Kiln Theatre Foresters Exhibition

I see that cementing its local credentials, the Kiln Theatre is advertising for a curator for a "Foresters" exhibition about migration in Brent.  The Tricycle Transformed Theatre is working with the Brent Museum on the project and the result will be displayed at both the Brent Museum site in Willesden Library Centre and the Kiln Theatre itself, where it will be linked with a forthcoming play.  This is just the kind of partnership working that I hoped would come out of the Libraries Transformation Project. 

The exhibition and the play that accompanies it actually embeds the Kiln Theatre rather more firmly in its Brent milieu that during the Tricycle era as it will involve community outreach directly in the dramas of the Theatre, which is after all the Kiln's main purpose. 

Anyone who wants to apply needs to be quick as it closes tomorrow. 

United Synagogue Project at Willesden Jewish Cemetery

Incidentally, one of the projects that got funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy that I blogged on yesterday, was a commemorative garden in the Willesden Jewish Cemetery.  This helps commemorate the 150th anniversary of the United Synagogue.  It is nice to see Willesden's long Jewish history getting a nod as well as improvements to an important local green space.

Brent's CIL Projects

Martin Francis has got hold of a list of CIL projects awarded by Brent Council.  This is a victory for transparency from a Council that appears to be becoming increasingly secretive.  He objects that the awards seem to be spent by the Council in many cases.  I don't see why that is a concern.  We are talking about taxpayers money so why shouldn't it be spent by people employed by the taxpayer and accountable according to normal public sector rules?

I find it rather odd that in this case Martin, unusually for him, seems to favour a privatised arrangement.

It incidentally highlights the odd case of Preston "library" where more than a quarter of a million is being spent by a small group with no track record of handling that sort of sum.  The report I highlighted previously said that this group would be spending £18,000 on a "reception desk" as well sums of money on shelving that would be sufficient to shelve books worth more than Brent libraries entire annual book stock fund would be capable of buying.  I literally cannot imagine how to spend £18,000 on a reception desk of even the most luxurious character.

Meanwhile Willesden Library was allocated just over £9,000 for a cultural programme despite being the obvious flagship for the Brent's "Borough of Culture".

Whatever the motivation of these awards, reinforcing the proven success of Brent libraries does not appear to be among them. 

All Souls College Property Empire in Brent

The Guardian today has revelations that All Souls College retains about 300 properties in Brent.  Well, fancy that.  I am surprised that they don't want to consolidate their holdings. 

Less Affordable Housing Following Fire Safety Funding

In a different way to the one I predicted, Theresa May has confirmed that funding for affordable housing will be raided to improve fire safety measures.  The central government fund for affordable grants will be cut rather than the HRA directly.  It is obvious that the Conservative Party just does not get the level of need for affordable housing. 

UPDATE

I see that Tory councillors are themselves now saying this to Theresa May. 

National Parks

The BBC report that Julian Glover is being set to do a review of national parks by Michael Gove.  This strikes me as the wrong question being answered by the wrong person.

Mr Glover is an established Tory cheer leader in the press.  He has no other obvious qualifications for being in charge of a review on this subject.  It looks like another example of Tory cronyism by Michael Gove.  Of course, Mr Gove does not believe in trusting experts and has successfully led us into the Brexit quagmire as a result.

Secondly, national parks are isolated areas of countryside that have historically been protected.  If we want to protect biodiversity we need to think not just in terms of specific small areas, but of the whole island and what connects each area.  We also need to think about how climate change is affecting habitats and weather patterns, but that is a complex subject for which Mr Glover seems to have no obvious qualifications.

Alternative Facts in Kensal Rise

A rather odd comment in this Times story (paywall).  Most of the article is about cuts in general in local government, but one quote comes from some one connected to Kensal Rise Library.  The story says:

“When we say library, it has to be multifunctional,” Stephanie Schonfield, a trustee of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library, explains. “It just has to be. We have to survive. We’ve got absolutely no public funding.”

What I find odd about this is that Kensal Rise Library has said that it does have public funding.  The February 2018 newsletter states:

"We have been successful with our bids for funds to both the Community Infrastructure Levy and the Harvist Trust. From the former we have two grants totalling £95,000 and from the latter £5,000. All will go towards the refurbishment of the library space, computers and books."

The Harvist Trust is a somewhat obscure charity used by local authorities on the A5 to disburse grants of up to £5,000.  The Community Infrastructure Levy is a tax on property developers paid to a Planning Authority and used for what are thought to be socially useful investments (schools, highways improvements and so on).  It is a tax in exactly the same way as the Council Tax or Business Rates (or indeed the taxes used to make central government funding to local authorities.

The refusal to recognise (which I am sure is quite sincere) that this is "public funding" in the ordinary sense of the term is a curious mental quirk. 


UPDATE


I am sorry to have taken so long with publishing the comment below.  Previously I had an alert about comments but it seems to have disabled itself.  I have covered before that Brent Council could not "give" the building away since it did not own it.


On the other point that building costs do not count as part of the library service.  Actually they do.  How would you run a library without a building?  During the Libraries Transformation Project we were repeatedly told that the online services, whilst welcome, could not themselves supply an adequate service.  I accept that point.  Therefore you need the buildings to run a service from, and that the capital grants are therefore providing necessary but not sufficient funding towards whatever is now done in the former library building. 


I would argue you also need staff for an adequate library service of the kind Brent Council should provide, but evidently FKRL have something different in mind.

Willesden Green Delayed Campaign Launch

Willesden Green delayed election is the subject of today's Labour Party campaign launch outside the Willesden Sainsburys this morning.  The actual election, which was delayed by the death of Cllr Lesley Jones MBE, will be on 21 June.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Tuesday, 5 June 2018. Applications can be made online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

If a Willesden Green voter needs a postal vote Brent Council must receive the application no later than 5pm on Wednesday, 6 June 2018.

If a Willesden Green voter wants to appoint a proxy to vote on his/her behalf, Brent Council must receive your application no later than 5pm on Wednesday, 13 June 2018.

Applications to vote by post or to appoint a proxy can be downloaded from www.yourvotematters.co.uk.

The full list of candidates is here. 

Willesden Green Election Candidates Announced

The list of election candidates for Willesden Green is announced.  The only new candidate is Elliot Chappell for Labour, replacing Cllr Lesley Jones MBE.  The Greens, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Tories are therefore all fielding three candidates.  The most recent election in Willesden was in 2014. 

Councillor Allowances and Increasing Workloads

Casting an eye over the supplementary report into why councillors basic allowances in Brent are being increased so much I read this paragraph:

Having reviewed the basic allowance recommended as a result of the 2018 independent review (£11,045) and taken account of the increased workload and responsibilities now placed on Members, it is proposed that the level of basic allowance for Members in the 2018/19 Scheme should be increased to £12,000. It is felt this will better reflect the increasingly complex nature of the role Members are required to fulfil alongside the increased demands on their time and expectations in relation to their representational role.

I genuinely can't think of any additional workload that councillors are expected to take up that wasn't already assumed for the past several years.  Indeed, I would think that the political culture of Brent appears to be moving towards councillors doing rather less. 

Somerset Follows Northants

It looks like Somerset may be going the way of Northants, a second Tory Council to ignominiously collapse as a result of the present Tory government's all out assault on local government.  Meanwhile the man who designed this disaster, Eric Pickles, is being elevated to the House of Lords. 

Possibly UK government would not be so riddled with examples of executive incompetence if the people in charge of these stupid decisions actually got punished for them.

Although I have to admit that Somerset has materially added to its own woes by freezing the Council Tax for six years, and thus digging away at its tax base, eroding its long term financial viability.

Dutch Car Free Trial

This permit swap for green space experiment in the Netherlands sounds all too reminiscent of various car centred debates I have had.  I include the public reaction in that.  Nothing seems to ignite people in quite the same way. 

The Gradgrind Argument for the Arts

A reminder here of some of the basic economic arguments for Arts education here.   Although it focuses on drama something similar could be said about music.  In a way I regret the reductionism.  Not everything in education should be reduced to a Gradgrind test of productivity gain, but it is undoubtedly true that arts and drama contribute positively to the Economy both directly and indirectly.  

Something for people in Brent to reflect on during the 2020 Borough of Culture perhaps?

Rees Mogg Struggles to Stay Sane and Vote Tory

Yesterday's Sunday Times contained one of the most unfortunate campaign photos I have seen for a long time.  It contained Jacob Rees-Mogg and his young son looking like his mini-me.  Both are wearing outsize blue rosettes and have chosen to pose in front of a Vote Labour poster with a smaller post saying Stay Sane, Don't Vote Tory underneath. 

I imagine that must have pretty hard to find in Somerset.  Does Rees-Mogg have no one to advise him that certain photo opportunities just aren't going to improve your image?

Grenfell and the Cladding

A building review appears to have decided not to ban the kind of cladding used at Grenfell, but seems likely to be over ruled by politicians.  I think there is a real danger here of looking at one or other factor and focusing on it as a totem whereas what is needed is a systematic approach to see what went wrong with the whole system.

Potholes and Highways Asset Maintenance

The Times in particular has been focusing on the poor quality of the roads across the country recently and suggesting one off injections of capital for potholes.  I think that actually shows you worst practice in terms of actually fixing the problem.

The trouble is, it rather suits people politically for either a Council or Central government to announce a series of one off cash injections rather than sort out an ongoing problem.  It is a matter of grabbing the immediate headline rather than solving an intractable problem.  It is better to have a longer term plan for two reasons:

The first is that an ongoing maintenance can be preventative.  You can treat an entire road and stop water seeping in so much.  Patching potholes tends to be bitty, and even when it is is done leads to an unsightly "crazy paving" look.  Doing a whole street uniformly may well be cheaper in the long run and gives a more even feel to the street scape.

Secondly, with a reliable stream of business it is easier to set something like the LoHac contract up allowing like for like comparisons across contractors and pushing prices down through transparency.

Pragmatic Nationalisation

It is hard to disagree with Andrew Adonis' view on rail nationalisation here.  The East Coast line, on which I travel a fair deal, just was more effective under public ownership.  I find it hard to see why Chris Grayling and before him Stephen Byers are so reluctant to face nationalisation of the UK's railways. 

Cabinet Roles in Brent Council

Looking through the Brent Cabinet papers for the forthcoming Cabinet meeting, I was struck that no one appears to have Lead Member for finance as their specified role.  That is extremely odd and probably unique in local government. 

Normally the finance lead is seen as one of the most important posts.  One might imagine that with continuing cuts coming through the Council budget even after years of Budget cuts it would be even more central.  Yet it is no one's specific task.  In my experience that tends to be a bad idea since not having a named person in charge will make it everyone's task and no one's.  There is a real risk of no proper direction and councillors just falling into a general blame culture.

The second thing that strikes me about this agenda is the thinness of it.   Just four reports immediately after an election where an incumbent administration has been re-elected.  That doesn't sound like hitting the ground running.  More just meandering along.

Brent Borough of Culture

Yesterday, I suggested Planning gain around Wembley Stadium (or indeed the area around Wembley Stadium in general) might be a suitable subject for a Scrutiny group.  I think an even better one might be the focus of Brent's plans as a Borough of Culture.

There are plenty of things such a group might concentrate on.  What is meant by Culture?  For example does it include sports as well as the Arts?  How will the main Arts venues in Brent be involved (including the renamed Kiln Theatre of course).  What organisations are to be involved?  How much will the emphasis be public participation and how much on paid performers?

Those are a few questions and there are many more that councillors should be giving a political steer on. 

Planning to Back Track

I understand that Brent Council is looking to back track on its proposed £17.8 million payment for changes to the Pedway into Wembley Stadium.  This is a result of the possibility of selling the Stadium it would seem.  I questioned this odd payment when it was first approved by the Council Cabinet back in July last year. 

Unfortunately without further detail on what is in the deal and what not, it is hard to know what is going on.  It would no doubt prove an extremely suitable subject for a Scrutiny task group as the rumours around developing the area near the Stadium are in danger of damaging the Council's reputation. 

Sunlight is the best disinfectant as David Cameron used to say.

Meanwhile, we still seem to be short of any hint of a wider vision of how Wembley should develop and what the balance between the needs of businesses and residents should be.  Such a vision should really be provided by the political leadership of the Council.