Exposed - Barnet Taxpayer spending over £75,000 per annum on "political assistants" for Labour and Conservative Councillors

One of the missions of this blog is to expose hypocritical behaviour in Barnet Council. In January, I posted this blog detailing a series of questions querying the activities of  Trades Unions in Barnet, which had been asked by Councillor Andrew Stronglou. Councillor Strongolou

http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/letter-to-councillor-andreas-stronglou.html

One of them received the answer as follows

Question 29 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Does the tax that goes towards supporting the trade unions provide as much value for money as other council expenditures?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

Unions have a historically useful function but I would hate to feel that tax payers resources were being applied to political activity.

When I read this, I was stunned by the response by Richard Cornelius. He stated that he would be appalled if Taxpayer money was used for "political activity". The reason I was appalled by this remark was because Barnet Council pays for political assistants for both the Labour and Conservative groups. I trust that Richard Cornelius, Leader of the Council will now take appropriate action, given his comments.

I immediately fired off an FoI request asking how much this costs. Today I received the Answer. Here it is. Barnet try and be as opaue as possible with their answer. Iasked to clarify how much the assitants cost, based on there answer it could be anywhere between £65,000 per annum and £89,000 per annum. At a time when they are sacking librarians, I am shocked that our money is being spent in this way. How do you feel, knowing that you are subsidising the purely political work of the two big parties in Barnet?

When the politcians say that we are all in it together,they clearly forget about luxuries like this

  Barnet Council Political Assistant by  

Letter to Councillor Andrew Stronglou

Over the weekend I've been doing my bloggers homework on forthcoming Council meetings. My attention was drawn to a sudden burst of activity from one of the slightly "more laid back" members of our local Tory party. Councillor Andrew Stronglou has until now only attracted any attention for his habit of wearing sunglasses in Council meetings and not actually saying anything. His appearance at committee meetings reminded me of the dearly departed former bassplayer of my band. He'd always wear shades and say nothing. In his case, it was usually because he was exploring planet Zob under the influence of LSD, whilst the rest of us had to actually do the talking to the interviewer. In one such interview with the Hendon Times, when asked about the recent edition to our band of two dancers, he replied "It's a philosophy of life". Now whilst I'm sure that Councillor Stronglou has never taken anything stronger than a chocolate biscuit, his past record of actually contributing to meetings has been no more enlightening. It seems this sleeping giant has awoken from his torpor. He has asked a whole string of questions regarding the way the council funds Barnets Trades Union activities.

Question 15 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Could the Cabinet Member please tell us how much support the council gives to the trade unions?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

The council provides pre-agreed release time. In 2012-13 the budget is £113,320. This represents a cut of 65% from the 2009=10 budget.

In 2012-13 £43,000 is budgeted to assist with the One Barnet programme. This will cease. There is also some un quantified, pre-agreed ad hoc release, use of offices, notice boards and meeting rooms.

 

Question 17 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Does the Cabinet Member know how many council employees are members of Unison, Unite or any other trade union organisation within the council?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

The Council does not hold this information as not all Unions utilise payroll deduction facilities.

 

Question 29 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Does the tax that goes towards supporting the trade unions provide as much value for money as other council expenditures?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

Unions have a historically useful function but I would hate to feel that tax payers resources were being applied to political activity.

 Question 33 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Could the Cabinet Member please tell us who has paid for the wrap around advertising in the local newspapers in the name of BAPS?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

I cannot say who has paid for these advertisements however the names of several unions appear on the BAPS website claimed as supporters,

Question 41 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Does the Leader feel that giving tax payers money to trade unions is a good use of public finances?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

Not always.

Now whilst it is always nice to see formerly "relaxed" Councillors taking a bit more interest in Council affairs, it seems that Councillor Stronglou doesn't really understand what the role of Trades Unions in the workplace is and how they have helped the nation develop socially. The Barnet Eye is never keen to see people make them make complete berks of themselves. We therefore felt compelled to email Councillor Stronglou and make a few helpful suggestions. Here is the text of my email

Dear Councillor Stronglou,

I noticed that you have asked a string of questions regarding the activities of Trades Unions and their funding at the full council meeting. From reading the questions, it is rather clear to me that you do not understand the role that trades unions play in the modern workforce.

It strikes me as strange that you do not understand the need for advocacy and mediation in the workplace or the need for the workforce to have an organisation to ensure their views are properly represented. Unions also do much valuable work in the field of health and safety.

I would suggest that if you are serious in your role as a councillor, rather than ask questions of the leader of the council, you should speak to a trade union branch secretary and find out exactly what he does. This would enable you to ask sensible questions which would potentially assist the running of the council. I am sure that if you were to have a cup of tea with the Barnet Unison branch secretary John Burgess, he would be more than happy to explain the role of the unions and why they deliver value for money.

I also understand that you are upset at the Barnet Alliance for Public Services producing a wraparound on the local papers. The wraparound provided public information concerning the One Barnet project. The Leader of the Council, Richard Cornelius has been widely featured on TV and Radio speaking about the benefits of the program. As you presumably support the One Barnet program and believe that it will deliver the promised huge savings, I would have thought that anything which promoted awareness of the project should be welcomed. As a councillor, surely you should be pleased that residents are taking an interest in the way Barnet Council makes its policy?

I would suggest to you that to be an effective councillor, your time would be far more wisely spent scrutinising council business and seeking out waste, inefficiency and bad practice. I would draw attention to the fact that Barnet bloggers uncovered the Metpro scandal and as a result of this, savings of over half a million pounds have been identified.  This is four times greater than the figures Councillor Cornelius detailed as being spent supporting Trades Unions.

Barnet bloggers have long contended that there are likely to be dozens of other such savings to be made, should anyone at Barnet Council actually bother to look for them. I would suggest that rather than asking questions which are clearly motivated by political concerns, you would deliver better value for the people who elected you and pay your allowances, by concentrating on find real savings and real issues.

For the absence of doubt, I am a business owner and have never been a Trades Union member.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

I hope that Councillor Stronglou takes up the suggestion to have a chat with John Burgess. In light of the response to one of the questions, I have today emailed Councillor Cornelius regarding his response.

Dear Councillor Cornelius,

I note your answer to Councillor Andreas Stronglou.

Question 29 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Does the tax that goes towards supporting the trade unions provide as much value for money as other council expenditures?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

Unions have a historically useful function but I would hate to feel that tax payers resources were being applied to political activity.

As I am sure you are aware, both Conservative and Labour groups in Barnet have a taxpayer funded full time political assistant, who's role is a  purely political one. Please can you tell me how much money these assistants cost the taxpayer. Please could you also tell me whether you think that spending money in this way is consistent with your reply to Councillor Stronglou.

I would also draw your attention to the fact that Councillor Robert Rams works in a taxpayer funded political role at the GLA. Do you consider such positions to be wise use of taxpayers money?

Please consider the relevant parts of this email to be a Freedom of Information request.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

I will be interested to see the response (if any) and will keep you informed.

Tory Councillors with blighted CV's

Councillor Tom Davey,
Councillor Daniel Seal,
Councillor Darryl Yawitch,
Councillor Sachin Rajput,
Councillor Stephen Sowerby,
Councillor Andrew Stongolou,
Councillor Reuben Thompstone,

All of these Councillors have one thing in common they are (compared to the rest of the Tory group) fairly young. Presumably all of them will have to work for a good few years. Presumably, at some point they will all want to change jobs and get better jobs. In this day and age, what is the first thing prospective employers do? Yup, that's right they fire the name into Google and see what the candidates have been up to. It's quite likely, given the ranking of this blog, that this will be fairly near the top of the rankings.

So what have these young men been doing? What should a potential employer take into consideration? Well they are all members of the Barnet Conservative group. They all have over a years experience of watching the way the group operates and they all have (as of the time of writing this blog) the opportunity to change the direction in which the council policy is going, when they take part in an election for the new leader later this month.

So if you are a potential employer, what sort of person are you looking for? Are you looking for someone who sits on their hands, knowing that the council is embarking on a disasterous policy. Are you looking for someone who totally ignores the fact that the council cannot manage external contractors, yet is dead set on massively ramping up the outsourcing program without even having proper controls in place for the existing contracts (READ THIS BLOG). Are you looking for someone who is more concerned with "following the party line" and simply collecting generous allowances?

In the past five years, Barnet Council has been dogged with scandal after scandal. Warnings about problems are habitually ignored and massive financial disasters have plagued the council, with no one prepared to take responsibility. Anyone familiar with Barnet Council would know that a semi competent politician with any degree of political nous and management ability could easily resolve many of the self inflicted wounds. Windsor and Maidenhead Council, which is a Conservative Council, have lead the way with transparency policies, which have saved taxpayers millions and put an end to all manner of potential abuse. Some of these Councillors will not even allow their register of interests to be placed on line

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/council/listcouncillorinterests.asp

What  does this tell you about them? Whilst I have no doubt that all of these councillors stood for the best possible reasons, what aptitude have they shown since they were elected? In the last year, a massive scandal concerning the Metpro Group of Companies and the contracts awarded to them has befallen Barnet Council. Over a million pounds was paid to one of these companies, despite the fact that it didn't have the required license and went bankrupt, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The Council only found out when local bloggers alerted them. How many of these Councillors demanded an independent inquiry? Not one. Every single one of them voted in favour of an "internal audit" undertaken by the same people who allowed the cock up to occur.

Now as I write this, I have no idea who will win the Barnet Conservative Leadership battle. At present the two main contenders are Councillor Andrew Harper, who has been in effective control for the last six months and has presided over the Metpro Disaster. He is widely recognised as being a bit of a pushover for council officers and amounts to the "more of the same" candidate. The other candidate is the infamous Councillor Brian Coleman, who has turned expense claims into an art form. Now another candidate may emerge. If they do, then I'm sure that the whole of Barnet will breathe a sigh of relief.

It may be these councillors rescue their reputations and elect a decent leader who institues real change in Barnet, banishing the secrecy culture for once and all. If after you've read all of the other news about Barnet Council, you still feel like interviewing them, ask them what they personally have done to implement transparency at Barnet. Ask them what they think of colleagues who refuse to allow their register of interests on line. Ask them what they think of colleagues who claim excessive expenses. Finally ask them what they would do if they had the chance to change piss poor leadership in an organisation they were involved with.

I'm sure that they will all be most chuffed to answer these questions. The people who elected them, in Barnet would also like to know, after all, we pay the juicy allowances.