KCTMO – Housing Management for the People, by the People?

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KCC Merger – Partner or Prey?

Apologies are in order, first of all, to our friends and colleagues in the Save Wornington College Campaign for our recent exclusive focus on the truly terrible events at Grenfell Tower. This has caused us to somewhat neglect the Wornington issue, which is also dear to our hearts. However it has been, and remains, vitally important that we continue to prioritise the Grenfell Tower catastrophe and try our utmost to keeep it alive in the media and in the public mind. However, it hasn’t escaped our notice, and we are very pleased to see and to support the new Save Wornington College blog that has recently appeared at;

https://saveworningtoncollege.com/

Ealing Hammersmith and West London College recently announced the much anticipated merger with Kensington & Chelsea College. They claim the merger will broaden the opportunities available to learners and help meet the future needs of employers across the region. Kensington and Chelsea College had earlier announced plans to increase the number of students in North Kensington, with modern facilities for both school-leavers and adults. According to KCC the plan for Wornington is for facilities on-site or nearby, allowing space for increased student numbers and more courses. The college, they say, is committed to staying in North Kensington where demand remains strong for student places. Michele Sutton, the interim principal of Kensington and Chelsea College, said:

“We are delighted to be able to announce the agreement to enter into this merger with a very strong, well-respected and successful neighbouring college. This announcement (will ensure) good provision in the borough while at the same time drawing on the resources of a larger organisation. We are looking forward to working closely together as this merger takes shape over the coming months and ensuring a smooth transition.”

This latest statement lacks any mention of  provision in North Kensington and public consultation is not scheduled until January 2018, despite the fact that the decision to proceed with the merger has already been confirmed.

The local branch of the University and College Union (UCU), the largest trade union in the UK representing academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers and other academic staff in further and higher education, has responded to these developments by pouring cold water on the warm words of these college governors and their senior management teams.

The KCC branch of the UCU passed a motion on 5th July stating that:

This Branch considers that the recent round of cuts resulting in compulsory and voluntary redundancies was not carried out in accordance with established and lawful procedures.

• • As more than 20 members of staff were/are at risk of redundancy and/or have been accepted for voluntary redundancy, we demand that the proper procedures be followed (as outlined in the UCU Branch email of 27th June concerning collective consultation).
  • Those consultations already carried out were conducted improperly.
  • Classes were closed prior to any ‘at risk’ members of staff having been made redundant and/or received voluntary redundancy.
  • Potential students are being turned away, having been informed that classes will not take place. This is prior to any consultations having taken place and goes against the spirit and letter of redundancy consultation legislation and established practice.
  • We are shocked and appalled that Senior Management fail(ed) to appreciate, or do not know, that the College is a public body.
  • The Branch has received an inadequate response  to concerns raised on the 23rd June regarding the decision to close maths for adults and regarding the College’s responsibilities under The Equality Act 2010.
  • The ‘Equality Impact Statement’ shows contempt for the needs of the local community, especially in the North Kensington area, which is amongst the most socially and economically deprived in Britain.

We further demand:

• • That all redundancy consultations be immediately halted
  • That applications for courses in the curriculum areas under threat are processed. We have evidence that applicants are being referred to other Colleges and that applications have supposedly been ‘lost’.

We believe that the above is a deliberately managed decline, prior to the proposed merger/takeover of the College, in order that the College will seem more financially attractive. We believe that this is linked to the regeneration of the North Kensington area and increases the prospects that an asset strip might be appealing to a larger ‘partner’.

This Branch has no confidence in the Interim Senior Management because of past and present performance, we therefore mandate Branch Officers to seek immediate talks with the Chair of Governors to discuss staff concerns regarding Interim Senior Management performance and actions in order to seek ways forward for the general good of the College and its community.

The glaring disconnect between the reassuring PR statements coming from the management at EHWL and KCC, and the litany of redundancies, cancelled classes and other concerns raised by the University and College Union branch at KCC are alarming. The UCU motion speaks of ‘managed decline’ linked to the Council’s plans for the so-called ‘regeneration’ of North Kensington and refers also to asset stripping that will serve only the interests of the dominant ‘partner’ (ie EHWL).  This in turn echoes the words of Tony Redpath, a senior RBKC officer seconded to the KCC Board, who warned in February of this year, following the collapse of the City Lit merger talks, that Ealing Hammersmith and West London College were ‘already circling’ and that KCC’s problem was that its attraction to larger Colleges was ‘based on its assets rather than it activities’.

We in the Grendfell Action Group have learned the hard way to be wary of the sweet talk of those in power whose statements we have far too often found to be duplicitous and deliberately misleading. We therefore fear that the new merger is in fact a hostile takeover by EHWL which is likely to involve further asset stripping and the loss of much , if not all, of KCC’s educational provision in North Kensington, which although vital to many local residents, may be a mere incumberance to the plans of the new improved college in which only the Chelsea centre may have any future value.

The Wornington centre having been sold off, and government funding radically cut, any reprovision of adult education in North Kensington will require significant new investment with no guarantee of the returns the new regime will be seeking. What are the chances they will take that gamble?

EAST 4 WEST – A BEAUTIFUL MESSAGE!

A beautiful message to the Grenfell community, from the housing estates of East London

Residents of council tower blocks and estates across East and South London dropped 22 banners – one for each of the 22 residential floors in the 24 storey Grenfell Tower, destroyed by fire on 14th June – in a show of mass solidarity with victims, survivors and the local community.

The action on Tuesday 27 June was dubbed ‘East 4 West – Grenfell Solidarity’ and was mainly organised by black and brown communities with people of all faith living in social housing in Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney, Southwark and several others boroughs.

OUR MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO THE RESIDENTS OF GRENFELL

Ends to ends, estates to estates, we hope this action brings together our communities and also makes the people of East, North and South London aware that our realities are not too far away from those of Grenfell and its local communities We direct the eyes of our community towards Grenfell, to remember all who are gone and to keep our hearts with you.

We came together because many of us do not have the funds or the living space that others have to offer and we know nothing can bring back what was taken from you.

We too, live in inner city council estates and tower blocks. Our communities are working class, black, brown, people of all faiths, poor and proud. We wanted to find a way to show you that we are holding you however we can; in prayers, love, resistance and solidarity. We have not forgotten you.

We know that there is a long journey towards justice and community repair. We believe in you. We know that you can heal your communities and get the justice you deserve.

We stand in solidarity with your demands for justice. Justice will be yours and because of that justice will be ours.

We are with you.

We will never forget.

With love and solidarity,

Your East London Fam

This action was a collective effort of many east London social housing residents and our friends. We want to acknowledge Queensland House estate and Richard Neale House estate, we were unable to capture their banner drops due to their buildings being high towers and windy weather.

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/a-beautiful-message-to-the-grenfell-community-from-the-housing-estates-of-east-london/

If you visit this page and scroll down you will come to a an archive of pictures of banner after banner hanging from the balconies and walkways of housing estates all over London. If you’re not moved to tears by this (as we were) then you’re just not human.

For this moving display of empathy and solidarity we thank you, brothers and sisters, from the bottom of our hearts!

#East4West #GetGrenfellJustice

GRENFELL INQUIRY PHASE ONE

In their infinite wisdom and supreme arrogance – what else could we expect of them? – the British Government has announced, without any attempt at public consultation, or any attempt to consider the sensitivities of the bereaved who lost loved ones in the Grenfell Tower Inferno, or of those fortunate enough to have miraculously survived it, the appointment of retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick to lead the Grenfell inquiry.

Sir Ken Knight has been named as chair of a new panel looking at safety, a man who previously opposed fitting sprinklers in tower blocks and recommended £200m in cuts to the fire service.

The Secretary to the Inquiry has been named as Mark Fisher CBE who was formerly Social Justice Director at the DWP responsible for the prevention of multiple disadvantage and long term welfare dependency and was previously Jobseekers and Skills Director at the DWP, responsible for designing and delivering the Work Programme.

The Radical Housing Network said:

“The appointment of Sir Martin Moore-Bick as the judge in the Grenfell inquiry is deeply distressing. Sir Moore-Bick has a track record of facilitating the social cleansing of London, approving Westminster Council’s decision to house a single mother with five children in Milton Keynes, 50 miles away from her family and networks, a decision later overturned by the Supreme Court. The government are clearly preparing a stitch-up, trying to put a judge at the heart of the establishment in charge of the inquiry, who supports the inhumane housing policies which have led to Grenfell.

How can we have faith in this panel to deliver the protection we need? These appointments are yet further evidence that the establishment is not committed to providing justice for Grenfell residents, and are unwilling to put in place measures which will prevent a tragedy of this enormity from happening again.”

Pilgrim Tucker, who worked for a while with the Grenfell Action Group and is continuing to support local residents, added:

“Residents from Lancaster West Estate asked Theresa May to involve them in the decision making on the Grenfell Inquiry. In appointing Sir Martin Moore-Bick, she has ignored them, and appointed a completely inappropriate judge. We have no faith that this inquiry will produce justice.”

On Cabinet Secretary Sajid Javid’s letter of 28th June, claiming that all residents made homeless by the Grenfell catastrophe will be permanently rehoused in social housing at social rent, the Radical Housing Network said:

“After over two weeks of uncertainty, and flip-flopping, it is good that the authorities have committed to housing all those made homeless by the fire, regardless of tenure, in permanent social housing at social rent. This is the absolute minimum that should be provided for people who have lost so much.

“However, after appearing to promise homes in borough, the government have backtracked. People housed in neighbouring boroughs could end up living many miles away from their jobs, families and communities. We know Kensington and Chelsea council could afford local homes if they wanted to.”

In a statement Lancaster West Estate Residents also responded:

“Residents are shocked and disappointed at Theresa May’s ‘failed promises’ on Grenfell Tower fire inquiry.”

Residents in the estate surrounding Grenfell Tower expressed disappointment at Theresa May’s failure to consult them on the Public Inquiry, despite previous promises to include them. Resident Amanda Fernandez, said:

“Prime Minister Theresa May did not even respond to our email requesting direct involvement on the establishment of the public inquiry. She has already appointed a judge who has told us the inquiry will be very narrow. She promised to consult us on this, but has completely gone back on that promise. We are deeply disappointed.”

Without consulting residents May has started appointing establishment figures residents feel are not appropriate, compromising the scope of the investigation from the start.

Residents say trust and confidence in the Government and the Inquiry are now very low, and residents are demanding the appointment of appropriate people to lead this Inquiry in order to prevent the same failures being repeated again.

“We now have a complete lack of confidence in the inquiry’s ability to address the history of negligence that led to the fire, or the authorities failures in the aftermath of the fire. For the truth to emerge and justice to be done we must be involved in shaping this inquiry”  said Ms Fernandez.

You can contact Lancaster West Estate Residents at: lancasterwestresidents@gmail.com

The Radical Housing Network, to whom we are grateful for much of the content of this blog, is a London-wide network of housing activist and campaign groups. (Grenfell Action Group is a member).

The Radical Housing Network has a website at :  http://radicalhousingnetwork.org/

FREE TRIP – Chessington World of Adventure

Attention parents from Grenfell Tower and the Walkways;

Grenfell, Hurstway, Testerton, and Barandon Walks.

Would you and your children (aged up to 16) like a FREE trip to Chessington World of Adventure today Sunday 2nd July?

Call our friends at The Real Community on 07376 867829 to register.

If anyone deserves a break, our families do, so please take advantage!

Apologies for short notice so PLEASE SHARE THIS!

Grenfell Tower – The Truth Will Out

On Wednesday 21st June the Chief Executive of RBKC resigned. In a statement CEO Nicholas Holgate said that the Government’s Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, had ‘required’ the leader of the Council to demand his resignation. Council leader Nick Paget-Brown, affectionately known as ‘Piglet’ to those who know and love him, is shown on the left in the picture above. Beside him is the infamous Robert Black, CEO of Kensington and Chelsea TMO, and on the right is Rock Feilding-Mellen, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, Property and Regeneration. Rocky is not so affectionately known to the Grenfell Action Group as ‘Little Lord Rock Weilding Felon’.

Holgate’s resignation came after intense criticism of the Council for the way it responded to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and for its historical neglect of social housing and of the poorer residents of the borough. We have to ask why Holgate was sacrificed while these three rogues remain in power and in office. They need to go, and the sooner the better.

Before the fire that claimed so many innocent lives it was widely believed among Grenfell Tower residents, a belief that still persists among survivors of the disaster, that the cladding had been installed not merely, or even primarily, for the benefit of Grenfell residents, but to satisfy the ulterior motives of the TMO and RBKC to assist in the creeping gentrification of the area. There is some documentary evidence that supports this belief. The decision notice granting planning permission for the project contained the following: Grenfell Tower Planning Consent Notice

This extract from the planning consent notice is noteworthy for its insistence on ‘ensuring that the character and appearance of the area are preserved and the living conditions of those living near the development are suitably protected‘. This can be construed as a reference to the nearby conservation areas and also to prospective future residents of the luxury apartments currently under construction on the Bomore Road corner of the Leisure Centre. Equally noteworthy is the insistence that ‘… samples of materials shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority before the relevant part of the work is begun and the works shall not be carried out other than in accordance with the details so approved and shall thereafter be so maintained’

The first part of this requires no further explanation and the significance we would attach to the latter statement is that the responsibilities of the planners at RBKC did not end once they had granted planning permission for the works. They remained responsible for inspecting the materials used and ensuring they were as specified in the planning application and that the works also were carried out according to specification. It is our understanding that Council inspectors visited the site on numerous occasions to carry out inspections intended (?) to discharge that ongoing duty of scrutiny and care.

According to the Guardian, Omnis Exteriors supplied a cheaper, more flammable version of the two available Reynobond cladding panels for use on Grenfell Tower. Managing Director John Cowley confirmed that Omnis supplied the aluminium composite (ACM) cladding, He said Omnis had been asked to supply Reynobond PE cladding which is £2 cheaper per square metre than the superior fire resistant alternative Reynobond FR. According to Cowley Omnis supplied this cheaper flammable cladding on the orders of the Design and Build Team of the Grenfell Regeneration project. Sub-contractors Harley Facades confirmed that they installed the panels supplied by Omnis.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/16/manufacturer-of-cladding-on-grenfell-tower-identified-as-omnis-exteriors

Underlying the cladding was a polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation foam named Celotex RS5000. According to studies this material burns when exposed to a fire of moderate heat and intensity. Once ignited it burns rapidly and produces intense heat, dense smoke and irritant flammable gases which are extremely toxic. The toxic gases produced include carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. The burning PIR attached to the exterior of Grenfell Tower is believed to have released enough poisonous hydrogen cyanide gas to potentially fill every dwelling in the building, and the simultaneous release of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide is more lethal than if they are released separately.

Section 2.1 of the Grenfell Tower Planning Application Sustainability & Energy Statement concerned the insulation that underlay the rain screen cladding referenced above. It specified that Celotex FR5000, and not Celotex RS5000, was to be used at Grenfell Tower (please note that the prefix ‘FR’ signifies that the product is designed to be fire resistant).

Sustainability & Energy Statement-952368

Following the inferno at Grenfell Tower Celotex posted a series of press releases on their website beginning on Thursday 15th June and with updates on Friday 16th June and Saturday 17th June in which they confirmed that they had supplied Celotex RS5000 for use at Grenfell Tower, and not Celotex FR5000 as specified in the Planning Application.

In each update they included platitudes expressing sympathy for all those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Additionally the update on 16th June claimed that Celotex RS5000 had a fire safety classification of Class 0 in accordance with British Standards. Class 0 indicates that the product meets the highest fire safety standard.

However, on Saturday 17th June Celotex did a complete U-turn announcing that they would cease supplying RS5000 for use in rain screen cladding systems on buildings over 18 metres tall.

Celotex RS5000 updates

This raises serious questions that must be answered about this Celotex debacle, such as how, or even if, the highly flammable RS5000 achieved a Class 0 fire safety rating, and who, if anyone, approved its use at Grenfell Tower, and on what authority. Similar questions should be asked about the Guardian’s claim (above) that Omnis Exteriors supplied cheaper flammable cladding, on the orders of the Design and Build Team for the project, when a safer fire resistent alternative was available at a slightly higher cost.

A curious footnote to the Celotex saga can be found in the Health & Safety Datasheet for Celotex FR5000 which, unlike Celotex RS5000, one might reasonably expect to achieve a Class 0 fire safety rating, which it almost certainly did. The Health & Safety datasheet for this product contains the following guidance note:

Strange that a clearly combustible product that emits toxic fumes when ignited should be declared non-hazardous by the manufacturers and achieve the highest fire safety rating possible under British Standards. What do you think about that my friend?

Celotex FR5000 H&S datasheet

Finally, the Grenfell Tower refurbishment was completed in May 2016, but that’s not the end of the story. Some months later a fire safety consultant for Kensington and Chelsea Council approved the installation of new gas risers and pipes in landings and stairways following a gas leak, but only if they were clad in “fire-rated” boxing. Sacha Jevans, Director of Operations at the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, said that the National Grid assured the Council on 27 March 2017 that the pipes would be protected, but two-thirds of the horizontal pipes were still exposed when the disaster happened on 14th June. The works were originally undertaken by the National Grid’s gas distribution arm. In March, the firm was sold to a consortium, that included the Qatari government, and renamed Cadent Gas. Cadent said the ‘work was still ongoing to box in the horizontal pipes’ when the fire occurred. Gas pipes should never have been installed in these crucial fire safety zones in which no combustible material should have been allowed.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/27/grenfell-tower-gas-pipes-left-exposed-despite-fire-safety-experts-orders?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Inbox

We usually end each blog with some carefully chosen wry or sarcastic comment. Under present circumstances that seems inappropriate. The point of this blog was to present as much evidence as we were able to unearth with our limited resources and access to the relevant documentation. This we have done. It is up to others now to use this evidence to help determine the causes of this terrible tragedy that has befallen our community and to assign the blame for what happened to those who should answer for it.