Agenda item
Questions from the Opposition and other Non- Executive Members
Questions to be put to members of the Cabinet in accordance with standing order 40.
Minutes:
Councillor Davidson stated that all Brent Conservatives - both within and outside the Council - welcomed the 37% fall in job seekers allowance claims (JSA) from 9,640 in 2010 to the latest figure of 6,060; also welcome was the consequent record level of employment in Brent. He asked if Councillor Butt welcomed this and if he would join in congratulating those Brent residents who had now found jobs for themselves and their families as a result of the Government's long-term economic plan? Councillor Butt replied that he was glad to acknowledge the achievements of the Council in working and delivering for local residents. The regeneration, employment and enterprise teams were working with the borough’s major employers through skills and employment courses, trainee programmes, apprenticeship schemes and Wembley Works all helping to make sure that local residents were getting into employment.
Councillor Colwill asked how much the Council had paid out to top up the housing support scheme for those not able to pay their full rent? Councillor Pavey responded that the question asked was not the one given notice of and so he undertook to arrange for a written reply to be sent to Councillor Colwill. In response to the question he had given notice of, which asked how much the Council expected to receive in 2015/16 in extra council tax payments from the new homes built across the Borough and from the projection of the future builds, or those in the process of being built, Councillor Pavey replied that it was anticipated that the Council would get an additional £0.5M Council Tax in 2015/16 from the construction of new housing and the same again in 2016/17. Over two years this would lead to an increase in revenue of more than a 1% increase in Council Tax which showed that building new homes was not just socially good but financially sound as well.
Councillor Shahzad stated that Northwick Park hospital had seen the longest waiting times in London for patients with the most severe conditions and asked if this was categorical evidence that the NHS was facing a crisis. Councillor Hirani replied that he agreed that the NHS was at crisis point and referred to waiting times at Northwick Park Hospital A&E continuing to be the worst in the country. He stated that more puzzling was that with the changes to urgent care and the triage system there were actually fewer individuals going though the A&E casualty unit as more people went to urgent care centres. His thoughts were with the dedicated NHS workforce who had gone through a tough top down re-organisation that was not wanted or needed. He added that what was needed was the whole person care alternative proposed by the Labour Party.
Councillor Southwood referred to the Government announcement that it was to cease all support to the most vulnerable members of the community by abolishing Local Welfare Assistance from April this year. She asked which Brent residents would suffer the most from this decision and what steps the Council was taking to protect them? Councillor Mashari replied that the scrapping of local welfare assistance formed part of the Government’s assault on the provision of help and assistance to the most vulnerable members of the community. Many authorities would feel the impact and instead of scrapping in-work benefits the Government could help incentivise employers to pay the living wage. The Council had budgeted to continue to deliver the present scheme for the current year so as to avoid any sudden withdrawal of assistance and would be carrying out a fundamental review of the scheme alongside the Council Tax Support Scheme to maintain a safety net as far as the Council could. She added that the suggestion by Government that the impact could be covered by the Council’s general budget given the scale of cuts the Council faced was simply ludicrous.
Councillor McLeish submitted that the regeneration of Harlesden town centre was really improving the appearance of the local area and asked for confirmation of when the scheme would be complete and when the Jubilee Clock would be returned to its rightful place at the heart of the community. Councillor Crane replied that work on the Harlesden Town Centre regeneration scheme started in May 2013. It was a £4M programme designed to make Harlesden a more pedestrian friendly environment and followed extensive consultation. The Jubilee Clock was to be relocated a few metres from its original location on 7 February 2015. The clock dated back to 1887 and had been completely renovated. Councillor Crane was impressed with the scheme but acknowledged one or two teething problems especially on introducing the new parking restrictions. The official unveiling of the clock would take place on 14 February between 10am and 4pm. He extended a welcome to all members of the council at the actual unveiling at 3pm to celebrate the job done in Harlesden.
Councillor Dixon stated that 20 million people currently had to wait over a week for a GP appointment and asked if it was agreed that Labour's pledge to guarantee a GP appointment within 48hrs would make a real difference to the health and well being of Brent residents. Councillor Hirani agreed absolutely and referred to his answer earlier in the meeting to Councillor Shahzad. He stated that people could not get an appointment with their GP and this resulted in more people presenting themselves at urgent care centres and A&E units. He stated that this situation was made worse by the top down re-organisation and complicated funding arrangements put in place. The Labour alternative would be to move these arrangements to a local footing.
Councillor Choudry asked if, despite the Government’s assertion that its economic policy had improved the situation in the country, Brent would be facing such a harsh budget settlement if the Government’s economic strategy had not been such a failure. Councillor Pavey replied that if the Government had met its targets to balance the books this year then no further cuts would have been necessary. Instead the Government was borrowing £90B extra this year and making the people of Brent pay the price for this by cutting the Council’s budget by £54M. He stated that the country was subject to the slowest of economic recoveries with real wages falling and whilst there might be a statistical economic recovery, the people of Brent were not feeling it.
Councillor Kelcher stated that the Government had outlined its plans that would take local government spending back to 1930s levels. He asked for an outline of the services provided to Brent residents today which councils did not provide in the 1930s and whether Brent residents would like to return to this level of service provision. Councillor Butt replied that that none of the borough’s residents would want to go back to the 1930’s but public spending was predicted to fall to its lowest level as a proportion of GDP since the 1930’s. He stated that the Government had taken the country backwards by 100 years to the point where the NHS did not exist. There had been a drastic rise in the use of food banks. He expressed a fear of what the Government was doing with the cutbacks on council spending affecting the most needy. Services under threat included children services, health, adults social services, housing and the environmental services. However, as a Labour Administration, the Council was seeking to protect these services for the most needy.