The Jewish Free School in Kenton (marked being in Harrow but under the Brent local authority) is ranked 78 in the table of all 396 UK state secondary schools based on their latest average performance in public examinations (GCSEs, A-Levels, and other exams).
It is 50 in the comparison list of all 396 UK state secondary schools based on their latest A-Level results in 2022. Only Nower Hill (at 226) and Bentley Wood (at 240) from Harrow are on this list.
The JFS has made good progress from the previous Ofsted inspection grade of “Inadequate” to good in April 2022. Inadequate means the school is failing to provide an acceptable quality of education and care for children, and will need to make significant improvements immediately.
The Ofsted inspection found the school senior leaders have well-established and clear expectations for the content and delivery of the school’s curriculum. Leaders, including members of the governing body, have acted swiftly and effectively to address weaknesses identified at the time of the school’s previous inspection.
In the top ten list of the state secondary schools in England, there are only two schools from the surrounding areas, both in the Labour controlled Barnet:
The Henrietta Barnett School: dubbed as one of the “magnificent seven”, the school was founded by Dame Henrietta Barnett in 1911 to improve girls’ education. It has since been recognised year after year as one of the best schools in the country, with high acceptance rates at Oxbridge and top achievements at GCSEs and A-Levels.
Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet: it has been consistently ranked among the top schools in the UK. Queen Elizabeth’s School topped the A-Level league tables for five years in a row, and it is consistently ranked among the top 5 schools in the UK.
Harrow schools once in a prominent place in the comparison tables, have gradually lost their place over the years.

From 1 August, one hour’s free parking is available from Pay & Display machines in the borough. It is not available at council car parks yet.
Before the last council elections, Conservatives promised one-hour free parking, both on the street and at the council public car parks.
However, after acquiring the council administration though they kept the promise of one hour’s free parking across high streets but have deferred free parking at the car parks, subject to the outcome of a feasibility study.
When enquired about one-hour free parking at the council public car parks, leader of the Council, Cllr Paul Osborn assured it is coming by the end of this year.
“While the software change at the street parking meters is easy, technical changes at the  council public car parks need more time” Cllr Osborn explained.
While neighbouring boroughs are reducing their free parking time for residents, Harrow has  extended it from 20 minutes to 1 hour.
The hour-long free parking will give people more time in their local shops, restaurants and cafés without worrying about parking costs.

The newly introduced Harrow Town Centre Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) forbids the town centre activities like amplification of music and voice; placing of tables, chairs, stands and other fixings / furniture on the street and distribution of leaflets.
Failure to comply with a PSPO is an offence and can lead to a summary conviction and fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
All enforcement officers as well as police are authorised to take action under the PSPO (there is no publicity about the role, responsibilities and powers of the Harrow council Environmental Enforcement Officer).
Very disappointing to find small size PSPO notices with small print at less obvious locations in the town centre and could easily be missed. (under this plea by a defaulter, the council is likely to lose a court case). see ‘A’
Well sized notices with good readable size print at a well pronounced spot like below would make more sense. see ‘B’

In setting the Cost of Living Emergency in Harrow Motion at the council meeting this Thursday, the Labour group on the council has highlighted how Harrow and its residents are suffering due to a cost of living crisis:
In the light of the increased energy price cap by 54 per cent, the average standard tariff energy bill will increase by £600+ per year and the average pre-pay meter energy bills increasing by £700+ per year (Ofgem, 2022), they have pointed out.
Recently, the  government increased National Insurance by 1.25%, which is projected to cost the average Harrow family an additional £108 per year.
In June this year, the UK inflation was confirmed at 9.1, the highest rate in 40 years.
The escalating cost of fuel is putting huge strain on local people simply trying to go about their everyday lives. As of 12 July, petrol is at an average of 190.65p per litre, while diesel is 198.42p per litre.
In some petrol stations, filling up a typical family car’s 55- litre fuel tank with petrol now costs £104.86 on average, while it costs £109.13 to do so with diesel.
The Government has suspended the pensions ‘triple lock’ for 2022/3, meaning that Harrow’s pensioners will see a rise of 3.1 per cent this year (instead of 8.3 per cent under
the triple lock formula). This year, this will cost a Harrow pensioner on the full new state pension an average of £487, and on the full basic state pension an average of £373 (TUC, 2022)
In 2021/22 Harrow foodbanks have handed out food parcels to thousands of residents on a weekly basis, many of whom are families with children. This continues to get worse.
The recent ‘Covid Additional Relief Fund’ (CARF) and ‘Household Support Fund’ (HSF) is just not adequate for the needs of Harrow families and businesses. Many will not even qualify for the schemes.
The proportion of people living in poverty in Harrow is 23%.
Very odd that while the Tory leadership candidates have clashed over cost of living during TV debates in a point-scoring, little mention of how the cost of living crisis that hit different groups of people differently, would be meaningfully addressed.

An hour free car parking: before the council elections, Conservatives promised one-hour free parking, both on the street and at the council public car parks.
After acquiring the council administration, they informed an hour’s free parking is coming this summer across high streets but have deferred free parking at the car parks, subject to the outcome of a feasibility study.
Further to this, a One-Hour Free Parking reserve has been established to fund the 2022-23 implications of the free parking initiative, but not clear whether this is just for on street parking, or for the street and council car parking both.
Potholes: the council to consider creating an in-house pothole service to improve the management and repair of potholes across the borough.
The council officers have asked to delegate authority to the director of environment to commission the study from external consultants at a cost of approximately £50k. £50k of the ratepayer’s money!!
On average, the council receive 578 enquiries from highway inspections and 492 from customer enquiries, bringing the total potholes reported per annum on average to 1,070 –  the average time taken to complete a pothole repair from inspection / notification is 4.5 days.
Improving the customer experience: the council admits many residents have felt that the council was unresponsive when trying to access services, offering little information and showing little empathy to their issues, often applying a ‘computer says no’ response. The council needs to strengthen residents’ trust by ensuring timely and effective responses, seamless customer journeys, a positive experience and ensuring a right balance between digital with more traditional channels.
Harder for residents to contact Harrow council, ongoing concern.
It is now proposed to produce a costed plan to lay out the council’s direction to improve the customer experience by putting residents first and treating both residents and businesses as valued customers
Odd that while planning improvement in accessing services, the cabinet agreed to close the telephone lines for Council Tax and Benefits to reduce the Access Harrow budget by £350k through staff reduction.
While nothing wrong in having a feasibility study about a council service to inform decision-making, the downside is that it’s outcome could be used not to deliver that service.

Some £1.47 million of the Government’s Housing Support Fund is set to go to Harrow residents this summer.
On 30 September 2021, the government announced that vulnerable households across the country will be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials over the winter.
The grant has been extended to 30 September 2022 with an additional £500 million of funding which will be used by local authorities to support vulnerable households.
Harrow Council has confirmed how it will distribute the £1.47million summer tranche of the fund in the borough, focusing on vulnerable households with children and pensioners on Council Tax Support and Pension Credit.
The allocated grant must be dispensed by 30 September 2022 and Harrow is keen to distribute the money as quickly as possible as the cost of living concerns increase.
Cllr Stephen Greek (photo), Cabinet Member for Performance, Communications & Customer Experience, said: “We’ve considered how best we can put our residents first, and help those most in need during these challenging times. We are providing support to as many people as possible, whilst ensuring that the help is not spread too thinly. It is vital that we get this money out to where it is most needed.”
Part of the fund dispersed will be in the form of the Post Office vouchers, which can be used against energy/utility bills or for food.
Around £85,000 will be used to support households in rent arrears to help stop problems spiralling into acute difficulties, avoid court action and secure their tenancy.
Also, £135,000 for the Harrow Community Hub, ensuring it continues to provide food support until at least March 2023. The Harrow Community Hub is well-supported by the Harrow council – wonder why!!
Throughout the Covid-19, Harrow had its share of the government special grants but has been very difficult to find how exactly the money has been used – for example, who gets it, why and how much.

Planning policies and regeneration plans are being reviewed as part of the new administration’s pledge to limit tall buildings.
The review on new structures will take into consideration the impact on the local area, character and height of buildings. The Harrow council intends to adopt policies to protect the borough from inappropriate development.
Quality of homes, living standards and the design of conversions will also be reviewed to ensure it complements the character of the local area and that it accommodates additions such as bin storage or garages.
Cllr Marilyn Ashton, Deputy Leader and cabinet member for Planning and Regeneration (photo), said: “We must protect our suburbs – it’s what people expect the council to do. That’s why we are working hard to get this right and stop tall buildings and inappropriate developments from being built”.
The council will now prepare a Tall Buildings Supplementary Planning Document and residential conversion guidance which will soon be adopted and used in planning decisions.
This will provide more clarity on what the council considers to be acceptable to the character of the area. It will draw upon the existing development plan (London Plan 2021 and Harrow Local Plan) and the National Planning Policy Framework.

In concluding the first cabinet meeting of his administration, leader of the Harrow council councillor Paul Osborn said, “it’s really important that we recognise that how the people are wanting to change, they recognise that they wanted things done differently and better. They wanted them to be put first.”
“And we always need to keep that in mind and remember that, and make sure we deliver on that promise to the residents and repay the trust that they’ve put in us” he added.
It can only be nice that the leader of the council is so resident-orientated and has a good grip on the work of the council, and that  the tone and style of the cabinet meeting was calm and friendly.
Another positive feature of the meeting was to have the leader of the opposition Cllr David Perry as a guest to scrutinise the council reports and enrich the debate, which Cllr Osborn appreciated as being good for ‘better decision-making’.
The cabinet approved some new initiatives, including a new Corporate Plan to be prepared to formally change the vision of the council to ‘Putting Residents First’.
Also, to instruct officers to prepare a proposed Tall Buildings SPD (Supplementary Planning Document) and residential conversion guidance. The well-prepared report was well introduced and answered by the portfolio-holder, Cllr Marilyn Ashton.
The cabinet also reaffirmed the commitment to introduce the Harrow Card, one hour free on street parking and free Bulky Waste Collection, though to carry out a feasibility study about the costs involved in some cases. The three items were introduced by the portfolio-holder for environment, Cllr Anjana Patel.
Cllr Patel appeared to be well protected as most questions regarding the items she introduced were answered by the leader Cllr Osborn after Cllr Patel appeared to be less secure in answering the Harrow Card timeline questions.
In answering a fellow councillor ‘what is the timing for feasibility study to be completed by (re Harrow Card)’, she abruptly said ‘it has been set out in the papers  – as soon as it is done, the department would put forward to us’.
While the guest, Cllr Perry raised pertinent points and helped in making well-informed decisions, not obvious the role and value for money of the three Conservative councillors appointed as the ‘Advisory Member’ to the cabinet. In view of the cabinet composition, not sure what additional or specific sociocultural contributions these ‘advisers’ could make.

Following the initiatives in some other London boroughs, like Enfield, changes to bulky waste collections in Harrow will help residents dispose of large items quickly, easily and free of charge.
Welcome news for residents wanting to remove large items but are put off or worried by the cost of removal – for example, collection charge for a mattress in is £17.40 – up to 4 items it is £64.60, up to 8 items £87.60 and up to 12 items it is £138.00.
Ad hoc fly-tipping in Harrow has increased over the years.
Cllr Paul Osborn, Leader of the council said: “When people step out of their homes, we want them to feel pride in their community. They want cleaner streets and an easy way to dispose of waste – so we are delivering on our promise of free bulky waste collections to help our residents dispose of large items quickly and easily. This measure will help to combat fly-tipping in our borough, alongside better enforcement.
“For those who break the rules by illegally dumping waste on our streets, our enforcement approach will take tougher action against those intent on blighting our borough.”
Section 45(3) of the EPA 1990 provides that ‘no charge shall be made for the collection of household waste except in cases prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State’.
Harrow has been much behind most councils who will collect things like old sofas, fridges or washing machines for a fee.

Cllr Nitesh Hirani (Con) has been an elected member of the Harrow Council since a By-Election in April 2017, representing the residents of Kenton East Ward.
His published public profile says: he is the first Conservative Councillor elected in the 40-year history of Kenton East Ward. He lives with his family in Kenton East Ward and has served 9 years as an Assistant Secretary at Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple in Kenton East between 2008 – 2017.
Not sure whether the ‘Lord’ is a part of his name or his title – needs clarification to avoid public confusion!