Brent Stop the War has issued the following clarification regarding Sunday's Kashmir demonstration:
A well-attended 14th October meeting onPEACE & JUSTICE FOR KASHMIRin the Community Hall at the Cricklewood Mosque, was co-sponsored by Brent Mosque and Brent Stop the War. It was supported by Brent Central Labour Party and Brent & Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
We agreed to have the Brent Stop the War banner on the demonstration in support of Kashmir on this Sunday (October 27th) assembling outside Downing St from 12.00 noon. There has been some public controversy over this demonstration, its purpose and its destination.
Our meeting heard how the Modi government in India had withdrawn the (limited) autonomy of Kashmir and violently repressed the opposition, ignoring longstanding UN resolutions. It was also made clear that this is neither a Pakistan vs India dispute nor a Hindu/Muslim one, but the right of Kashmiris to self-determination and for a just and peaceful solution to the dispute.
Kashmiris have long protested on October 27th, the date the Indian military entered Kashmir in 1947. In the UK, this is marked with a protest each year outside the Indian High Commission.
With the Hindu festival of Diwali falling on Sunday 27th, some have expressed the view that it would be inappropriate to hold the demonstration. Other claims that the demonstration will cause communal conflict because it coincides with Diwali 2019, could be seen as promoting a view of the Indian High Commission as a Hindu institution, when in fact the Diwali religious festival is not exclusive to India and the country defines itself as secular.
Although It is perfectly normal in a democratic society to protest outside the embassy of a government which breaks international law, out of respect for the celebration of Diwali we will not be going on to the High Commission.
We will join the protest outside 10 Downing St, which has raised no criticism of the actions of the Modi Government.
If you don’t live in Kingsbury, or visit Kingsbury Road, you may not know that for the past 18 months the Council has been carrying out “town centre improvements” there (funded mainly by the GLA). These include new paving, new trees, new cycle lanes on both sides of the road and extra cycle parking stands for the station and shopping centre.
As part of the consultation exercise for the improvements, I suggested that local history panels (which I offered to design, free of charge) could be provided as part of the new seating areas. I received no response to this suggestion, until I mentioned it, several months later, to one of my ward councillors. Then, as if by magic, it was welcomed as a good idea.
Earlier this month, after a lot of input and “chasing” on my part since the summer of 2018, four illustrated panels, telling “The Kingsbury Road Story” were fitted to bench seats along the north side of the road. This document tells you where you can find them, and gives a taste of what you will discover on each panel.
Click bottom right to enlarge to full size
Does Kingsbury Road have much of a story? After all, it is just a suburban local shopping centre, isn’t it?
Well, most of the buildings you see there today appeared in the 1930’s, and there are interesting stories behind some of them, but the history of this thoroughfare goes back a lot further to Kingsbury’s Saxon origins. Its name means “a place belonging to the King”, and was first recorded in the reign of King Eadwig. (Never heard of him? He was only King fromAD955 to 959!)
You can see Kingsbury Road on an extract from a map drawn in 1597, shortly after a wealthy local farmer, John Lyon (founder of Harrow School), gave money to provide £2 a year for the upkeep of the road – labour (at tuppence a day) was cheaper then. Putting gravel on the surface during the summer was meant to stop the road from becoming too muddy during the wetter winter months, and the same method was still being used by the local Council in 1910, when this photograph (by a farm near today’s Kingsbury Station) was taken.
The local history panels bring the story of Kingsbury Road right up to the rich cultural mix of shops you will find in Kingsbury Road today. The heritage trail they provide will hopefully guide visitors along the road, from the Kingsbury Station bus stop to the library (closed for refurbishment from 11 November to 15 December inclusive), which will be one of the venues for the LBOC 2020 “Museum of All Brent Life”.
I hope that readers will enjoy “The Kingsbury Road Story”. If so, perhaps they can suggest other locations in Brent where similar history panels might be appreciated, and get their local councillors on board, to make the idea a reality.
Hi All, Since we opened the Delipod Hub has attracted artists, artisans, writers and musicians along with customers from toddlers to grannies and the full diversity of cultures for whom Brent is home. Little did we know however that the Delipod Hub was held with such affection until the petition to save it was launched by a local resident’s association only a few days ago.
It has now over 800 signatures and rising, and the voices of support have been spontaneous, many and loud. For your information, we have now signed the lease surrender document as we had built up arrears and were under threat of legal proceedings - this after repeatedly trying to engage with Brent on this issue for well over a year.
I wrote to the local councillors on Friday. I have written again just now stating that we will not start to any significant dismantling of the Hub until Tuesday leaving the option open on Monday for a reconsideration. Perhaps this is too strong, but from the messages of support we’ve received, it’s almost like the Hub’s closure would be an act of physical, social and cultural vandalism.
Seee the one-minute compilation of some of the live music nights held at the Hub – it’s fab. Please do sign and spread the petition: LINK Monday!!!
As you hopefully know by now we are holding an exciting public meeting at Queens Park Community School on Tuesday 12th November 7.30-9.30pm with a really strong variety of speakers. It is also our AGM and we are inviting members to stand for the steering group.
There is a particular vacancy for someone who would like to up our social media profile, though we would love to hear from anyone who feels they might have something to offer the group, taking us forward or in different directions. Your energy and enthusiasm will be appreciated. We meet five or six times through the year with email conversations between the meetings. If you would like to stand please email cafbrent@gmail.com as soon as possible and one of us will be in touch to find out what your strengths and interests are.
In the meantime if you are coming to the meeting but have not yet signed up on Eventbrite please dohere- it really helps us to know what the numbers will be. A flyer with all the information is also attached
Please do pass this on to your network groups - all are very welcome.
At the meeting we are proud to present some great speakers who will bring a wealth of knowledge and suggest action to be taken:
Dr Ian Mudway of King’s College, London, a leading expert on air pollution and its impact on healthand Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, the mother of Ella Roberta, who died aged 9 in 2013 after a severe asthma attack, whilst living next to the South Circular road.The pathologist who carried out her post mortem said it was “one of the worst cases of asthma ever recorded in the UK”. Rosamund is now a passionate campaigner against air pollution and in May 2019 her daughter’s inquest was re-opened. We will also hear from Cllr Thomas Stephenswho chairs Brent Council's Air Quality Scrutiny Task Group and Humphrey Milles, a local resident who has been driving a national ad campaign on awareness of pollution issues.
Cllr Butt addresses staff and parents at an earlier demonstration against closure
Following the Brent Labour Cabinet's decision to go ahead with the closure of the Strathcona site of Roe Green Infants School the battle has now shifted to saving the jobs of school workers. The two sites are run as one school so everyone is affected by potential redundancy although Gail Tolley, Strategic Director, has said that she does not expect compulsory redundancies.
To ensure that jobs are not loss NEU members will be demonstrating outside Brent Civic Centre at 4pm today.
Gail Tolley told a meeting of Chairs and Vice Chairs of governors last week that at least two neighbouring boroughs were closing primary schools due to falling pupil numbers and several primary schools in Brent that had expanded with new build were now going to reduce their numbers by one form of entry.
The government recently announced that it would be carrying out a formal review of Prevent, part of which includes the duty on universities and colleges to have 'due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism' which was imposed as part of 2015 terrorism legislation.
A review of Prevent is something that UCU and others have repeatedly called for since the statutory duty was introduced and we want your views and experiences of how Prevent impacts on both staff and students across England, Wales and Scotland.
UCU has a number of objections to the Prevent duty, including its threat to academic freedom and freedom of speech, the risk that the broad definition of terrorism could stifle campus activism, damage staff/student relations and discrimination against BME and Muslim staff and students.
The specific questions being asked by the review can be found in the formal online Home Office survey but it will look broadly at the following areas:
Is Prevent achieving its objectives?
How effectively is Prevent being delivered at local and national levels?
How effectively does Prevent interact with other safeguarding and vulnerability strategies?
How effective is the statutory Prevent duty; and how effectively is it being implemented?
How could Prevent be improved to respond to criticisms and complaints?
What should the government consider in the development of Prevent over the next 5 years, as the threat evolves, in order to best engage with and support people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism?
Are you aware of 'Advice Notice 14' resulting from the Grenfell inquiry. It covers owners of all types of homes across Brent but specifically for leaseholders living in high rises. Until they have a safety certificate issued by the council, all homes are valued at £0.
The council have published a tender (see below) for the work that checks the composition of all wall material in high rises for fire safety. Once each building is passed as safe, then a certificate is issued but it is likely to take several months, if not years to pass every home across Brent.
It affects 500,000 owners across the whole of England and hardly any of them are aware of it.
They only find out if they try to sell their property, as no buyer can get a mortgage unless the home they are buying has a current safety certificate, covering all the flats within each block. The problem in Brent and everywhere else is that there are no fully trained inspectors. So the council tender is trying to find a company to do the work and then pass the buildings by issuing 'a certificate of safety' saying the wall material does not have any Combustible material within it. This material was often used as packing around the steel embedded in the concrete in buildings erected in the 1960's.
But most of the suspect buildings have been built recently and will have to be checked for cladding that is combustible.
I think this is the biggest story to come out of Grenfell so far and hardly anyone in the country is aware of it.
An article in the Guardian on Saturday November 2nd LINK covered the plight of what it called 'mortgage prisoners':
They have all become caught up in the confusion over cladding on tower blocks – specifically, whether or not buildings meet new fire safety standards introduced following the Grenfell disaster, how much it will cost to put any problems right, and who will ultimately foot the bill. All of this is feeding through to thousands living in “high-rise” (defined as more than 18 metres) apartment blocks, as well as many living in smaller blocks, because property valuers are taking the view that unless they have all the facts at their fingertips – for example, is there any chance the cost might fall on the leaseholder? – they can’t put a valuation on the property. That means these owners can’t sell up or switch to a cheaper mortgage.
This is the decision notice published by Brent Council on October 31st
This decision seeks approval for the appointment of a building consultancy to complete a data collection exercise to identify external wall materials and insulation used on high rise residential buildings over 18 metres in height within the London Borough of Brent under Contract Standing Orders 88 & 89.
Decision:
To approve:
(1) Inviting tenders under a mini competition via the NHS SBS Construction Consultancy Services 2 Framework on the basis of the identified pre-tender considerations.
(2) Officers evaluating the tenders on the basis of the identified evaluation criteria.
Reasons for the decision:
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is requesting that Brent Council complete a data collection exercise to identify external wall materials and insulation on all high rise residential buildings over 18 metres. The Council is therefore seeking suppliers to submit a proposal for carrying out the requirement.
Alternative options considered:
The procurement options for this requirement were either an OJEU procurement or a mini-competition from a framework. Given the estimated value of the procurement and limited time available to procure a contract in order to commence in December 2019 it was considered that the NHS SBS Framework offered the most appropriate mechanism to procure.
Keith Baker, Glasgow Caledonian University and Peter Styles, Keele University With a general election underway, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, recently announced that fracking has been halted in the UK– but a closer look at this moratorium covers reveals a loophole. The suspension applies in the north of England, but the smallprint reveals that similar fossil fuel exploration in many traditionally safe Conservative constituencies in south-east England will be just as open for business as before.
The term fracking (from “hydraulic fracturing”) has come to describe a range of methods of drilling for oil and gas that are more correctly known as unconventional extraction. These are techniques reserved for oil and gas that is hard to access. Fracking – the injection of sand, water and toxic chemicals at high pressure to widen small fractures in shale rock, releasing trapped gas or oil – is just one of them.
The government’s moratorium makes clear that fracking in Lancashire is a no-go. After government agency the Oil and Gas Authority reported that it was not possible to predict the probability or size of tremors from fracking, Cuadrilla’s operations at the now infamous Preston New Road site – which caused a magnitude 2.9 earthquake – are no longer lawful. The same is true for other fracking sites in earlier stages of development in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
How fracking works.jaddingt/Shutterstock But the north of England is not the only region in the UK that unconventional exploration for oil and gas is afoot. In the rolling hills south-west of London, work is also underway to extract gas and oil using similar methods. At numerous sites in Surrey and Sussex, companies are in the process of – or are planning to – inject acid in boreholes to widen fractures in the rock below.
This may be at a low pressure (a technique termed acidisation) or a higher pressure (acid fracking). But, crucially, both of these techniques tend to use pressures lower than the threshold at which the government’s moratorium outlaws fossil fuel extraction. So, fossil fuel exploration in south-east England usually encompassed under the term “fracking” is in fact exempt from this “ban”.
Similar to the opposition to fracking in Lancashire, many local residents in Surrey have expressed serious concern at earthquakes as strong as magnitude 3.2 in the area. Researchers at the British Geological Survey and Imperial and Bristol universities ruled out a link to oil and gas exploration, but the earthquakes alone indicate that there are faults, or cracks, underground that could potentially be further destabilised by fossil fuel extraction. As such, there is strong local opposition to the operations.
Interestingly, the constituencies surrounding these sites are largely safe Conservative seats that are expected to be held relatively comfortably. In contrast, Leave-voting seats in the North are key targets for the Conservatives this election.
Dinner at the gates of Preston New Road, where fracking is no longer allowed.Reclaim the Power, CC BY The party may struggle to reverse its distant second to Labour in the constituency of Preston itself, which houses the epicentre of local resistance to fracking in the Preston New Road protest camps. But in a region largely opposed to fracking, the ban may well be a boost to efforts to win over the so-called “Workington Man” – older, white, Leave voters who could be tempted to deviate from their usual Labour leanings. Read more: Can the Conservative Party win in the North of England? Consistent with the notion that government policy on domestic fossil fuel production is aimed at winning votes rather than coming from a desire to cut emissions, it has just approved the opening of the Woodhouse Colliery coal mine. The mine sits in the Cumbrian constituency of Copeland, where the Conservatives hold a marginal lead over Labour and the Liberal Democrat vote barely registers. Importantly, unlike the broad opposition or ambivalence to fracking, the promise of new jobs from the coal mine has helped build local support.
Brent residents will face another rise in Council Tax in 2020-21 (3.99%) under the budget proposals going to Brent Cabinet on Monday while council rents will be increased by 1% above the CPI (Consumer Price Index) measure of inflation over the next few years.
The officer led proposals will go out for public consultation if agreed by the Cabinet and will be discussed by the Brent Connects meetings and considered by the Scrutiny Committee.
As Brent Council front-loaded many of the 'savings' in previous years the cuts this time are not as attention-grabbing as previously and cover decisions already made last year such as the closure of Children's Centres. There are projected increases in income through marketing of services and increases in fees to external bodies, builders and developers.
A key aspect is expected savings through re-procurement and bringing services in-house but that is balanced by a welcome commitment to paying those working in services such as homecare the London Living Wage.
Throughout discussion of the various proposals the officers insist there will not be a negative impact on service users and the Equality Impact Assessments record that protected groups will not be affected.
The level of Council Reserves is discussed in the officers' paper. The Tory opposition and some activists have previously urged the Council to 'raid the reserves' to reduce cuts but no change is suggested apart from some internal shifting of the reserves to different headings.
There is a down-grading in the expected rate of growth of the Council Tax base (the number of people who pay Council Tax) and the report points out that most claims on services are made by the young and the elderly. (The 'life style' occupants of the Wembley high-rises make little demand on services while paying high services charges to their managing agents.)
The 'savings' which include cuts, efficiencies, digitising services and income generation, will balance the budget for 2021/22-2022/23 and amount to £6.1m which includes a contingency of £0.5m:
The Direct Schools Grant is separate from the main budget and comes direct from the government. Its distribution is decided by the Council in consultation with the Schools Forum. Brent pupils are funded above the Government minimum standard so are unlikely to gain. The recent pay increase for teachers is not fully funded by the Government so school budgets will be under pressure. Meanwhile the Special Education and Disability (SEND) budget faces increased demand and there appears to be a potential cut in the money for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for the most needy pupils.
An interesting and likely controversial proposal is for the Council to develop a commercial training arm for apprenticeships that would deliver the Apprenticeship Standards. This would require initial investment of £20k in 2020-21 and £80k in 2022-23 but generate an income in the longer term. The Council says this would be delivered via the Council, local schools, health sector and the care sector. Previous attempts have foundered on questions over the quality of provision and allegations that these are not 'real apprenticeships' but cheap labour.
OVERALL POSITION
The officers' report can be found HERE and I have inserted the list of savings below. A more detailed list is available HERE Click bottom right corner for full page version.
Green Left says ‘no’ to supporting Jo Swinson’s second rate Tories. The Liberal Democrats nationally oppose our Green values.
Green Left believes a step forward for the green movement in the UK has taken place recently, with many people joining both the Green Party and Labour Party, reflecting real concerns about the threat of climate change to our very existence on this planet.
Green Left welcomes the fact that the Green New Deal is gaining support on the left, especially in the Labour Party, and we believe that Greens should engage with others who share the same policies as us, to build the green movement for change which is the only way to save the planet.
Green Left believes the mass movement of Extinction Rebellion and the Youth Strikes shows up the pro capitalist parties for what they are – gambling with the planet. The Lib Dems are part of the problem not the solution.
The Liberal Democrats are a party whose leader, Jo Swinson, received funding from a major fracking company and voted for fracking. She and her party also voted for the bedroom tax, benefit cuts and the introduction of Universal Credit, the scrapping of the education maintenance, increased tuition fees, opposed increasing the tax rate on those earning £150,000, supported cuts to the police and emergency services, supported zero hours contracts, supported the badger cull and did little to challenge climate change, preferring instead nuclear power.
The Lib Dems are also uncritical supporters of the EU, unlike the Greens who want major democratic reform and accountability. The Lib Dems reject a proper further referendum that allows people a democratic say on any EU deal or no deal.
Green Left believes Caroline Lucas was right to warn how dangerous the Lib Dems position of ignoring the Referendum result, and instead going for Revoke, is : “I certainly think that the Lib Dem way out is arrogant, self-indulgent, cynical and very dangerous. I think that will put fuel on the fire.” LINK
Green Party policy has been for a second people’s vote, and in this case is closer to that of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party, who also support a second referendum, than the Liberal Democrats’ Revoke position.
Green Left is very concerned that the implied call to support Liberal Democrat General Election candidates where the Green Party is not standing and where the Labour candidate was either the sitting MP or is the best placed candidate to defeat the Tory MP is an incorrect position to take - especially if that person supports anti-austerity, proportional representation, a Green New Deal and a people’s vote.
Therefore, we urge Green Party members and supporters to support the Labour Party candidate in these areas.
The UniteToRemain pact contradicts the Green Party’s initial position that this should be a Climate Emergency election. Instead the pact makes it a Brexit election.
Editor's note: I am a member of Green Left and was involved in writing this statement which I fully support
The Care Quality Commission inspected the London NW University Healthcare NHS Trust, which covers Central Middlesex Hospital and Northwick Park Hospital, in the summer. The report has now been published and makes worrying reading.
Of most concern will be the red light 'Inadequate rating' for three areas of Services for Children and Young People at Central Middlesex Hospital.
The Commission said:
·We found a lack of clarity over where the overall responsibility and accountability of children and young people services lies within Central Middlesex Hospital. We also found a lack of clarity for how and where this service feeds into the trust.
·Governance in children and young people services at Central Middlesex Hospital was weak. The risk register for the recovery ward was out of date. There was a lack of up to date policies and associated audits demonstrating that the care being delivered was compliant [with] national standards and best practice. We were not assured that the service was guided or supported via a paediatric surgical network.
·There was no clear evidence that areas from the last inspection for children and young people services had been addressed or necessary improvements made.
·In medical care, risks were mitigated and managed but there had been limited action to address risks directly.
·The senior leadership team for medical care at Central Middlesex Hospital recognised the sometimes poor relationship between its staff and local authority staff, but there had been no action to address this
There were many issues regarding safety. The report says:
·Our rating of safe stayed the same. We rated it as requires improvement because:
·The trust provided mandatory training in key skills however there was some confusion among midwifery staff as to the correct length of mandatory training and its content. Compliance rates for mandatory training and safeguarding training were below trust targets in the surgical services at Northwick Park Hospital and Central Middlesex Hospital. Not all clinical staff in children and young people services at Central Middlesex Hospital caring for children were trained to safeguarding level three however, plans were in place to ensure all staff received this training.
·In medical care at Central Middlesex Hospital, some staff did not always report incidents and, in particular, near misses.
·The trust did not always control infection risk well. Hand hygiene was not consistently being undertaken in maternity services. In children and young people services, the Rainbow Unit at Central Middlesex Hospital was found to be untidy and we could not be assured that children’s toys were regularly cleaned.
·Due to capacity issues in the emergency department at Northwick Park Hospital, patients were still being cared for on trolleys in the corridor which meant private conversations could be overheard.
·At our last inspection we found that the clinical decisions unit (CDU) was being used inappropriately to treat level two patients. Whilst the service assured us that this was no longer the case we did find that the area was being used as overflow for patients requiring inpatient beds and patients within the CDU could be there for over four hours and sometimes up to three days. In children and young people services at Central Middlesex Hospital, staff we spoke with in Recovery Stage One told us that children were cared for in a mixed four bedded recovery bay with adults.
·Staff at Central Middlesex Hospital did not use a nationally recognised tool to identify deteriorating patients, such as Paediatric Early Warning Signs (PEWS) or a validated acuity score system to assess patients. We were told that not all medical staff had European Paediatric Life Support (EPLS) or Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) training. There was no paediatrician available on-site at Central Middlesex Hospital. Staff had to refer to the consultant of the day or week, who was based at a different hospital in the trust. Some staff were not aware of this arrangement.
·Some medicine storage areas did not meet national guidance for security for controlled drugs in the Northwick Park surgical service.
However:
• Mandatory training compliance rates at Northwick Park and Ealing emergency departments had improved. Staff monitored patients who were at risk of deteriorating appropriately.
The Commission fournd 'Outstandin Practice' in Urgent and Emergency Care at Northwick Park Hospital:
In Urgent and emergency care at Northwick Park Hospital-
The department had developed a patient sepsis video for parents whose children attend the paediatric emergency department with a fever or suspected infection. The video was a four minute video aiming to educate parents about the warning signs to look out for sepsis.
The department had done a rotational shift with the local mental health trust. The purpose of this was for staff to get an ideas how the other service was run, learn and share knowledge and understanding to improve the way they worked together.
Brent Council is going to set up a Climate Assembly following its declaration of a Climate Emergency. It has launched a website to collect residents' views on what can be done in the borough. Comments on link below should be sent in by November 17th. There were only 66 comments at the time of writing.
How can we work together to limit climate change and its impact while protecting our environment, our health and our wellbeing? Consider the council, businesses and organisations, individuals.
Have a read of how councils, businesses and other organisations, and individuals can help limit climate change and its impact and then let us know what you think at the bottom of this page.
Climate Action at Home:
There are 121,250 homes in Brent, of which 41% are owner occupied, 37% private rented and 22% social rented. These contribute 43% of Brent’s carbon emissions. 72% of these emissions are from gas and 27% is from electricity use. Carbon emissions from households in Brent fell by 35% between 2005 and 2017. Save energy by switching off lights and appliances when not in use and reduce, reuse and recycle your waste. If you are lucky enough to own your own home and want to reduce your carbon emissions, you could:
Check your loft and cavity walls are properly insulated
Look into installing solar panels
Consider replacing gas boilers and hobs with greener alternatives
Install a water butt. Use the rain you collect to water your plants, clean your car and wash your windows
Household lifestyle decisions can also make a big difference to carbon emissions. Walking, cycling or using public transport instead of using a car will reduce transport related emissions and improve local air quality. What you eat, buy, wear and the choices you make about flying all have a big impact - more about these in the About the Climate Assembly section.
Climate action in my neighbourhood:
In our neighbourhoods other sources of carbon emissions include buildings such as businesses, institutions and schools. These non-domestic buildings in Brent account for 34% of our emissions, 61% of this from electricity use 30% gas, and 9% other fuels.
Carbon emissions from non-domestic buildings in Brent fell by 41% between 2005 and 2017. The council is currently exploring how it can increase its support for businesses and other institutions to help them reduce their emissions and to help grow the green economy in Brent. Low energy lighting, insulation for older buildings, renewable energy systems, community energy projects and zero carbon new development can all help reduce carbon emissions at a neighbourhood level.
Road transport accounts for approximately 23% of the carbon emissions in the Borough. Reductions to transport emissions also have a major positive impact on local air quality via non-climate related emissions such as nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. Driving less by walking, cycling and taking public transport more often is the best way to reduce your carbon emissions.
Climate Action by the Council:
Our council buildings, street lighting and vehicle fleet contribute just 1% to Brent’s overall emissions. Our Civic Centre is one of the greenest buildings of its type and we have the most energy efficient street lighting in London. We are reviewing our fleet to see how we can lower emissions from our vehicles.
CO2 emissions from the council’s non-housing estate and operations have seen a reduction of 56% from April 2010 to March 19. Our target is to reduce by 60% by 2021 and we are assessing how we can achieve net zero carbon by 2030.
FoE are doing surveys of LAs and the key issues that they have identified for Brent are:
1. Tree cover. As a built up area we have challenges with this. At the moment we have 3% tree cover. The best result for a comparable area is 13%. In Greater Manchester they are doing a survey of all existing trees and identifying every potential site for planting more. Worth looking into what they are doing and seeing if we can do the same.
2. Transport. Planning with TFL for integrated public transport beyond the tubes. How do we reduce car use and the space taken up by cars? This is often a precondition for increased cycle use. Can we try out "mini Holland" schemes like those in Walthamstow - which have reduced car use in residential areas and not had a displacement effect onto main roads. Can we roll out School Streets more broadly? Currently 68% of commuter journeys are by public transport. can we get that up to 80% by 2030?
3. Housing. At the moment 41% of Brent homes are well insulated. The private rented sector is likely to be the main problem here and this will require national legislation for minimum standards - which will require a change of government. Can the council work with the GLA to retrofit existing social housing and build new council housing to passivhaus standards on the model of the RIBA award winning Goldsmith St development in Norwich? Fitting solar panels and heat pumps at the same time would help generate more renewable energy - and - because they are right there - cut out the waste involved in transmission through the grid. If there is a change of government this will be financed through the Green Industrial Revolution programme.
4. Renewable energy. Brent currently has 3 megawatts of renewable energy available. The best similar local council areas have 28 megawatts. What are they doing and how could we do it? Can we make sure that all public buildings are insulated and fitted with renewable energy? Schools could be particularly important here as an exemplar.
5. Waste. 37% of household waste in Brent is reused, recycled or composted. Litter is one of the most visible expressions of a wasteful society with no collective self respect. The key thing here is to reduce the materials at source - so there's less of it to start with.
6. Education. We need a review of the national curriculum to make it fit for purpose in retooling society to combat climate change. That requires a change of government and/or a massive campaign to that effect. The LA can help by organising cross borough insets on different aspects of sustainability education that can be built into the limited curriculum we have now. A review of apprenticeships available in the borough, so there are more on the skills we need to make the transition.
The east side of the subway, with new illuminated panels and one mural scene displayed, 5 Nov. 2019.
Guest post by Philip Grant
I have written a number of guest blogs about the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals in the past year, including one saying ‘now you see them, soon you won’t.’ LINK For those who are interested, I am trying to get Quintain and the Council to let you see at least some of the murals for a few months during Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture 2020.
Last weekend, I wrote to Quintain’s recently appointed Cultural Director for Wembley Park Arts, Josh McNorton LINK, setting out my suggestions for how the murals (or full size images of them) could be put on display. To make this happen would involve working with the Council, so I have now sent a pdf copy of my letter to Brent’s Chief Executive, Carolyn Downs, with copies to the Lead Member for Culture, the Artistic Director for LBOC 2020 and other officers and councillors who should be interested. This is my letter to Josh McNorton:
(I believe that the photograph of the east wall murals, on page 3 of my letter, is the work of local photographer Amanda Rose.)
In my email to Ms Downs I have said:
‘As you are aware, from previous discussions with representatives of Wembley History Society, the murals are a Council-owned public work of art, specially commissioned for the subway between Wembley Park Station and Olympic Way in 1993. They colourfully celebrate a wide range of sports and entertainment events held at the stadium and arena. They are a heritage asset, reflecting the cultural history of Wembley Park, which deserves to be seen again by residents and visitors during our year as London Borough of Culture.
I hope that you will forward this email and attachment to the officers and councillors who need to be involved, and encourage them to work with Wembley Park Arts / Quintain to ensure that the murals are displayed during 2020, and that the Council and LBOC 2020 actively publicise when they will be on display, so that as many people as possible can enjoy seeing them.’
The mural scene showing footballers and the old ”twin towers” stadium is now back on display, after six years of being covered-up. That will be of interest to thousands of fans coming to the stadium for Euro 2020 matches and other games, but there is far more to Wembley Park’s sports and entertainment heritage than just football.
I know that there are a number of Brent councillors who would like to see all, or at least as many as possible, of the tile murals displayed next year. I hope that they will use their best efforts to ensure that this happens. But whether we will see the tile murals again for a time during 2020 remains an open question
Emma Wallace, the Green Party candidate for the marginal Harrow East constituency has withdrawn her nomination. The controversial Conservative and Modi supporter, Robert Blackman, is the Conservative candidate in a three way contest with Pamela Fitzpatrick, Labour and Adam Bernard, Liberal Democrat. This is tonight's statement from Emma:
The reasons I have chosen to stand down in Harrow East include this being a unique, snap General Election where tactical candidacy withdrawal in a number of constituencies has been necessary. This is not part of the 'Unite to remain' Green Party, Lib Dem and Plaid Cymru electoral pact. As Harrow East has been identified as one of the 44 key marginals, with only 1700 between the current Conservative incumbent and Labour in the last election, I do not want to split the left vote further. With Nigel Farage announcing the withdrawal of half of his Brexit Party candidates to ensure a Conservative majority, it is even more important that the left work together to prevent the hard right takeover of government.
Bob Blackman's divisive stance and appalling record of voting, including the rejection of measures to tackle climate change, being against gay and human rights, not supporting fair increases in welfare benefits and voting for reducing central funding for local government, with Harrow being one of the worst cut areas, we believe we give voters the best opportunity to vote against him through the withdrawal of Green candidacy.
Whilst there are a number of differences between the Labour party and the Green party, we believe Pamela Fitzpatrick is a progressive voice, one that is committed to working with the local Harrow East community and standing up for all their best interests. We hope to work with her towards securing proportional representation and the implementation of a Green New Deal. Until we have a fair electoral system, where individual votes truly represent what people vote for, we are required to participate in such tactical practices.
William Relton making the case for the Green Party in Willesden Green
My name is William Relton. I am honoured and delighted to have been selected as the candidate for the Green Party in Brent Central. This really is the most important election for decades. The timing is not right for a proper General Election on the broader issues concerning most people up and down the country, which is how a General Election should work. This election will be forever remembered as the Brexit election. Just as Caroline Lucas has been campaigning ever since the ’16 referendum, we really should have had a proper People’s Choice referendum before this election. However, Parliament, or at least the two largest parties, has decided that we should have an election now, so here we are.
This will be a very important election for the smaller parties. People have really begun to realise that our two party, first past the post system, just doesn’t work anymore. A total reform of our electoral system is urgently needed. A vote for the smaller parties is a step in the right direction towards Proportional Representation, a system that the vast majority of modern democracies use. The Lib Dems are still badly tainted by their record in the coalition government with the Tories. A vote for the Green Party will help support a movement for a fairer, cleaner, happier Britain. Please do vote for me, William Relton, Green Party, Brent Central on December 12.
Secondary school teacher Simon Rebbitt
My name is Simon Rebbitt. I am a secondary school teacher of History and Geography and the Green Party’s candidate for Brent North. I have lived in Brent for the last ten years and have taught in comprehensive schools in this community all that time. The things that are important to me I believe are important to all of us: the huge rents that stop people moving onto the property ladder, the general cost of living and especially transport costs. They affect me and they affect you too. First and foremost, as the representative for Brent I would want to make sure these concerns are known in Parliament.
As a Green Party member, I care about the environment yes, but then again, I haven’t ever met anyone who doesn’t. We all want a healthy world we can leave for our children. That doesn’t mean banning all cars or forcing everyone to become vegans, it means finding workable solutions that can make us make positive changes to our lifestyles. But right now, the biggest distraction is Brexit. The leave result was a crude answer to a complicated set of problems championed by pandering politicians looking to advance their careers at the cost of everybody else. I first joined the Greens when I saw how impotently Corbyn tried to oppose the Leave campaign. The Green Party opposes division, it stands for unity, for the planet and for its people. I stand with them and for Brent now and for the future.
John Healy, a disabled pensioner living in a Brent Council property on the South Kilburn Estate has found himself without heating for a week. Both Brent Council and Vaillant Boilers failed to look after his well-being after his boiler broke down last Friday. He is still waiting for the repair. John told Wembley Matters:
My boiler broke down last Friday night and Brent's engineer said I needed a new pump. He told me I had to contact the Council on Monday which I did.
Vallant who supplied my boiler made an appointment for me last Wednesday but they never showed. They made another appointment for today but they failed to show up again.
I visited the Kilburn HUB on Wednesday saying I wanted to make a complaint against the Council but they told me I could not make one.
I rang the Council around 4pm the same day (Wednesday) but again they said I could not make a complaint against the council but I could make one against Vaillant.
I have asked Vaillant twice to send me a copy of their complaints form but they have not sent it to me. Instead they are trying to put the blame on me by suggesting that my hearing impairment is the problem.
So today I made an on-line complant to Brent Council.
In conclusion, I am a disabled pensioner who needs his home to be warm and going without any heating or hot water for over a week has made me ill.
UPDATE via email from John sent at 18.27 (2 hours after this story was published and tweeted)
Oakray have offered me an appointment for next Monday morning and they say they have their own parking permits for the council car park next to my block.
Still that will be 10 days without any heating or hot water but hopefully it will not be for any longer.
