Barnet Council Metpro Scandal - The Inquiry is not an Inquiry !!!!!!!

I was forwarded this email tonight.
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From: Palmer, Cllr Monroe Liberal Democrat [mailto:Cllr.M.Palmer@barnet.gov.uk]
Sent: 20 May 2011 19:43
To: John Dix
Cc: Giritli, Aysen; Lustig, Jeff; Salter, Maryellen
Subject: FW: MetPro inquiry - submission of information

Thank you for that

I am passing on this message:

To Democratic Services to note your request to speak at the meeting

To Mr Lustig

To our Head of Internal Audit who is leading the Audit work

This is not an ‘inquiry’ but a detailed  internal audit

The report will be published as all Council committee reports are published. Members of the Public can apply to speak prior to the committee discussing the audit report.

I welcome information from all sources

Monroe Palmer

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So after all the press coverage, all the investigations, all the revelations, we don't even get a proper inquiry, just a "detailed internal audit". I have asked on several occasions for the terms of reference, but these have not been published.  What we do know is that this "detailed internal audit" will be conducted by the very same people who were meant to be keeping an eye on the whole process in the first place. They have a vested interest in sweeping all of the embarrassing information under the carpet, because it was caused by a systemic failure, WHICH THEY CAUSED AND PRESIDED OVER.

As far as I am concerned, this shows beyond doubt that Barnet Council cannot be trusted. It shows beyond doubt that the CEO, Nick Walkley is only interested in "damage limitation" and keeping his job, with it's £200,000 a year salary. It seems no one in a position of power is in the slightest bit interested as to how the Council could pay over a million pounds to a company which was operating illegally.

The use of the term audit as opposed to inquiry, indicates a steadfast refusal, in face of all of the evidence, to actually admit they've cocked up. What I want to know is whether Nick Walkley will be publicly grilled, in front of cameras, as to why he allowed this to happen. He's paid more dosh per annum than the Prime Minister, which implies a degree of responsibility in his job. He allowed a company to operate in a sensitive role, with no checks whatsoever on their legal status. It is clear that security staff with no accreditation whatsoever had access to the most sensitive parts of Barnet Town Hall.

One question nobody seems to have bothered to ask is this. As we now know Metpro Rapid Response Ltd had no accreditation and Barnet hadn't bothered to check their status or paperwork, and their staff wore video recording equipment, allegedly without permission from Barnet Council, what sensitive areas of the council, what private records and what personal information COULD they have covertly filmed? It is clear from the discussions on the night of the March 1st Council meeting, that these people had access to all sorts of areas, where sensitive information could be held. As a Council Tax Payer who's personal information including bank details are held by Barnet, for all I know these staff have had access to record this information. Metpro have stated that their staff worked at both Hendon Town Hall and NLBP. They did not have any accreditation. They had access to vulnerable people and secure areas in the Council buildings. What did they get up to? The sad truth is that no one at Barnet Council has a clue. It is a matter of record that I was asked to stop filming  public meetings, in public areas on two occasions by Barnet Councillors. How come these same councillors are not tearing down the walls, trying to find out how a private contractor was allowed to film God knows what?

Sadly, the answer is because it might embarrass their bosses. With every day, it becomes more patently obvious that we will never know the truth, unless we, the people of Barnet, drag it out of the Council bosses. This is not how democracy is meant to work. Councillor Andrew Harper has been the de-facto leader of the Council since the turn of the year. He's now said that he wants to officially take over the job. Harper has presided over the whole Metpro scandal and has shown himself to be completely ineffective. Barnet Eye readers may be interested to know that "sources close to" Brian Coleman have let us know that Coleman (allegedly) considers Metpro to be an almighty cock up and that if he becomes leader he'll have it properly investigated. They have also informed us that Coleman thinks senior Council officers need  a major kick up the backside. You can take this with however many pinches of salt you like (I certainly have). It does however show us that there is a split at the highest level of the Barnet Tories on the matter and the most ambitious of the lot of them realises that there are no votes to be won in protecting people who have blatently failed to do their job. I rather suspect, based on what I've been told, that Coleman will be quite happy for Lord Palmer to cock up the "detailed internal audit" so he can shout out loud that he was the only person in Barnet with the guts to deal with the executive. Coleman (allegedly) is briefing that it shows Andrew Harper lacks the cojones to take on the executive.

I do wonder when we will hear from Colemans challenger for the GLA seat, Andrew Dismore, on this sorry matter. He'd better kick his troops into action soon, or he could find that Coleman pulls an ace from his sleeve and trumps him.

Brian Coleman : The man with two brains !!!!!!

One of my correspondents was at the Mill Hill East planning public forum earlier in the week and sent me an extensive report. The following paragraph of his report caught my eye.

Cllr Coleman then did one of his tour de force speeches and said "I have no confidence in that traffic expert and I have no faith in our Highways dept.  They get every scheme wrong.  We must go to outside consultants who know what they are talking about. Proper Experts. They don’t know what they are doing. They will cause harm for many years to the area."

This seems to confirm a suspicion that I've had for some time. I have reached the conclusion that two separate brains inhabit our esteemed Mayors head. Sadly these two brains fell out many years ago and they don't talk to each other. It seems they take it in turns to be in charge, but then don't tell each other what they have done or said. It seems that the brain which was in charge of the Mayor of Barnets head on Tuesday night, was not the one who was in charge for the period of several years when Councillor Coleman was IN CHARGE OF TRANSPORT AT BARNET.

When Councillor Coleman says that the Highways department have got every scheme wrong, he clearly means Partingdale Lane, which passes next to the new development. This was his baby and he's quite right. The Council wasted a million pounds on legal challenges. Another scheme that he got the Highways department to enact was road hump removal. Residents such as those in Uphill Road Mill Hill are up in arms, now that their sleepy residential roads have become race tracks for boy racers. We all know about the Aerodrome Road scheme, where the council overspent by £11 million on a £12 million budget. Councillor Coleman denounced the suggestions for the Brent Cross Railway scheme as "men playing with trainsets" despite the huge benefit both environmentally and financially to the Borough.

The truth is that when Brian Coleman says that he has no faith in Barnet Councils Highway Department, he is really berating his own performance as roads supremo and the failure of the Conservative Administration to manage the Highways department. The sad truth is that they have no idea how to improve the Boroughs transport. What Councillor Coleman is really saying is this

"We are clueless and we need to get someone who knows what they are doing to tell us how to run the show"

If one of the most senior members of the Conservative administration is saying that after 8 years, the Tories have cocked up EVERY scheme in the borough and they are so clueless that they need to get someone to tell them how to run the show, then it is really time for the electors of Barnet to make the choice for them and kick them out of office. For the Mayor of Barnet to admit being useless three months before the election is truly unprecedented.

The Odious Toad - A musical extravaganza !!!!!!

 

The Mayor of Barnet needs a theme tune. Something we can remember him by.Something we can all sing along to. A tune that you just won't be able to forget. We'll here it is. I've been reliably informed that one of Mayor Brian Coleman's favourite films is the "Sound of Music" so I thought I'd rework the lyrics of one of the highlights just for him, so sing along to this to the tune of "The Lonely Goatherd"

The Odious Toad Turd

[Maria:]
In the townhall was a Odious Toad Turd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the Odious Toad Turd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

Folks in a town that was quite remote heard
Colemans got to go, lay hee hoo
Lusty and clear from the Odious Toad heard
I want Dinner, lay ee odl-oo

[the Children:]
Colemans got to go, o ho lay dee odl ay
Colemans got to go, lay dee odl lee o lay

[Maria:]
A prince on the bridge of a castle moat heard
Colemans got to go lay hee hoo
[Kurt:]
Men on a road with a load to tote heard
Colemans got to go lay ee odl-oo

[the Children:]
Men in the midst of a table d'hote heard
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl lay hee hoo
[Maria:]
Men drinking beer with the foam afloat heard
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl-oo

One little girl in a pale pink coat heard
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl lay hee hoo
[Brigitta:]
She yodeled back to the Odious Toad Turd
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl-oo

[Maria:]
Soon her Mama with a gleaming gloat heard
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl lay hee hoo
What a duet for a girl and Odious Toad Turd
Maria and the Children:
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl-oo

[Maria and the Children:]
Ummm (ummm) . . .
Odl lay ee (odl lay ee)
Odl lay hee hee (odl lay hee hee)
Odl lay ee . . .
. . . yodeling . . .

[Child:]
One little girl in a pale pink coat heard
[Maria:]
Colemans got to go, lay ee odl lay hoo hoo
[Child:]
She yodeled back to the lonely Odious Toad Turd
[Maria:]
Colemans got to go, Yodell-ey-ee-oh

[Maria:]
Soon her Mama with a gleaming gloat heard
Colemans got to go lay hmm hmm
What a duet for a girl and Odious Toad Turd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[Maria and the Children:]
Colemans got to go lay dee olay dee lee o . . .
. . . yodeling . . .
Soon the duet will become a trio
[Maria:]
Colemans got to go lay ee odl-oo

[Maria and the Children:]
Colemans got to go, old lay ee
Colemans got to go, odl lay ee
Colemans got to go, Colemans got to go, odl lay odl lee
Colemans got to go lay odl lay

[the Children:]
HOO!

Of course those of you who have followed Mr Coleman recently will know how important he thinks the right to be offensive and obnoxious is. During my recent standards case against him, he said it was breaching his fundamental human rights if he wasn't allowed to be as obnoxious as he likes to everyone. Brian Coleman loves to read the Barnet Eye every day. I'd suggest that if any of you see him, you whistle or sing this tune to him, to show him your support for his concept of his "right to be obnoxious".

Of course, The Barnet Eye would never be so rude as to suggest that The Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman is an "Odious Toad Turd". Any implied similarity between Mr Coleman and an "Odious Toad Turd" is purely coincidental. We merely wish to address him in the way he thinks it is appropriate to address his colleagues at the GLA - see video above. As to the turd aspect, this was purely added to ensure the lyrics scanned properly. Here at the Barnet Eye, we believe in attention to detail

Brian Coleman - The man with no manners at all

"Manners maketh man" This was a phrase my mum often quoted at me. She didn't care how rich or poor someone was. She didn't care what they did for a living. She wasn't impressed by how well they dressed. If they had good manners they were welcome and if they didn't they weren't asked back. That is why every year, the dustmen collecting their Christmas box were asked in for a tot of whisky and a mince pie. It is also why she couldn't stand a very high profile, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, who was once a customer of my father's business and asked him to take his business elsewhere.

She brought me up to always appreciate hospitality. Any kindness no matter how small or large should be received with a humble thank you. Sometimes you may not particularly enjoy it, but all the same you show appreciation and good manners.

It seems that one of our local Councillors was brought up to have rather different standards. I had fully intended to write a blog about something completely different, but I picked up the Barnet Press and just couldn't let this pass.

Councillor Brian Coleman, my GLA representative has a column in the Barnet Press. It is on page 9. The title this week is "The real cost of my free dinner". It is an article about his recent attendance at the annual Lord Mayor's banquet at the Guildhall.

Coleman says "Times may be hard in the City of London, but the new Lord Mayor, the rather sensible and level-headed Alderman Ian Luder, ensured that guests, led by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, enjoyed traditional City hospitality". In laymans terms a great big slap up dinner with lots of free booze (not your ASDA own brand either).

Coleman, complaining about a boring speech from Gordon Brown, continues

"In order to keep myself awake - as Boris Johnson said to me, the only way to get through this evening is to drink all the alcohol put before you - I started counting the platitudes that flowed effortlessly from the PM. 'We must go forward not backwards' he said as the chief commoner nodded off, 'look to tomorrow not yesterday' as the retiring Chief of the General Staff nodded sagely".

In this day and age when most city workers are worrying about their next mortgage payment, rather than their next free dinner, Coleman shows what he really cares about. Himself. Doesn't he realise that when you receive an invitation for dinner, it really isn't the done thing to complain in the press about how boring it was. Not only that but isn't it bad form to start implying other guests felt the same. If you have to attend a banquet and you are stuck next to Coleman, what indiscretion will he print about you in next week's paper?

In a world where many people in Africa are walking miles for a bag of rice to feed their family, Brian Coleman thinks a difficult meal is one where he has to be quiet and listen to someone else for ten minutes. I'd advise this note of caution to the many individuals and organisations who invite Coleman to all of his free dinners listed elsewhere on this blog. If he doesn't like your choice of speaker or finds something to taunt a fellow diner with in his column the following week, he will. The proof is there on page 9 of the Press. If I were you I'd find someone with grace and good manners to ask. Perhaps someone who would actually appreciate a decent slap up meal, rather than drone on like a spoilt 13 year old "it's all so dull".

You can just see a red faced, puffy cheeked, bloated Coleman at the end of the night, as he get's into his taxpayer funded cab home, exclaiming "The things I have to suffer for my constituents".

Memo to Boris and Dave : Is this really the face of modern Conservatism you want to project?