Scrutiny Improvement at Brent Council

The forthcoming Full Council meeting has a short review of Scrutiny arrangements as part of its business.  I dare say this will be widely overlooked as the Budget is debated the same night.  The conclusion appears to be that the new dual committee structure will be rather more effective than the single committee structure rammed through by Cllr Butt in 2014.  However, the short review available doesn't seem able to find any examples where the Scrutiny process has actually produced better outcomes. 

ARK Academy Award

Good to see that the Ark Academy in Wembley is getting an award for acting as a sports venue for the local community.  Not enough schools act in this way, in some ways for understandable reasons.  Aside from the sheer bother of managing a sports venue for hire, there is the issue of who bears the costs.

In the case of ARK, as I recall availability to the local community was part of the planning permission back in 2009.  It is also an outcome of that process in the sense that at the time the site was merely a muddy field, with a tendency to become water logged in winter.  Building the school upgraded the facilities to the ones described by the Kilburn Times as:

"On site facilities at the academy include a high-quality 3G astroturf pitch set against the backdrop of the famous Wembley Stadium.  There is an outdoor 11a side pitch and a 5a side pitch and during the colder months, visitors can book the indoor 5a side area.  The Football Association partly funded the project to create an excellent grassroots venue for Londoners to book online."

The application, and hence the facilities available to the wider community, were bitterly opposed by the Conservative Party and the Tory Party at the time, as Martin Francis' contemporaneous account recalls.  Incidentally, Martin was highly critical of me in that for voting in favour of the planning permission.  He seems to have regarded disagreeing with him as being an inherently unprincipled thing to do, which it is not.

Brexit Comes Home

Brent Council's Equalities Committee should congratulated for its work on European Union minorities in the Borough.  In a report tonight, the Committee is trying to get to grips with the scale of the problem.  Unfortunately, this is an area where even trying to work out many people are affected by Brexit is quite hard. 

Nor do we have any real control over whether such people want to stay or leave the UK.  The present Tory government, led by a woman who has followed a pretty nasty anti immigrant policy for several years as Home Secretary, seems to want to make their life as nasty as possible. 

All this strikes as really a very illiberal and unpleasant approach that most people in our Borough will find deeply disturbing and conducive to poor community relations. 

At least Brent is trying to quantify the problem, which is the first step to doing something about the issues involved.

Polish Businessman Mysteriously Disappears

I came across a curious reflection of Brent Council's use of photographs recently.  In looking at a short story on the West London Business awards covered by getwestlondon, we see an image of people from The Polish Bakery based in Park Royal. 

The image shows three employees of The Polish Bakery, which won an award, and Konnie Huq (who was the presenter at the ceremony).  I am sure that everyone will be pleased at their success as Company of the Year.

A similar photo appears on the Brent Council web site, which covered the same story.  Can anyone spot the difference?

 

London School Cuts

Truly grim figures are being produced for schools across London in terms of funding cuts.  Brent seems to sit roughly in the middle of the London distribution.  These cuts are likely to reverse one of the really big achievements of the last Labour government in London, a vast improvement in educational standards in the late 1990s and early in this century.  I know other parts of London are protesting to the Secretary of State, but little seems to be happening in Brent.

Bulky Items Yet Again

Another option I see in the Brent Council budget papers is the return of charging for the bulky item collections.  This has been brought up many times, and I simply don't believe the officer estimates of income are credible.  Indeed there are a number of reasons why I think such a policy does not make sense. 

Public Realm Improvement

I was interested to read in the Brent Council Budget papers from Monday that:

"However, these changes are specifically intended to improve environmental standards overall.  They will ensure the most persistent and most noticeable problem areas are eliminated once and for all." (page 71)

That is a pretty bold claim.  I hope it turns out to be true.  If so it would be a vindication of the amount of work that went into the new contract. However, the same report plans to save £900k from envionmental operations so I would like to the "improvements" before deciding how credible they are.

Progress at Moberly Sports Centre

Moberly Sports Centre is well under way, with works clearly visible above ground.  Brent residents will be able to access the Sports Centre at the same rates as Westminster residents once it opens in May 2018, which demonstrates the importance of paying attention to planning permission at the right time.  I hope that pay similar attention to other developments. 

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Allocation

One report at today's Brent Council cabinet meeting should attract attention but hasn't.  The proposals for a new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) allocation mechanism had the potential to make the allocation of planning gain monies far more transparent and obvious.  /since the document proposes delegating the powers to the Lead member and the Director (and whichever individuals those two choose to talk to), the effect is the opposite.

Keniston Press Site

Tucked away at the very back of tomorrow's Brent Council Cabinet papers are the latest plans for the Falcon/Keniston Press site in South Kilburn/Queens Park.  The site was earmarked for housing years ago, but development was blocked in case the site was needed for HS2.  The Council now plans to start building on it in 2017.  This really should be the subject of debate by local people, especially given previous controversies there.  At the moment, I see no signs of such a debate.

Bleak News for Local Government Budgets

The continuing cuts to local government are now reaching the point where local authorities are in danger of becoming insolvent.  This was predicted at the time of the graph of doom debate long ago, and has been predicted since.

It is now affecting all areas of Council services, of which parks are merely the latest example.

What surprises me is that not only did Ministers literally plan the break down in local government, but even now they seem to be devoting more time to avoiding blame for it than staving it off.  The well publicised Surrey buy out shows that the Tories continue to favour the areas where Cabinet Minister sits, but will do nothing for the wider local government crisis. 

Brent Council Cabinet Resignations

I suppose one should congratulate Cllr Mili Patel on joining the Brent Cabinet as the Lead member for Children & Families, but she might well wonder what she is getting herself into as this is the third resignation since the Executive were elected by the Labour Group in May. 

Libraries and Mental Health

Just catching up with this Guardian piece on the importance of libraries to young peoples' mental health.  Nick Poole seems to have vastly improved CILIP's lobbying by moving beyond a just say no to change approach to demonstrating the value of public libraries to various fields.  Libraries can be used in a huge number of different ways, and if they are kept in-house, the Council can retain flexibility as to whether they are focusing on public health, digital literacy, reassuring minorities, promoting the arts, general community space or (indeed) straightforward library services.  Something that might be lost if they were spun off.

Brent's First Romanian Book Collection

On Saturday I went to the opening of Brent Libraries first Romanian book collection at Willesden Green Library (also in Romanian).  Cllr Tom Miller made an excellent speech emphasizing Brent's diversity and our continuing welcome to Romanian people despite the Brexit vote.

Some parts of the countries have seen a rise in xenophobic prejudice as a result of the Brexit referendum, and Romanians have been particularly targeted by the likes of Nigel Farage.  Having a Romanian book collection is a practical symbol of how these are not our values.

Comments on Manor Park Road Development

I must say the sheer number of comments on the new Manor Park Road development surprises me.  At the time of writing more than 200 comments have been made.  The number and the similarity of the comments makes me wonder if they have all been made by different people. 

Harlesden Post Office Closure

I am surprised that this Post Office closure story has not had more attention.  In the past, Post Office closures have been a hot topic, with the Liberal Democrats and Labour both campaigning on the issue.  Although I recall the Liberal Democrats confessing their ineffectual nature, and the Tories actually welcoming closure.

Unless the services are relocated nearby, the closure could have a negative impact on Harlesden Town Centre, which is already suffering from the Royal Oak closure.

Bridge Park Sports Centre Redevelopment

The next Brent Council cabinet meeting on Monday has, buried at the back, an update on the redevelopment of Bridge Park Sports Centre.  The partner companies for this are based in Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands, which seems unfortunate, as the only reason I can think for them to be based there is aggressive tax avoidance.  Reading the reports, it sounds as if it makes enforcing the contracts much more complicated.

Camden Libraries Adopt Open Plus

Camden libraries are going to use Open Plus technology at five of their branches from tomorrow, as well as ending Sunday opening at Swiss Cottage Library.  I am afraid I have to regard that as a retrograde step, which I imagine is driven by budget needs and a desire to keep branches "open".

Casual Library Use

The problem, as I see it, is that what might call passing trade will be excluded.  People will have to be signed up users of Camden libraries before they can enter.  That is likely to deter many users, who may be reluctant to sign up or simply not have their card with them.  Over time, I suspect it might have quite a broad effect in putting people off since I imagine that Camden like Brent has a fairly high churn of residents.  The result would be falling usage for a service that is already seeing visits and loans on a downward trend.

New Manor Park Road Development in Harlesden Town Centre

Following from the negative news that the Royal Oak has closed, some potentially good news of a new development has emerged.  The site behind the Salvation Army site on Manor Park Road is proposed for development. 

Affordable Housing

The proposal is for housing, in line with Brent's planning documents.  At 51 units, the proposal is denser than the suggested figure in the guidance (30), and the type of housing suggested is 15 "intermediate" units which probably means some sort of shared ownership.  The  market units, to pay for the overall scheme, amount to 34, which would mean an affordable element of roughly a third, although no rented.  Both market and affordable units are mainly one or two beds.  There are only three three bedroom units, all intermediate.  I suspect that the mix of units will be one of the main bones of contention.

Car Free Development

The proposal is for a "car free" development, which makes sense given the Town Centre's public transport access.  Two new spaces are proposed, presumably for disabled people. 

What it Means for Harlesden Town Centre

I have noticed that one of the Kensal Green councillors has already attacked the proposal, although she is basing her criticism on objection to any new housing and an unfounded belief that there will be significant new traffic generation. 

I think in principle it would be good for this long derelict site to be developed as I did with the Park House site, the former Willesden Social Club and the alterations to the Green Man.  It should help increase the foot fall in the area which will make local shops and whatever replaces the Royal Oak more viable. 

Royal Oak Closure

The closure of the Royal Oak in Harlesden comes as a nasty shock.  It has been a key part of regenerating Harlesden Town Centre over the past several years, but the Town Centre is still moving forward and hopefully the Royal Oak will be revived as one of the Town Centre's iconic buildings..