Category Archives: Birmingham, UK

Sports centre in Handsworth up for asset transfer

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Once upon a time when we lived in a fairly civilised society we had a wooden hut which served as changing facilities for a range of sporting activities. The hut was available to us in the community, With Ernie in charge it was made available when needed. From 1990 onwards the ward changed from being represented by Tory councillors it transformed in three years to having three Labour councillors with the largest majority in Birmingham. After elections we would return to Laurel Road to tune into the election results late into the night.

One day came the news of a fire. Our precious centre had burned down due to an electrical fault in a drinks machine. What would happen to the site. We wrote letters to Pepsi-cola, or whoever owned the drinks dispenser to see if they would help sponsor a rebuild. Eventually we learned that we would get a new building which we were asked to comment on. I remember we were told we couldn’t have a clock tower (don’t remember anyone asking!) Sports England came on board to help out and gave us funding for upgrading the facilities including a climbing wall (instead of the clock tower I suppose).

On the downside Ernie disappeared to look after another centre nearby. African Caribbean himself he was popular with local youth and could reach out to young people with excellent results. The centre became managed with a new staff. We could hire the building for meetings but it had to be cleared by 9.00pm.

Last Wednesday a large group of people assembled at Hamstead Hall School from the Handsworth Against the Cuts Campaign with banners and songs led by Dave Rogers of Banner Theatre. Laurel Road was a candidate for asset transfer. It was the Handsworth Wood Ward Committee meeting at which the three Labour councillors were present. A request had been made for Laurel Road to be an agenda item. This had not happened but I suppose because of the size of the protest group discussion was grudgingly allowed. We were promised that our views would be taken back to the City Council. The councillors said they were on our side, but in view of the draconian cuts in funding there was little they felt could be done.

The question remains why the Labour Party, now in control, acquieces to everything thrown at it. Handsworth Wood Ward may have continued with its Tory representation. The question is whether the three Labour Councillors oppose the transfer of assets and privatisation. The sad fact is that they do having openly supported first Academies and then Free Schools. While Labour brought in academies their stance of Free Schools has been oppositional. At least of two of the Councillors actively supported Free Schools in Handsworth set up by the Nishkam Centre. Do these councillors not understand that asset transfer and privatisation is the handing over of public money for the purpose of making the now private assets profitable to an unaccountable group of people? How will they support us when they believe in asset transfer etc?

No light went out with Mandela, it continues to shine ever brighter

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I have a picture on my mantlepiece showing Nelson Mandela leaving the International Convention Centre in Birmingham during his visit to the UK in 1993. He had just spoken to a packed hall for two hours, without notes, and it seemed as if he was just holding a conversation with us. It certainly didn’t seem like two hours and those present would have willingly stayed another two or more to hear what he had to say to us. As the car left I positioned myself to salute him which he acknowledged with a smile and wave. He made everyone he came across, it seems, feel important, and as we have seen the people of South Africa are celebrating his life which brought them not only freedom but a knowledge of who they are. This feeling of course extends not only across Africa but the whole world.

One of the first to pay a tribute to Mandela in Birmingham was Rev Jesse Jackson. He is no stranger to Birmingham and Handsworth, home to a significant African Caribbean community. When former Councillor Phillip Murphy made a request for Nelson Mandela to come to Handsworth the response was that it would be impossible given his tight and exhausting schedule. When ANC contacts let it be known that such a visit had been requested he insisted on meeting them early that morning.

Tributes to Mandela continue to pour in across the world, including from the Israeli government who continue to uphold their own apartheid regime between Arab and Jew. Palestinian tributes were countered by the Israeli army using their accustomed violence.

Birmingham’s prized education service trashed

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In Birmingham Gove has had his way in trashing Birmingham’s once proud Education Service with minimal opposition from the Council. Even the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services in the Con Dem Coalition, Les Lawrence, didn’t support academies and free schools they have gone ahead. Quite a few Labour Councillors think academies are a good idea and some have supported the Nishkam Free Schools. Quite a muddle.
It’s good that the City Council wants to retain some influence on education, but why has it let so much control continue to ebb away. The idea of a co-operative enterprise to maintain cohesion is a good one but it is over a year ago since it was first mooted and although it is supposed to be in place by September there is little sign of an effective vehicle to emerge so far. The Labour Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Brigid Jones, may have good intentionbut she needs a strong officer corps for support. It is not Councillors who are paid to run the City Council, and I know as a former Cabinet Member how important competent and loyal officers are. Brigid’s officers are out of control. I have told her this from my experience as a former governor of Foundry School. When it was forced to become an Academy the Birmingham officers, who should have been supporting the school, came in holding the hand of Gove’s agent, Rob Briscoe, to polish us off. I have heard the same story over and over. Too many Birmingham schools are being handed over to chains of organisations with CEOs taking telephone number salaries. They are paid with our taxes! This is where the money supposed to be for our education service has gone. Even if you like academies you should at least have a say in who your sponsor is. That was denied governors and parents in at least one case with once again Birmingham education officers standing by without offering advice or support. What are they paid for?
I have written to Albert Bore about this, but he has other problems, like raking over the ashes to find if there is anything left to run a Council at all. But he has never been in opposition to private take over of Council Service, he only has a preference for KPMG over Capita.
Once upon a time astute people brought in an educationist rather than a local government careerist to run education. Under Sir Tim Brighouse it thrived. I attended two occasions when HM inspectors looked at the service provided. On both occasions it was accorded high praise, even when Brighouse’s arch enemy Chris Woodhouse led the inspection. How all that can disappear in the blink of en eye is unimaginable. Labour could have seen this coming preparing while still in opposition to do what a number of authorities like Bradford, Liverpool and Cornwall have achieved. What is being done now is too little, too late. Brigid is on her own as she is undermined by her officers. They should be sacked now. Bore is too busy to give it his full attention and he embraces privatisation. Labour Councillors are all over the place. Step forward parents, governors, teachers and other stake holders to regain a democratic system led by the Council. Birmingham Campaign for State Education and the Anti-Academy Alliance will help.
The Socialist Labour Party is totally opposed to academies, free schools and any privatisation of public services.

Hester walking, Bore talking

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How do the rich become wealthy? How do the poor stay that way? Is it their entrepreneurial skills that get a talented few to the top, household names like Branson, Sugar, Blair, Mandelson et al as their celebrity allows them to wine and dine with the mighty. More about Bobby.
Today we have the news of Stephen Hester leaving RBS having been put in place to put things right and then getting tangled with the Libor scandal. In spite of this Hester will walk away with a multimillion pound pay off. RBS is in large part nationalised. Who will pay? I suppose it’s us.
Meanwhile back at the ranch here in Birmingham, Council leader Albert Bore is scratching his head with what to do without any money for what heave been termed “essential services”. He is talking to us about what it is we want to keep out of the ashes that have been left in the name of austerity. “We will have to change” he warns stating the blindingly obvious. Clearly we can’t beat ’em so we will join them by making Birmingham lead in the country’s economy. Do we presume that this will lead to a form of trickle down to feed, house and protect our mist vulnerable citizens?
The problem is, as we can see above, he can’t count on being bailed out by his party as they too join in the grandest larceny ever with public funds being handed over to bolster profit. Schools, hospitals, even prisons contribute to the likes of the Chief Executives of G4S, and ATOS who thrive at the expense of the peoples’ misery. They take over key services providing poorly trained, low paid staff.
Is austerity necessary? Yes it is if you have the view that the key to a successful economy is maximising profit and rewarding the few who happen to be in the right place and the right time. This is the dominant version espoused by politicians, the elite who court them and a press ever more tightly reigned in to serve their purpose. Many more are seeing through the great lie and as the power of the state is abused resistance will intensify as we have seen across Europe in Spain, Greece and now Turkey. It will not be taken lying down.

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Who runs your Local Government? Is it Capita or KPMG?

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Most years we go to the polling station to elect our local councillors, but who is running local government? Characteristically a few names crop up over and over: large offshore businesses that have successfully privatised our former public services.
In Birmingham Capita have rules the show ever since the Tory/Lib.Dem coalition took control in 2004. Labour are highly critical of Capita, not as a private entity, but because they have proved unreliable and not met their promises. They would prefer KPMG to take over. Two years back I asked Stephen Hughes to account for Capita in his budget presentation on swingeing cuts then (nothing like now!) He responded with a bland statement of how “they were saving us money”. I didn’t know organisations like them came cheap. There was no suggestion then that they should share in the burden.
The names crop up all over the place, KPMG just last night on Channel 4 news. This was in the context of the HBOS fiasco where a group of out of control bankers trashed it. Where were the auditors then? Who were they? Well KPMG. Why wasn’t this scrutinised by the former FSA? Because it was led by the former head of KPMG at the time could be the answer.
The truth is the Thatcher legacy runs root and branch into our society, operated by all parties returned to power. Changing it again will not be achieved by tinkering and meanwhile it will continue to serve to divide our society to its core.

No holds barred. The Gove destruction of state education

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From what’s been going on in Birmingham I’ve had my suspicions that not all is above board as the wholesale destruction of out prized education system continues apace. It’s a funny old world. Les Lawrence, former Cabinet Member for Children’s Services in the Con-Dem coalition prefers co-operative schools, while the leader of the current Labour administration wants more academies. I suspect the Labour group is divided with a laissez faire approach as a result. I’ve written to Bore warning of the out-of-control mess we’re going to edn up with, but the inscrutable leader won’t say what his personal agenda is. It will be based on expediency for sure. Given the budget imposed on Birmingham I suppose it makes some sort of sense getting a load of schools out of your hair. Has Michael Gove approached Sir Albert one wonders? While that seems most unlikely he’s been busy distributing largesse through his agents. So Rob Briscoe has a budget for his operation “bugger our schools”.
How education is going to be planned and provided in future is anyone’s guess. I’m no fan of academies or free schools but a criticism of free schools so far is that they are allowed into areas that don’t need them, affecting existing schools adversely, while not being targeted on areas of need.
Is Gove unassailable? The exam debacle suggests he is not, and the way is wide open to building the resistance that is apparent to the privatisation of the health service. Otherwise when we wake up the whole of our hard won state education system will have been lost.
Why is Gove not only tolerated but lionised? It’s the ideology that matters rather than his consistence inept bungling. Like Bore in Birmingham you can’t take him at face value, the real agenda is there below the surface.

Greater Birmingham, a transformation for all, or more for those in the right place at the right time?

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Decentralisation is something the UK could do with as the South East grows apace while the regions struggle to make ends meet. Birmingham it seems, and according to Lord Heseltine, has seen the light, and to mix metaphors, is grasping the nettle.
A new Labour administration came back into office this summer with Sir Albert Bore continuing at the helm and apparently more in charge than ever – that’s a concern voiced by one Labour councillor I spoke to. I did appreciate some quick turn around, in stating that Birmingham would pay a minimum living wage to employees. And yes of course these things have to be paid for.
The problem I see I can illustrate from another story in today’s Birmingham Post about another undoubted success story, Birmingham Airport. The opening paragraph shows who benefits from this with the directors’ pay “soaring” and pay outs to shareholders. So how do those employees who have contributed to the airport’s success benefit. What is left to put back into local authority’s coffers to deliver essential services to those citizens who are struggling to get decent jobs and housing and to pay for huge costs of fuel and food?
The idea is to make a link as Bore himself declare: “Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore said that public sector involvement was key, as economic growth and improvement to the social sphere go hand-in-hand.
He added: ‘I believe we can make a difference and a difference that the region itself will recognise in a few years time.’ “ (Birmingham Post 4/1/2013)
In terms of change to local authorities what will this look like. Cameron declared it was his intention to roll back state intervention, and this is just what the Con Dem coalition has done nationally as its little blueprint running Birmingham City Council did. They brought in Capita, now a giant organisation specialising in offshore scams and tax dodges, ideas it passes on to others undoubtedly for a small consideration. Sir Albert favours KPMG who he had been linking with in his earlier administration. I remember walking into Birmingham Council House on morning to see the TV screens to read “KPMG welcomes you to Birmingham City Council.” I looked at the security officers to see of they were wearing a new uniform. Would I come into be welcomed by staff in Mickey Mouse costumes I wondered at the time. What is new to the announcement that local government will change? One or two firms of accountants have turned themselves into massive consultancies and are increasingly running the show and calling the shots. They or their employees don’t create the wealth themselves but rely on others. In Britain the 80% manufacturing, 20% service sectors reversed themselves particularly after Thatcher’s intervention and Blair’s continuation. While working people create the wealth those in a position to do so, like the happy directors and shareholders of Birmingham Airport, take the cream – and a lot more besides. New Labour, and other politicians talk of a new “cuddly capitalism”. That’s not the nature of the beast and the sooner that’s admitted the better.

US take over of British schools

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Following my earlier blog on forced academies in Birmingham, our friend the DFE hit man, Rob Briscoe has gone a stage further. He has suggested that we invite K12 to give us a presentation as a prospective sponsor. A quick check on the internet: who are they? Nothing came up.
K12 is a US based company labouring to get US schools under its auspices. If they’ve been recommended by Mr Briscoe then they must surely have something substantial to offer? Rick Hatcher kindly sent me this:
Profiles of For-Profit and Nonprofit Education Management Organizations: Thirteenth Annual Report – 2010-2011
Gary Miron, Jessica Urschel, Mayra A. Yat Aguilar, Breanna Dailey
January 6, 2012
K12 Inc. runs 49 for-profit state schools in the US.
‘The largest net increase in schools managed was K12 Inc., which experienced an
increase of 14 schools between 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. A medium for-profit
EMO profiled in last year’s report, KC Distance Learning, was acquired by K12 Inc.,
the nation’s largest for-profit EMO in terms of enrollment.
In last year’s Profiles, the total enrollment of K12’s 24 schools exceeded that of any
other for-profit EMO. This year, after the acquisition of KC Distance Learning,
K12’s total enrollment for its 49 schools (65,396) far exceeds any other EMO.’
26 out of 49 K12 schools didn’t meet AYP. AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) provides a crude indicator of the extent to which schools are meeting state standards.
This is a very interesting article about the politics of K12:
http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EPSL-0404-117-EPRU.pdf

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Forced academies in Birmingham

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Foundry School is in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, an area of transition and deprivation. I have been a governor there for some 20 years, but now it looks like the end of the line. A few months ago the school emerged from special measures in what everyone considered a remarkably short time. This was after enormous effort on behalf of the school leadership, staff and governors. Our euphoria has been short lived after one Mr Driscoll came to school and returned is to special measures.
To come out of special measures meant that the school must have made tangible improvement, however by the time Mr Driscoll arrived there had not been time for results to kick in. The other aspect is that schools in special measures are open to being forced into becoming academies. At least that is what we are being told, but when challenges have been made it seems it ain’t necessarily so!
Mr Driscoll was followed into school by one Rob Briscoe (I keep confusing the two) who came with local authority reps in tow to meet the Governors. The first thing Sue Twells, a Birmingham officer, mentioned was that Foundry could be considered for closure. The debate turned to us making a case against school closure with the academy status issue lost from sight. Sue Twells had already told us that we could not avoid becoming an academy, at which point I responded that it sounded like we were being bullied. The current Cabinet Member for Children’s Services in Birmingham, Brigid Jones, had sent a letter to all school saying that no school would be forced into privatisation, so why were City officers saying something different?
As for Mr Briscoe, he was somewhat impressed with the arguments that governors made in support of Foundry. As a result he kindly arranged a meeting with a possible sponsor. At least it seemed a kind thought at the time. We learn a little, since Mr Briscoe it turns out is not an inspector, but is employed directly by the DFE as a hit man whose job it is to bring in the academies.
Governors were treated to a presentation by two gentlemen from Oasis Academies who are interested in taking on around 9 Birmingham primary schools. The governors were all impressed by the sales pitch, particularly on their expressed concern with community involvement. The outcome was for an attempt to get an immediate decision that we would work with Mr Briscoe to become an academy sponsored by Oasis.
The next day I began to search out Oasis Academies on the internet. It was full of glowing reports of their secondary academies. That[s not what I was looking for however.
I found an independent reference to their primary school, Shirley Park, in Croydon. The report tells us that the school did significantly worse than the state school it replaced, and is one of the 200 worst performing schools in the country. Croydon will not allow it to take over any more of its schools.
Results for secondary academies were also poor, with Oasis being second from bottom among the private bodies setting up chains of schools across the country. State schools are narrowly beaten by just one chain when GCSE and equivalents are recorded. Mr Briscoe, why are you recommending ours school joins a group which can’t demonstrate good performance, particularly when you have expressed concern about Foundry’s performance? (I was interested to hear that at least one Birmingham head teacher had marched him off the premises!)
The Chair of Governors made it her business to invite union representatives to speak to governors. The euphoria around Oasis has now worn off and when we learned about the possibility of co-operatives. where schools link with high-performing schools, we felt we needed to explore alternatives which were not put to us previously.

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Respect after Yaqoob

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Salma Yaqoob’s emergence as a Birmingham City Council came just as I left as a Labour member. My feeling at the time was here was a new and welcome force in both local, and then very quickly on the national scene. Ken Livingston invited her to partner him in a major debate in London in which Daniel Pipes provided the principal opposition. Now she has quit from Respect, so what will happen next?
Given the current climate that has built about Islam the ability of those like Salma to articulate the views and feelings of the community has been essential. Media coverage has powerfully drowned out day to day reality for most people and engendered hysteria seized on by groups like the English Defence League. The most obvious example of where this can lead occurred in Norway, the link with EDL laid bare.
Daniel Pipes tried to demonstrate that he was not anti-Islamic, yet where did he draw a line between what he saw as fundamentalist and acceptable (to him). Even Yaqoob was on the wrong side. This puts Muslims on the wrong side whoever they are and creates a situation where those even considered to look like “the enemy” vulnerable. Once again Sikhs in particular, with beard and turban have been targets for murder, but anyone appearing Asian or Arabic is fair game. Or as in Norway any group thought to be supportive of allowing Islam into Europe. While the EDL and far right might appear way out, press and “respectable” political groups purvey the same sentiments.
Hopefully Salma will continue to play a role and inspire other young people to involve themselves in the political debate, although Respect as a continuing platform for these views has been compromised by ill-judged comments by its former leader and Member of Parliament. Given George Galloway’s impressive stand and support for the Islamic world it is deeply disappointing that his comments have given cause for Salma Yaqoob to step aside.