The first event organised by Brent Keep Our NHS Public saw a cross party and non-party group, along with Brent Trades Council,  demonstrate outside the Willesden Centre for Health and Care today.

The event coincided with the 73rd anniversary of the NHS and centred on defending it from privatisation, including the US takeover of some Brent GP surgeries and the potential selling of patient data, and support for the NHS15 campaign for a 15% rise for health workers who have lost 20% of their pay in real terms over the last 10 years.

Apart from fairness to the staff the pay rise is also necessary for the effective running of the NHS , with 100,000 vacancies and 36% of nurses thinking of leaving already impacting on the quality of care.  A significant increase such as 15% would help maintain staff numbers and improve recruitment, leading to a reduction in waiting times for patients and better care all round.

Our NHS as a 'public good' is being undermined in a variety of ways but immediate action on pay would make a considerable difference in  the short and longer term.

Clapping is not enough.

 I am very familiar with residents saying they haven't heard about development plans and consultations in Brent - sometimes only realising something is afoot when building starts. This consultation has had some extra publicity due to the data breach caused when emails were sent in open format, so that everyone's email address could be seen by all recipients. LINK

Often afterwards the Council will give a long list of people written to, web announcements and consultation events. Those I have been to often attract fewer people than the number of developer/council and public relations staff attending.

This plans covers a wide area including industrial sites around Neasden Lane, the side of the railway and eventually the College of North West London site on Dudden Hill Lane. 'Neasden Stations' is a bit of a misnomer as it covers such a big area. It could take a decade to complete.

The Council says the the Draft Neasden Stations Growth Area Masterplan:

 '...Aims to provide at least 2000 new homes and employment and support infrastructure to bring the physical and social-economic regeneration of the area.'

DESIGN OPTIONS VIABILITY REPORT 

LINK TO ON-LINE CONSULTATION
 

Submissions to the Planning Inquiry on the Wembley Park Station/Brook Avenue have a deadline of Thursday July 8th.

The referral to the Planning Inspectorate was made by Robert Jenrick MP, the Communites Secretary, after concern that the Planning Committee's approval decision was unsound as it was alleged to be in breach of Brent Council's own policies. LINK

Local historian Philip Grant has made a detailed submission that you can find below. Click bottom right for a full page view.

 Guest comment piece by Nan Tewari

Questions to Cabinet members from opposition councillors and non-Cabinet members are sometimes worth reading, although there are so few opposition councillors they tend to be 'friendly' questions enabling lead members to showcase their achievements.  These are the questions tabled for Monday's Full Council and the full answers are in the document posted below. Remember click bottom right for full page.

1.    Question from Councillor Parvez Ahmed to Councillor Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader:

Can the Deputy Leader set out what is being done to support those of this borough’s residents whose financial situations have been hardest hit by the pandemic? Likewise, can the Deputy Leader explain what steps this council is taking to help the types of small businesses that local economies like Brent’s depend upon?

2.   Question from Councillor Orleen Hylton to Councillor Krupa Sheth, Lead Member for Environment:

In July 2019, Brent Council declared a climate and ecological emergency and committed to do all in its gift to strive for carbon neutrality by 2030. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current efforts towards recovery, can the Cabinet Member for Environment set out how Brent’s efforts to build back better will help deliver on this borough’s climate commitments?

3.   Question from Councillor Gwen Grahl to Councillor Eleanor Southwood, Lead Member for Housing & Welfare Reform:

Can the Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform update on how Brent has so far delivered on its promise to tackle poverty, in all its forms, as so starkly laid out in last year’s Independent Poverty Commission’s findings.

4.    Question from Councillor Michael  Maurice to Councillor Krupa Sheth, Lead Member for Environment:

From 25 October 2021, the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)is expanding from central London to create a single, larger zone up to the A406 North Circular Road. Petrol cars registered before 2006 and diesel cars registered before 2015 are likely to incur a £12.50 daily charge should they travel into the ULEZ area. This means that Brent residents living north of the North Circular Road with an older vehicle will incur a charge should they use the Household Waste and Recycling Centre situated at Abbey Road. This will impact those on low incomes disproportionately and potentially result in an increase of fly tipping. Will this Council make representations to Transport for London and the Mayor of London seeking an exemption from the charge for Brent residents legitimately using the HWRC. Alternatively, will the Council request that Brent residents living north of the zone be allowed to utilise Harrow Council’s facility at Forward Drive, thus avoiding the requirement to enter the ULEZ area? A map has been attached for further background

https://www.facebook.com/events/339224764333387/

 Statement from Keep Our NHS Public

The Health and Care Bill will be launched this week, as Prime Minister Johnson overrules his new Health Secretary and Covid cases soar. KONP calls for widespread public opposition to the Bill, and for MPs and Lords to vote against it at every opportunity. The Bill will break the national NHS into 42 separate “Integrated Care Systems” (ICS), each with its own tight budget forcing cuts in care. Local NHS provision will be tied to a plan written by the ICS Board, open to the private sector, dragging local authorities into a financial project without real democratic accountability or public control.

The Bill will be promoted as an end to privatisation. It is the opposite, a transition to an unregulated market in healthcare. The Government is responsible for delaying lockdowns in March 2020 and before Christmas, untested discharges to spread infection into care homes, key workers dying without adequate PPE, failure to stop the Delta variant when it first appeared, exhausted and demoralised healthcare staff and150,000 deaths.

Despite this appalling list of errors, it claims the Bill is based on its record of pandemic management and points the way forward for the NHS as a whole. In practice this will mean unbridled collaboration with the private sector, openly celebrated by Matt Hancock before his fall, and certain to be endorsed by former banker and Chancellor, now Health Secretary Sajid Javid, and by the Prime Minister’s NHS advisors including the former CEO of Operose, the UK branch of US health insurance giant Centene, Samantha Jones. Already, some 200 firms, at least 30 of them US-owned and prominent in the health insurance market, are accredited to support the development and ongoing management of ICSs. They include Operose (which now controls dozens of GP surgeries and community services), Optum (owned by the largest US health insurance firm UnitedHealth), IBM, and Palantir.

As money drains from healthcare to shareholders, what will it mean for patients, and for NHS staff whose wellbeing is essential if they are to provide effective care?

For patients:

●more companies given access to confidential patient information, with no clear protection for patient privacy

●more digital services, creating a two-tier health service, depending on whether you’re able to make use of computers or smart phones

●fewer face-to face appointments with GPs, and less chance of seeing the same health worker

●more patient care given by less qualified (cheaper) staff, directed by computers and manuals

●growing expectation that patients will ‘self-care’, using phone apps or websites for advice or information

●more risk that services will be cut or rationed, and non-urgent referrals to hospital delayed or refused because of pressure on ICSs to make savings

●faster discharge from hospital, with family carers expected to take on more unpaid care due to lack of community services

For staff

●threat to national agreements on pay, terms and conditions as each ICS Board will have their own limited budget and seek to cut costs ●flexible working, with staff redeployed across and even beyond the ICS area, undermining team working, union organisation, continuity of care, and bad for the environment with increased travel

●deregulation, as nursing and other jobs are advertised to candidates without the right qualifications

●deregulation, as the Secretary of State will have the power to remove jobs from regulation -supposedly justified by new technology but actually risking harm to patients and interfering with professional judgement and staff development.

For democratic accountability and Local Authorities

● the Secretary of State for Health will assume decision making power to impose local service reconfigurations

● the right and power of scrutiny by local authorities of significant health changes will be weakened or abolished

● the right of access by the public to board meetings and papers may also be threatened

For legal protections

●exempting the NHS from the Public Contract Regulations 2015 will remove the right to reject bids on the grounds of non-compliance with environmental, social, or labour laws (ILO conventions guaranteeing Freedom of Association and the Right to Strike), and on the basis of a bidder’s track record.

During the pandemic, the government dished out over 3000 covid contracts, many of them without tendering, some to companies whose only qualification was being mates with a Minister.

That is the Brave New World the government plans for the NHS as a whole. The threats to staff should ring alarm bells for every trade union with members in the NHS, and the threats to patients should concern us all. Let’s stop this Bill now.

Following the recent  data breach when an email from Brent planning was sent openly to 970 email addresses LINK  that could be accessed by any recipient, the Information Commissioner's Office has given Brent Council 28 days to respond to the complainant, former councillor Alison Hopkins.  She had complained to the ICO that the response to her concerns over the breach were 'wholly  inadequate' when she was told that most of the other 969 recipients were mainly staff or stakeholders and the risk of misuse of her data was low.  The email was about the Neasden Stations Development Plan.

The ICO said:

Accountability is one of the data protection principles and makes you responsible for complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

 

You must be able to demonstrate your compliance to your customer and work hard to promote trust and resolve their concerns without the need for the individual to come to us. The attached document provides more detail about this.

 

As a regulator we look to organisations to effectively manage and resolve the data protection complaints they receive. When your customer comes to us to complain, they are in effect telling the regulator that they believe you are breaking the law. Reports of this kind are something that we will treat seriously and robustly.

 

We do not expect to receive complaints when there is still further work that you can do to better explain the processing in question to your customer, or to put things right when they have gone wrong.

 

We therefore require you to revisit the way you have handled this matter and consider what further action you can now take to resolve this complaint. We expect organisations to deal with the data protection complaints they receive and to proactively work with their customers to provide an appropriate resolution.

 

If you believe that you have complied with the data protection law, you need to explain this in detail to your customer. You also need to be confident that you have done all you can to find an appropriate resolution. If your organisation could have done more to resolve the concern then we expect you to take steps now to resolve the issue with your customer.

Shortly after this breach there was another breach via a  similarly addressed email about the Kilburn Square development LINK.

The ICO's letter reminded me of an incident back in 2017 reported on Wembley Matters LINK.

On this occasion the ICO wrote to the complainant:

You have contacted us to complain that Brent Council appears to have inappropriately disclosed your personal data.

Summary of case

In this case, your email address was cc’d into an email and disclosed to other individuals.

It would therefore appear that Brent Council has breached the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).

Role of the ICO

Our role is to ensure that organisations follow the Data Protection Act 1998 properly. If things go wrong we will provide advice and ask the organisation to try to put things right. Our overall aim is to improve the way organisations handle personal information.

Next steps

Although it appears that Brent Council has breached the DPA, it would seem that this is down to human error, and the ICO does not consider it necessary to take any further regulatory action at this stage.

However, we have contacted the council to advise them of our view. We have also asked that they take the following measures to ensure that similar breaches do not occur in the future:

• To remind all staff to take extra due care and attention when sending emails by double checking addresses and only sending out relevant and appropriate information in future.
• To use the bcc feature when sending emails to numerous individuals with external email domains, to ensure that email addresses are not disclosed to other parties.
• To check that all staff have undertaken data protection training within the last 12 months.
• Inform any other parties whose data may have been inappropriately disclosed in this case.

 

Guest post by Philip Grant

On Sunday (11 July 2021) England will be playing Italy in the final of the Euros football tournament at Wembley Stadium. There is nowhere else in our country more appropriate for this historic match, but why is that?

1. Wembley Stadium and its new steps, April 2021. (Photo by Philip Grant)

One hundred years ago, when the British Empire Exhibition was being planned, the then Prince of Wales, who was President of its organising committee, wanted it to include ‘a great national sports ground’. His wish was granted, and the giant reinforced concrete Empire Stadium, with its iconic twin towers, was built in just 300 days. It hosted the FA Cup final in April 1923, and a year later its first England international football match, against Scotland (a 1-1 draw).

2. The Empire Stadium at Wembley in 1924. (Image from the Wembley History Society Colln. at Brent Archives)

The long-term future of the stadium was in doubt, until it was saved from demolition in 1927 by Arthur Elvin. He ensured that annual events, like the FA Cup and Rugby League Challenge Cup finals were popular days out for spectators, as well as making the stadium pay its way with regular greyhound and speedway racing meetings. Although cup finals made the stadium famous in this country, the 1948 Olympic Games put Wembley on the world map. The Olympic football final at Wembley saw Sweden beating Yugoslavia 3-1, with Denmark taking the bronze medal after a 5-3 victory over Great Britain.

3. An aerial view of Wembley Stadium during the 1937 FA Cup final. (From a 1948 Wembley book)

It was 1951 before the stadium hosted a normal football international match against a country other than one of the home nations (Argentina). Then 1963 saw the European Cup final played at Wembley for the first time (AC Milan 2 – Benfica 1). The stadium was a key part of England’s staging of the 1966 World Cup, including the final, where England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time, to win their only major international tournament (so far).

4. England's 1966 World Cup winning team. (Image from a book, shared by a Wembley History Soc. member)

When Olympic Way was being pedestrianised in 1993, one of the tile mural scenes in the new subway from Wembley Park Station, celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage, was of England footballers at the twin towers stadium. The new structure was named the Bobby Moore Bridge, after England’s 1966 winning captain who had recently died from cancer, and a plaque in his honour, at the centre of the mural, was unveiled by his widow. It should have been unthinkable for this mural to be hidden behind adverts during the 2021 Euros matches. Luckily, that threat was prevented by a campaign which lasted from February to June!

5. England supporters by the footballers tile mural, 7 July 2021. (Photo by Irina Porter)

You will see that one of the two footballers portrayed is black. The artist is thought to have based this player on John Barnes, who played for England 79 times between 1983 and 1995. His family moved here from Jamaica when he was 12, and his talent was spotted by Watford when he was playing for Sudbury Court, in the Middlesex League, aged 17. All of England’s 1966 team were white players, and John Barnes was only the seventh black footballer to represent England in modern times.

It was not until 1978 that Viv Anderson became England’s first modern black player. That same year saw West Bromwich Albion field three black players, something which was so unusual for a top-flight club that they were nicknamed “The Three Degrees”, after a popular female singing trio. Such was the racial prejudice at the time that they suffered terrible abuse from fans of other teams, and from other players. Worse still, this was considered “normal”, and they just had to get on with it, and show that they were not intimidated, by playing even better!

6. Cyrille Regis (left) showing off his England shirt, and Luther Blissett. (Images from the internet)

One of the West Brom trio, who answered the abuse by scoring lots of goals, was Cyrille Regis. This former pupil of Harlesden’s Cardinal Hinsley High School (now Newman Catholic College) played for England five times between 1982 and 1987, and was the country’s third black footballer. The fifth was also a product of the Brent Schools football system, Luther Blissett, who went to Willesden High School (now Capital City Academy). During his long career with Watford, he played fourteen games for England between 1982 and 1984. Brent’s diverse community, which also saw black Council Leaders by the 1980s, was helping to show the way!

Prejudice in football, and generally, was not just a racial problem. In the 1980s, Rachel Yankey was a girl at Malorees Primary School who wanted to play football. As an 8-year old, she shaved her hair, called herself Ray (her initials) and joined a boy’s football team. She was so good that it was two years before they found out she wasn’t a boy! At 16, she signed for Arsenal Ladies, and between 1997 and 2013 she played 129 matches for England (a record at the time for men or women).

7. Rachey Yankey, playing for England (left), and for Team GB at the Olympics. (Images from the internet)

None of Rachel’s England internationals was played at Wembley Stadium, as it was not until November 2014 that it became a venue for “the Lionesses” home games. However, she did grace the Wembley pitch in one of her five games for Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games, when they beat Brazil 1-0 in front of a crowd of 70,584. 

The Bobby Moore Bridge subway, with its heritage tile murals, was created as part of preparations for the Euro 1996 football tournament.  A local player who took part in that was Stuart Pearce from Kingsbury (Fryent Primary and Claremont High Schools). After leaving school at 16, to train as an electrician, he played non-League football for Wealdstone before transfers to Coventry City, then Nottingham Forest. A ferocious left-back, he won 78 England caps (nine of these as captain) between 1987 and 1999.

8. Stuart Pearce screaming with joy after scoring his 1996 quarter-final penalty. (Image from the internet)

One of the biggest disappointments of his career was when he missed a penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against West Germany at the World Cup in 1990. You can see the emotion on his face after he scored a penalty in the quarter-final shoot-out against Spain at Euro 1996, a feat he repeated at Wembley in the semi-final against Germany. Unfortunately, it was his team-mate, Gareth Southgate, whose penalty miss saw England fail to reach the final.

The original 1923 stadium was looking very old in 1996, and it was decided that a new national stadium was needed. Despite strong bids for it to be built away from London, the fact that Wembley was felt to be the home of English football swung the decision our way. The old “twin towers” were finally demolished early in 2003, although we still have a small relic of it. The concrete base of a flag pole, from the top of one of the towers, was donated to the borough by Wembley National Stadium Ltd, and can be seen in Brent River Park.

9. The flag pole base from a Wembley twin tower in Brent River Park, St Raphael’s. (Photo by Philip Grant)

The new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007, with that year’s FA Cup final as one of its first games. Soon afterwards there was a road sign in Honeypot Lane (I wish I’d taken a photo of it) with an image of the stadium arch, welcoming drivers to “Brent – the home of Wembley”. I do have a photo showing the stadium in May 2011, ready for the UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. (Whatever happened to Brent’s planning policy to protect views of the stadium, such as this one from Bridge Road!)

10. The new Wembley Stadium, with its arch, seen along Olympic Way in May 2011. (Photo by Philip Grant)

“Football’s coming home” was England’s theme song for Euro 1996, and 25 years later it is being sung again. Wembley is staging some of the main matches in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, and England, with Gareth Southgate as manager, have at last reached the final of a major tournament (for the first time since 1966)! This time, the England squad (and many of the other teams taking part) is much more representative of the country’s diverse population. 

Once again, there is a “boy from Brent” playing an important part in the team’s success. Raheem Sterling went to Oakington Manor Primary and Copland Community (now Ark Elvin Academy) schools, and could see the arch of the new stadium from his Neasden home. He played his first England senior game just before his 18^th birthday in 2012, and has been a regular team member since 2014, earning 67 caps so far. He has already scored 3 goals in the current Euros tournament, and helped with some of England captain Harry Kane’s 4 goals.

11. Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling embracing, after one of their goals. (Image from the internet)

Their togetherness, and that of the England squad as a whole, is a testament to the character of their manager, Gareth Southgate. Mutual respect, fairness and equality is something that he shows by example. Whereas in the past players might have been punished or excluded for expressing their views, such as Raheem on racism or his team-mate Marcus Rashford on food poverty, Southgate has supported them. Trust in their manager is part of the reason for England’s success.

A change in attitude towards racial prejudice has come about in English football since the 1980s. There are still some idiots who think it’s acceptable to boo players taking the knee, abuse them on social media, or to sing anti-semitic chants, while claiming to be England supporters. Thankfully they are now a tiny minority. 

12. UEFA's Equal Game logo for the Euros. (Image from the internet)

More recently this change has been reflected in UEFA. Their Respect and EqualGame campaigns are promoting inclusion in football, whatever anyone’s race, religion, sexuality, or ability. It is all about the benefits of diversity, something that Brent can show them through our everyday lives and experience. Football has come home, to the right place!

Philip Grant, 9 July 2021.

Footnote on Covid-19: I did not refer to the pandemic in my article, so that it did not distract from my main themes. I realise that fans want to be at Euros matches, and that the atmosphere they create is part of a big occasion. But with Delta variant cases rising rapidly, I think it is reckless for the authorities to allow 60,000 (or more?) spectators into Wembley Stadium. The final will go ahead, with a big crowd, but I suspect that it will prove to have been a mistake. Even if it does not cause more hospitalisations and deaths, it will mean additional cases, and more people suffering from long Covid.

Mee Kuen (Deborah) Chong

Jemma Mitchell, 36 (22.07.84), of Brondesbury Park, Brent, was arrested on Tuesday, 6th July.

She appeared in custody at Willesden Magistrates' Court on Saturday, 10th July.  She will next appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 13th July.

Mee Kuen Chong, 67, known to friends as Deborah, was found in an area of woodland near to Bennett Road in Salcombe, South Devon on Sunday, 27th June.

Mee had been reported missing from her home in London on Friday, 11th June. Her death was initially treated as unexplained with enquiries led by Devon and Cornwall Police.

A post-mortem examination took place at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital on Monday, 28th June. A cause of death has not yet been ascertained.

Mee was originally from Malaysia but had been living in Wembley for over 30 years. Her family has been updated about this development and are being supported by specially trained officers.

With so much negative comment about Healthy Neighbourhoods (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) on social media some Brent residents have hit back with a petition in FAVOUR of them calling on Brent Council to show determination in seeing the policy through.

PETITION HERE

The Petition reads:

Video by Mr Lee Baines LINK

SKY NEWS COVERAGE LINK 

Further videos via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1414316503445483530

https://twitter.com/i/status/1414313656850976787

https://twitter.com/i/status/1414277010743078912

https://twitter.com/Gav_M/status/1414277290775695365

https://twitter.com/dandicker83/status/1414272491699245056

A minority of fans, marred yesterday's Euro2020 Final before the game had even started, by breaching the security and fighting with stewards and each other. The stewards appear to have been left exposed and I hope that none were injured in what appears to be hand to hand fighting. 19 police officers were reported to have been injured in central London and Wembley.

London Football LINK provided the following account this morning:

Arriving at the stadium four hours before kick off it was already clear that the atmosphere, so positive and overwhelmingly friendly up to this point in the tournament, was turning dark.

Instead of spraying beer, unopened cans and bottles were being thrown into crowds. One man near the corner towards Wembley Arena was receiving medical attention after being struck by a missile.

There were two pressure points in terms of forced entries, both entrances just off Wembley Way attacked a little after 6pm. You will have all seen the videos by now - of people breaking through a gate and people already inside trying to force them out, of people fighting over seats inside.

Throughout the game the gangways in the north side of the stadium were jammed with bodies that should not have been there. Several Italians ended up standing on an overcrowded platform intended for wheelchair users because their seats had been occupied. They were eventually relocated elsewhere.

Even deep in extra time there were arguments over people in seats meant for others, the stewards still powerless to do anything and the only police officers in sight protecting the perimeter of the pitch because, well, above all the show must go on.

Outside the Met’s presence appeared greater but still insufficient as they sought to stop any other intruders. Leaving a little after midnight there was a team of dogs with their handlers departing, and rows of officers in riot gear standing amid the broken glass, empty cans and supermarket bags for life as a couple of thousand fans continued to loiter, predominantly in a daze.

There are a host of questions for the local organising committee, the police and security staff to answer. Had they not foreseen this happening? Why were there so few stewards to deal with the mayhem? Why was there not a wider perimeter placed around Wembley to keep ticketless fans further away? Why did the response seem reactive rather than proactive?

Communication, too, was an issue. A stadium spokesperson initially said that no supporter had successfully breached security but that was evidently false as dozens could be seen forcing their way through the turnstiles with ticket holders.

The only seats that appeared empty come kick off appeared to be in the corporate areas and looking at how overcrowded some sections of the stadium was it does not feel a stretch to say it was actually at full 90,000 capacity.

 There is a multi-agency security committee for Wembley Park and Wembley events including the police, Brent Council, Wembley Stadium, Football Association and Quintain.  They will need to consider what went wrong and what needs to be in place in the future to both protect fans and staff as well as the many local residents now accommodated in flats around the stadium.  It is true as some commented on Twitter that residents bought or rented flats knowing that they were next to the national stadium, but they also deserve to be protected from mismanagement of events.

Brent Council has been asked for a comment.

Following yesterday's breach of security at the England-Italy match at Wembley Stadium, Cllr Roxanne Mashari, Chair of Brent Council Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committe,  has requested relevant staff to appear at tomorrow's public Scrutiny Meeting.

In a tweet Cllr Mashari said  that she wanted Brent Council and Wembley Stadium staff to answer questions regarding serious security and safety concerns at the stadium.

Guest post by Pete Firmin, chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants and Residents Association

Yesterday, across North and North West London we had thunderstorms and torrential rain. And the torrential is no exaggeration.

Areas which don't normally experience flooding got flooded. I'm not claiming any special case for the part of South Kilburn where I live, I know that other areas of Brent (and elsewhere) had it worse. But I want to use the opportunity to show the poor response of those who are supposed to react speedily to such events.

Here, water was gushing out of several manholes, so forcefully that it pushed bricks out of the roadway. While some of the kids enjoyed themselves paddling (and even sitting in) the water, many ground floor residents were concerned that the rising levels of water risked entering their flats (and it did in some cases).

So, who do you turn to in this situation?

Thames Water's website says "problems with flooded roads should be reported to your local council." Not much point in trying them then.

Fire Brigade? When I (and others) eventually get through we're told that the London Fire Brigade is overwhelmed with flooding issues and - understandably - they can only come to you if someone is in danger. Luckily, that wasn't the case, but it doesn't help much either.

Kilburn Park tube station was closed due to flooding (as were other stations on the Bakerloo line), but those attending there were London Transport emergency vehicles and staff, so not able to assist us (and probably had their hands full anyway).

Brent Council website said nothing about flooding emergences (it still doesn't), so I text one of our Councillors, telling her briefly of the situation and asking who we should contact. She says to try Brent's out of hours line, which I do. When I eventually speak to someone, I'm told that their emergency out of hours only deals with emergency household repairs, nothing else. Clearly the many other "out of hours" emergencies that can arise are of no concern to Brent. They suggest I contact Thames Water. Pointing out that their advice is to contact the local Council makes no impression.

Yet the Local Government Association's "A Councillor's guide to civil emergencies"LINK says explicitly:

"If a flood happens, all councils as ‘category one responders’ must have plans in place not only to respond to flooding emergencies, but also to control or reduce the impact of a flooding emergency."

Remember when we criticise the government for not having plans in place to deal with the pandemic, despite having carried out an exercise years ago to test readiness? Well, it seems Brent is equally ignoring its duty.

And this document contains much about the authorities responsibilities after the immediate crisis is over. We'll see.

Residents were left to their own devices, clearing blocked drains with brooms, garden forks and even umbrellas. Eventually much of the water recedes, helped by the rain easing off (though not stopping). Some of the problems are clearly caused by the fact that when grass and shrubs are cut back, most of the cuttings are then left to rot. With rain like yesterday's that means they're swept into the drains.

Eventually, after 2230 some of us got a message that we would get a proper response if we rang Brent's out of hours line. It had been taken over by the "emergency response team". Many hours after that should have been speedily done.

The flooding caused an additional major problem - as noted above, the water gushing out of some of the drains had caused bricks in the road to rise. It meant that some cars were unable to get out of their parking spaces, and two roads had bricks strewn over them (see photos). The roads looked both dangerous for vehicles which drove over them and who knows what further damage might be caused to the road. Several people got on to several services, including Brent, to say something needed to be done, possibly closing roads until proper action could be taken. Eventually a team - presumably from the Council - did come and take a look, but did nothing and didn't block the road to traffic.

Even from our small part of the borough, there must be lessons drawn by the Council. Scrutiny might like to look, for instance, at how well Brent dealt with the situation. Not just the immediate crisis, but its aftermath. And once again, Brent made no attempt to contact our Tenants and Residents Association. Surely they should be a source of information, both about the extent of the problem and what needs to be done.

 From the Independent LINK

It is worth reading the above article in full ahead of tonight's Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee. Using an innovation introduced by Committee Chair, Cllr Roxanne Mashari, the Committee will be able to have a preliminary discussion about Sunday's events, under Item 8 : Topical Item.

The meeting starts at 6pm and can be watched live HERE.

Shortly after UEFA announced an investigation into Sunday's events at the Euro2020 match at Wembley, Brent Scrutiny Committee attempted to find out whether Brent Council was going to hold a review of its own responsibilities in the matter.

Committee Chair, Roxanne Mashari, had to repeatedly remind officers that the Committee had a right and a duty to scrutinise these issues in the light of the seriousness of what had taken place. Residents need to be reassured that concerns were addressed and that similar events would not happen again.

In response officers said it was too soon after the event to consider these issues and wanted to wait until Tuesday's meeting with partners in the SafetyAdvisory Group for information that would be forthcoming. The Advisory Group includes the Council, Police, Wembley Stadium and the Football Association. It was evident that Chris Bryant, representing the FA, had been taken by surprise by the UEFA announcement.

Chris Whyte for Brent Council outlined the Council's role and particularly the activities of the Council's two Public Safety Officers who were present before, during and after events to check arrangements both inside and outside the stadium. Such arrangements included how the checking of tickets at turnstiles was managed; management of licensed premises inside the stadium; management of the seating arrangements once the match started; crowd management outside the stadium including the enforcement of Public Space Prohibition Orders over illegal trading, advertising, ticket touting; and working with partners via the Stadium Control Room bringing any incidents to their attention. No councillor questioned whether two Public Safety Officers were sufficient for such a large stadium with 60,000 plus attending.

Whyte clarified it was only the Council's operation plan that he was responsible for signing off, and not those covering policing and stewarding. The plan was forwarded to the CEO and Council Leader. The police and Wembley Stadium made their own risk assessments for specific events and subsequent deployment decisions.

Cllr Hassan wanted to know the terms of reference for any inquiry and what it would cover and whether the Council deployed different numbers for different events. Chris Whyte said it was too early to discuss terms of reference for an inquiry and the Council should wait for the meeting with other stakeholders. The level of resources that the Council had deployed recognised the importance of Euro2020.

Cllr Mashari was frustrated at not being able to get a clear commitment to a public review by the Council itself and her suggestion that the Committee recommend that Tuesday's stakeholders meeting should be held in public was rejected. Cllr Janice Long suggested that this  demand amounted to grandstanding and Mashari should not believe everything she read in the papers. Cllr Mashari said the allegation of grandstanding diminished the seriousness of the incident where people were injured and a tragedy could have happened.

Video Evidence in BBC Newsnight Report HERE

After further discussion when most members agreed to wait for more information, the Committee agreed that information from the Safety Advisory Group, including the Minutes, should be brought to the next Scrutiny Committee meeting and made a recommendation that the Cabinet undertake a public review of lessons learnt from Sunday's incidents.

The leader of the Council, Muhammed Butt, was present latterly during the discussion but did not take part.

Readers of Wembley Matters will be familiar with the name Pete Firmin. Pete has written many guest posts for Wembley Matters, mainly focusing on issues on the South Kilburn Estate where he is active on housing and tenancy issues. His last post was only yesterday on problems over getting help regarding the flooding in the Kilburn area.

Pete has been suspended from the Labour Party for some months, although you would think he is just the sort of committed socialist and grassroots activist that the Labour Party should welcome with open arms.

This letter has just been published by the Kilburn Times LINK explaining the background to his suspension by the Labour Party and the Kafkaesque situation that Pete finds himself in. Putting aside political differences (I am a Green Party member) I would like to express solidarity with Pete and Bridget in their predicament.

THE LETTER

When will the Labour Party Leadership’s purge of Left wing Labour members end?

 

It is now almost eight months since Pete Firmin (the chair) and Bridget Dunne (the vice-chair) of Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency Labour Party (CLP) were suspended from the Party.

 

Pete and Bridget have been given no opportunity to explain or defend themselves. 

 

Pete and Bridget’s only transgression was allowing Hampstead and Kilburn CLP members to debate a motion opposing the withdrawal of the Whip from Jeremy Corbyn. The Hampstead and Kilburn General Committee meeting in November last year, voted for this motion in solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn. The following day Pete and Bridget were suspended.

 

Pete Firmin was suspended from the Labour Party with Bridget Dunne, eight months ago - in taking disciplinary action against two Party members - action that has never been explained legally or made public - the Labour hierarchy have obviously acted against the principles of natural justice. Their decision was secretive, manifestly sectarian and profoundly undemocratic.

 

Using such draconian methods against individuals who were only carrying out the wishes of the Constituency has damaged not only the morale and fabric of the local Party but Labour’s case for fairness.

 

In all the years I have been a member of Labour (including eight years as a Kilburn ward councillor) I have never known the Party to be so authoritarian and undemocratic. Pete and Bridget are dedicated socialists and trade unionists with over 40 years’ service to the Labour Party between them. These are the very people our party needs if we are to defeat Boris Johnson’s ruthless Tory government. But we won’t defeat them by being every bit as dictatorial. 

 

Over 30 members of Hampstead CLP recently submitted a statement to our MP, Tulip Siddiq asking her to support Pete and Bridget’s immediate reinstatement. I urge Tulip to stand by Pete and Bridget. Sir Keir Starmer should start fighting the Tory government and not Labour party members. He should also restore the Labour whip to Jeremy Corbyn.

Angie Birtill, Kilburn, full address supplied