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BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Funding changes ignore housing poverty
The council of a west London area known for its wealth has accused the government of not taking into account the impact of housing costs when considering funding expensive properties in Kensington and Chelsea mask that a third of children in the borough live in housing costs are factored in, London has the highest rate of households in poverty, according to London Councils, who said £700m of funding could be diverted from London as part of government plans to change the formula of how it shares funding between local said housing costs were not being considered but the government said it wanted "fairer funding" across all areas. But the leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC), Conservative Elizabeth Campbell, said the plans would take money from London and "give it to red wall seats in the north."However that housing cost is not being included in the formulae that the government is using to work out the deprivation need for each local authority in its borough leaders said not including housing cost when working out the deprivation need for each local authority as part of the government's the government's Fair Funding Review was skewing the a result, RBKC believes it will lose an estimated £82.7 million in funding over three years. "If the formula was fair we'd agree with that - what we don't agree to is selective defunding of certain London boroughs," said Ms Campbell as we walked past the Trellick Tower in Kensal Town."Look, here we are in North Kensington: Does this look like the sort of area full of privilege and wealth? Just because we have areas within Kensington and Chelsea with very wealthy residents it doesn't mean as a council we are a wealthy council," she added. Golborne ward in the north of the borough is one of the most deprived wards in London. There, local resident George Hencken was keen to tell me how young people like her daughter were being pushed out of the area they grew up in because of high rents. "For my daughter who was born and bred here and for so many of her contemporaries, it's a massive issue," she said. "None of them can afford to stay where they live. The government is not taking any account of the fact that housing costs are so extreme, beyond affordable here, and they're just going to be driving deprivation by doing this." But Ishmael Palmer, who works in the area, said: "I think it should be spread equally."I live in London so I'm going to obviously go with the option of London being given the most money, but that's just the selfish me speaking." London Councils said its analysis shows that some boroughs - which were already struggling to maintain financial stability - could see a reduction of more than 60% in their grant funding from central documents in the Spending Review suggested that to pay for services, council tax was expected to rise by the maximum 5% a year allowed without government permission or a inner London boroughs like RBKC and Wandsworth have charged lower council tax than most London boroughs - this financial year, RBKC increased council tax by 4%.Most London boroughs have already been raising council tax by the maximum amount allowed, and Ms Campbell says, even if she does that next year, it would only raise a fraction of the money her borough would lose under these proposals. The Baby Rhyme Time class at Brompton library in the south of the borough could be the kind of non-statutory service the council might have to cut if it needs to make Spiteri-Gonzi, there with her daughter Ava, said she did not understand why the government would divert funding away from London boroughs. She said: "We all love this class. I would be very sad to see it go." Aasim Hussain, at the class with his son Armaan, said "taking something out of one place to give it to another, I think that's just unjust, but I think keeping those opportunities equal for everybody is the right way forward".Labour MP for Kensington & Bayswater, Joe Powell, who also sits on the Communities, Housing & Local Government committee, told me he thinks it was right for the government "to look at the levels of regional inequality" in the country, but said he wanted to "make sure that the data that the government" was using accurately reflected issues like housing costs. 'Dividing a pie that isn't big enough' Another factor that works against inner London councils, according to Dr Jonathan Carr-West, from the Local Government Information Unit, is that the review would "downgrade" the impact on a council's costs of its "non-resident" daily population. That includes tourists and workers, which more than doubles the population in RBKC from 140,000 to 290,000 every day."For a lot of boroughs that have literally millions of people who don't live there coming in every day, and have associated costs, that no longer counts as much," he said."I think the real thing here is that this is all about dividing a pie that isn't big enough. We're not seeing more money going into local government, we're just seeing changes to how it's distributed."A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson said it had "made available a total Core Spending Power for London, including the GLA (Greater London Autgority), of up to £13.35 billion for this financial year". They said the government recognised the additional strain that commuters and tourists can place on service provision in some authorities – including those in London - and was taking account of need in specific service areas like temporary consultation ends on 15 August.
The Guardian
14-06-2025
- The Guardian
‘A slap in the face': Grenfell officials still working in housing eight years after fire
The survivors of the Grenfell fire have condemned 'a deep and bitter injustice' that many of the officials criticised in the public inquiry in connection to the tragedy have continued working in related fields. 'We relive the pain every day. They are carrying on with life, careers intact, while we are still here – grieving, waiting and fighting for justice,' said a spokesperson for Grenfell United shortly before the eighth anniversary of the fire. 'The fact that some of the people involved are still working in housing is a slap in the face to every survivor and bereaved family. If there are no consequences for decisions that cost lives, what does that say about this country's values? Justice delayed is justice denied – and we will not stop until those responsible are held to account.' Dozens of the individuals implicated in the Grenfell disaster, from civil servants, government ministers, councillors and corporate executives have gone on to have successful careers, many of them still involved in housing and local government. Laura Johnson, who was director of housing at Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) at the time of the fire, is now an interim director of property and development at Barnet Homes, which manages and maintains 13,000 council homes. The inquiry found she had slowed down the installation of self-closing mechanisms on fire doors for 'financial and practical reasons', despite being urged to do so by the London fire brigade. It was found that inadequate fire doors, particularly those lacking self-closing mechanisms, allowed smoke and fire to spread more quickly than expected on the night of the fire. She also pushed for a new contractor to carry out renovation works on the block on a lower budget, which ultimately meant metal cladding was swapped for combustible plastic-filled panels to save money. Johnson has continued working in the housing sector since the fire, including as a consultant at two housing associations and a council. Her LinkedIn profile states that in her current role she has 'overarching responsibility' for delivering health and safety compliance 'including fire and building safety'. Johnson has not responded to a request for comment. Brian Martin, a civil servant who admitted to being a 'single point of failure' on the run-up to the fire, has since gone on to act as a fire safety expert witness and testified in the first UK cladding tribunal case in 2023. He allegedly said: 'show me the bodies' – an accusation he has denied – when he was advised to tighten fire safety rules to prevent a tower block disaster, and was in charge of official building regulations for almost 18 years prior to the fire, which killed 72 people. The inquiry found that in January 2016, 18 months before the Grenfell blaze, he had written that when ACM cladding was exposed to fire, 'the aluminium melts away and exposes the polyethylene core. Whoosh.' He was then urged to tighten the rules on ACM panels in the UK but failed to do so. He continued working within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government with a role in the planning directorate until at least 2022, although he no longer works in the department. He gave evidence as a 'fire safety expert' at a cladding tribunal in 2023 in which he was praised for 'being balanced, knowledgable and thoughtful'. The Grenfell inquiry found he had no formal fire safety or engineering qualifications at the time of the fire. The Guardian has attempted to contact Martin for comment. Deborah French was a sales manager at Arconic – the multibillion-dollar US company that made the combustible cladding panels on Grenfell Tower – and has admitted she knew the cladding she was selling could burn but did not tell customers. Before the fire, in 2015, she began working at the building materials supplier Taylor Maxwell, where she became their national cladding director, a role she held until 2023. During the public inquiry she said she knew the polyethylene product could burn but she didn't 'specifically explain' this to her customers, although if she had been asked the question, she would have. She also said she had not seen the building regulations guidance on fire safety. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Taylor Maxwell said French's work during the course of her employment with them did not relate in any way to Grenfell Tower. The Guardian has attempted to contact French for comment. Nicholas Paget-Brown, who was the leader of RBKC at the time of the blaze and initially resisted calls to resign in the face of mounting criticism of his authority's response, now runs a consultancy firm on public policy issues. He resigned weeks after the fire, after accusations of badly organised relief efforts and little support for residents who were left homeless. The inquiry report found he was 'unduly concerned for RBKC's reputation', with the council's response described as 'muddled, slow, indecisive and piecemeal'. According to Paget-Brown's LinkedIn profile, he is a managing director of Pelham Consulting, which tracks manifesto commitments and offers briefings on public policy issues. He did not respond to a request for comment. A Metropolitan police investigation into the Grenfell fire continues. Survivors and bereaved families have criticised the pace of the inquiry. Stuart Cundy, a deputy assistant commissioner at the Met, said: 'The Grenfell Tower fire is one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken by any UK law enforcement agency. We are investigating a range of very serious criminal offences including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and fraud, as well as health and safety offences. 'We cannot begin to imagine the impact that waiting for the outcome of our investigation must have on those who lost loved ones, those who survived, and all those affected by the tragedy.' He added that investigators had spent over a year forensically examining the tower, taking more than 13,000 witness statements and gathering more than 153m documents and files, with 195 dedicated investigators on the case. Barnet Homes have been approached for comment.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Medha calls for protecting rivers
Berhampur: Environmental activist Medha Patkar on Saturday joined the Save River Rushikulya movement in Ganjam district and called for safeguarding natural resources, including rivers and forests. "The rivers, whether small or big, are our mother. We have to protect them," said the 71-year-old while addressing gatherings at Potalampur, near Chhatrapur and Berhampur. The meetings were organised by Rushikulya Banchao Kriya-anusthan Committee (RBKC) and the Centre for Climate Justice, spearheading an agitation against the construction of a dam over Pipalapnaka river under Sorada block in the district. TNN Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
The Guardian
27-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Grenfell fire fridge maker accused of safety test failings in council lawsuit
The company that made the fridge-freezer blamed for starting the Grenfell Tower fire has been accused in a lawsuit lodged by the local council of failing to run adequate safety tests on that model of appliance. The Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea has brought a lawsuit against Hotpoint-maker Beko Europe, previously Whirlpool, as part of wider legal action against companies it believes are culpable for the fire eight years ago that killed more than 70 people. RBKC, which has brought the suit alongside the borough's Tenant Management Organisation, was heavily criticised for its handling of the fire and subsequent response in a public inquiry into the tragedy. The local authority is suing a range of companies at the high court for more than £358m, including those involved with the refurbishment and cladding as well as the maker of the Hotpoint fridge-freezer where the public inquiry concluded the blaze started. In a legal filing, the borough said that the appliance contained materials that could 'catch fire and burn easily', according to the Financial Times, which first reported the council's allegations against the appliance maker. Lawyers representing the claimants argue that the company did not adequately test the materials used in the model against applicable fire standards. The lawyers claim that if the materials – especially plastic backing, foam and polystyrene – had been tested they would have failed under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. It 'should have been obvious to any reasonably competent designer, manufacturer and/or supplier of the fridge-freezer that the plastic backing was not resistant to ignition and/or the spread of fire', the legal claim states. Defence documents have not yet been filed with the court, but Whirlpool said that it was 'vigorously defending' the legal action. 'Whirpool Corporation disputes and is vigorously defending the proceedings brought by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,' the company said. 'It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing litigation.' Turkey-based Arçelik and New York-listed Whirlpool struck a deal last year to combine their European domestic appliance businesses under Beko Europe. At the public inquiry, Whirlpool claimed that the fire could have been started by a lit cigarette rather than an electrical fault. However, inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick dismissed this assertion as 'fanciful', saying that the evidence left him in 'no doubt that the fire originated in the large fridge-freezer'. While RBKC is pursuing a number of actions at the high court it also faced strong criticism at the inquiry. Quentin Marshall, chair of the borough's housing scrutiny committee with oversight of Grenfell Tower, told the inquiry that the council 'lacked a little humanity' in its dealings with residents before the 2017 fire. His admission came after it emerged that he had personally dismissed residents' complaints about refurbishment works as 'grossly exaggerated'. The council has said it has made significant changes to its operations since 2017. A spokesperson for the council said: 'We have issued legal proceedings against a number of companies, in line with the council's ongoing commitment to ensure those parties pay a share of the costs incurred against the public purse.'
BBC News
19-03-2025
- BBC News
Notting Hill Carnival stand's licence reviewed after assault
Police have called for a Notting Hill Carnival stand to be shut down after a party-goer had a glass bottle smashed over his head, documents state. The serious assault, which is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police, left the victim with "deep lacerations" across his neck, head, legs and right said the incident took place "within the footprint" of Volcano Sound System's setup on Faraday Road, west London, on the last day of the carnival in 2024 and has called for the stand's licence to be White, who runs the sound system's site, said none of his staff were involved in the incident. Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) will review the licence on Thursday. According to documents shared with RBKC the incident took place when a drunken party-goer was refused entry to a VIP area by staff, the Local Democracy Reporting Service was claimed that while the man was being removed from the area, he was assaulted by two people who hit him over the head with a glass bottle.A statement from the Met said: "Following the two assaults, there appears to have been no attempt by [Mr White] or any member of staff or security to notify the police or ambulance service/St John's Ambulance of the incident or injured victim." The document went on to say the police were called by a member of the public but when they arrived, neither Mr White nor his security or staff approached to explain what happened. Mr White was later interviewed under caution by investigating claimed the victim was thrown to the floor by someone who purchased a Volcano T-shirt prior to the carnival, and said no staff were involved in the incident. 'No confidence' The Met said Mr White's handling of the incident was "completely unacceptable" and he or his staff should have called police or ambulance crews. Mr White was accused of breaching 13 conditions of his licence, including failure to train staff in the lead up to carnival."The police have no confidence that Mr White is able to run a safe sound system going forward," the force said. Mr White said it was "unfortunate" the Met had requested a licence review after what he described as a decade of "safely delivering a sound system experience to thousands of carnival goers".He pledged to train staff and volunteers "via a reputable training provider", increase the number of welfare stewards and stop selling Volcano-branded said: "Whilst I can accept that the unfortunate incident was not managed well, after reflection and learning I believe that I have the ability to ensure I meet all licensing conditions as well as ensure additional plans are in place in the event of an incident or emergency."
