Ice Patch by Tesco

I have reported the icy patch at the crossover into the back iof the Harlesden Tesco, which was a real hazard last night as the water froze. Anyone can report trip hazards to streetcare@brent.gov.uk or on 020 8937 5050.

Why We Should Abolish the £25 Charge

Another example of why we should abolish the £25 charge. I took this in Furness Road this morning.

Political Balance and Bertha Joseph

It occurred to me quite late last night that Bertha Joseph's renewed suspension means that we to rebalance Brent Council's committee membership. Every Local Authority is required by law to appoint each committee to reflect the total membership of the Council. Bertha Joseph's removal as a councillor means that we will have to reappoint to all the committees again, despite having just rejigged them at the last Council meeting in January.

Navin Shah on Bertha Joseph and LFEPA

Tory Troll has a statement by Navin Shah on the Bertha Joseph appeal decision. Navin is calling on Boris Johnson to throw her off the London Fire Authority, quite rightly in my view. What will Boris do?

Brent Liberal Democrats and Tall Buildings

I haven't posted on Brent Liberal Democrats' broken promises for a while, so I just thought I would mention their "no tall buildings" promise. That is what they say at election times. Both in 2006, and in the more recent Wembley Central by election they claimed that they would stop tall buildings being built inBrent.

However, the last Planning Committee voted through a series of tower blocks ranging from fourteen to eight stories on the old B & Q site in Alperton without any protest from the three Liberal Democrat councillors who represent Alperton. What happened to their promise?

Bertha Joseph Verdict

The verdict on Bertha Joseph has been formally announced. The original decision by Brent's Standards Committee is confirmed, and the six month suspension reimposed. The suspension runs for the rest of her term of office.

The questions for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives now are: Will Boris retain this discredited individual on the Fire Authority, given he has made such play over cleaning up local government? Will the Conservatives support a candidate who has been judged by both Brent's own Standards Committee and the Tribunal to have committed such a serious breach?

Keep Harlesden Clean

At the Town Team meeting in the Unity Centre last night, I met someone who has started a facebook page to Keep Harlesden Clean. The theme of the group is fairly obvious. I have also added it as a link under Kensal Green links.

Barham Park Redevelopment

Last week's Planning Committee passed something of a landmark decision by voting through planning permission on the Barham Park development. As I have explained before, this proposal has been around for years, and I and other Labour councillors have been urging the Liberal Democrats to get on with it since my election in 2006. Possibly as a result of central government giving extra pressure for housing to boost the fiscal stimulus, it looks like the residents will finally get the housing they deserve.

Snow Again

I notice it was snowing again today. The good news is that Brent Council has replaced some of the grit it used up in the last cold snap. It now has about 400 tons. The bad news is that is roughly the amount that would be used up in three days of bad weather.

Supporting Scrutiny

I read a paper on Scrutiny in Local Government by Steve Leach recently. One of the key issues in Scrutiny is that there is not enough knowledge to back up any investigation. Where Scrutiny Committees have dedicated staff, they are too few and/or inexperienced to offer necessary expertise. The Committees tend to rely on officers in each directorate i.e. the people whose position they may be criticising. He suggests a fund dedicated to buying in Scrutiny advice, or even a reciprocal arrangement between two authorities (as Blackburn and Salford apparently have). If a number of Boroughs had a specialised Scrutiny fund, why not use it to buy support from units like the LGiU, LGA or London Councils?

Progress on Tubbs Road

It looks like my Councillor Call for Action on Tubbs Road has finally got the breakthrough that I was hoping for, despite the unhelpful attitude of Cllr Daniel Brown at the last Highways meeting. The two elements that could get enacted fairly soon are a review of the signage to clarify the width restriction and the alternative route down Scrubs Lane, and also contacting the SatNav companies to ensure that their software is clearer.

According to what they told us at the meeting of the Junction Associaition I attended last Thursday, Brent's Transport Department will do some scoping around the other suggestions on left turns out of Furness Road and Tubbs Road to assess the impact on traffic flows.

The Price of Tax Cuts

Recently saw this scary story from America about local authority cuts in Colorado Springs. This might gladden someone like Mike Freer, but it reminds me of Oliver Wendall Holmes: "Taxation is the price we pay for living in a civilised society."

An End to the Lib Dems £25 Charge

If you haven't seen this photo, you will do soon. It is on a colour leaflet that Brent Labour Party is currently putting out pledging to end the £25 charge for special rubbish collections if we get a majority in May. Barry Gardiner and Dawn Butler can be seen posing next to a truly appalling flytip in Dawn's home ward of Tokyngton.

Harlesden Town Centre Meeting

There will be a meeting on the Harlesden Public Realm Design Project on Monday 8 February at the Unity Centre, 103 Church Road , Harlesden (Where the white flats used to be).

This is a project I posted on last year and in the New Year. Brent Council want to create a "town team" to come up with ideas about how to reshape Harlesden Town Centre. The initial stages concentrate on Manor Park Road, Craven Park Road and Harlesden High Street. However, especially later on, it might also involve ideas about the surrounding streets as well.

Cllr Atiq Malik's Legal Threat

Back on 7 January, I published this post, commenting on Cllr Atiq Malik and Sharia Law. A few days later, Cllr Malik sent me a curiously worded email that threatened legal action, although it wasn't clear to me on what grounds. I wrote back to him suggesting that he either post a comment, or send a fuller explanation so that I could either amend the post or do a new one. So far, I haven't heard back from him, but I thought I may as well tell everyone that he has some sort of objection to the 7 January story.

UPDATE: Cllr Atiq Malik has posted a comment below, claiming not to have my response of 12 January. However, I still don't understand what your objection is Atiq. Could explain in more detail?

ANOTHER UPDATE: I have now been sent a statement on this matter from Atiq Malik, which I publish here.

Crest Academies Financial Problems

The Willesden and Brent Times reports that the Boys Crest Academy in Dollis Hill is having to cut staff to make ends meet (No link, their web site is a bit rubbish). The problem is that fewer pupils are going into the school, and school funding follows pupil numbers. This is likely to get worse if the Liberal Democrats follow through on their broken promise on buying the adjoining land. The failure to buy the land will mean the rebuild taking four years rather than two, a big chunk of most pupils' school life. Many parents won't want to have their children educated on a building site. Fewer pupils will mean less money and more redundencies. In other words, a disaster delivered to you by the Liberal Democrats.

Willesden High Road

Last Sunday I was in Willesden High Road, and came across this mess:



It completely blocked the way for pedestrians, forcing them out into the road. As you can see no one is doing anything there.

Tory Support Slipping

I am heartened to see that the Conservative opinion pokll lead appears to be slipping. That may be the explanation behind David Cameron's back pedalling on cuts recently. I wonsder whether Nick "Call me Dave" Clegg will follow suit over his call for "Savage Cuts".

Bertha Joseph's Appeal

Those wondering what happened to Bertha Joseph's appeal against her suspension may want to know that it was delayed yet again, but is due to be heard as soon as possible after 5 Febuary. After being scheduled for 14 January, it was delayed to later in January, and now this third delay. The original complaint was made in January 2008, so it has already taken more than two years to resolve. With this kind of delays, one would imagine that it was all organised by a privatised train operator.

Sarah Teather MP on Empty Homes

A few days ago, I saw Nick Clegg claiming that his party was at the forefront of reducing the number of empty homes. Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East frequently makes this claim.

For example, here we see her in 2005 quoting figures from a parliamentary answer to suggest that the number of empty homes has gone up. If you look at her figures, going up or down seems to depend on the baseline, with annual changes being quite large.

Ms Teather has chosen to use 1997 as a baseline, giving a 6.5% increase in empty properties to 2004 (her final year). Had she chosen the year of her election, 2003, she could have demonstrated a 0.2% fall. Choosing 2002 as a baseline would show a 10% fall, and so on. Her use of figures remind me of her Brent Council colleagues efforts with carbon emissions.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that housing is a huge problem in Brent and elsewhere. That is why it is so disappointing that Sarah Teather and the Liberal Democrats in charge of Brent Council (led on housing issues by Cllr James Allie, who hopes to join Teather in Parliament representing Brent North), have downgraded empty homes as a policy priority.