Is there anything Barry CANNOT help with?

 

There are a small number of issues that Barry is unable to become involved in, these are:

Planning issues

Barry regrets to have to inform you that as your MP, he is unable to intervene in planning matters as 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 Barry as your political representative to make representations to the committee.

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 knock-on effects from the development which have wider political ramifications within the local community such as traffic generation, overcrowding of doctors' surgeries, inadequate number of spaces in local schools etc. Because of these wider implications Barry can and does make representations on any such major development. The other case where I make representations about planning matters 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 Barry would and does make representations to the Council asking them to ensure that the correct procedures are followed. This however is an intervention about the process not about the substance of the decision.

Contact Brent Council Planning Service. Alternatively speak to your local councillor.

School places

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 Barry can instruct a school to take any child.

Contact Brent Council School Admissions. Alternatively speak to your local councillor.

Legal matters

As your Member of Parliament, Barry is not permitted or qualified to give specific legal advice and cannot become involved in matters which are currently being dealt with by the Courts or a Tribunal. You should contact a Law Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, the Law Society or the Community Legal Advice helpline (0845 345 4345) if you require legal advice.