Harrow Civic Centre (Photo: Newsquest) Harrow Council could appoint a series of assistants to help support senior councillors with their specific briefs in the borough. A report set to be presented to the council’s cabinet tomorrow (Thursday, May 27) outlines plans to give eight councillors increased responsibilities for 2021/22. If approved, these councillors could receive an additional allowance of £2,142 for taking the role. However, since councillors can only have one extra allowance, in addition to their basic of £8,561, this might not be the case for all appointments. Under the proposals, Cllr Angella Murphy-Strachan (Lab, Edgware) would support Cllr Christine Robson (Lab, West Harrow), who is responsible for children and young people, with corporate parenting.
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Gareth Thomas at a site in The Ridgeway, where a proposed scheme has faced heavy opposition (Photo: Gareth Thomas) A Harrow MP has joined his Labour colleagues on the council in calling on the Government to rethink its proposed major planning reforms. Gareth Thomas, who represents Harrow West, argued the changes could take power away from councillors and the public and make it easier for developers to secure permission for damaging schemes. The Government’s plans, which were outlined in the Queen’s Speech last week, aim to streamline the national planning system by “cutting red tape”. If approved, it means developments in designated growth areas would be given the green light provided they meet new local design standards.
Harrow Civic Centre (Photo: Newsquest) Harrow Council’s opposition Conservative group have criticised reshuffles of some of the authority’s key decision-making committees. They suggested decisions taken by council leader Cllr Graham Henson (Lab, Roxbourne) had left certain panels lacking “experience”. Cllr Paul Osborn, leader of Harrow Conservatives, explained nobody questioned the ability of the newly chosen councillors but he felt there were some instances where the changes were not a good fit. He particularly took issue with the decision to appoint Cllr Pamela Fitzpatrick (Lab, Headstone South) as chairman of the planning committee. “I’d like to emphasise we’re not doing this because of the person involved but, while Cllr Fitzpatrick is an experienced and able councillor, she has not sat on the planning committee at all and has only attended one meeting in the last seven years,” he told a full council meeting yesterday (Wednesday, May 5).