Agenda item
Questions from the Opposition and other Non- Cabinet Members
Questions to be put to members of the Cabinet in accordance with standing order 40.
Minutes:
Councillor Kelcher referred to the Kensal Rise Library building and asked if the community could be congratulated for their work and Council could be updated on progress on when there would be Brent’s first community library on the site and if there was any information about the plaque commemorating Mark Twain’s visit which was previously removed by the Council. Councillor Denslow replied that it was a mark of local communities fighting for their services and that the Council would look at how it could assist community libraries to get established as well as running first class libraries itself.
Councillor Davidson noted the historic achievement of Harlesden’s James DeGale in becoming the first British boxer to win an Olympic gold medal and a world championship title. He asked why his proposal to award James DeGale the freedom of the borough had so far been ignored. Councillor Butt congratulated James DeGale for his achievement and replied that only the Council could bestow such an honour to any individual and that it would have been more fitting if the matter had been proposed for discussion rather than airing it in public.
Councillor Naheerathan felt it was now more important than ever for tenants to be protected from landlords who set rents unfairly and asked what was being done to protect private tenants’ rights and ensure good landlords were not undermined by bad ones. Councillor McLennan replied that there was an unprecedented demand for housing particularly in the private sector with 35% of Brent’s housing stock in the private rented sector. The Council had successfully introduced landlord licensing requiring minimum standards and inspectors were now enforcing these requirements. The message that Brent had a zero tolerance of poor quality property in the private rented sector was being heard.
Councillor Choudry referred to the upcoming Government Budget and the expectation that it would produce a very hard settlement for Brent. He asked what the worst case scenario might be for the borough over the next 5 years, how this would affect Brent residents and the Council’s ability to provide them with assistance and what strategies the Council would need to adopt to deliver the services needed by local people. Councillor Butt replied that he felt the Government was intent on destroying local government. The financial situation was making it very difficult for Brent but he was confident that the Council could continue to deliver the services that the most vulnerable residents needed, provide sufficient school places and services for the young and elderly. The Borough Plan would provide the strategy for delivering the services needed.
Councillor Colacicco asked if the Council would support and complement the Brent CAD (Community Action on Dementia) and Ashford Place scheme to make Mapesbury a ‘dementia friendly’ ward with initiatives such as slow lanes in shops, a wandering scheme and the dementia cafe. Councillor Hirani replied that he had met with people to discuss how Brent could take action to become a dementia friendly borough. Signage inside the Civic Centre had been improved to set an example to others; the Council was supporting two bids to the Department of Health to fund outreach into communities in multiple languages to spread the message about being dementia friendly, and was funding research on those people living with people with dementia to see what could be incorporated into Council policies to help. Councillor Hirani fully supported Brent CAD making Mapesbury dementia friendly but the Council was committed to making the whole borough dementia friendly.
Councillor Hossain referred to the progress being made in making the former GEC Sports Ground a facility for all the community. She asked if a meeting with Friends of Pellat Ground could be arranged to discuss the outstanding issues to ensure the best possible outcomes for everybody. Councillor Denselow replied that he would be happy to meet with residents and that it was good that ward working had levered in funding for the scheme.
Councillor Colwill stated that Kenton Ward councillors had long reported the increasingly dangerous traffic conditions in Draycott Avenue, Woodcock Hill, Northwick Circle and Dorchester Way because of commuter parking. He asked to meet with the Lead Member to examine the introduction of one hour no parking restrictions in the morning and the evening. Councillor Southwood acknowledged that the problem had existed for some time. She understood that options had been developed for parking controls in the area and would be happy to meet with the ward councillors and residents’ association to discuss the most suitable option.
Councillor M Patel referred to the Prime Minister stating that cuts to the police service had had no effect to frontline services. She said that a very different story was put forward at a recent Safer Neighbourhood meeting in Alperton and asked what was being done to protect local communities from the effect of these cuts. Councillor Denselow replied that there had been significant changes to the way the Metropolitan Police was structured in order to save money. This has led to changes to the safer neighbourhood model so that whilst there were still ring fenced PCs and PCSOs per ward the sergeant post was open to be redeployed to meet more urgent needs elsewhere. The issue had been raised with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner who had admitted the new system was not working as well as it should and Councillor Denselow said he would be happy to raise the concerns of members with the London Mayor. He stated however that it needed to be borne in mind that Brent was still significantly safer than it was in 2011 with crime levels continuing to fall. Good work was being done on dealing with domestic violence and work on dealing with gangs had been praised. Nevertheless a lot still needed to be done and this would be more difficult with less money.