I can help you with a number of problems that might arise in your life. I can help with any issues or problems that arise concerning the central government and its departments. I also can assist or offer advice in the following areas:

Immigration

Housing

Transport

Street Care

Benefit

Tax

Education & School Choice - See Below

Social Services

Brent Council Planning Services - See Below

Flooding - See Below

Fireworks - See Below

How can I get my child into the school of my choice?

In a situation where schools are oversubscribed by parents exercising their choice for a particular school, it is the school that ends up choosing from amongst the pupils who have applied not the parents who choose the school. The important thing is that the criteria the schools then employ must be fair. Each school’s board of governors has the right to set its own admission criteria and neither the local education authority nor I can instruct a school to take any child.

It would in any event be wrong if I did have that power, as it would mean that my intervention could enable a child to be given a place contrary to the published criteria of admission. Ultimately there is only one way to resolve this problem. That is to make sure that all schools are of such a high standard that parents are happy for their children to attend any local school and do not feel the need to choose schools many miles away. The extra money and resources that the government is putting into education is aimed at achieving this.

In the meantime I have worked with our local secondary schools to ensure that their admissions policies should not exclude Brent children. At Kingsbury High school there had been a particular problem with the catchment area, but in 2003 they moved to a system of feeder primary schools. This has now enabled many more children from the local community to realise their first preference at Kingsbury High. If you would like further advice about how to obtain a suitable place for your child at one of our local schools please do write to me or come to one of my advice surgeries.

Issues regarding Brent Council Planning

I regret to have to inform you that as your MP, I cannot intervene in planning matters. The reasons for this are twofold. The planning committee is a quasi-judicial body and as such operates on non-political and non-party lines. It is only permitted to reach its decisions in accordance with strict planning criteria. Hence it would be inappropriate for me as your political representative to make representations to the committee. On a more pragmatic basis if I were to be involved in the multitude of planning disputes which inevitably arise with every Council, it would take up the bulk of my time as your Member of Parliament and be an extremely poor use of my political energies.

There are two exceptions to this. Firstly, if the planning application is a major infrastructural development, such as a new housing development. Here there would be major knock-on effects to the development, which have wider political ramifications within the local community such as traffic generation, overcrowding of doctors’ surgeries, inadequate spaces in local schools etc. Because of these wider implications I can and do make representations on any such major development. The other case where I make representations about planning matter is where there has clearly been a breach of procedure, for instance if the planning committee has broken its own terms of reference. In such situations I would and do make representation to the Council asking them to ensure that the correct procedures are followed.

Please be aware that the planning committee treats each case individually and can neither look retrospectively to what neighbouring properties have done in the past nor use similar developments as a precedent in any particular case. You do have the right of appeal against the decision of the Council and if you feel aggrieved by a planning refusal you may wish to take this course of action.

Many people are unaware that Brent North faces a high risk of flooding from the Wealdstone Brook. On average it is estimated that the Brook floods every 7 years. This can result in considerable damage to homes close to the Brook and has rendered roads around the Mall impassable in previous years. Over the two years, I have been working with Thames Water, the Environment Agency and a range of other local stakeholders to see how we can find a solution to this problem.

From our discussions it appears that there are three main reasons for the flooding. The first is a lack of capacity on some parts of the water network. The second is because of a considerable number of misconnections to the surface water, often caused when residents have had extensions to their properties. This means that dirty water from washing machines and toilets is discharged into the clean surface water. Because of this pollution, the Environment Agency will not allow Thames Water to discharge the surface water into the Brook. Instead they have to divert it into the foul water sewer which cannot cope. In times of unusually high rainfall this foul water sewer overflows causing flooding. The third cause of flooding is those households that are failing to properly dispose of waste products.

Thames Water reports that in some areas fat from kitchens is blocking sewers whilst in others they have found households flushing nappies and other products down the toilet. There is an obvious need therefore for everyone to work together to solve this problem. I established a working group to address these issues in 2003. The group is made up of local residents, Thames Water, the Environment Agency and a host of other local stakeholders. By regularly bringing all of the stakeholders together we will be able to put the network right. Residents should not have to live with the threat of flooding in Brent North.

At the beginning of July 2002, I was made aware of the increased risk of flooding in certain areas of Brent North by Preston and the Mall Resident's Association. As a result, on the 23rd July 2002, I convened a meeting at the House of Commons with the area manager for the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency is responsible for the flow of rivers whilst Thames Water is responsible for the supply of fresh water and discharge sewerage.The aim of the meeting was to establish what the Environment Agency was going to do to prevent the risk of repeated flooding. The Agency had previously commissioned a report into this problem in February 1999.

This report's recommendations have yet to be acted upon due to prioritisation of other projects. I have since received an update from the Environment Agency regarding planned action for the Wealdstone Brook area. In the update the EA told me that they intended to begin an initial scoping study in January 2003, a process that typically takes 3 to 4 months. I have written a letter in response stating that neither my constituents, nor I are willing to wait for years of studies whilst they suffer recurrent flooding nightmares. I am seeking Environment Agency's assurance that once the scoping work has been completed the EA will move quickly to deal with the problems At the beginning of February 2003 I also met with the Managing Director of Thames Water to discuss how we should move forward. I am pleased to say that the meeting was very constructive and that Thames Water seems keen to address the issues. I will also be making representations to Government Ministers to request that pressure can be directed on to the respective agencies and companies to prioritise this work.Please be assured I will do all that I can to resolve this problem and to keep you informed of the progress that I make.

Update: have a look at the recent news item on 'Intergrated Urban Drainage Pilots' : I have had considerable success in getting the government to fund a vital study into how we can solve our flooding problem.

Fireworks 

There are now new restricitions on fireworks. The review of firework legislation has held my close attention for a good many years now. My personal connection with this issue comes from a few years ago when a constituent came to me at a surgery with a bag of firework debris that had rained down into her garden. Since then I have worked diligently with fireworks legislation meeting with the Prime Minister as well as the British Fireworks Association (BFA) and the CBI Explosives Industry Group (EIG).

The government has worked closely with the industry through the BFA and the CBI EIG and most of the provisions of the Fireworks Act have received support from these groups. The purpose of these regulations is not to destroy the public enjoyment of fireworks, but to control firework use so that it is not in any way harmful or disruptive to the community. In this line of thinking the regulations prohibit the possession of fireworks by those under 18 years old. This is also an effort to curb anti-social use. Possession of category 4 fireworks (professional display fireworks) and category 3 fireworks over 120 decibels is also prohibited. A curfew has been set up from 11 pm until 7 am with an exemption to traditional and multi-cultural events.

These noise controls are in order to prevent loss of sleep among residents and protect domestic animals, major concerns all of us share. The Fireworks Regulation 2004 is a step in preventing nuisance, anti-social use, destruction of person and property as well as bringing peace of mind to residents. No longer will debris fall into gardens, disturbing the people and pets of our community. With all these changes I hope you find yourself enjoying this year’s firework season more than ever.

Please click here to read my article in the Sudbury Court Courier on my work on Fireworks.