What are councillors supposed to do?

Several of my loyal army of readers seemed to be a little upset that I'd been less than nice to one of the Barnet Councillors yesterday. As I made my way at 6.30am to the The Passage Day centre for Londons Homeless in Victoria, to feed the hungry homeless, I pondered just what it was that specifically annoyed me about the performance of said Councillor. I realised that I was asking myself the wrong question. In fact, with all the blogs and all of the talk recently about "no confidence votes", we all have. The question we have to ask is "What are Councillors meant to do?". Perhaps the next question is one for individual Councillors. Are they doing what they are meant to do? I suspect that perhaps 95% of the residents of Barnet don't really know what Councillors are supposed to do (as opposed to what they actually do).

Councillors in Barnet get £10,000 a year for being a councillor (substancially more if they are in the cabinet or chair of a committee). For this they only have to do one thing to be legally entitled to claim the dosh. They have to turn up to 2 Council meetings a year. So that is the legal requirement, but I daresay that is not what anyone would agree is a satisfactory answer.

Councillors are elected for a four year term. There are 21 wards in Barnet and each has 3 councillors. Let us clear up the first misconception. Councillors are not supposed to "run the council". Even the Leader, Richard Cornelius is not supposed to do this. This job is done by the CEO and his team of executives. The role of the Council is to "decide council policy" and to make sure officers implement it. Councillors are elected by the residents and are meant to represent residents wishes. They have the power to intervene and take action when officers do not act in the best interests of the people of Barnet. They should make sure that officers implement the agreed policy. If you have a problem with a council provided service, a Councillor is supposed to make sure that you have been treated correctly by the Council. A diligent councillor holds regular surgeries for constituents and uses these to speak to residents and undertake casework. In Mill Hill, the local Tory Councillors do this on a Saturday morning at Mill Hill library.

As I pay the councillors to represent me (via my taxes), I expect them to listen to my concerns and if I have a genuine grievance, to act on it accordingly. As the local Councillors in Mill Hill are Conservatives, they were elected to impliment the Conservative manifesto. If I don't like something the Council are doing, but it was a policy laid out in the manifesto, I have no grounds for expecting them to act upon my complaints. I will have the opportunity in 2014 to get another party elected. That is my democratic right. If the council is implementing a policy which was not in the manifesto, the Councillors may still be within their rights to ignore my requests to act. They should however listen to me and explain the reason for their decision.

The One Barnet program was not included in the Conservative Manifesto in 2010, nor was the plan to hike parking charges. As such, my Conservative Councillors lack a democratic mandate to implement the changes. They have a legal power to do it, but the two things are different. I would expect my councillors to make the case for the changes, if asked. At a recent meeting, two of the Councillors Sury Khatri and John Hart met and discussed the issues with residents. They undertook to take our concerns back to the leadership. As such, I have no issue with the two gentlemen. They are doing what Councillors should do.

We then turn our attention to the person who inspired this blog. His name is Dean Cohen and he is the cabinet member with the responsibility for parking. I have a degree of sympathy with Councillor Cohen. He inherited a poison chalice from Brian Coleman when he was sacked. That is where the sympathy ends. He took over the role in May. It is now November. Dean Cohen has just announced his plan to remedy the mess Brian Coleman left him. His planned measures, to be trialled in North Finchley are:



- A 35% reduction in current parking charges on-street to increase turnover with a proportionate slightly less reduction for off-street car parks to ensure overall parity. 

- The introduction of dedicated business parking bays within off-street car parks, to increase on-street parking space. 

- Making a number of on-street parking bays a 2 hour maximum stay to increase turnover. 

- Adapting existing on street loading bays to allow a 15 minutes free parking period after 10am to promote rapid turnover. 

- Introducing a 15 minute stay facility on pay-by-phone bays. 
 
- Introducing a number of new ‘Pay-by-Phone’ short-stay parking bays at specific locations in the High Street to increase on street parking availability. 
 
In addition to the parking review changes, six on-street credit and debit card payment machines will be installed in the New Year. In yesterdays blog, I posted a link to Dean Cohens response to Alan Schneiderman. Councillor Cohen refused to entertain Councillor Schneidermans request for a "free parking period" to boost the High Streets, on the grounds that it would cost too much money. Now I thought that Cohens arguments were weak to say the least. Here are the reasons why

1. The special parking account is over £1 million under budget since NSL took over enforcement. Mr Cohen does not address this huge black hole at all.

2. Mr Cohen claims the changes proposed by Labour would cost money. The hike in parking charges has resulted in a massive defecit in the budget. If Mr Cohen was a serious politician, he would have addressed all of the relevant issues in a costed scheme and have the figures to hand.

3. The figures Mr Cohen attributes to the cost of the Labour amendment are highly dubious. I did some calculations and I think it is unlikely that the officers have got the figures right. Mr Cohen should have challenged these figures and ensured that his answers were robust and credible. Do the maths yourself if you don't believe me.

4. Dean Cohen is delivering the new credit card operated meters in January, after the busiest time of the year for retailers. Presumably their could have been a mini bonanza in parking fees if he'd got the meters in now. They have been planning this for six months.

5. Dean Cohen has sought to repair some of the damage caused by Brian Coleman. Allowing 15 minutes parking in loading bays after 10am is a sensible move, but doesn't address the primary issue that parking charges have been used as a stealth tax. The raise is still well above inflation.

6. Mr Cohen states that if the money is not collected from parking charges, then roads may not be resurfaced. I was under the impression that parking was not the sole source of revenue for Barnet Council. If they were to cut waste (which you know there is plety of) then they could resurface roads and give the High Street a boost. By auditing the Metpro contract properly, the council saved £450,000 on work costing £1.4 million. That is one contract. Barnet only intend auditing 173 out of 9,300 contracts. RM Countrysides were told they could charge what they liked for removing meters. How many other dodgy deals are there out there. Mr Cohen gets paid £24,000 as cabinet member to stop the Council officers taking the piss out of the taxpayer. I think he has not done this.


So in short, I believe that Councillor Cohen has failed to represent the needs of businesses and residents properly. As a councillor and a cabinet member, he has a duty of care to us residents to work tirelessly on our behalf. He may be a nice chap, have a lovely Dad and be very bright, but he is a councillor and a cabinet member and he is paid by you & I, the taxpayers of Barnet to do a job. There are several Tories who are backbenchers, who are hard working and have sharp minds. Three that spring to mind are Brian Salinger, Mark Shooter and  Sury Khatri. I cannot believe that any of these would have done such a poor job of getting to grips with the mess Brian Coleman left in the parking department. 

We must acknowledge that Dean Cohen is an improvement on Brian Coleman, but to be honest, wouldn't just about anyone be? His "trial" scratches the surface of the problem and does nothing for 18 of the 19 High Streets in the London Borough of Barnet.  That is not good enough for the people of Barnet. It is time that the Councillors started to take their job as seriously as they take collecting their allowances and it is time the cabinet started working as hard at dealing with the issues as they did at raising their allowances after the 2010 council election. 

Is that really too much to ask.
 

Hendon Times publishes article backing Mark Shooter for leadership of Barnet Council

Today on the Hendon Times website an article popped up backing Mark Shooter for Leadership.Rather interestingly it has a right old pop at "Mr Nice" - ie Richard Cornelius, msaying he had a leading role in the existing regime, without even mentioning that Andrew Harper was the Deputy Leader (and de facto Leader for most of the period).  The comments about Cornelius are most unfair, given that Harper is hardly mentioned.

Whilst I have no problem with a local paper publicly backing one candidate, it is clear that the treatment of Richard Cornelius is blatantly unfair. To quote :-

Cornelius is coloured by his leading role in the present regime and his disinterest in looking into the gross misconduct of the Council and its senior officers. I have had no contact with Andrew Harper but I fear the same applies to him.

Richard Cornelius has been the only cabinet member to publicly be sceptical at Council meetings regarding many of the bonkers policies of the Council. There is no way that Harper as Deputy Leader can be let off so lightly, when a comment such as this has been made. I am not like the Barnet Tories, who used to demand anything I wrote on the Times website was taken down, when I wrote a blog there. I say leave it up and let the world see just how the Harper team are using every trick in the book to discredit Richard Cornelius.

As to the Times supporting Mark Shooter, if this is the tactics Shooter supporters are deploying, then it is all the more clear that only Richard Cornelius has the integrity to bring Barnet Council together after the Metpro fiasco. I suspect that this story on the Times shows that the Harper and Shooter Teams are collaborating to knock Cornelius out in the first round.

I have this question for the Tory Councillors voting on Sunday. Please show us you have some integrity and vote for Richard Cornelius on Sunday

Barnet Council Leadership Election : Is Boris backing Shooter?

I have been deluged with calls & other info regarding the Barnet Council Leadership election. A source in NLBP tells me the officers are supremely confident that Andrew Harper will walk it. Given their track record, one can only wonder what that really means. Perhaps a more interesting source of information came from a good contact at County Hall. When the Barnet Bugle twittered that Brian Coleman was supporting Mark Shooter, I was rather puzzled. What deal could have been done here? Perhaps I should have been quicker off the mark? In the words of Mrs Merton "What could Boris Johnson possibly see in millionaire Mark Shooter?" Yes, that's right, there is a Mayoral election next year. Boris is on the look out for influential backers for his bid. Who would he rather see running Barnet? A pauper or someone who is minted? Especially if that person owes him a favour or two? Boris has been wondering exactly how he can shore up the Tory vote in Barnet and Camden, with a bonkers Tory council and Brian Coleman as candidate. Brian Coleman may not be Shooters biggest fan, but an endebted Shooter splashing his cash for the Brian and Boris show is a powerful political aphrodisiac.

Boris can't be seen to intervene, but he knows how to find the G-spot of the Tory party and push their buttons. A wink in Shooters direction is a powerful weapon. Word on the street has it that in return for pulling a few strings in Barnet, Boris wants the following in return :-

a) Some wonga towards his campaign next year
b) Full and unequivocable backing for Brian Coleman in his GLA bid
c) A bit of gratuitous Union bashing, which Boris has a whole team waiting to assist with, and Coleman as the mentor.

If Shooter gives these commitments, then he will walk it. Brian Coleman, yet again set to be the kingmaker, knows that Unison in Barnet is his only credible adversary (apart from a few bloggers, who he can't really do too much about). I am told that Coleman believes that a castrated Unison will make the council a far more "malliable" organisation. He has form as leader of LFEPA. This leaves UNISON stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Harper will go flat out for OneBarnet outsourcing, Shooter will go flat out to clobber the Unions. Word reaches the Barnet Eye that the Unions are quietly hoping for a Richard Cornelius victory as the "best of a bad world" candidate.

I'm starting to come around to the opinion that of the three, Councillor Richard Cornelius is the best of a bad bunch. If Harper is the choice of an executive, responsible for disaster after disaster and planning the OneBarnet fiasco's next stage, he simply has to go. If Shooter is simply going to be a Union bashing sock puppet for Brian Coleman, who is a union bashing sock puppet for Boris, then lord help us. At least Cornelius is his own man. He seems like a decent sort of a chap to me. I daresay he needs my endorsement like a hole in the head, but if our Tory Councillors care about anything beyond their own pockets, maybe they should seriously consider backing him

Barnets most expensive tea boy - The end of Councillor Andrew Harper as Leader

So we now know that the battle for leadership of Barnet Council is a three way battle between Andrew Harper, Richard Cornelius and Mark Shooter. An interesting fact has emerged. Andrew Harper has not resigned his post and plans to try and hang on to the deputy leadership post, if he fails to take the top job. Word reaches the Barnet Eye that Richard Cornelius is non too impressed with this. Cornelius is old school. He believes that people should do the decent thing and in Harpers case, the decent thing would to be to bugger off back to the back benches if his abject failure is recognised and he loses the leadership, based on his record thus far. Richard plans to have a nice little chat to explain why a new leader should have freedom to appoint who they like.

As to Mark Shooter, what would he do if he won? Well lets just say that whilst I'd love to play poker with Harper or Cornelius for hard cash, I think Shooter would be a different proposition. He gives me the impression that he may well have a trick or two up his sleeve. I suspect that Harper would have a whole new set of responsibilities under a Shooter Leadership, with a whole new set of responsibilities "Yes Andrew, I think you can take over responsibility for the Leader Listens program. We've booked you a session in the Bald Faced Stag in Burnt Oak next Saturday night at 10pm, to find out how we can interact better with the people of Burnt Oak".  "Yes Andrew, I think that we need to understand the issues which the Police have, so I've booked you to go out on Patrol with a few PCSO's at Tally Ho Corner on Friday Night at Midnight". "Yes Andrew, we are launching a blood donor drive, I've booked you in to give a few pints down at the health centre that government cuts are shutting, those lovely nurses who are being made redundant are really looking forward to seeing you, and have promised that you'll only feel a little prick when they sort you out". "Oh yes Andrew, make sure that the tea isn't late for Tuesday's cabinet meeting, and make sure you search Barry Evangeli for pilfered biscuits before he leaves the building".

I must say that Brian Colemans support for Shooter is rather interesting.  How much do you reckon Harper paid Coleman to say that? (Tee Hee Hee) As Brian Coleman has withdrawn from the race, you may wonder who the Barnet Eye is now backing. Harper is a complete disaster. Whoever wins, he would be bad for everyone. The man has shown a complete lack of aptitude. As for Cornelius and Shooter? As far as I'm concerned there is only one way to choose. I'll go with Brian Colemans recommendation. I was going to toss a coin, but as the biggest tosser (of coins) in Barnet has already made his recommendation, who am I to argue?

And as for Harper, the sooner he is despatched to tea making duties the better. I look forward to hearing the manifesto for the three candidates.  Here is the what my spies tell me the platform the three candidates are standing on is.

Councillor Andrew Harper - Continuity (ie more Metpro style scandals and more money down the bog with One Barnet schemes)

Councillor Richard Cornelius -  The Sensible Party (ie get a grip on the executive and try and salvage the useful bits from One Barnet, whilst taking a machette to the consultant crazy culture that has sprung up)

Councillor Mark Shooter - The slash and burn party (ie have a bonfire of the vanities in Barnet, kick the shit out of the executive, have a sacking frenzy for all the people doing non jobs and hope that at the end of day, injecting a bit of sanity into the council can save a few quid and sort out the huge black hole which Mike Freer built).

Current Betting  : Cornelius 11/12 , Shooter 2-1, Harper 3-1

For what it's worth, I think that the Shooter & Cornelius teams are working together to stitch up Harper, because they both recognise the fact that Harper = Disaster. Lets look at the maths. Shooter lost by one last time. That means that as Lynne Hillan is indisposed, it is a dead heat. Brian Coleman has backed Shooter which means Shooter has 19 to 17, if every Hillanite backs Harper. Rams does what Coleman tells him, so that is 20 -16. All Harper can offer is cabinet jobs, but he can't really afford to lose anyone, so the next question is how will Cornelius split the vote. I hear that he's likely to get a minimum of six cabinet members and possibly 10 other councillors  (6 from Shooter and 4 from Hillan camp). So this means the following :-

First Round
Cornelius - 15
Harper - 8
Shooter - 13

The Harperites are likely to swing behind Cornelius as they know that Shooter means the firing squad.

Second Round
Cornelius - 22
Shooter - 14

What this means is that Harper isn't the second most popular Leadership Candidate so he hasn't got a leg to stand on for retaining the deputy job (hence my view that it's a stitch up). That my friend is the way the cookie will crumble. It is possible that once Harper's mates realise what's going on, even more will defect to Cornelius in the first round and that will be that.

Barnet Council Budget meeting : Bunfight at the KO Coral

Where to start. Three years ago when I first attended a meeting of the Barnet Council Cabinet, there was a semblence of decorum and normality. Tonight we had the budget meeting. It was, to be quite frank, the most bizarre spectacle I've ever seen in my life. It had moments of unintentional humour, such as when Councillor Andrew Harper announced "I will be going with model X". At the time I had Vicki M and Mrs Angry sitting behind me and for two naughty schoolgirls, the schoolboy humour was top notch.

We had the usual Lynn Hillan own goal when she announced to a hostile crowd "There are places for discussion and the cabinet is not one of them". I wish I'd been videoing it. I could have sworn Brian Coleman looked at me, smiled and winked as she said it. He knew that the bloggers had their quote.

We had the usual greasy toady Tories in the audience. Perhaps the strangest encounter was that with Councillor Mark Shooter, AKA the young pretender. Now I've never actually talked to him before, but when I went out to have a chat with Jack Cohen, Councillor Shooter was standing next to him. "Oh how nice to meet you at last!" he flounced. Now as it's Valentines night and I'm the handsomest geezer in Barnet, I thought for a second he was going to offer to take me down to The Claddagh Ring for a sly drink. Sadly though, he just wanted to find out the source of a certain leak, which I printed recently. "I did not have a secret meeting with John Marshall" he whispered in my ear. Oh yeah and the cheque is in the post as well. I think Marshall and Shooter are rather like the Delboy and Rodney of Barnet Politics. Both are completely useless nomarks, but poor Rodney (Shooter) is too dim to realise Delboy (Marshall) is a washed up chancer. I saw Delboy looking over in a concerned fashion as I spoke to Shooter. Yes John, if you are reading this, I've turned the young Prince, he's now a paid up Trotskyite. Ha Ha Ha. It's quite funny really, they don't trust each other at all. None of them.

Then there was the Cabinet Question time. That's what it's called, what purpose it serves, I know not. It was heartening to see that many of the questioners had printed off leaks published on my Future Shape Leaks website. They ambushed Brian Coleman and he was caught telling bare faced porkies. It was pretty clear that the way to deal with a porkmeister such as Coleman is to have several people ask similar questions and then work him over with the supplimentaries. A whole bunch of residents left the meeting in no doubt about what sort of a man Coleman is.

I asked a question. When it came time to ask the supplimentary, I seized my chance. "So in your answer you stated that the fact that you lost £55 million though mismanagement in no way affected the fact that you need to find £54 million in savings. My question is who do you think is stupid, the Cabinet or the people of Barnet". In a classic "Hillan" moment she shot back "Well the people around this table are not stupid"  - which I guess answers the question. Yes my friend, it is us who she thinks are stupid. Just to make matters worse for her, Councillor Daniel Thomas piped in "Well I can tell the difference between capital and revenue". Sure you can Danny boy, Capital is what you squander and Revenue is what you waste.

However the Coup d' Grace as ever came from my old friend, Councillor Brian Coleman. He announced as he got heckled for the n'th time "The people of Barnet are the rudest people it's ever been my misfortune to come across" or words to that effect. Yep, thats right. Us lot who elect him and pay his wages.

There were also some other moments of unintentional comedy. Nick Walkley refused to let myself and Yvonne Hossacks, the lawyer representing the people in Sheltered Acoomodation see a copy of the Barnet Council constitution. Why? Because they were the "officers copies". Only in Barnet could a public official refuse to let a lawyer see a copy of a public domain document.

As I left the meeting to cook my loved one a rather late Valentine meal, the on duty Copper said "Good night sir, enjoy the rest of the evening" with a big smile. I responded "I hope they behave themselves". He grinned and shot back "Yes Sir, so do I".

And as to the detail.

They voted to ignore the consulatation and shaft Sheltered Housing Wardens.
They chose to ignore the public and hike parking fees.
They chose to shaft allotment holders, possibly in contravention of the law.
They refused to let two residents ask questions, despite hold ups due to equipment problems.
They refused to say why residents permit holders should pick up all the bill for carriageway repairs in Barnet.
They refused to explain to a lady from Save Barnet Museum why she was wrong.

And perhaps the oddest moment of the lot. The Cabinet of Barnet Council went on strike for 20 minutes. Yes the loony right showed just how bonkers they were by staging a walk out and a work to rule. You see it didn't occur to this bunch of dullards that if you have a bunch residents in the meeting and you are shafting them, they will not sit there in silence. So they threw their toys out of the pram when heckled and left the room. I asked Jack Cohen (Lib Dem leader) if this sort of behaviour was unusual (from residents) "Oh no, it happens all the time on planning committees. People get quite emotional. You just have to get on with it and learn to deal with it". But you see, Barnet Council Tories don't like backchat. They can't deal with it. Later in the meeting Brian Coleman acknowledged the audience in a very Brian Coleman sort of way. He announced "Tonight is a fine example of big society". I took my chance and yelled "Yes you talk nonsense and ignore the general public". He smiled and nodded in agreement.

When I got in, my beloved asked if it was a good meeting. Depends on how you look at it. If I was Lynne Hillan I'd think it was a great meeting as she passed her budget. If I was any other Barnet Tory I'd think it was a train wreck. As a punter in the audience, it was great theatre, but the sad truth is, we've all been shafted for no reason other than Hillan and her cronies are too useless to actually put a budget together which addresses the budget crisis in Barnet and shafts the poorest people in the Borough.

Has Harper got into bed with Mark Shooter?

Further to the crisis meeting reported here between Councillor Andrew Harper and Councillor John Marshall, a phonecall from a source within the Chipping Barnet Conservative Party gave some rather interesting extra details. It appears that a third Councillor was present. Who was it? Sadly the sourse declined to say, other than "it was one of the new intake of Councillors".

So who would Harper and Marshall invite to a crisis meeting to discuss a cataclysm of this scale? Well logic would suggest that there is only one person who fits the bill - could it be Mark Shooter, who lost the leadership election by one vote last year. It cannot be beyond the wit of Harper to realise that if he defected, Shooter would take over and he'd be able on to his job as deputy Leader. Apparently they can have another Leadership contest in May.


Expect a change soon

naughty tories and councillor maureen braun

A rather naughty opposition councillor sent me a rather dodgy leak suggesting Councillor Maureen Braun would be Mark Shooters replacement on the scrutiny committeee. Nice try. We really aren't that stupid.

Hugh Rayner - The next MP for Hendon?

I hear through the grapevine that Hugh Rayner is going to be taking over the wheels of power at Hendon Conservative Association meeting tonight. The association is in turmoil, with three officers quitting to spend more time with, er, um, er someone who isn't Matthew Offord. Offord has become a bit of a liabilty, continually having unexplained accidents, such as torn retinas, broken hands, in supposedly freak circumstances at home. I would suggest that Offord gets proper builders in and fits safety devices around the place, given that usually only my mates who are boxers (and I don't mean of the canine variety) suffer such traumatic injuries on a regular basis. His house must be a death trap !

Anyway, following his string of high profile injuries, his spat with the chief whip and his, shall we say, growing reputation for being one of the more chilled out MP's when it comes to doing constituency casework, rumours abound that he may be up for replacement. Hugh Rayner, having his hands on the wheels of power would be ideally placed to fulfill his long standing dream of becoming the Hendon MP.

I asked Hugh back in May if he had any ambitions in that direction, as a few people have told me that it was his long term ambition. His reponse - "Not unless something unexpected happens to Matthew Offord". I hadn't appreciated the nuances of the response at the time. Given Matthew Offords spate of "accidents at home", I have started to wonder if Offord got a mate of Hughs to fit his cupboards. If I was Matthew, I'd get the spirit level out and give them the once over.

Rather ominously, I spoke to a leading Conservative benefactor in Hendon recently, who advised me to "keep an eye on Hugh". I asked why, hoping that maybe he'd been involved in some sort of scandal. "Far from it, he's a steady pair of hands and that's what they need right now".

I also heard a rather interesting tale of how Mike Freer MP for  Finchley and Golders Green is starting to tire of helping out his Tory mates in Hendon with casework, because they know at least they might get some sort of result. For all my previous comments about Freer, he does actually seem to be getting his hands dirty and doing some work for the people who elected him. It is only the fact that people have given huge sums to the Tories locally that has made him put up with the situation. It strikes me as rather sad that this is the only way to get stuff done in Hendon. I have had literally dozens of emails from people who are dissatisfied with Offord and how he has dealt with casework. I had wondered if it was a put up job by Labour in Barnet to get him some dodgy coverage, but alas not. He's even upset some staunch Tories.

Anyway, the rumour mill is on for the next Tory Hendon MP, here's the Barnet Eye odds

Hugh Rayner 2/1
Mark Shooter 4/1
Daniel Thomas 12/1
Brian Coleman 100/1

Is that the sound of knives being sharpened I hear?

Barnet Eye - Local News roundup

Barnet Council continue to get rotten press coverage, exposing their lack of respect for voters. The Evening Standard detailed yesterday how they were refusing to allow libraries to display the anti closure petition.( 2nd Story down)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23912827-one-library-has-to-close-you-choose-council-tells-residents.do

Also making the news in the Standard, our very own Brian Coleman, doing what he does best - attacking our brave firemen and trying to stifle debate.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23912956-all-of-londons-firefighters-will-be-sacked.do

And here's him defending the indefensible :-


Also in the news, it seems that all of the officers of Hendon Conservative Association have had enough of Matthew Offord and want to spend more time at home with their stamp collections :-

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8781488.Tory_council_trio_step_down_from_association/

Totally, completely unrelated, in every way is the story about Matthew Offord damaging his retina (strangely he doesn't tell us how)

http://barnetfutureshape.blogspot.com/2011/01/matthew-offord-tears-retina.html

Anyway, enough of Tories behaving badly. How's about some good news for a change. My old dearly departed Dad used to have a saying - "Faith can move mountains, but to put the rubbish out someone has to get off their backside". Well my friends. I think the time has come to start putting the rubbish out in Barnet. That means you have to get off your backside. Another of his sayings was "Rome wasn't built in a day, but there was a day when the building started". Today is the day, my friends, that we start building the campaign that will put the rubbish out. What has given me the faith to believe the tide has turned. A couple of days ago I added a link to the "Stop car parking charge hike in Barnet". This petition has got over 1,600 signatures in two days. This is unprecedented for an on line petition in Barnet. Councillor Brian Coleman, the man responsible for the hike, has made a name being "the car drivers friend". It people have finally seen through him.

Well please put in your diary the following date Sunday 30th January - Noon. There is a march from Finchley Central to The Arts Depot (which is threatened by Barnet Council Cuts). At 1pm we are staging an event at the Arts Depot, featuring music and speeches uniting the whole of the Barnet community against the cuts. We've secured international superstars "The Foundations" as headline band, with a host of other well known and local bands. We've also got some absolutely fantastic speakers, including Tariq Ali  who will be energising us against the cuts.The whole event will be broadcast live on the web.

We hope to also have speakers from the arts depot, sheltered housing campaign, local student groups and all of the other groups affected by the cuts and we will be signing people up for workshops on how to fight back against the cuts and organise effective campaigns. We are finalising the line up which will be announced shortly. My fellow blogger, Vicki M has set up a pledge for those who intend marching to sign, please sign this  ASAP so we can keep in touch

http://www.pledgebank.com/Barnetmarch

However the cuts affect you, sign up. Give the council a message they can't ignore that you are unhappy. Use the comment facility to tell them why. I've had a huge number of hits today. You may be interested to know that the to 5 keywords which people used to land at the blog were :-

Barnet Eye (always No 1)
Brian Coleman parking
Barnet library closures
Barnet Council Wikileaks
mark shooter hendon conservatives

Not quite sure why people were so interested in Councillor Mark Shooter, the failed usurper of Lynne Hillan, first time he's made it into the top five since his failed coup - I wonder what suddenly inspired dozens of people to check him out - planning another coup? Coleman really seems to have got people goat up with his name appearing in four of the next five favourite searches. Sadly two of those searches included a rude word, so I didn't print them.

Twatman strikes again ........ Robert Rams yet again sticks his foot in his mouth

Robert Rams (right) with two friends

Oh the joys of writing a blog in Barnet. What  a rich vein of material we have to mine on a daily basis. It must be awful writing a blog in a Borough run by vaguely competent councillors, who's priority is to do a good job for the people who pay Council Tax.

Today we have yet another pearl of widsom from Councillor Robert Rams, the man voted for in huge numbers by Barnet Eye readers to be a twat, following his statement that libraries could be replaced by people ordering books on line and collecting them from Tescos (from the Hendon Time)

Councillor Robert Rams, cabinet member for customer access and partnerships, said: “We have to bear in mind that Barnet remains part of one of the world’s great cultural capitals and we’re fortunate to have a rich variety of arts provision, much of it free, just half an hour or so away on the Tube. We will obviously continue talks about funding with the artsdepot and we will do all we can to assist them in reaching the levels of funding they need.”

Can mere words describe the stupidity of this pillock. Does it not occur to Twatman that the Arts Depot is supposed to be a Community Arts hub? This means the LOCAL COMMUNITY can use it - you know local groups, school children, disabled people.

Just a suggestion to Councillor Ramsbottom  if you really intend to do everything you can to assist them reach the levels of funding they require, dip into the budget and find it. This could easily be funded by scrapping the allowance rise for Tory party committee chairmen (not the allowance, just the 50% rise from May, a few weeks after you were re-elected) and by scrapping political assistants, who provide no benefit for council tax payers and are their solely to help lazy councillors.

You could also abolish Future Shape/Easycouncil/Onebarnet and free up £10 million reserved to pay consultants and lawyers.

I have one question for Leader of the Council, Lynne Hillan. How complete an idiot do you have to be, before you get the sack from her cabinet?

Here's the full story -
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8770699.Stephen_Merchant_joins_fight_to_save_North_Finchley___s_artsdepot/

I put a comment on it, but Councillor Robert Rams complained and had it removed. The comment said :-

Twatman strikes again and contained the quote above. As Robert Rams asked all his friends to vote in the poll on this blog, where he was elected a Twat, it is a shame that he won't abide by the democratic will of the people and accept his title with grace. I suspect that Brian Coleman might get a close run for next years Waddock-Hunt award, assuming Councillor Mark Shooter doesn't take over the Tories in May and consign Rams to oblivion !!! (I hear the rest of the contenders quite like him)

Barnet Future Shape : Dodgy figure alert ?

The figures for many of the Barnet Future Shape cuts are detailed in this document


http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=9713

I was once given some advice by a forensic auditor. It is easy to tell when figures are real and when figures are made up in such documents. The real ones are generally fairly random numbers and the made up ones are fairly round numbers.

If I was Councillor Lynne Hillan, Councillor Bran Coleman, Councillor Mark Shooter, Councillor Andrew Harper or any of the other Barnet Councillors who want to become movers and shakers, I'd want to look at how all of these numbers were arrived at. It's pretty clear to me that all of this is, shall we say, open to further scrutiny. Lets see if our ruling Tory Councillors can be bovered.

Of course I'm sure Councillor Robert Ramsbottom thinks this paper is marvellous.

Allowancegate : Andrew Harper - The most greedy parasite in Barnet

Ever feel like you've been conned?

You probably thought that the Barnet Council Allowance scandal had gone away. Leader Lynne Hillan announced that the huge rises for cabinet members had been dropped. There is a story in this weeks Hendon Times where she says "she listened to the people". I am sorry to tell you that this is a massive lie. As you will recall Councillor Mark Shooter launched a leadership battle against Hillan in protest at the rises. Hillan immediately claimed she'd scrapped them. She kept the leadership by one vote.

Well how did she get those votes? She bought them. The key player was her deputy, Andrew Harper. He let it be known that what the price of his continued support was. You can see this today on page 17 of the on-line copy of the Press newspaper. This has a full page advert from Barnet Council, telling us of the "new scheme". Click here and go to page 17 :-

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/digitaleditions.aspx?tab=0&pid=f8297918-4e99-4dfb-9199-5ba5cfd6d926#

This is a (rather badly copied because I am in a rush) print of it, direct from the paper. Click on the image for an easier to read version

As you can see, Harper, the deputy Leader has seen his allowance rise from £9,974 to a whopping £27,429 - That is a £17,455 pay rise - That is a whopping 175% increase by my maths. This is at a time of budget cuts, job losses and all round belt tightening.

There is no other word for this than GREED. It is absolutely disgusting. Our poll for Councillor Rams is reaching it's conclusion tomorrow. Sadly it appears that whilst Rams isn't exactly the most pleasant or bright member of the cabinet, he is not the greediest or most parasitic member by a long way. Harper is in a league of his own. The man is a total disgrace and is a shameful stain on the good name of Barnet Council.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of all of this is the lies which the Conservative Leadership have told the good people of Barnet. It makes me sick. The battle goes on

The two happiest people in Barnet tonight

There are two very happy bunnies snuggling up in bed as I write this. Leader of the Labour group in Barnet Council, Alison Moore and Tory Chief whip Brian Coleman (no not together, perish the thought).

It is now common knowledge that the attempted Coup by disgruntled Tory Councillors has fizzled out. As it stands, three will vote for the motion of no confidence and a maximum of three will get a headache and not show up. Brian Coleman has let it be known that any Tories who vote with the opposition will lose the whip, lose all committee postings and be ostracised. Of the 18 councillors who voted for Shooter, 12 have told Coleman they will vote with the party. Expect a minimum of two bye elections in coming months. Coleman has been saying that Shooter has lost the plot and is walking the streets of Barnet shouting rude words (well not quite, but I'm sure you get my drift) and thinks it is hilarious. As for Shooter, he's gone to ground, drawn the curtains and isn't taking any calls (and I don't mean from me).

As for Alison Moore, the last thing she wanted was to see the back of Hillan and Coleman. She's privately chuffed (although it is fair to say she can't stand the pair of them). Probably the only person to come out of this with their image enhanced is Lib Dem leader Jack Cohen, who's motion has exposed the Tories as completely two faced, voting against Hillan last week and for Hillan this week.

I suspect that  this will not really give Jack too much satisfaction as he dearly hoped that he'd actually managed to see off Hillan and Coleman for a couple of days.

Barnet Leadership Challenge : Mark Shooter and his cunning plan

A little "ill informed, idle speculation for you on a Friday night" as you lot won't leave me alone.

Ok, so you are millionaire Mark Shooter. You are a newly elected Barnet Tory Councillor and you have come to the conclusion, in three short months that the people at the top of the Barnet Tory party are a complete shower of ....... Most of them haven't got a clue who you are.

One day, whilst idly playing with your ducks in the bath you think to yourself "I know, I've got a cunning plan. I'll stand against the leader. No one knows who I am, Hillan has them all in her pocket, I'll lose and then I'll be ostracised and look stupid". You put your cunning plan to a few other Barnet newboys and they say "Hey Mark, that's a great plan, sign me up".

You then go and enact your plan and it works perfectly. You can then have all the fun of being barked at by Brian Coleman, sit on your own in the council chamber and skulk off.

Now I've never met Mark Shooter, so I've no idea whether he's a genius of this magnitude or not. What I do know is that he made a serious amount of money and has been very successful in business. Whatever he did or didn't expect, unless he's completely bonkers he did better than he could have reasonably hoped.

What does this mean? Well, this is wild speculation, but I suspect it means that his plan is far more cunning than the one I outlined above. If so, then what we've seen so far is just a preliminary skirmish. If I was Lynne Hillan, I'd put the Champagne back on ice.

Hillan Hangs on - The Barnet Tories Hang themselves

The Barnet Tories have (as predicted before the vote) bottled it and voted to keep Lynne Hillan. Given the closeness of the vote against Mark Shooter, she is clearly holed below the waterline. Moves are already afoot to allow Andrew Harper to step in and "unite" the party in as painless a way as possible "for the good of the party" (and his wallet).

Sadly, reports reach the Barnet Eye that Brian Coleman hasn't got "party unity" on his mind, he's bent on revenge. Brian doesn't really get it. A massive number of his colleagues think Shooter would be a better leader than Hillan. Only enormous pressure and threats managed to prevent him taking over. If Coleman moves against Shooter, it could start a full scale civil war. Coleman forgets that only eight Tory councillors need vote with their coalition partners, the Lib Dems (and Labour) to remove Hillan as leader of the Council.

I can understand why some Tory Councillors would be reluctant to vote for an unknown quantity like Mark Shooter. For such a significant number to take the risk, shows just how bad Lynne Hillan really is. She may have hung on, but in reality the Barnet Conservative Party has chosen to hang itself. They have lost all credibility and unless they can find a way to get rid of Hillan pronto, they run the risk of imploding completely.

Sadly they've lost their bottle and chosen to reject the only Tories who have shown any guts whatsoever and the only ones who are prepared to address the issue of public trust.

Barnet Council Leadership Contest - The intrigue deepens as the deadline looms

A passing comment last night at the Cabinet meeting from a friendly Tory Councillor gave a telling insight into the mindset of our local Tories right now. Councillor Richard Cornelius announced in his rather rambling preamble about the Local Development Framework, which was being debated (or should I say rubber stamped).

It's the best that we're going to get for Barnet

This document is highly important. Richard Cornelius stressed time and again that thousands of trees had been chopped down. He stated that the scrutiny committee comments "had been noted". He said that it had taken two years and countless consultations. At the end of it, we've got something that the cabinet member responsible can only sum up in this way.

Word reaches the Barnet Eye of frantic lobbying by both Mike Freer and Matthew Offord on behalf of incumbent leader Lynne Hillan. The body language at the meeting indicated that she needs all the help she can get. She sat next to council officials, with her Deputy sitting opposite. At the end of the meeting, the vast majority of the councillors legged it as soon as humanly possible. Councillor Tom Davey, who had clearly come along for a brown nosing session, seemed to pick up the panic and looked rather disturbed. Today, out of the blue, I got a reply from Barnet Council about my complaint re the election arrangements. It is outrageous. I have chosen not to write a blog about it, as I suspect they could only have sent such an email to try and get me to blog about that instead of the leadership.

I've received quite a few emails and calls today. A couple of other bloggers have had their say - Vicki Morris says she wants Hillan to stay, because she's useless and this is better for the Unions. Mrs Angry seems to want Shooter to win.  Whether we should listen to Mrs Angry given that her grandfather could have single handedly prevented the rise of Nazism and the Second World War I don't know.

Perhaps the most interesting caller was a Barnet Councillor who phoned me to discuss the Leadership Election. He was unaware until I told him that Brian Coleman had bunked off the Cabinet meeting. Following our conversation (this may or may not give you an insight into his identity), I can confidently predict that within four weeks Barnet Council will have a new Leader. I can even tell you who it will be - Councillor Andrew Harper. The succession plan has been worked out. The powers that be know the game is up and that Hillan is dead in the water. Mark Shooter will rock to many boats, put too many noses out of joint and open too many cupboards with skeletons in. He must be stopped at all costs. It seems that deals are being done. Sadly for you and I dear reader, all this means is more of the same. Less incompetent than Hillan, but still completely ineffective and useless. Ineffectual lackies such as Robert Rams will be retained and the status quo will be shored up.

If you were wondering why Harper was so cheerful last night, now you know. What Colemans absence tells us, we can only speculate.

There are going to be a few casualties in this battle though. Watch this space.......

In the meantime, I suspect what Richard Cornelius said could apply to the rise of Andrew Harper - It's the best we're going to get for Barnet

The people of Barnet elected you and pay your allowances

This blog is a direct message to the Barnet Conservative Councillors, ahead of the Leadership vote on Tuesday 7th of September.

Kate Salinger aside, every single one of you let down yourself and the people of Barnet, when you voted for the allowance rise earlier in the summer. We all make mistakes, especially when we are new to the game. In life, if we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it. You know Lynne Hillan is not up to the job. You know she isn't anywhere near the Leader the people of the London Borough of Barnet deserve. The people who are supporting her are not doing so out of a genuine belief in her talents. They are a talentless bunch who need the protection of a weak leader, who in turn needs their protection.

The people of Barnet elected you. The people of Barnet pay your allowances. The people of Barnet had faith in you to represent their interests to the best of their ability. That is where your allegiance must lie. You owe Lynne Hillan nothing, your first loyalty must be to the electorate. Remeber that when you vote.

Barnet Leadership Challenge : Open panic in the Lynne Hillan camp

If you want to get a sense of the desperation and panic in the Lynne Hillan camp in the Barnet Leadership battle, consider this. The Chipping Barnet Conservative association have organised a trip for their members to Strasbourg to see Marina Yannakoudakis MEP (see this link and look at September 5th by clicking here). The trip was part of their regular fundraising activities. The trip was meant to be lead by Councillors Richard and Alison Cornelius. They are both fluent French speakers. Many of the travellers are elderly and were looking forward to a nice time.

Sadly for these party stalwarts, Richard Cornelius has been told he's not going. Barnet Council Leader Lynne Hillan can't spare his vote, so the party faithful can get stuffed. Keeping her in a job is more important. When Mark Shooter announced his intention to stand, Hillan said that a Councillor who had only been in office since May was not a credible candidate. If she cannot spare one single paid up cabinet members vote, she is not a credible leader. If it is so tight that Richard Cornelius cannot be spared, she has lost the party. Win or lose, she's lost. It's not like the situation in December when she beat Fiona Bulmer, this is a vote of confidence in her leadership and if she is this desperate, that's it chum.

I urge her cabinet colleagues to spare her the humiliation and put her out of her misery - have a private word and tell her to bow out with dignity. Lynne Hillan has made the Barnet Conservative party a joke. Even the Brent Labour party is laughing at Barnet and saying that the Tories have no credibility left -

http://barnhill-newdawn.blogspot.com/2010/08/public-pressure-imagine-results.html#comments

Of course, I suppose it's possible that the Barnet Tory ruling elite like being a joke and a laughing stock. Let's face it, it's the only thing they seem to be good at.

Barnet Council Leadership : We can't bury our heads in the sand any longer

Barnet Council has huge debts of over £200 Million (long term borrowing and liabilities). This has risen from about £38 million when the Tories took charge. Due to a serious of massive blunders, the reserves have been depleted and huge unexpected charges in the form of spending overruns, legal cases and lost investments have left the council in a position where every Council tax payer in Barnet owes £1,000. Sadly the current leader of Barnet Council doesn't even begin to comprehend that this is a problem. The executives at Barnet Council have two answers (which anyone with an ounce of financial acument will recognise as completely insane). The first is to borrow even more money to cover the debt (think of the adverts "Why not roll all your debts into a brand new one and then go on holiday"). The second is to have a firesale of council assets, namely properties, which will then be leased back. Whilst this will plug the immediate hole in the finances, it will build in huge structural costs into the council budget for ever. Just suppose the Council sell £100 million of assets to cover the debt.  A commercial landlord will then charge the council a rent on these. All of a sudden there is an annual bill of £10-15 million for rent, which wasn't on the account sheet before. At some point there will be rent reviews and the bill will get even bigger.

As ever, when you really want to see what sort of shape an organisation is in, start with their latest accounts. I've spent the last few days going through these, which is why I've started asking these questions. The situation looks grim to me.


What other "black holes" are there in the council accounts? I've also been digging in the council papers, chatting with my friends in the trades unions. One of them sent me this link :-


http://www.epolitix.com/members/member-press/member-press-details/newsarticle/audit-commission-report-confirms-shortfall-in-the-local-government-pension-scheme-is-caused-by-last///sites/gmb/

This details shortfalls in the Local Government Pension scheme, to which Barnet subscribes. I'm not an expert on such matters, but as I understand it the problem is this. Barnet has a legal obligation to it's workforce, there is a shortfall (and these are huge sums) and someone is going to have to pay for it (guess who).

Just to give you a flavour of this, have a look at the council accounts for 2008/2009 (the last full year) - http://www.barnet.gov.uk/statement-of-accounts-2008-09.pdf - go to page 102. What is the biggest red figure - at £228,024,000 - the pension fund reserve. How on earth can you have a negative reserve? Even more worrying is the fact that this rose by over £26 million in one year.

Even worse is the fact that the total liabilities of the council are £560,635,000 on the face of it, the accounts show that the position is rosy, £1,962,959,000, but the vast majority of this is the council housing stock - £1,220,000. When you then take the other property assets - £489,893,000 you soon see that most of this is sown up. Assuming that these liabilities have to be financed, lets say at 3% above base rate, this is costing us approx £20 million a year, even at a low base rate of 0.5%. If interest rates were to go up to 6.5% (not a particularly high rate historically), the Barnet taxpayer would be paying £60 million a year.

Of course, all of these interest rates are notional. Barnet has it's cash on a whole range of interest rates, some fixed and some variable. The point is that the more debt we have, the more assets we sell, the less control the town hall has over what the council tax levels will actually be. Under the combined leadership of Mike Freer and Lynne Hillan, we are approaching a cliff and the current leadership have put their foot on the accelerator, not the brakes. I have no idea whether the leadership challenger, Mark Shooter has any answers to this,but he has told the press that he isn't a fan of the future shape scheme, which at least acknowledges that he realises that selling the family silver is bonkers.

It seems to me that there is a political consensus in Barnet. This is one of completely burying our heads in the sand. I believe there is a stark choice which cannot be put off any longer. Lynne Hillan is part of the problem, she has caused the problem. She is the one who froze the council tax, by raiding the reserves, purely to win an election. She was the one who then tried to vote herself a huge payrise with our cash. She is a totally discredited failure. She has no answers. If she isn't sacked now, then come the next election, there won't be a Barnet Council left. I have one question for all of our Tory Councillors. Have you actually read the Council accounts? If you have, how could you possibly vote for Lynne Hillan - the only answer to this is that you are too thick to understand a balance sheet or too greedy to care.

Barnet Leadership Challenge - Tory Musical Chairs

Hot News reaches the Barnet Eye. It seems like the Mark Shooter campaign  is planning a big clearout of dead wood in the Barnet Tory machine.

As well as Shooter challenging Hillan, I hear Brian Schama is in the frame for role of Chairman, ousting Wendy Prentice. Kate Salinger looks a shoe in for the Deputy chairmanship. It looks like Maureen Braun might be on the receiving end of a plumb job from her fellow Hendon Councillor if he wins. We believe this role is likely to not be too strenuous as Maureen is reputed to not be too keen on work, but will deliver a decent allowance - I'm all for helping old ladies in distress, so this is clearly very gallant of Shooter.

Rather oddly, one chairman who isn't being challenged is Hale Councillor Hugh Rayner. Whilst denying he'd been knobbled by Shooter, Hugh did say he'd be happy to serve the people of Barnet in any way he could and wasn't too bothered who the leader was (such selflessness). Rumour reaches the Barnet Eye that dear old Hugh thinks Shooter may be able to reignite his ambition for a seat in parliament, which until recently he thought had long since gone. The good thing for many of the Tories on the edge of the regime is that the current palace coup offers many of them a rather unexpected leg up.

One other little gem reaches me apparently Brian Coleman may think Shooters campaign have identified a third member of Hillans cabinet who is knobbleable. Sadly my mole in the hole won't tell me who. Oh by the way, one little thing which may make you laugh. A report reaches the Barnet Eye that my favourite Jabba The Hut impersonator, Brian Coleman has not been himself today. Whilst he wasn't quite wondering around, Kenneth Williams style shouting "Infamy, Infamy, they've all got it in for me" he's most certainly not his usual happy, charming self. What could be the cause of his malaise? For all I know, it might because Mike Freer wouldn't give him a lift down the chip shop in his campervan, but he's not a happy bunnykins.