Barnet Council starts ‘Future Shape’ process of rapid evolution

There is a press release on Barnet Council's website

Barnet Council starts ‘Future Shape’ process of rapid evolution

Let's analyse a few statements.

“We need to look at how we can rapidly evolve our organisation, and the way in which we deliver our services, to reflect the changing environment in which we work. Some services may see more direct personal care, some could move online."

We are seeing the beginings of this with the mobile warden service and the roll out of telephone panic lines. I've no objection to services being available on line, so long as this doesn't exclude those unable to access the internet.

Without action the cost of key council services could rise exponentially.

This is stretching the truth to breaking point. Increase in costs is likely to be driven by wage bills. These are unlikely to rise exponentially. The major unforseen costs currently in the news are derived from mismanagement of contractors. Barnets solution - more contractors, more outsourcing.

Developments won’t simply follow a ‘private sector good, public sector bad’ model. Barnet Council’s staff do a great job of supporting residents in already challenging circumstances and we want to increase their efficiency and expertise so they can continue to increase the support they give.

Fine words indeed, but it goes on

Equally there will be some areas where the private sector has expertise and the benefits of experience that we may lack. We need to strike a balance that gives us the best of both worlds

So what areas of service provision does the council consider that the private sector does better? Well previous Future Shape documents have given hints. More or less everything, seems to be the goal.

To get to this position, Barnet has spent £650,000 on consultants. The main recommendations? More consultants and more reports.

The truly mind boggling quote is this one

Without action the cost of key council services could rise exponentially. The underlying cost of disposing of Barnet residents’ household waste will rise by close to 75% by 2016 for example. We need to see changes in the amount of waste the borough produces and how we deal with it.

This can only mean one thing - a bin tax. The more rubbish, the more you pay. It seems that Mike Freer has realised good old Gordon Brown is on to something with his stealth taxes. It's like booze tax - "you know it's for your own good".

There is one commendable thing in the report

Barnet Council proposes to establish a residents’ review of Future Shape, ensuring that developing services match the priorities and expectations of Barnet residents.

Lets just hope that if the review disagrees with Freers's view, he doesn't ignore it in the same way he ignored the Warden cut consultation.