told that specific individuals should have their pay cut.  Aside from the legal obstacles to that kind of victimisation, I am aghast at its sheer nastiness.

Cameron Losing in Europe

It is depressing to hear that David Cameron has failed to get a seat at the table in trying to resolve the Eurozone crisis.  Getting the Eurozone economy growing again is central to getting Britain's own economy going since they are our main export market.  It demonstrates how the whole Euro skeptic approach damages the British interests it is supposed to protect.

Engels and the Brent Archive

Brent Council is full of surprises.  The Brent Archive has recently discovered that Frederic Engels bought property on Willesden Lane in the 1880s _ hitherto unknown information

Reading the Riots

Analysis of the reasons for the riots in the Summer appears to have largely disappeared.  This is surely regrettable as we need to find out what caused them to prevent future events.  Hence research like Reading the Riots should get wider publicity.

Update on the Localism Bill

The LGiU has a useful summary on the most recent changes to the Localism Bill.  To my mind, the number of changes to this Bill, suggest that it was not well drafted in the first place.  One of the most significant statements is: "The Act also repeals the duty to promote democracy" which pretty much summarises Tory policy. 


The key mechanism by which the Tories do this is by using referendums to make it effectively impossible for Councils to vary the Council Tax above a centrally set limit.  The result strips Councils of almost all their financial autonomy, and thereby actually increases central government control.

Community First?

The Con Dem government has come up with a "Big Society" idea called Community First.  Apparently, money is available for pet schemes of David Cameron.

The idea is to give a small grant to a "community panel" who then divy out small grants to local groups for local projects.  All this is overseen by a local institution like a charity.  The great disadvantage of this scheme, which I understand has a very low take up rate, is that the charity is given no remuneration for overseeing the community panel.  Why should the charity or whatever spend a lot of time and effort administering such panels for nothing? Why should they expose themselves to the reputational risk if there is corruption or incompetence? 

It is curious that a party that believes so strongly in the profit motive should come up with a scheme that entirely ignores it.

Seema Malhotra Web Site

I am pleased to see that Seema Malhotra now has a web site up and running.  No doubt it will develop during her time in office.

Environmental Protection UK to Close

Environmental Protection UK has announced that it will fold next year.  This may not strike many people as high profile, but it does important work around air pollution and contaminated land.  Its demise marks a serious denuding of local government's ability to deal with such issues at a time when problems around pollution are acute.

Icelandic Bank Cash

I posted that Brent Council is likely to recover most of the money that the previous Tory and Liberal Democrat administration lost in Icelandic bank investments.  Unfortunately this cannot be used for ongoing revenue spending as the commenter suggests, and indeed as the Tories and Liberal Democrats also more cynically suggest.  Such lump sums after run out, so you cannot use them for an ongoing expense.

Wembley Campaigning

As well as supporting Seema Malhotra in her Feltham and Heston campaign (polling day 15 December), I am also doorknocking for Krupa Sheth in Wembley Central.  Krupa's polling day is even closer to Christmas, 22 December.  Both seem to be getting a good response.

Challenge Close in Harlesden

Yesterday, I went down to Challenge Close in Harlesden to talk about possible improvements.  Many Harlesdenites don't even know where it is (behind the RBS building).  It is basically a fairly run down little park.  My Harlesden councillor colleagues have been trying to get some momentum going on it for ages, and it looks like they might finally be succeeding.

Economics and Sarah Teather

My colleague Cllr Krupesh Hirani has a lengthy post about the Tories, Liberal Democrats and their economic policy.  However, I suspect his feelings are really summed up by the picture at the bottom of the post.

UKIP in Feltham

I see that the Standard has picked up on the UKIP campaign in Feltham.  However, as far as I can tell their plan is really to attack the Tory vote rather than Labour's.  I would think this is more likely to be fruitful for them.  Yesterday, I was canvassing in Feltham North including Mark Bowen's own street.  We were told that UKIP had been canvassing there previously.  It is unusual for UKIP to canvass at all.  They have few activists, and lots of money so they generally buy their publicity.  I would assume that the decision to canvass in the Tory candidate's home seat indicates that they are hoping to erode the Tory vote.

Campaigning with Seema Malhotra

Had a very good time for the past two days campaigning with Seema Malhotra, Labour's candidate for Feltham and Heston.  Unfortunately, my photography skills proved too limited to get anything useable, but the reaction to Seema is very heartening.  She was really good both on the doorstep and at the streetstall in Feltham High Street I went to.  This was fuilmed by the Politics Show, so people may be able to judge for themselves.

Less Food Waste

WRAP has come up with an update on the amount of food that the UK throws away.  The answer is about 7.2 million tons, or roughly 20% of the food we buy.  Remarkably that is progress, as it represents a 13% fall since 2006/7.  Much of the food that is thrown away is edible, and it is a major source of wasted money for consumers, greenhouse gas emissions and water waste.

You can learn more about reducing food waste on the West London Waste Authority web site. 

Taking Shelter

The decontamination of land in Stonebridge is proceeding on schedule and under budget.  Apparently, they have discovered the remains of Anderson shelters in many of the back gardens.

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.

Wembley Central By Election

There will be a by election in Wembley Central on 22 December, so things are likely to be busy.  Not the best time of year to go doorknocking, but that is how it is.

Chief Executives

Hastings is getting rid of its Chief Executive.  As the story states, the argument that doing away with your Chief Executive makes no difference is an odd one.  That sais, a lot of Councils would probably benefit from a shake up of senior management, as Brent has.

Ealing Road Library Overcrowding

I went to the Court hearings on libraries last week.  The litigants case has now morphed into an insinuation that the libraries decision might indirectly discriminate against Asians.  This is not a suggestion that came up anywhere in the consultation, but their lawyers seem to have advised them to make it the mainstay of their case.  They focus particularly on suggesting that Ealing Road library has become overcrowded since the closures on 3 October.  In fact, visitor numbers at Ealing Road library are just over 5% down on October last year.

Dollis Hill House Demolition

Another attempt to obstruct work on Dollis Hill House is being made, according to the Brent and Kilburn Times.   

This seems to happen every time that demolition comes closer.  I have no idea what the status of this supposed conveyance is, but it does seem odd that it has not been mentioned until now.

I understand that the scaffolding around the house has been rusting awayf or so long, that removing it is itself a delicate task.  It really is time to accept that the House is not going to be restored because no one has either the funding or a viable plan for it.  Keeping it in its current state simply blights the northern end of Gladstone Park with an unsightly ruin.

August Riots

The riots of August no longer get the media attention although presumably the underlying problems remain the same.  This piece seems to be offering some welcome reflection and facts.   The comments towards the end are particularly relevant to Brent as we need to work out the shape of our future youth services.

Libraries Open

We now have signs up at the three libraries that are now available seven days a week.  This may seem fairly crude as a marketing method, but given the number of people who pass Harlesden and Kilburn libraries, I hope it will be effective.

Libraries Judicial Review

Today is the day of the Court Hearing into the Libraries appeal.  The litigants' skeleton argument essentially rehashes the arguments that failed in the lower court.  An interesting feature is that the Commission for Equality and Human Rights has decided to intervene.  This will not be an oral contribution, just a written submission. This will be the first Appeal Court hearing since the Public Sector Equality Duty was changed in April, so I assume they regard the case as possibly setting an important precedent, although I feel it is actually quite Brent specific.

Recycling Rates Across England

The Guardian has a comparision of recycling rates across England.  Ashford looks shocking. The average is just over 40%, which is where Brent's annual performance should be this year (assuming the new system delivers as hoped).  Next year, when the new system is more effectively bedded in, we should greatly exceed this target.

Housing Benefit Exploding

Dave Hill has figures on the explosion in Housing Benefit recipients in London, including Brent.  The vast increase is not that amazing given the economic situation created by the government's austerity programme.  Limiting the housing benefit bill was, of course, supposed to be the Con Dem government's objective.  along with the predictable increase in other benefit take up (e.g. jobseekers allowance), it is likely to destroy the government's efforts to cut the deficit _ a neat demonstration of Keynes' paradox of thrift. 

One of the ways that I suspect the government will react is by not allowing the usual uplift of benefit levels in line with the September inflation rate.  I don't think they will try that with pensions, since pensioners tend to vote, but poorer people are likely to get doubly hit by rising inflation and falling benefits.

Yesterday's Review

Yesterday's six month review got me thinking about the Liberal Democrats.  At this stage in their administration (i.e. November 2007), they had achieved very little.  Their main impact had been a negative one.  They vetoed or delayed a number of projects including the casino (which fell foul of Gordon Brown anyway) and the ARK Academy.  They ducked a number of difficult issues, such as making a big change in recycling or introducing emissions based parking permits.  These failures were in spite of having a far more favourable financial settlement.

Altogether, the comparision seems to me to reflect very well on the current Labour administration.

Six Month Review

Since being electing in 2010, I have done a review of what has been happening every six months, and now is the time again.

The big item is, of course, the launch of Brent's new recycling strategy on the streets.  At my first meeting with officers as Lead Member, I said that this would be a major priority for the new administration, and it finally started on 3 October.  To my surprise and relief, the number of complaints and problems have been far fewer than I expected.  Public objections have tended to be, not towards the principles, but the details of implementation.  Of course, a certain number of missed collections/deliveries, examples of contamination and so on are to be expected when you launch a totally new system, and getting them all smoothed out will take time, but so far it appears to be going well.  Hopefully, the recycling figures will demonstrate a strong improvement when they come out at the end of the year.

The second big area has, of course, been the Libraries Transformation Project.  This is currently still subject to a legal appeal hearing on 10 November, so I am limited in what I can say.  However, it is worth pointing out that the litigants' lawyers picked over everything that Brent Council did over the course of many months, and yet the High Court gave an emphatic judgement in our favour.  Parts of the new strategy, in particular seven day opening, are now underway, and I hope we can continue with the rest as soon as possible.

A third area which is going to be more important over the coming months will be the London Olympics.  There has been a huge amount of planning for this.  As well as general London issues, Brent will be the host venue for three sports, so we need both to manage the demands effectively and try to use the event to up sports participation in the Borough.

A few weeks ago, also saw the approval of the Green Charter that we pledged in our manifesto.  This should give a mechanism for progress a broad front of green issues.

Overshadowed by the Library row, we have an interlinked strategy for the promotion of the arts in Brent, which I shall probably do a separate blog on at a later date.  We are also making good progress in developing strategies for applying for Fairtrade status, getting our parks better adapted to climate change, improving the cemetary service, and revivifying the allotment/food growing service.

Less cheerfully, we have had to implement a ten million pound cut in the Environment Department budget (part of a much bigger cut to the Council as a whole).  This has meant a lot of jobs lost (although mostly via voluntary redundancy) at the same time as a major delayering of management.  That the officers have managed to deliver on so many other policies at the same time as this major reorganisation and reduction in funding is quite a tribute to them.

Locally, Station Road's makeover is progressing.  This is the harbinger of a wider remodelling of the public realm in Harlesden Town Centre.  Kensal Green will also benefit from the rebuilding of the Roundwood Youth Centre, which has been saved from Sarah Teather's cuts programme.  Improved youth services almost always comes up as an aspiration whenever you go out on the doorstep in Kensal Green.

As well as all this, I have been doing the usual stuff of casework and minor public realm improvements so altogether I think the last six months have been fairly productive despite the difficult financial situation.

Winter Readiness

As winter approaches, my mind turns to thoughts of street gritting.  Brent Council has more than 3,000 tons available, which should be enough.  Last winter we used 1,400 tons, and before that (in what was a more severe season) 1,800 tons.

Of course, in the past central government has sometimes taken charge of local authority stores to help out particularly hard hit areas.  I understand that most authorities feel that are also well prepared, so hopefully this won't be an issue.

The other potential problem may be the logistics of getting the grit on the roads and pavements.  This is partly dependent on when the snow falls.  If it snows overnight, the effect is to suppress travel demand as people decide to work from home, defer their shopping trips or whatever.  The worst time for it to fall is in mid-afternoon, when traffic levels are maximum, and the street gritters have least time to get the grit out before the rush hour.

Civic Centre Progressing

On a cheerier note, I passed the Civic Centre, which is now visibly progressing.  The economic gloom has actually helped to make the Civic Centre more cost effective, by lowering borrowing costs as well as the cost of construction.

Economic Gloom

Yesterday, I was at an awayday talking about next year's budget. As part of the scene setting, we were shown some general economic data, including a graph unfamiliar to me.  It showing the relative speed of recovery from recessions in the UK i.e. for GDP to get to pre-recession levels.  The current recovery is forecast to take longer than in the 1930s; let alone any other post war recession.

Hillingdon Libraries

Hillingdon is once again praised on The Good Library blog for its supposedly superb model.  As I pointed out a little while ago, the CIPFA figures don't show Hillingdon as being particularly efficient, no does it have an especially high usage rate despite the many newspaper articles about it.  This may explain why large numbers of people are not beating a path to Hillingdon.  Certainly, it seems more plausible than suggesting that the entirety of local government including all the librarians are dedicated to ending library services.

Cycling

The Guardian has a good description of cycling in the Netherlands, where it is a much more mainstream form of transport than here.  Brent is currently keen to get more people cycling, but the barriers to joining up a comprehensive network across the Borough are formidable, and the Dutch experience gives some inkling of just how difficult it is.

Meanwhile Dave Hill reminds us that Boris Johnson isn't even trying to help cyclists so long as it might be at the expense of car and lorry drivers.

Harrow Road Bringbank

I have been worried by what an eyesore this bring bank at the corner of Harrow Road NW10 and Victor Road is for some time.  However, removing it effecting leaves the people with flats above Harrow Road NW10 with no access to recycling.  What do people think?

Fireworks

I suppose at this Divali/Guy Fawkes time of year, fireworks are inevitable, but it would be good if people could confine them to earlier in the evening.  The ones on Thursday night went on rather later than they should.

Fireworks

I suppose at this Divali/Guy Fawkes time of year, fireworks are inevitable, but it would be good if people could confine them to earlier in the evening.  The ones on Thursday night went on rather later than they should.