Tag Archives: Festivals

No money for festivals but Brent Council finds £60,000 for its own event

Posted on August 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Liberal Democrat Councillors have renewed their call for Brent Council to support community festivals after uncovering plans to spend £60,000 of public money on “infrastructure” for an event lasting less than one day in September.

Last year Labour Councillors scrapped grants for community festivals such as Eid, Navratri, Christmas and St Patrick’s Day claiming lack of money. It now turns out that the council will spend tens of thousands of pounds erecting marquees in Gladstone Park for its own “Brent Celebrates a Golden Summer” one day event on Sunday 9 September.

 Two years ago the Council spent around £100,000 on a one day Respect Festival attended by only 2,000 people because of bad weather.

The decision to spend large sums of money on tents and stages while destroying community organised Festivals has been criticised by Councillor Paul Lorber, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Brent Council.

He said:

Local community organisations were angry when Labour Councillors decided to scrap long-standing support for their community festivals. They will be furious that the Labour Council claimed lack of money to justify cutting St Patricks’s Day, Navratri, Eid, and Christmas celebration but then found £60,000 to bankroll just one Council event.

It just shows how out of touch Labour Councillors are. 

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Brent’s Labour Leader challenged on festival cuts at community event

Posted on July 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Local residents told Brent Council’s Labour Leader to think again about Labour’s decision to cut funding to community festivals when they met him at a cultural event last Friday (6 July) organised by the Hindu Council.

The event in Wembley attracted representatives from dozens of community groups. Speeches at the event were dominated by the future of Brent’s Navratri celebrations which the Labour Council stopped supporting last year.

 A year ago (18 July 2011), under the leadership of former Labour Leader Councillor Ann John, the Council decided to scrap support for community festivals including Christmas, St Patrick’s Day, Eid and Navratri. Instead Labour Councillors decided to revamp the Council’s own Festival Unit and spend money only on their own festivals.

Labour’s unpopular decision has been challenged by various groups. Campaigns to reinstate support for St Patrick’s Day, Navratri and other community festivals continue. Last year the local Hindu community presented the Council with a 6,000 strong petition in support of Navratri.

Councillor Paul Lorber and members of the Hindu Council with a petition signed by 6,000 residents

6,000 residents signed a peition against Labour’s decision to cut support for Navratri in Brent

Subsequently Brent’s Labour councillors voted to ditch Cllr Ann John and elect Muhammed Butt as their new leader. Despite the fact that he voted in favour of cutting support for festivals when the decision was made, many residents affected hope the change of leadership will lead to a new approach.

 Liberal Democrat Group Leader Paul Lorber who attended Friday’s event and spoke in favour of the Festivals said:

Brent’s Labour leadership made a big mistake in stopping support for festivals supported by the community while deciding to spend taxpayers’ money on the Council’s own events.

It is arrogance on the part of Labour Councillors to think that they know better than local people which festivals are important. Grants for popular community festivals should be reinstated and the Council should spend less on its own events.

Cllr Muhammed Butt also refused to provide any assurances about support for community festivals when questioned on the issue by Cllr Paul Lorber at Monday’s (9 July) Brent Council meeting.

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Festivals not bureaucracy demand Brent Liberal Democrats

Posted on November 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

At this week’s Brent Council meeting Liberal Democrat leader Paul Lorber called for the Labour-run council to spend scarce taxpayers’ money on direct support for community groups – instead of subsidising an expensive council-run Festivals Unit.

Councillor Paul Lorber and members of the Hindu Council with a petition signed by 6,000 residents

The local Liberal Democrats believe community groups that want to hold local festivals and community events can deliver more for local people than a central bureaucracy at the Town Hall.
 
The call for a rethink follows a decision by Labour Councillors to cancel support for the celebration of long standing festivals in Brent, including Christmas, Eid and Navratri. At the same time the council is paying for a Festivals Unit which costs £120,000 to run yet spends just £197,000 delivering events.

Liberal Democrat council group leader Councillor Paul Lorber said:

It is financial madness for the council to spend such a high proportion of its events budget on staffing and overheads. For every £5 the council spends directly on events, it spends another £3 maintaining its Festivals Unit. £120,000 spent by community organisations on community events could lever in an enormous amount of voluntary effort and matching funding.

The Council should back local residents to organise their own festivals and events – instead of diverting spending to unnecessary bureaucracy.

Councillor Lorber points out that the council already has a Grants Unit responsible for the distribution of money to local groups, which could manage applications from community organisations which want to organise traditional events.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Council should place more emphasis on cutting waste and becoming more efficient in order to make savings and protect local services such as libraries and school crossing patrols.

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Brent festivals decision reveals Labour confusion over grants

Posted on August 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

At Brent Council’s Call-in Committee meeting last week (3 August) Labour backbench councillors voted to endorse the Executive’s decision to remove funding from Navratri, Eid, St Patrick’s Day, Diwali, Christmas festive lights and other festivals in Brent.

Lib Dem Leader Paul Lorber receives Save Navratri petition from local residents

Lib Dem Leader Paul Lorber challenged Labour's plans to withdraw support from community festivals and events

Leading Labour councillors gave conflicting reasons for their decisions, with some saying it was all about money, some claiming that the council would be breaking the law if it continued to support the event, and some simply being hostile to the idea of events linked to particular faiths.

Liberal Democrat Leader Paul Lorber, who led the challenge to Labour’s decision said:

Labour’s arguments don’t stack up. The council could find money to support these popular community-organised festivals if it switches some funds from the extravagant council-run events it is planning and the expensive staff unit which will organise them.

If Labour’s argument about the new equalities laws is correct other council-funded services with links to faith- and culture-based organisations are at risk. I am seeking clarification about the impact on other council grants.

Once again Labour is making decisions without thinking through the consequences.

Paul told the the Wembley Observer:

We had a lengthy debate but the Labour members were clearly whipped. There could still be an opportunity to instigate debate on this decision again in the future, when the council comes to announce its budget. It’s very disappointing but we have not given up all hope as yet.

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Last chance to save Navratri, Eid, St Patrick’s Day and Christmas celebrations in Brent

Posted on July 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Liberal Democrat councillors have put pressure on Brent Council’s Labour leadership to think again about their decision to cancel support for Navratri, Eid, St Patrick’s Day, Christmas and other celebrations next year.

Lib Dem Leader Paul Lorber receives Save Navratri petition from local residents

Lib Dem Leader Paul Lorber is campaigning against Labour's plans to withdraw support from community festivals and events

They have ‘called-in’ the Labour Executive’s decision for debate at a meeting next Wednesday (3 August).

Following an outcry by local residents Labour has already been forced to delay its plans until April 2012 meaning that Diwali, Fireworks Night, Eid celebrations, Navratri events, and Christmas Festive Lights will go ahead this year.

Now Labour councillor Lesley Jones, who is responsible for the decision, has been called before the council’s Call-in Overview and Scrutiny Committee by the Liberal Democrats. Cllr Jones will be required to answer questions and justify her decision to withdraw support from these popular events from April 2012.

The council’s Labour leadership plans to spend over £300,000 a year running its own events rather than providing financial support to voluntary and community organisations.

Councillors could vote to refer the decision back to the Executive with a recommendation to save Navratri and the other celebrations and spend less on the council’s own events. The meeting will take place in public at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 3 August 2011.

The council claims that new Equalities laws, introduced by the previous Labour government, mean that only secular, non-faith based celebrations should be supported. But there is no evidence that other councils have stopped funding events that have a religious origin.

 Liberal Democrat Leader Paul Lorber said:

 Ann John and her Labour group are hiding behind these changes in legislation to justify taking away support from long-established community events.

 “Most of these events attract support from across the community. The council could save money by redirecting some of the budget it pumps into expensive council-organised events towards these popular community-organised celebrations.

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Liberal Democrats call for unspent festivals cash to be used to save 2011′s Navratri

Posted on July 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

Labour’s confusion about Brent Council’s festivals policy means time is running out to organise the planned programme of festivals and event in Brent. As a result tens of thousands of local residents look set to miss out on Brent’s traditional heritage of community events and activities, including Navratri and the Respect festival.

There is a question over whether the council’s flagship “Brent Celebrates” event which the council planned to organise in place of its support for Chanukah, St Patrick’s Day, Eid, Diwali, Christmas, St George’s Day and Navratri can go ahead because of staff shortages and the limited time left to make arrangements.

Lib Dem Leader Paul Lorber receives Save Navratri petition from local residents

Lib Dem Leader Paul Lorber is campaigning against Labour's plans to withdraw support from community festivals and events

At the same time residents cannot book venues and plan for Navratri until they know whether the council will overturn Labour’s plan to end support for the celebrations.

The crucial meeting is due to take place on Monday 18 July, just days before the summer holidays begin. Many Navratri celebrations rely on being able to book school halls.

Liberal Democrat Leader Paul Lorber, who has backed the Save Navratri campaign and helped deliver the 6,000 strong petition against Labour’s cuts said:

“It seems clear that the council will find it difficult to organise its expensive Brent Celebrates festival this year. As a result tens of thousands of pounds allocated to festivals and events in Brent could be hoarded unspent in the council’s bank account at the same time as local organisations are struggling to deal with the effects of Labour’s decision to withdraw support for their community events.

“Navratri can still go ahead as usual this year if the council agrees to put the money it will save by not being able to organise Brent Celebrates towards the cost of Navratri and other community-run events. We need a decision quickly. Waiting until 18th July could be too late.”

Cllr Lorber has written to the Leader of the Council, Ann John, to ask her to approve the idea.

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