File under "You couldn't make it up". The Labour Party was founded by Trades Union members and the Unions pay the bills for the party, regardless of whether the Leader is Jeremy Corbyn or Tony Blair. Whilst the root and branch membership of the Labour Party are proud of this association, it seems that as soon as Labour Politicians get their hands on the levers of power, they somehow seem to have a conscience bypass. Back on the heady night in 2022, when Labour took power and booted the Tories out, I spoke to the rather shell shocked Leader of the Barnet Labour group and the new leader of Barnet Council, Barry Rawlings. I made a note of his exact words. I didn't do this so I had a rod to beat him with, but because I thought what he said was important and I was impressed by his sentiments.
Barry said "We won't get everything right, I am sure we will make a lot of mistakes on the way, but whatever we do, we will put fairness, equality and decency at the centre of it" He then went on to say "I expect you to hold us to account and remind us of this when we do get things wrong". Although Labour has made many mistakes, I've had no reason to remind Barry of his pledge. Until now. Today, two days after the Lionesses amazing victory, where we are all basking in the reflected glory of our amazing female team, a dispute has been launched by the Public sector workers union UNISON, alleging that Barnet Council and its Labour bosses are acting in a discriminatory manner towards their own female employees. The Press Release says:-
"Barnet UNISON is urging its female members in the London Borough of Barnet (LBB) to come forward as the union prepares to launch a collective legal challenge over potential equal pay breaches by the Council.
The move follows extensive investigations into pay practices within LBB, particularly in relation to the use of “task and finish” arrangements in the Waste & Recycling service. UNISON believes there is now sufficient evidence to support equal pay claims with reasonable prospects of success.
John Burgess, Branch Secretary of Barnet UNISON, said:
“The possibility that staff – the majority of whom are women – may have been underpaid for years is deeply concerning, especially in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Equal Pay is not just a legal right, it’s a fundamental matter of fairness. UNISON is committed to ensuring our members receive the pay they are legally and morally entitled to.”
The union is now asking affected members to complete an Equal Pay case form detailing their job roles, grades, and employment history. This information will allow UNISON to assess each claim and proceed with legal and procedural steps, including lodging a collective grievance and initiating early conciliation.
Barnet UNISON is also reminding staff of the strict six-month legal time limit for making an Equal Pay claim. Anyone who has recently left the Council or changed roles is urged to act quickly.
UNISON has led the fight for Equal Pay in local government for over a decade, winning millions in compensation for underpaid workers. The union will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with Barnet Council while preparing to take legal action where necessary."
It really is appalling that now, of all times, such inequality is happening in Barnet, especially with a Labour Council. Now we all know there is no magic money tree and with cash tight at Barnet Council, it is hard to sort these sort of matters out. However, not only is it morally wrong to pay discriminatory pay rates, it is against the law. Any legal action will cost taxpayers money, and I for one, resent my hard earned cash being spent to defend the indefensible.
I sincerely hope that Barry Rawlings now picks up the phone to Unison branch secretary John Burgess, who is decent man and an excellent Union Rep and gets him around a table to resolve this. The people who are suffering as a result are amongst the lowest paid employees on the Borough payroll and if Barry really is a Labour politicians, he should start acting like it and sort this out. If you see Barry out and about, please ask him if he still believes what he told me on the night he was elected.
The local branch secretary of UNISON John Burgess is standing for General Secretary of UNISON, the Union for public service workers. As I am not a member of the the Union and I have minimal contact with the membership, you may ask why I have any interest in the matter? The answer is quite simple. At the right hand side of this blog, you will see the blog archive. You will see that the blog started back in 2008. What inspired a musician/ business owber to start writing a blog, you may wonder? Well the answer is simple. I started writing a blog for the Barnet Times newspaper. Originally it was supposed to be about local music. However at the time my dearly beloved Mum was still alive. She was in very poor health, having had a lifetime of illness. She survived diptheria and scarlett fever in the 1930's which wrecked her health, stomach cancer in 1970, which wrecked her appetite and a major stroke in 2000, which robbed her of speech and mobility. By the middle of the decade, she relied on council services for meals on wheels, a panic alarm and various other services. Despite the challenges, she was a fighter and lived on her own, in a purpose modified flat a few doors up the road from me.
In 2007, Barnet Council outsourced the meals on wheels contract. The stress of what happened, I believe contributed to my mothers death in 2008 from another massive stroke. Until the outsourcing, she could set her watch by the delivery time of her meal at noon. The quality of food was good and the staff were attentive and friendly. If there was a problem, they would often help her. If someone else on the round had a problem and they were late they would let us know. Then in April 2007, the council let the contract to Sodexho and all of the noce people who delivered her dinner went. This greatly upset my mum, who was 82 at the time. She had built up a relationship with them and trusted them. As the date approached she got more stressed and more frantic. We tried to tell her that there would be no change, it was just different people, doing the same job. How wrong we were. On day one of the new contract, no dinner arrived. My mother, who had difficulty communicating and was prone to panic attacks, went into meltdown. The lunch never arrived. The next day it arrived, stone cold, at 5pm. It turned out that Sodexho had budgeted on each driver delivering 40 meals in a three hour period. That is one every three minutes. For many of the old folk on the round, opening the door would take three minutes, let alone the journeytime between deliveries. In short, the whole scheme was a calamity. I saw first hand the stress this caused. I emailed our local councillors and screamed to the rafters. The council responded by making my mum the first drop.
Whilst this fixed our problem, I was acutely aware that some other old dears, who didn't have stroppy kids had been pushed even further back. I felt awful, but given my motheres fragile state, what could I do. When I started writing the blog, I became aware that every cut, every outsourcing had victims. Not people just a bit inconvenienced, but people who suffer. You may think "Why should an old dear not wait five hours for a cold meal". Well if you went to a restaurant and your meal was fiv hours late and cold, what would you do. If you were wondering, my mother paid for the service. In fact she paid twice as she'd spent her life paying taxes, in the hope of a welfare state looking after her when she was old and infirm. My mum was lucky, she had money and she had kids who were prepared to put themselves out for her. She did however value a degree of independence. As she saw it, she paid for her meals on wheels and the service had been trashed. She was livid. As she put it to me at the time "What sort of people make old people wait, starving hungry, for hours on end, to save a few quid". Due to the ravages of her stroke, my mother couldn't cook. She could prepare a sandwich, but my wife cooked her an evening meal and my kids took it up on a tray. Sadly we were not in a position to make lunch. Following my mothers cancer surgery in 1970, she physically couldn't go too long between meals. She was careful about her nutrition and wanted proper food. The quality of the Sodexho meals was appalling, compared to the previous offerings. Every corner that could be cut to save a few pennies had been. In the end, the service settled down, when the council realised what a terrible blunder they had made and forced the contractors to up their game, but there was a six month period, when every day there was a tale of woe. Our dog became fat as my mother insisted we feed the dog any meals that were inedible "I've paid for these, so they cannot be wasted" she insisted. The dog didn't mind, but the situation was despicable.
So that was how I came to the conclusion that outsourcing of public services was a bad idea. When I started my blog on the local paper, I started writing about the mess Barnet Council were making of social care. I started to mention how their polices were hurting the most vulnerable people. The people we love and care about. Typically blogs on the local paper were read by 15-20 people. All of a sudden, my blog was appearing in the top ten read list. This did not go unnoticed. The Tory Council started putting pressure on the paper to get rid of me. In October 2008, they buckled. Councillor Brian Coleman and Robert Rams, who lead the campaign celebrated that they'd ended my blogging career, boasting to their friends. In response, I set up the Barnet Eye.
Much to my amazement, hundreds of local people were shocked and disgusted by what happened. The Barnet Eye immediately started getting a couple of hundred hits a day. I paid a trip to a council meeting and there I met the local UNISON convenor John Burgess. John immediately stated that he was disgusted at what happened and offered any support he could give. I told John I was OK and I was pleased to be able to write a blog without interference. I immediately recognised that John was a man of immense strength and integrity. Both Tory and Labour councillors treated him respectfully and he was always well briefed. Around that time, the Tory council started pushing the one Barnet Program (then called Future Shape). In August 2008, my mum had died and at her funeral, I vowed to do everything in my power to spare any other elderly person the stress she'd suffered at the hands of uncaring bean counters. I vowed to hold the council to account. The One Barnet program was a mass outsourcing scheme and I immediately saw the dangers(the clip below is John talking about a half day strike in 2011. It is just one example of Johns clear headed, pragmatic and sensible approach, whilst being an extremely effective organiser).
I contacted John Burgess, explained my view and we agreed to work together in every way we could to spare any other vulnerable people the stress my mum endured. John also has an elderly mum who has suffered from council cuts, albiet not in Barnet, so we had a common cause. As a result of my blogging activities, other blogs started up in Barnet. These became known as the Fantastic Five (myself, Vicky Morris, Mrs Angry, Mr Reasonable and Mr Mustard). As each blog started, we'd make sure they knew who we were and how they could get in touch. We worked together, co-ordinating joint blogs. We'd also work with John, who in turn was able to put us in touch with experts such as Professor Dexter Whitfield, a world leading academic who is a respected expert in the field of outsourcing (watch this clip from 2011 of John talking about a
The next move of Barnet Council was to outsource parking and abolish Pay and Display parking meters. This hit local traders. With assistance from John, meetings were set up with local traders leaders such as Helen Michael in North Finchley. Helen had always been a Tory until Barnet Council torpedoed her business. It was ironic that the only person who had any sympathy was the local Union Leaders. The Council then launched an illegal hike in Pay and Display charges. John facilitated bringing them on board in our now growing community campaign. Next the Tories attacked the Librarys. I was outraged and in 2010 kicked off the Save Barnets Libraries Campaign. John facilitated leaflets and street stalls. As the level of the assault on the people of Barnet became clear, I was chatting to Charles Honderick, a young American director of trade films and commercials. Charles said it would be good to make a documentary film about this for Youtube. I concurred, having dabbled in film. I mentioned it to John Burgess, who threw his weight behind the project. John even got award winning director Ken Loach to make a guest appearance. We shot the film on a shoestring, interviewing people from all the campaigns. When John saw the film, he declared we needed a proper premiere and hired the Phoenix Cinema. Over 500 people from the community turned up and it was covered by both the BBC and ITV. People left the cinema saying they had never realised what was going on. The film helped launch the Barnet Alliance for Public Services, a highly influential pressure group. Many members joined after seeing the film. The film was shown at the Houses of Parliament, sponsored by MP John McDonald and at UNISON conferences in Bournemouth and Edinburgh. It was a great success and a classic example of how local people and Trades Unions can come together for the common good (here is the film).
There were many successes in the many campaigns which BAPS supported. The most notable was the 2012 GLA election. The local Tory encumbant, Brian Coleman was also a Barnet Councillor and had been responsible for parking in the Borough. He had a majority of over 20,000. On the GLA he was a key henchman of Boris and had lead a long campaign against the FBU. A huge campaign supported by all the campaign groups, resulted in Coleman being ejected and Labours Andrew Dismore replacing him. In the 2014 council elections, many of Colemans key henchmen in Barnet, such as library closer Robert Rams were ejected. Sadly the Tories were not ejected by the electorate, having their majority on council cut to one. In areas where BAPS were active, huge Tory majorities were reversed, but the Blairite local Labour group refused to work with BAPS or engage with bloggers, to harness their efforts. At a meeting set up by John Burgess to engage the bloggers with the campaign to oust the Tories in 2014, Blairite Labour leader Alison Moore suggested that the best way bloggers could help the campaign was to knovk on doors on election day. John had suggested that Labour supply bloggers with information on rallies and key campaign themes. As this blog gets 20-30,000 hits per month, it is clear that this would be a sensible strategy, but to Johns amazement, the Blairites refused to engage, beyond asking for help leafletting and door knocking.
Given that Barnets fantastic five bloggers have regularly been interviewed by TV, Radio and National Press, this was on the face of it inexplicable. The same Blairite Labour group on the Council never supported the campaign to stop the One Barnet outsourcing. Even more inexplicable was their support of a statement, when the Your Choice Barnet outsourcing of adult services failed and needed a £££million bailout, they signed up to a clause saying an in house option was not to be considered.
The whole One Barnet outsourcing was shown to have been implemented illegally in a High Court case Maria Nash, a heavily disabled lady launched a judicial review of the process. Maria successfully argued that the process had not properly consulted. The judge in the case agreed with the arguments put forward by Maria. John gave Maria much moral support through a difficult time. Bloggers and experts such as Dexter Whitfield had helped Maria put her case together and John gave much advice on who to speak to and useful background information, giving up his free time at evenings and weekends. Sadly the judge also found that the challenge was out of time on a technicality. Given that the Council had been shown to have acted illegally, one would have thought that the Blairite Labour group would have gone at the Tory regime hammer and tong, but they simply acquiesed.
In the course of my dealings with John Burgess, it has become clear to me that John is the most politically astute figure I've met in Barnet. If John passes an opinion, it invariably turns out to be correct. The One Barnet program is delivering nothing like the savings promised. Even cemetries have fallen into awful disrepair as a result of the contractors seeking to squeeze every penny of profit out of the contract. There are dozens of other examples of where John has been proven right. I can't think of any where he's been proven wrong ( a short film I made last year to illustrate the neglect of Hendon cemetary under the Capita regime).
But this is only half of the story of why I believe John should be elected General Secretary of UNISON. The other half of the story is that if UNISON do not elect a campaigner, who understands the fight at the coalface and has shown themselves capable of reaching out beyond the traditional support base of the unions, it will be destroyed by the Tory government. The Tories have made no secret of their intention to neuter the Unions. I have spoken to several leading Barnet Tories. They believe Unions do have a role in the UK. They believe that Unions should be staff associations, which market pensions and insurance to members and give them counselling when their dog dies. They believe they have no role in negotaiting terms and conditions and no role in protecting members rights. Of all the UK Unions, I believe UNISON is the most important on a human basis. This is because it is the largest Union involved in the care of the elderly and vulnerable. What these uber right Tories do not realise is that any of us can suffer illness, disability and many will become infirm in old age. It is all very well to hammer the t&C's of staff, force pay cuts on caring staff and employ dodgy contractors to run care homes and provide support. The trouble is that if you pay the minimum wage and impose harsh T&C's on staff, then they leave. The vulnerable need continuity of care. This is called basic human compassion. It is easy for Councils to squeeze cash savings from care budgets, by cutting staff renumeration packages, but ultimately the most vulnerable, people like my mum, are the people who suffer. The only organisation that offer those such as my mum any protection are UNISON. The fight to protect staff and their T&C's is not just about ensuring staff are well paid. It is about ensuring that carers have a career and are not forced out. It is about ensuring that they can do what they are paid to do, which is care for vulnerable people. Even George Osborne has woken up to the fact that a non living wage is bad for the economy. Sadly being a Tory zealot, he hasn't passed legislation to protect the T&C's of the council staff. Osborne could implement a living wage in councils, simply by freeing up the cash, but he chooses not to.
If UNISON carry on electing bureaucrats, people who do not understand the coalface, the Tories will destroy it. Whilst I have ultimate respect for John and the many trade union convenors I met at the conferences we took the film to in Bournemouth and Edinburgh, I was struck by the lack of support John Burgess had from the Bureaucrats who run the Union. It was clear to me that if UNISON had given Johns campaign 100% support with full legal and logistical backup in the One Barnet fight, thi could have been stopped before it started. This would have served as a warning to other Uber right councils planning to go down the same path. Union such as UNISON have huge resources, but the bureaucrats who run it are not prepared to commit these to fighting outsourcing. Whether they are simply happy to manage the gradual decline in influence of the Trades Union movement, or whether they simply like trousering large salaries for doing nothing I don't know. UNISON needs a kick up its arse. It needs to get back to doing what it should be doing. It should be fighting for the members. It should be leading campaigns to halt outsourcing. It should be involved with community campaigns to protect the vulnerable. I made a film on a shoestring, with a US film director. It received national acclaim. It beggars belief that UNISON have not taken this concept further. We took the film to their conference and they saw what could be achieved. The current regime have sat on their hands and seen council after council hammer their UNISON employees. I know for a fact that if John Burgess was general secretary, UNISON would be a different beast. George Osborne and his cronies would find that they would be held to account when thier fellow travellers attacked social care.
What beggars belief is that everyone gets it when they see their loved ones being mistreated by Council bureacracies. Everyone has mums, dads, grannies, brothers, sisters, cousins and friends who are vulnerable and need care. Any of us could find ourselves struck down. Three weeks before my mum had a stroke in 2000, she'd been living it up on a cruise in the med, not a care in the world. She was transformed to a housebound old lady who couldn't communicate in the bat of an eyelid. It can happen to you, me or anyone. We all need someone like John Burgess to stand up and fight for the staff who care for those members of society when we cant fight ourselves.
Since this blog was started, I have been involved in many successful campaigns. John Burgess has been central to the success of all of these. Every single one of these has resulted in good things for Barnet. Libraries have been saved, Pay and Display meters have been reintroduced, dodgy politicians have been kicked out, CPZ permit increases have been thrown out by the High Court. The fights we lost such as One Barnet and Your Choice Barnet, we've been 100% vindicated and proven right. I UNISON had a general secretary who understood the issues, understood how to campaign and understood the importance of not acquiescing in the face of pressure, we'd have won those as well. Sadly John Burgess was not supported in the way he should have been by the bureacrats running his union. What could have been game changing opportunities for UNISON to define the playing field in local government, became lost opportunities and might have beens. The situation for UNISON is dangerous. If they don't change the way they think and the way they support their branches, it will become terminal, as Cameron and Osborne are playing for keeps. It is clear to me that a country with a neutered Trades Union movement will ultimately be one where everyone suffers. This is because we have an ageing population and we will all become old. Sadly if our generation destroys the concept of care for the vulnerable, we will reap the whirlwind when we find ourselves needing it. That is why we need a John Burgess type figure to ensure that those who provide care get the support from their Union they need.
If you are a UNISON member, please pass this blog on to your colleagues. Please get your branch to support John Burgess bid to become General Secretary. My guess is that if you know John, you already will be supporting him, but for him to succeed, his campaign needs to get national support. As someone who is completely independent, if you don't know John and haven't met him, then speak to someone who has. Invite him to address your branch.
What a strange spectacle we have in the Barnet Council Town Hall. I gave American film director Charles Honderick a lift back to the station (via the pub and kebab house) after the Council meeting tonight. He had been filming some footage for a follow up he's making to "A Tale of Two Barnets". Charles thinks that an addendum of possibly a full follow up is justified given the changes that have happened in Barnet since January when he finished filming. Brian Coleman lost the GLA, Friern Library shut, the Tories have backed off on parking charges.
Charles attended his first full council meeting tonight. His verdict "Nothing like that could possibly happen in the USA". Charles added "I felt like I'd watched a fight". He also gave his verdict on some of the councillors.
Tom Davey, who stated that the council wouldn't help people who wouldn't help themselves "Doesn't he realise how that sounds in the gallery, some people can't".
John Hart, Who took great delight in quoting an expletive from Tony Crossland during a debate on education "What was that all about, did he just say that to shock everyone".
Dean Cohen, who floundered badly when answering questions about parking "They mentioned his Dad was a councillor, was he appointed because of nepotism?"
Robert Rams "He completely lost the plot at one point (during the debate on One Barnet), he didn't seem to know what he was saying and turned bright purple".
Jack Cohen "When he started speaking I thought he was a bumbling fool, but by the end, the hall was silent and no one could argue with his conclusions".
The Mayor, Brian Schama and the ceremony when he entered the room and had his rabbi say a prayer "In the USA, that would be illegal. Why do they dress up like that for a simple council meeting to discuss mending the roads".
Brian Coleman "He picked his nose, scratched his head and generally looked bored the whole night, apart from when he was looking grumpy".
And then there was the special guest star, Barnet Traders Spokesperson Helen Michael "When Helen walked in, it was like the star arrived. She was funny and to the point. She should be leader of the Council".
Charles was particularly shocked by the fact thatb (Tory) councillors seemed to hold the public in contempt. In the USA there is the perception that the voter is king. In Barnet the public gallery was talked down to and ignored.
And what did the public gallery do?
Rather strangely, the public gallery of Barnet Council was like a Glasgow music hall audience. They gave the councillors who spoke well respect. For instance, not a single peep was uttered when Lib Dem Jack Cohen spoke, even though most of the audience probably despise the Lib Dems for joining with the Tories. They recognise that Jack is a class act. I doubt there is anyone in Barnet who would like to see Jack go, despite their misgivings about the coalition. Councillors Davey, Cohen and Rams were given short shrift. Davey causing uproar for his callousness and lack of compassion. Rams causing uproar for his inability to string more than three words together coherently. He started waffling about referendums and even Brian Coleman visibly rolled his eyes.
Perhaps the most interesting thing was what happened outside the council chamber. I went out for a comfort break, to see Unison Leader John Burgess, Rabbi Newman and Brian Coleman deep in sensible conversation about the failings of One Barnet. Several other conversations were witnessed, which makes me think that despite the public utterings of the administration, they want a way to get out with their dignity intact. I wonder if Coleman sees principled opposition to One Barnet as his redemption with the Barnet voters? Whatever his sins, Coleman is no fool and must realise the damage One Barnet is causing. If it was canned tomorrow, that would give Barnet Council £10 million to play with. What sane politician would look that gift horse in the mouth?
After the meeting, we all adjourned to the Greyhound pub. Given that nothing had actually been achieved, the mood amongst Barnet activists and Barnet Labour councillors was bizzarely triumphal. We detect a change in the air.
Last night, I had a vivid demonstration of the collapse of the infrastructure supporting families within the London Borough of Barnet. Let me explain. My son plays for Watling Youth FC. Every year at this time the club holds it's awards night. Last year the event was held at the Mill Hill Sports Club. The requirements for the venue is that it has to be able to hold 40-50 boys aged 7-12 and their parents/carers/ friends. Experience has taught us that it is better for all if we have the awards at a venue with an area outside for the boys to kick a ball around, whilst the parents have a drink and a chat. The Mill Hill Sports Club was idea, with it's large grounds and clubhouse.
Fast forward 12 months. This year, the venue is shut. The London Borough of Barnet has taken the site to house a new school. So where could we go? The only suitable venue we could find was in the London Borough of Harrow, at the Canon's Community Hall. The evening (as ever) was a fantastic success with all the parents and boys thoroughly enjoying themselves.
As I sat there I pondered the fact that a club such as Watling could not find a single suitable venue in the London Borough of Barnet. How ironic that the venue we used last year is being transformed into a school. It is a graphic demonstration of the destruction of the London Borough of Barnet by this administration. There is a chronic shortage of school places, so they have to rob land from community organisations, such as the Mill Hill Sports Club, to fill the gaps. What this means is that they can fulfill their legal obligation to educate children, but there is absolutely nothing for them to do outside school hours.
I may hear supporters of the administration saying "but there are no suitable sites in Barnet for the schools". This is (or was) complete nonsense. In Mill Hill these are three school sites which are currently being redeveloped as property developments, which were formerly school.
1) St Josephs College on Lawrence Street. This huge site was formerly owned by the Roman Catholic church and was used to train students as Catholic Priests. It is a huge site.
2) Holcombe House. This was also owned by the Roman Catholic Church and housed the Missionary Institute. It offered theological training and was used by people studying to degree and masters level.
3) Littleberries. This was the former site of St Vincents School, which moved over the road. The site used to house a single form entry primary school.
All of these sites are designated as educational establishments, but the London Borough of Barnet showed no interest in the sites. They all have access to extensive lands and are in beautiful locations. If developers get their way, they will exploit these locations to build prime real estate.
But we are getting two new schools. We are getting the Etz Chaim Free School in the former Daws Lane Garden Centre, which was originally Mill Hill Swimming pool and was given to the people of Mill Hill as a gift for the sole purpose of provision of recreational facilities for the general public. We also have the Mill Hill Sports Club development. Barnet have also sold off huge parcels of land around Fairway and Broadfields schools, which could have been used to accomodate growth.
The mayhem doesn't end there. We have the huge Mill Hill East development, currently going up. This is a small town and will have it's own school. Rather sadly, the two nearest pubs to the site. The Angel and Crown and the Mill have recently shut to be replaced by yet more developments. The Mill is a particular loss, given it's beautiful Garden, which was used by many families in summer months for a pleasant pint. Both pubs were also regularly used as venues as part of the Mill Hill Music Festival.
In all of this there is a pattern. Property developers identify non residential sites such as pubs, schools, etc which provide valuable community facilities. They know that if they can get the planning consent flipped from educational usage to residential, they will make a fortune. As the pattern repeats itself across the Borough, more families are housed and the requirement for more school places increases. As the educational sites have been redeveloped, the council has to look at it's portfolio of properties and as they place no social value whatsoever on recreational activities, they know these are soft targets for conversion into schools.
I tried to instigate a campaign against the loss of the Mill Hill Sports club, but no one wants to deprive children of an education. Local people bought the council line that it was "the only possible site". I have learned from bitter experience that a campaign that local people are not interested in, is a complete waste of time.
In recent days, this blog has been focussing its attention on the One Barnet project and the One Barnet project board. When I first heard the then Council Leader, Mike Freer MP describing the One Barnet program, I was quite excited. Mike explained that it would bring together all parts of Barnet, to ensure a co-ordinated approach to running the borough. He explained that the Police, NHS, educational authorities and business would be involved and the council would have a balanced strategy. Even more radically, Mike explained that he had paid for the Trades unions to engage a top expert, Dexter Whitfield to advise them on the project, so that they could add constructive input. The Barnet Unison rep, John Burgess was initially sceptical, but the fact Barnet Council had paid for him to have access to such a figure, made John feel that there may be the basis of a very constructive process. Mike explained at a business breakfast that One Barnet would not simply be a "big outsourcing project". It would encourage efficiency by cooperation, would deliver better services for less money and would include all strands of opinion in the formation of policies. He pointed to the appontment of Dexter Whitfield as proof of his good intent.
The whole process has unravelled. Dexter Whitfield delivered his taxpayer funded report. It damned the whole process and showed it to be ill thought out, badly managed and risky. Mike Freer reacted in the most stupid way possible. Rather than seek to address the weaknesses, Freer rejected the report out of hand and withdrew to his bunker. In my blog earlier this week, I commented that the lack of transparency of the One Barnet board meetings and the membership of the board was a threat to democracy. Not because of any reservation about the individual members, but because there is a board of people talking about reshaping the Borough, none of whom are elected representatives and none of whom have any democratic mandate for what they are doing.
We also have the issue of the people who aren't represented on the board. There are no representative from small business. There are no representatives from the charitable sector. There are no representatives from any sort of environmental groups. There are no representatives from any of Barnets ethnic or religious communities. Most of all there is on one who is a single, one parent family living in social housing and on benefits and a child who is in trouble with the police. You may thing "what a stupid statement, what could someone who is a a single, one parent family living in social housing and on benefits and a child who is in trouble with the police, possibly add to the conversation about the future of Barnet?" Well, if you think about it, such a person is the person who actually has first hand experience of all of the failings of all of the organisations on the list of board members (as of my FoI request in 2010).
• Tom Nathan, Commercial Director, Brent Cross Shopping Centre • Cameron Ward, Chief Executive, NHS Barnet • Stephen Knight, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Middlesex University • Neil Basu, Borough Police Commander • Marilyn Hawkins, Principal, Barnet College
Lets think this through. Of the One Barnet Board, our single parent would probably have the odd shopping trip to Brent Cross, but the fact they are on benefits either means that Brent Cross cannot offer cost effective employment, or it has destroyed local jobs in local shops which may provide a way out of the benefit culture. Our single parent would presumably have experience of the NHS. Would their experiences be positive or negative. I'm lucky enough to have an excellent medical practice at the Millway surgery, who I have no issues with at all. I had different expereinces with Barnet Hospital and my mother when she was ill.
As to the people from Barnet College and Middlesex University. These are the best paths out of poverty and benefits, but are people in such situations actually able to contemplate using such establishments. Are course structures accessable? I don't know and I doubt whether the people on the One Barnet board really know if the people they should be reaching see education in this light.
Then there is the Barnet police. I may be wrong or naive or even out of touch, but I wonder if the Borough Commander has ever considered popping in for a cup of tea with the mum of an young offender, to see what she thinks of the police in a private and non confrontational situation? I believe that one of the main victims of the Coalition cuts is some of the outreach work that the Met Police were doing. I believe this is false economy.
And then there is Nick Walkley. Does he ever nip around to visit the single mums of Barnet, to see what they think of the services his organisation provides?
The One Barnet board has been in existence for six years. What has it delivered? Has the strategic thinking improved in Barnet? Are we getting the big decisions right? Are we providing an environment where Barnet is becoming a better, safer and healthier place to bring up children? The answer for me was answered last night when I had to visit the London Borough of Harrow for mys sons football team to receive their awards.
The Barnet Alliance for Public Services (BAPS) and Barnet UNISON have organised a conference to highlight the problems with the One Barnet Program. If you care about the future of the London Borough of Barnet, please come along
Barnet Council Not for Sale’ Conference 7 July 12—3pm - Saturday 7 July Barnet Greek Cypriot Centre, Britannia Road, Britannia Road, North Finchley, London N12 9RU.
If you are in a hole, what do you do? If you fall into a hole someone else has dug what do you do? This is the situation the Leader of Barnet Council, Richard Cornelius finds himself in. The previous leaders, Freer and Hillan commissioned the One Barnet project and have spent millions on it. Whilst for many of us, the most sensible move would just be to cancel it, this would destroy the credibility of the Conservative administration. As the GLA election is next year, and Brian Coleman quite likes the £75,000 odd he ears through the GLA and associated grace and favour jobs, an embarrassing failure is a problem for them. Any climbdown would be manna from heaven for Labour rival Andrew Dismore. Whilst persisting has huge political risks, at least the true damage can be deferred until after Coleman has had his bunce guaranteed for another 4 years.
Of course, it is clear that what is good for Barnet and the taxpayer is not being considered. What amazes me is the fact that Richard Cornelius hasn't seen the obvious answer. This is one that would allow the Tories to claim a huge victory, sparing the taxpayer the bill for years of picking up the pieces (as has happened in other local authorities who have tried this path). All Cornelius has to do is ask his CEO Nick Walkley to provide a figure which the consultants working on One Barnet for the last year have said they can save. They must have a figure by now. If they haven't they could guess or make one up. Lets say that figure is 7% of the budget. This will realise tens of millions of savings.
Get the "notional figure" and call the Leader of Barnet Unison John Burgess. The proposition is simple. Richard puts this gambit to John "John, we've identified that we can save 7% of our costs by adopting One Barnet. If you agree to in house savings which deliver this amount, we'll wind the program up". It really is as simple as that. Burgess then has a dilemma. Agree to work with Barnet to find the cuts or loose the game. Once outsourcing has completed and unravelled, their will hardly be a union left, so her really has no choice. If he takes the offer, Cornelius can claim "One Barnet was about delivering savings and we've achieved these". If the union refuses to play, then Cornelius has won the propoganda war and can say "Union intransigence".
Brian Colemans boss at the GLA, James Cleverly has taken to organising "Beer and Sandwiches" sessions with the Union, to promote an adult dialog and to try and avoid unnecessary disputes - http://jamescleverly.blogspot.com/2011/09/beer-and-sandwiches-with-unions.html - it is high time Barnet Council and Unison sat down and had a proper dialog. Anything else is abject failure, which the taxpayer picks up the bill for.
From: John Burgess Sent: 12 September 2011 10:04 Subject: Barnet UNISON URGENT Update Importance: High
Dear Members,
I wanted to write to you all and try to provide some clarification and reassurance regarding the very fierce conversation that has been taking place between UNISON and the Council.
I recognise that you have been bombarded with a mass of communications that will have been very confusing throughout what has been a very fast moving week.
This morning UNISON members have all received a letter from the Council threatening staff that if they take strike action tomorrow they will be deducted a full day’s pay regardless whether they work until 1pm. Furthermore I am hearing that staff are being told that there will be managers on the gates of NLBP to check staff in. If staff do not sign a register stating they will not be taking half day strike action they will be sent home.
The Council is trying to impose what used to be called a ‘Lock out!’
As a UNISON member it was agreed by all that you would take half a day and therefore lose half a day’s pay. That is what most reasonable employers would have deducted under these circumstances. However the Councils actions are neither proportionate and reasonable.
The lateness at which the Council have given this letter demonstrates they fear that UNISON members will all walk out tomorrow.
I can confirm UNISON will make up the cost of any financial loss up until 1pm on Tuesday 13 September.
Messages of support are flooding in from the community and other trade unions.
“John
As a Barnet resident and public sector employee I wanted to send a quick email to express my support for you and your members and the proposed “Barnet Independence Day” action on Tuesday. As someone who has experienced being outsourced but who was then fortunate enough to get back into the public sector, my experience tells me that it would be inconceivable for a contractor to take over delivery on the scale intended by the London Borough of Barnet without there being both a degradation of services and in the terms of conditions for staff who are transferred; this is how private companies make their profit from such contracts.
Hopefully your campaign will open a few more Barnet residents eyes to what is going on and more importantly, to what we might end up with in Barnet in terms of a service from our local authority. I wish you and Barnet Unison all the best and will try and join you at the Town Hall for at least part of the rally on Tuesday evening.”
I have recently had a message of support from the PCS union. They recently won a battle with their employer who was seeking to transfer their jobs out of the country. Members all voted to take strike action and they won. To read the full article click here
We anticipate members will be angry and confused and have booked the Oak Room, Building 4, 12 – 2pm
Tomorrow is your chance to make your voice heard loud and clear.
Just remember, you read it here first. In the Barnet Eye on December 18th, 2010.
Next year is going to probably be the toughest year ever in Barnet Council. Whatever happens, there will be mass redundancies. Many public services will be closed down, many vulnerable people will be left high and dry. Whilst all of this goes on, many leading Tory councillors will be trowsering huge amounts of allowances, far in excess of any other year. As libraries shut, sheltered housing wardens are sacked, childrens centres closed and care workers for the elderly and vulnerable are made redundant, huge contracts will be doled out to multi national companies as part of the Future Shape/One Barnet program.
If you think that there has been unrest, in the words of the old song "You ain't seen nothing yet". I was talking to Barnet Unison secretary John Burgess on Tuesday night. John is a highly intelligent guy. he was explaining to me that the workforce at Barnet Council have been extremely reluctant in the past to take industrial action. This is all changing. When people realise that their jobs are on the line and there aren't other jobs out there, people suddenly realise it is in their self interest to defend their rights. Barnet Council has made the fatal mistake of thinking that because the staff have traditionally been quite passive, they can kick the crap out of them and they won't fight back. When staff received redundany notices, the penny dropped.
At more or less exactly the same time, Lynn Hillan, Conservative leader of Barnet Council stated "We are all in this together". Given that she's given many of her councillors who chair committees a huge increase in allowance (only scrapping her own rise because of a huge campaign), she couldn't have told a bigger whopper if she'd tried. Hillan only just survived an attempt to overthrow her by Mark Shooter, who had only been in the council for five minutes. You may have thought that Lynne Hillan might have learned and would get her nose to the grindstone. This time last year, Barnet was paralysed by bad weather. Salt stocks ran out and both Hillan and her deputy Harper, were on holiday. This year, as once again bad weather hits, where is Hillan? I got this when I emailed her :-
Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: Extremely Urgent : Library consultation
I am currently on leave until 5 January 2011 . Please contact the Deputy Leader, Cllr Andrew Harper for anything urgent, em: cllr.a.harper@barnet.gov.uk. For Brunswick Park Ward issues, please contact my colleagues, either Cllr Andreas Tambourides on 0208 368 5417 or Cllr Lisa Rutter on 07956 858913. Otherwise I will deal with your message when I return.
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She learns nothing. At the one time when it was crystal clear that the Council would need firm leadership and action, she's on holiday. Fortunately Andrew Harper seems to have learned the lesson. In Scotland, a crisis centre has been set up, where rail, road, police, fire and all other emergency services can be co-ordinated from. The top politicians are there day and night to ensure that the situation is addressed. In North London Business park, all we have is an empty desk from Hillan.
So what has this all got to do with Councillor Brian Coleman. As regular readers will know, this blog can, with some justification, claim to be his biggest critic. As far as I know, I'm the only person in Barnet to successfully hold old porkychops to account. As such I was rather surprised to be contacted by a Barnet Councillor, asking me whether I would support a Coleman candidacy for Leadership in May.
My initial reactions was "He's the last person in the world I'd choose. It would be like putting Dracula in charge of a bloodbank". My esteemed Councillor friend then walked me through the likely candidates
Lynne Hillan - Completely Useless and totally discredited.
Andrew Harper - Hillans deputy. A firm believer in all of Hillans policies, such as future shape, library cuts, scrapping wardens, in short the status quo candidate
Daniel Thomas - A right wing uber-Thatcherite, who believes that Future Shape doesn't go far enough. Thomas is believed to want to pass a whole host of unworkable bylaws and rules to make Barnet an even more unpleasant place to work, study or live. He is an avid reader of bonkers policy documents from obscure right wing think tanks (manned by people like Robert Rams) who devise all sorts of crazy policies, yet have never had a real job or run a real company.
Which brings us to Brian Coleman. What does porkychops have to offer, which the rest of them don't. Well firstly we can be pretty sure that he'll double the Leaders allowance to £70,000 per year (because he's worth it). Unlike Hillan he won't crack when the press start whining. The next thing he'll do is cancel Future Shape and sack all of the consultants. Brian Coleman knows it's a complete pile of crap. He knows the figures don't add up. He knows that by sacking the consultants, he can save £5 million this year. With this he can save the libraries, wardens and a host of other services. Brian is a populist. he knows that if he says "I've sacked all these useless consiltants who write waste of space reports and i've saved the libraries, wardens and childrens centres with the money", people will think he's doing a great job. They will be prepared to look the other way as he hikes up his salary. Once he's sacked all of the consultants, he's going to set about the tiers of middle managers in Barnet Council. Coleman is said to believe that a blank cut of 50% of middle managers would have no effect on front line services and would reap huge savings. Again, he will plough this back into tax cuts and mainating front line services.
Despite our perception of Coleman as a greedy trougher, with no regard for his fellow man, Coleman is a lover of things like Hendon Town Hall, Civic flowerbeds, libraries and museums. I hear he's horrified at plans to cut Church Farm Museum. Coleman has a soft spot for the museum, following an exhibition about gays in Barnet a few years back. Brian believes that he is morally obligated to save the museum for staging this.
The big difference between Coleman and the other three, is that he doesn't care who he upsets. If he believes he's right (which he always does 100%) he's prepared to move Hell and High water to get what he wants. Coleman believes that if the Tories don't sort themselves out, they will lose Barnet in 3 1/2 years and he knows that he's likely to lose his GLA seat to Andrew Dismore in 2012. Unlike the rest of them, he doesn't want to retire from Politics at the next council election.
Brian Colemans biggest fantasy is a blue plaque on Hendon Town Hall saying "Brian Coleman, the Man who saved Barnet Council". Sadly for Coleman, all of this is a pipedream. In reality, most of his colleagues hate his guts and wouldn't elect him unless a gun was put to their heads. The only footnote he'll get in the anals of Barnet history is "Brian Coleman : The only mayor to be found guilty of breaching the standards code". Whilst in some ways I may agree with many of his plans to save the council, the truth is that the man is a complete arse and everyone knows it. That is why Harper will take over in May.
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.
Incredible but true if you click on this link you can read this question going to the Full Council.
How could they justify trying to take £17 million from Barnet Council! I am not surprised, but when will councillors wake up to understand the risks to the public purse!
Read the Question below:
Question 47 Councillor Barry Rawlings
What is the latest update on the Catalyst arbitration?
Answer by Councillor Daniel Thomas
The Council received the final partial arbitral award on 26 July 2010. The value of the award to Catalyst is not yet finalised, but a range of £5m to £6m is anticipated, against a claim of between £12-17m.
A detailed report will be considered by Cabinet Resources Committee on 19 October on the implications of the outcome of the arbitration process. The Council is seeking to enter into a renegotiation of this contract which was created by the previous Labour/Liberal Democrat administration. The renegotiation will be led by the Deputy Chief Executive and Acting Director of Adult Social Services, to manage on-going financial and service delivery risks.
So a new contract means the Council will be looking at a number of Options. One of which will include bringing back what is left of the service in-house. Barnet UNISON will be launching a campign to return the service back in-house.
Intersting timing as I saw this article about Fremantle who are the partners with Catalyst.
John Burgess is Convenor for UNISON in Barnet. This blog originally appeared here - http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/489 - and is reproduced with permission. The Barnet Eye always welcomes guest blogs and publishes them unedited and without comment. email me via the link in my profile
Barnet Tory Councillor wants to spend lots of public money on something which adds no benefit to the service.
Left wing trades Union leader counters with sensible suggestion which will save lots of money.
Barnet is truly a strange place. Is Robert Rams dad a tailor by any chance? Or does he just fantasize about Librarians in uniforms. Sorry, I just don't get this scheme to waste our money at all. There must be a whacky sub plot
That is one of the core aims of future shape programme. Well, how about maximising involvement of your residents by web casting committee meetings. As the numerous Future Shape reports have promoted the increased use of web based technology why not start with council committee meetings.
Even better for residents with disabilities who may find it more difficult to attend committee meetings?
Well with web based technology everyone could log on in their own time to listen and view what their local council is doing on their behalf.
Barnet always one to lead where others dare not go would not be the first. Here are but a few Councils who are promoting local democracy by making council committee meetings available for all residents.
