Category Archives: Labour Failure

Brent Labour Council Leader’s final day in office marred by ransacking of Kensal Rise Library

Posted on May 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Councillor Ann John’s final day in office as Council Leader has been marked by Brent Council removing books and computers from the historic Kensal Rise library, so that the council can get ride of the building.

Liberal Democrat council group leader Paul Lorber, who joined protestors outside the ransacked library, said:

This is a kick in the teeth for local residents, who have demonstrated their opposition to Labour’s library closure plan at every opportunity.

It would have been appropriate to pause the process until library campaigners had a chance to meet the new council leader, Muhammed Butt. Inevitably this will lead to speculation that Ann John and libraries portfolio holder James Powney wanted to empty the library and get rid of the building quickly to make any change in policy as difficult as possible.

Despite explicit assurances from All Souls College that it was open to the idea of members of the community providing library services at Kensal Rise library, Labour councillors have up to now been determined to see the end of book borrowing at Kensal Rise and rejected the well thought out bid from local residents to run the library at no cost to the council. Because of restrictions imposed when the land was donated, the building valued at £772,034 will transfer to All Souls College for free.

Sarah Teather MP and campaigners outside Kensal Rise Library before Labour's closure.

Sarah Teather MP and campaigners outside Kensal Rise Library before Labour’s closure.

Sarah Teather, Member of Parliament for Brent Central, has expressed her disappointment at Brent Council’s decision to clear Kensal Rise Library building of books and IT equipment today.

Commenting, Ms Teather said:

This is another sad day for Brent’s libraries. Campaigners have tried to work with officials to keep Kensal Rise library open, but have been ignored at every turn.

Labour leaders need to remember who they are supposed to be working for.  They must stop removing books immediately and talk to campaigners and local residents before it’s too late.

Councillor Butt has to get a grip of this matter if he wants to show that he can make a difference as Leader of the Council.

Kensal Rise library was erected on land provided by All Souls College Oxford using funds contributed by Willesden Urban District Council taxpayers, a donation from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and public donations. The terms of the land transfer meant that the land could be used to provide libraries for ever for the benefit of local people.

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Posted in Campaigns, Labour Failure, Libraries

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Labour gives away buildings worth £1.5m for nothing

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 Comment
Lib Dem GLA Leader Caroline Pidgeon, Brent and Harrow campaigner Charlotte Henry and Councillor Paul Lorber joined library campaigners at the Kensal Rise pop-up library

London Assembly candidates Caroline Pidgeon and Charlotte Henry show their support for Kensal Rise library campaigners.

Labour Leader Councillor Ann John and her Labour Executive have been accused of giving away two taxpayer paid for buildings worth £1.5 million without lifting a finger to prevent their loss.

The transfer of Kensal Rise Library and Cricklewood Library to All Souls College has deprived the local community of facilities valued at £1.5m by Brent Council officers. According to the report presented to the Executive on 15 November 2010 (section 4.2) Kensal Rise Library has a building market value of £772,034 and Cricklewood Library has a value of £724,765.

The buildings were erected on land provided by All Souls College Oxford using funds contributed by Willesden Urban District Council taxpayers, a donation from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and public donations. The terms of the land transfer meant that local people could use the land to provide libraries for ever for the benefit of local people.

Despite explicit assurances from All Souls College that it was open to the idea of members of the community providing library services from the two buildings under the umbrella of Brent Council, the Labour councillors responsible for closing half of Brent’s libraries have been determined to see the end of book borrowing at Kensal Rise and Cricklewood.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Paul Lorber outside the closed Cricklewood Library

Labour councillors rejected proposals to keep Cricklewood Library open and involve the community in running the service.

Labour councillors refused to respond positively to the well thought out bid from local residents to run their own Volunteer Library at no cost to the Council. As a result assets worth in excess of £1.5 million were lost to the Brent community and reverted back to All Souls College – not to mention the damage done to the community by the closure of the libraries.

The loss of these two buildings is massive blow to the people of Kensal Rise and Cricklewood and a massive financial loss to the Council. I wonder if the Labour Councillors would have given up so easily on buildings worth more than £1.5 million if it was their own money at stake?

said Liberal Democrat council group leader Paul Lorber.

This is yet another example of Labour’s waste. The council is still paying the £55,000 per year rent due on Neasden Library and the costs of rates and security at other empty library buildings in Brent.

ENDS

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Posted in Labour Failure, Libraries

Labour shuts down Streetwatcher scheme by stealth

Posted on March 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Liberal Democrat councillors have sounded the alarm over the abolition of the popular StreetWatchers scheme – which involved local people volunteering time and effort to report issues on the streets of the borough in an effort to keep Brent’s streets clean.

The scheme has been quietly abandoned by Brent’s Labour-run council, despite the fact that the streets are dirtier than ever following Labour’s street cleaning cuts.

There has been no public announcement of the end of the scheme. Indeed the StreetWatcher webpage at www.brent.gov.uk/streetcare2.nsf/pages/lbb-120 was advertising for new streetwatchers as recently as Tuesday 20 March and was only taken down after the Liberal Democrats expressed our concerns.

Councillor Gavin Sneddon, who represents Willesden Green, discovered the scheme had ended after being contacted by a local resident keen to take part because of her concern about the state of local streets.

Cllr Ann Hunter and Cllr Gavin Sneddon discuss local issues

Cllr Ann Hunter and Cllr Gavin Sneddon

He said:

The council can get more done with the help and participation of local volunteers than it can do alone. Streets in Willesden Green and across the borough are crying out for a bit more care and attention. The council has abandoned its eyes and ears in the community. This is an admission that Labour’s street cleaning cuts have left the council unable to keep our borough clean.

Councillor Daniel Brown, who was responsible for the StreetWatchers scheme when the Liberal Democrats ran the council and helped the scheme celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2009, said:

For twelve years the StreetWatchers scheme has helped the council identify problems and respond to them. Labour’s street cleaning cuts mean that rubbish is being left lying in our streets for ever-longer periods. It’s time for the serious action plan which the Liberal Democrats have been calling for. This will put right the mistakes that the Labour administration has made.

Councillor Daniel Brown and other local residents celebrate the 10th anniversary of the streetwatcher scheme in 2009

Councillor Daniel Brown (brown jacket) and streetwatcher volunteers celebrate the 10th anniversary of the popular streetwatcher scheme

 

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Posted in Campaigns, Clean Streets, Community, Environment, Labour Failure

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Dollis Hill voters give verdict on Brent library cuts and Labour’s waste

Posted on March 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

Alison Hopkins, Liberal Democrat councillor for Dollis HillBrent’s newest councillor Alison Hopkins has thanked Dollis Hill residents for their support and for electing her to Brent Council yesterday.

Humber Road resident Alison Hopkins triumphed by 37 votes in the highly marginal Dollis Hill ward, which has been a Lib Dem / Labour battleground for the past ten years.

This is the first Lib Dem victory against Labour in the capital since the General Election in 2010. The Liberal Democrat majority increased from 27 votes in 2010 to 37 votes yesterday (on a lower turnout).

Victorious new Liberal Democrat councillor Alison Hopkins said:

It is clear that a huge number of Brent residents are still very angry at Labour’s decision to force through the closure of half of our libraries in the face of massive public opposition. They are fed up with the increased rubbish on the streets and the overflowing bins caused by Labour’s decision to target cuts at street cleaning. It’s time for the Labour politicians who run Brent Council to start listening to local people.

Now I have a seat in the council chamber I will use it to continue to argue the case for local libraries anc cleaner streets. I will speak up for the thousands of local residents and children who have lost out because of Brent Council’s refusal to listen.

I want to thank my fellow Dollis Hill residents for the warm welcome I received throughout the campaign, and everyone who voted for and helped me.

Dollis Hill has been hit hard by the Labour Council’s library cuts. When Labour councillors voted to close six of Brent’s twelve libraries last year, two of them (Cricklewood and Neasden) served local residents.

Alison Hopkins and Cllr Javaid Ashraf collecting petition signatures with other campaigners outside Neasden library

Alison Hopkins has a track record of campaigning for the local area. She has worked hard to challenge Labour's library closures.

The newly elected councillor collected hundreds of signatures protesting against the library closures last year. Neasden Library currently stands empty at a cost to Brent taxpayers of around £70,000 per year, as the council is unable to hand back the lease of the rented building until 2022.

The unpopular Labour council has also come under fire for its cuts to front-line services, such as street-cleaning, wasteful spending, and its refusal to listen to local residents.

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Posted in Campaigns, Clean Streets, Elections, Labour Failure, Liberal Democrats, Libraries

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Vote Alison Hopkins in Dollis Hill today

Posted on March 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Residents in Dollis Hill are going to the polls today to elect a new councillor, following the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Alec Castle. The election campaign has been a two-horse race between campaigning Dollis Hill resident Alison Hopkins and Brent Council’s Labour administration’s candidate.

It’s clear that the Conservative and other candidates can’t win. Polling stations are open until 10pm this evening (Thursday 21 March) at:

  • CDO1 and CDO 2: Kingfisher Youth and Community Centre, Crest Road, NW2 7LG – map
  • CDO3:Our Lady of Grace RC Junior School, Dollis Hill Lane, NW2 6HS – map
  • CDO4: Our Lady of Grace RC Infant School, Dollis Hill Lane, NW2 6EU – map

You don’t need your polling card to vote. If you have a postal vote and have not sent it back, you can take it to any of the polling stations listed above or to the Town Hall.

Alison Hopkins

Alison Hopkins, Liberal Democrat candidate for Dollis HillAlison has lived in Dollis Hill for over 55 years. She has a long record of campaigning for local people. As the Neasden representative of the Brent SOS libraries campaign she has fought the Labour Council’s plans to close half the libraries in Brent, including in Neasden and Cricklewood.

She is campaigning against the Council’s slashing of the street cleaning budget that has seen rubbish pile up in Dollis Hill’s streets and she has taken a stand against the Labour Council’s frittering away of thousands of pounds on luxury hotel away-days and expensive meals, money that could have been used to keep the libraries open and the dumped rubbish off Dollis Hill’s streets.

Published and promoted by R Wharton 19 Roe Lane London NW9 9BH on behalf of A Hopkins (Liberal Democrats) 9 Humber Road London NW2 6EH. Printed (hosted) by Automattic, Inc. 60 29th Street #343 San Francisco, CA 94110-4929 United States of America

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Posted in Clean Streets, Elections, Labour Failure, Liberal Democrats

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Brent Council seeks to pull wool over Secretary of State’s eyes on library figures

Posted on February 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Councillor Paul Lorber, Liberal Democrat Group LeaderCouncillor Paul Lorber, Brent Liberal Democrat Leader, has challenged the Brent library figures on which the Secretary of State for Culture relied when deciding not to order an inquiry into Brent Council’s library closures.

According to a letter [PDF] sent to Brent SOS libraries campaign by government lawyers, the Secretary of State doesn’t need to intervene because:

Brent Council have confirmed that the figures they hold for library visit numbers for December 2011 and January 2012 show substantial increases in visits to the six remaining libraries – as compared with figures for the same months for the previous year.

However figures uncovered by Councillor Lorber show that overall library usage has dropped by nearly 20,000 visits a month. It is not clear whether Brent Council shared these figures with the government before the Secretary of State made his decision.

Month

2010/11

2011/12

% change

actual change
October 2011

156,274

131,396

-15.9%

-24,878
November 2011

137,746

113,448

-17.6%

-24,298
December 2011

107,888

100,020

-7.3%

-7,868
January 2012

129,064

109,911

-14.8%

-19,153
 

 

average

-13.9%

-19,049

Councillor Lorber has written to the Secretary of State setting out his concerns about the evidence used by the Secretary of State to justify his decision.

He said:

The Secretary of State is relying on flawed evidence to justify his reluctance to get involved. Brent Council appears to be trying to pull the wool over his eyes by claiming that library usage in Brent has increased.

Tragically the facts show otherwise. Since Labour closed half of our local libraries far fewer local residents are visiting, studying and enjoying their local library service.

Councillor Lorber has also expressed concern that the Secretary of State quotes Brent Council’s claim that opening hours at some libraries have increased while failing to take into account thefact that overall opening hours have decreased from 544 hours per week to 349 hours a week (8 hours of which are unstaffed).

You can read a copy of Councillor Lorber’s letter to the Secretary of State here Letter to Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP – February 2012 [PDF].

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Posted in Campaigns, Labour Failure, Libraries

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