Showing posts with label Barnet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barnet. Show all posts

Monday, 27 February 2023

How many refugees and asylum seekers are there in the London Borough of Barnet?

 There has been plentty of lively discussions in the pubs and clubs of the Borough of Barnet about the issue of Asylum seekers, refugees etc. Barnet Council are debating this next week, and have published a report detailng exactly how many refugees and asylum seekers taxpayers are supporting in the Borough. I thought that the readers of the Barnet Eye may be interested in the various schemes which the Borough is participating in. I have to admit that I was unaware of much of this information. To give you some idea of the scale, there are  395,839 (2019 census) in Barnet. by my maths, this means that approx 0.25% of our population are refugees or asylum seekers being supported by the taxpayer. Not quite the 'overwhelming' number some people are claiming.

1. Why this report is needed 

1.1 Barnet is enhanced by the contribution of a range of diverse communities and this diversity has made Barnet a place of attraction for those who seek to settle in the UK. The council has worked to make sure that Barnet is a welcoming borough and so, over the last five years, we have co-ordinated several resettlement schemes to welcome and support those who have been displaced. 

1.2 This report will provide an update on the work that Barnet Council continues to do to support refugees and asylum seekers. In addition to this, following a council motion to become a Borough of Sanctuary on 24 January, this paper will outline the future of this work towards accreditation.

 1.3 Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme 

1.3.1 This scheme has now ended but under the scheme, the council facilitated the resettlement of 50 individuals since 2017. During this time, the council commissioned Barnet Homes to source accommodation and provide wraparound support for the families through a Refugee Resettlement Coordinator. This support included healthcare, education, social network, and financial stability; both benefit entitlement, and support securing and sustaining employment. 

1.3.2 As part of this scheme, the council set up the VPRS Grant Scheme. Through this scheme families could apply for a grant of up to £5,000 to enable them to access the labour market or education, improve language skills or engage in activities that increased their sense belonging within the community. In October 2022, the council agreed to use this grant to cover the cost of citizenship for those on the scheme who wished to apply. So far, the council has received 10 applications for this and processed 8 of them. 

1.4 United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme 

1.4.1 The VPRS scheme was closed to new arrivals in February 2021, at which point it became the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS). Under this scheme, the UK will offer a safe and legal route to vulnerable refugees in need of protection globally. In June 2021, the council pledged to take on 12 individuals under this scheme, but the resettlement of Afghan refugees has taken precedence. 

1.5 Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy 

1.5.1 There are two resettlement schemes for people who have fled Afghanistan: 

1. Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) – an agreed scheme to make ex gratia offers to eligible locally employed staff (LES) who were made redundant as a direct consequence of the UK’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Those on this scheme have indefinite leave to remain and can apply for British citizenship after five years in the UK. 

2. Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) – this scheme provides a route to safety for those put at risk by events in Afghanistan and will resettle up to 20,000 people at risk because they are vulnerable (women, girls, LGBT) or assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan. 

1.5.2 All those brought to the UK under ARAP and ACRS have the right to work, access to education and healthcare and will be able to apply for public funds. Funding for both schemes provides coverage for health, education and integration support costs up to £20,520 per person over a period of three years. 

1.5.3 The council made a pledge to resettle five families under this scheme and, to date, has supported the resettlement of two Afghan families under the ARAP scheme and two under the ACRS scheme. The council has a remaining pledge of one family. One of the key challenges of this scheme and fulfilling the pledge has been the lack of suitable accommodation for families on this scheme, who often require larger (4-5 bed) households. To address this, the council is one of several London boroughs that have signed up to the “Find Your Own Accommodation Pathway” which means that the council agrees in principle to provide wraparound support to individuals on the ACRS who find their own private rented accommodation in the borough. 

1.6 British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) visa 

1.6.1 The BN(O) via scheme is part of the UK government’s response to China’s failure to live up to its international obligations in with respect to Hong Kong and offers those ordinarily resident in Hong Kong a route to settle in the UK to live, work and study. The visa is being offered with a lower fee than other visas and provides a 5-year route to citizenship if they meet requirements and British Citizenship 12 months after settlement. With a Chinese population of 9,343 as of the 2021 census, Barnet has one of the largest Chinese populations of any London borough. It also has one of the highest rates of Cantonese speakers in the UK. It is reasonable to expect that this figure has continued to grow since the 2021 census was carried out. 

1.6.2 The council has worked closely with Barnet-based wellbeing charity Meridian Wellbeing and the New Citizens Gateway to support the integration of Hong Kongers. This has included supporting Hong Kongers through providing health and wellbeing advice and support, hosting monthly Welcome Parties, and providing socialising opportunities for newcomers. In January 2023, in partnership with Meridian Wellbeing, the council submitted a bid for £30,000 in funding from the Greater London Authority to support a 6- month project aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Hong Kongers in Barnet. This includes a series of mental health workshops, fitness classes and socialising opportunities. In addition to working with Meridian Wellbeing to provide wellbeing support, the council has, in partnership with Barnet & Southgate College, facilitated the delivery of ESOL classes to 71 individuals on this visa so far. There will be another round of classes taking place in spring 2023. 

1.7 Homes for Ukraine 

1.7.1 The local authority is responsible for the administration of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme – this scheme enables Ukrainians to come to the UK and stay for a period of three years, being entitled to full benefits, and allowed to work. This scheme allows for individuals to ‘sponsor’ to gain approval to accommodate an individual or household from Ukraine. As part of this scheme, the council is responsible for data sharing, carrying out sponsor checks (accommodation, DBS verification and safeguarding), education provision, service referrals, support with work and benefits, homelessness assistance and community integration. 

1.7.2 Central government has provided local authorities with the following funding: • £200.00 “welcome” payment for each Ukrainian • £10,500 per person to councils on first year • £500.00 “thank you” payment to sponsors • Additional funding for education services

1.7.3 So far, Barnet has welcomed 988 Ukrainians through this scheme which is overseen and co-ordinated by the Strategy and Engagement Team with support from Environmental Health inspectors, Barnet Homes inspectors, HR, the Children's Safeguarding and MASH Team and Finance. The council is also co-ordinating several initiatives to support the integration and independence of Ukrainians settling in Barnet on this scheme: Housing: - Working with Barnet Homes to develop a package to incentivize landlords to consider renting applications from Ukrainians. This will prevent guests from presenting as homeless and reduce the pressure on temporary accommodation services - Currently procuring BEAM, an innovative project that supports refugees, to carry out a project to support Ukrainians into the private rented sector. Employment and Education: - Working with BOOST to look at how the council can work with Ukrainians to transfer their skills and qualifications so that they are able to work here - Working with Barnet and Southgate College to provide ESOL classes - Supporting employment via our dedicated Ukrainian employment officer who provides support with accessing employment and CV writing Integration: - Running a Facebook group to bring together guests and build social connections between them - Using financial reserves to create an integration grant that we can pay directly to families to support their journey to independence (for example, accessing a course) - Employing a Ukrainian welfare officer, located in Colindale, who provides a one stop shop to help with interpretation and accessing services

1.8 Asylum seekers 

1.8.1 Barnet is home to five hotels being used to accommodate asylum seekers before dispersing them into accommodation. These hotels are located across the borough and as of 18 November 2022, there were 1108 individuals across the four hotels – this is a rise from 901 the year before. 

1.8.2 Since November 2021, the council has used Covid emergency funds to commission New Citizens Gateway and Persian Advice Bureau to provide outreach support in hotels. This support includes access to a range of activities, drop-in advice sessions, advocacy support and ESOL classes. Family services also run an onsite Stay and Play session for under-fives in the Colindale site on a weekly basis. In March 2022, the Strategy and Engagement Team recruited an Asylum and Refugee coordinator to administrate this support and manage the VCS commission. 

1.8.3 There is currently no funding available from central government to provide support to asylum seekers in hotels, however the Home Office is currently carrying out a New Burdens Assessment which will look at the funding models for local authorities who support asylum seekers. This is a cost data-gathering exercise that will enable the Home Office to better understand the new burdens placed on local authorities because of the Full Dispersal Model and will be used to inform future funding arrangements. 

1.8.4 The Covid emergency funding used to commission the outreach support provided to asylum seekers in the hotels will run out at the end of financial year 2022-23. For the coming financial year, a review of existing service budgets will be undertaken, and services will be re-procured to reflect available funding. It is still the intention of government to decommission contingency hotels as soon as possible, so the need for ongoing funding beyond this is not certain. 

1.8.5 To support the council’s work in supporting asylum seekers in hotels, Barnet is also one of eleven local authorities taking part in a GLA funded initiative called the Asylum Welcome Programmes Design Lab. This programme brings together local authorities to develop and trial pilots in their borough to support asylum seekers. 

1.9 Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 

1.9.1 Young people aged under 18 who enter the country seeking asylum are classified as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and must be looked after by the children’s social care services. As of 1 January 2023, there were 55 UASC in our care. This compares with 72 UASC looked-after on 31 March 2021. Barnet is currently supporting 131 former UASC (18+), this is 41% of the current care leaver cohort. Between June 2022 and December 2022, the LA received 12 UASC via the National Transfer Scheme. Within this cohort, 2 children were accommodated by the LA with a family member. Since January 2022, the LA has received 4 referrals from the police in relation to UASC in police protection, of these one was a missing child returned to another LA. Three UASC also self-presented in the LA area. 

1.9.2 Barnet is currently participating in a pilot scheme which seeks to provide UASC with provision for their substantive asylum interview to take place in a safe, secure and young people focussed setting, avoiding the need for the child to travel to the HO, typically Lunar House. For Barnet UASC, where possible, interviews are now taking place at the O&U Leaving Care Hub in North Finchley.

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Sunday, 20 November 2022

The Tweets of the week in the London Borough of Barnet - 20th November 2022

 It's been a wonderful week for me. Enjoyed a good performance from Barnet's best and lodest football team yesterday. More of that later. I've been particularly enjoying the local parks in the autumnal sunshine


Without further ado, here is what the Tweeters of The Borough of Barnet have been up to. 


1. We start with these rather wonderful vintage buses in Mill Hill this morning, from our friends at @abettermillhill


2. Congratulations to our local bakers for winning this prestigious award


3. THis sounds like a wonderful idea


4. Donald has excellent taste in books. I read and reviewed this and it is wonderful


5. Happy Birthday to the biggest, best and most prestigious museum in the Borough. My Dad was at the opening, as as RAF veteran


6. \Fancy some Jazz in Finchley tonight?


7. No I didn't know, but I will have a shufti now I do know


8. Another interesting fact from an account new to me


9. A good crowd at Hadley for a decent performance yesterday.


10. A great gig at the Bull Theatre in Barnet last night. Great to see local gigs selling out


That's all folks!


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Friday, 2 August 2019

Brecon and Radnor By-Election shows the way for Barnet

Last night, we saw an amazing result in the Brecon and Radnor by-election.

Although I am a member of the Lib Dems, I am not going to claim this as a Lib Dem victory. It was a victory for progressive, sensible politics. The reason I say this was because much credit is due to the Green party and Plaid Cymru, who stood down to maximise the possibility of a pro remain victory.  The reason this is so important was graphically demonstrated when the Chancellor announced that billions are being spent '#Turbocharging' no deal preparations. This is money that could have been spent on housing, hospitals and education. Instead it is being spent to allow Boris to claim he has large cojones. It is a complete waste of money and a leaked government document explained what this money will buy us, if the ERG and hard #Brexiters get their way


It is not easy for progressive parties. This tweet shows the huge disparity in spending power that was faced.

Now we can all bury our heads in the sands, we can all pretend that there will be a glorious revolution and everything will be fine. Or we can do what the Greens, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems did. We can say "We don't agree on everything but there are enough important issues that unite us to put our differences aside and fight for our core beliefs". The challenges facing Great Britain are daunting. Besides #Brexit, we have a climate crisis, a housing crisis and we lack food and fuel security, as the #Brexit briefing and the crisis in Iran demonstrates. We have a Navy that can start a suicidal nuclear war with Russia (assuming the Yanks let us wipe ourselves off the face of the planet) but which can't escort our ships effectively through the Straits of Hormuz. We have a Police force which is so chronically understaffed that we've got a knife epidemic on our streets, sex slaves being traffic'd to work in brothels in our high streets and burglars driving around our streets, seemingly robbing with impunity. If your house gets burgled, it seems that the role of the Police is now simply to give you a crime number to claim on your insurance. It doesn't need to be like that. I know many serving Met officers and they are sick of the strains and constraints they work under. They want to catch criminals, but every single one I've spoken to over the last few years has told me they are under funded. It is not just officers that are short. To try and maintain the pretence that we have enough, back room staff have been dispensed with, so highly trained officers have  to do filing, typing and admin tasks. It would make far more sense for admin assistants on £16, 000 a year to do this than trained officers on £48,000 a year. When Boris threw out his 20,000 new officers announcement, it demonstrated his lack of understanding of the issue. If he'd said 16,000 officers and 4,000 admin staff, it would have been cheaper and freed up 12,000 existing officers for front line duties. Not only that, but admin staff would be available immediately, whereas officers need training. The reason Boris didn't was because it just doesn't sound sexy.

In the London Borough of Barnet, we have an amazing group of people across the political spectrum. They have worked together to save libraries, oppose gagging by the council and to fight for social justice. This week we've seen why now, more than ever, with the Tories  telling residents that they don't want to listen to them, why a change is needed urgently. There are Mayoral and GLA elections next year. It very much looks to me as if the Labour plan to shore up there vote is a full frontal attack on the Lib Dems and Green parties. My great fear is that this will simply open the door for the Tories to walk through. I know Anne Clarke from Labour, who is up for selection for the GLA and Marisha Ray for the Lib Dems. Both would make fine GLA assembly members. As a Lib Dem, as it stands I will be voting for Marisha, but I would have no hesitation doing the same for Anne in the event of a pact. I am not sure who the Green candidiate may be at present, but I know many of the Green's and I can say that a Green presence on the GLA is not a bad thing. They raise hugely important issues and have the welfare of the planet and the people on it at heart.

As to the race for London Mayor, I have to say that I cannot I can support Sadiq Khan. I am a proud Mill Hillian and his two interventions to pass monstrous developments in Mill Hill has shown that he has no respect for my community. Every major organisation representing Mill Hill campaigned against both the NIMR plans and the Pentavia development. Sadiq Khan chose to ignore this and side with the big developers. I cannot call to mind a single policy success in over three years of his Mayoralty. Both Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson had big successes in their first terms, but Sadiq has not demonstrated that he has what it takes for the job. I wanted to be fair and try and see if I'd missed anything. I googled "Sadiq Khan successes" and the most sympathetic article was a year old from Left Foot Forward. Don't; get me wrong, he's a decent man and the Tory campaign against him was enough to persuade any reasonable person to vote for him last time, regardless of party allegiance, but he has done nothing with his term to justify re-election. I rather hope that someone can make a convincing case as to why I'm wrong, but the Crossrail debacle is a graphic demonstration of what is wrong with his Mayoralty. I've overseen big building projects (clearly not on that scale), and the first rule is that if you are the boss of such a scheme, you regularly walk around and talk to the people on site building it. You track the reports and look for the problems. When Sadiq Khan said that he was taken by surprise when he found that none of the things necessary to open were anywhere near complete last year, I lost faith in him. I spend much of my life in the West End and you don't need to be in the tunnels to know it was not going to be ready. Last May, I was in a pub and  couple of Crossrail workers told me that it would be three years late. I asked why and they said "Half the stations aren't built". It turned out that they were spot on.

I am sure that this will cause howls of outrage, but if anyone on the left can give me a good reason to vote Sadiq apart from Tribalism or Sentiment, they are welcome to submit a guest blog. My view is that as the Lib Dems won the vote in the Euro's, London should unite around the Lib Dem candidate Siobahn Benita. After sixteen years of the Mayoralty, it is time for a female Mayor. I am sure she will be far more in tune with the concerns of all Londoners. For any Labour readers who are horrified by this sacrilege, I'd like to remind them of the 2000 Mayoral elections. Tony Blair foisted loyalist Frank Dobson on London, who was soundly thrashed by Ken Livingstone, who stood as an independent. Livingstone's first term was a remarkable success, not least because he worked with Labour, The Lib Dems and The Green party to deliver good things for London. He brought in the Congestion charge and the Oyster card, both of which revolutionised the lives of Londoners. Baroness Jenny Jones of the Green party was appointed Deputy Mayor for a year, fullfilling  a promise to work with other parties. Livingstone's second term, as a Labour Mayor was notably less successful. The reason I raise this point is because it shows that when it is justified, good things can be delivered by putting aside tribal loyalties.

What I would love to see is an open meeting of Labour, Lib Dem and Green activists, councillors and voters to see if there is any way that some sort of consensus could be agreed on to ensure we get the right results in our area. We are one of the most strongly remain areas and we need representatives that reflect that. My suggestion would be to have a Labour candidate in Finchley and Golders Green,  a Lib Dem in Hendon and a Green in Chipping Barnet for a general election. If any of these were successful that would be one less Conservative than we have at the moment. For the GLA election, there is proportional representation for the list, so I'd recomend everyone vote for their relevant preference. For the Barnet and Camden candidate, I would be prepared to accept some sort of accomodation, or maybe even a joint candidate. I know this is heresy, but I was raised a Roman Catholic and if you look at figures such as Galileo, you soon learn that some times it's the heretic that is right and the bone headed establishment that is wrong.

Has this blog upset you? If it has, then put together a sane, rational riposte and explain why. You will have the ears of Barnet at your feet. My view is that Tribalism is for football, when it comes to decision making, rational thought should rule. There is not enough of it at the moment, but the Brecon and Radnor By Election showed what you can do if you are prepared to act like grown ups who want change.

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Monday, 28 March 2016

The Tweets of the Week in the London Borough of Barnet - 28/3/2016

Have you been wondering what our local twitterati are up to? Well here's the pick of this weeks tweeting.

1. Looks like the Harrow Police Station Easter party might be a good one! Only joking lads, I am sure the streets will be much safer in Burnt Oak with all of this safely locked up!


Mar 23
Large seizure of alcohol by HMRC during operation in Burnt Oak Broadway.


2. And it seems that Layla is rather taken with some of Burnt Oak's hidden treasures! A lovely little blog, well worth a read.

Mar 20
Uncover London, Part 6: Burnt Oak



3. To the other end of the Borough and a perhaps slighty more worrying tweet from the Evening Standard

Mar 21
Cigarette lighter shaped like grenade sparks bomb scare at Golders Green synagogue




4. An interesting tweet from one of our regulars


6h6 hours ago
Worked out where this is? This development replaces sports field & older buildings of the Peel Centre, Colindale....


5. The Londonist have been to Mill Hill!

Mar 25
Get your trainers on and discover the beauties of Mill Hill with this walk



6. I rather like this tweet, good to see some local youngsters paying their respects to a true hero.

Mar 26
21 Coy cadets from Edgware, Finchley & Copthall School Detachments attend the Rev Mellish VC centenary commemoration 


7. Start 'em young! Seems like a great idea to get babies listening to jazz & getting involved in music making.


Mar 27 Islington, London

8. This sounds interesting...  I wonder if there have been any riots in London over library cuts?

29m29 minutes ago
Save the date 15 April Nick Dobson talk on historical London riots 6:30pm Chipping Barnet library

 9. A nice little Easter piccie for your enjoyment from Peter Walker

Mar 26
The Paschal Candle at St Mary's Church, Hendon, London, NW4 3RD  

10. And finally.... We had to get one in to mention the weather!


6h6 hours ago
Dramatic skies over The Complex! 

 


All in all I think it's been a pretty good week for tweeting in our neck of the woods. Plenty of nice ones out there!
 Keep up the good work!

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Friday, 23 November 2012

Why I bought Capita shares

Don't believe the hype. The Barnet Eye has a confession to make. I used to own Capita shares. I actually own shares in quite a few organisations and have bought and sold many over the years. A mate of mine used to be a director of the company (he left many years ago for bigger and better things). When Ken Livingstone was first talking about the congestion charging project (which Capita implemented) Capita were the implementers of choice. I was interested in the technology and whether it would work. As he was a director, I asked him "what if the technology doesn't work? It could cost Capita a fortune". My concern (as an engineer) was that new things often don't work. he put me right "Capita don't do projects they lose money on, whatever happens we'll do alright out of it".

So I did some sums. It struck me that if Capita "did alright out of it" that made their shares rather cheap. Now as I supported the concept of congestion charging, I thought this was not only a good financial bet, but an ethically sound bet. I had a couple of grand burning a hole in my pocket, so I spent it on shares. I bought them for £2.45 a share.

In November 2009, I sold them. I had become increasingly worried about the ethics of owning shares in a company associated with Outsourcing and One Barnet. I felt it was hypocritical to continue owning the shares  whilst writing about the evils of outsourcing. The shares were trading at £7.61 you can do the maths, but I did very well out of the deal. Before you ask, I don't feel guilty and I believe share ownership is not  a bad thing (although I view it as a benign form of gambling).

Three years later, I see that Capita are trading at £7.31 a share. Fortunately for me my attack of ethical sensitivity has served my pocket rather well. This column does not give financial advice, but |I find it interesting that the shares have flatlined since they got involved in One Barnet. Are the two things connected? I have no idea, my friend has long since left so I don't have anyone to ask. It is interesting to see that the markets have not seen the Barnet news in a positive light. On October 1st the company reached £7.88. Today they languish at £7.35. The markets don't lie. The contract is worth £320 million according to various newspaper reports. I would have expected a big pickup if the news was viewed in a positive light.

You can check the facts out here on the Reuters website.

http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/chart?symbol=CPI.L

Interestingly, the other Bidder, BT don't seem to have had a negative reaction at the news of the loss of the contract.

http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/chart?symbol=BT.L

People buying shares generally don't part with good money without doing a bit of market research, If I had a couple of grand to invest today and my friend had said "Capita just had a big contract win in Barnet", I'd probably have googled "Capita Barnet". I've got to say that there is little in this search which would make me buy Capita shares. You may take a different view.

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=capita+barnet&oq=capita+barnet&gs_l=hp.3..0j0i30j0i8l2.3789.6686.0.7055.14.14.0.0.0.0.294.1956.7j5j2.14.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.kDC7TsaH7Dg&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=d4627b57ea6b812a&bpcl=38897761&biw=1280&bih=909

It seems that Market sentiment seems to agree. Reuters have a page giving the latest analysts opinion. These seem to indicate that analysts view of Capita has significantly hardened.

http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/analyst?symbol=CPI.L

Three months ago only one analyst had Capita registered as a sell, now it is three. Five analysts had Capita registered as a Buy, this has dropped to four. Six had registered the shares as "outperform", this has dropped to five. Now all of this is purely opinion. I just find it rather enlightening that the markets don't seem to be having a strongly positive response to One Barnet or the award. I've said all along that Barnet is a media hotspot and the risks for reputational damage are far higher in Barnet. If anything goes wrong  it will make the national TV, Radio and press. Rather sadly for Capita if it all goes well, it will just be ignored. In other words, there is little reputational upside. If I were a Capita shareholder, I'd be a bit "squeaky bummed" right now.

I would caution Capita Shareholders to consider what happened to G$S shares when they got involved in a project with a High Media profile

http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/chart?symbol=GFS.L

Now clearly Capita is a massive company and the Barnet contract is a small part of equation, you can see the scale of the company

http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/financialHighlights?symbol=GFS.L

The trouble is that in terms of potential for bad press coverage, Barnet is probably as big a risk as all of the other public sector outsourcing projects put together. In terms of demographics, more people working in Newspapers, media, Television and radio live in the London Borough of Barnet than anywhere else. many of these are senior executives, who have the power to say "run with this story".

That is why I won't be reinvesting any time soon.







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Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Berlusconi sets an example which Nick Walkley should follow

Silvio Berlusconi has announced that he is resigning - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15646536 . His position has become untenable, due to a succession of cock ups (pardon the pun) and scandals. I never thought I'd suggest anyone should follow Berlusconi's example, but I think the time has come for the CEO of Barnet Council, Nick Walkley to take a lead from his book.

Under Walkleys reign, Barnet has become a complete basket case. Scandal has followed cock up and cock up has followed scandal. The latest one, exposed by this blog, was the fact that in the middle of the Metpro crisis, Barnet decided that the best way to deal with a blogger who was trying to help Barnet Council uncover its own ineptitude was to report him to the ICO. Not only that, but when the ICO rejected the complaint, out of hand, they clearly got an expensive legal opinion and went back to argue. At the subsequent audit committee meeting, we found out that the reason for the cock up was under resourcing of the audit department. They only had the resources to monitor 173 out of over 9,000 suppliers.

Yesterday this blog printed an FOI response from Barnet which demonstrated how better training and more resources has lead to a massive increase in cash recovered from crooks. Have they learned the lesson and beefed up auidt? Not a chance. We've seen report slating the IT infrastructure, we've seen countless reports showing that Walkleys pet project - OneBarnet - is completely mismanaged.  Millions have been spent on consultants and nothing has been delivered. The SAP procurement project was meant to cost £8 million and they've spent £26 million on a project which has failed to address the simple issues of mqaking sure suppliers were managed.

Come on Nick, move over and let Barnet get someone who is up to the job
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Friday, 3 June 2011

The Friday Joke Special - Boris pretending he's doing a good job for Barnet

All of my Tory friends told me that Boris would be a great Mayor of London for Barnet. They told me that he was interested in the outer London Boroughs. Boris has just released a magazine showing how he's delivered on these promises. There are plenty of marvellous things detailed which Boris has done for Barnet :-

Crossrail - The Olympics - The London Overground to Surrey Quays to name but a few. Anyway, if you want a good laugh, here's a copy - click on the images for more readable versions. The most interesting thing of the lot? Not a picture of his GLA rep, Brian Coleman in the document. Anywhere. Not a mention of Coleman. Anywhere. Why? Because Boris is clever enough to know that Coleman is a complete bleeding liability. And when he mentions his record in Barnet he doesn't mention his record of putting Brian Coleman in charge of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and signing off his outrageous expenses. And as far as the Barnet Eye is concerned, that is the biggest joke of the lot !!!




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Sunday, 19 September 2010

The five most influential people in Barnet

If you live in the London Borough of Barnet, you may wonder who are the people who have most influence on your day to day lives. I'd be interested to hear your suggestions and why you think they "matter".  This list was compiled by the "Barnet Eye official panel" over a cup of tea in at the studio last night during a slack moment in business. This list is not a public endorsement of these people, just our best guess at who can most affect your life.

1. Nick Walkey - Barnet Council CEO - He's the man who makes the Council run. He believes that Leader Lynne Hillan is there to do his bidding and it seems to the Barnet Eye as if he's right. he is the guy who makes all the decisions and your Councillors simply rubber stamp them. Know to be partial to Punk Rock.

2. Tom Nathan - General Manager of Brent Cross and leader of Barnets biggest religious sect, The Shopaholics - Apart from Nick Walkley, has more effect on peoples lives than anyone else in Barnet. He runs the temple in which we all worship and is a Non executive director of Barnet Council for good measure. Thousands of people are employed by him and his empire is the largest taxpayer in Barnet, one way or another. As Brent Cross expands, he gets ever more powerful.

3. Neil Basu - Borough Commander of Barnet Police - He's the man who sets the policing policy and decides whether the bloke robbing your shed, or the bloke mugging your granny or guarding the mayors lawn is the top priority for his policemen. As the recession bites and unemployment rises, his decisions will become ever more critical. Competent, with a modern view of policing. The member of the Barnet Eye panel who is a Barnet Copper pointed out that he's also extremely keen on maintaining a well groomed, tidy appearance.

4. Brian Coleman - Barnet Council Cabinet member responsible for roads and chief of Londons fire brigade. This is the man who's decisions are most likely to end your life. He's also the power behind the throne (a Rasputin to Tsar Lynne Hillans). The most intelligent, motivated and driven of all Barnets leading Tories. Hates Trades Unions, bloggers. Probably the only Councillor feared by Council officials (if not respected).

5. John Burgess - Barnet Trades Union Convenor - workaholic, strident campaigner and the most effective opponent of the cuts and changes affecting Barnet Council. Understands the detail of changes such as future shape and the effects at ground level far better than anyone. Hugely respected across the board for his sensible, pragmatic and reasoned approach. If Barnet public sector workers ever go on strike, you can be guaranteed that it is because Barnet Council have been stupid, unreasonable and haven't thought things through properly.
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Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Why is Anti Semitism rising in Britain?

Why is Anti Semitism rising in Britain? There is a blog from one of my favourite (ex) Barnet Council numpties, Richard Weider of this title. Richard Weider used to be a councillor in Barnet, before upping sticks and moving to Israel. Now given that Mr Weider clearly passionately cares about the subject, I expected an informative, sensible and dispassionate blog from someone who could view the situation with detachment and cast some new insight into the problem. Unfortunately, for a blog with such a promising title, I was left none the wiser.

It seems that Mr Weider thinks that because David Milliband criticised the Conservative Party for getting into bed with a bunch of Uber Rightists in the European Parliament, people up and down the country will now be joining the BNP. I can't quite see how he arrived at this conclusion, maybe he's enjoying the good life a bit too much.

I suspect that of all the reasons I've heard for the rise of anti Semitism, this is one of the least likely. Statistically, I'd guess that the majority of the rise is probably due to the changing demographics of Great Britain and Barnet. Many immigrants to the UK arrive from places where there is acceptance if not open support at governmental level of anti-semitism. These attitudes can take generations to dissipate. I'm not aware of any initiatives either in Barnet or nationally to address the prejudices we may be importing.

Is anti-semitism on the rise amongst the indigenous population? I would suspect that in areas where the BNP is organising effectively, there would be some degree of growth, but often this is offset by an equally strong growth in anti-fascist activity. Whilst there have been some appalling cases of anti-semitic activity in the Borough, I personally believe that these are more isolated incidents of mindless vandalism, than evidence of coordinated activity. Barnet has a large Jewish population and I think it's fair to say that this is overwhelmingly perceived as a positive feature of the Borough. Most people who have lived for any length of time in the Borough will have mixed with people of all colours and creeds and I'd say we're a pretty tolerant lot.

I suspect that probably the thing most likely to stir up trouble is people such as Richard Weider using anti-semitism as a tool for other purposes. His blog was really just an excuse to try and turn a few Jewish voters against the Labour party. When such an important issue is seen as being deployed to attack people such as David Milliband, who clearly are not anti semitic, it undermines credibility of people fighting real examples of the prejudice. Richard Weider is like the little girl who cried wolf. Let us hope that Mr Weider sees sense and in future writes blogs which are a bit more sensible, interesting and informative.
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Monday, 3 August 2009

A nice night out - Brian Coleman style !


"Boris, Boris, wake up. Wake up Boris"

"Boris have a look at this, and this, and this, and this"

"It's fantastic. Four of our top GLA tories Roger Evans, James Cleverly, Kit Malthouse and Tony Arbour's expenses. Between these four a mere two taxi bills and one of those, for Tony Arbour is shared with Val Shawcross, Boris shall we call the Evening Standard and say what a virtuous bunch us Tories are"

Boris looks up at his new assistant with a dolefull, sad, world worn look "I'm afriad we can't possibly do that. You clearly haven't heard of our good friend Brian Coleman".

As regular readers will know, whilst the above four GLA Tories have managed 1 & 1/2 Taxi journeys between them at the public expense, Brian Coleman has managed rather more. Now you may think "Well if he's working hard, that is fine". We here at the Barnet Eye decided to have a closer look. Amongst the 37 taxi fares claimed on his GLA expenses (Click Here for the full list), these particularly caught my eye. I've put in a little cross reference against the Gifts and hospitality register to highlight exactly what events 2 of these 4 claims are for.

73.41 12/3/08 Taxi N2 & City Hall to Royal Albert Hall Sw7
81.07 12/3/08 Taxi Royal Albert hall to N2 & N3


40.02 15/3/08 Taxi N3 to Lords Cricket Ground NW8
15-MAR-08 Westminster Civic Dinner at Lord's Ground,
Marylebone, London NW8
58.77 15/3/08 Taxi Lords Cricket Ground to N2 & N3

62.40 29/3/08 Taxi N3 & N2 to Central London Synagogue
84.54 29/3/08 Taxi Central London Synagogue to N2 and N3

96.03 11/11/08 Taxi N2 & City Hall to Royal Albert Hall Sw7
11-NOV-08 Two tickets for Music for Youth Concert at the
Royal Albert Hall and refreshments
58.57 11/11/08 Taxi Royal Albert hall to N2 & N3


You may ask what is special about these journeys. Well it seems to me that not only are we paying for a Taxi for Brian Coleman, we are paying for one for a guest of his. You will notice that the journey back from all of these outings was to N2 & N3. It looks to me as if Brian's guest actually ran up more taxi fares at the public expense than several of the other top Tories put together. Maybe this is within the rules, maybe he's done nothing wrong, all I can say is that to me the whole thing stinks.

If you see Boris Johnson pass this message on from me "Wake up Boris, sack Brian Coleman before he fatally tarnishes your regime."

You are doing no favours whatsoever to the chaps listed above, who are completely blameless, yet are tarred by association. We in the London Borough of Barnet are lumbered with him for the time being. You can sack him at LFEPA any time you like. What are you waiting for?
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Monday, 2 March 2009

Religion in Barnet

Last year at the Mill Hill Music Festival Jazz Weekend, I got into conversation with Ex Edgware Times Editor and blogger Dennis Signy regarding "Mullah Permits" being issued to religious leaders in Barnet. All the years Dennis has spent in newspapers have taught him to spot a dodgy scheme from a mile off and this was certainly one he didn't like. In our discussions we concluded that the permits were a blatent attempt by the ruling party to curry favour with the religious establishment in Barnet. A trip to Mike Freer's Finchley Conservatives gallery shows pictures taken with Orthodox Rabbi's, Swami's, outside Mosques and by the wailing wall and other religious sites in the Holy Land. His Leaderlistens.com blog also details his meeting with Roman Catholics at the St Edward the Confessor Church in Finchley.

The question I ask myself as I peruse these sites is "Why are local politicians so keen to be photographed with faith leaders?" Is it because they have a deep long term interest in spiritual enlightenment or is it because they think they'll get a few votes? Now it is clearly right and proper for Mike Freer to engage with all parts of the community in Barnet - Hindu's, Catholics, Jews, Muslims etc. What bothers me is that whilst he's happy to have the smiley pictures on the website, he seems far less inclined to tell us where he stands on certain issues which are central to the faith debate.

If someone says "I don't do religion" then thats fine but if their website is plastered with its surely the very least they owe us is to explain their views.

I'd like to know what Mike had to say about the following subjects:-

With the Roman Catholics - Does Mike support the current Abortion Laws?
With the Muslims - What are Mike's views on Sharia law?
With Jewish Leaders - What are his views on Israel?
With the Hindu's - What are Mike's views on arranged marriages?

If you are going to play the religion card so openly on your websites then I think you have to come out and tell us what you think on controversial issues. For all I know Mike has views with which I totally agree on all of these subjects, but there's nothing on the site to go with the smiling pictures.

An even worse example is on Matthew Offords Hendon Conservatives website and I it found quite upsetting in a religious context. There is this picture of Offord on the Gallery page with the following caption :-


Matthew at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp with Conservative Shadow Minister Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP

I don't know about you, but I find this photo used in this context highly distasteful. If the picture was of him somberly laying a wreath with a caption such as "Councillor Offord pays his respects to the untold millions who perished here under Nazi tyranny", it would be appropriate, but two politicians standing together, smirking in the snow, as if they're standing in front of a normal tourist sight with no mention of the significance of the terrible place is, to my mind awful. Matthew Offord seems to be saying "I'm getting my picture taken with a bigwig at a tourist attraction". It's not a crime, but it shows extremely poor judgement.

I must confess that I am sick to death of pictures of Barnet Politicians in churches, Mosques and Synogogues. I don't mind if they are believers and are there for a good reason but I'm sick of all the sucking up to the religious vote. Given that they clearly think there's votes to be had in the practice, I doubt it will stop any time soon. Can I suggest that if any candidate turns up on your doorstep and in any way tries to use religion to get your vote, ask them a difficult faith related question. If you don't like their answer tell them where to go.

I'm of the opinion that religious worship is something that is private and personal. I see no harm in people saying they have taken a stand because of their faith, but this is something entirely different. If they want to impress us do it by example not with these pictures.
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