Open letter to John Hooton - CEO at Barnet Council regarding problems with the Barnet Council pension scheme

 Dear Mr Hooton,

I have been contacted by several former employees of Barnet Council who are having serious issues with their Barnet Council pension. The scheme is administrated by Capita and it is clear to me that the mismanagement of the administration is causing real pain and financial hardship for people who dedicated their career working for Barnet. 

Unfortunately, much as I would love to be able to help these people directly, my only role in this matter can be as a blogger who is in a position to disseminate information and suggest to these poor unfortunate people how their issues can be resolved. It is quite clear that the 'usual channels' are not working, therefore can I ask you to do the following things.

1. Provide contact details for a council official who can act as a direct go between and will be in a position to actually resolve the problems rather than just fobbing people off.

2. Reslove to take whatever actions are necessary to resolve the issues with your suppliers. I would appreciate an update on this matter.

3. Provide a date by which you expect measures to be put in place to ensure that all former Barnet Council employees who receive a pension can expect the issues to be resolved. 

4. A personal assurance that you will personally accept responsibility for ensuring that these issues are resolved. 

I would appreciate an update that can be posted for the readers of my blog. If however this is not possible, please pass on whatever information you can, so that I can pass this back to the people who have contacted me. I am sure you appreciate that many people are under severe strain at present. It is most important that Barnet Council treats its former employees with the respect and courtesy they deserve and ensures that they receive pensions that they are entitled to in a timely manner.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

P.S. I have cc'd the Leader of the Council into this for information