While some attention-seeking controversial Labour councillors are promoting themselves through all kind of activism, honest and dedicated Harrow councillor Pamela Fitzpatrick, a proud socialist and trade unionist who was parliamentary candidate for Harrow East last election, has been harassed by the Labour party.
“I have just received a letter from the Labour Party threatening me with auto exclusion because I was interviewed by Socialist Appeal in May 2020 on why I was applying for the position of General Secretary. I explained to SA I wanted fair procedures followed in the party” informs Ms Fitzpatrick, a member of the Labour’s new National Women’s Committee. 
Labour party’s such a behaviour has been widely condemned, including the following:

Harrow council says: “As we rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic Harrow Council is investing in our high streets. Edgware, North Harrow, South Harrow and Rayners Lane are set to receive funding for a range of improvements to high streets. We’ve been working with ward councillors and the local community to drive forward this change (some residents and councillor don’t think so).”
In May, the government announced £576m allocations of future high streets fund, including £7,448,583 specifically for Wealdstone, Harrow. Possibly more places in the borough received dedicated funding for high street improvement programme, but Harrow council has failed to inform how much total high streets funding has been received and allocated to the targeted areas each.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick outlined the best use of this public money and said the investment will “make a huge difference to towns and cities across England”, helping them “transform themselves [into] desired places to shop, visit, live and work.”
In Wealdstone, an obvious improvement is the brightening up of the ‘square’ (photo), otherwise while local traders appreciate wall paintings and street decorations, they don’t know how well the Wealdstone money has been used, and their main concerns remain the crime, fear of crime and parking which renders Wealdstone less desirable place to ‘shop, visit, live and work’.
In Edgware, Canons ward residents see the use of £483K for decorating part of Whitchurch Lane (Edgware end), “waste” of public money. They want real improvements like street cleaning, addressing fly-tipping and more crime prevention measures. They described the so-called consultation as being  constructed in a way to deliver pre-determined outcome (many others in the target areas feel the same).
“We are completely opposed to the Edgware scheme – the money would be better served in street cleaning, which is much needed, particularly around Howberry Road” said the ward councillors.
Is the use of the street money on cosmetic street dressings for attractive visual impact in the council election year, saying that this is what residents want, good value for public money?

Communication has not been a Harrow council strength (answering/dealing with residents queries, response time,  inadequate website etc) but Covid-19 crisis management has made it worst where residents fail to get prompt, efficient or satisfactory response.
An example is the recent correspondence with Paul Hewitt (photo), corporate director people services, copying in the chief executive, regarding the following matter:
His attention was drawn to a ‘somewhat annoying practice, seemingly an extension of the previous corporate director’s apparent tactic to discourage officers, including himself,  working directly with the community where community/resident queries were often subjected  to the freedom of information (FoI)/complaints procedures etc. (Mr Hewitt, Hillingdon council’s head of child safeguarding at the time, joined Harrow to work under the director some years back).
Following the article  Harrow council could do more in responding to Covid-19 and a specific question, ‘in responding to Covid-19, how the Harrow council has reshaped its services in line with  the good practices highlighted by CQC?’, the Director of Harrow Adult Social Services, responded positively and said “I would be very happy to give an update on how we have reshaped and are responding to C19”- this was not a complaint!!
But then a Complaints Manager jumped in with an irrelevant website link, with the outcome that the director was not able to deal with this matter herself and therefore no professional answer received.
Since then, some others have a similar experience where their active issue-based interaction with the officers in People directorate has been picked and responded by the complaints manager.
It is reassuring that the community directorate seems to have no such policy to distance officers from the community or using a complaints manager to shunt around the issues (but then a very capable corporate director Community has now left the council).
We trust the chief executive would be interested in reassuring the consistency of policies and practices across the directorates, so that this could help in acquiring more public confidence in the council.’
After about a month, apparently Mr Hewitt sent the following inadequate message:
“Our complaints service do specifically deal with FOI requests, Member enquiries and MP enquiries, as well as complaints from citizens, as part of their official remit.
Also, as part of their role, the complaints team do often respond to general enquiries on behalf of senior officers when asked to do so, but we will need to make sure that this is made clear in the response, especially when it is not specifically a complaint that is being addressed.”

Former Deputy Mayor and Leader of Council, Cllr Chris Mote, sadly passed away late last night (29 July) after a short illness.
Cllr Mote was first elected in 1982 and now represented Pinner South ward.
He was leader of the Conservative Group and later Leader of Harrow Council between 2006 and 2008.

He currently served as Shadow Portfolio Holder for Adults & Older People.
Cllr Mote received ceremonial vellum scrolls to recognise his 25 years as Harrow Councillor at the Council Meeting on 16th January 2020 where he was described as “gentleman who is always polite and respectful – an example of how one should behave, not just as a councillor but as a person”.
Cllr Mote, deputy mayor in 2009 under Tory administration of the council at the time, was set to become Harrow mayor in the following year. But Tories, under Cllr Hall CPZ-hit poor leadership lost the council.

“Be responsible as Covid cases soar” appeals the Harrow council leader Cllr Graham Henson.
“Cases of Covid-19 are rising rapidly in Harrow and, while I don’t want to alarm people, I strongly urge you to be aware of your surroundings, understand the nature of risk and act sensibly” he said.
As of 28 July 2021, the following is the Harrow picture, as per the simple summary for Harrow published by the UK Government:
Between 22 July 2021 and 28 July 2021, 758 people had a confirmed positive test result, while 95 new cases on 28 July 2021 alone.
Between 12 July 2021 and 18 July 2021, 48 went into hospital with coronavirus. This shows an increase of 37.1% compared to the previous 7 days.
There were 40 patients in hospital with coronavirus on 20 July 2021 alone – 4 on the mechanical ventilator on that day.
Between 22 July 2021 and 28 July 2021, there have been 1 death within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. This shows no change compared to the previous 7 days.
Overall picture: cases – 7-day average of 2,080 on 20/4/2021 has increased to 26,624 on 28/7/2021; deaths – 7-day average of 28 on 5/4/2021 has increased to 60 on 28/7/2021.
All this Covid-19 situation in Harrow, despite 166,488 people in Harrow had been given a first dose and 134,299 a second dose by the end of 27 July 2021.

Such an information should have been readily available at the Harrow council website and as an attachment to the Draft Economic Strategy that claims to have distributed £62m in government grants to over 900 local businesses.
This public information would have helped for everyone to see that the public money has been appropriately and fairly dispersed for the benefit of those who need it most, and not for any political gains or on the basis of who knows who, in the council election year.
Precisely for these reasons, the council’s grant allocating regime under previous administrations used to publish a list of who gets what grant and for what purpose.
Similarly, the tax-payers have a right to know how and for whom the following incoming Covid-19 money has been used:

For gaining public confidence in Harrow council’s handling of the Covid-19 funding, what stops the  council to have a dedicated web page, linked to the council website’s index page, to publish total Covid-19 money received, who decides how and where this has been/should be used, and a summary of who have benefitted from this additional funding.
By taking these simple steps (Covid-19 pressure not a valid excuse), Harrow council could reassure transparency in handling money matters, unless it has something to hide!

Labour’s recent London Conference has opened up all conflicts and contradictions in the Labour Party under ‘selected by some for some’ leader Keir Starmer.
“Labour has outraged members today by shutting down its London conference in the middle of the outgoing Conference Arrangements Committee chair’s speech, apparently because she was speaking critically of Keir Starmer – and, ironically, of the party’s anti-democratic conduct.” reports SKWAWKBOX (SW).
“The benefits of a July Zoom conference, being able to pull the plug on speakers compared to a November in person conference as was already agreed by the outgoing London REC, which we argued for on the NEC” informs the Labour NEC member Mish Rahman (@mish_rahman).
The Zoom meeting made it possible to kept off the agenda issues like the delay in publishing the Forde report, the rules prohibiting CLPs from discussing certain issues, the recent wave of proscriptions and much more.
Harrow councillor Pamela Fitzpatrick, socialist, trade unionist and member of the Labour national women’s committee, tweeted:
Ms Fitzpatrick has long and bitter experience of what has been happening in local Labour, especially in the Gareth Thomas (Blair/Starmer faithful Lab MP) Harrow West constituency.
(Sad that the silencing tactics of the national party show up at the council level – for example, critical voices are curbed by playing ‘victimhood’ and alleging targeting when cabinet members (at over £30K) are asked searching questions about their concerning conduct or performance.)
“Southside finally pull the plug, as members refuse to be silenced” Michael Calderbank reports .
“But if we’re to build an effective, united opposition to the Tories, then deeply factional and unnecessary attacks on socialist activists are clearly a major obstacle – and those responsible must be held to account” he said.

A big deep hole appeared on the busy Hindes Road (junction of Welldon Crescent and Radnor Road) on 17 July at the spot which had previous road problem, as the tarmac repair around the hole suggests.
The council installed barriers overnight, but has failed to carry out emergency repairs since.
Uninformed and concerned Greenhill Ward residents express disappointment: ‘Services like gas, water and electricity do carry out emergency services despite Covid-19, why the Harrow council has failed for days?”
Harrow council’s environment services are adequately staffed with skills to carry out such a repair work – why an apparent failure in this case (Covid-19 pressure is not an acceptable excuse)?
Back in March this year, National Audit Office reported that Covid has exposed the dire position of England’s local councils.  It reveals the precarious position of local government that struggle to provide acceptable services because of weak budgeting.
Councils with effective leadership and management have by now worked out how to provide good, responsive and efficient services.
Harrow council leader and the chief executive must now take an urgent notice of what has happened to the Hindes Road and arrange a long-term solution to the road condition.

“Our workforce is diverse, talented and adaptable and our local businesses are wonderful. With this support and their own skills I have every faith in them to be able to rebuild and flourish” said Cllr Keith Ferry, business, property and leisure portfolio holder as Harrow Council launched its Draft Economic Strategy which aims to respond to the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and support the recovery.
Cllr Graham Henson, Harrow Council leader added: “We have also worked hard to secure millions of pounds in external funds to deliver a range of employment, business support and infrastructure programmes.”
All this sounds well but how the strategies outlined in the plans help the small street businesses predominantly run by the cultural diversity like Afghani, Pakistani and Turkish communities?
(for example, Station Road Harrow and High Street Wealdstone are kept alive by these businesses, though not acknowledged)
The following core of the Draft Economic Strategy is of little relevance to these street businesses, considering the nature of their business.
The strategy says that in the immediate term the Council has secured over £16m in external funds to deliver a range of employment, business support and infrastructure programmes, and these include:
– An expansion of the Council’s job brokerage scheme and the launch of a vacancy bulletin supporting those who became unemployed to work with sectors, such as social care.
– Transferral of apprenticeship levy funding to SMEs to create new apprenticeships in care, health, construction, and digital sectors.
– Expansion of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and employability provision to deliver outreach services.
– Promotion of our Jobs, Employment and Training Programme as well as the Work and Health Programme
It looks that the council still has a long way to go in developing meaningful and inclusive ethos, policies and community support across the council, which are needed as the ‘community cohesion’ cannot be achieved in vacuum.

Wealdstone ward, 75% BAME population, is one of the most deprived wards in Harrow – with overcrowding, unemployment, crime and the fear of crime being major concerns – many say it is now a ‘no-go area’ in the evenings – most didn’t even know about the Harrow council’s ‘re-generation’ plans.
Parking was another key concern identified during the filming.
Under these difficult conditions and with little support, high street small businesses (mostly Afghani, Pakistani, Turkish) are significantly contributing towards the local and borough economy. (watch video here)
But their contributions are hardly acknowledged by the Harrow council.
Harrow council’s Economic Strategy 2021-2030 says ‘Harrow is one of the most culturally diverse local authorities in the UK, with  around  60%  of  residents  from  Black,  Asian,  and  Multi-Ethnic backgrounds’ and that ‘Harrow High streets contain more than 1,200 businesses’ – but no expressed credit to businesses by these communities which meaningly contribute towards the Harrow economy. Therefore, no surprise that the strategy has no obvious or specific strategies to support and nurture these small but important businesses.
Such omissions are usually seen in the light of the dynamics of institutional racism but in this case, they look more like because of a council that has fails to practise inclusion despite layers of the cultural diversity at the civic centre which simply recycle the council’s dominant ideological and work ethos, resulting in no change in the prevailing status quo!