Harrow Monitoring Group

Harrow council budget, opposition concerned

Harrow council cabinet has recently approved raising Council tax by 4.99% in the coming year.
The opposition Labour group is concerned that “this will take the total increase in Council Tax until 2027 up to 20% since 2023”.
Furthermore, along with the stakeholders in the voluntary sector, the opposition group has opposed the proposed £1.3m cuts, stressing the “huge impact” on vulnerable groups.
“This cut has received overwhelming opposition from the local voluntary sector, including Citizens Advice Harrow and even Council frontline staff have argued that this budget could increase poverty, neglect, deprivation, and mental health issues” said Cllr David Perry, leader of the Labour group.
He has urged the council to reverse the cuts to most vulnerable families, who will be negatively impacted by this budget.
Regarding the impact of the financial decisions on vulnerable in the borough, Cllr David Ashton, lead executive member for the finances, said:
“We are protecting those in the vulnerable category. We are also establishing a £250000 hardship fund to assist those in particular need”.
He informs that they are facing huge increases in the Adult social care area and Homelessness. Both are statutory requirements.
“Labour shout about council finances and the council tax support scheme and yet meanwhile the Government cuts winter fuel payments with no equalities impact review or consultation” he added.

Guidance for Harrow mayor’s charity seen inadequate!

UPDATE: Despite pointing out the requirement to display the charity number of the mayor’s charity is not being met, we don’t see the display of the London’s Community Kitchen charity number 1198839 on their website https://www.londonscommunitykitchen.co.uk/ nor on the Harrow mayor’s webpage at https://www.harrow.gov.uk/elections/mayor-harrow/2 (as of 16/12/2024 10.10pm – later our intervention worked and on 02/01/2025 London Community Kitchen charity number 1198839 appeared on the mayor’s page) – our readers wonder why not?
Why not let the donor to the Harrow mayor’s charity know that they are funding a registered charity?
They also seek clarification of a further confused situation where the Harrow mayor’s charity on his webpage is London Community Kitchen, which when searched takes to a London’s Community Kitchen, a registered charity.
Is the London Community Kitchen a registered charity? Would the mayor’s charity funds go to London Community Kitchen bank account or to London’s Community Kitchen account, or both labels are the same and have the same bank account?
More evidence is emerging about the quality of the guidance given to the mayor regarding his selected charity.
In the public interest, Harrow mayor’s charity fund regime must be seen being transparent.

Harrow mayor Cllr Salim Chowdhury, a hotelier by business and introduced as the ‘Harrow’s first British Bangladeshi Mayor’ by the Harrow council, has selected London Community Kitchen that provides ‘free or affordable food’, his charity for 2024-25.
Our attention was drawn to the Harrow mayor’s charity appeal page at the Harrow council website that shows no charity number for the mayor’s charity. Neither the display of the London Community Kitchen charity number could be seen on the charity’s website. (screenshots at the end, and more to come).
The Harrow council legal professionals would know that charity law requires publicising the charitable status of a registered charity, making sure that the charity number and name is displayed on the charity’s documents and website, so that members of the public are clear that they are dealing with a charity. Not only this but the charity number enables to find about the trustees, financial standing of the charity etc – google blessing! (The Charity Commission encourages the public to report any irregularities.)
In the public interest, we enquired from the Harrow council (a) whether Harrow council, like many other councils, has published criteria for the Harrow mayor’s chosen charity, particularly that it must be a registered charity, and confirmed so by a council officer (b) charity number of the mayor’s selected charity London Community Kitchen.
After days (most probably waiting for a circular from the mayor’s office), Harrow Monitoring officer said, “it is a charity “LCK” – charity number 1198839”.
Why the London Community Kitchen charity number 1198839, known to the mayor’s office, has not been displayed on either on the mayor’s page on Harrow council website or on the London Community Kitchen website (screenshots as of today 12/12/2024 6pm)?
What was asked in (a) above has not been answered.
Because of all this, it is reasonable to sense that the council guidance for the mayor charity is inadequate, as is the transparency of the Harrow mayor’s charity appeal.
Hope the council would helpfully address the above inadequacies, and cultivate good understanding that the mayor’s office is a respectful office.
Screenshot12122024

Christine Bednell, well-reasoned Harrow politician, will be missed

Harrow councillor Christine Bednell, a calm and well-respected Conservative politician, died on 3rd December 2024.
The council meeting, on 19 July 2018, awarded Honorary Freedom of the Borough (‘Freedom of Entry to the Borough’) to councillor Bednell.
Presentation of the Scroll was to mark the appreciation of the forty-seven years service by councillor Bednell to the London Borough of Harrow.
Since the creation of the London Borough of Harrow in 1964, no other councillor has given such long and diligent service. Those that the council previously conferred Honorary Freedom of the Borough upon included Horace Cutler (1977) and the late Sir Roger Bannister (2004).
Miss Bednell, a Conservative councillor for Stanmore (1986-2018), was first elected to the council in 1968 from the then Wealdstone North ward.
She was Harrow deputy mayor in 1985 and mayor in 1986 and served on various council committees including Cabinet and held the Portfolios for Children’s Services.
During her councillorship, Christine Bednell ceremonially unveiled Katie statue, a Harrow Town Centre icon, in May 1987.
Previous Harrow councillor Husain Akhtar, coordinator of the Harrow Monitoring Group who worked with Cllr Bednell at various levels since 1984, said “Christine was a pleasant, well-reasoned and friendly past colleague. Her wisdom and calm approach to even difficult socio-political issues was remarkable. Christine will be missed”.

Planning supremo Harrow councillor’s 25 years on the council recognised

Councillor Marilyn Ashton received a presentation marking her 25 years on the council at the council meeting on 28 November 2024.
First elected to the council in 1998, Stanmore councillor Marilyn Ashton, deputy leader of the council and planning and regeneration executive at the Harrow cabinet, has served on various council committees and panels as well as represented the council on numerous outside bodies, but her particular focus has been on planning with measurable achievements.
As the chair of the Harrow planning committee and lead Member for the town development work, both in the pre-2010 Conservative administration and now, Cllr Ashton has provided skilful and challenging leadership. Few examples are:
Pre-2010: Dandara 19-storey town centre development plans to build blocks of flats at the old post office site in College Road Harrow were rejected because of scale, mass and bulk of the development, blocking picturesque views of St Mary’s Church.
Despite toxic public objections and design complexity, the planning application for the Salaam Centre in North Harrow, which has cutting edge design to create unique architectural landscape in Harrow, progressed well at the planning committee chaired by Cllr Ashton, and was eventually granted permission.
[Recently, the Salaam Centre has won the Best Future Design at British Beacon Mosque Awards 2024]
Now: wisdom in understanding the difficulties in the completion of the Safari cinema site development after the previous builder ‘went broke’ before completion which could have left the project “derelict”, and therefore agreeing the changes to the original plan under Cllr Ashton leadership has enabled the project to complete.
[The original art-deco exterior of the former Safari Cinema has been restored and its original name, Dominion, will be used when it reopens – the Dominion Cinema first opened on Station Road in 1936]
The current planning and development challenges for Cllr Ashton include to accomplish the regeneration of key council-owned sites in Harrow as well as the housing and industrial development plans which Cllr Ashton describes as “an important step in ensuring Harrow’s future growth is balanced, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of our residents”.

A Harrow community centre design wins award

The Salaam Centre in North Harrow is the Winner of Best Future Design at British Beacon Mosque Awards 2024.
The centre, a unique architectural design and project in Harrow, has been awarded the prestigious award in celebrating the centre’s innovative approach to creating a multi-faith community space that harmoniously blends Islamic architectural heritage with contemporary British design.
Salaam Centre2

The project, at the cost of about £27m (mostly community donations), when completed, would be the remarkable fulfilment of the leading trustee Dr Nizar Merali’s over 20 years dedication and hard struggle.
The award recognises the centre’s pioneering vision of what a modern Muslim community space can be – a cultural embassy that welcomes people of all faiths while making a bold architectural statement. The centre is committed to architectural excellence and community integration.
Previously speaking, Ali Mangera of Mangera Yvars Architects, explained the philosophy behind the project: “In the UK, mosques should be seen as embassies to a faith, and as such they need to provide ‘architectural outreach’ and to create buildings that inspire and contribute to the cityscape while providing an inviting spiritual home open to all, regardless of faith.”
The planning application for the centre helpfully progressed during the Cllr Marilyn Ashton’s pre-2010 chairmanship of the planning committee.
“I remember deferring the decision, as the initial officers’ recommendation was to refuse. Then it returned a while later recommended for grant and was then approved” recalls Cllr Marilyn Ashton.
“I am delighted that this has won a design award, and that I was able to play my part in the approval of the planning permission,” said Cllr Ashton, chair of the Harrow council planning committee and deputy leader of the council.

Harrow petition to prevent Harrow deputy mayor becoming mayor next year

A recently launched change.org petition to the Harrow council asking to ‘Stop Cllr Anjana Patel from Becoming Mayor of Harrow in 2025’, is gathering signatures.
[the petition could have been sent to the Conservative group on the council, who appoints their mayor by a majority vote]
“Cllr Anjana Patel through her actions has shown that she is not suitable to fulfil the responsibility of civic leadership and community representation and does not promote unity and community cohesion within the Borough of Harrow” says the petition.
The petitioners regard the office of the Mayor of Harrow an essential one for the mayor being an ambassador for the borough, representing the values of the community, democracy, and the council. They say that ”Cllr Patel’s documented views stand in direct opposition to these values, and we do not believe she can fulfil the role of Mayor in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and fair to all residents”, drawing attention to her social media links.
There is no example of such a petition regarding a civic position in the Harrow borough’s 59 years history.
Also read: Harrow deputy mayor “disrespectful” at the council meeting
The live petition is at https://chng.it/69HkwFqsNH

Harrow deputy mayor “disrespectful” at the council meeting

“It is not uncommon for Councillors to be interrupted and heckled during speeches. During my own contribution to the meeting, I was interrupted at various times” reports Cllr David Perry, leader of the Labour group on the council, after the council meeting on 23rd October 2024.
But “following the meeting, I received verbal complaints from three past Mayors of Harrow who raised the disrespectful and inappropriate behaviour of the Deputy Mayor during proceedings by heckling and banging the Mayor’s gavel on the bench” Cllr Perry said.
From 2.40.51 to 2.41.09 the timeline of the council meeting shows the deputy mayor’s disrespect and an overreaching of her duties, undermining the mayor’s role.
There is nothing to suggest that Cllr Anjana Patel was cautioned for her out-of-order conduct by the mayor sitting next to her.
Civic responsibility like the deputy mayor of the Harrow council is a respectable role to be carried out in a dignified manner, where the deputy only has a civic and legal status in the absence of the Mayor.
“I hope the Deputy Mayor will reflect on this behaviour and ensure in future the position she holds is held to the highest standards in public meetings” Cllr Perry said.
Councillor Anjana Patel, deputy mayor selected by the Conservative group for the year 2024-25, is likely to progress to become the mayor the following year, and could do with good training for respecting her office and all in the borough, given her previous conduct:

New evening parking charges in Harrow ‘selectively’ introduced

Harrow council meeting on 23 October received a 2,374 signatures petition opposing the council’s plans to remove evening free parking from the council car parks in Harrow & Wealdstone Town Centres.
Those concerned about the plans, articulate that the ‘selective’ arrangements have damaging implications for the nighttime economy in their areas.
They say that the wards like Pinner (represented by the leader of the council), and Hatch End (represented by the previous leader of the Conservative group) have been spared similar nightly parking charges.
In spite of intermittent public address system at the meeting, the parking issue led to a lively exchange between the Conservative and Labour groups when Chris Purdue, a mainstay of Harrow’s nighttime economy, wanted to but was not allowed to make a statement to briefly convey the depth of feeling in the local community about these new charges, despite the Labour leader Cllr David Perry’s plea to allow the statement.
Later, Cllr Perry said: “I was frankly disgusted by the treatment of Chris Purdue by Tory Councillors at full council. The council funding exists to continue to provide parking in Harrow and Wealdstone town centres, just like they do across the Borough, and for the Tory council to refuse to acknowledge 2,374 local businesses, customers, staff and residents clearly shows that the Tories have turned their backs on local businesses and treated them disgracefully”.
“For the leader of the council to refuse to allow local businesses to address a public meeting is extremely concerning, and the opposite of the council’s promise to put resident’s first” he added.
In response, Cllr Marilyn Ashton, deputy leader of the council, said: “Harrow Labour’s sudden conversion to supporting free parking can only be described as insincere and cynical”, because when Labour was in power, they voted down Conservative budget amendments in 2021 and 2022 which would have introduced one-hour free parking”.
Harrow now has one-hour free parking across the borough, much welcomed by the local businesses.
“All petitions are presented and debated under the same set of rules, rules which have been in place with cross-party support for many years. It would not be fair on residents who have presented petitions in the past, or to residents who will present petitions in the future, if the Council tore up the rule book just for this one petition” Cllr Marilyn Ashton said, and assures that they respect and value engagement by and contributions from members of the public during Council meetings.

Ring-fence School Streets income

Harrow Council is currently undertaking trial schemes of the School Streets through the TfL’s 3-year funding programme which involves temporary road closures for streets outside selected schools during drop off / pick up hours, with access restricted to authorized vehicles.
The opposition Labour group supports the scheme due to the health benefits and easing the congestion around schools, but have voiced serious concerns about the potential use of CCTV hidden, without adequate notice, to “penalize” residents. [36 cameras for 18 sites at £20k per camera plus ongoing maintenance £4,282 per annum per camera].
The group’s greater concern is the excessive income targets that this scheme will actually see a yearly increase in revenue, from £180,000 in the first year to a staggering £810,000 in the third, mostly by using automatic number plate recognition cameras to enforce School Streets.
“As mentioned last year, the council are continuing to install widespread CCTV cameras to fine residents in these areas, unnecessarily penalising residents for the sake of hitting a financial target. I raised this issue at Cabinet this week, but my concerns were shrugged off by Conservative councillors who have clearly put their excessive income targets before residents” says Cllr David Perry, leader of the Harrow Labour Group.
But Cllr David Ashton, cabinet member responsible for the finances, asserts that “the proposals are designed to enhance safety” and the income figures are not part of the decision to proceed, which was purely safety and air quality based.
The School Streets report also says that the road traffic is the primary source of nitrogen dioxide and fine particle emissions, and that the proposed programme of School Streets will improve air quality.
Strange that the council so concerned about the impact of traffic on the air quality sought judicial review before the London mayor election 2024, to challenge London mayor’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion to help clear up London’s air*.
The judicial review was not successful, £150,000 taxpayers money wasted and the London mayor Conservative candidate, also a Harrow councillor, was rejected by Londoners.
Harrow tried the School Streets Scheme at few schools before but in 2022 Harrow Council decided to permanently remove the Marlborough School Street due to the enforcement issues after a public consultation in that year.
The expectation is that this scheme would be fairly enforced, and the money generated from it would be ring-fenced for increased ‘lollipop people’, green screens and playground planting, and a digital and real world awareness-raising campaign to encourage active travel and discourage idling at school.
* Ultra Low Emission Zone play in Harrow

Some disables have limited access to Harrow council webpages

Harrow council website is less disability friendly for some as ‘accessibility’ is failing to meet all website regulations, so we hear.
Concern is that disabled people with weak eye-sight, partial blindness, colour blindness, deafness and those depending on hearing could find themselves unable to access vital services and digital information.
The accessibility page on the council website informs partial or non-compliance in a number of areas:
Some images do not have a text alternative. Therefore, people using a screen reader cannot access the information.
Some maps are hard to navigate for screen reader users. Some website element colours do not currently adhere to the colour standards, and some of the PDF content on the website is not fully readable.
The council says that “We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website” but we could find no instructions or interactive commands to change colours, contrast levels and fonts, zoom in, navigate most of the website using just a keyboard, navigate most of the website using speech recognition software or to listen to most of the website using a screen reader. The video streaming for the public has no captions for deaf people.
While a browser’s settings on a device could help, but this is not the answer where the device has multiple users or the user lacks software knowledge.
Wonder what stops the council making its website fully compliant with the A, AA, AAA, the three levels of conformance in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities, and to provide instructions or interactive commands for all disabled people to benefit from the website contents.
In responding, Harrow council said, “We have been working hard on improving accessibility of the website over the past 3 years, which is a challenge with a website the size of harrow.gov. We are now over 95% compliance with A and AA WCAG guidelines and are continuing to work hard, particularly on the accessibility of Pdf’s”.