Friern Barnet Peoples Library on the One Show

Robert Rams vision for a new library in Barnet

Yesterday evening, the One Show on BBC1 contained a feature on Friern Barnet Peoples library and a short interview with yours truly - you can watch the interview on BBC IPlayer here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01j2mr5/ - the main guest was Melvyn Bragg, who was vocal in his appreciation for the contribution of libraries to society. It seems that everyone apart from Councillor Robert Rams, who is responsible for the library service appreciates the need for a good network of libraries. Sadly the council, as ever economical with the truth, are spinning the "we have to save a million pounds" argument. This is spurious, because the only reason they have to cut the budget is because they have decided to cut it.

This blog, together with the other Barnet bloggers, emailed Council leader Richard Cornelius with a list of proposals that would easily cover the cost of running Friern Library. Recently it was revealed that 47 individuals working for Barnet Council were paid over £100,000 per year. We suggested that these individuals should receive a 20% pay cut if they earn more than £150,000 per annum and 10% cut if they earn £100,000 - £150,000. By my maths, this would realise a minimum of £470,000. The budget for running Friern Library is a pittance compared to this figure. Of course, Barnet Council summarily dismissed this suggestion. Council Leader Richard Cornelius never even bothered to reply. I am rather disappointed with this display of bad manners by the leader of the council.

The peoples library was originally suggested by this blog as a protest to highlight the need for a properly run and funded library in Friern Barnet. The fact we've been recognised by Melvyn Bragg, the BBC and just about every sane and rational person in the Borough as having made an excellent case for reopening the library cannot be ignored any more. It is a source of great frustration that a philistine such as Rams is charged with running such a valuable service. Rams recently revealed that he was brought up in Southend. The fact that he purely sees Barnet as a convenient stop off point in his political career is quite clear from his attitude. I've lived in the Borough for all of my life, my parents are buried here and my children go to school here. In short I have a great personal investment in the Borough. That is why I'm fighting tooth and nail for the retention of vital services. I don't see Barnet as a convenient stop off point in my career, it is my life. If you wonder why I fight so passionately for our local services, it is because one day I hope to grow old in Barnet. I will need the services which the Barnet Conservatives are destroying.

I daresay that Rams plans a retirement in a leafy Tory Shire somewhere, sitting on his nice pension, paid by the public purse. He has made it quite clear that he sees librarys and books as old fashioned and outdated. He would rather see the libraries run by Starbucks, with a book section tucked away in the corner. When he launched the original strategic library review he suggested that people should buy books from Tesco's. This showed a completely out of touch politician, with no understanding of the finances of raising a family on a tight budget, or the challenges for elderly pensioners in Barnet.

It seems that people are waking up to the value of the library service. Let's hope that the message gets through to the boneheads at Barnet who just don't seem to get it.

Councillor Robert Rams - "I have built an imaginary library"

A big round of applause for Councillor Robert. He's built a new library for the people of Barnet. Hooray you may say. Where is it, you may ask? Well here's the really amazing thing. It is in his brain !

Wow, I hear you say. Clever little Bobby. He's found the one place in Barnet where there is plenty of empty and unused space. Maybe he could build a couple of new schools there, whilst he's at it. I'd quite like a new pub as well. Now you are probably thinking "What on Earth is the Barnet Eye on about?". Well good old Robert posted a most extraordinary post on Twitter this morning. It said :-

Cllr Robert Rams ‏ @CllrRobertRams

“@standardnews: Libraries facing 'bleak future' bit.ly/y79iRv” Not in Barnet, More spent on books, new libs built, all open longer

8:21 AM - 13 Mar 12 via Twitter for iPhone ·

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

https://twitter.com/#!/CllrRobertRams/status/179482209479168000


I'm intrigued to visit all of these new libraries. It's funny because the only news I'm aware of on the Library front is the closure of Friern Barnet Library. Maybe I just lack imagination !

The Monday Joke : 10/10/2011

Due to my general ill humour at reading Twatboy Sheepsjacksie's idiot blog on Friday, I wasn't in a jovial mood on Friday and so I decided to adopt a no humour day, but as we all need our lives brghtening up, here's a Monday joke. I thought that as Rams was responsible for the loss of the Friday Joke, we'd have a farm theme in todays offering.

A man enters his local pub and orders a bottle of champagne. The lady at the bar next to him says "What a coincidence, I just ordered a bottle of bubbly as well. The barman said I was the first person to order champagne this year!" The man said "We'll I'm treating myself, I've got something to celebrate today!". The lady said "What a coincidence, so have I". The man replies "What are you celebrating?". The lady replies "My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for five years. I thought I was infertile, but today I found out I was pregnant". The man said "fantastic, what a coincidence. I'm a farmer and last year I bought a prize hen. I thought was infertile, but today she laid an egg. That's why I'm celebrating". The lady said "wow, that's great, what happened". The man replied "Well I thought I'd try a different cock". The lady replied "Wow, what a coincidence ...."

And on the subject of Cocks, my attention was drawn to THIS WEBSITE - maybe there is a coded message for Boris in here somewhere? If you have a cock which doesn't do the job you want it to .....

And on a completely different subject, there is a most amusing post on Brian Colemans favourite blog I must say it is great to see that Brian Coleman can organise a mass rally in Camden, he must have at least five people there on his demo ! Well done Brian !!!!

BARNETEYE TV - Live from Hendon Town Hall - Comedy moments from our local Tory Councillors

As it's Saturday, here's a few out takes from our Barnet Council meeting on the 13th. There are marvellous examples of the crass stupidity from Councillor Danny "Imber" Seal and Councillor Dim Thomas. Seal asks Thomas if he thinks it's marvellous that 20% of Council spending is "non compliant" (ie out of control). Thomas replies that yes, it's marvellous because a few other councils are even worse. He then says  it shows that Barnet is a "High performing Council". Of course I had to translate into plain English, but that is exactly what he says. Clearly Thomas gave Seal a sweetie for his "Patsy" question.

Then we have some true comedy, as the Barnet Town Hall ghost decides he's had quite enough of Councillor Bwian Coleman and knobbles his microphone. Fortunately Councillor Wobert Wamsbottom wides in to wescue him. Coleman then goes on to blame everyone else for the appalling state of Barnet's road, which he's in charge of. It's all the fault of parents & utility companies and nothing to do with him.



Enjoy !!!!

The Silence of the Rams

Councillor Robert Ramsbottom suffers from a rare and little documented ailment known a Tourettes by Proxy. Every time he speaks or utters any pronouncement, nor, normally sane, polite and rational people feel the urge to scream "Shut the F**k up twatboy". I notice from the twitterati at the town hall last night, he was at it again.

I just had the misfortune to read his latest blog, where he details the address he gave to an assembled bunch of large private companies, which assembled last friday to pick over the bones of the EasyCouncil project. Here's the full story :-

http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/new-support-and-customer-service-organisation-market-day/

Here is a prize example of Rams knobbery

The second service I’d like to quickly mention is the proposed remodelling of our library service. Again, we have not been content to offer less of the same as some other boroughs have done.We have looked again at the purposes of the service. Why should we be running a reference collection when half the borough can access Google on their phones?

Is Sheepsjacksie the only person in the world who doesn't understand the difference between a reference Library and a search engine? Just how ignorant and stupid is he? Why on earth he still has a cabinet post is beyond my comprehension. It really is too much

Barnet Council attempt to sneak through another Library review on the sly

Barnet Council are up to their tricks again. They have sneakily launched another Library consultation. Given the fact that I organised the petition, with 7,000 names on to oppose the cuts, and spoke at the cabinet meeting where the review was discussed, I would reasonably have expected to be notified. Of course, the last thing Councillor Robert Ramsbottom, who is leading the review wants is my opinions, or the general public to be aware of his consultation. I urge everyone who has signed the library petition to participate in this review


http://engage.barnet.gov.uk/consultation-team/library_strategy_consultation-1/consult_view

I am disgusted that this has been sneaked out in such an underhand manner. If you click on this link,

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/press_releases.htm?page=1&st=1

you will see that there is no press release announcing the review. Ramsbottom should be sacked for trying to pull a stunt like this. Sadly rumour has it that Councillor Andrew Harper wants to make him Deputy Leader.

Please fill in the survey and make full use of the comments boxes.


Of course it is up to you what to put, but I used the opportunity to say that I objected to the closure of Friern Barnet Library and to say that I object to the replacement of paid staff with unpaid (and often untrained) volunteers. Lets face it, the Councillors who are pushing this are paid for their "work".

Robert Ramsbottom Special - 1 + 4 = 4

As Councillor Robert Ramsbottom refuses to post any comments I leave on his blog, I guess I'll have to post them myself. Now if any of you look at Bobby Sheepsjacksie's blog about Dexter Whitfield, you will see that there are four comments. I, however, can see a mysterious fifth comment left by me. What is so special about this post? Well it has been awaiting moderation since the 13th May. Poor little Bobby doesn't know what to do? Maybe he's waiting till monday, so he can ask his boss and PR guru Brian Coleman? He does give me such fun. Anyway, I've decided to set up a fan club page for young Bobby -

http://robertramsbottom.blogspot.com/2011/05/welcome-to-robert-ramsbottoms-fan-page.html

Here's his real blog -

http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/who-is-professor-dexter-whitfield/#respond

Anyway here's what I see on his blog (with my comment awaiting modding at the Ramsbottom of the page) :-

4 Responses to Who is Professor Dexter Whitfield?

1. Mrs Angry, Broken Barnet blog says:

   May 10, 2011 at 8:56 am

   Oh dear, Robert. Does it not occur to you that it is a good thing to read widely on any given subject, and to make the effort to include material that opposes, as well as that which supports, your own position on a subject? This is the reason I try to read books, newspapers, blogs etc of all political persuasions, in order to reach a better perspective: I recommend this approach to you and all your Tory colleagues, and then perhaps you might feel inclined to moderate some of your group’s more extreme ideological policies. If you had read Prof Whitfield’s writings before committing yourselves to the One Barnet nonsense, Barnet might not be facing the same inevitable conclusion reached by your fellow Tories on Suffolk County Council, ie that massive outsourcing is dangerous, unworkable and benefits only the private companies receiving contracts.
   
2. John Dix says:

   May 10, 2011 at 9:22 am

   Robert,
   Dexter Whitfield isn’t the only one critical of the One Barnet Outsourcing programme. An independent review of the DRS business case by Adrian Waite, a former Local Authority Finance Director (Section 151 Officer), stated:
   “During the thirty years that I have worked in local government finance as a local government officer and management consultant, including some time as Finance Director of a Borough Council, I have seen and written many business cases, business plans and options appraisals. This business case is remarkable for the apparent lack of robust evidence to support its main conclusions that £28 million of savings and increased income is achievable and that this can only be delivered through outsourcing”.
   Southwest One is an example where outsourcing has gone horribly wrong. Ken Maddock, Conservative Leader of Somerset County council recently stated in an interview with the BBC that if they could tear up the contract today they would save £58 million.
   Outsourcing is not the panacea it is made out to be. Without robust evidence that savings will be achieved it just seems a reckless approach.
   
3. Julia Hines says:

   May 10, 2011 at 7:22 pm

   Robert, with respect, exactly what savings have been achieved? I would be fascinated to know. I thought that so far there has only been huge cost and some small savings which would have been achieved in any event. Having looked at some of his reports, my understanding is not that he has ignored savings as you say, but that they do not exist and there is no empirical evidence they will ever exist in the future.
   
4. robertrams says:

   May 12, 2011 at 5:10 pm

   My understanding is that former Chief Executive Leo Boland and former Leader Mike Freer agreed to give the unions a sum of money so they could hire consultants and fully participate in the dialogue around the ‘Future Shape’ of the council.
   The unions decided to use this money to bring Professor Whitfield onboard. They chose their own independent expert; the council did not suggest Professor Whitfield or anyone else. So indirectly the council paid for his initial reports, since then, the reports have been paid for by the unions.
   I have no problem with an independent assessment of the programme, I just wonder whether these reports are truly objective.
   It is important to remember that One Barnet isn’t just about outsourcing, it is a council transformation programme. It is about reassessing how services are provided and creating a citizen-centred council. This kind of transformation programme will inevitably be front loaded with costs but that doesn’t mean it won’t deliver savings.
   It is vital that the team managing these projects and contracts has the right capabilities and experience to ensure we avoid the pitfalls experienced by some other councils.
   As mentioned previously, the council needs to operate with a far smaller budget. The One Barnet programme is our solution, a solution that doesn’t reply on the widespread redundancies and cuts to frontline services that are proposed by other councils.
   I understand that the outsourcing projects are not popular with everyone, but how popular would the alternative be?
   
5. Rog T says:

   Your comment is awaiting moderation.
   

   May 13, 2011 at 11:14 pm

   Robert, is your failure to post my previous comments an admission of intellectual inferiority?
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   message to Bobby - You really could save us all a sackload of laughs at your expense by just putting the comments up on your blog and using your stunning wit and intellect to put us in our places. How hard can that be? Hope you like your fanclub. I will be looking for lots of lovely pictures to post on it.
   

Twatman Robert Rams attacks Mike Freer MP

I was amazed to read an attack by Councillor Robert Rams (voted a twat by readers of the Barnet Eye last year) on his former boss at Barnet Council - Mike Freer MP. Of course, being a Twat, it is highly likely that Robert Rams didn't actually realise what he was saying or doing. Today Ramsbottom wrote this blog :-


http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/who-is-professor-dexter-whitfield/

Let me quote the key passage from Ramsbums blog :-

He (Professor Dexter Whitfield) is now the Director of the European Services Strategy Unithttp://www.european-services-strategy.org.uk/contact/. It is from here he has been paid by the Barnet unions to write these reports. But it is interesting that whatever he writes, he always comes to the same conclusion, that outsourcing is a bad idea, ignoring the savings that have been achieved. But would we expect him to write anything else? So in conclusion, he appears to be an anti-outsourcing activist, so it is hard to understand how his reports can be described as an independent critique of our One Barnet process. I would suggest to the Unions that they save their members’ hard earned money and spend it somewhere else!

Well what Mr Sheepsjacksie Rams neglects to mention is that it wasn't the unions who brought Dexter Whitfield in or paid his bills. It was none other than the then Barnet Council Leader Mike Freer. He made a ground breaking decision to pay for the Unions to hire their own consultant (Prof Whitfield) to cast a critical eye over the proposals. Mike Freer told the Barnet Unison Leader, John Burgess, that criticism of the process from an independent source would improve the process. He put his money where his mouth was and the first four reports were paid for by the Barnet Taxpayer on the command of Mike Freer.

I spoke to John Burgess this evening concerning Robert Rams comments. He stated that when Mike Freer first told him about the One Barnet program (then called Future Shape), he insisted that the Unions were a vital part of the process. He suggested getting Dexter Whitfield in to show Burgess his good faith as a partner. He told John that whilst they would probably disagree on many of the ideas, it was vital that the process involved all the stakeholders in Barnet. This was why the name was changed to One Barnet. Mike Freer always insisted to John Burgess that OneBarnet was not "all about outsourcing" but about transforming and modernising Barnet Council, with the help and agreement of the workforce.

In the near two years since Freer left to persue his personal ambition to become an MP, the One Barnet program has changed. It has become a program solely about outsourcing. Whilst the Unions were tasked to come up with suggested efficiencies and competetive in house bids, the joint Leaders of the Council, Lynne Hillan and Andrew Harper have gone back on their commitments and promises to John Burgess, to consider in house bids if they were competetive. Councillor Rams, who is charged with implementing many "One Barnet" programs has not even to read properly the critique's provided by Professor Whitfield. He has never supplier a sensible response to any of his comments. Now he seeks to dismiss someone who is an eminent professor and has spent years studying the subject in a vicious and ill informed blog (based on casual reading of a couple of internet articles).

I spoke to John Burgess and he informed me that he was shocked that a cabinet member of Barnet Council should choose to behave in such a way. John said "I've worked with four Conservative Leaders at Barnet and although we've had our differences, I've never seen them attack the reputation of an independent advisor, who was initially brought in by the Council, in terms such as these".

Whilst Robert Rams may think he's a clever little twat chappie for attacking Professor Whitfield, he clealry hasn't thought this through. Does he really think anyone with any credibility will want to work for Barnet Council, if Cabinet members are going to harangue them and belittle their reputation, should they spell out a few home truths? Does he think Councillors will get decent advice, if experts know that they will be insulted in this way.

The most telling point about Rams attack against Whitfield is that at no point does Rams identify a single error in Whitfields analysis of Barnet Council's One Barnet program.  He cannot find a single criticism of Whitfields reports to demonstrate why he may be wrong. All he does is attack the reputation of the man. This is the second time in two days that a serious and intelligent critic of Barnet Council has been harshly attacked in this way. Yesterday it was the campaigner against the CPZ price hike, David Attfield.

The evidence is there for all to see. Rams is quite happy to slag off the Unions for spending their money on the services of Professor Dexter Whitfield. As it was the Barnet Taxpayers money, generously provided by Mike Freer MP  which started the ball rolling, it is quite clear that Rams also thinks Mike Freer has wasted cash big time. Sadly he's too cowardly to tell the people of Barnet the whole truth or to attract the ire of his boss. It is telling that Robert Rams is the GLA bag carrier of Brian "Gordon Brown Stealthtaxman" Coleman, who has made a career of attacking the reputations of all who cross him. It seems Robert "Sheepsjacksie" Ramsbottom is ready to step out of the (rather portly) shadow of his mentoe

Barnet Eye Official : Councillor Robert Rams is not a Twat

Nope, it's not April 1st. The Barnet Eye is happy to announce that we have revoked the title of "The Biggest Twat in Barnet" which we awarded to Councillor Robert Ramsbottom. Word has reached this blog that young Councillor Sheepsjacksie has seen the error of his ways. Let me explain what seems to have happened. Last August, young Sheepsjacksie had fallen in with a right dodgy crowd (AKA. The Barnet Tories). Under their bad influence, young Bobby, who is a bit weak and impressionable, came up with the marvellous idea to close all of Barnets libraries and sell them off to Starbucks. Now as regular readers will know, this blog immediately lead a campaign to halt the process in its tracks. Poor old Bobby started to feel the heat, being regularly harangued by angry Grannies whenever he emerged from his bunker.

Now my blog stats showed that young Bobby had taken to obsessively reading my blog. At some point, the penny dropped. He suddenly realised "Hey, that Rog T is right. If I don't shut the libraries, the grannies will love me and I'll be able to poke fun at all of those nasty socialist Councils who are shutting them. I'll be a hero!". Now it is quite likely that he discussed his cunning plan with his former boss at the GLA, Roger Evans. Roger is probably the nicest and most sensible Tory in London, if not the whole world. He does good things like campaigning to keep hospitals open, writes a brilliant blog, and is a generally good egg. Now I don't know what Roger would have said, but it was most likely something like "That blogger Rog T is a genius, you'd do well to listen to him and not those dunderheads like Brian Coleman".

Anyway there was a loud clunk as the penny dropped, the Libraries were saved and hey presto, from being the biggest pariah in Barnet, the bum of the sheep became the best loved Tory in the Borough (after Kate Salinger of course). Now as part of his rehabilitation, Roger also clearly recommended that Bobby write a blog. Roger clearly would have given Bobby a few tips "Keep the voters informed, in an interesting and informative way" would most certainly have been his advice. Sadly Bobby's early efforts were rather grim and written in Barnet "Kremlinspeak". This lead to young Sheepsjacksie being awarded the inaugural "Crap London Blog" award. Sadly, as we've established, young Bobby is rather thin skinned and doubtless got rather upset. As ever, he doubtless sought the wise Council of his mentor Roger Evans. Now I've no idea what Roger would have told him, but it was probably something rather like this "Now listen Bobby, I already told you that Rog T is a genius and he's quite right, it is rather dull. Now listen, why Rog T is such a marvellous blogger is because he can be quite funny. He uses all of the tools of the trade, Irony, Sarcasm and Fantastical situationalism to illustrate his points. And don't censor the comments, use them to your advantage to display your sparkling wit".

If ever you want to cut the mustard, you'd do well to listen to him". Now I'll give young Bobby this, he's nothing if not a quick learner.  Yesterday we saw the first efforts, using Roger's wise advice.


http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/council-tax-mistake-isn%E2%80%99t-an-argument-against-privatisation/#comment-27

You can read it for yourself and see that the Kremlinspeak is largely gone. Best of all his comment in reply to Mrs Angry is an effort of supreme wit and irony. I suspect it may even be the work of the Great Roger Evans himself. Check this out
-----------------------------------------------
robertrams says:

April 21, 2011 at 3:08 pm

Theresa,
You will be pleased to know that there is a skilled One Barnet team in place to make sure all the contracts are watertight.
-----------------------------------------------

Now anyone who has followed the Metpro Scandal, the Catalyst Scandal or knows anything about the background to the IT system which caused the cock up, will know that Councillor Rams is what is known in the trade as "having a laugh". As being a humourless dolt is essentail to being a successful Twat, it is impossible for him to keep the title of Barnets Biggest Twat. Don't worry though, the Barnet Eye team have already started the search for his replacement.

Clarification for the rather dim and humourless : Any references to the opinions of Roger Evans regarding the intellectual prowess of the author of this blog (or anything else) is purely made up for purposes of your entertainment. Whilst both Roger Evans and myself are proud members of the League of Rogers, I'd like to state that we have at no time discussed Councillor Robert Rams, his intellectual prowess, his policy on libraries or whether he's a twat.

P.S - Roger Evans has another blog called Get Selected. He offers advice to women on how to get selected as Candidates. I'd like to suggest that he takes Mrs Angry and VickiM57 under his wing, as I think they have the potential to be the best 2 councillors in Barnet. I don't know if he helps Socialists, but if he does, then I can think of no better candidates in London.

 P.P.S. - I also noticed that Councillor Ramsbottom referred to Mrs Angry her "alleged" first name. Is this a Brian Colemanesque "We've got your number" type of threat?

P.P.P.S - Lets see if young Sheepsjacksie is "man enough" to moderate my comment on his post

Rog T says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

April 21, 2011 at 7:22 pm

My Dearest Robert,
Does that team contain the tooth fairy? I trust you are familiar with how the “skilled One Barnet Team” have administered the Metpro contract, the Catalyst contract etc.
As to the “one person making a human error”. I trust you are aware that a well designed IT system should have what are called maker/checker controls to prevent such single points of failure.

-----------------------------

Enjoy your bank holiday !

Councillor Robert Rams - A description of the Barnet Library killer

Being a dyslexic, I sometimes have difficulty finding the words to describe how I feel about people when they do bad things. Barnet Councillor Robert Rams(bottom) is in the process of drawing up a plan to sell off and flog off Barnets libraries. This will have a terrible effect on many elderly residents who view the Library as a source of joy. Ramsbottom doesn't understand that reading means so much to many people. He doesn't realise that many young people rely on the quiet space in the library to study. He doesn't care that this might ruin the school grades of many children (probably because they are aspirational kids of less well off households). As I said, I'm far too stupid, dyslexic and inarticulate to sum him up. That is why God gave us John Cooper Clarke. Please listen to this as it sums young Ramsbottom up so well.


And yes, I'm having a collection of books to help educate Councillor Rams as part of the "Save Barnets Libraries" campaign in Mill Hill Broadway on Sat 25th Spetember between 10am and noon.
A kindly old lady up the road has already donated a copy of the Ladybird book "Jack and Jill" to start the process off. She tells me she's relying on me. Well I'm relying on you, because I can't do it alone. She told me that she'd never seen my blog till a friend showed her at the library and she'd never called anyone a twat until she'd heard of Robert Rams and his scheme.

If you agree with me on this matter, please participate in the poll in the top right hand corner of the blog. Unlike Barnet Council leadership elections this is an honest open and transparent poll, so you are equally welcome to vote if you think Robert Rams is marvellous and I've got it all wrong.