How do the Barnet Conservatives choose their committee chairmen?

Last week I attended the Barnet Council audit committee. As I mentioned at the time, I was completely underwhelmed with the performance of the chair of the committee, Councillor Brian Salinger. I wrote a blog detailing just what an awful job Councillor Salinger was doing. Given that audit is probably the most important committee, I had to wonder just how he was chosen. My mind was cast back to the early years of the last decade. At the time I was working in an office near Aldgate. Every day I'd nip down to Sidoli's in Leman ST, a family run cafe, and get a cup of tea from Marge. The cafe had been there since the 1950's and Marge would often tell us how when she started "The cafe was always full of seamen from the docks" (to general myrth). By the 1990's the dockers and seamen had been replaced by yuppies and bankers. Over the road from Sidoli's a lap dancing club had opened. The manager was a larger than life character, who was full of interesting stories.

One day, we were all having a cuppa and a chinwag and he told us he'd just interviewed three new lapdancers. He said that he asked all three the same question. He said "if you are doing a dance in the private booth and when the punter has gone, you notice he's dropped his wallet with £500 in it what do you do".

The first girl said "I'd run after the punter and return his wallet"
The second one said "I'd take the money, put the wallet in the bin and deny all knowledge if asked"
The third one said "I'd take the money and give you half, then put the wallet in the bin"

He then asked me and Marge, "which girl should I employ". Marge said girl no 1 on the grounds she was the most honest. I countered and said "Girl two as she is probably the only one telling the truth and so at least you know where you stand with her. He laughed and said "no you're both wrong". So we asked "so which one would you employ?" He replied "The one with the biggest tits of course".

You may wonder what this has to do with Barnet Council? Well, the manager of the lapdancing club gave an insight into what it takes to run an organisation successfully. Whether or not you like his business, or his answer, he demonstrated that he was empoying the person best equipped to do the job. It isn't a pleasant job and honesty is not a primary requirement for his business.In his judgement and experience, he chose the girl who was best equipped for the task.

Broken bins

The problem with Barnet Council is that there is no such focus. The chair of each committee gets an allowance of over £15,000 for their efforts. This is our money. We pay it in taxes and in return we expect the council to spend it wisely. Sadly in Barnet the jobs are divvied up as political favours, not based on the 'assets" of the individuals. Another important committee is the Environment Committee chaired by Dean Cohen. Anyone who has seen Cohen in action will recognise that he is totally out of his depth.  It is 100% clear that his appointment was purely a dog bone to someone the leadership viewed as politically useful. Since taking over from the disasterous reign of Brian Coleman, Cohen has singularly failed to achieve anything. When he took over, Brian Colemans policy of abolishing pay and display had laid waste to high street businesses. It was clear that the policy should be reversed in short order. Cohen lacked the cojones to do this. Eventually a sort of half way house was established, with a few machines being installed, that took credit cards. Whilst this is better than a mobile only solution, it was so clearly a bad political fudge. There is no leadership and no direction to the environment policy. 

Walking around Mill Hill park this week demonstrated this. Dangerous man hole covers and broken bins. I am particularly concerned about this manhole cover. Many young people frequent the park after dark. This is a highly dangerous feature, which could cause a severe injury. In cold weather, if you broke your leg it may even prove fatal. it used to be the case that local councillors would work with the chair of such committees to ensure that their patch was spotless. Sadly under the reign of Cohen, the concept has gone out of the window and all we ever get is excuses for inaction.

What do the committee do? They most certainly don't ensure that the environment is looked after. I have no idea why Dean Cohen has been chosen, but he doesn't cut the mustard.


Then we have the Children, Education, Libraries & Safeguarding Committee which is chaired by the truly horrible Rueben Thompstone. Thompstone managed the near impossible and forced Tory uber loyalist Maureen Braun to rebel over the closure of after school services at Mapledown School. He is currently overseeing the destruction of the Barnet Libraries network. There is no councillor more popous and condescending in the whole of the council. One Tory councillor who I get oin quite well with joked about Thompstone that there are two types of people those that dislike him and those that haven't met him. I asked why he was chosen for such a role, the repsonse "I suppose it is because he's a teacher". It must be said that he gets on quite well with one person, Dan Thomas who is the deputy leader of the council. Thomas sees Thompstone as a useful foil for unpopular policies. Given his personality, he acts as a lighetning rod for protests, deflecting flak from the puppet master pulling the strings. Anyone who has ever watched Thompstoen closely will have seen how he watches Thomas like a hawk for signals as to what to do. It is clar to anyone who has attended any Council meeting to discuss libraries that Thompstone,w ho clearly wasn't born or raised in the Borough, has no understanding of the role libraries play in the lives of local families. It is not unreasonable to expect a chair of the committee who has at least got some sort of understanding of what the service provides.

Another wholly inappropriate choice of chairman is councillor Tom Davey as chair of the housing committee. You will see from his declaration of interests that Cllr Davey is a financial analyst for British American Tobacco. Davey has made many pronouncemens about social housing tenants. Like many well to do young men who have had a priveliged start in life, Mr Davey has no real experience of the lives of people his decisions affect so greviously. Mr Davey is apparently a landlord. One has to assume that the salary of a financial analyst for a tobacco firm is either massively well paid or mummy and daddy have helped out with his property purchases. Given his age and his listed property is in one of the most well sought after cul-de-sacs in Mill Hill, it is fair to assume that the plight of young people seeking social housing in Barnet are a million miles away from his personal experience. I suppose it is ironic that many of his fellow Tory members find the fact that many social housing tenants and benefit recipients spend cash on the addictive products that Mr Davey's firm produce distasteful. Mr Davey clearly sees no problem with the sale of addictive and dangerous products and one assumes that his analysis produces information which is used to justify a product which has killed and caused debiliating illness to millions of UK citizens. We have to ask, what experience he has he got to justify this important role? As a private landlord, his income is presumably affected by the provision of social housing, as all commercial rents are dictated by the laws of supply and demand. Am I alone in seeing a clash.

Finally we look at the Planning Committee. The chair of this is Melvin Cohen. He is Dean Cohens dad. Councillor Cohen is a lawyer by trade (according to his declaration). Given the huge amount of building going on in the Borough, this is a massively important committee. By all accounts Councillor Cohen is reasonably effective as chair when dealing with small scale planning applications in nice leafly suburban areas such as Edgware, Golders Green and Mill Hill. The problem is that the vast majority of planning applications that are phase shifting the nature of the Borough are mega developments in places like Brent Cross, West Hendon and the Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill. Cohen has shown himself to be completely out of his depth. In fact I get the impression that the whole Tory team on the planning committee are genuinely clueless when it comes to what is happening in our Borough. I have no idea if any of the Tories actually have any interest at all in ensuring a mixed neighbourhood, social housing or green spaces are preserved in planning applications, but there has been scant indications of this.

For Barnet to remain a great place to live, all of the committees I've mentioned need strong chairmen. If they don't do their job, then our Borough and our lifestyle will be trashed. We are aready seeing huge pressure on roads, schools, hospitals and police. When I a teenager, we had two A&E hospitals in the Borough. In that period the population of the Borough has increased by 50% yet we've lost one of these. Try applying for a school place. My eldest daughter was declined a place at the nearest secondary school to us on "catchment", despite living less than 1 mile from the establishment. She ended up having to take a bus to Finchley every day.  This is the monster they are creating.

A final word for the Labour group. It is simply not good enough to go along with these lacklustre Tory placemen. They need to use every meeting to ram home the message that the Tories are getting  a massive payout and they are not cutting the mustard. They are singularly failing to do this. They need to get on top of their briefs and start holding these rather ineffectual placemen to account.

When I was chatting with my friendly Tory councillor I told him the joke about the manager at the lap dancing club. He roared with laughter. He wryly commented "We can't choose people like that in the council". Of course he's right, but what he didn't say was how they did choose them. I guess the reason is because it is even more embarrassing.

How good is your councillor? The Barnet Eye League table of councillors - Part 2 - The list of shame

This is the second in our list of blogs, where we look at Barnet Council and we rate our local councillors. This is a purely personal view. On Sunday 16th November we looked at the good councillors in Barnet. Those that we believe are doing a good job, irrespective of their party allegiance.  I chose 8 Tories, 1 Lib Dem and 11 Labour councillors as examples of effective Councillors doing a good job. Todays list are the ones we believe don't cut the mustard and should be shipped off to the political wilderness. This list is not a list of personal gripes, it is based on the fact that I believe these politicians can demonstrably be shown to have failed to do a good job. The list is in order of worst first.

#1 -  Barnets worst Councillor. This was an exceptionally easy choice. This man has been responsible for developing a string of policies so unpopular that they have been slung out by the the council even though the Conservatives have a majority in both the Council chamber and the relevant committees. He championed the hugely unpopular cuts to the Mapledown School after school respite service and the Moss Hall nursery school. His pompous, dismissive and arrogant manner has alienated Councillors of all persuasions and infuriated the public at meetings. I happened to bump into a Tory Councillor in Finchley on Saturday who asked when I would be running this blog. I told them that this would be running today. They asked who I'd picked as my worst Councillor, when I told them, they laughed and said "an excellent choice". Just in case you were wondering, this isn't a councillor who generally endorses the Barnet  Eye, if you get my drift. I also notice that this councillor declines to give a contact number in his profile.  In his declaration of interests, he doesn't list a single organisation to which he contributes, other than CFI, FGGCA and CBCA - http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=177&T=6 - Now of course this is his business, but most councillors play an active role in their community. If you want a good example of a concerned Conservative have a look at Sury Khatri's interests.

• 
  Councillor Reuben Thompstone Golders Green
  Conservative - Work: cllr.r.thompstone@barnet.gov.uk
   
  

#2 - This councillor is extremely lucky that Rueben Thompstone is a member of Barnet Council, as she most certainly deserves the accolade of Barnets worst Councillor. She is the Councillor who has lead the local Labour party from defeat to defeat locally, when Tory Councils all over London Tumbled in May 2014. Not only has her election strategy failed to secure a Labour Council, she has failed to represent the views of the people who elected her and failed to take advantage of the numerous cock ups of successive Conservative administrations, to deliver a Labour victory. Under her 'wise' Leadership the local Labour Party signed up to a report that stated that returning "Your Choice Barnet" to in house operation was "not an option", even though the outsourcing has been a nightmare and the company required a taxpayer funded bale out. She failed to oppose the One Barnet outsourcing, refusing to ever say that the services would be brought in house under a Labour adminstration. In a spiteful attack on Barnets best councillor, Lib Dem Jack Cohen, she launched a Labour campaign drive in Childs Hill, a seat where Labour had no chance of winning, delivering two out of three seats to the Tories. Had the Lib Dems retained all three seats, Labour would now be leading an administration running the Council. Even worse was the fact that these resources could have been used in Hale ward that Labour narrowly failed to take from the Tories. Perhaps the biggest failure of all, is her signing up to the Tories budget. This policy was justified on the basis that anything else would lose the election. She lost the election and lost her credibility.

• 
  Councillor Alison Moore East Finchley
  Labour - cllr.a.moore@barnet.gov.uk

#3 - Next up we have the Labour architect of the infamous "keep Uopur Choice Barnet outsourced" policy. This councillor is surely an affable chap, but when it comes down to it he has simply acted as a merkin for ultra right wing Tory policies in Barnet. Where effective opposition was needed, this councillor actually bolstered the Tories. What this meant was that local campaigners, who had broken their backs supporting Labour and fighting outsourcing, were completely undermined. There is no point blaming Conservatives for implementing bad policies if the opposition simply says we agree with them. This councillor has the best attendence record of any in the Council with 24 out of 24, yet the Barnet Eye has to ask, what is the point being there as an opposition councillor, if you simply agree with what the administration do all the time. Barnet needs people who don't just turn up for the tea and biscuits. We need people who will fight for the residents and taxpayers.

• 
  Councillor Barry Rawlings Coppetts
  Labour - cllr.b.rawlings@barnet.gov.uk

 #4  - This Councillor has responsibility for housing in Barnet. He seems to have a complete lack of understanding of the issue and the need for decent quality social housing for working people. Not only that but he's presided over a policy where leasholders on Barnet Council estates have been lumbered with huge bills for maintenance work on their properties, where the properties are earmarked for demolition next year. Some leaseholders will be lumbered with bills of up to £10,000 and find themselves looking for new properties next year.  We believe that the primary job of councillors is to stick up for the voters. We believe that any policy which hammers local people such as this, at a time of deep economic hardship, shows that a councillor is simply not up to the job.

• 
  Councillor Tom Davey Hale
  Conservative - cllr.t.davey@barnet.gov.uk

#5 - This councillor had been a councillor for many years in the Borough, representing Hale Ward for the Conservatives. When it became clear that the ward was targetted by Labour as a winnable marginal, he moved to the ultra safe Tory seat in the neighbouring Edgware. In the event, Labours Kitty Lyons won the vacated seat, whilst the other two Hale Tories (Rayner and Davey) hung on. His little chicken run activities very nearly cost the Tories control of the Council. One has to assume that this councillor believes the Tories would provide a better council for Hale Ward councillors, but he put his own interests beyond those of the voters who supported him.

• 
  Councillor Brian Gordon LLB Edgware
  Conservative - cllr.b.gordon@barnet.gov.uk

#6 - This councillor is the Deputy Leader of Barnet Council. In the previous administration, he held the portfolio for managing the Councils portfolio of assets. Amongst the policies he championed were the sale of Friern Barnet library, a policy that came off the rails spectacularly, nearly losing the Tories the election to boot. At the initial hearing at Finchley County Court, he turned up to gloat when the case for eviction of local campaigners was heard. The council had botched the paperwork and the council were sent back with a flea in their ear, to prepare the case properly. At the subsequent hearing, it became clear that the Council had botched the whole issue and the Council were forced to compromise and save the library. As the architect of such a cock up, which cost several colleagues their seats on Council, one may have thought the Tories may have wanted a new Deputy Leader. One would be wrong.

• 
  Councillor Daniel Thomas BA (Hons) Finchley Church End
  Conservative - cllr.d.thomas@barnet.gov.uk

 #7 - According to disgraced former Councillor Brian Coleman, this is the Councillor who is really running the Council. She is the wife of the Council Leader. Mr Coleman rather bitchily says "Not possible to have a short conversation with her it is just easier to say yes and save the phone bill cost .  Her husband long ago opted for the easier option of agreeing with his wife . Has turned the Conservative Party in Totteridge almost into a family business." Whilst the Barnet Eye has little time for Mr Coleman or his antics, one suspects that Mrs C is the one person who holds sway over the Leader. As such she must take much of the blame for the mishaps that have struck the council. We really think it's time she started to use her influence a little more wisely.

• 
  Councillor Alison Cornelius Totteridge
  Conservative - cllr.a.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk

#8 - This councillor has developed a reputation for "no shows" at council meetings and events. He has the worst percenatge attendence rate of any Barnet Councillor, bunking off over a third of all the meetings he meant to show up for. He's a nice chap and a successful businessman, therefore it is with no great joy that we list him in th duds section. The truth however is that if you are elected to serve the people of Barnet, then that is what you should do. If you are building your global empire, do that instead. The people of Barnet need councillors who are prepared to put in the hours, represent the voters and stand up to the executive officers and even their own party when needs be. If you look at the list of good councillors, they've all shown a willingness to work and take the brickbats. So if you don't want to find yourself on this list, do the job!

• 
  Councillor Daniel Seal Garden Suburb
  Conservative - cllr.d.seal@barnet.gov.uk

#9 - Now we are down to the last two in our list. I have chosen these two purely to make a point.  They both have the lowest attendence record of council meetings in the last six months for their respective parties and they have both failed to attend meetings which the council logged them as being supposed to attend. For the Tories, the member with the lowest attendence is our Controversial Mayor, who has managed a mere 6. Now as Mayor, Mr Rayner will be excused the workload of other members, which may be a mitigating factor, but he's still failed to show for 25% where he was expected. When you consider that his colleague Sury Khatri (who is rightly in the best councillors list) made 18 out of 18, one has to say "Come on Hugh, pull your socks up"

• 
  Councillor Hugh Rayner Hale
  Conservative - cllr.h.rayner@barnet.gov.uk

#10 - At the bottom of the table for Labour and at the bottom of the table for the whole Council we have a Labour Councillor for Burnt Oak. If one part of the Borough needs someone to be a fearless champion, it is this ward. Yet this councillor has managed a mere four out of seven appearances. I must say she's never really registered on the Barnet Eye radar before. Now I think we know why.

• 
  Councillor Claire Farrier Burnt Oak
  Labour - cllr.c.farrier@barnet.gov.uk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So we conclude our list of shame. Do you agree? Have we been unfair to one of the recipients of the Barnet Timewasters awards? We think if you are ineffective, don't do your job, can't be bothered to turn up or don't have the intellect to make the case for the people you are supposed to represent, then you shouldn't be in the Town Hall and you shouldn't be claiming an allowance from the taxpayer. As to the third list - Well these are the councillors who I are either too new to draw a conclusion about or who have never done anything to get on the radar. If they are not in this blog or the list of good councillors, then I suggest you look at this list - http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?VW=TABLE&PIC=1&FN=  - and if they are your councillor, drop them an email and ask what they've been doing to justify the the minimum Ten Grand a year, we as taxpayers are paying them. I would also ask that if they are on the good Councillor list and you agree with me, then you drop them an email and thank them for doing their job well. Finally, if they are on the list above, drop them an email and tell them that they have made the clunkers list. Ask them what they intend to do to pull their socks up. Point out that their job is to serve you!

Time for Councillor Tom Davey to resign?

This evening I was forwarded an email exchange between disabled rights campaigner John Sullivan and Councillor Tom Davey, Barnet Council cabinet member responsible for housing. Mr Sullivan told me that he was too upset for words to write a coherent blog, in light of information revealed by the Hendon Times website today regarding Mr Davey. He has asked me to try and present the facts in a fair and balanced way. So lets start with The exchange

Mr Sullivan wrote the following email to Cllr Davey
-----
From: John Sullivan 
Sent: 12 April 2014 10:43
To: Davey, Cllr Tom
Subject: Ethnic Cleansing of Barnet Benefit Claimants

 

Dear Cllr Davey,

 

In light of your recent comments and apparent determination to ethnically cleanse Barnet of benefit claimants, which incidentally includes all disabled people and future disabled people in Barnet such as my fifty year old daughter and her peers.

 

Do you think we would be wise to move out of Barnet in order to secure the future quality of life for our daughter before we die, and before your dream of a pure society of the rich and well heeled, completely ethnically cleansed of the benefit claimants and the disabled becomes a reality in Barnet.

 

Or am I reading your rhetoric wrong, am I incorrectly assuming you have openly pronounced your detestation of the poor, the sick and the disabled , and believe they are  not fit to reside in Barnet.

 

Kind Regards

 

Mr J J Sullivan

------------------------------------
Councillor Davey replied
------------------------------------

From: "Davey, Cllr Tom"  Cllr.Davey@Barnet.gov.uk
Date: 13 April 2014 12:29:57 BST
To: "John Sullivan"
Subject: RE: Ethnic Cleansing of Barnet Benefit Claimants

Dear Mr Sullivan

 

All housing allocation policy is clearly set out and avaialble for the public to view. There is not, has not been, and never will be an attempt to "ethnically cleanse" Barnet and i think many residents would find this suggestion deeply insensitive and offensive. I can only apologise if you have misunderstood any comments and offer you fully assurance that the Council and its policies comply with all relevant legislation.

 

For clarification, to the best of my knowledge i have never pronounced "destesation of the poor, the sick and the disabled". 

 

If you have particular concerns on policy, please email those concerns to Barnet Homes and an officer can provide a detailed response. I hope this helps and trust i have answered your question.

 

Best

Tom

  

In this, as you can quite clearly see, Councillor Davey states that he has never, to the best of his knowledge, pronounced "destesation of the poor, the sick and the disabled" which is quite clearly something he sees as " deeply insensitive and offensive" to quote his own words. What sort of a man would pronounce  a dislike of the poor? What sort of a man would not care for the disabled? What sort of a man indeed?

So when Mr Sullivan saw this article in the Edgware Times  http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11150246.Claims_Tory_Councillor_is__not_fit_for_office__after__disgusting__Facebook_posts/?ref=var_0 , highlighting these Facebook messages from Mr Davey, he felt that it was time for Mr Davey to be held to account





The posts, made by Cllr Tom Davey of Tory-run Barnet Council, were revealed just days after he was caught advocating ‘social cleansing’ in a shocking video.






Davey said the sick joke was “probably misjudgement in hindsight” – but that despite being open to tens of thousands of people in the LSE Facebook network, it was a private joke between friends.
He admitted:

“I have a very dry sense of humour”

Defending perhaps the most disgusting post, in which he says he is “smacking his bitch up…that’ll teach her for ironing loudly whilst the football is on” – Davey said he was being “ironic.”

Just remember, Councillor Davey said in his own email "For clarification, to the best of my knowledge i have never pronounced "destesation of the poor, the sick and the disabled" As Mr Sullivan reminds us, his 50 year old, Downs Syndrome daughter is the "Benefit claiming scum" that Mr Davey berates in his Facebook message.

It is interesting to note that Councillor Davey thinks a disabled black lesbian may have more luck than him in getting a job. Now if Mr Davey was an all in wrestler, the type his political mentor, Councillor Robert Rams is so keen on (http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/who-is-the-labour-councillor-who-has-allegedly-been-summoned-to-court-for-non-payment-of-1400-of-council-tax/), maybe he would have some sort of a point, however Mr Davey was seeking white collar jobs where sound judgement are valued. Is there a clue in his Facebook messages as to why he had such problems?

It is also interesting to note that given the poor Tory record on the subject of violence against women, with Councillor Brian Coleman being arrested for assaulting a woman, that Councillor Davey seems to think beating women up is a laughing matter.

Councillor Davey, in the above link to Robert Rams blog, calls for Labour Leader Alison Moore to resign, based on poor judgement. Our advice for Councillor Davey is to go away, spend some time on the bench and get some life experience. We sincerely hope that he will in time mature, but it is clear that at the moment he does not have the life skills to be a senior official with an important portfolio in local government. If these remarks were dug up from 20 years ago, then that would be one thing, but they were made when Davey was active in local politics in recent years. There was no hint of any sort of apology to those who might be offended. Mr Davey claims that the jokes were "saloon bar humour". Whilst we have no doubt that these are the sort of jokes Councillor Davey shares regularly with his mates in the pub, if you are a politician and on facebook, you should have a little bit more sense.  None of us are perfect, I am sure Facebook and Twitter and even blogger sometimes tempts us to make mistakes and say silly things. Being a dyslexic, I sometimes say things which are misconstrued, sometimes my humour is misunderstood. If someone genuinely claims I've upset them I apologise. In Mr Sullivans case, I am sure he will be awaiting Councillor Davey's apology with baited breath. Because it is clear that not only was Mr Davey being extremely offensive about Susan Sullivan and all her disabled peers. No one can doubt that, in light of these revelations. He mislead Mr Sullivan about his views on the disabled and the poor, who he clearly thinks it is absolutely fine to mock and humiliate.

For the absence of doubt, this story from the Times details how Davey was elected in 2008
http://www.times-series.co.uk/archive/2008/05/02/2243037.Conservatives_hold_on_to_Hale/

Whats best in Barnet - Focus on Hale Ward - Lyndhurst Park

Continuing our theme of whats Best in Barnet, a rather surprising and rather good contribution from Councillor Tom Davey about his home ward - Hale. Tom say:

"For me, the best thing in Hale (that many people may not be aware of) is Lyndhurst Park- unfortuntely the park sign on Bunns Lane is spray painted at the moment, but it a great open space, with a path between the meads and Bunns Lane. A few years ago it wasn't used, now some people know about it, but the more the better!

 

The other great thing is the bramble bushes between the path and the London Wildlife Trust Area/old railway track. Over the last couple of years myself & my fiance have managed to get on average 3kg of Blackberries in each picking, which makes a lot of Jam :-)

 

Not an action packed day out and can't quite compete with other places for entertainment value, but certainly worth a visit if anyone wants a bit of open space."

I am fond of Lyndhurst Park and the disused railway. I used to traverse the park on my daily walk to Orange Hill Senior High School back in the day. I'd often sit on the disused station platform and chill after a days study. I find disused railway lines rather intriguing and beguiling. Thanks to Tom for his selection (I wondered where all the blackberrys had gone !)

One Barnet - What our councillors had to say

Last week I emailed our local Councillors asking whether they felt that enough time was being allowed to study the One Barnet contract before the decision was taken (http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/urgent-question-for-barnet-councillors.html). I have sent many such emails to our councillors and usually get a sparse reply. This time was different. From each group I received

Labour - 8 replies.
Lib Dem - 2 replies.
Conservatives - 12 replies.

The most interesting aspect of the Conservative group reply was that 8 of the twelve were from Councillors private accounts, requesting I respect confidentiality, but sharing their personal views.

Of those who responded publicly, perhaps the most interesting was from Cabinet member Tom Davey. He said

Dear Roger

As mentioned in previous communication with yourself, both of us have one thing in common- making Barnet and better place and doing so in a sustainable way, but i think we both know each of us has a different view on how to achieve that, and we probably won't be agreeing on that in the near future.

To answer your question on whether there is enough time, the answer is yes. Councillors set policy and it is the responsibility of officers to implement. The consultant costs and legal fees that some people have highlighted are evidence of the precautions the Council has taken in handling the matter. It is the responsibility of officers, together with our consultants to ensure the contracts do what we have asked, and safeguarded against risks we have highlighted, and any we hadn't thought of.

I have asked senior officers several times about how we are safeguarding ourselves, and have received consistent answers from different officers, all of which reasurres me that the policy we are seeking will be delivered as intended.

If all else fails, i hope you will believe in self interest above all else. I enjoy the work i do as a Councillor and want to be re-elected in 2014. If the NSCSO contract is a failure this has a direct impact on my chances of re-election- so as you can see, i have very good reason to make sure everything is as it should be.

Best,

Tom

Of course I'm pleased Councillor Davey responded. As he points out, I disagree. I will set out my views in a later blog. Another interesting reply was from Councillor Hugh Rayner

Roger

I am not in the habit of replying to round robins in particular ones worded in the way that you have worded yours.

Nevertheless to demonstrate that you are not being ignored I will make an exception in this case.

NSCSO - whether to go ahead or not - will be an executive decision to be taken by Cabinet on 6th December.
The B&P O&SC of which I am a member  will pre-scrutinise this decision on 29th November.

I will do whatever I decide is necessary to prepare myself for this meeting.
Please appreciate that the scrutiny committee do not have the power to instruct Cabinet to follow any course of action, only to make comments and recommendations.

For the record I will be chairing BMO&SC on 13th December where we will be reviewing the decision made by the Cabinet on 6th December - assuming of course that the matter is called-in.

Hugh Rayner Cllr

Hugh has been robust in his questioning of One Barnet and has earned respect for this. I not with interest his comments regarding the scrutiny committee. This echoes my view that the process needs beefing up and betrays the democratic deficit in Barnet.

Of the "private" emails, I will only make a couple of quotes. Interestingly these fall into two camps, two were from "One Barnet believers". Here is one comment, which seems to reflect the position.

"I am broadly supportive of the One Barnet program and believe it will deliviver benefits to residents. I do however concede that the time allowed for discussions seems to be insufficient".

Perhaps more worrying are the comments from the sceptics. Perhaps the most disturbing is this.

"Its difficult to read a contract 'Cold' but it helps if one is a party to the processes as matters progress.  There is not sufficient time. Even if I take out time and read the contract, what difference will it make ?"

I suspect the leadership would be surprised at who responded and what they said. It is a sad day when councillors feel that doing their job is pointless. Once these contracts are signed, there will be a lot more feeling like that.


At least the councillors (on both sides) are bothering to answer. I suppose that is progress

Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble at The Houses of Parliament

At 7pm this evening, Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble is being shown at the Houses of Parliament. As producer of the film, I'm very proud of the fact that a project I've been so intimately involved with is receiving this accolade.

Sadly, not a single Conservative member has bothered to see the film. I'd be more than happy to show the film to them, in fact they are the one group who really should watch it. The film shows a whole side of life which it seems many of our Conservative Councillors have no experience of and no interest in.

I don't believe that our Conservative Councillors are really that heartless that they din't care. I believe they have just never experienced the trials and tribulations of people with disabilities living on benefits. In the film we show Councillor Tom Davey saying "You can't help people who won't help themselves". Let's think about what he says. In the film, we show Lauren Ferebee, a young carer who looks after her younger sister Jordan. Her sister is 11 years old and she can't and won't look after herself. That is why her sister and her mum have to. What would Councillor Davey suggest we do with a young girl such as Jordan who can't and won't look after herself? Should we throw her to the wolves and let her starve to death? What would she do for her mother, who has been in unsuitable temporary accomodation for 11 years. Their mother Michelle has had a constant fight to keep the family together. Lauren recently did GCSE's and got good grades, despite having to share a bedroom with her severely disabled sister. She was given the honour of handing the Olympic torch to Matthew Pinsent, as the last public stage of the Olympic Torch relay, as recognition for her work for her sister.

Sadly for Lauren, Councillor Davey,who lives with Mummy and Daddy in a lovely big house in Langley Park Mill Hill, clearly has no sympathy for the predicament which the family find themselves. I  invited him down to meet the family, but he wasn't interested. Sometimes, I find that I preach to the converted, and the people who should be listening simply stick their fingers in their ears and shout "la la la". Sadly I can't do anything about that, but collectively we can. Collectively we can all get involved. In May 2014 there is a council election and we have the opportunity to send the likes of Tom Davey packing.

In the next few weeks, Barnet Council will be voting on whether to outsource 70% of the councils functions to private contractors. These contracts will be for ten years and there has been no proper democratic scrutiny. The business case is based on all manner of elements which are pure guesswork. The risk register is over 100 pages long and no one apart from a few Council officials has seen the contracts.

I do not subscribe to the notion that all outsourcing is bad. There are many cases where it is clearly and quantifiably the best way forward. For instance, it is far cheaper and more efficient for the Council to let specialists maintain their vehicles. The One Barnet project is different. It involves uprooting whole departments that currently perform rather well and transfer them to private companies. The majority of the financial benefits in the business case are from selling services to other councils, which the outsources claim will deliver profits. There is no proven market for these services and no guarantee that any customers will emerge. One in four major outsourcing projects have failed in the UK, each time lumbering the taxpayer with costs.

The latest of these has been G4S at the Olympics, where the army stepped in. In Barnet, there will be no army to bale us out. My family have been residents of the London Borough of Barnet (and it's predecessor Hendon County Council) since the 1930's. My parents and grandparents are buried here. I don't want to be forced out by massive Council tax bills, if it all goes wrong.

That is why I made the film. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have had to and tonight I'd be sitting in front of the telly watching West Ham play Stoke City on Sky. Someone asked me if I had always wanted to be a film maker. The answer is no. Like most things in my life (including blogging), I got into it by accident. We've shown the film several times now and hundreds of people have seen it. I am very proud of the work I've done, but like the work I do at the Passage centre for homless people on a Thursday morning, I really wish there was no need for it.

I have been asked if I will be making any more films. I have no idea, I have quite enjoyed it, but I can only do things I have a passion for. I'd like to make a film about dyslexia and also about the way cancer effects peoples lives. If anyone out there has a few grand they want to invest get in touch.

Cabinet Resources committee to agree to selling Friern Barnet Library BEFORE court case is heard

In an extraordinarily provocative move, Barnet Council has moved to agree to sell Friern Barnet library BEFORE the court case to determine whether the Peoples library will be evicted. The court date for the hearing is on the 18th Dec, wheras the cabinet resources committee is on the 17th. The papers are listed here

http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g7370/Agenda%20frontsheet%2014th-Nov-2012%20Advanced%20Notice%20of%20Proposed%20Decisions%20under%20Executive%20Functions.pdf?T=0

The Barnet Eye believes that this move is a highly stupid ploy. One wonders what the District Judge hearing the case will make of this snub to the judiciary?

Here is a list of the members of the Cabinet Resources committee, their emails and their surgery details. I urge every reader of the Barnet Eye who cares about the future of the library service to attend at least one of these surgeries and to make clear to them that the people of Barnet love and cherish their library service.

The strongest message you can send the councillors about keeping your own library is to support the people of Friern Barnet in their battle to save Friern Library. I attended (and did the sound) for the Will Self booksigning at Friern Library. It brought home to me just how underused the space is at the other libraries and how dynamic the Peoples library has become. Barnet Council should be working with the people on the ground at Friern, to build a beacon of literacy and learning. Instead they seem not to care. There ware between 150 and 200 people there for Will Self and a fantastic night was had by all. People from all walks of life attended. One man, who works in the City of London said to me as I packed up "I used to sneer at the Occupy people outside St Pauls, this is the first time I've been to this Library and they have done a magnificent job. I can't believe I'd ever have said that they would have lessons for Barnet Council". 

The truth is that there is a big lesson for Barnet in what is happening at Friern. The lesson is that people love their libraries and care for them. If an uncaring council scorns the people, then groups like occupy will fill the vacuum. If the Council succeeds and shuts the library, they will have made Occupy into heroes of the people in Barnet, even with staunch Tory voters. That would be a spectacular own goal. I urge all councillors to listen to reason.

Cabinet Resources Committee emails and surgery details. Please make the effort

cllr.d.thomas@barnet.gov.uk  

Surgery : First Wednesday of each month, 7.00-8.00pm. Avenue House, East End Road,Finchley N3. 

cllr.r.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk 

Surgery : Third Saturday of the month 10.30am-12noon. Barnet House, 1255 High Road, N20.

cllr.t.davey@barnet.gov.uk

Surgery - 1st Thursday of each month 6pm-7.30pm.

Alternating between:

Edgware Library, Station Road, Edgware HA8.

Mill Hill Library, Hartley Avenue, Mill Hill NW7.

Call 020 8958 3364 to confirm location of next surgery.

cllr.a.harper@barnet.gov.uk 

No Surgery details listed

cllr.s.rajput@barnet.gov.uk

Surgery Details - Third Saturday of the month 10.30am-12noon. Barnet House, 1255 High Road, N20.

cllr.r.rams@barnet.gov.uk

Surgery Details 10.30am -
12.00 noon on 1st Saturday of each month at New Barnet Community Centre, 48-50 Victoria Road, New Barnet EN4 9PF.

10.30am - 12.00 noon on 3rd Saturday of each month at East Barnet Library, 85 Brookhill Road, East Barnet EN4 8SG.

Barnet Council Tories - Men Behaving Badly !

The Barnet Eye was lucky enough to video some of last night's council meeting. Some of the footage was truly astonishing. I personally thanked Councillor Hart for his efforts to make the blogs more interesting !

You can see Robert Rams loose the plot, Tom "Mummys boy" Davey be truly obnoxious, Councillor Dean Cohen give us a master class in public speaking and Robert Rams give us a perfect display of bad manners and getting caught out !


 It would be quite funny if the issues the were discussing didn't involve a billion pounds of our money, our young people's education, parking policies which determine the success of our High Streets, the provision of services to people on low wages and benefits and the provision of care for the elderly and disadvantaged members of our community.

I challenge anyone of any political persuasion to persuade me that the footage here would instill confidence in the stewardship of the council by the Conservative Party in Barnet. Sadly for many disadvantaged in Barnet, the only thing this bunch are prepared to give them is an ironic laugh.

Brian Coleman induced parking mayhem spreads across Barnet

Earlier in the week, we learned that Councillor Brian Colemans decision to abolish free parking bays last year had caused mayem on Bittacy Hill. Buses were held up, the Police had got involved, local residents were inconvenienced and traffic flow was impaired. As parking restrictions are designed to "improve traffic flow", it is clear that Coleman has produced a policy which doesn't work. Not only that, it may be illegal, as it is clearly a revenue raising move (yet another Colemanite Stealth tax).

It appears that Bittacy Hill is not the only place in Barnet to be under the "Coleman Cosh". The Barnet Eye today learned that Bunns Lane in Mill Hill is also suffering. As with the Bittacy Hill cock up, Barnet Council have tried to bury the bad news, by releasing the information as an officer released DPR. Clearly Brian Coleman wants no association with the failure of his policy to be associated with him, in the run up to the GLA elections.

Here is a link to the report
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=11121

And here is what its says Colemans policies have done to traffic in Bunns Lane Mill Hill.

8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

8.1 

Bunns Lane/Grahame Park Way NW7

In June 2011 the Council completed a scheme whereby all ‘Free’ parking bays

were converted to permit holder or paid for parking bays in the borough’s Controlled
Parking Zones (CPZs). Subsequent to the changes being made to the Mill Hill CPZ,
Councillor Rayner and TFL have reported that an increased level of parking is
occurring on both sides of Bunns Lane between the junction of Woodcroft Avenue
and the mini roundabout at the junction with Grahame Park Way which is just
outside of the CPZ boundary.

8.2 Bunns Lane has seen an increase in parking activity since the removal of the free

bays in the adjoining CPZ by motorists, suspected to be commuters using the local
transport links parking their vehicles throughout the day. Motorists are parking as
close as possible to the current restrictions which is causing obstruction for larger
vehicles including buses and commercial vehicles resulting in an increase in

congestion along this section of Bunns Lane. A site visit by Officers and Councillor

Rayner confirmed that obstructive parking is detrimental to traffic flow.

8.3 As a result of these observations, it is intended to propose and implement ‘At Any

Time’ waiting restrictions in lengths of Bunns Lane and Grahame Park Way, in
order to improve traffic flow along these stretches of road:

8.4 In addition, it is also proposed to extend the existing Monday to Saturday 8am to

6.30pm waiting restrictions in Bunns Lane for a short length. The proposal is
shown on the drawing 21729/744 appended to this report.

8.5 Councillor Rayner has since reaffirmed his views and support for the proposals. In

particular, Councillor Rayner advised of his concerns regarding safety being an
issue at this location.

8.6 All Hale Ward and Mill Hill Ward Members have been consulted on the proposals

Councillor Sury Khatri has confirmed his support for the measures.
As one may have come to expect from our useless and cowardly Mill Hill and Hale Ward Tory Councillors, there has been no attempt to stand up for the hard pressed commuters of Mill Hill, who resnet being stung by extortionate car packing charges at Mill Hill Broadway Station car park. These were hiked to £5 a day last year. Who can blame ordinary working people for wishing to try and avoid such daylight robbery. There is no mention from them that prior to Brian Colemans cash grabbing abolition of Free bays, this wasn't a problem. There is no mention of the fact that there is widespread opposition to the CPZ parking hikes.

Section 8.6 gives  the game away. Of six councillors informed of the changes affecting their ward, only one Sury Khatri appears to have bothered to respond. What does this tell us about the Conservative Councillors who now represent Mill Hill and Hale Ward. It strikes me as likely that the council planned to roll out these sort of sneaky parking restrictions across the Borough, under the radar as officer approved DPR's. I urge the opposition Labour and Lib Dem councillors to call all of these in for review to expose Colemans policies for the abject failure and cash grab, which everyone knows they are.

I stood for election in May 2010 for Mill Hill Ward. I lost out to the Conservatives. They get [paid thousands of pounds a year to represent the people of Mill Hill. This DPR lays bare just how useless and lazy they are. How hard is it to read your paperwork and let the Council know when the people you represent are being fleeced. Brian Coleman has materially damaged the infrastructure of Mill Hill, with his cash grabbing policies and our councillors are to scared of him to say a dickie bird about it. Shame on all of them. As to the Hale Councillors, they are even more useless. Tome Davey is on the Cabinet and has waved all of these Tax the motorist policies through, stopping only to abuse people on benefits at every opportunity. Councillor Hugh Rayner is the chairman of the Local Conservative Party and so is clearly hand in glove with Coleman and his grab your cash policies. As to the other Hale Councillor, he's so useless, I can't even remember his name. Maybe he's the invisible man. Maybe he's a figment of Councillor Robert Rams imagination. If he's ever lifted a finger to stop the good people of Hale Ward being ripped off by Brian Coleman please feel free to add a comment, because he must have done it in secret.

The Barnet Eye will continue to fight to save the hard pressed families and commuters of Mill Hill from the cash grabbing excesses of Brian Coleman and his policies of Stealth taxation. It seems that in Mill Hill, you only see Tory Councillors when they want your vote. You will find the Barnet Eye here 365 days a year fighting for you. Enjoy your Easter

Here is the full document for your perusal
1604 - Introduction of Waiting Restrictions

Open Letter to Councillor Tom Davey - Updated 18:25

Dear Councillor Davey,

I read with interest your comments in the Hendon Times - http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/9346210.Liberty_director_and_politicians_discuss_politics_with_students/ -  regarding the councils role in provision of lesiure facilities. I trust that from your comments, you are unaware of the health benefits of an active lifestyle. Can I recommend that you make yourself familiar with the costs incurred by Barnet Council in support for residents suffering from lifestyle induced illness such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. You will find that the risk of contracting all of these diseases diminishes markedly if you take regular exercise. I am a member of two gyms, at a cost of £72 per month. Additionally I play football at powerleague twice a week at a cost of £12.

Do you believe that families on low incomes or benefits can afford such a figure? Are you aware of how much someone on unemployment benefit receives. Are you aware of how much it will cost the Barnet taxpayer to support that person if they become chronically ill as a result of poor lifestyle?

As someone who was this week diagnosed as having early stage prostate cancer and having read that exercise plays a key role in preventing the progression of the disease to a more dangerous phase, I suggest that you start acquainting yourself with the information about preventative medicine. For your information, here is one website I reviewed earlier today - http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/toolkits/diet-and-prostate-cancer - I am sure an esteemed blogger such as yourself will be able to navigate your way to the relevant section on exercise.

I'd recommend that you educate yourself on such issues. Saving money does not always mean cutting budgets. Sometimes it is far more effective to invest wisely and reap solid, long term savings which have the added benefit of enhancing peoples lives.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

www.barneteye.blogspot.com
******************************************
Update : 18:25
******************************************
I got this read receipt from Councillor Tom Davey. He received the message. Let's see if he's capable of getting the message 


Your message

    To:  cllr.t.davey@barnet.gov.uk
    Cc:  Cornelius, Cllr Richard Conservative
    Subject:  Costs to Council of inactivity
    Sent:  09/11/2011 23:40

was read on 10/11/2011 07:46.

Temporary Housing in Barnet - Am I the only person who finds this DPR disgusting & despicable

I've just come across this Barnet Council Delegated powers report, signed off by Councillor Tom Davey. It's not often I'm truly shocked but this is scandalous. They should have the BBC and ITV outside Barnet Town Hall.

First look at section 4.1 - it says

Analysis undertaken in the London Borough of Barnet, shows that almost 70% of
households in temporary accommodation are from non-white households,
compared to 20% of the Borough’s population as a whole. This suggests that the
black and ethnic minority households are at greater risk of the potential negative
effects of living in TA

There is a myth that immigrants are given all of the council houses. Not in Barnet, rather clearly. Having stated that this is an issue, what do the council say they will do to introduce some fairness? Absolutely nothing.

Having declared that housing allocation in Barnet is in effect discriminatory and racist, they then spend the whole of section 8 discussing ways to line the pockets of private Landlords. Anyone who has seen Councillor Tom Davey, who signed this off, in action will know that he is not exactly filled to the brim with compassion.

So there is another group of people who we can add to the list of Council Cabinet Members, Council senior executives and high earning consultants, who all do well out of the council. We can add private landlords who let properties to the council for people in dire straits.

Temporary Housing

And on the subject of private Landords in Barnet, I wondered if any Barnet Councillors have significant property assets and interests in properties. What do you think?
rayner

BarneteyeTV - These are the people running the Council - Council meeting 13/9/2011

For those of you who want to know why at times this blog is rather, shall we say, impatient with our councillors, please have a look at this Barneteye TV broadcast. We have four answers to ordinary Councillors from Council cabinet members (a cabinet member gets a big extra wad of dosh and makes decisions, which the sheep then rubber stamp.

There are 4 questions & answers. Here's a brief description of what happens.

Q1. Labour Councillor Barry Rawlings asks a question about transfer of community assets. He asks a perfectly reasonable question on behalf of a community group. Tory Cabinet member Councillor Robert Rams summarily dismisses Rawlings & the Taxpayers he was asking on behalf of in a most rude fashion.

Q2. Just to show that it isn't only Labour Councillors who get patronised. Here is Tory Councillor John Hart, who has for many years been involved with the allotment associations and is an old school Tory Councillor (so old school that he can't operate the microphone).  He asks about the allotments which don't want to go into Self Management. Tory Cabinet member Brian Coleman explains his plans to ride roughshod over the wishes of these Barnet Taxpayers. Coleman explains how that any allotment holders who don't want self management will be forced to, because he knows best.

Q3. Labour Councillor Geoff Johnson asks for a clarification on the issue of a review of parking charges, following contradictory answers from various cabinet members. At this Tory Cabinet member and Councillor Tom Davey calls Councillor Johnson a liar. Uproar ensues, with people exclaiming they heard the contradictory answers at the sub commitee last night. Councillor Brian Coleman says no review will take place. An affronted Johnson says "I'm not a liar, I take umbrage at that" . The Mayor insists that Davey withdraw the accusation of lying. Davey, like a rather irritating teachers pet says "I believe Councillor Cook (???) is mistaken with the truth". Most revolting of all is the smug way Tory Councillor Hugh Rayner turns around and laughs at Councillor Johnson as Davey says his piece. Shameful (I am glad I video'd this so you can see this moment).

Q4. Labour Councillor Alison Moore asks what is done to ensure that when the private sector takes over a service, they also take over responsibility for the risk. Tory Cabinet member Councillor Daniel Thomas replies that "in this instance it is part of the contractual arrangements that the risk gets passed back to the Council". In other words, the private sector takes the profits but not the risk. This is why One Barnet has become such a toxic brand.


So having watched the clip, what do you think. Are these highly paid cabinet members providing a decent public service. Is this what you voted for? Is this how you thought these people represented you.

When you hear that when services are outsourced to contractors, the council keeps the financial risks, do you think this is a good way to run the council? There were dozens of other questions. These are just a few. In virtually all of them the pattern was the same, apart from a few patsy planted questions from Tory brown nosers such as Daniel "Imber" Seal.

I could say so much about why I think these people are failing us, but I'm sure if you've watched the video, I don't have to, do I. This is why it is vital we record these meetings.

Mill Hill Sports club to shut in September - Open letter to Hale Ward Councillors

I sent the following Email to Conservative Hale Ward Councillors this morning. I have yet to receive a reply
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----

From: Roger Tichborne

To: cllr.h.rayner@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.t.davey@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.gordon@barnet.gov.uk

Cc: Cornelius, Cllr Richard Conservative ; Nick.Walkley@barnet.gov.uk

Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 7:46 AM

Subject: Urgent - Mill Hill Sports Club to close

Dear Hale Ward Councillors,

 

As I am sure you are aware, Mill Hill Sports Club has announced it is closing. My 11 year old son is a member of the boxing club sited at MHSC. He has been informed the club is closing. It appears that Barnet Council have forced the sale by renaging on an agreement to extend the lease to facilitate a redevelopment of sports facilities. It goes without saying that the loss of cricket, boxing, squash, football and music on the site will be a devastating loss. I will be seeking further clarification via FOI requests later today. I cannot believe that this can be seen as a positive development for the residents of Hale Ward or Mill Hill Ward

 

I will be launching a campaign to oppose the loss of sports facilities. I am seeking you views on the closure of the club and the role of the council in this. I am copying the leader and the CEO as I believe these are issues which they should be aware of.

 

Please be aware that I intend to publish responses to this email (and non responses) on the Barnet Eye. If you have any comments which you wish to convey to me privately and do not wish to be published, please email me a suitable contact number.

 

Regards

Roger Tichborne

The Barnet Eye

Tory Councillors with blighted CV's

Councillor Tom Davey,
Councillor Daniel Seal,
Councillor Darryl Yawitch,
Councillor Sachin Rajput,
Councillor Stephen Sowerby,
Councillor Andrew Stongolou,
Councillor Reuben Thompstone,

All of these Councillors have one thing in common they are (compared to the rest of the Tory group) fairly young. Presumably all of them will have to work for a good few years. Presumably, at some point they will all want to change jobs and get better jobs. In this day and age, what is the first thing prospective employers do? Yup, that's right they fire the name into Google and see what the candidates have been up to. It's quite likely, given the ranking of this blog, that this will be fairly near the top of the rankings.

So what have these young men been doing? What should a potential employer take into consideration? Well they are all members of the Barnet Conservative group. They all have over a years experience of watching the way the group operates and they all have (as of the time of writing this blog) the opportunity to change the direction in which the council policy is going, when they take part in an election for the new leader later this month.

So if you are a potential employer, what sort of person are you looking for? Are you looking for someone who sits on their hands, knowing that the council is embarking on a disasterous policy. Are you looking for someone who totally ignores the fact that the council cannot manage external contractors, yet is dead set on massively ramping up the outsourcing program without even having proper controls in place for the existing contracts (READ THIS BLOG). Are you looking for someone who is more concerned with "following the party line" and simply collecting generous allowances?

In the past five years, Barnet Council has been dogged with scandal after scandal. Warnings about problems are habitually ignored and massive financial disasters have plagued the council, with no one prepared to take responsibility. Anyone familiar with Barnet Council would know that a semi competent politician with any degree of political nous and management ability could easily resolve many of the self inflicted wounds. Windsor and Maidenhead Council, which is a Conservative Council, have lead the way with transparency policies, which have saved taxpayers millions and put an end to all manner of potential abuse. Some of these Councillors will not even allow their register of interests to be placed on line

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/council/listcouncillorinterests.asp

What  does this tell you about them? Whilst I have no doubt that all of these councillors stood for the best possible reasons, what aptitude have they shown since they were elected? In the last year, a massive scandal concerning the Metpro Group of Companies and the contracts awarded to them has befallen Barnet Council. Over a million pounds was paid to one of these companies, despite the fact that it didn't have the required license and went bankrupt, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The Council only found out when local bloggers alerted them. How many of these Councillors demanded an independent inquiry? Not one. Every single one of them voted in favour of an "internal audit" undertaken by the same people who allowed the cock up to occur.

Now as I write this, I have no idea who will win the Barnet Conservative Leadership battle. At present the two main contenders are Councillor Andrew Harper, who has been in effective control for the last six months and has presided over the Metpro Disaster. He is widely recognised as being a bit of a pushover for council officers and amounts to the "more of the same" candidate. The other candidate is the infamous Councillor Brian Coleman, who has turned expense claims into an art form. Now another candidate may emerge. If they do, then I'm sure that the whole of Barnet will breathe a sigh of relief.

It may be these councillors rescue their reputations and elect a decent leader who institues real change in Barnet, banishing the secrecy culture for once and all. If after you've read all of the other news about Barnet Council, you still feel like interviewing them, ask them what they personally have done to implement transparency at Barnet. Ask them what they think of colleagues who refuse to allow their register of interests on line. Ask them what they think of colleagues who claim excessive expenses. Finally ask them what they would do if they had the chance to change piss poor leadership in an organisation they were involved with.

I'm sure that they will all be most chuffed to answer these questions. The people who elected them, in Barnet would also like to know, after all, we pay the juicy allowances.

Barnet Council Future Shape Scandal - The Secret costs they want to keep hidden

Interesting fact : Did you know that when the Barnet Conservatives took power in 1992, they hiked up the council tax by 26% to pay for a supposed £10 million hole in the Barnet Council reserves. Now read on.

As you will recall from the political "advice" offered to Councillors by Barnet Councils best paid contractor, Deputy Chief Executive Mr Andrew Travers,  there are some hefty costs involved in the Future Shape project (you know, the project that the Councils own auditors have criticised for being risky and lacking a business case).

Lets have a look at the costs Mr Travers "owned up to" in his letter.

"£810,000 was spent on externally commissioned support for development of the Future Shape programme in 2008/9 and 2009/10. For 2010/11, there is a revised budget for delivering the programme of £1.5m."

It isn't clear from his wording whether this is one or two lots of £810,000.

I have a few questions to ask. The first question is this. Why have so many costs been concealed from Councillors in this letter. Anyone familiar with the project will know that there are many other costs which have not been mentioned. Rather craftily Mr Travers makes no mention at all of "internally commissioned support" ( so much for the truth, The whole truth and nothing but the truth).

What do we know about these other costs?

Well there is an internal team of directors and other staff. I believe that the Furture Shape director alone earns well in excess of £100,000 per annum.

Then there is the contingency fund for legal costs. I have been informed that this could be up to £5 million (I would be more than happy for Barnet Council to clarify this figure).

Then there is the bill for implementation with an outside firm of consultants. The council have tried to keep this under wraps (read Councillor Jack Cohens blog about these shenanigans - http://www.times-series.co.uk/blogs/8390902.Strange_Noises_From_the_Public_Gallery/ ). I have been reliably informed that the figure they hav tried to conceal is £2.5 million.

All in all, I make this approx £10 Million without a business case or a proper plan. A huge sum. As anyone who has followed Barnet Council will know, they are rather bad at getting things in on Budget.

The last big project they managed was Aerodrome Road Bridge replacement. This had a budget of £12 million and cost £23 million in the end. Does this bode well? Since then, Barnet Council cannot even persuade executives to work for them. They have to hire contractors such as Mr Travers, who is paid £17,000 a month.

I have made extensive enquiries about the One Barnet/Future shape program finances, but no one seems to know. I have this question for Councillors such as Robert Ramsbottom and Daniel Thomas, who have been saying it's marvellous. If this is true, why won't you release the figures and present a proper business case. Mr Rams is in the process of "drawing up a business case by December". Unless this has a full break down of all costs, expenses and other figures, then we can be pretty sure that they are hiding something. Why? With such huge amounts of money sloshing around, one has to question exactly what is going on. It was reported that there were some very searching questions asked by Tory Councillor Tom Davey at the audit committee last night. Mr Davey is an accountant by trade. He is at the start of his career so clearly doesn't want this albatross around his neck for the rest of it.

It is quite clear to me that there are currently three types of Conservative Councillors in Barnet, when it comes to sorting the finances out

A) The ones who are too thick to even realise they've been lead up the garden path - Hillan, Rams, Thomas to name but a few

B) Those who have twigged that something is wrong, but lack the guts to spill the beans, for fear of getting ostracised -  Davey, Shooter, Schama, Rayner

C) Those who are just burying their head in the sand and saying "I know nothing" - Helena Hart, Wendy Prentice, John Marshall and Graham Old

The Barnet Tory Councillors have a stark choice with Future Shape / One Barnet. They can kill it now, cut their losses and hope that in three and a half years we've all forgotten or they can wait till it becomes a train crash, the council tax bills go through the roof to clean up the mess, the Tories get kicked out and the Labour Party takes control of Barnet. I must remind our Tory councillors that the next Council election will take place after 4 years of coalition budget cuts. It will be difficult enough hanging on to the council anyway, but with this mess, it will be impossible.

It is worth reminding the Tories of Barnet that the last time they were in charge, with an unpopular Tory National Government in power (in 1994) they lost.

Interesting fact  : When the Conservatives took charge of Barnet Council in 1992, Council debt was £38 million. According to the latest accounts it is now over £200 million. You and I, the taxpayer, will have to pay this ineptitude.

The Barnet Eye war on Barnets spongers and parasites - Update No 1

Dearest Tory Councillors of Barnet,

What are you all famous for? What do the people of Barnet know you for? What legacy will you leave?

Let me let you in on a little secret. The blogs of Barnet are the source of information of choice of the vast majority of the people of Barnet when they wish to find out about what their local councillor has been up to. Let me just illustrate something. Firstly let me explain, in laymans terms, the way Google searches work. They make the first choice of item displayed, the one which is the most popularly selected choice. This blog has highlighted the shenanigans of many Barnet Councillors. Take for example the head of the Hendon & District Planning Committee, Maureen Braun, the woman who passed the Brent Cross development plan. When people do a Google search for Our Mo :-

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=councillor+Maureen+Braun&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=270cd07514528d23

What is the first page they are presented with? Try it. Yes my friends, history is being written by the bloggers of Barnet. That is Councillor Brauns lasting legacy to the people of Barnet. Of course, Dear Mo as I like to call her is a small fish, what about a big fish, what about the biggest, stinkiest, most oily fish of the lot in Barnet? Try this search

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=councillor+Brian+Coleman&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=270cd07514528d23

Sadly Wikipedia and the GLA website has relegated Cuddles Coleman's Barnet Eye entry to only the third most popular page about him. Not bad out of 16,700 results is it.

Then there is the beloved Leader of the Council, Lynne Hillan. Well, pipped to the post out of 5,200 posts by my old rival Not The Barnet Times. Mind you David is welcome to her. For that you have to go down to fourth for a Barnet Eye blog - oh the shame and indignity. At least we're above all her tame blogs though.

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=councillor+lynne+hillan&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=councillor+Lynne+&gs_rfai=&fp=270cd07514528d23

One other Councillor of note. One who made a bit of a name for himself at the meeting where the Tories awarded themselves a huge payrise. Tom Davey.

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=councillor+Tom+davey&aq=&aqi=&aql=&oq=councillor+Tom+davey&gs_rfai=&fp=270cd07514528d23

We've only just mentioned him a day ago and we're already up to the 6th most popular page people look at when they seek him. We're just below his LINKEDN  entry. I was curious to find out about his work experience. I was keen to see what life experience he'd achieved to enable such a young man to speak so forcefully about why it is the fault of the poor for being poor and how they lack ambition. Well it seems he was at the London School of Economics from 2005-2008 and since then he's been a management trainee for a tobacco company. Interestingly the Linkedn profile lists Barnet Council as a government agency which employs 11-50 people. I'm sure that this will come as a shock to the hundreds of Council workers on the paryroll. I wonder if Mr Davey only counts people on salaries of over £50K per annum as the rest really aren't his sort of people at all - http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/tom-davey/15/180/3aa 

I think we should rename Little Tommy Daley as Thomas of Hale, Scourge of the Poor. It is a far more impressive title for such a wise and noble soul.

So, my Dear Barnet Tories, I just wanted  to share with you the fact that when people want to find out what you've been up to they come to this blog first (or second on occasion if David got there first). That is your legacy.