Thursday 30 July 2020

Is Capita working for the London Borough of Barnet?

I really must draw your attention to Mr Reasonables latest blog concerning how the contract with Capita is functioning.

He starts with the following two paragraph
I have been continuing to keep an eye on Barnet's finances during this very difficult time but as lockdown eases I thought to was a good time to start digging a bit deeper into Barnet's finances again, especially as the annual inspection of the accounts is coming up in August.
Click for a readable view of the figures
In terms of the monthly supplier payments it looks like Capita continue to benefit from their contract with Barnet. In June they were paid £12.5 million and this brings the total paid to Capita on the Barnet contract to a whisker under £500 million. When I mention this figure to some people they laugh as they simply don't believe that one council could pay so much money to one company but that is the reality of Capita in Barnet. The table below gives you the detail -----> Click here to read the full article

Mr Reasonable, AKA John Dix has been tracking the contract since it was first conceived. He is someone who's day job involves working with such contracts. As you can see from the figures, Barnet Taxpayers are paying far more than we were lead to believe. As Barnet are contractually tied to Capita, there is no scope for cuts, any cuts will come from other areas. With the Covid19 crisis, council budgets are under pressure as never before. I detect a certain world weariness in John's blog, like John the Baptist, a lone voice of reason in a wilderness of insanity. We really should be challenging our councillors on this matter. I have refrained from council bashing during the crisis. They have more important things to do than worry about bloggers, but these figures are truly alarming. The cuts will hurt the most vulnerable people in Barnet, deprived children, the sick, the elderly and the disabled. The one area that will not suffer is the shareholders of Capita. I don't believe Barnets councillors are bad people or evil, but they really need to do something about this mess. They cannot bury their hands.

Outsourcing of public sector contracts has sucked money out of the local economy and has not delivered betetr services. I co wrote a song about the dangers of outsourcing with my songwriting partner Allen Ashley - this affects you. You pay more tax and you have suffered from a decline in service quality. I cannot understand how anyone would not want our councillors to get on the case and get this mess sorted out.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why this obsession with complaining about everything that's Capita related? Yes, companies can make mistakes - just like you do. Why don't you also explain the positives of how Capita has contributed over the years to many aspects in Barnet?

Rog T said...

I would love to list all of the amazing achievements of Capita in Barnet, but I honestly cannot think of any. However, I am always keen to learn! I would absolutely love you to write a guest blog explaining just how marvellous they are, listing all of these fantastic achievements. Just drop me an email and a photo pic so we can give you a proper credit (it would be such a shame if you maintained your veneer of anonymity). Guest blogs are always welcome. You ask why I have an 'obsession', the answer is simple. I was born and raised in Mill Hill, my parents are buried in Hendon cemetary, which is managed by Capita and is to be quite frank, in a terrible state. To me that is a personal insult to my parents, who ran a business in Mill Hill for 45 years, paying taxes, employing people and contributing to many local charities. My father was a member of the Conservative Party and a regular donor to John Gorsts campaigns. I believe that he would be spinning in his grave if he saw what Gorst, who was a decent man, successors in the local Conservative party have done. But I am quite prepared to accept I've got it all wrong, if you can explain it, that would be simply wonderful.