I was doing some research on my blog and I came across this. Please watch it, it is hilarious. The Tories seem to like to pretend that it's Labour that invented the Nanny State, this may put a few misconceptions right. These were the days when Mike Freer was calling the local Bloggers W@nkers and Brian Coleman was saying the way forward was "Roads, Roads, Roads". What these lofty ideals morphed into was a massive outsourcing contract to Capita. Sadly climate change and obesity initiatives got quietly shelved.
It gives you some idea how much attitudes have changes since 2008, when a supposedly Thatcherite Council under hard right axeman Mike Freer decreed that beling selfishness was evil and the council should be dealing with obesity and climate change. If you have any friends who used to be Conservative Councillors, please send them a link to all this and ask them how it all when combatting these evils?
For the record, it wasn't until the Tories were booted out and Labour got in that a climate emergency was declared. As to the obesity crisis......
The Chief financial officer of Barnet Council has released their report, very late. The deadline for questions to the committee reviewing it was 10am yesterday morning. We've secured an extension, so questions can be taken. There are several highly concerning issues.
Here are my main concerns.
Corporate debt.
It seems that Barnet Council has lost control of it's debtors. It has over £17 million of corporate debt, eleven million of which is more than 90 days old. Interestingly, Capita, who feature prominently in the list are responsible for debt collection.
Click on image for more readable image
5.18 Regular discussions are taking place relating to NHS North Central London CCG debt. A
payment of £4m expected to be made in Month 8 will now be made during Month 9. There
has been recent agreement to pay on account for sums in respect of client recharges this
will result in a further £4.5m of invoices outstanding being settled during Month 10. The
account remains under close monitoring.
5.19 Legal discussions with The Fremantle Trust are ongoing.
5.20 The Comer Homes debt was cleared in Month 9.
5.21 Barratt Metropolitan LLP have paid £0.473m in Month 9. The remainder is under discussion
with property services.
5.22 There are on-going final account negotiations with Conway to recover the outstanding debt,
it is not known as yet when this is likely to be concluded.
5.23 Capita Business Services Ltd have paid the older than 30 days debts in Month 9 and the
Accounts Receivable team are in discussion around the other balances.
5.24 Discussions are ongoing with the Metropolitan Police to reconcile the council invoices to
their AP system and purchase orders.
5.25 Discussions are ongoing regarding the NHS Enfield CCG debt alongside the other CCG
debts.
5.26 Capita Property & Infrastructure Ltd have paid £0.105m in Month 9 and they are
investigating why the remaining balance has not been paid.
This really should be the subject of an Audit committee investigation. It is simply not right that taxpayers should have to carry the can for corporate debt running out of control. All I can really say is that the council needs a big overhaul of its debt management processes.
A few other notes
Brent Cross – The current 2021/22 position for the overall scheme is £4.849m over
budget prior to the re-alignment virement agreed at P&R on 9 December 2021, which
has aligned the forecast to the M7 detailed position. The overall programme has
acknowledged potential inflationary pressures due to the impact of Covid-19. At present
a detailed risk register is maintained within the service which includes pressures and
efficiencies. As and when these potentially crystalise these will be included in the
forecast as appropriate.
I am not at all sure why Barnet Council should be losing money on a commercial development risk. These things should be earners for the council. Once again Barnet Council shows it cannot manage large projects.
Depot Relocation – slippage of £2.082m into 22/23 relating to land purchase costs
materialising in 22/23, adjustments to works programmes, and rescheduling of works at
the Brogan’s site
This has been a fiasco from start to finish, another £2 million down the drain.
Environment – At Month 8 Environment is forecast to spend to £22.765m against
budget, with £4.649m slippage.
Another four and a half million 'slippage' here. More proof that Barnet Council is not managing its budget.
Collection Fund – Council Tax
5.0 Overall collection continues to slightly improve compared to last year at 70.66%, which is
0.05% more than November 2020, but 1.11% lower than the previous year (i.e.prepandemic). In cash terms, current collection levels are £13.99m higher than last year and
£15.4m higher than November 2019 (pre - pandemic) – this is due in part to annual
increases in both the council tax base and the household charge over two budget cycles.
It seems that over 30% of people in Barnet have not paid their council tax. This is appalling. More than three in ten households in Barnet are not paying council tax.
The summary contains a truly bizarre statement
The financial position for the current year continues to be marked by uncertainty,
however as we get closer to the end of the financial year, the uncertainty levels are
reducing and increasingly the risks and opportunities on the budget are either falling
away or converting to actual costs and overspends, from a combination of the impact of
Covid-19 and other pressures including inflationary increases and supply chain and
distribution challenges.
Suggesting that risks are falling away because they are turing into 'actual costs and overspends' is perhaps the strangest statement I've ever seen on a Council report.
To summarise. Barnet can't manage projects properly, can't manage corporate debt and can't collect council tax properly. In short, the Barnet Tories have destroyed the ability to function as a council over the period since Mike Freer MP was leader and launched the One Barnet Outsourcing programme. You may not believe me, but the evidence is there in black and white from the chief financial officer.
I have submitted the following question to the committee on this subject
"Given that the CFO's report details that corporate debt is being mismanaged, council tax collection is less than 70% and that several major infrastructure projects have millions of pounds of cash overruns, what level of confidence can we have in this adminstration to manage taxpayers finances?".
Barnet Council have been committed to the concept of outsourcing since 2006. Back then, Barnet were well run and one of the best councils in the country. They were highly rated by the audit commission, etc. They boasted of how good they were in 2009, even giving staff an extra day off to celebrate being a four star council. Barnet was judged the best council for education by OFSTED.
Today I had to look up something on the Barnet Council website, there were not one but two apologies today from the Council for being useless.
We have a council that can't answer it's phones and can't fix the roads. Luckily for Barnet, the Govt abolished the Audit commission, so there is no body to keep an eye on them. Strangely enough, these apolgies are not on their twitter feed.
The phone system is now run by Capita and the roads were being fixed by Kier (the construction company not the Labour Leader). I hate to say "I told you so" but this blog warned of the dangers of mass outsourcing from day one. The Council has got rid of so many staff that it simply cannot effectively manage its contractors. A senior Tory member of the adminstration told me this, he asked that I didn't name him. I'd strongly suggest that if he wants to still be running the council this time next year, he pulls his finger out big time and sorts this mess out. He also confided that he thought it was highly unfair when Barnet Labour claimed that the Barnet Tories don't care about the Borough. I'd suggest that if he wants to show that he does care, he gets to work and fixes the structural problems that have allowed this crazy neglect to get to this state. Over the next six months we will see a lot of councillors campaigning. I suggest that you ask them what they are going to do to get Barnet Council to be able to effectively manage its contractors. Next time you are stuck in a traffic jam in Barnet beacuase of badly managed road worksor need to phone up to sort out a problem with your council tax and can't get through, just remember that this situation has come about because Barnet is not managing their contractors properly.
Tonight, Barnet Council will start to bring several key services in house, following the failure of the One Barnet program to deliver cost savings and better services. Long time readers will know of the extraordinary efforts I put in to trying to persuade the Council not to outsource swathes of the council to Capita. I made films, videos and wrote over 3 million words on the subject. All cross referenced and fully evidenced.
How did the local Tories react? Back in 2014, the Barnet Conservatives posted a blog on their website, supposedly debunking claims made in a video I produced. Sadly they removed the blog once I exposed it for the shower of **** that it was.
It is clear to all that One Barnet has been a failure and has not worked. The savings have not happened and it has caused huge problems for Barnet Council.
Section 1.5 of the council report states
The council’s approach to the Review aligns with this, in that it is based on a
pragmatic, service by service review, with the focus being on “what is the right
approach for that service to achieve the overarching priority of ensuring that
Barnet residents receive the best possible services that we can afford and at a
competitive price.
This can only mean one thing. That ever since Richard Cornelius signed the contract, we have definetly not been getting the best possible services for Procurement, Regeneration and Regulatory services. Furthermore, despite an expensive review, some services require a further review. It seems to me that Barnet Council and the Tory Councillors running it cannot bring themselves to tell us the truth. With regards to Procurement they say
The Procurement service has generally performed reasonably well throughout
the life of the contract, but the recent limited assurance audit report has
highlighted the extent to which the council and the service are not fully
integrated.
How can a service be performing well if it has limited assurance and the council and the service are no longer fully integrated? I will leave it to you to decide if the council are being fully open and honest here.
As for Accounts Payable and HR.
These services are now generally performing well and meeting KPIs, despite
having suffered from poor performance in the past. The performance of both
services has benefited from the in-sourcing of the more strategic elements of
HR and Finance in 2019, in that there is a much stronger client/contractor
relationship and increased knowledge of the Integra and Core HR systems
within the council.
Basically, the service wasn't working properly until the key parts were insourced.
Also under review are Estates#
The Report states
Capita regards this as a core competency, where there is scope for them to
add value and bring further investment and innovation in some areas.
Sounds great, doesn't it. However they've been running them for years and the report states.
Overall, the Estates function has had a number of problems over many years,
which go back to before the CSG contract was put in place. Repeated efforts
to resolve this over the years have made some improvements, but the service
is not yet consistently performing to the required standard.
In other words, we've paid Capita a shedload of money to sort it out and it still isn't performing consistently well. But hey, ho lets give them more money as they are 'experts in the field'.
Regulatory Services and regeneration
The council has many enforcement powers and responsibilities, with the
various teams providing a street-based presence across the Borough during
the working week, in the evenings and at weekends. A wider review of
enforcement activity has highlighted that the different services and teams do
not always work seamlessly together, which can lead to delays in response
times. There is significant potential for greater integration and more of a “one
team” approach across enforcement, which would align processes and
procedures to improve outcomes for residents and visitors.
As ever, with Barnet Council, the devil is in the detail. The service is returning because it basically isn't working very well. The report continues
Whilst Capita do operate elsewhere in the Regulatory Services and
Regeneration sphere, these are primarily people-based services and it is
considered that there is limited scope for Capita’s expertise to bring further
opportunities for investment and innovation.
You would think they would have figured this out before they gave them the contract all those years ago. If you wondered why things aren't regulated properly in Barnet, now you know.
Highways
Well if you think Barnet Council's roads are in great shape, you clearly don't live in my road. It is another area where the council has been forced to admit that One Barnet and Capita have been a complete failure
Through the work that has taken place to date, it has become clear to both
parties that the current contractual arrangements do not provide an optimal
solution for this service. In particular, the arrangements for commissioning
works that are not included in the core contract are too complicated to satisfy
either party.
You would think that Barnet Council would have done due diligence that Capita would have the expertise to manage complex matters.
Of course being Barnet, the council are keen absolve themselves of blame for cocking this up. Section 2.2 in the reasons for recommendations states
Members are asked to note that these proposals are intended to secure the
most appropriate delivery model for each service going forward, recognising
that circumstances have changed since the contracts were first entered into.
They do not imply any judgement on the relative value of the services in each
category, nor on the staff who deliver them
Apparently the 'circumstances have changed since the contracts were first entered into'. So delivering Highways has suddenly become massively more complicated, Capita have now become unable to deliver improvements that in theory they are competent in. A strange situation.
So if you really want to know whether you can trust the Barnet Conservatives, here is the blog from 2014 reproduced in all its glory. In light of the passages from their own report and website above, you may well find these interesting.
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Exposing the porkies of the Barneconservatives.com website - my attention was drawn to this article today. In all the excitement, I'd completely missed it. Anyway here is what they say and here is the truth. As I made the video and the Conservatives are calling me a liar, I suppose I am honour bound to respond
Yesterday twitter was saturated with spam tweets from Barnet's 'anti-Tory' alliance activists promoting the video they clearly hope will encourage people not to vote Conservative on May 22nd. Using hashtags #May22 #VoteABC (Abbreviation of BAPS' 'vote Anyone but Conservative' election slogan they repeatedly and robotically reproduced parts of the lyrics of the Roger Tichborne produced and published 'movie'.
Below is a sample of the twitter storm stirred up by the 'anti-Tory' alliance including BAPS, Barnet TUC, Mr John James Sullivan, Mrs Barbara Jacobson (BAPS' supremo) and Mr Ron Cohen (BAPS' publicity Officer)
(As the video does not contain a non party campaigner election imprint we have been advised not to place a link or promote it on our website by legal advisors)
The movie claims that the Council has lied but how true are the claims made in their election video? Fact check set too tast. Let's go through the lyrics.
Claim one - 00:04 Richard Cornelius, "The man who signed the contract"
Why do they now deny it? This is a whopper (apologies to burger king)
Claim two - 00:10 'In Barnet Capita have taken control…'
Fact check - The Council is run by Councillors. One venture is pure outsourcing but the second is a joint venture. Many services are still run directly by the Council.
This is pure spin by the Barnet Conservatives. Huge swathes of council services and the decisions to how they are run are made by Capita. Even planning is now under the control of Capita. Several Tory councillors have told me that they are disturbed by the removal of democratic control. (2021 Update - I have been completely vindicated by events)
Claim three - 00:13 Pictures of a coffin 'Death of Democracy'
Fact check - We're in the middle of a lively election where Labour are keen to win. Why would they bother if there was no point? What is the obsession with coffins, death and death imagery btw?
Labour were keen to win because they believed they could do a better job than the Tories. They believed they could make a difference.
Claim four - 01:16 'The contract was hidden'
Fact check - The huge contract was published, with some redactions, by the Council. This was welcomed by the 'anti-Tory' bloggers who regard is as very useful.
This again is spin. The contract was only published after it was signed. When the decisions were being made it was well and truly hidden, even councillors were only allowed to see it under strict supervision and for a very limited time. This is completely anti democratic.
Claim five - 01.21 The contracts were 'unread by the Council before they chose to sign'
Fact check - On one hand the Council is lambasted for spending so much on lawyers to go through the contracts with a fine tooth comb now the same people accuse them of not reading it. Many Councillors including prominent Labour ones, didn't read the whole legalese document.
Again the BarnetConservatives are spinning. We expect our councillors to read important documents before they sign them. They did not read the contract. (2021 Update - Look where this lack of Scrutiny has landed us)
Claim six - 01:54 OneBarnet 'has lead to widespread discontent'
Fact check - The 'anti-Tory' alliance of Barnet Alliance for Public Services backed by the Trades Unions can scarcely pull together a protest of more than 100 people out of 300,000 in Barnet on this matter. Not even the Labour Party are committed to scrapping OneBarnet or not delivering more outsourcing.
This is yet another sad bit of spin by the Barnet Conservatives. Over 500 people in Barnet watched screenings of Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble. Over 400 attended a march in the snow against the protest on a bitterly cold day in 2013 from Finchley Central to Friern Barnet. There have been many large demonstrations, a fact overlooked by this rather dodgy website.
Claim seven - 02:01 'No questions are allowed in Capitaville'
Fact check - Pure doublespeak? BAPS activists and bloggers regularly ask hundreds of public questions at Council meetings and get detailed responses. They then get to ask further supplementary questions taking up 30 minutes at Committee meetings.
Again this is spin. The Tory administration specifically banned discussion of One Barnet at local Neighbourhood forum meetings, In a democracy, discussion should not be banned.(2021 Update - Now residents are restricted to one question. This makes it impossible for residents to hold the council accountable in complex matters)
Claim eight - 02:27 The disabled are a 'market place commodity' seen as a source of profit
Fact check - Pretty distasteful claim of hard working carers. So where do the millions and millions of pounds spent supporting the vulnerable go?
FACT - Barnet Council set up Your Choice Barnet as a private company to run care for the disabled. I may be a fool but I thought the reason for setting up a company was to make a profit. Your Choice Barnet has no "not for profit" covenants in it. I suppose the Barnetonservatives could claim that it makes a loss, but this is purely down to their incompetence when they set it up.
------
And if you want to watch the video that caused this rant, here it is
It is no exaggeration to say that Barnet Council is in turmoil. Following a massive fraud and a scathing external review, conducted by Auditors Grant Thornton, the Council had conducted a review of the Capita contracts and had agreed to take a vote on the various options on 11th December.
Yesterday, the CEO of Barnet circulated an email highlighting the chaos to Conservative and Labour Councillors.
From:On Behalf Of
Hooton, John Sent: 12 November 2018 11:29 To: Conservative Cllrs; Labour Cllrs; Subject: Update on Strategic Contracts Review with Capita
Dear Members
I
am writing to you to update you on the latest position on the Strategic
Contracts Review with Capita, following the decision by Policy and
Resources Committee in July to begin the
review. A lot of work has gone into analysing the various services
involved in CSG and Re and work has also been ongoing on a business
case. Ahead of the review coming back to Policy and Resources Committee
in December, I wanted to give you an update on our
current position and some likely timescales:
Three options were
presented to Policy and Resources Committee: i) maintain the status quo
in relation to the CSG and DRS contracts; ii) reshape the contracts to
better align service delivery to the council and Capita’s
strengths and priorities, within the context of the existing
contractual structure, and iii) bring the partnership to an end, and
either bring services back in-house or re-procure them. At that time,
the Committee agreed that Option 2 was the preferred option
with the information that they had before them at the time, but that
all three options should be fully tested, consulted on and considered in
a Full Business Case before a final decision was made
In developing the
preliminary proposals, the committee considered three strategic aims.
Those aims are: a) to deliver high quality services; b) to secure best
value for money for Barnet’s residents; and c) to strengthen
the council’s strategic control of services. These aims remain at the
core of what we want to achieve from the review
Since the contracts were let, the environment we operate in has changed
considerably, and we are looking at service delivery arrangements to
ensure they are as effective and efficient as possible, as well as
taking account of Capita’s new strategy announced
earlier this year. The partnership has delivered a range of benefits
since commencing in 2013, however, there are some services where
performance improvement is needed.
To respond to
performance issues in some critical services we are proposing to take a
report for the Policy and Resources Committee on 11 December, that
recommends a phased approach to considering the delivery arrangements
for services. It is intended that the report will recommend that
Finance and Accounting (excluding transactional services provided from
the Darlington shared service centre) and Strategic HR be transferred
back to the council by the end of this financial year
(March 2019). The ongoing arrangements for these services will still
form part of the wider consultation plan.
The arrangements for remaining services are still to be considered and
timescales will be confirmed in due course. However, it is also likely
that the report will recommend that Highways and Regeneration be
reviewed as one of the earlier phases.
Finally, the
report will set out our proposed approach to consultation to inform the
further development of the programme of work. The report will be
presented to Policy and Resources Committee on 11 December for
consideration
and to obtain authority to consult.
I
am sure you will continue to have questions throughout the process and
invite you to get in touch with any questions, observations or comments.
Kind regards
John
John Hooton
Chief Executive
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
Mr Hooton makes several things clear in his briefing. The first is that the outsourcing of Financial accounting and HR has been a disaster and is being brought back in house as soon as possible. The Barnet Eye believes that this is clearly a very sensible measure as Capita has clearly failed Barnet and the situation is becoming rather embarrassing. Continual delays to vital reports has left the council exposed and at risk of fines for late filing of accounts. The HR function is also instructive, as this at least means the council will have the infrastructure in place for insourcing.
The bad news is that these are tiny cogs in the Barnet Council wheel. The Barnet Eye has discussed the issue, off the record with several Conservative councillors. The picture that has emerged is quite instructive. The newer councillors in the Council, elected in May in marginal seats are highly sceptical of the Capita contracts. Many are still to be convinced that they are delivering value for money. As they are in seats that will be vulnerable at the next election, they have no wish to be associated with a failed project. We understand that there has been a few lively internal discussions.
It is also clear that the hoped for case for continuing the Capita contracts, with clear cut reports has not emerged. As such the Leadership has taken the pragmatic decision to kick the wasps nest down the path and commission some more reports. It reminds me of a story that my Dad told me about the war. In 1945, there was a general election. He was in the officers bar at the RAF base when the CO walked in. The CO was a dyed in the wool Tory. He picked up the times, noted the headline "Labour to win by a Landslide". He immediately shout to another officer "Pass the Telegraph, lets see if the news is any better in that".
The leadership of the council is now wearing the Capita contract around its neck like an Albatross. I've been reliably informed that they are desperately trying to find parts of the deal that are working well, so that they can ensure that there is a face saving fudge. When I was discussing the matter with a Conservative Councillor, I suggested "why not just bite the bullet now and you've got nearly four years for everyone to forget and make everything work?". He responded that "there are parts which are working and it would be foolish to discard those in a panic mass restructure".
I suspect that the Leadership is hoping that there are enough "good bits" that deliver some sort of savings to justify the whole business. The question is whether Capita will buy into such cherry picking. I've heard that there are aspects of the agreement that are not working for them either. Not least the fact that they know that the Barnet bloggers will not let the matter rest and that they can expect picket lines at AGM's and constant scrutiny. Whilst they are making huge profits, this is worth the hassle, but if all of the bits that make money are stripped out, then is it worth the hassle?
The interesting thing is that everyone I've asked, has been unable or unwilling to name what the good bits are. The usual response is that "it's confidential and I'd get into trouble if I told you". The other mantra is that "there are several areas that did have problems but are substantially improving".
I am intrigued by the note that says that "Highways and Regeneration are reviewed as an early phase". I know a few developers in Barnet who are not massively impressed with the performance of Capita in relation to regeneration projects. As business people, who rely on good advice from the council and efficient processing of planning requests etc, they have felt a real impact on their business. They are also aware that the One Barnet Capita contracts also mean that there is a pre-existing hotbed of antipathy to anything the council try and do. This results in delays, costs and hurdles to jump through. It is slightly ironic to hear business people say that it would be far more straightforward with an in house planning and regeneration team.
John Hooton knows it is an almighty mess. His job is to manage a situation that is unmanageable. He knows that what he needs to do operationally to make the council run properly is kick out as much of Capita as possible, whilst keeping the maximum to spare the blushes of his political masters. A better set of politicians running the council would have ensured that we never got into this mess in the first place. Now we are here, we need some proper leadership. That means taking tough decisions. As Capita are financially vulnerable, there is a huge risk to the operations of Barnet Council. Sadly Mr Hooton has simply bought into a strategy that has kicked the steps necessary to deal with that into the long grass.
------------------------------------------------------- Don't
forget to make a date in your diary for The Barnet Eye Xmas party and
Community awards at Mill Hill Rugby Club on Fri 14th December at Mill
Hill Rugby Club at 8pm. We really hope you can come down and say Hi.
Admission is Free.
The False Dots and Republic of Brentford will be performing. Here is a video produced by The False Dots of their Anti Outsourcing Anthem "They Cleared Out Your Desk". A special treat for those of you who love a bit of Ska Music!
There is one aspect of the latest and still unfolding Capita story which no one has mentioned so far. Capita have announced a huge restructuring, cost cutting and redundancy program. There are several aspects of this that demonstrate the huge risk Barnet Council has loaded onto Barnet Taxpayers. Not least, how will already dodgy services be affected by the Capita costcutting, over which they have no control. We can summarise the main problems with the relationship as follows.
1. Barnet Council has no control over the way its outsourced services are managed or run.
2. Barnet Taxpayers can do nothing to influence the policy decision taken as to how those running our services are made.
3. Barnet Council can only challenge Capita over poor service when it has actually occurred.
4. If Capita provides bad services to Barnet Council, then if the fines are less than the savings, they may make a commercial decision to accept the fines and give bad service.
The logic for handing over council services to the private sector was, according to the Barnet Tories, that the Private sector had better financial discipline. This myth has been cruelly exposed by Carillion and Capita. The markets don't lie and the Capita Share price (as I am writing this) has dropped nearly five percent today.
Capita are in big trouble. I used to invest in the company. I bought shares in the company in 2002 when they were £1.72. I bought £2,000 worth. I thought that they were a good bet with contracts such as the Congestion charge zone with The London Mayor. In 2011, I sold them them for £7.11. The reason? I did not want charges of hypocrisy given my objections to One Barnet. My investment gave me an over £6,000 profit on a £2,000 investment.
It is interesting to note that the share price today is £1.73. It is right back where it started. If I'd sold them at their peak in 2015, I'd have made nearly £11,000. I invested in Capita long before they were in involved in Barnet. After I divested, I kept a close eye on the share price. I had realised all along that the One Barnet deal was likely to be lucrative for Capita shareholders. What I didn't really appreciate was that Capita was in fact a very badly run company, that was simply lining its pockets on easy money from mugs like the Barnet Taxpayer. As it has become more clear that they've bitten off more than they can chew and more public sector organisations have had problems with contracts, the easy money has dried up.
The CEO of Capita has realised that if he doesn't do something drastic, then the company will fail. His solution has been to cancel dividends and seek more cash from the shareholders to sort the mess out. He is going to sell key parts of the business to finance "core functions". Had I not sold up and had bought a new kitchen with the dosh, I'd be looking at an investment that had made no money at all and a request for cash from a company that admits it is badly run. I fell for that one with RBS shares. I would not fall for it again.
As a major customer of Capita, Barnet Council faces the prospect of less people at Capita providing services that are already bad. Does that sound like a clever plan for the Barnet Taxpayer? It sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. It also appears that some of the services may not even be supplied by Capita in the future. It could well be that they hive off services provided to Barnet to other companies. Why would another company want to buy a bit of business from a failing company like Capita? The answer is obvious. They would buy it because it is a cash cow. And we, the taxpayer are the people who are being milked.
In short, the Barnet Taxpayer is caught between a rock and a hard place.
How have the Barnet Tories reacted? Now this is very interesting. The Deputy Leader of the Barnet Council, Dan Thtomas is a big fan of Donald Trump.
UK twitterati not quite grasping that the purpose of President Trump's speech is to make Americans feel great again. #Inauguration
Intriguing how despite himself, media commentary and celebrity attacks, it seems #POTUS appeals to ordinary Americans. You wouldn't expect approval from almost half of Democrats and three quarters of Independents if you follow the news and twitter. #SOTUhttps://t.co/4sCH9dkLc4
Mr Thomas has clearly studied President Trump and his tactics for dealing with difficult questions about the poor decisions he's made rather well. Whilst the Barnet Conservatives were reeling from the news that their "cunning planw" AKA One Barnet was unrevalling before their eyes, he launched a classic diversionary attack, in true Trump style with an offensive tweet. This was clearly done to distract everyone from the pending implosion of his outsourcing schemes.
Last night, a councillor called for British people to be prioritised when allocating social housing, a view shared by many decent people. Labour councillors called this a 'racial slur', a view not shared by most people. And they wonder why they're losing working class support.
And you know what? To my eternal shame I fell for his cunning plan yesterday. When we should all have been trying to hold the Thomas to account for being a Capita champion, I got suckered into writing a blog about his awful tweeting. It could not be clearer that Thomas does not want to discuss the problems of Capita. I don't blame him. The contract is his baby and it has grown into a monster that is about to devour his administration.
The difficult truth, which no amount of Trumpesque tweeting by Councillor Thomas can hide, is that Barnet Council now has a major risk on its risk register as a result of his policies. There can be nop doubt that the Capita restructuring will impact the operations of Barnet Council and the quality of services delivered to Barnet Taxpayers, which we've already noted are not great.
Back in 2012, I produced a film called "Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble" which tried to warn residents of the fact that the One Barnet outsourcing project was a huge risk to Barnet. The trailer we made, has the Leader of the Council, Richard Cornelius admitting that the Council only has reserves of £15 million on a £1billion business. If Capita goes the way of Carillion, then it is clear what will happen. Barnet Taxpayers will be crucified financially. Don't say you weren't warned.
Let me tell you a little anecdote. On Sunday I was talking to the manager of a local youth football team. They had a problem recently with the pitch the children play football on. The club secretary needed to speak to the council to discuss the issue. Like most people involved in youth football, the person in question has a job and has to make calls during breaks etc.
Priior to the Privatisation of the parks service to Capita, he had the number of someone at the council. He used to ring them up and get the problem sorted out. Now he calls the council, has to wait for ages to get an answer. When the call gets answered, he then has to navigate through all manner of options, to get to the right department. Then when he's got through to an operator, they have to put him through. Eventually he gets through "Oh, sorry, she's at lunch. Can you call back in half an hour please?"
Welcome to Capitaville. This scenario is being played out all over Barnet as people struggle to ge through to people. Strangely enough some local right wing ideologues, who probably don't have much cause to speak to the council, seem to think this is progress and a marvellous idea.
From this, you may well think that theDeputy Leader is crowing because his administration has done such a marvellous job and that people are coming from far and wide to study how Barnet have made themselves into the countries most admired council. It is true that people are coming from far and wide to Barnet. Sadly they are not coming to praise the Tories. Read this report on the Council website from Claer Lloyd-Jones, a legal adviser brought in to investigate the failure in governance that brought Barnet Council to a complete standstill earlier this year.
7. Conclusion 7.1 Barnet Council was ridiculed in the local press for finding itself in the position of having misapplied the political proportionality rules and thereby failing to keep member decision-making safe from challenge. The Chief Executive was subsequently given advice that committees that were not properly and lawfully constituted, an could not continue to meet and make decisions prior to the next Council meeting on July 15 th. Leading Counsel’s opinion was taken and he advised that although the political proportionality rules had been misapplied, the committees could continue to meet and make lawful decisions due to the savings provisions in theAct. Leading Counsel’s opinion was preferred.
7.2 The facts leading up to these events demonstrate that there was no clear protocol or process between Barnet Governance Team and HBPL for providing legal clearance of council reports to ensure that they were correct. In the case of both the political proportionality report and the members allowances report, legal advice was asked for from HBPL. It was not forthcoming, and the absence of legal advice in the reports was not escalated nor chased by Barnet Governance Team.
7.3 The risk of either of those reports being wrong was therefore high, given that Barnet does not employ any lawyers itself,and the relevant governance staff responsible for these reports are relatively inexperienced.
7.4 This high reputational risk to the council was multiplied by the change to alternative political management arrangements, ie a return to the Committee system. This risk was further aggravated by a very close election result.
7.5 Mitigation of the risk would necessitate early consideration of the legal principles, and close and careful attention being paid to the compilation of reports, in draft, and when submitted to council for decision. This would require at the very least, close collaboration between HBPL and Barnet Governance Team.
7.6 All parties involved were capable of spotting that something was wrong with the reports, but no-one did. To those members involved, the perception was that no-one was in charge.
7.7 I find that Barnet’s Governance Team were responsible for the reports being sent to print in their incorrect form and subsequently voted on by members at June 2nd Council meeting. Members were not advised that the reports had no legal clearance, and the form of the report gave no indication of whether the report had been cleared or not.
7.8 I also find that Barnet’s Governance team were jointly responsible with the shared Legal Service, HBPL, for those reports going to print containing misapplications of the correct law, and allowing members to vote on them as though they were correct. Copies of the reports had been sent to HBPL at an early stage. They gave no comments or advice. The Harrow MO attends Barnet Council meetings in order to advise the Barnet MO and Chief Executive.
7.9 In order to prevent the risk of some other governance failing attributable to the absence of legal advice or misapplication of legal advice, a number of changes need to be made to both the IAA and to Barnet’s internal governance arrangements.
So we have established two things immediately. The first is that Barnet is in a total mess and the second is that the Leadership of the Council is deluded. If Cllr Thomas had come out and said that there serious problems had been identified and that urgent action was being taken to address them and he was giving it grave consideration, then we'd say he had a grip on the situation. What did he tell the Barnet Times?
"No-one enjoyed the annual council meeting, but the committee system is up and running well.
Barnet is one of the most efficient and effective councils in the
country at dealing with the issues that matter most to residents and we
have saved the taxpayer millions in the process."
There is no way that this statment can be squared with the findings of the report, because the second thing we've learned is that there has been a major failure of governance at the Council. Cllr Thomas talks about "saving the Taxpayer millions". This has been done by sacking experienced officers and outsourcing key departments. This outsourcing has been done in a highly ideological manner, driven by a hard right detestation of public services. Mr Thomas is a Tory fundamentalist who believes that the only way a council can save money is to put service provision into the hands of private contractors. All councils in the UK have similar budget challenges, but few have gone down the Easycouncil commissioning model of Barnet. Even right wing Tory councils elsewhere have realised that when you outsource, you lose control and there is inevitably a huge issue of governance and quality.
What we have seen in Barnet is a direct result of the Barnet Conservatives policy of decimating the Democratic Services and Legal team. Legal was outsourced to Harrow Council and a joint legal team established, under the control of Harrow. This has saved some money in the short term but the result is there for all to see. It has failed completely. It has failed to the extent that they've had to bring in Claer Lloyd-Jones to sort the mess out. Conclusion 7.8 could not be clearer in its damning criticism.
Ms Lloyd-Jones could not be clearer in explaining what Mr Thomas policy of outsourcing has meant "The risk of either of those reports being wrong was therefore high, given that Barnet does not employ any lawyers itself,and the relevant governance staff responsible for these reports are relatively inexperienced."
This is not the end of the issues that residents of Barnet will see as a result of the hard right, ideologically driven polices of the Barnet Tories. We are just at the very dawn of the nightmare that they have inflicted. For the benefit of anyone new to the blog and the chaos in Barnet, lets have a quick recap on just some of the cock ups that have occurred over the last few years as Barnet have failed to manage outsourced contracts and suppliers.
Catalyst Care home contract. Barnet Council outsourced care homes to Catalyst and got sued due to a guaranteed profit clause. Barnet lost case and had to ten million pounds (http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8879799.Full_cost_of_Catalyst_arbitration_tops___10m/). At the same time there was a Legionalla outbreak at a home and also a tragic death of a resident. Barnet Council then renewed the contract after all these issues.
And yet....... We have a Leadership team in an ivory tower claiming that Barnet is the best run Borough in Britain and they've "saved millions". All of these inconvenient truths are sadly forgotten by Cllr Thomas and his bos Cllr Cornelius. It is time they resign and allow someone who is vaguley in touch with reality and isn't driven only by ideological zeal to run the show. Next year there will be a general election. The architect of this mess was Mike Freer, who is now the MP for Finchley and Golders Green. He set up the One Barnet project and has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that the local Tories. His role cannot be forgotten in this mess. Any conversation about what has gone wrong must start with the root cause. I believe that politicians should be held to account for there mistakes and the whole One Barnet outsourcing programme is a huge mistake. Contrary to what Cllr Thomas says, it has cost not saved millions as can be demonstrated above. It is high time that people were reminded of who started this sorry mess. The current crisis brought to mind this blog from 2009 (http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/why-mike-freer-is-useless-leader-of.html ) where we discussed the likely effects of outsourcing the council. Back then we said
"You would think they'd learn, wouldn't you? You'd think they'd realise
that when you are dealing with complex legal issues, you need the best
lawyers. Has Mike Freer learned?
Well today the following cabinet report was brought to my attention Appointment of Panel of Legal Advisors. The reason for this report (drawn up at huge expense)?
3.2 The service provided by the in-house Legal Service is in high demand to deliver on the Council’s priorities. Moving to the Council’s ‘Future Shape’ will involve additional and extensive legal input.
So there is a tacit admission that privatisation requires huge legal expenses."
Back in 2009 it was recognised that Outsourcing needed a robust legal team. It was recognised that if this role was cocked up, the result would be catastrophic for the people of Barnet. Yet even though this expensive report was commissioned, the lessons were not learned.
This blog long ago ceased to believe that one party in Barnet was any better than another, but we do believe that there are some good councillors and some pretty useless ones. For the sake of the people of Barnet can't the good ones get together, acknowledge the council is in a total mess and then do something about it.
When I was a small child, my favourite song was "How much is that doggy in the window?" I heard the song on the radio last night, first time for many years. Coincidentally I was reading Mr Reasonable's latest blog about the myth of Capita savings. As what Mr Reasonable has to say is so important, I reproduce it here (read the original here - http://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/one-barnet-and-why-capitas-75million.html)
One Barnet and Why Capita's £75 million Doesn't Add Up
We have been told repeatedly that the Capita One Barnet Contract will
save residents millions of pounds. The two main contracts and the
forecast savings are as follows:
NSCSO (now called CSG)
Baseline (at December 2012) costs £38.8 million
Forecast costs savings £7.01 million
Procurement savings £4.69 million
Improved council tax collection £0.84 million
Total guaranteed saving £12.54 million
By my reckoning this means that Barnet should pay £26.26 million per annum
(Source: NSCSO Business Case Cabinet Meeting 6 December 2012)
DSG (now called Re)
Baseline (at June 2013) costs £14.2 million
Forecast cost savings £0.53 million
Increased income £3.38million
Total guaranteed savings £3.9 million
By my reckoning this means that Barnet should pay £10.3 million per annum
(Source: DSG Business case Cabinet Meeting 24 June 2013)
So if we look at the figures above this means that we should be paying
Capita £36.56 million assuming they deliver all of the guaranteed
savings. It may therefore surprise you that in the year 1 July 2013 to
30 June 2014 Barnet paid Capita £75,008,840.49. Yes £75 MILLION, £38.44
million more than we should be paying.
Even setting aside the £16 million of up front investment Barnet have
paid to Capita (which should be factored back into the annual cost
savings) that still means we paid £59 millionwhen the cost of providing the service before outsourcing was only £53 million.
Also bear in mind that Barnet have shelled out millions in redundancy
payment, £8 million on Agilisys/iMpower, millions for agency staff as
well as causing distress and heartbreak to hundreds of families that
have suffered redundancy to push through these contracts.
At tomorrow night's Council meeting, Richard Cornelius will once again
be selling the myth that Capita are saving Barnet residents a fortune in
his response to a question from Alison Moore. I hope some of the
Councillors present start asking whether these figures are real or just
smoke and mirrors. The number don't add up Cllr Cornelius.
So you may ask what all this has to do with doggies in the window. Well the question in the song is "How much?" When it comes down to any transaction, the key phrase is how much? The council spends a small fortune on accountants. They produces figures that are avaialable to the public (if you know the process) which allow us to see "How much". With One Barnet, the deal was that the council would export hundreds of jobs to Capita and other parts of the country and in return Capita would save us money. In the process Capita would make a hefty profit. This money is our money and we are entitled to know "How much" We are entitled to know if Capita have delivered the promises savings and if they haven't we are entitled to an explanation.
However the only figures we've seen are from Mr Reasonable and we've heard nothing from Richard Cornelius, the leader of Barnet Council who signed and delivered the contract. So once again, the Barnet Eye asks the question "How much". If Mr Cornelius has done us a good deal, his army of highly paid accountants suely can produce the figures. If the deal has been a good one, having run for a year, Mr Cornelius should be shouting about what a marvellous job he's done. He should be inviting the Barnet bloggers up to his Ivory Tower, giving us a cup of tea and the figures which vondicate his decision and say "There's the figures, I was right no Feck off and write that up in your blogs". And we would all come back and acclaim Richard as a genius and spend the rest of our lives telling you to vote Tory. That is what would happen if Richard had the figures to make a case.
What has happened in reality? The Sounds of Silence. No invitation around to the Cornelius mansion in Totteridge for tea and humble pie. So there is only one thing we can conclude. I wonder if the answer to the question "How much is that doggy in the window?" was "Give us your bank account details, we'll charge you what we like every month and at the end of the year, you can tot up the cost" whether you'd be taking Rover home? If you wouldn't do it for a lovable pet, why on earth would you let councillors do it with your hard earned cash to run the council?
Many people have watched the video I realeased earlier this week, Capita The Movie - Part I - and many of you have emailed me about when part II is coming out. The simple answer is as soon as possible. I rushed out Part I because of the Cemetery bench affair. When the story broke, I scrapped the original footage I'd been working on for the best part of six months and recut it with the cemetery footage and the running ticker tape. I felt that the film worked rather well and the feedback has been enormously positive.
The original intention had been to use the song to introduce all of the themes, but events overtook the plan. Strangely enough for Part II events have also overtaken me. The original intention for the film is to use Barnet as a case study of how Capita's activities in the public sector are affecting the people of Barnet and then look at some of the other things they are up to. Whilst I believe this is a hugely important project, I'd put it on the back burner until after the local elections,as I felt people would be more interested in what the local parties are saying. When the cemetery story broke, of course it became clear that this was relevant to the elections.
The same is true of Part II. This will focus on the way Capita is affecting the staff who work for Barnet and those who've been let go. We are also interested in some of the Capita staff who have come to the Borough to oversee the project. Many readers will see that the Guardian picked up on the film and linked to it in this article http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/09/local-elections-potholes-parking-ukip-parties which has significantly helped the hit count. It has also raised interest, with quite a few media enquiries about the overall project.
In effect Parts 1 & 2 will be used to raise capital via a Kickstarter project to make a proper full length documentary. I passionatly believe that the way companies like Capita are silently and stealthily taking over the public sector is a matter of major National concern. I want the film to be released before the general election and I want to make what is happening part of the debate as I believe there should be legislation. As the effects of One Barnet are so overrreaching and remove huge swathes of democratic oversight from the provision of public services, I believe that local authorities should be compelled to have a local referendum on such plans. I would have no issue with One Barnet if it had been properly debated and the public had endorsed the councils approach. Sadly the opposite was true, it was hidden from the public. Most people don't even realise what has happened.
Before Capita took over Barnet, I warned them that Barnet is a media hotspot. More people who work in news, print and media live in Barnet than any other London Borough. Many read this blog and the other Barnet blogs. Capita are in the spotlight in a way they have not been before. The One Barnet project has put them under a media microscope. I happen to think that Companies working in Public sector should also be subject to the same FOI constraints as Councils are. If they were, then we would all get better value for money. Sadly NO politician has ever even mentioned this, as far as I am concerned. Companies always use "commercial confidentiality" as a get out. This is nonsense, because if they all played under the same rules, then it would be a level playing field. They don't want it because it would mean they'd make less profit and have to provide a better service. For me that isn't a problem at all.
If you haven't seen part 1 of the video, watch it now !
On
Weds 7th May, The Barnet Peoples Choir release video exposing failure
of One Barnet Outsourcing to Capita. Internationally acclaimed musician
Boz
Boorer, who has worked with the likes of Adam Ant, Edwyn Collins and is
currently musical director for Morrissey worked played double bass on
the reworked version of "16 Tons" and acted as Musical Director for the
choir.
The
lyrics were revamped by Mr John Sullivan and Mr Tony Solomons, who are
parents of adult disabled people adversely affected by the One Barnet
project, to highlight the way the local council mislead the people of
Barnet by claiming that Capita were investing sixteen million pounds in
systems for Barnet Council, only to reveal, after the contract was
signed that the sixteen million was in fact being paid by Barnet
Taxpayers. Mr Sullivan said "The whole One Barnet contract process has
been one big lie from start to finish. We were told that the reason
Capita were getting the contract was because they would invest in the
systems only to find out that it is the Barnet taxpayer. If Capita walk
away from the contract, we won't get a penny back. Capita can sell these
services to other councils, using our investment and we won't see a
penny of benefit. That will go to Capita shareholders".
The
video highlights how Capita have taken on management of Hendon Cemetery
and are treating the relatives of those buried there as an asset to be
squeezed. This week it has been revealed that Capita are removing
generously donated benches in the cemetery and asking relatives to
remove them. They are seeking to replace them with other items which
will generate more income. The video is one of a series being produced
by local blogger Roger Tichborne to highlight the effects of the One
Barnet Outsourcing project on local residents in Barnet, under the title
"Capita - The Movie".
Mr
Tichborne, who runs the Barnet Eye blog, said "I've been working on the
project for several months, but when I went to pay my respects at my
parents grave recently I was shocked to see just how shabby the cemetery
is becoming since Capita have taken over the management. I shot some
footage as I drove around and when I got home was shocked to see just
how bad it looked. I completely recut the video. If anyone has wondered
what the One Barnet Outsourcing means to Barnet residents, they simply
need to have a look at this short film".
The
video ends with footage from the Council meeting where One Barnet was
agreed, showing Councillor Robert Rams, a keen advocate of One Barnet
saying "If you tell an untruth enough, it becomes the truth". Tirza
Waisel of the Barnet Alliance for Public Services, who helped organise
the Barnet Peoples Community Choir said "Mr Rams statement at the end of
the video sums up the attitude of the Barnet Conservatives towards the
electorate. They have mislead the people of Barnet from the very
beginning as to what One Barnet really means and this is still
continuing today. On the 22 of May we need to vote out the
Conservatives, elect a
council that listens to its residents and workers and respects
them, and regain our control over the local services".
I never met my maternal Grandmother. She died in 1960, two years before I was born. She had undiagnosed TB and when she went in for a broncoscopy the procedure perforated the lining of her lung and she died. My sister Valerie, who loved 'Nana' remembers the day well. In those days we didn't have mobile phones. Uncle George, my mothers brother had been sent to pick her up. He was a well off builder and had a nice car. Val remembers that the family were all sitting around the dining table eating dinner (remember when we used to do that) when George walked in. He announced "They've butchered Mum". Val was seven at the time, but that day has haunted her. She didn't understand what had really happened, only that 'Nana' was gone and something horrible had happened.
Nana was laid to rest in Hendon Cemetery. All I ever heard was tales of how lovely she was. She was kind, she was a great cook and a seamstress. She'd lived in Milling Road in Burnt Oak between the second world war and 1960, the family had just bought her a house in Marion Road, Mill Hill (an area known as Poets Corner). Nana never got to move in because the work wasn't finished.
She'd had a difficult life, my Grandfather, a Dubliner, was scarred by his experiences in the first world war. He had been gassed and never properly recovered. He died prematurely in 1948, most likely as a result of his experiences.
And there the story ended, she was laid to rest and hopefully has gone on to better things. My Aunty Audrey is the only of her offspring still around. My parents are buried in the same cemetery and when we visit the graves, we do a tour and visit our parents, grandparents, aunties uncles and godparents. My former business partner and best friend Ernie Ferebee, who helped me set up the studios I run is also laid to rest in Hendon.
You may wonder what all this long, sentimental preamble is all about. Well last year, Barnet Council handed over the management of the cemetery to Capita, a private company, who see "cemetery management" as a great way to make a profit. I wondered exactly how this may manifest itself. Today we got the first clue. The Hendon Times printed the most crass, revolting article I've ever seen (and that is saying something) in any serious newspaper.
The headline states "Unkempt memorial benches to be destroyed in Hendon Crematourium" I read with horror the article that followed.
Benches that have been deemed "abandoned" will be removed from a crematorium unless the owners come forward. People have been given two months notice to claim benches dedicated to their loved ones at Hendon Crematorium, in Holders Hill Road. Barnet Borough Council claim many of the benches breach health and safety regulations as they are broken, have mould growing from them or are in a state of disrepair.
I simply could not believe what I was reading. You see these so called "abandoned" benches were bought by relatives of those who have passed away and given to the cemetery so that elderly mourners can have some rest and those of us a bit younger can have some contemplation time. They have not simply been dumped on the site. The council is meant to care for and maintain them. If they are broken or have mould growning on them, it is because the Council or Capita have not maintained them. The article also implies that perfectly good benches, necessary for mourners to take a rest have also been removed. It clearly doesn't occur to the plutocrats running the council or the numpties from Capita who have taken over, that many elderly mourners do not have cars. For them it may e a long walk to a grave, as the site is large, and a rest is essential.
You may wonder why the benches are being removed. I have. The journalist writing the article clearly didn't bother to ask. Could it be to squeeze more graves in or to flog a whole load of new benches.
The article also says
Those are in a good condition will be kept in storage until the owner comes forward to collect them. So far, 90 per cent of benches have been claimed.
Which I think is horrible. Just suppose my Aunty Audrey and the rest of the family had bought a bench in memory of Nana a few years ago. Audrey is in her eighties (sorry Aunty for spilling the beans, you only look 21!). How would she feel if she got this phonecall
"Hello, this is Giles from Capita. We are now running Hendon Cemetery on behalf of Barnet Council and our records show that you are the owner of an abandoned bench. Please come and collect it immediately otherwise we'll have to dispose of it"
Can you imagine how she would feel? I know exactly how I would feel. Interestingly enough I contacted the Leader of the Council Richard Cornelius about putting a bench in Mill Hill Park in memory of my parents a couple of years ago. No one got back to the council after I confirmed my interest. In some ways I am pleased as I think I would blow a fuse if I got that call.
The sad truth is that Barnet have flogged off the management of the cemetery to turn a quick buck. In doing so they've disprespected every family in Barnet with a loved one in a local authority cemetery. I cannot for a second think what sort of politician could do such a thing or could let the decent people who have generously donated the benches be treated so shabbily.
I have to also ask how the Hendon Times could have such an off day, to allow such crass behaviour to go unchallenged. I will be writing to the editor to demand that a proper piece of journalism is done on this issue, which looks at the issue properly and takes account of the feelings of the people in Barnet, not the shareholders of Capita.
This is what One Barnet really means. It is all about Profit and not people. The first act of One Barnet was to sell my dead granny to turn a quick buck. I will not rest until we, the people of Barnet get her back and give her final resting place the dignity and respect it deserves.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 5:33PM
Barnet Conservatives