Conservative Conference Special : Why delegates should give Brian Coleman a very wide birth

Last week at the Barnet Council Cabinet Resources Committee, Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman said the following words in relation to travel costs related to the statutory responsibility for local authorities to provide transport for elderly and disabled people.

"I would like to see some legislation which would mean we would not have to provide a services for these people"
 
Many people were present and some were visibly shocked by what Brian Coleman said. The Barnet Eye believes this comment to be discriminatory and shows that Brian Coleman has a total contempt for the DDA. What makes it even more shocking is that a member who uses the public purse as an expense account in the way Coleman does, can have the Chutzpah to point the finger at the weaker members of society. To illustrate the point, here is a full list of all the transport subsidy Coleman received last year as a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning committee. A free pot noodle for the first person to correctly count the number of times lunch features in one of his taxpayer funded expenses. It is a rather long list. I could wax lyrical about all manner of things that disgust me about his statement and this list, but I'm sure that any decent person would agree, so make up your own mind. Has Coleman got a leg to stand on criticising the disabled in this way? By the way, the job that lets him claim all this is a gift from Boris. If I was Boris, I'd sack him

(I have taken this from the LFEPA website. If you don't believe me, click here - 
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Brian_Coleman_2010_2011.asp  )

Date Category Details Amount

07/03/2011 Travel Travel (invoiced) - Re. attendance at LGA Annual Fire Conference, 8-9 March 2011, Gateshead, Newcastle. Total travel cost of £174.75 less reimbursement from LGA of £164.00 - £10.75

07/03/2011 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey to London Kings Cross to take train to LGA Annual Fire Conference in Gateshead, Newcastle. £31.76

02/03/2011 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey to Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane W1 - Representing LFEPA at the Community Security Trust Annual Dinner. £37.11

02/03/2011 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane W1 - Representing LFEPA at the Community Security Trust Annual Dinner. £37.11

28/02/2011 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from Houses of Parliament SW1 to Department for Culture Media and Sport, Cockspur St SW1 for National Fire Sprinkler Network Seminar. £18.26

28/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - All Party Parliamentary FRS Group Seminar at House of Commons, SW1 £10.89

28/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - All Party Parliamentary FRS Group Seminar at House of Commons, SW1 £9.00

25/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Special Achievement Awards at City Hall. £11.44

25/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Special Achievement Awards at City Hall. £9.00

16/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Lunch with John Smith, Public Appointments, at The Goring Hotel, Grosvenor Gardens, SW1 £10.89

16/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Lunch with John Smith, Public Appointments, at The Goring Hotel, Grosvenor Gardens, SW1 £9.00

15/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £11.44

15/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £9.00

11/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Fire Commission at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1

£10.89 11/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Fire Commission at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £9.00

11/02/2011 Travel Car Parking - Fire Commission at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 - Parking meter fee £7.70

07/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Appointments Committee at Union St.  £11.44

07/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Appointments Committee at Union St. £9.00

04/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Visit by Neil O'Connor, DCLG to LFEPA HQ, Union St. £11.44

04/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Visit by Neil O'Connor, DCLG to LFEPA HQ, Union St. £9.00

01/02/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £11.44

01/02/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £9.00

27/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Authority Meeting at Union St. £11.44

27/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Authority Meeting at Union St. £9.00

25/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £11.44

25/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £9.00

24/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Appointments Committee at Union St. £11.44

24/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Appointments Committee at Union St. £9.00

18/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Minister and CFOA at House of Commons £11.44

18/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Minister and CFOA at House of Commons £9.00

17/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Finance and Personnel Committee at Union St. £11.44

17/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Finance and Personnel Committee at Union St. £9.00

13/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Extraordinary Meeting of the Authority at Union St. £11.44

13/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Extraordinary Meeting of the Authority at Union St. £9.00

11/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £11.44

11/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £9.00

05/01/2011 Travel Members' car mileage - Budget and Performance meeting re. LFEPA at City Hall £11.44

05/01/2011 Travel Congestion Charge - Budget and Performance meeting re. LFEPA at City Hall £9.00

24/12/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Christmas Carol Party at Union St. £11.44

24/12/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Christmas Carol Party at Union St. £8.00

20/12/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Farewell lunch for LFEPA Director of Resources at Union St. £8.00

20/12/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Farewell lunch for LFEPA Director of Resources at Union St. £11.44

15/12/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Meeting with the Mayor of London at City Hall £11.44

15/12/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Meeting with the Mayor of London at City Hall £8.00

15/12/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from GLA, City Hall SE1 to Portcullis House SW1 for Fire Futures Ministerial Round Table; then pick up from Portcullis House and drop off at GLA. £48.48

10/12/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey to Local Government House, Smith Square SW1 for Fire Commission meeting £40.32

10/12/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journeys to St. Paul's Cathedral EC4; and from Haberdashers Hall, 18 West Smithfield EC1 with Chairman's Lady in attendance for LFEPA Carol Service at St. Paul's Cathedral £135.77

09/12/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Budget Meeting at Union St. £11.44

09/12/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Budget Meeting at Union St. £8.00

07/12/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Budget Meeting at GLA, City Hall £11.44

07/12/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Budget Meeting at GLA, City Hall - congestion charge (Previous Charging Day - £10) £10.00

01/12/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Lunch with James Pearson at The Carlton Club, SW1 for FiReControl briefing £10.89

01/12/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Lunch with James Pearson at The Carlton Club, SW1 for FiReControl briefing £8.00

01/12/2010 Travel Car Parking - Lunch with James Pearson at The Carlton Club, SW1 for FiReControl briefing - parking meter fee

£6.60

26/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - London Councils Conservative Group Away Day at Westminster City Hall, SW1 £11.44

26/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - London Councils Conservative Group Away Day at Westminster City Hall, SW1 £8.00

26/11/2010 Travel Car Parking - London Councils Conservative Group Away Day at Westminster City Hall, SW1 - parking meter fee £8.80

23/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Retained Duty System Member Seminar at Local Govt House, Smith Square, SW1 £10.89

23/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Retained Duty System Member Seminar at Local Govt House, Smith Square, SW1 £8.00

23/11/2010 Travel Car Parking - Retained Duty System Member Seminar at Local Govt House, Smith Square, SW1 - parking meter fee £8.80

22/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Interview with ITV London News, 200 Grays Inn Road, WC1 £9.26

21/11/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey for Chairman and Chairman's Lady - from the Cenotaph, Whitehall SW1 for Annual Service of Remembrance £66.09

18/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Authority Meeting at Union St. £11.44

18/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Authority Meeting at Union St. £8.00

15/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Fire Services Management Committee at Local Govt House, Smith Square SW1 £10.89

15/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Fire Services Management Committee at Local Govt House, Smith Square SW1 £8.00

15/11/2010 Travel Car Parking - Fire Services Management Committee at Local Govt House, Smith Square SW1 - parking meter fee £11.00

12/11/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journeys: Chairman and Chairman's Lady - to GLA Annual Remembrance Service at City Hall, SE1; Chairman only - from GLA City Hall to CLG Eland House, SW1 for Fire Futures Steering Group; from CLG Eland House to Bevis Marks Synagogue, Heneage Lane EC3 for Service of Thanksgiving; from Bevis Marks Synagogue to home £145.93

09/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £11.44

09/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £8.00

08/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Finance and Personnel Committee at Union St. £11.44

08/11/2010  Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Finance and Personnel Committee at Union St. £8.00

03/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Budget meeting with Commissioner and Directors at Union St. £11.44

03/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Budget meeting with Commissioner and Directors at Union St. £8.00

02/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Mayor of London at City Hall re. firefighters strike £11.44

02/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Mayor of London at City Hall re. firefighters strike £8.00

01/11/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Interview with BBC London TV at Millbank Tower £12.53

01/11/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Interview with BBC London TV at Millbank Tower   £8.00

28/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Fire Futures Steering Group at Eland House, SW1 £10.89

28/10/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Fire Futures Steering Group at Eland House, SW1 £8.00

27/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Robin Southwell, CE, EADS at Union St., SE1 £11.44

27/10/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Robin Southwell, CE, EADS at Union St., SE1 £8.00

27/10/2010 Other Expenses Hospitality - Lunch with Lee Howell, CFO, Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Service and President Designate of CFOA. £36.68

27/10/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from Union St. to Houses of Parliament SW1. £19.20

27/10/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from Houses of Parliament SW1 to Union St. £19.20

26/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street, SE1 £11.44

26/10/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street, SE1 £8.00

23/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Firefighter's Strike - Interviews at Millbank Tower/ Leicester Square and meetings at Union St., SE1 £14.16

15/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Urgency Committee at Union St., SE1 £11.44

15/10/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Urgency Committee at Union St., SE1 £8.00

12/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street, SE1  £11.44

12/10/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street, SE1 ('Previous Charging Day' amount of £10 applies) £10.00

01/10/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Fire Futures Steering Group at Eland House, SW1 £10.89

01/10/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Fire Futures Steering Group at Eland House, SW1 £8.00

01/10/2010 Travel Car Parking - Fire Futures Steering Group at Eland House, SW1 - parking meter £6.60

28/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

28/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

24/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LGA Fire Services Commission at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £10.89

24/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LGA Fire Services Commission at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £8.00

24/09/2010 Travel Car Parking - LGA Fire Services Commission at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 - car parking fees £8.80

21/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

21/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

16/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Authority Meeting at Union Street £11.44

16/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Authority Meeting at Union Street £8.00

14/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

14/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

13/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LGA Safer and Stronger Communities Programme Board at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £10.89

13/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LGA Safer and Stronger Communities Programme Board at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £8.00

13/09/2010 Travel Car Parking - LGA Safer and Stronger Communities Programme Board at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 - car parking fees £8.80

12/09/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journeys with Mrs Coleman - drop off at Church of St Bartholomew the Great, EC1; pick up from St Pauls Cathedral, EC4 - Firefighters Memorial Trust Annual Service of Remembrance (held in two different locations) £140.55

10/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LGA Fire Services Management Committee at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £10.89

10/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LGA Fire Services Management Committee at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 £8.00

10/09/2010 Travel Car Parking - LGA Fire Services Management Committee at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1 - car parking fees £8.80

09/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner and Directors at Union Street £11.44

09/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner and Directors at Union Street £8.00

08/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Robin Southwell, CE, EADS UK Ltd at Union Street £11.44

08/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Robin Southwell, CE, EADS UK Ltd at Union Street £8.00

07/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

07/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

06/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Finance and Personnel Committee at Union Street £11.44

06/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Finance and Personnel Committee at Union Street £8.00

01/09/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

01/09/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

25/08/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - CLG Fire Futures meeting at DCLG, Eland House, SW1 £11.44

25/08/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - CLG Fire Futures meeting at DCLG, Eland House, SW1 £8.00

18/08/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Mayoral Appointments Interviews at City Hall (LFEPA) £11.44

18/08/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Mayoral Appointments Interviews at City Hall (LFEPA) £8.00

11/08/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Budget Review meeting at Union Street £11.44

11/08/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Budget Review meeting at Union Street £8.00

04/08/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with CFOA at Local Government House, SW1 £11.44

04/08/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with CFOA at Local Government House, SW1 £8.00

03/08/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Visit by Greg Barker MP to Westminster Fire Station £8.00

03/08/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Visit by Greg Barker MP to Westminster Fire Station £11.44

20/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £11.44

20/07/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union St. £8.00

19/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Fire Services Management Committee at Smith Square £11.44

19/07/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Fire Services Management Committee at Smith Square £8.00

19/07/2010 Travel Car Parking - Fire Services Management Committee - Parking at Smith Square £8.80

15/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Authority meeting at City Hall £11.44

15/07/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Authority meeting at City Hall £8.00

14/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Lunch at House of Commons with new MPs £11.44

14/07/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Lunch at House of Commons with new MPs £8.00

14/07/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from GLA, City Hall to Houses of Parliament - lunch with new MPs   £33.85

14/07/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey from Union St to St Pauls Cathedral EC4 - Mayor's Service £33.85

13/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - London Councils Leaders Committee at 59.5 Southwark St. £11.44

13/07/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - London Councils Leaders Committee at 59.5 Southwark St. £8.00

12/07/2010  Travel Members' car mileage - F&P Committee meeting & Lunch with Borough Commanders & DACs at Union St. £11.44

12/07/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - F&P Committee meeting & Lunch with Borough Commanders & DACs at Union St. £8.00

05/07/2010 Other Expenses Subsistence - Hotel - LGA Conference, Bournemouth, 5-8 July 2010 £14.25

05/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LGA Conference, Bournemouth, 5-8 July 2010 £120.90

05/07/2010 Accommodation Accommodation (claimed) - 3x nights accommodation at Park Central Hotel for LGA Conference, Bournemouth, 5-8 July 2010 £364.80

05/07/2010 Travel Car Parking - 4x days Car Parking for LGA Conference, Bournemouth, 5-8 July 2010 £30.00

01/07/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Ministerial visit to LFEPA by Bob Neill MP £11.44

01/07/2010 Travel ge - Ministerial visit to LFEPA by Bob Neill MP £8.00

01/07/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Taxi journey - Union St to 1 Poultry EC2 - lunch with Edward Lord JP at Coq d'Argent. £33.87

29/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with the Mayor for London and Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

29/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with the Mayor for London and Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

24/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Annual Authority Meeting at Union Street £11.44

24/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Annual Authority Meeting at Union Street £8.00

23/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Minister at Eland House, SE1 £11.44

23/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Minister at Eland House, SE1 £8.00

23/06/2010 Travel Car Parking - Meeting with the Fire Minister £4.40

22/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Commissioner at Union Street  £11.44

22/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

18/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LGA Fire Services Forum at Smith Square, SW1 £11.44

18/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LGA Fire Services Forum at Smith Square, SW1 £8.00

18/06/2010 Travel Car Parking - LGA Fire Services Forum £8.80

17/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Lunch with Councillor Stacy £11.44

17/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Lunch with Councillor Stacy £8.00

16/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Conservative Group AGM at Union Street  £11.44

16/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Conservative Group AGM at Union Street £8.00

08/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Commissioner at Union Street

£11.44 08/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

07/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - All Party Fire and Rescue Seminar at Portcullis House, SW1 £11.44

07/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - All Party Fire and Rescue Seminar at Portcullis House, SW1 £8.00

03/06/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA 30 Year Long Service Awards £11.44

03/06/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA 30 Year Long Service Awards £8.00

28/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Emergency Services Liaison Meeting at Winchester House £11.44

28/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Emergency Services Liaison Meeting at Winchester House £8.00

25/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - GLA/LFEPA Meeting at City Hall re. shared services £11.44

25/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - GLA/LFEPA Meeting at City Hall re. shared services £8.00

24/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LGA Fire Services Management Committee at Smith Square, SW1 £11.44

24/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LGA Fire Services Management Committee at Smith Square, SW1 £8.00

21/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - London Councils Leaders meeting at 59 1/2 Southwark Street, SE1 £11.44

21/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - London Councils Leaders meeting at 59 1/2 Southwark Street, SE1 £8.00

20/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Long Service Awards at Southwark Training Centre £11.44

20/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Long Service Awards at Southwark Training Centre £8.00

18/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at union Street £11.44

18/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at union Street £8.00

12/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Nicholas Griffin, Mayor of London Adviser for Budgets and Performance, at Union Street £11.44

12/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Nicholas Griffin, Mayor of London Adviser for Budgets and Performance, at Union Street £8.00

12/05/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - Cab journeys to and from Goring Hotel, 15 Beeston Place, SW1W OJW for lunch with John Smith £67.75

11/05/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at union Street £11.44

11/05/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at union Street £8.00

08/04/2010 Travel Taxi (invoiced) - separate cab journeys to and from lunch meeting with Robin Southwell, CEO, EADS £91.20

07/04/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFEPA Long Service Awards at Southwark Training Centre £11.44

07/04/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - LFEPA Long Service Awards at Southwark Training Centre  £8.00

30/03/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner and Mayor at City Hall £11.44

30/03/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner and Mayor at City Hall £8.00

25/03/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - LFB Long Service Awards at Southwark Training Centre £11.44

25/03/2010 Travel Congestion Charge -  LFB Long Service Awards at Southwark Training Centre £8.00

23/03/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with John Barton, General Sec of RFU at City Hall £11.44

23/03/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with John Barton, General Sec of RFU at City Hall £8.00

16/03/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

16/03/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

08/03/2010 Other Expenses Subsistence - Dinner at Hilton Hotel, Manchester  £15.00

24/02/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Lunch with John Ransford, CE, LGA £11.44

24/02/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Lunch with John Ransford, CE, LGA

£8.00

11/02/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Opening of Harold Hill Fire Station £24.51

09/02/2010 Travel Members' car mileage - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £11.44

09/02/2010 Travel Congestion Charge - Meeting with Fire Commissioner at Union Street £8.00

One Barnet bidders Serco's MD takes Brian Coleman to lunch

You'll never guess what. I just happened to be researching the very latest installment of the Brian Coleman Free Dinner register, which is officially the most popular series of blogs ever to grace the Barnet blogging scene when, guess what? My old friend Mrs Angry had the audacity to pop up a nice shiny new blog all about outsourcing in Barnet. Well I'm always keen to see what the competition are up to, so I pootled off for a mosey.

( http://wwwbrokenbarnet.blogspot.com/2011/09/one-barnet-up-for-sale-welcome-to-house.html )

Now sadly for once, dear old Mrs Angry is not quite as up to speed as she could be on the subject of Brian Colemans views on OneBarnet. She is labouring under the misapprension that our beloved Councillor Brian Coleman who is also a £53 Grand a year GLA member and the £25 grand a year chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning authority wants to stick a spanner in the works of the One Barnet program. Now maybe beloved Brian may find it useful to give the impression that he's agnositic on One Barnet, but a quick look at the LFEPA gifts and hospitality register (The Brian Coleman Free dinner register as it's known in these parts), show that the last entry is this :-


31/08/2011 Lunch at Livebait, 43 The Cut, London SE1 8LF. Estimated value: £30.00.Jeroen Weimar - MD, Serco Group plc

(You can see the whole register here - http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/gh_brian_coleman.asp )

Now I've no idea what they discussed. For all I know, they spent the whole of their lunchtime discussing whether Torres is a good signing for Chelsea, but the fact of the matter is that Serco are bidding for hundreds of millions of pounds worth of business in Barnet and their boss is taking a senior Barnet Cabinet member out for a cosy lunch. Now if I was Jeroen Weimar and my company was bidding for such a massive contract and I've got one of Barnets most senior politicians eating lunch, I'd say "Well Brian, is this OneBarnet project a go'er or not". Given that he clearly thought our Brian was worth having lunch with, and Serco Ltd havent pulled out, it seems fair to conclude that any negativity attributed towards OneBarnet from Brian is purely for public consumption.

One has to conclude that if Coleman seriously wanted to scupper One Barnet (at least with Serco) he had the ideal opportunity. As Serco are still participating in an exercise which clearly will cost them a fair bit of money, we have to conclude that Brian didn't advise Mr Weimar to grab a bargepole and run.

It seems to me that a reassessment of the role of Brian Coleman and Council Leader Richard Cornelius in the One Barnet fiasco is highly called for by the assorted blogs of Barnet. Have we been spun a line? Well if we have, I suspect that some people may regret it sooner rather than later

Even the Malaysians think Brian Coleman is beyond the pale !

Many thanks to VickiM for this. It seems that even the Malaysians think Brian Coleman is beyond the pale. Vicki reports the following :-

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Yes, word of the venality, the personal greed, the ignominy of Barnet's most famous son, Councillor Brian Coleman, has now reached as far as the Far East. Brian Coleman is now a global watchword for political greed.

I came across this report on the website of the Malaysian Sun. Enjoy - even as you are, of course, appalled:

Richard Orange was at the Centre of Investigative Journalism in London three years ago where about 50 of us were attending a dour lecture on local council funds.

It may have interested locals as the laws provided them the right to inspect accounts and demand explanations even from the guys who approved the accounts – the auditors.

But sitting with him over a beer in the evenings, sharing the Malaysian experience of extravagance, what he spoke about makes our councillors appear as neophytes compared to the antics and frolics of some members of British local councils.

Orange is no ordinary Joe. He provides expert advice on the operation of national audit regulations governing access to public accounts and has already taken one local authority to the High Court over its failure to release financial data to taxpayers, and recently unearthed a corrupt land deal which led to the imprisonment of an East Midlands council leader.

He gave several leads on extravagance following the decision by the central government to slash its funding to local governments.

Councils, in turn were forced to cut their budgets and some even threatened to close down public amenities like libraries and recreational facilities and also charge for entry to parks and museums.

But given access to information, the excesses of some councils and their members began to make people wonder if they had elected the right people to run their councils.

Because of easy access to information, the public discovered that Brian Coleman, the Tory councillor for Barnet used almost £3,500 (RM16,714) of taxpayers' money last year for journeys that included ferrying his mother to events in taxis.

He claimed the expenses as chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. Of the eight members on the authority, only two others claimed any expenses whatsoever and the second highest claim was almost 10 times less than Coleman's.

In 2008, Coleman, who is said to earn almost £120,000 a year, was criticised for running up a taxi bill of £8,231 as an assembly member, including a £656 bill on one day. He was nicknamed "grab-a-cab Coleman" by his colleagues who use public transport or bicycles.

His latest expenses reveal he claimed nearly £700 on congestion charge fees last year. At the same time he was spending hundreds of pounds of taxpayers' money on taxis, some with his mother Gladys, 88, who often accompanied him to formal events.

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Of course readers of readers of this blog will be well aware of this, the Brian Coleman Free Dinner register being the most popular ever blog on this site - http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2008/11/councillor-brian-coleman-free-dinner.html - this series of blogs, first started back in 2008 has received international interest. We welcome our Malaysian Friends to the club of Coleman watchers.

One interesting thing you may wish to consider. Whilst the Malaysian Sun praises the GLA and the LFEPA for publishing Colemans "free dinner register" on line, here in Barnet, where he's a councillor, no such facilities exist. Isn't it time Barnet shone some light on what our public servants are up to?

Lazyness and guiltyness

If you want to see the worst side of humanity, catch someone out being lazy and then see how they react when they start feeling guilty. Those of us who write blogs in Barnet see plenty of this type of behaviour. When people are too lazy to do the things they should do,  nothing is more galling than when they decide that attack is the best form of defence. Certain figures in Barnet are well known for such behaviour. Luckily, those of us here at the Barnet Eye are here to make sure that we can all have a bit of fun at their expense.

On a completely different subject, here's the latest edition of the Brian Coleman Free dinner register. For those of you who don't know Brian Coleman, he's a Barnet Councillor, a GLA assembly member and a thoroughly wonderful chap. All sorts of people regularly buy him Free dinners, expecting nothing in return and he lists them here :-

http://www.london.gov.uk/pls/apex/f?p=135:2:1987079904027083:fsp_sort_2_desc::RP&fsp_region_id=10248804584908268

and Here
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/gh_brian_coleman.asp

Is this really the most important question troubling Brian Coleman

The Barnet Bugle has published the questions Brian Coleman will be asking Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. This is what Brian Coleman thinks Boris should be spending his time sorting out

Regular readers of this blog will know that Brian Coleman is rather keen of the odd free dinnner or three or four.

My advice Brian, cut down on that red meat and rich food. A bit of exercise wouldn't go amiss either.

I have a question of my own for Boris, I've just emailed it to Brian Coleman to ask him. I'll let you know what he says.

Barnet Eye Weekly Roundup - The dark arts hit Barnet !!!!

There is something in the air. Vickim broke the news that Brian Coleman has appointed a spin doctor. I wondered how on earth you could put a positive spin on Brian (the Buffet Slayer) Coleman. Well now we know. I suppose it was bleeding obvious really  - slur the other bloke. Seems like Brian Colonman has gone on the attack on the expenses issue. Now I wouldn't have chosen this as a battleground if I was Brian Colemans spin doctor, but hey what do I know about such things. Interestingly the case for Brian Coleman seems to be that he's hard working, a mate of Ken Livingstone and a staunch supporter of the plan to shut Wyevale Garden Centre and replace it with Etz Chaim Jewish Free school. I wonder if Brian will still be as thrilled in June 2012. Still, I guess at least he'll have more time to write articles slagging off the British Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how this spat develops. At least Coleman has served early notice as to how he plans to conduct his campaign.

Mr Reasonable published a blog which deserves a far wider audience, detailing the subject of how a £2.5 million IT project has cost 10 times the original budget. Yup, £25 million for a system which still doesn't work properly.  Mr Mustard published a blog exposing the myth (Brian Coleman again) that Barnet has similar parking charges to other Boroughs. This is a story which the local press really should have picked up on. I wonder what Brians spin Doctor has to say about this (all Dismores fault no doubt)?

Our favourite councillor Little Bobby Sheepsjacksie Robert Ramsbottom had a simply fascinating post about Barnet Council infographics. Bobby has sophoric powers unique in the whole Universe. One supposes that Bobby thinks that people actually enjoy this drivel. Sadly he refuses to publish any comments I leave? What a poor little twatlet he is.

Finally in our roundup, we have the Broken Barnet blog, written by Finchley's favourite fishwife.
Mrs Angry details how Boris has sent her son a letter. Boris says :-

Ever since my 18th I have enjoyed my life as an adult citizen of the best big city on earth, and I hope you will too. I look forward to the vital role you will play in making London even greater.


Now if I was Mrs Angry, I'd be livid. We all know what sort of shenanigans Boris was up to, when he enjoyed life as an 18 year old member of "The Bullingdon Club" at Oxford University. Wikipedia notes that Boris and his chums got up to all manner of "fun" at the expense of the lower orders :-

Andrew Gimson, biographer of Boris Johnson, reported about the club in the 1980s: "I don't think an evening would have ended without a restaurant being trashed and being paid for in full, very often in cash. [...] A night in the cells would be regarded as being par for a Buller man and so would debagging anyone who really attracted the irritation of the Buller men."

Charming.

As to the "respectable press".  The Barnet Press and associated papers are on strike. See the video in the sidebar for more details. This blog was started as I felt local issues were being neglected. As the strike is over journalisitic quality, I clearly fully support it. The most popular story details how staff at the Royal Free will not be getting bank holiday pay for working the Royal Wedding. It seems that we can spend billions of pounds of public money, giving one of the richest couples in the country a day to remember, but we can't afford to pay the people who run our vital services properly to keep their country running.

And onto the twits. Matthew Offord tells us he was having a great time partying in Burnt Oak. Of course Mike Freer MP and Theresa Villiers MP are far too haughty to visit Burnt Oak, or even to twitter.

Anyway, I'm off to plant a few flowers on my Mum & Dad's graves, then to settle down for an afternoon of football, beer and fine food.

Brian Coleman and two years of the Free Dinner Register

Whilst we're on the subject of Brian Coleman, just a quick note to say that in a mere ten days, it will be the 2nd anniversary of this blogs most famous post - The Brian Coleman Free Dinner Register -

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2008/11/councillor-brian-coleman-free-dinner.html

Rather satisfyingly, the rest of the media has eventually caught up. This week ITV London Tonight raised the question of Brian's Free gifts and the Daily Mirror put Coleman on the front page (as documented by the Tory Troll blog). This blog was the very first to draw attention the Brian Coleman and his love of a free dinner. It was evident to us then and it is evident to us now that all of this sponging lays Colemans judgement open to question. One thing which is shocking is that at the time we drew attention to Colemans £85,000 a year wages for a succession of non jobs. This has risen to £114,000.

A more sensible politician than Coleman would have realised this shot across the bows would cause trouble. Sadly Coleman works in a different way. He went on from there to receive a £350 Harvey  Nicks hamper from Assetco, who the LFEPA awarded a multi million contract to, to provide emergency cover in the event of a firemen strike. As he's now managed to engineer the strike, we have to wonder about the whole issue.

When I first found the "free dinner register" in 2008, I thought it stank. In light of what has transpired, I think it stinks even worse. You may be surprised to know  Brian actually has two free dinner registers with lots of different entries - This one (the original GLA one)

http://www.london.gov.uk/pls/apex/f?p=135:2:4343884965763593:fsp_sort_2_desc::RP&fsp_region_id=10248804584908268

And there's this one for the Fire Authority
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/gh_brian_coleman.asp

I doubt that it is humanly possible to shame Brian Coleman to cut down on the sponging. In fact I suspect he takes great delight in it. Let's just hope Boris Johnson wises up and sees the damage it causes him

Bwian needs a wubber wing - A Brian Coleman Free Dinner Register special

One of the most popular blogs on this site is the regular update on the sponging of Brian Coleman, Barnet Councillor and GLA member. Brian very helpfully keeps a register of all of his sponging, purely for the entertainment of malicous bloggers such as me and my readers such as you.

I am intrigued by the 2nd latest entry on the Free Dinner register for Barnet and Camden GLA member Brian Coleman

16-AUG-10

Lunch at the Wolseley, Piccadilly, SW1

Mr Tony Hutt Four Communications Group plc

What, you may ask, is so interesting about this entry? Well, you'd think Uncle Jabba would be taking young Tony out for lunch, not the other way round.





Also of note is the most recent dinner of the lot :-

18-AUG-10

Muslim Aid 25th Anniversary Iftar  Dinner

Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE and the Board of Trustees of Muslim Aid

Seems like Brian hasn't quite twigged that the purpose of fundraising dinners is to donate, not to sponge off charities. I hope he spent 50p on a raffle ticket.

For Brians free GLA


dinners click this link :-

http://www.london.gov.uk/pls/apex/f?p=135:2:3044243808308037:fsp_sort_2_desc::RP&fsp_region_id=10248804584908268

He also has a completely different sponging list for his job as chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority - So many dinners, so little time

http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/gh_brian_coleman.asp

Kerching - It's Brian Coleman

Brian Coleman receives a total of £33,412.90 from Barnet

He also receives £53,439 from the GLA http://www.london.gov.uk/profile/brian-coleman

His SRA from LFEPA is £26,883.10 http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/MembersAllowances.asp

Making a grand total of £113,735

Throw in a few free dinners courtesy of the GLA -

http://www.london.gov.uk/pls/apex/f?p=135:2:4360690682988961::::P2_MEMBER_FILTER:59

An a few free taxi rides


http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/members/expenses/docs0910/b-coleman.pdf

And a few more free dinners courtesy of the Fire Brigade

http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/gifts_all.asp

and a few more expenses


http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/mem_exp_09_10.asp

What do you get ??????

Kerching!!!!

(Thanks to Mr Toad for the illustration which I nicked because it was so good and my secret team of researchers who keep me supplied with up to date info)

Brian Coleman and the free dinner conundrum

Tell me what you think. If you are the chairman of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), how many times can a single supplier take you out to dinner before someone starts to say "That's rather a lot of free dinners and that's rather a lot of money being spent". I'm not at all sure that Public servants should be taken out at all, if they are in the position to make decisions. I can see that if a huge project has been successfully completed, that maybe a supplier may lay on a party for all concerned. This is rather different to what looks like rather cosy swanky dinners.

I was looking at Brian Colemans entries on the LFEPA gift and hopsitality register and I noticed the following entries.

14/01/2010 - Dinner at Green's Restaurant, 36 Duke Street, London SW1 - John Shannon, AssetCo
28/04/2009  - Dinner at Shepherds - estimated value £50 - Mr John Shannon, Asset Co
19/01/2009 -  Dinner at Shepherds - estimated value £40 - John Shannon
24/12/2008 - Harvey Nichols Hamper - estimated value £350 - John Shannon, Asset Co
23/07/2008 -  Dinner at Shepherds, Marsham Street, SW1 - estimated value £50 - Mr John Shannon

By my estimate that's over £500 worth of hospitality and gifts lavished on Brian Coleman in just over 18 months, by Assetco - a Leading supplier of emergency systems. Now there are two things which stand out. Firstly that is a huge amount of money. Secondly, I couldn't see another member of the authority who received any hospitality from this company. If the dinners were purely to discuss the latest innovations in integrated services for fire authorities, why was Coleman the only member present?

I'm sure all of this is perfectly innocent, but do we really want public servants, who are in charge of authorities with such huge budgets, to receive such lavish amounts of hospitality? I most certainlty don't. I wonder if Boris Johnson approves. After all, he appointed Coleman.

The Brian Coleman Free Dinner register - Fire Brigade Special Edition !!!!!

*** Yet Another Barnet Eye World Exclusive ***

As regular readers will no doubt be aware, the disgraced Mayor of Barnet, the only Mayor in the history of Barnet to have been found guilty of breaching the Standards Code whilst in office, has a second job, Courtesy of Boris Johnson. He's the Head of London's fire services. Regular readers of this column will know that Brian Coleman is currently using this job to push through changes to the working conditions. These are basically mean, penny pinching measures designed to make the job more unpleasant for these brave men and women.

You'll doubtless be pleased to know that it isn't all work for Mayor Coleman at the LEFPA, he gets the opportunity to do what we all know he's best at - Yup, there's a whole swathe of dinners not covered in the GLA list of Free dinners. Here's three Bitesized chunks from the Fire Brigades hospitality register. I've got a little game for you. Count how many Free dinners Brian Coleman has whilst doing his job, then count up everyone elses. Who do you think guzzled more Posh Nosh - Big Bad Brian or the rest of them put together. And here's an even better conundrum did he nosh more before or after Boris promoted him.

Here's  tasty Bite number one :-

Yup so Far Brian Coleman 6 - The rest 2 (April to July 2009)

Now lets try Bite Number two :-

Yup it was tighter in this period July 2008 - April 2009, but Good old Mayor Coleman squeezed it through beating the rest of the world by the odd dinner 6-5.

And now for our third big tasty dollop of dinners :-

Yup, a stunning victory for Brian Coleman. Even in the pre Boris era, he trounced the rest of the world 13-7. When it comes to guzzling dinners at someone elses expense, there is no one who can touch our very own Mayor Coleman.

Now of course the Barnet Eye in no way implies that there is anything in anyway untoward about all of these dinners being scoffed. I mean if people want to treat Brian Coleman to a slap up dinner it's their business. I just wonder how many more Free Dinner registers there are with dinners we don't know about lurking around out there. And for Gods sake please, someone, give him a free Gym membership, I'm getting really worried about the state of our esteemed Mayor's arteries with all of these dinners.

Check the full document here - http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Documents/FEP1436.pdf 

And you may like a peek at this as well - http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Documents/brian_coleman_expenses.pdf - Mr Colemans on-line fire brigade expenses.I notice that unlike the rest of us, Mayor Coleman gets Boris to pay his congestion charge. Nice work if you can get it !!!!!