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Showing posts with label committees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label committees. Show all posts
Wednesday 18 May 2022
Two opposition councillors now on Brent scrutiny committees
Full details of Cabinet, Committee chairs and Committee members in the new Brent Council adminstration should be released later today before the Council Annual General Meeting takes place at 5pm. You can view the meeting HERE.
Meanwhile following the election of 5 Conservative and 3 Liberal Democrats the allocation of seats has been agreed and published on the agenda. These are:
There are now single Liberal Democrats on the two key Scrutiny Committees alongside single Conservatives which should strengthen scrutiny if a good working relationship is established. However, Lib Dems are not represented on Planning Committee which given the prominence of a critique of new developments in their election campaign is a pity. They also have one seat on the General Purposes Committee which in the last adminstration consisted of Cabinet members plus one Conservative. That arrangement has been criticised as being a Cabinet committee in all but name, thus centralising power, and it will be interesting to see how that situation developes.
The allocation of Liberal Democrat councillors is:
General Purposes: Cllr Lorber with Cllr Georgiou as first alternate and Cllr Matin as second.
Licensing: Cllr Georgiou with Cllr Lorber as first alternate and Cllr Matin as second.
Resources and Public Realm: Cllr Georgiou with Cllr Lorber as first alternate and Cllr Matin as second.
Community and Wellbeing: Cllr Matin with Cllr Lorber as first alternate and Cllr Georgiou as second.
It is worth noting the difference between allocation of seats in the council as a pecentage of the total and the proportion of the total vote that each part achieved (latter in brackets).
Labour 85.97% (58.60%)
Conservative 8.77% (21.99%)
Liberal Democrat 5.26% (13.52%)
Other constitutional changes are made in the light of the election result. With Liberal Democrats now recognised as a group alongside the Conservatives. Each opposition group will have the right to ask a question at Council and to put a motion.
Monday 23 November 2020
Cllr Kennelly joins Brent Planning Committe, Cllr Saqib Butt nominated on i4B & First Wave Housing Boards
Changes to be voted on at tonight's Full Council Meeting. Cllr Saqib Butt is the leader of the Council's brother.
Wednesday 18 May 2016
UPDATED: Labour rebellion over Principal Opposition designation
Brent Council's CEO, Carolyn Downs, announced tonight at the Brent Council AGM that she will be commissioning an independent person to review the whole episode of Cllr Tayo Oladapo's death going back to January 2016. (This is not the same person as the Council's Independent Person. The reviewer's identity wil be made known in due course.) Any recommendations arising from the review would be brought to Full Council.
Downs outlined the sequence of events that included reports earlier in the year that Cllr Oladapo had gone back to Nigeria, his country of origin. These had not been reported to Council on February 22nd because there was no confirmation that this was the case. There were then reports of his death that could not be confirmed as the Registrar said the death had not been registered. Letters to his address in Harlesden got no response and attempts to contact relatives in Nigeria and the USA also drew a blank.
On the 9th March police were contacted and on 10th March they had confirmed the councillor had died on January 29th. On March 11th his death was announced by the Council. LINK (WM note -The announcement posted by Brent Council on March 11th did not mention the earlier date of death).
Cllr Oladapo's death was not officially registered by his mother until May 11th. Carolyn Downs had then been able to convey her and the Council's condolences.
Councillors from all sides of the chamber paid tribute to Cllr Oladapo. Cllr Stopp was not called but his tribute appears HERE .
Later in the meeting some Labour councillors abstained on a vote to recognise the Conservative Group as the official opposition. This is the group based in Kenton now led by Cllr Reg Colwill. Earlier the Brondesbury Park Brent Conservatives had failed in a bid to occupy the front bench seats currently occupied by the Conservative Group.
A senior councillor told me that the Brondesbury Park Conservatives would make a better, and much needed, Opposition. Apparently some felt that it was an abuse of Labour's huge majority to use it to install a tame opposition that would give the ruling group an easy ride. It was better to leave the seven opposition councillors to decide between themselves. That would of course have Cllr Helen Carr wielding the casting vote..
Abstainers were Cllrs Perrin, Nerva, Collier, Chan, Marquis, Stopp, Long, Thomas, Tatler, Kelcher, Duffy and Ramesh Patel.
Cabinet posts approved were:
Butt (Leader), McLennan (Deputy). Farah (Housing) Hirani (Community Wellbeing), Mashari (Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills, Mitchell Murray (Children and Young People), Pavey (Stronger Communities) Southwood (Environment).
Mashari adds Regeneration to her portfolio while Pavey's post is a clear demotion after his leadership challenge. It is not clear whether McLennan will take on the Finance and Human Resources responsibilities previously led by Pavey.
The key Planning Committee, is still chaired by Cllr Marquis but the membership is relatively inexperienced with the exception of Cllrs Long and Moher. Other members of the Committee are Agha, Hylton, J Mitchell Murray and newly elected Kilburn councillor Pitruzzella.
Joining the controversial Cllr Allie on Standards are Collier, Kabir (former whip) and Krupa Sheth. Collier will have his work cut out to persuade his colleagues to adopt a strong stance in dealing with any referrals. Mandip Johal was recommended for appointment as an Independent Person. The recommendation said that Mandip had over 10 years experience of dealing with professional misconduct complaints within the legal profession.
In an almost one-party Council strong Scrutiny Committees are essential and the memberships announced this evening slightly better than I feared.
The Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee is chaired by Ketan Sheth and other members are Hoda-Benn, Conneely, Hector, Jones, Nerva and Shahzad.
Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny is chaired by Cllr Kelcher. Committee members are Aden, Choudhary, Ezeajughi. Miller, Tatler and M Patel.
Cllr Stopp, previously on the Scrutiny Committee has now relegated to Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing (with Cllr Perrin) and the Trading Standards Joint Advisory Board. Duffy remains out in the cold.
Downs outlined the sequence of events that included reports earlier in the year that Cllr Oladapo had gone back to Nigeria, his country of origin. These had not been reported to Council on February 22nd because there was no confirmation that this was the case. There were then reports of his death that could not be confirmed as the Registrar said the death had not been registered. Letters to his address in Harlesden got no response and attempts to contact relatives in Nigeria and the USA also drew a blank.
On the 9th March police were contacted and on 10th March they had confirmed the councillor had died on January 29th. On March 11th his death was announced by the Council. LINK (WM note -The announcement posted by Brent Council on March 11th did not mention the earlier date of death).
Cllr Oladapo's death was not officially registered by his mother until May 11th. Carolyn Downs had then been able to convey her and the Council's condolences.
Councillors from all sides of the chamber paid tribute to Cllr Oladapo. Cllr Stopp was not called but his tribute appears HERE .
Later in the meeting some Labour councillors abstained on a vote to recognise the Conservative Group as the official opposition. This is the group based in Kenton now led by Cllr Reg Colwill. Earlier the Brondesbury Park Brent Conservatives had failed in a bid to occupy the front bench seats currently occupied by the Conservative Group.
A senior councillor told me that the Brondesbury Park Conservatives would make a better, and much needed, Opposition. Apparently some felt that it was an abuse of Labour's huge majority to use it to install a tame opposition that would give the ruling group an easy ride. It was better to leave the seven opposition councillors to decide between themselves. That would of course have Cllr Helen Carr wielding the casting vote..
Abstainers were Cllrs Perrin, Nerva, Collier, Chan, Marquis, Stopp, Long, Thomas, Tatler, Kelcher, Duffy and Ramesh Patel.
Cabinet posts approved were:
Butt (Leader), McLennan (Deputy). Farah (Housing) Hirani (Community Wellbeing), Mashari (Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills, Mitchell Murray (Children and Young People), Pavey (Stronger Communities) Southwood (Environment).
Mashari adds Regeneration to her portfolio while Pavey's post is a clear demotion after his leadership challenge. It is not clear whether McLennan will take on the Finance and Human Resources responsibilities previously led by Pavey.
The key Planning Committee, is still chaired by Cllr Marquis but the membership is relatively inexperienced with the exception of Cllrs Long and Moher. Other members of the Committee are Agha, Hylton, J Mitchell Murray and newly elected Kilburn councillor Pitruzzella.
Joining the controversial Cllr Allie on Standards are Collier, Kabir (former whip) and Krupa Sheth. Collier will have his work cut out to persuade his colleagues to adopt a strong stance in dealing with any referrals. Mandip Johal was recommended for appointment as an Independent Person. The recommendation said that Mandip had over 10 years experience of dealing with professional misconduct complaints within the legal profession.
In an almost one-party Council strong Scrutiny Committees are essential and the memberships announced this evening slightly better than I feared.
The Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee is chaired by Ketan Sheth and other members are Hoda-Benn, Conneely, Hector, Jones, Nerva and Shahzad.
Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny is chaired by Cllr Kelcher. Committee members are Aden, Choudhary, Ezeajughi. Miller, Tatler and M Patel.
Cllr Stopp, previously on the Scrutiny Committee has now relegated to Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing (with Cllr Perrin) and the Trading Standards Joint Advisory Board. Duffy remains out in the cold.
Sunday 14 June 2015
The 'Tale of Two Tory groups' continues at next Brent Council Meeting
The sllocation of opposition committee places is on the agenda for the next Full Council meeting on June 22nd.
In addition to the 8th Scrutiny Committee place the other positions are:
At the AGM the Council voted to recognise the Conservative Group (three Kenton Conservatiev councillors) as the principal opposition group. They now have to allocate committee places between that group and the Brent Conservative Group (recognised as the official opposition by Conservative HQ and consisting of three Brondesbury Park Conservative councillors).
The Liberal Democrats are not recognised as a group because that requotes two or more councillors and they have only one.
Clearly these 6 places can be divided equally between the two groups giving each councillor a role. It will be interesting to see the distribution of 'compliant' and 'awkward squad' places.
In addition to the 8th Scrutiny Committee place the other positions are:
The Liberal Democrats are not recognised as a group because that requotes two or more councillors and they have only one.
Clearly these 6 places can be divided equally between the two groups giving each councillor a role. It will be interesting to see the distribution of 'compliant' and 'awkward squad' places.
Monday 30 December 2013
How has your Brent Councillor done this year?
The end of the year is a good time to review our councillors' performance. The table below gives an overview of attendance at committees between July 8th and today. Some councillors have many more committees to attend than others and opposition councillors often complain that the present system gives them very little voice (and thus motivation to attend?) when decisions are rubber-stamped by the Labour only Executive and committees with in-built Labour majorities.
The Green Party has policy on this:
The columns below in order list: Name, Party, Number of Required Attendances, Actual Attendances, Percentage Attendance and Additional Attendances at meetings where their attendance is not required. The latter are often meetings where a councillor represents the interests of his/her ward to the committee. Barry Cheese has the best record on that count.
The Green Party has policy on this:
The Green Party believes that local authorities run by single party cabinets, or by directly elected mayors, are not in the best interests of local democracy. They take decision making powers away from councils as a whole and place them in the hands of a few individuals, leading to the disenfranchisement of those councillors who are not in the ruling party and the citizens they represent. We would therefore reintroduce the committee system across local government at all levels, which provides for direct member involvement in decision making.The Greens also have a policy of recall if 40% or more registered electors request it.
The columns below in order list: Name, Party, Number of Required Attendances, Actual Attendances, Percentage Attendance and Additional Attendances at meetings where their attendance is not required. The latter are often meetings where a councillor represents the interests of his/her ward to the committee. Barry Cheese has the best record on that count.
Lab
|
12
|
9
|
75%
|
2
|
|
Lab
|
2
|
2
|
100%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
9
|
7
|
78%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
5
|
3
|
60%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
12
|
12
|
100%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
6
|
5
|
83%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
5
|
4
|
80%
|
0
|
|
Con
|
10
|
5
|
50%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
3
|
2
|
67%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
2
|
1
|
50%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
15
|
8
|
53%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
14
|
13
|
93%
|
2
|
|
LD
|
6
|
6
|
100%
|
10
|
|
Lab
|
9
|
8
|
89%
|
8
|
|
Lab
|
9
|
8
|
89%
|
6
|
|
Lab
|
11
|
9
|
82%
|
2
|
|
Ex
LD
|
5
|
0
|
0%
|
0
|
|
Con
|
9
|
7
|
78%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
15
|
13
|
87%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
11
|
11
|
100%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
6
|
5
|
83%
|
3
|
|
Lab
|
16
|
11
|
69%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
10
|
10
|
100%
|
1
|
|
LD
|
5
|
2
|
40%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
19
|
16
|
84%
|
2
|
|
LD
|
12
|
11
|
92%
|
6
|
|
Lab
|
10
|
10
|
100%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
15
|
11
|
73%
|
1
|
|
LD
|
12
|
11
|
92%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
12
|
11
|
92%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
10
|
8
|
73%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
9
|
5
|
56%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
11
|
9
|
82%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
10
|
8
|
80%
|
0
|
|
Con
|
6
|
5
|
83%
|
0
|
|
LD*
|
16
|
13
|
81%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
5
|
3
|
60%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
10
|
10
|
100%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
9
|
7
|
78%
|
6
|
|
Lab
|
17
|
12
|
71%
|
1
|
|
LD
|
6
|
2
|
33%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
12
|
12
|
100%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
14
|
12
|
86%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
21
|
20
|
95%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
3
|
3
|
100%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
9
|
6
|
67%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
2
|
1
|
50%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
4
|
4
|
100%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
3
|
3
|
100%
|
1
|
|
Con
|
4
|
4
|
100%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
12
|
3
|
25%
|
1
|
|
Con
|
14
|
11
|
79%
|
4
|
|
Con
|
7
|
6
|
86%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
11
|
8
|
73%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
17
|
15
|
88%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
12
|
9
|
75%
|
0
|
|
Con**
|
2
|
2
|
100%
|
1
|
|
Lab
|
18
|
12
|
67%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
6
|
5
|
83%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
9
|
7
|
78%
|
0
|
|
LD
|
3
|
1
|
33%
|
0
|
|
Mayor
|
2
|
2
|
100%
|
0
|
|
Lab
|
11
|
8
|
73%
|
1
|
* Defected from Labour to Liberal Democrat
** Defected from Liberal Democrats back to Conservative
Clearly committee attendance is only one measure and the amount of casework and how much of it is successful is important as well as the degree of visibility and engagement of each individual councillor with their residents.
Please note some of these non-attendances may include illness. Apologies for absence are included on the Council website - click on councillor's name.
Please note some of these non-attendances may include illness. Apologies for absence are included on the Council website - click on councillor's name.
Wednesday 15 May 2013
New Committee Chairs and members for 2013-14 approved at Council AGM
Brent Council's Annual Meeting this evening was enlivened by some well-deserved Community Champion Awards which went to a very representative range of Brent's diverse community. Lincoln Beswick, in an often emotional speech, nominated Bobby Thomas as Brent's first Mayor of Jamaican origin. The significance of the occasion was marked by the presence of the Jamaican High Commissioner and even more by the crowd which came forward to record the moment on cameras and mobile phones.
Otherwise the evening was marked by a considerable amount of mutual political grooming on the last occasion in which the meeting will take place at Brent (formerly Wembley) Town Hall. The move to the Civic Centre will take place in mid-June.
The Executive and Committee positions were confirmed and the members of each of the main committees is recorded below. The political balance is shown in brackets (Labour/Lib Dem/Conservative). In addition there are first and second alternates. Full details will be on the Council's website.
GENERAL PURPOSE (6/3/1)
Butt (Chair), Hirani, Mashari, J Moher, R Moher (VC), Pavey, Brown, Hopkins, Lorber, Kansagra
SENIOR STAFF APPOINTMENTS SUB-COMMITTEE (3/1/1) Important in light of senior officer restructuring)
Butt (Chair), Denselow, R Moher (VC), Lorber, Kansagra
PLANNING (7/3/1)
Aden, John (VC), Kabir, Kataria, Powney, Ketan Sheth (Chair), Singh, Cummins, Hashmi, CJ Patel, Baker
ONE COUNCIL OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
Chohan, Harrison, Long, Mitchell Murray, Powney, Ashraf (Chair), Lorber, Colwill (VC)
BUDGET AND FINANCE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
S Choudhary, Kataria (VC), RS Patel, Ketan Sheth, Van Kalwala, Brown, Hopkins (Chair), HB Patel
CALL-IN OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
Daly, Jones (VC), Kabir, RS Patel, Krupa Sheth, Ashraf (Chair), Lorber, HB Patel
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (5/2/1)
Aden, Al-Ebadi, Arnold, Gladbaum, Mitchell-Murray (Chair), Matthews (VC), CJ Patel, Kansagara
(There are also co-optees and observers on this comittee)
HEALTH PARTNERSHIPS OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
Daly (Chair), Harrison, Hector, Hossain, Ketan Sheth, Hunter (Vice Chair), Leaman, Colwill
BRENT CONNECTS FORUMS - Chairs
HARLESDEN: Hector
KILBURN AND KENSAL: Oladapo
KINGSBURY AND KENTON: RS Patel
WEMBLEY: Krupa Sheth
WILLESDEN: Jones
Otherwise the evening was marked by a considerable amount of mutual political grooming on the last occasion in which the meeting will take place at Brent (formerly Wembley) Town Hall. The move to the Civic Centre will take place in mid-June.
The Executive and Committee positions were confirmed and the members of each of the main committees is recorded below. The political balance is shown in brackets (Labour/Lib Dem/Conservative). In addition there are first and second alternates. Full details will be on the Council's website.
GENERAL PURPOSE (6/3/1)
Butt (Chair), Hirani, Mashari, J Moher, R Moher (VC), Pavey, Brown, Hopkins, Lorber, Kansagra
SENIOR STAFF APPOINTMENTS SUB-COMMITTEE (3/1/1) Important in light of senior officer restructuring)
Butt (Chair), Denselow, R Moher (VC), Lorber, Kansagra
PLANNING (7/3/1)
Aden, John (VC), Kabir, Kataria, Powney, Ketan Sheth (Chair), Singh, Cummins, Hashmi, CJ Patel, Baker
ONE COUNCIL OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
Chohan, Harrison, Long, Mitchell Murray, Powney, Ashraf (Chair), Lorber, Colwill (VC)
BUDGET AND FINANCE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
S Choudhary, Kataria (VC), RS Patel, Ketan Sheth, Van Kalwala, Brown, Hopkins (Chair), HB Patel
CALL-IN OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
Daly, Jones (VC), Kabir, RS Patel, Krupa Sheth, Ashraf (Chair), Lorber, HB Patel
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (5/2/1)
Aden, Al-Ebadi, Arnold, Gladbaum, Mitchell-Murray (Chair), Matthews (VC), CJ Patel, Kansagara
(There are also co-optees and observers on this comittee)
HEALTH PARTNERSHIPS OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (5/2/1)
Daly (Chair), Harrison, Hector, Hossain, Ketan Sheth, Hunter (Vice Chair), Leaman, Colwill
BRENT CONNECTS FORUMS - Chairs
HARLESDEN: Hector
KILBURN AND KENSAL: Oladapo
KINGSBURY AND KENTON: RS Patel
WEMBLEY: Krupa Sheth
WILLESDEN: Jones
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