Our Barnet Olympic Torch Parade

The Barnet Graph of Doom - special version for BT and Capita Shareholders

In the 21st century economy, a companies reputation is one of their most important assets. Wheras fifty years ago, scandals and cock ups were only really noted when they ended up in court or on the paghes of the Financial Times, in todays economy, visible cock ups are accessable at all our fingertips by simply doing a google search. A simple google search for "One Barnet BT" and "One Barnet Capita" will reveal page after page of blog entries, none of which are particularly complimentary. Any council wishing to consider going down the outsourcing route, will see the potential for alienation from the voters, if they follow the One Barnet model. 

What does this mean for the shareholders of BT and Capita? It means less profits. Of course the One Barnet project will give them healthy profits, but what will it do for the chances of the companies developing more local authority business? Well I am not sure if the shareholders of BT and Capita Symonds are aware, but there are more journalists, TV producers and TV presenters living in the London Borough of Barnet than anywhere else in the UK. That is why stories such as the Metpro scandal have made the pages of National Newspapers. That is why the One Show interviewed me with regards to the closure of Friern Barnet. That is why the Guardian get myself and Mrs Angry to write articles. That is why ITV Tonight have used footage from films I've made in their documentary. That is why BBC London radio interviewed me when we released the film "A Tale of Two Barnets". 

There have been major problems with outsourcing contracts around the UK, such as Sefton Council, and South West One. The difference with these and Barnet is that these aren't media hotspots in the way that London is. Recently we had Jonathan Ross opening a new library in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Esteemed film director, Ken Loach gave the introduction to the film "A Tale of Two Barnets". We had a bevvy of celebrities attending the screening of A Tale of Two Barnets at The House of Commons, including Eastenders star Joe Egan, Footballer Gary Peake and Eastenders and Bill Star Russell Floyd. Russell Floyd made an impassioned speech about the need for accountability at the showing. 

All of this media activity has taken place even before the contracts have been signed. The eyes of the world will be on the contracts and how they perform. APSE and Professor Dexter Whitfield have already identified many deficiencies in the process of letting the contracts and the likely savings. 

It may well be that the board and the shareholders of Capita and BT think that One Barnet is worth the risk. They may be party to information that the council have hidden from everyone detailing how the project will be a rip roaring success. It may be they've seen a secret version of the business plan, which shows that they will confound the critics and there will be no problems and no adverse publicity.

The Barnet Eye hasn't seen any such evidence and Barnet Council has produced none. If the project goes wrong and the project attracts widepspread national media coverage, then BT, Capita Symonds and any other associated company are likely to get a pounding in local, regional and national press, radio and TV.

Companies which attract pariah status, generally suffer a massive drop off in share price, become undervalued and end up getting bought by rivals for peanuts. If  I was a BT or a a Capita Symons Shareholder, I'd like to see some evidence that the company I part own has condisered how to mitgate this in relation to One Barnet. If they haven't I've helpfully produced a graph to show what could happen to the shareprice if it all goes wrong. It is based on the famous Barnet Graph of Doom.

As a matter of public record, I used to own shares in Capita. I have no plans to buy any in the near future.

Please note, this graph is not based on anything other than my gut feelings as to what will happen. Shares can go up as well as down and the Barnet Eye is not qualified to give financial advice. We merely publish this information for the army of small shareholders in Barnet and beyond, so that they can have a chat with the companies they part own, for reassurance as to the company strategy regarding their public sector contracts.

Rog T on the Londonist Out Loud Podcast

I took part in this weeks "Londonist Out Loud" podcast, recorded at Barnet Museum.

http://londonist.com/2012/07/londonist-out-loud-a-podcast-for-london-16-july-2012.php

There is a great discussion about the crisis facing Barnet Museum, also appearing were

• Mike Norona, Treasurer of the museum
• Dr Gillian Gear, Archivist at the museum

We also discussed the death of the Boroughs other museum, Church Farmhouse museum and how the artefacts are being flogger off. Dr Gillian Gear explains how when she joined the museum she was the only woman involved. She also explained how she went from being a girl who failed at school to getting a PhD as a result of her involvement with the museum. She is a living example of the role such establishments have to play. The discussion also turned to the One Barnet project and previous mistakes in procurements.

We then got into talking about chips at the Olympics site and the MacDonalds. Strangely this led back to Helen Michael being interviewed by S015 about the Olympic torch route. We also discussed harrassment of homeless people by the police in the run up to the Olympics. I explained my experience of talking to people using the Passage homeless centre and how they are being moved on.

Dr Gear gives a fascinating tour of the museum, explaining the history of some of the artefacts. There are also discussions about other hot topics.

Well worth a listen. The Londonist is featured in our sidebar, keep an eye on it for all the best London stories

Barnet Council - cutting audit whilst increasing the need for it

Another week, more lunacy from Barnet Council. As readers of this blog will be aware, certain Barnet Council Cabinet members have gone on the attack about the critics of the One Barnet mega outsourcing project. They could have used their time far more effectively by actually reading the delegated powers reports which show what the council is up to and trying to understand the implications of the changes. It seems to fall to bloggers in Barnet to try and keep an eye on this. The lastest bit of lunacy is the plan to downsize the audit department. Sadly the real detail of this change is "exempt", which means we can't see it. I have no idea at all why a report explaining why we need less auditors needs to be exempted from public scrutiny (other than the contents will show the council are incompetent), but it is.

The public report is here.
http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4946/1730%20-%20People%20Changes%20for%20Finance%20Internal%20Audit%20and%20Risk%20Management%20Public.pdf

You can read it here
1730 - People Changes for Finance Internal Audit and Risk Management Public

There are a couple of very revealing facts in the document. Perhaps the most worrying is the fact that the CEO, Mr Nick Walkley has created an organisation that nobody wants to work for

8.3 The change in the posts has occurred as they have not currently been filled after two unsuccessful recruitment drives.  

Then there is a rather odd statement in section 5 which deals with finance.

5.1.1 Overall the cost of the additional/amended posts will be met within the existing agreed budgets.  The change in posts will reduce the salary budget by approximately £9,000. However, this saving  will be used within the budget for training and development of staff through virement.

This phrase makes it clear that the department is being downsized and deskilled. It may amuse you to hear that I didn't know what the word Virement meant. I am sure you are all far cleverer than I am, so got the meaning immediately. Luckily in this day and age, we have on line dictionaries, so I looked it up

World English Dictionary

virement  (ˈvaɪəmənt, ˈvɪəmɑ̃)
— n
	an administrative transfer of funds from one part of a budget to another

So there you go, the £9,000 saving will be transferred to another budget. You may ask why this is important and why the Barnet Eye considers this to be highly worrying and highly dangerous. The reason is simple. The Metpro audit made it 100% clear that the Audit department was under strength. When it was announced that only ten out of 9,700 contracts had been effectively audited, this proved that something was wrong.

The audit department has undergone several restructures of late. This is merely the latest. As the council is planning to massively increase the number of outsourcing contracts under the One Barnet program, you would expect a large increase in the budget for staff for this department. As it is, staff are being cut, budgets are being cut and therefore even less scrutiny will take place of suppliers than is done currently. Even more worrying is that the council have admitted that they have become such a basket case council that even when they want to recruit new staff, they can't.

Barnet Council CEO Nick Walkley and Deputy CEO, Uber Consultant Andrew Travers have presided over a regime where they can't even get staff to work for Barnet anymore.In light of the Metpro audit, it cannot be argued that this is anything less than a disaster. The most worrying thing is what is in that exempt report and why us mere taxpayers are not allowed to see it. Barnet Council has a corrosive culture of secrecy. It cannot be argued that this is anything other than dangerous. This document proves it.

I await with interest Lord Palmers comments.

An answer to a question relating to Robert Rams and the Barnet Eye

A couple of people have asked me the question "Robert Rams claims he's not spoken more than five words to you in his entire life, so why do you write so many blogs about him and be so critical of him".

Yes, it is true that Councillor Rams wrote in his blog - 

I have had some rubbish written about me over the last few years, mainly by one person who I don’t think I have said more than five words to in my life

http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/a-fisk-of-roger-tichbourne/

But what he says is not true at all. Even more interesting is the fact that the whole council cabinet were witness to the fact that Mr Rams is telling porkies. You see, the reason I take an interest in the career of Councillor Rams is because I started the campaign to prevent Robert Rams closing the libraries of Barnet in 2010. I collected 7,000 signatures. I handed the signatures over to the council and asked a question of Mr Rams on the 29th March 2011 at the cabinet meeting on that day. Mr Rams gave me a  lengthy, if sarcastic answer in which he congratulated me on my conversion to the One Barnet program (based on the fact I'd addressed him in a civil and courteous manner and had suggested that it was good that he'd abandoned the wilder aspects of the plans to shut local libraries). Tthe words he used to wrap up his reply consisted of exactly five words "we will consult with residents" (according to my notes). The exchange between myself and Mr Rams is documented in this Council document.

http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/Data/Cabinet/201103291900/Agenda/Document%201.pdf

Here is the full exchange

RT - Question 

Can the Cabinet confirm that all money raised from selling freehold properties of libraries being shut down will be ring fenced specifically for the purposes outlined in the Library Review and can the Cabinet 

confirm that no library will be shut until such time as a replacement library as described in the review has been opened? 

Robert Rams  - Response to Question 

As set out in the library strategy, we intend to use the capital raised from the release of existing library properties to re-invest to make the library service fit for purpose in the future.  This capital 

will be used as one-off expenditure on new building, accessibility improvements, and investment in IT.  The investment is necessary to enable the council to make the longer-term efficiency savings that are set out in the proposed strategy. Cabinet will consider a detailed implementation plan for the final  library strategy following a further period of consultation.  It is at that point that Cabinet will take decisions on the scheduling of changes to buildings.  The implementation plan will need to include a timetable for merging, vacating and rebuilding library buildings.  That timetable will need to balance our desire to minimise disruption for customers against the critical need to reinvest in the service in order to make the necessary changes and improvements.  

RT - Supplementary Question

Can Cabinet Member provide details of arrangements in place to consult with Barnet residents in relation to the implementation of the Library Strategy? 

Robert Rams - Response to Supplementary Question  

Further consultation will take place with residents over the next 10-weeks.  In addition, presentations will be made to Residents Forums.

This is the cabinets own minutes and Appendix A contains my question and Mr Rams response in Appendix A. As you can see, Mr Rams said considerably more than five words to me (he was the cabinet member responding). The answer is actually a rather edited version (compared with my notes). 

I wonder if the timetable was ever published as per Rams answer for the closure of Friern Barnet library, given that it was shut down at 24 hours notice? I also wonder if the presentations were ever made to residents forums. I can find no evidence of this occurring. I would be grateful if someone from the Save Friern Barnet library campaign could comment. 

Perhaps the last sentence of the Response to question is revealing. It was recognised that the timetable for closure should be structured to minimise disruption for customers. It is interesting that Rams negaged on this commitment, by closing the library at 24 hours notice. 

Rams signs off his blog attack on me with the words

"So, Roger, lets be clear, you insult, imply and make things up – and you think I have a trust issue!"

Rams is clearly telling the truth in a bit of this sentence. I do think he has a trust issue. As to whether I "insult", in the case of Robert Rams, I probably do - if I do, it is because he deserves it. The reason being that I do not like people who distort the truth. As to the suggestion that I "imply and make things up". I don't, because I don't need to. I have an audit trail of evidence and dozens of people who can support everything I've said about Mr Rams. 

Let me add one thing. The reason Mr Rams made the statement about not saying five words to me, is to give the misleading impression that I have launched an irrational campaign against him, purely based on the fact that I have developed an unjustified dislike of him. What Mr Rams doesn't mention at all, is that before we ever spoke one word to each other, he was working at the GLA as Brian Coleman's press officer. As I had publicly criticised Coleman in my blog on the Hendon Times, Rams commenced a behind the scenes campaign, exerting pressure on the Hendon Times to sack me as a blogger, using his role as a GLA officer (a taxpayer funded role). Mr Rams campaign was successful and the Hendon Times dispensed with my services in October 2008. At the time he told everyone he could that he'd "finished my career as a blogger". As I have never met the man, I only knew of his name, because Phil Crowther mentioned it to me (Phil was then editor of the Times) in relation to numerous petty complaints. However this is not the reason for my strident criticism of Rams. I simply viewed him as a rather brown nosed lackey of Coleman out to make a name for himself. It was the fact that Rams launched a full frontal assault on the library service which attracted my ire. This was compounded by the fact that many people on the Save Friern Barnet Library campaign claim Mr Rams mislead them.

I revisited my files on the library campaign and it is quite interesting how Mr Rams position has continually shifted. Compare his answer to me in March last year with what actually happened with regards to Friern Barnet library. That really says it all in relation to the trustworthyness of Robert Rams.

The Barnet Eye Sunday Problems Page

Got a problem? We can help. The Barnet Eye has spent four years giving sound advice to Barnet Council. Now it's your turn! Email us your problems via the link in the right hand column. Here are a selction of some of our first set of letters

From Squeaky Bob, East Barnet.
I'm short, fat and a I've got a squeaky voice. No one likes me, what can I do?

The Barnet Eye says :
Bobster, buy yourself a puppy. The walkies will do you a power of good, dogs are not judgemental and having a squeaky voice is a major asset, because doggies can hear sqeaks for mile around. They say that if you have a doggie you always have a friend.



From Big Brian, Totteridge.
I used to have a great job and lots of friends, then I lost the job and all my so called friends abandoned me. What can I do?

The Barnet Eye says:

Bigster, that's an easy one. What you need to do is make a few changes in your life. Get out of the comfort zone. Find some new friends. Try volunteering at a homeless shelter or drop in centre for drug addicts. Use the skills you've acquired to help people, then people will start to respect you for who you really are.

From Maureen in Mill Hill,


I have a large shed in my garden, which is unsightly and has upset my neighbours. I really like my shed, but my neighbours won't talk to me. What should I do?

The Barnet Eye says :

Well Maureen, that depends. If you are a selfish, heartless individual who like upsetting your neighbours, you could rent your shed out as Rave venue. My mate big Dave organises raves up and down the country and he'd supply you with all the spliffs you need to completely forget the concerns of your neighbours, in return for using your Uber shed as a rave venue. Alternatively, you could always get a smaller more discreet shed and apologise to your neighbours for upsetting them.

From Buzzing Helen in Finchley,


My cafe used to be full of customers until some numbskull at the council abolished pay and display. Now I keep getting Councillors popping in and telling me that they will sort the problem out, but nothing ever happens, what should I do.

The Barnet Eye says :

Our local Councillors keep telling us that local businesses must adapt to survive. Maybe you should transform your cafe intosomething else, which would be unaffected by the parking restrictions, maybe an "S&M Torture parlour". This will operate outside the hours of the parking restrictions and I'm sure many of these councillors would be eager to use your services. Think what fun you could have getting paid to get your own back on them? If it works out maybe you could set up a branch in Maureen in Mill Hill's shed? And if they ask for extras you could give them a side order of mushrooms and beans.

From Nick in Barnet,


I simply can't get by on my salary. How does anyone survive these days on a paltry £200,000 a year + perks. Help, what can I do?

The Barnet Eye says :

Nick, my advice is to look for another job immediately. If you move to the Outer Hebrides, the property prices are far cheaper and you'd be much happier in yourself.

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The Barnet Eye is always happy to help !

Yet another scandal about to overwhelm Barnet Council - #2

The Barnet Eye has raised major issues regarding conflicts of interest with the outsourcing of Barnet legal to the London Borough of Harrow. It seems that Barnet Unison have identified another issue. The it infrastructure for Harrow is provided by Capita, one of the bidders for the One Barnet program. This means that Capita may have access to confidential legal documents held on the Harrow Council system, which refer to Barnet. It is also likely that in the case of legal disputes between Barnet Council and Capita, if the oustourcing proceeds, that Capita will be running the systems where Barnet's confidential legal papers concerning the dispute will be held. Of course the Union have  a vested interest in the issue, but that does not mean that the concerns they raise can be ignored. There seems to be a rather disturbing (and frankly intellectually unsound) policy among Barnet Council Conservatives of ignoring criticisms of One Barnet because they perceive the person raising the issue as "left wing". This is an intellectually bankrupt approach. A truly Conservative regime is pragmatic and open to ideas. Winston Churchill once famously commented that "Labour Government come up with good ideas and Conservative Governments make them work" in response to criticisms of his governments treatment of the NHS. Sadly in Barnet, "left wing" commentators come up with valid concerns and Consevative administrators stick their fingers in their ears and shout "la la la" very loudly.

Here is what the Barnet Unison website says about the issue. 

From the Barnet Unison Website

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/919

The outsourcing saga of Barnet Council Legal Services to Harrow Council continues. The likely date of transfer to Harrow could be early August. The target date was 2 July, but that was before the #Spartacus revolt and plans of the new Harrow Legal Service revealed.

Yesterday staff were informed the new name of the service will reflect the shared service ethos,......?.

There were two issues that are causing concern.

The first is how are the Barnet Council going to overcome the tricky issue of Capita?

Capita currently provide IT services for Harrow Council. Barnet Legal services are currently advising all of the One Barnet projects and using Barnets IT service. They will still have to support the One Barnet projects after they transfer to Harrow, BUT then they will be using IT services provided by Capita.

Capita Group and Capita Symonds are bidding for both outsourcing contracts worth up to £billion pounds.

The staff were told a solution is being worked on.......

The second issue concerns contract monitoring.

UNISON has been concerned about the lack of transparency and requested a copy of the Due diligence which has taken place to support the business case.

UNISON was informed there is no actual Due diligence document. UNISON asked if there was a Due diligence template and was told No.

UNISON asked how the Council was going to ensure the new shared service was going to deliver Value for Money for Barnet residents.

At first UNISON was reminded of the joint strategic board which includes both chief executives). UNISON was already aware of this and asked who would actually monitoring of the contract. Furthermore UNISON asked if the council would monitor outcome or outputs (sorry readers if you now fall asleep).

UNISON was informed that the Council was going to monitor outcomes &outputs and a contract manager would be appointed.

UNISON asked if this was one of the posts in the recent chief executive restructure and was told it was a separate post.

At the Legal services briefing yesterday UNISON asked when this post was being advertised. Staff were informed that they were still working on the details, but they could confirm it was a level four post which makes it a Head of Service post.

UNISON found this strange as the Chief Executives restructure involves all posts level four to level six. The Council has already started assessing staff for the new posts in the Chief Executives restructure and understands some staff have been successful and others not. The Legal Services Contract Monitoring post has not been made available for staff to apply........more later...

Yet another scandal about to overwhelm Barnet Council

Over the last four years, the Barnet bloggers have uncovered scandal after scandal at Barnet Council yet Councillor Robert Rams, a Conservative Council regularly sneers at us bloggers. A classic example is on his latest blog. He says

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http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/private-v-public/#comments

I read with interest this evening that John Dix writes on his blog that,

“Conservative Councillors labour under the belief that all private companies are good and all public sector staff are bad”

http://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/lessons-barnet-need-to-learn-from-g4s.html?m=1

This is simply not true.

I can’t speak on behalf of all Conservative Councillors but this one believes in this tough economic times – better services for less money. Hence why the One Barnet project is looking at all our services and looking at better and cheaper ways of running our services.

The library service is a classic example of this.

By making changes to the way our service is run, moving Friern Barnet library and North Finchley library into the Arstdepot and letting the community run HGS library ( an offer which friern residents were given in Friary House) we are able to,

Spend more money on books
Put literacy at the heart of everything we do
Open our libraries longer
And make every primary school child a library member.

Other services will be outsourced and some will be merged with other boroughs – all to make the services better, cheaper and keep council tax down.

And our recycling service has been outsourced for years with out any problems!

But you will not read that on his blog!

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John Dix replied

If what you say is true why did Barnet Council expressly preclude an in house bid for the two massive outsourcing contracts? Without a public sector comparator how can residents be assured we are receiving best value? Given the massive costs of implementing the contract so far, the huge redundancy costs and the experiences of other public sector outsourcing contracts which have gone horribly wrong I remain extremely concerned that this outsourcing project will simply not deliver the objectives which I am sure all residents want, an effeicient and effectively run council. As you know Robert I have no idealogical problems against outsourcing. My issue is the scale and complexity of this contract without a pilot and which cannot be reversed should it go wrong.

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Earlier this week, Robert Rams had a go at me on his blog. Perhaps the most interesting point was that Rams criticises John Dix for not publishing facts he doesn't like on his blog, yet he failed to print my riposte to his comments. Rather oddly, Rams takes John Dix to task for a statement he made, yet completely fails to address the point. Nowhere in his blog does Rams state that public sector staff are the equal of private sector companies or that the public sector is better at providing some services than the private sector. 

For some rather strange reason, Mr Rams seems to think that giving the example of shutting two libraries and replacing them with one in a location which is less convenient for the majority of the users of the original libraries is an improvement. Mr Rams fails to state how many books were kept at the previous locations and how many will be available at the Arts Depot Library.

I visited the new Arts Depot libary on the day it opened and it had about 1/5th of the floorspace of the former Friern library. Is this an improvement?

But all of this is a little bit of a sideshow. Why has Mr Rams chosen now to have a go at Mr Dix. If I was going to attack any of the Barnet bloggers on the issue of honesty and credibility, John Dix is the last person I would start with. I happen to believe that all of the Barnet bloggers are honest, decent and intelligent people and write blogs out of a sense of public duty. I know first hand how much work goes into the blogs and how much of a personal commitment it takes. Unlike this blog, John Dix doesn't allow his personal prejudices and emotions dictate his agenda. John is thoughtful and intelligent in his writing and I suspect he chose the name "Mr Reasonable" for his blogging because he wanted to put some distance between his style and content and that of myself and perhaps some of the other Barnet bloggers (that is purely conjecture though, I've never actually asked him). 

Whilst it is well known that Robert Rams has a personal dislike of bloggers and has operated an agenda against them in his publicly funded role at the GLA since 2008 (Mr Rams boasted that he'd finished my blogging career in 2008, when he got the Hendon Times to shut my blog on the papers website down, following my campaign against an anti semitic video Barnet Council had posted on YouTube), it still surprised me to see his attack on John Dix. So why the attack? Why now?

Well sadly, the anyone who follows the Barnet blogs will know exactly why Mr Rams has chosen this moment to attack John Dix. You see a group of three Barnet bloggers (I am far too lazy to bother going) attended the Council offices, to exercise their statuatory right to inspect the books. There is a short period every year, where the law allows residents to check the accounts to see whether the council has spent our money wisely. The law says that members of the public can see anything they like and the council has a duty to cooperate as fully as they can. 

When Mr Mustard, Mr Reasonable and Mrs Angry turned up, they were taken to an office, offered no refreshment, given escorts to the toilet and when the documents appeared, the contents were heavily redacted with page after page crossed out. The bloggers found evidence that some of the contracts they requested to see were heavily redacted as "commercially sensitive" even though the companies who had the contracts had not asked for confidentiality. 

Furthermore, some of the requested documents did not appear at all. Given that the Council has a legal obligation to supply the information, we are now in a situation where there is a technical breach of the law. Anyone who follows these blogs, knows that Barnet Council is rather keen to involve the law in the most petty of disputes. Helen Michael has now had four visits from various police officers regarding a poster she and other traders displayed in their windows, concerning parking charges. She was reported by Nick Walkley, the Council CEO. We wonder whether Mr Walkley will report himself to the Police for failing to supply the bloggers with the information they were legally entitled to see.

So we have a situation where the council has failed (yet again) and the bloggers (yet again) find themselves asking why. Have the council obstructed the bloggers investigations purely to be awkward, or is there something they wish to hide? It is not beyond the wit of man to figure out that the bloggers asked for specific documents for a specific reason. I was not surprised to hear of the obstruction.

I do wonder about who actually advises the council in these matters. Have they not yet realised that the Barnet bloggers have excellent press contacts. As a result of this blog, I've been interviewed on the One Show, contributed to ITV Tonight, been interviewed on BBC London 94.9 and written articles for the Guardian newspaper. The bloggers also have excellent contacts with magazines such as Private Eye. I have no idea whether the council have figured out what is about to happens and sent Rams on a pre-emptive strike to try and undermine John Dix or whether Mr Rams has embarked on a half baked freelance mission. One thing I can assure all of my readers of is this. 

Whatever the reason, I would suggest that all that will happen is that Mr Rams will end up (yet again) looking  extremely stupid. On Friday, I attended Barnet Museum. The Londonist was recording it's weekly podcast and I was invited to participate. Before the recording started, Nick Quinten Woolf, the presenter had a chat about the museum and the threat of closure. He was bemused as to why Barnet Council should want to shut such a fantastic asset. During the course of the conversation, the name Robert Rams cropped up. 

When we were about to start the interview, Mr Woolf gave us a few guidelines. The final one was to "not mention Councillor Rams by name as I don't want a libel writ". It may (or may not) surprise you to know that the comment wasn't directed at me. It is pretty clear to me that, given the fact Rams has the job of press officer for the GLA on his CV, he really is pretty useless when it comes to dealing with the media. He has launched a tirade against John Dix, shortly before John Dix takes a major part in exposing a disgusting scandal at Barnet Council. I eagerly await Mr Rams attacks on Mrs Angry, Mr Mustard and Citizen Barnet. 

This issue is going to be a big story. It is not  a story the Barnet Eye has any role in, other than a bystander, it is a story for the other bloggers and a testament to their hard work. 

Rog T's Cancer Blog - What is happening to me?

For those of you who are regular readers and have read the previous posts, you can skip this first paragraph.This is the latest installment in my occasional series about how I'm adjusting to living with a big C in my life.  For those of you who aren't, here's a quick summary. I'm 49 years old and I recently had a prostate biopsy following two "slightly high" PSA tests - 2.8 & 4.1. The biopsy took ten tissue samples and one of these showed a "low grade cancer" which gives me a 3+3 on the Gleason scale. I'm now on a program of active monitoring.  In early February, I got the results of the latest PSA test - down to 3.5 and an MRI scan which found absolutely nothing. Latest PSA test in April gave another, lower reading of 3.0 - So all's well?  I've no symptoms and sadly for a few people, if I'm gonna die soon, it won't be from Prostate cancer. Got the picture?


Perhaps the most common reactions to being told you have cancer are either a) Why is this happening TO ME and b) I'm going to beat THIS THING. When you talk to fellow sufferers, the cancer within them is referred to as a sort of alien. I think we associate with the scene in the film where the monster bursts forth from John Hurt's stomach. Since starting this series of blogs, I've had all manner of responses. I had wondered whether anyone would be interested in my views and feelings on the subject. The blog stats tell me that I get hundreds of hits a week, mostly driven by google searches. People who arrive and read one blog entry on cancer tend to read them all. I also get quite a few emails, from people in the far reaches of the earth. Some of these are trying to encourage me to try (or plug) products. Some of these are trying to sell me religion (I've got one already that I'm quite happy with thanks), but most are simply thanking me for writing the blog, offering support or giving helpful practical advice based on their own experiences.


As I said above we all want to understand why this has happened and we all want to beat it. Cancer happens to us for a variety of reasons. These include, genetic, environmental and dietry influences. It is also clear that stress plays some role in the triggering of the mechanism which causes cancer to grow. What this means is that if you have a family history of a certain type of cancer, it makes sense to ensure you do what you can to detect it early. If you have a lifestyle which is likely to increase your chances of getting a certain type of cancer, it makes sense to try and modify it and watch for signs that you may be developing the disease. This is to some extent, stating the obvious. What hasn't been investigated with such interest is why certain people with genetic predisposition to cancer or high risk lifestyles don't get the disease whilst other people in seemingly lower risk groups do? In my case, I have no factors which indicate a risk toward Prostate cancer, but it could well be that because my father died aged 69 of a heart attack, he didn't live long enough for the symptoms to show? Just suppose I'd had a genetic screening fifteen years ago and they'd told me I was likely to develop the disease, what would I have done? I guess that if they'd said it was likely I'd develop it in fifteen years, nothing at the time. If they had said "cut down on eggs and dairy products and increase your intake of antoxidants, then it may develop later" would I have listened. I would like to think I would. 


We all have choices to make. Some people don't eat brocolli because they don't like the taste of texture. Some people wouldn't eat it, even if they thought it may be the difference between developing cancer or not. Just about everyone who smokes knows the risks, but believes that they will not be one of the unlucky majority who smoking affects. We recently saw protests by parents at a school where unhealthy food options had been banned. Parents protested because their children were being forced to eat vegetables they didn't like. Many claimed that their children never ate vegetables at home, so why should they at school. Do the parents realise that there is a strong link between a poor diet and cancer? If the children grow up and develop the disease, they will, like me say "why did I get cancer". They will probably, like me, say to themselves "it is so unfair". The sad truth is that fairness doesn't come into it. Getting cancer is a game of chance. The one thing we can say is that by eating a healthy diet we can improve our chance of not developing the disease. Sadly we are bombarded with a wall of anecdotal evidence, which flies in the face of medical statistics "my mum smoked like a chimney till she was a hundred and then she died in a parachuting accident" type stories abound. 


We all know people who have been freakishly lucky or unlucky at some point. Do we base our important life choices on their experience? My father was a bomber pilot and new airmen who had the most amazing survival stories, but the airmen knew they had been lucky. Most ascribed their survival to a lucky St Christophers medal or rabbit foot. Many believed they had been spared for a reason. My father attended regular squadron reunions until his death. He would always return with a story of someone who had defied logic and reason to live. Sadly the statistics show that 55,000 men didn't have the luck. The point is that we can't always help ourselves, sometimes luck plays a part, but if you were in the RAF in the second world war, the safest job was a desk job. If you were part of a bomber crew, you needed luck to survive. In the war against cancer, would you rather the "boring desk job" lifestyle, of low risk, no ciggies, nine organic vegetables a day and antoxidants or do you go for the "bomber crew" lifestyle of ciggies, processed meats, carbonated drinks, fried foods and saturated fats. It may be more fun, but when you get shot down it suddenly is much less fun. 


One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is "I'm not afraid of dying". The sad issue with cancer is that dying is the easy part. It is the living with it that is hard. Having watched a friend die earlier this year, I am under no illusions as to why I must change my lifestyle. Why I must drink the green tea and pomegranite juice. I believe that even when you have the disease, adopting a healthy lifestyle can only improve your prospects. It is a numbers game and a lottery. It is one you can alter the odds in. 


Recently people have repeatedly told me I am looking great. Most don't know I have cancer and have asked me what diet I'm on or what my secret is. They are rather confused when I tell them. The fitness work I've done seems to have paid off. On Thursday I scored nine goals in our five a side kickabout, a record for me. As my PSA has dropped for the last two visits to the doctor, I am feeling positive right now. That doesn't mean I'm complacent. I ensure I have five cups of green tea a day and a glass of pomegranite juice. Our vegetables are all organic. As for stress levels, well that is a work in progress, but I am not someone who can sit still for very long.


It's not all doom and gloom (apart from the weather). Stay positive. Do what you can to improve your chances and above all, if you haven't got cancer, make sure you take advantage of screening, so you get detected early. Have a great weekend.

The Saturday list #6 - 10 Great things we've lost in the London Borough of Barnet

Sometimes I get a bit nostalgic. One such day was yesterday. When I was a small child, as a special treat, my dad would take us all out for a drive on Sunday afternoon. Do people do that anymore? I was reminded of this as I went to Barnet Museum yesterday. I saw the Whales Jawbones on Barnet Lane. This was always one of the highlights. Happily they are still there, but many of the other things have gone. Here is a list of a few places my Dad would take me (and a few places he wouldn't!), which have bitten the dust over the years.

1. Tonibel Ice Cream shop in Burnt Oak. As a kid that was Mecca !

2. Mill Hill Swimming Pool. Open air, with diving boards, fountains and a slide. I feel great guilt that my kids never experienced the thrill of it.

3. The public Weighbridge in Flower Lane Mill Hill. There used to be a railway goods depot in Flower Lane. I am not entirely sure when it shut, but there was a public weighbridge at the entrance. My Dad  would take us there in the car and weigh us. It was great. 

4. The Pigs in St Josephs College Farm. My Dad also knew Herman, the famer at St Josephs college on Lawrence Street. He would take us to see Herman and visit the piglets. The farm is long gone, although horses graze the lands. 

5. The garden at the Railway Tavern in the Green Man. As children, on warm summers days, we'd go for a drink at lunchtime in the garden of the Railway Tavern. It consisted of a glass of warm lemonade. The pub used to have a huge grassy garden, filled with families on a hot Sunday afternoon. The brewery sold 9/10ths of the garden to property developers about 15 years ago. 

6. The Disused Railway Bridge on Flower Lane Mill Hill. This was a beautiful old red brick Bridge, where Flower Lane joined Bunns Lane. In about 1975, the Council remodelled the road and so it no longer crossed the Bridge. The Bridge was demolished in about 1983 when the Bunns Lane Industrial Estate was built. As a kid, I used to play under the bridge and loved it dearly. 

7. La Katarina Restaurant in Mill Hill. My Dad new the boss and we'd occasionally go there for a meal on a special birthday. The specialities were the steaks and the crepe suzettes, complete with pyrotechnics. There was no other restaurant like it. It is now the Pizza Express, which although is a fine establishment, is not la Katarina and is not unique. 

8. The Betta Cafe in Burnt Oak. Now this isn't a place my Dad ever took me. It was a place I learned to love whilst at Orange Hill Senior High School. Boz Boorer (he of Polecats/Morrissey fame) was once ejected for complaining because his spoon was clean and asking if the automatic cup greaser was broken. The meals used to arrive on a hand driven pulley lift. You didn't really know Burnt Oak until you'd drank a cup of tea in the Betta Cafe.

9. Barry Edgars Garden Centre in Mill Hill. This was sited where "el Vaquerra" restaurant is now situated. It was a small friendly garden centre, with an interesting range of plants. I bought the pear tree in my garden there in 1978. It went out of business in about 1984 as a result of the council selling the swimming pool lease in daws Lane to Wyevale Nurseries, who opened a larger rival. I never had any affection for Wyevale as a result. I used to deliver Barry Edgar's papers at his home in Woodcroft Avenue. He had an amazing garden. 

10. La Carp D'or. This used to be the best fish and chip shop in Barnet. It was situated in Mill Hill where the Olive Restaurant is now. The fish and chips were cooked by Mario and his family and were to die for. It was fresh food and friendly staff. I doubt anyone who likes fish and chips and lives in Mill Hill has anything other than the fondest memories of it. 

Is there anything you miss?