By John Sullivan,
I've just read the Barnet Eye and the blog of Mrs Angry
regarding our Barnet Spring/ Winter March on Saturday in weather that at times
reached near blizzard proportions, it was bloody cold and will probably prove
to have been in the top five worst days of the year where weather is concerned.
But we had as you rightly say a very good turnout, sadly had
the weather been more kind there would have been greater numbers and the march
would have been led by a battalion of disabled people in wheelchairs, to
highlight the ongoing and current attacks on the disabled and those with a
disability in Barnet by Cornelius and his crew of uncaring ideologues.
The march was attended by people representing a specific
problem such as anti NHS privatisation , or anti bedroom tax, and many other issues but all fully supportive of
the challenge to the One Barnet Programme ( OBP) and demanding the return of
democracy in Barnet. Many people I spoke with support my contention that Barnet under
Cornelius and co has affectively become a Democracy Free Zone, and I would wish
to concentrate my comments on the lack of democracy in Barnet and the adverse
affects it threatens my daughter Susan
and her peers with. Their future is now at serious risk thanks to OBP phase one
the formation of the LATC that incorporates Your Choice Barnet , coupled with
the complete lack of democratic process in Barnet ,and the absolute refusal of
any Barnet councillor or Officer to engage in meaningful consultation.
Lets us not forget the Barrister at the Royal Courts of
Justice last week acting for LBB was not speaking for herself she was speaking for Cornelius and co, she
was repeating what she had been advised was the factual and truthful situation.
Which very basically and in layman language was CONSULTATION ! what possible
reason would we have to consult with Barnet residents, they are just a bunch of
PLEBS, we are under no obligation to consult with this bunch of morons, and anyway
why should we what the hell has it got to do with them anyway?.
They then went on to highlight areas of consultation on OBP
that they had undertaken such as Leader Listening panels and Citizens panels among others, most of which after basic
scrutiny were proven to be without any foundation in fact. From my perspective
it was proven beyond any reasonable doubt that LBB led by Cornelius and co have
never at any time engaged in the democratic process of meaningful consultation
with Barnet residents on OBP. A message that came across loud and clear at out
Spring/ Winter March on Saturday, people
were and are demanding the return of the democratic process to Barnet, the end
of 10 ideologues making decision after decision on our behalf without due
democratic process, Decisions such as Fremantle and others than have to date
cost Barnet residents millions, LBB have yet to get an outsourcing of any note right
that has not cost Barnet resident s money. As
repeatedly stated by people on the march, councillors have cost us millions
on small privatisation to date because they got it wrong, what in hell is going
to happen to our public services if they have got the One Billion Pound OBP
wrong.
The most recent privatisations of our public services is yet
again failing completely and hanging on for survival by being in a
hole and still digging, it is the Your Choice Barnet a sub section of Barnet
Homes Local Authority Trading Company ( LATC ) to accommodate Housing and Your Choice Barnet ( YCB )which undertakes the support services
for my daughter and her peers, people with a mixture of disabilities including
a mental handicap . People that need help and support , people that we as a
civilized society have a responsibility as human beings to protect and defend.
A Trading Company that is now trading after just one year on borrowed money and
borrowed time, and time is of the essence to rescue my daughter Susan and her
peers from the incompetence of and virtual insolvency of YCB.
I will not go into the disaster that parking has become because
anyone interested in this pathetic attempt at privatisation only needs to
Google Mr Mustard for a detailed explanation as to why it is yet another potentially
costly mistake pushed through without consultation by those that think they
know it all, and believe us residents are simpletons unable to have a
constructive input.
There is a more immediate issue that requires attention and
the focus of Barnet residents that have any level of humanity and that is the
protection of my daughter Susan and her peers, from what has proven to be the
disastrous privatisation of their services into the hands of an LATC named Your
Choice Barnet. YCB was launched with a fanfare just last year making all sorts
of claims it would offer clients More Choice , More activity out in the community,
no service changes apart from the logo, and for the money grabbing profit
hungry ideological Tory councillors
" loads of money " . Lots of lovely money will be earned from
these unfortunate souls they said, a
policy of profit before people which has become the standard bearer for
Cornelius and co. That has spectacularly crash landed in one year and is in
effect up to its neck in debt, and once again being bailed out by Barnet
residents to the tune of One Million Pounds. Yes One Million Pounds of Barnet
taxpayers money, Barnet taxpayers who
Cornelius and co claim have no right to be consulted. Is being taken from
Barnet Homes by way of a loan to underpin Your Choice Barnet, even though
Barnet is desperately short of social housing ,and should be investing that
money where it was intended, not propping
up yet another failed privatisation
disaster forced through by Barnet councillors without consultation.
The worst aspect of this financial car crash that is YCB is
the fact these arrogant self opinionated councillors and officers were warned
that the business model that they were launching YCB on was not sustainable and
fatally flawed ,by parents such as myself and by experts in the field commissioned by Unison
but we were ignored. YCB has been a disaster waiting to happen that has crashed
financially in the most dramatic way in just one year, it has not offered the
More Choice or the More Activity in the Community , the services have changed
and not just the logo and things are about to get worse.
An undertaking was given by LBB that in the event of commercial
failure of YCB the services would have to be brought back in-house, and now
there has been a total collapse of the company they are ignoring that
undertaking and have launched a plan B business model that has about as much chance
of success as the initial plan for privatisation ( Plan A). They have launched
a consultation period from 1st March 2013 on the Plan B, that gambles with the lives of this vulnerable
group of people that is already giving the lie to two of the major promise of
Plan A, which I repeat offered More Choices and More activity in the Community.
However the reality is to repay the debts of the car crash
of Plan A many of this group who have always enjoyed five day per week support
activities are having those days cut back, and they are being dumped at home
for at least one of those five days per week. Which will no doubt as the hole
gets deeper become two or three days per week, which blows a hole in the whole
premise and the promises in Plan A of "More In Community Activity " when in essence what is on
offer is " More Dumped At Home Captivity "at the home isolated from
their peers. Not only that they are demoting staff cutting their wages removing
allowances for working adverse hours such as evenings and weekends. They are
driving away the more expensive skilled care workers and replacing them with
cheap labour. My question is how do you scrutinise something in order to
prepare for consultation , when the vitally important financial information is
omitted from the consolation document. I
could go on and on but I hope these bothering to read this guest blog get a
basic idea of the inhumanity being or about to be forced upon Susan and her
peers. By people who should know better,
people blinded by greed and profit in
the Cornelius and co world of profits before people, and read my short summary
below, sign our petition just click on the link, join our campaign and attend
out public meeting. Start the fight back for democratic rights in Barnet by
supporting right away and urgently these
innocent folk, that it would appear in
the eyes of Cornelius and co accompanied by their lap dog officers have no
rights, at all.
THERE IS A REAL
POTENTIAL FOR A WINTEBOURNE VIEW TYPE HORROR STORY IN BARNET IF WE FAIL TO
FORCE YOUR CHOICE SERVICES BACK IN HOUSE
A Message from Susan
and her peers
We appeal on our own
behalf and on behalf of some of the clients parents carers and staff of Your
Choice Barnet phase one of the One
Barnet Programme, a company launched on a business model that Mickey Mouse would have seen holes in. A company
launched on dishonesty so deceitfully given the name Your Choice, when those affected
were offered no Choice, where consultation with clients and staff is claimed
yet none took place.
Your Choice after
just one year is a financial car crash, it has had to borrow one million pounds to
stay afloat. The only way that money can
be paid back, is by demanding the maximum per client from central government
whilst providing minimum services for us clients. Furthermore by destroying the
working conditions and cutting the pay
of staff, special people who have given
love and support to this vulnerable group in Barnet for many years, are to be
demotivated and trampled under foot and eventually replaced by cheap labour to
the detriment of service quality and quality of life for clients. But the
problem is it will not work things will get worse, Your Choice is in a hole and
they just keep digging.
When this financial
disaster was launched Barnet council undertook that in the unlikely event
of financial collapse they would return the
services back in-house, they are breaking that undertaking by arrogantly launching a plan B business model that is as weak as the
plan A model that has resulted in all of this debt.
Can we plead with you
all to sign our petition and get your friends to do the same, and demand that
Your Choice services be brought back in-house where they belong ,so vulnerable
people human beings like us with feelings can be protected and not
bartered as commodities in the market
place of greed . We are being offered " More Captivity" at home
rather than the More Out in the Community Activity we were assured
privatisation would bring.
Please sign our petition
attend our meeting and join our "
Bring Your Choice Services Back - In House Campaign" = Http://petitions.barnet.gov.uk/YourChoiceBack/
Thank you
PP Susan Sullivan and
her peers
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