Why we need to make Capita! - The Movie and why we need your support

The following are quotes taken from various contract documents released by Barnet Council detailing what Capita will do in return for oodles of Taxpayers cash.

Now I don't know about you, but to me all of this sounds highly dodgy. Capita are clearly stating that they can use all of this to the benefit of Barnet Council (and presumably to the detriment of Boroughs they don't represent). Is this a conflict of interest? I am not legally qualified, so can only ask the question. I can't answer it. But we will answer it in the film.

If you can assist us financially with the production of the film, there are major costs involved in conducting interviews with people around the country, please have a look at the the information at the top of the bar on the side. Alternatively email me if you want to make a donation towards the production and I'll pass you the details. We already have several generous concerned benefactors, who have allowed us to plan to commence work next week.

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Quotes from Capita regarding their "influence"

“We have relationships with senior officials in Government who we can engage with on behalf of Barnet and bring to the Borough to see the transformation that the Authority has delivered.” (Page 118 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“We also commit to seeking out opportunities at key conferences such as LGA and SOLACE and supporting the Borough in attending these conferences as speakers to promote the name of Barnet as an exemplar council and innovator in service provision.”(Page 117 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“we sit on the Public Services Strategy Board, Whitehall & Industry Group, reform, policy exchange, intellect, Localis and a research and data partnership with Dods.” (Page 116 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“In this role we worked directly with Francis Maude’s team and the Efficiency Reform group (ERG) to develop various initiatives that improved quality and saved money for Central Government,” (Page 116 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“We also have frequent meetings with the cabinet office at official level, and occasional meetings at ministerial level.” (Page 116 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“We will provide Barnet and its key partners the opportunity to communicate the success of the One Barnet programme and therefore secure attendance for Authority staff at these events alongside speakers from the Authority.” (Page 115 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“Our speakers are drawn from the leading industry professionals, and recent Local Government and Communities speakers have included: Andrew Travers, Deputy Chief Executive, London Borough of Barnet; Graham Burgess, Chief Executive Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and NHS; Gavin Jones, Chief Executive, Swindon Borough Council; Derrick Anderson, Chief Executive, Lambeth Council and Sean Harris, Chief Executive Bolton Council.” (Page 115 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“In the three months from November 2012 – January 2013 inclusive, Capita Conferences will hold 54 government conferences.”(Page 115 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence).

“We hold meetings and events with government representatives on a daily basis” (Page 114 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“We are well engaged with policy officials, special advisers and ministers in a number of key departments and hold regular discussions with them. We also have good relationships with a number of key influencers, such as think tanks (e.g. reform, policy exchange, Localis) and consultancies.” (Page 110 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“We also benefit from the regular involvement of our Executive Directors, Group Board Directors and expertise of ex-employees from key Central Government Departments, advisors and Think Tanks. These include Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department of Health (DH), Ministry of Defence (MoD), Policy Exchange, Localis and the Technology Strategy Board.” (Page 109 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“The Public sector represents 50% of Capita’s business. Within this, Central Government is one of Capita's core markets: we generate around £300m revenue per year from the sector, or 10% of our overall business. As a consequence we bring detailed knowledge of many of the departments and arms-length bodies that present big opportunities and risks, in terms of changing policy to Barnet, such as Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Business Innovation & Skills (BIS), Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ).” (Page 109 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“Performance Management - We will work with local leaders and managers to reposition performance management to be a way of working rather than an appraisal and reward system. The Insight generated through our Employee Portal will inform the support we provide to the Council's managers and employees. We will align individual performance objectives to support the delivery of the agreed shared vision focussing employees' contribution on delivering customer, commercial or service outcomes and empowering employees to realise their contribution against measurable service outcomes.” (Page 98 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“At Capita, we have been thinking beyond the short-term to the types of authorities that will emerge after necessary spending reductions have been made.”......“We will work with the Council to help them shape the transformation journey to deliver their vision to become a Commissioning Council.”(Page 86 of 135 Transformation Method Statement 4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“In respect of the hub run by Barnet Homes, we will provide accommodation for theregular (believed to be quarterly) forum meetings held to discuss services providedby Barnet Homes with residents. There will be no fixed charge for provision of thisfacility, only for the variable costs associated with security, catering and cleaning.” (Page 60 of 135,Transformation Method Statement,4th March 2013 Commercial in Confidence)

“In Month 20 the traded schools services will be expanded to other bodies.” (Page 52 of 135,Transformation Method Statement,4th March 2013.Commercial in Confidence)

“In the event of significant change including any staff redundancies, Capita will engage and consult with Trade Unions and employee representatives at the earliest opportunity. We appreciate that consultation is not just about informing the representatives, but should be meaningful and should allow employees and representatives the opportunity to suggest ideas and feedback with the aim of reaching possible solutions. A full redundancy consultation process involving individuals and Trade Union representatives will be followed not only to meet our legal obligations but also to ensure that individuals are treated with honesty, openness and respect and provided with the support they need during a difficult time for them.” (Page 44 of 135,Transformation Method Statement,4th March 2013,Commercial in Confidence)

“Capita approaches consultation on change, including consultation on potential redundancy, with an open and positive mindset. We believe that through frank consultation and discussion within the consultation process we can explore ways to mitigate the risk of redundancies having to be effected.” (Page 45 of 135,Transformation Method Statement,4th March 2013,Commercial in Confidence)

Exposed - The conspiracy to rob the people of Barnet

I was forwarded an email being circulated by the senior management of Barnet Council regarding the One Barnet outsourcing program. What it contains is truly staggering. Until now, I've been totally unable to work out exactly why anyone would want to persue such a policy. As the old adage goes, follow the money. This email makes it 100% clear what is going on. Here is the email :-

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Dear colleagues

Dialogue update

As with the last message, there is no specific news to report on dialogue other than it is continuing to progress well. This week’s meetings have included legal/commercial and technical sessions covering the bidders’ financial models, their emerging commercial development plans which provide details of new investment and income streams, insurance matters and our approach to resolving conflicts of interest in relation to service delivery. We have also been discussing the bidders’ Service Improvement Plans which set out how the services will be delivered and enhanced over the course of the contract.

In addition to enhancing service delivery we also believe that the DRS project has great potential to generate new commercial opportunities, both in Barnet and further afield.  As a result we have decided to form a Joint Venture organisation with the successful bidder, which provides an effective basis on which the Council can benefit from these opportunities and at the same time it gives the Council greater rights of transparency and control.  What this means is that the successful bidder and the Council will form a new organisation in which both have an interest.  This new organisation will then contract with the Council to provide the DRS services.  The Joint Venture approach does not change the approach to TUPE of staff or weaken any of the commitments given - staff would TUPE into the new organisation rather than to the commercial partner.  We shall provide further information on the Joint Venture in the next week however as ever you are welcome to ask any questions you may have regarding this or other elements of the DRS procurement’

Staff Group

The latest DRS staff group took place on Thursday 9 August and was attended by representatives from all your services. Make sure you speak to your rep if you want more detailed feedback or to raise any questions at the next staff group meeting. Martin Cowie has also been continuing to visit teams across the DRS service cluster to speak about the project and answer questions. If you haven’t yet had a briefing with Martin, let me know and we’ll make sure a suitable time is organised.

Also at the group meeting, a series of further questions were asked about various aspects of the project. The answers to these will be shared on the intranet over the next week.

Data cleanse

As you know, over the summer all DRS in-scope staff are having to take part in a data cleanse of their HR information; the data that will be transferred to the new provider after contract award. Environmental health and strategy and regeneration staff have completed their data cleanses, and next up is staff in Highways, Planning, Development and Building Control. Your line managers will take you through the process. They are being provided with the relevant forms on Monday 3 September and they must be returned by Friday 21 September.

Workshops

We still have places available at the TUPE workshops for staff and managers, as well as the Change and Me sessions. These workshops will run up until November and have already been on for more than a year. They are set to continue until November, by which time we will be approaching mobilisation.  During mobilisation we will begin to talk to you about how the transfer will affect you personally, but it would be a very good idea to have attended one of these sessions before that time.

The times and dates of the workshops are as follows:

Managers’ TUPE workshops

• 4 September – Training Room 2 – 2-5pm
• 2 October – Training Room 4 – 9.30am-12.30pm
• 14 November – Training Room 2 – 9am-12noon

Staff TUPE workshops

• 4 September – Training Room 4 – 1-2pm
• 4 October – Training Room 4 – 1-2pm
• 1 November – Training Room 5 – 12noon-1pm

Change and Me workshops

• 24 September – Training Room 3 – 2-3pm
• 17 October – Training Room 3 – 10.30-11.30am

To book a place on any of these sessions, email onebarnet@barnet.gov.uk.

Use that same email address if you have any further questions between now and the next newsletter, about the DRS project. Have a great weekend.

Kind regards

Pam Wharfe

Interim Director Environment, Planning & Regeneration

London Borough of Barnet

2nd Floor Building 4, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP

0208 359 7988

www.barnet.gov.uk

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The key statement, which lays bare what is going on is "As a result we have decided to form a Joint Venture organisation with the successful bidder, which provides an effective basis on which the Council can benefit from these opportunities and at the same time it gives the Council greater rights of transparency and control.  What this means is that the successful bidder and the Council will form a new organisation in which both have an interest.  This new organisation will then contract with the Council to provide the DRS services. "

This means that a new company is being set up, which is jointly owned by the Council and the "successful bidder". We have already seen Barnet Council setting up such companies. The first thing that happens is that a board of directors is formed. Past experience of the council doing this has shown that senior council executives are appoined to the board. Now you may think that there is a conflict of interest (I certainly do). The same council executives who are making the decisions to form these companies are also appointed to the board, presumably on huge salaries and with juicy share options. It beggars belief that people can set themselves up as directors of a company with a turnover of a hundred million pounds a year at the expense of the Barnet taxpayer.

There is an even more dangerous side to all of this. The companies are presumably going to be limited liability enterprises. This means that Capita Symonds or BT have no exposure to failure. They own shares in the company, so if it all goes swimmingly, they make the profits, but if it fails and goes bust, they have no exposure  whatsoever. In a normal outsourcing exercise, the successful bidder takes a degree of risk. Multi national companies such as BT are unlikely to go bust, so there is a degree of protection for the taxpayer. With this model, the only thing which is being outsourced is the profits. It also means that if and when it all goes wrong, BT or Capita Symonds can say "Not us guv, we were only shareholders in the company".

We can sum up the whole One Barnet program with two questions.

Q: Who stands to gain from this arrangement?
A: The directors of the new company (many of whom are involved in setting up the company, whilst working for Barnet Council) and the shareholders of the "successful bidder".

Q: Who is left with the risk?
A: The Barnet Taxpayer, who if the "joint venture" fails, will have to pick up the tab.

I don't know about you, but the whole thing sounds to me like a conspiracy. This "joint venture" is riddled with "conflicts of interest". The fact that the bidders are unwilling to accept any risk at all, but are more than happy to accept the profits is truly staggering. Is there no one within Barnet Council who is prepared to speak out and call a halt to this attempt to rob the taxpayer?

Ms Wharfe talks about transparency. As this "joint venture" will be a private company, it will be exempt from FoI legislation, so there will be no transparency at all. 

I call on the Leader of the Council, Richard Cornelius to call a halt to the whole debacle immediately.

Open letter to Jeff Lustig - Barnet Council legal team regarding conflict of interest

Dear Mr Lustig,

The Barnet Eye blog regularly receives free legal advice from some of the finest lawyers in the land, who are avid readers of the blog. As I am always keen to minimise the costs to the taxpayer, I feel that it is a matter of civic duty to pass this advice on to the council where appropriate. With respect to the issues of conflict of interest, recently exposed by the Barnet Bloggers in relation to

 

I have received advice that the council should consider the two precident setting case detailed below.

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RANDS v OLDROYD [ 1959 ] 1 QB 209
Where the Court specifically ruled on the interpretation of " contracts" , "proposed contracts" , " or any other matter " .
"Any other matter" meant what it says -- it is not to be interpreted narrowly , and not to be applied only to "contracts" or "proposed contracts" but can cover anything --

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What also might be useful , is the Test for Dishonesty , being
Rex v Ghosh [ 1982 ] QB 1053
But used in this case , May 2006 P14 of 22 Pages attached for your information. I attach this , [ but have extracted the Paragraph below for your convenience ] might be worth having as the YARDSTICK for Criminal Allegations --

The test or definition of dishonesty was set out in R v Ghosh [1982] QB 1053. 
Dishonesty describes the state of mind and not the conduct of the accused. 
The test is subjective but the standard of honesty to be applied is objective, the standard of reasonable and honest persons. One first applies the standard and then, having so done, one determines whether the accused must have realized that what was being done was, by those standards, dishonest.

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I hope this is of some use to the legal department at Barnet Council

 

Regards

Roger Tichborne

www.barneteye.blogspot.com

 

 

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Attached document

Test for Dishonesty r v Ghosh May 2006 p14 Of22p (1)

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I also copied Council Leader Richard Cornelius and CEO Nick Walkley. I rather hope they take the whole issue rather seriously.