Accountability and transparency of Harrow mayor office?

Considering the gracefulness of the Harrow mayor’s office, expectation of the high standards of its accountability and transparency, especially in money matters, in understandable.
Therefore, we requested the past five years accounts of the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund (charity number 219034) under Freedom of Information Act 2000, since the charity has submitted annual returns to the Charity Commission, but the accounts are not available for public viewing.
The accounts* received indicate that the charity’s financial disclosures are inadequate, raising further concern whether the councillor-trustees have been ensuring accountability and transparency of the mayor’s office in their trustee role.
The charity has recorded no expenditure or the charitable donations made despite receiving income each year because its incoming and outgoing donations or the money raised are handled through a bank account set up by the Harrow Council. Mayors have no real grip on their charity fund as they don’t have adequate  financial information about the state of their Mayor’s Charity Fund to decide the best use of the money, in addition to the donation to the chosen charity.
From the accounts, it is not obvious that the charitable funds are applied for Public Benefit.
It would have been more efficient and transparent to have donations, and any money raised, paid directly into the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund should the charity had its own bank account. Such arrangements would have allowed to claim Gift Aid, thereby increasing the total funds available for the chosen charities.
At the end of the Mayor’s tenure, the funds could then be transferred to the designated charities, as well as used for other charitable causes as decided by the mayor. This approach would have maximized the impact of the public donations and any money raised, and demonstrated good governance and transparency.
Further concern is that the current banking arrangements for the charity may not align with Charity Commission laws, as donations intended for the Mayor’s chosen charity may not be properly accounted for under the registered charity framework.
Harrow council needs to ensure the accountability, transparency and good governance of Harrow mayor office.
*accounts

£348,000 cost to clear-up fly-tipping at Leisure Centre site

Labour Group leader Cllr David Perry at the Harrow council meeting on 27 February 2025 revealed the £348,000 cost of Leisure Centre site clear-up due to the council ‘neglect’ in fly-tipping enforcement.
“Due to a build-up of waste and fly-tipping on the area beside Harrow Leisure Centre, residents will have to pay out for the council’s mismanagement of the premises” says the opposition Labour group on the council.
Keys were handed over to the council in August 2023 to manage the site when the Special Needs Transport vehicle fleet depot was relocated.


“The first £348,000 of their (residents) increased Council tax bill will be used to pay for the leisure centre site to be cleared of waste, fly-tipping and construction materials that have been left to fester by the council for 18 months. Conservative Councillors have wasted taxpayers’ money, and often talk about enforcement, but their neglect in this case has cost taxpayers dearly” Cllr Parry said.
In explaining what has happened to the site, deputy leader of the Harrow council Cllr Marilyn Ashton said the site was broken into by criminal fly tippers and our security people were threatened, “and so, unfortunately, we will have to clear up the mess they made”.
Looking ahead, Cllr Marilyn Ashton said the best way to secure this site will be to develop it. It has been 20 years since the driving centre closed.
“We hope to start work on it sometime this year, and we intend to put up some hoardings soon” informs the councillor.
“Frankly, for Labour to make such an issue if this is a bit rich when they failed miserably over many years to make progress on developing this site. Whereas, we have a great proposal here, which now has planning permission with family houses and affordable homes, which we desperately need” Cllr Marilyn Ashton said.
Cllr Perry said he will be starting a campaign for the site to be cleared immediately, and an investigation started to find those responsible.

Many Harrow families would benefit from free breakfast provision for children¸ says Labour

Harrow shadow portfolio holder for children’s services calls on the council to support the government’s proposed legislation on universal breakfast clubs for the primary aged children.
The Government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in all state-funded primary schools in England, to ensure that all children from Reception to Year 6 have access to a free breakfast before the start of the school day.
For London, Sir Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has said: “The GLA has strong relationships with boroughs and school leaders. I stand ready to work with them in whatever way is necessary to make a success of the government’s breakfast clubs initiative”.
Councillor Stephen Hickman (Lab), a teacher, has submitted a motion for the next week’s Harrow council annual budget meeting to support the government’s proposal for the breakfast clubs.
“Free breakfast club provision is especially important given the cost-of-living crisis, as it alleviates pressures on struggling families and provides flexibility for parents to work the hours and jobs they choose. Harrow has many families who would greatly benefit from universal free breakfast provision, particularly those facing financial hardship or challenges in accessing affordable childcare” Cllr Hickman has said.
The motion asks the council to write to the secretary of state for education to support the policy and encourage Harrow MPs to speak at the Commons for Harrow to be included in the early adopter phase of the rollout.
The government is to work with up to 750 early adopter schools from 2025 to 2026 to test and learn how best to implement the new breakfast clubs ahead of national rollout.

Increased opportunity to tackle rising anti-social behaviour in Harrow

Harrow’s Labour councillors welcome a central government-funded boost to community policing to tackle Harrow’s crime and anti-social behaviour “crisis”.
The government will put an extra £100million into neighbourhood policing including 13,000 more police officers on the streets by 2029 as it seeks to fulfil its pledge to put more officers on the ground.
More resources for the neighbourhood policing would help to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in Harrow too.
Harrow has recorded instances of ASB up to 1,339 last year as well as the increase in shoplifting, for example, stores in South Harrow reporting between 20 and 50 daily incidences, the Labour group informs.
In appreciating the government redressing the cuts to community policing made, the leader of the Labour Group, Councillor David Perry, said: “Harrow’s Labour Councillors and residents across the borough welcome this announcement of extra funding and officers to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in our community. I have been very concerned at the large-scale cuts to the Metropolitan police service by the previous Conservative government, and the rising anti-social behaviour incidents that the Conservative run Council are failing to tackle. This additional funding should immediately be spent making our communities in Harrow safer.”
In response, Cllr Marilyn Ashton, deputy leader of the council, said: “It is primarily the responsibility of the police to tackle this sort of offending.”
The primary agencies responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour are typically the local police force and the local council where the partnership is more effective when happily working together.
The council has an anti-social behaviour team and holds day of action with the police to let public know the seriousness in dealing with any ASB. Hopefully, increased policing resources and effective partnership would help the council administration to be more effective.

Harrow patients would have more and better access to treatment under new plan

Harrow would benefit from the government’s NHS Elective Reform Plan that sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament.
The plan will drive forward progress on the government’s first steps commitment to deliver 2 million extra appointments in its first year, equivalent to 40,000 every week. The reforms will put patients first, harness technology to support staff and help the NHS to do things more efficiently.
“In Harrow, there are 302,707 cases on waiting lists who will be able to access more appointments closer to home and get the treatment they need faster under the plan” informs Gareth Thomas, Harrow West MP.
The plan includes opening Community Diagnostic Centres on evenings and weekends so that many more people will be able to access tests and checks while going about their daily lives, and the NHS will also increase the number of surgical hubs, which help protect planned care from the impact of seasonal and other pressures.
“Hundreds of residents in Harrow are stuck on the record long waiting lists inherited by the Labour Government at huge cost to their health.
“That’s why the reforms announced this month to cut NHS waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks will make such a huge difference. With so many people waiting for treatment, it is more urgent than ever that we reform our NHS so it will always be there for you when you need it” said Mr Thomas.

Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund needs transparency

Many councils have, but Harrow council has no known formal guidelines for choosing the mayor’s charity or ensuring transparency of Harrow’s Charity Fund, a charity (number 219034). This has serious implications.
It is doubtful whether the council officers established the soundness of this mayor’s chosen charity as required.
Despite a requirement, Harrow mayor’s charity number on his webpage as well as on his charity’s newly formed London’s Community Kitchen website did not appear for seven months after the mayor was in office, and appeared only after our extensive intervention.
As far as we see, the accounts of Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund have never been made publicly available – a council failure to monitor that its charity trust is fulfilling all their legal responsibilities.
“Charities with an income of £25,000 or less are not required to file their annual report and accounts with us when they complete their annual returns. They must still make them publicly available, for example by putting them on their website” informs the charity commission.
Therefore, it is appropriate to ask the charity to provide the last five years accounts so that the public could see how the charity fund has been used.
On a wider note, perhaps the council could closely monitor the work of the Harrow mayor office, including transparency.

Fuss over children’s home comments

Harrow council planning committee on 15 January 2025 granted planning permission to convert a house in Cavendish Avenue to house up to four EBD children (emotional, behavioural, and development needs).
Children’s homes are important because they provide a safe and nurturing environment for children who can’t live with their families. Therefore, the provision of a new residential care home for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and young people with support needs, is encouraged under Policy H12 A (2) of the London Plan and Policy DM29 A of the DMP (Development Management Plan, a part of the Harrow’s core strategy).
However, the officer assessment of ‘Residential Amenity’, most significant in the seven points of the assessment, is generic and not specific to evaluate the possible impact due to the potential residents of the care home.
Some councillor comments regarding the planning application have been criticised as if these were to describe these children problematic.
The councillor’s concern at the meeting did not appear to be dismissing the importance of specific needs of the children but appeared to be about the suitability of the place and the local impact.
Perhaps their expression could have been better, but their concerns were no different from those nationally, particularly regarding the commercial aspect and the quality of management of the care homes.
“As Children’s Commissioner, I am deeply concerned about illegal children’s homes and extremely worried that profit making by private companies has been prioritised over the wellbeing of England’s most vulnerable children” Children’s Commissioner on 16 December 2024
Unlawful children’s homes are demanding up to £20,000 a week per child and failing to keep vulnerable young people safe, the Family Court has heard – ‘Unlawful care homes ‘profiteer’ from at-risk kids’ BBC 17 September 2024.
Ofsted that regulates the homes has reported: “30,200 incidents were reported to Ofsted from children’s residential homes over the past year, with 26% of these incidents involving police call-outs” Children’s social care in England 2023 – updated 8 September 2023.

Hall, a political loser!

Hatch End Conservative councillor Susan Hall, who has been struggling to come out of the political ditch since she pushed her way to the Harrow council in 2006, is a sad story.
Cllr Hall tried but was not selected a parliamentary or GLA candidate from Harrow.
The Conservative group was happily running the council since 2006 when unexpectedly lost the council in 2010 council elections under its designated group leader, Cllr Hall, as the previous leader retired. Her obsession with the CPZ (controlled parking zone), unpopular because of being heavy-handedly implemented in some parts of the borough, was a key factor in the defeat.
As the opposition leader of the council, Cllr Hall performance was mostly felt ineffective and the Conservative group repeatedly failed to win the public trust needed to regain the council. After some years, when the Conservative group recovered under the new leadership, the group won the council in 2022 elections.
Cllr Hall journey to the City Hall, as an unelected assembly member, has been equally unfruitful as she seems to be burning most of her energy in trying to derail Sadiq Khan, the London mayor – perhaps she has a needle for ‘disgraceful’ Sadiq Khan.
Her activism against the London Mayor initiative, Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), to clear up London’s air across all London boroughs, including Harrow, failed as out of 32 London boroughs, four Conservative councils went for a judicial review challenging the ULEZ expansion but lost (about £150,000 Harrow ratepayers money wasted).
On the back of the ULEZ play, Cllr Hall entered in the London mayor election race last year but was badly rejected by the Londoners despite her ‘nasty’ campaign, based on scaremongering and extreme personalised negativity, well-supported by the far-right.
After the Knighthood announcement of mayor Sadiq Khan, third time London mayor, last year, Hall’s loyal ward colleague launched a toxic petition to stop the Knighthood of Sadiq Khan. The petition, extensively supported by the far-right, made no difference and Sadiq Khan has been knighted.
Apparently inspired by the success of playing the ‘grooming gang’ card for quick attention-seeking and publicity, Hall asked Sir Sadiq Khan about (out of context) ‘how many grooming gangs are in London’ but failed to define ‘grooming gang’ when enquired. Her ‘grooming gang’ veiled attack, though heavily praised by the far-right social media activists, is widely ignored.
The latest is that Hall has written to the GLA’s monitoring officer that the mayor had appeared to “contravene” the gifts and hospitality procedure by not timely declaring six tickets to watch the American star from a box at Wembley Stadium on 15 August.
“The mayor’s office will continue to ensure all the right processes are followed, and looks forward to explaining the approach that was taken in this instance” the mayor’s office has said.
Interesting that Cllr Hall was in the headline, Harrow Council Conservative Group leader under police investigation, for allegedly failing to declare the pecuniary interest and follow the relevant procedures at a council meeting.

‘Child Sexual Abuse’ politics: divisive Jenrick in Harrow

UPDATE: Could those who invited the political opportunist, Robert Jenrick MP, to Stanmore, inform him the following about the UK men abusing their power sent to us by our readers?
The Catholic Church in England & Wales (1970–2015): 3,000 instances of child sexual abuse, 936 alleged paedophiles, 133 convictions 52 priests defrocked. Since 2016, there have been more than 100 reported sexual abuse allegations each year.
UK boarding schools (2012–2018): Thousands of alleged victims over decades; 425 accused paedophiles, 160 charged since 2012 alone. 171 of these allegations pertained to historical abuse of children, at least 125 involved recent incidents.
More than 1,400 suspects, including politicians and celebrities, have been investigated by police probing historical child sex abuse allegations, including 135 coming from TV, film or radio, and 76 suspects are politicians, BBC reported on 20 May 2015.
Police and politicians ‘turned blind eye’ to Westminster child abuse claims: reported Guardian on 25 Feb 2020
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Soon after Robert Jenrick MP enjoyed Harrow East Conservatives hospitality in Stanmore, Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas reflected on the politics of the ‘Child Sexual Abuse’, the proxy narrative to demonise certain community.
Jenrick, who has been rejected by the Conservative members in the recent leadership contest, now looks attracting far-right to resurface by playing ‘immigration’, ‘grooming gangs’ and ‘rape gangs’ etc petty political cards.
Knowing his Stanmore hosts, most probably they were misguided to have him, but are unlikely to support Jenrick’s divisive politics!
In his inflammatory and sweeping tweet on 4th January 2025, he recycled “For decades the most appalling crimes from predominantly British-Pakistani men were legalised ….. destroying the lives of thousands of vulnerable white working class girls in the process. The scandal started with the onset of mass migration. Importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess medieval attitudes towards women, brought us here”.
His toxic approach resulted in reactions like:
Child abuse contradiction “The Conservative Party opposed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. They did so, putting forward an amendment saying this was because it did not announce a new inquiry into child sexual exploitation. This is despite the fact that when in Government they themselves commissioned the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse” informs Mr Thomas.
In October 2022, child protection expert Prof Alexis Jay finished a seven-year inquiry, heard from more than 6,000 victims and cost £186.6 million. It made 20 important recommendations on addressing systematic failure and enhancing child protection. It also included a specific national inquiry into Child Exploitation by Organised Networks, which lasted two years alone.
“This government is acting fast to implement the key recommendations on enhancing child protection from Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 national inquiry, which the previous government failed to implement in full” he said.
The government will make it mandatory to report abuse in the crime and policing bill, making it an offence to fail to report or cover up child sexual abuse.
They say they will also establish a victims and survivors panel to oversee reforms and make grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual offences.
“Labour are getting on with delivering the real reforms this country needs – not pretending to stand up for victims they’ve consistently let down over 14 years in government” Mr Thomas concluded.