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.