How many people does it take to change a lightbulb at Barnet Council? The official response

 On the 8th February I sent a Freedom of Information request to Barnet Council, asking how many people it would take to change a lightbulb in the Leaders office at Barnet Council (and how much it would cost).

Here is the official (non) response. As you can see, they have declined to say how many people are involced or how much the process costs. It seems the council thinks that trying to ascertain information about Council costs and procedures is deemed "humourous" and "vexatious".

As far as I am concerned, the request was neither humourous or vexatious. It was sent to try and ascertain how much bureacracy and resource was involved in managing a simple and easy to understand process. This would enable one to judge whether Barnet Council are efficient with our cash. Clearly, plebs like me are either comedic or vexatious. Sad really, I thought Barnet Council were paid by us, to work for us. Here is there response.

	London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
	20 February 2013
	Our ref: 218942

 

Thank you for your request received on 8 February 2013, for the following information:

Please can you inform me how many people it takes to change a lightbulb in the Leader of Barnet Council's office. Please break this down into :

1. The number of people actually involved in the process of managing and implementing the change of lighbulb
2. The number of people involved in drawing up the contract to manage the changing of the lightbulb.
3. The number of people involved in monitoring the contract to manage the changing of the lightbulb.
4. The number of people involved in health and safety/risk assessments to ensure the lightbulb is safely changed.
5. The number of people involved in procurement of the lightbulb.
6. The number of people involved in storage of the lightbulb.
7. Any other people involved in the changing of the lightbulb who are not covered by ny of the previous six categories.

Please can you also provide estimated costs of changing a lightbulb in the leader of Barnet Councils office, taking account of all of these costs.

We have processed this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

  

Response

The council is required to respond to a request for recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, regardless of the requester’s intention. A stated humorous request may be judged vexatious under the legislation and refused, but the council is still required to expend resource in responding.

There are no processes involved in lighting maintenance specific to the Leader’s Office and therefore we consider the information requested not held. However, in the spirit of section 16 of the Act, which requires the council to provide advice and assistance to a requester, it may interest you to know that with respect to office areas within the council offices, the changing of a lightbulb would require a call being raised with the council’s facilities team resulting in an individual custodian being sent to change the bulb. Said custodian will employ appropriate and safe measures to change the lightbulb. Changing a lightbulb is part of the role of custodian, not requiring a separate contract. We hope that this sheds some light on the matter for you.

Your rights

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request a review within the next 20 working days by writing to the FOI Officer at: The London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London, N11 1NP (email foi@barnet.gov.uk).

If, having exhausted our review procedure, you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you will have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF (telephone: 0303 123 1113; website www.ico.gov.uk).  There is no charge for making an appeal.

Richard, you owe us an apology

I didn't attend the Council meeting last night. According to the Barnet Times, this is what I missed

A campaign group fighting Barnet Council’s outsourcing programme was dismissed as “a group of eccentric socialists” by the leader in charge of the scheme.Conservative group leader Richard Cornelius made the comments about the Barnet Alliance for Public Services as the authority’s annual budget was passed at Hendon Town Hall last night.

In his speech, he attacked the group, which has fiercely criticised and campaigned against the Tory-imposed One Barnet outsourcing scheme.He said: “(They are) just a group of eccentric socialists, American exiles, bloggers and a coffee shop owner.” (Full story http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/10268573.One_Barnet_campaigners_are__eccentric_socialists___says_leader )

The reason I didn't attend the meeting? Well I actually had something better to do. Something more useful. More of that in a minute, but I am deeply upset by these comments. I left a response on the Times website

I'm a bit saddened by Richards comments about One Barnet opponents. Over 7,000 people signed the petition opposing the scheme. he fails to mention that several members of his own administration have reservations about the scheme.

The issue is that the stated savings are completely unverifiable. One of the first One Barnet outsourcing projects was Your Choice Barnet. This company has just been given a £1 million taxpayer funded bale out as the business case it was based on was proven to be deeply flawed.

Richard was clearly refering to me as an "eccentric socialist blogger", but he fails to mention that I run a company employing directly and indirectly over 30 people in the Borough and have recently invested over £1 million in a new studio complex to boost music provision in Barnet, with no help from the taxpayer (or taxman) at all. I probably have more experience of running a business than three quarters of his cabinet put together.

I feel that the description is misleading and deceitful.

Now of course Richard is welcome to call us what he likes and to say what he likes. It is a free country and we have free speech. He is however the leader of Barnet Council and so I believe he has some sort of duty to not misrepresent people. No one in this day and age expects high moral standards from politicians, but surely we should expect better than this? It is not just socialists who are sceptical about Outsourcing. Merrick Cockell, the Tory Leader of Kensington and Chelsea council has expressed his reservations. His own former Tory ward Council colleague, Brian Coleman has also stated his reservations publicly as has Tory Councillor Sury Khatri. Many others have private doubts. If I say something in the blog which is demonstrably wrong, I correct it and apologise. Richard should do the same. Maybe not for me, the American exiles or the coffee shop owners, but for the over 7,000 people who signed the petition.

So, you may ask, why didn't I go to the Council meeting. I had two other meetings to go to. The first of these was at the Sacred Heart Church. This was a meeting to discuss various business in Mill Hill Parish. There were two main issues being discussed. The first was a plan to support the Borehamwood food bank, which provides basic meals for people in extreme economic hardship. I believe that it is scandalous that residents of our locality should need such a service, but they do and I feel that we are all obliged to support such a venture. The second issue was the establishment of a night shelter for rough sleepers in Mill Hill, in association with Homeless action Barnet. A shelter will be provided one night a week as part of a wider scheme, from 17th March. The second meeting was at John Keeble Church. This was a training session for those who have committed to help at the shelter. We had representatives from churches and synagogues who are already participating in the scheme, explaining what we can expect.

For those of you who may be suspicious of such schemes run by churches, there is a strict "no evangalisation" rule. The centres participating provide shelter, food and warmth for participants. There are a diverse bunch of churches and synagogues participating and we'd be more than happy for other faiths, and people of no faith to participate. We need people to cook, people to drive, people to spend the night at the shelters, and people to clean up. If you don't want to participate via a church or other religious organisation, contact Homeless Action Barnet and do it via them.

Whilst blogging council meetings, where it is all tucked up in advance is important, filling the gaps where the council is failing is, in my opinion, a thousand times more important. Richard can call me all the names he likes in the council chamber. I like to think I'm simply trying my hardest to be a decent human being in difficult times. That is enough for me. It saddens me that Barnet is sinking to these sorts of levels in the Council chamber. At the meetings I attended, I hope I saw a more representative view of the real people of Barnet, deperately scrabbling to fill the gaps left by the awful maladminstration by local and national governments. That a rich borough needs charity food banks and overnight homeless shelters is truly shocking. I would forgive Richard his petty insults if he fixed there problems, but this won't happen with a tax cutting agenda.

Arts Depot issues press release clarifying its funding arrangements and relationship with Barnet Council

Please note - The below text is from a press release issued today by Arts Depot.  This does not necessarily imply an endorsement of the statements. The full text is available using the link below. 

artsdepot is a leading cultural hub in North London and has been celebrating the arts since 2004. The award-winning venue has its roots firmly in the community, nurturing young talent, and engaging with people through participation and outreach projects, whilst presenting artists from across the globe. With its vibrant programme of performances and exhibitions, artsdepot surprises and thrills audiences of all ages.

A thriving venue, artsdepot welcomes over 100,000 visitors every year, people who come to watch, learn or be inspired. With its stunning architecture, welcoming public spaces and diverse programme, artsdepot creates space for the imagination.

London Borough of Barnet’s funding of artsdepot which amounted to £194,000 per year ceased on 31 March 2011. The grant was equivalent to 35% of artsdepot’s core funding at the time.

Following a prudent organisational restructure with a focus on reducing costs, artsdepot survived this uncertain period and actually showed growth in the forthcoming year. In the period from September 2010 – August 2011, audience capacity stood at 63%, this increased to 68% for the same period in 2011/12. The venue’s popularity continues to rise with audience capacity reaching an astonishing 80% across its autumn 2012 season.

Tracy Cooper, Chief Executive of artsdepot,  was named in the UK’s first ever Power Part Time list (a prestigious list of 50 of the most senior level part time workers in the UK), recognising her role in saving artsdepot from closure following the complete removal of local authority support in 2011. Tracy is also a member of the Mayor of London’s London Cultural Strategy Grou

View artsdepot's Spring/Summer 2013 season guide online here

Clich here for full text of press release - http://issuu.com/artsdepot01/docs/press_release_-_a_new_partnership_between_artsdepo?mode=window&viewMode=singlePage

My, My, My My ............

Always in a daze Always in a dream  

Always find that things are not what they seem

These are two lines from the piece of music I have requested I have played at my funeral. Don't worry (or celebrate), to the best of my knowledge that day is in no way imminent (but who really knows). These words are insightful. Those of us who live in Barnet,look out of our windows and things seem strangely calm for most of us. 

 

But are things what they seem? 

 

For many people living with disability in Barnet, an organisation named "Your Choice" provides care provision. It is a private company delivering services formerly provided by the state sector by Barnet Council. Your Choice Barnet was a fundamental cornerstone of the One Barnet reorgainsation. The staff who provide the services now through Your choice used to work for Barnet Council, but were spun off into a Your Choice. Your Choice is a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC). 

 

The Council set up Your Choice as it believed that this was the most cost effective way of providing the care people require. Many local residents queried whether this was a wise move, given the importance of the work done by Your Choice. The answer was that the quality of care would be the same, but without the scrutiny and control of the local authority, the organisation could be streamlined and more work could be done with less money. A business plan was produced that "conclusively proved" that the LATC model was more cost effective. A team of highly paid consultants validated all of these savings and pronounced the scheme as the best value for Barnet taxpayers and the only way to avoid huge cuts in servces.

Less than a year later, rather sadly we find that Your Choice Barnet is technically insolvent and requires a "loan" of £1 Million to keep on delivering services. Now all manner of businesses screw their figures up all of the time. All manner of businesses implode. It is a well documented fact that businesses usually fail within the first three years of incorporation. After that they actually know what they are doing and usually survive. 

So the questions are, why has Your Choice failed and why does it need a bale out. Under Barnet Council, departments had budgets and were managed withing the budget. Where has all of the extra costs come from? Has the revenue not met expectations? Well as far as I am concerned, these questions are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that the model has failed and it needs sorting out. There are two options. The first is to return it to local authority control. This may not be ideal but at least Barnet could balance the books. The other alternative is retain the service in the private sector. I am sure that there are armies of consultants who can prove that keeping the service in the private sector is the way forward. Sadly such consultants have now got a track record of getting such projections wrong. With the massive One Barnet outsourcings planned, this rings huge alarm bells. 

I've spent years warning about these risks in this blog. What do you want me to say. I have said it all a hundred times. I said it before the process started, during the cutover and afterwards. I am not Mystic Meg and I'm not psychic. I just bothered to read all of the reports that were available. These struck me as highly dubious. The questions I asked never received sensible answers. In the words quoted above "Always find that things are not what they seem". These words were never truer than with all of the One Barnet consultants reports which "prove" that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector. I got sent a whole stack of reports on the issue. The sender has spent the whole day badgering me for my response. All I can say is "My, My,My,My...."  Having been highly sceptical about the whole business from day one, the implosion of Your Choice Barnet has been even swifter and more dramatic than I dazedly dreamed in my worst nightmare.

Guest Blog - The truth about Your Choice Barnet by John Sullivan

A Guest Blog by John Sullivan,

And so as predicted by many people other than our Local Tory Councillors' and their expensive advisers consultants and lawyers that have cost Barnet taxpayers millions to date  the One Barnet Programme better known as OBP or " The Billion Pound  Gamble " is failing big time, before it even gets off the ground and that is official.

The company known as Your Choice that was formed without offering those affected by its formation any Choice, was launched on a business plan that even Mickey Mouse would have seen the flaws in. This company is a subsidiary of Barnet Homes and Barnet Homes was the very first phase of the OBP project, just one year after the launch they  are having to loan Your Choice "ONE MILLION POUNDS " to keep them solvent and comply with the contractual terms of their agreement with LBB.

What puzzles me initially is having read the front page story in The Press this week from the councillor in charge of housing, that Barnet will have to ship people out of Barnet due to a shortage of affordable homes. How in the name of all that is holy can Barnet Homes afford to loan out "ONE MILLION POUND ", that should so obviously be being used for the provision of the desperately needed affordable homes the councillor refers to. Call me thick if you wish but I just don't get it for me it makes no sense at all, and trust me I am not making this up.

Not only that they are loaning this money to Your Choice on the basis of a newly formed business plan presented to the world on 1st March, the author of which has already resigned so one must realistically assume she has little confidence in the new plan. Or could it be that the plan that is purely and simply about upping the profit margins of the company and has absolutely nothing to do with quality of care, is to be based on the devastation of the staff caring for the sick the disabled staff that have given one hundred percent support in the last year. Who will suffer the complete and utter demolition of their working conditions and as a result the moral of fabulous staff, staff that  have through their own initiatives and efforts in many ways , been the driving force behind  Your Choice being allowed to limp through it s first year. Due to a business plan that was never going to work that is being followed by yet another business plan that will fail.

"THE QUALITY OF THE SERVICE IS DETEMINED BY THE QUALITY OF THE STAFF EMPLOYED "

The quality and experience of the staff is vital in the field of social care, we only have to cast our minds back just a few short months to the horrors of Winterbourne View and this revised plan launched on March 1st by Your Choice is a blueprint for a "Winterbourne View " in Barnet

Why is it Tories believe that a business is only as good as the staff it employs and the quality of the service is reliant on the quality of the people employed until it gets to public services, such as the care of the elderly the sick the disabled and the infirm and when they get there any Tom Dick or Harry will suffice.

The new business plan will sack or demote  the very people that have kept this misguided privatisation of social care from sinking many months ago, but for the efforts of these coal face managers and team leaders the privatisation would have fallen at the first hurdle.

Their reward is the sack or demotion and a reduction in their wages, the removal of overtime rates for working weekends and evenings , in fact the removal of all but a reduced basic wage no matter what hours they work and on what day or what time of the day on top of that they will have to work 7 days a week shifts rather than five with no overtime rates

This abomination of a plan will demotivate very special people, looking after the disabled and those with a disability is the domain of very special people they are unique they are rare, more importantly they have a vocation and a love for the people they care for.  They will be replaced yes but with whom, will it be with people forced to do the job or lose their dole money, if so will those people have the same commitment to these folk will they develop a vocation for what is one of the most difficult and sensitive tasks in public service I think not.

This new plan is an abomination it is an abortion it is a plan about profit and not the welfare of vulnerable people, it has nothing to do with quality of life or quality of care it is all about being competitive in the market place I repeat it is an abomination.

I have been challenging the long term viability of the Your Choice privatisation from the outset, I have spoken with some of the biggest legal firms in the country expressing my fears for the long term future of care for my daughter Susan. From London Borough of Barnet and Your Choice I have been met with obfuscation, misinformation standard bullshit replies and even blatant lies, I have even now been threatened with legal action for telling the truth. Because it turns out I have had every good reason to concern myself, I even predicted from the outset that the quality staff would eventually be replaced by cheap labour to maximise profits and tragically I have been proven right.

Social care and adult service are the responsibility of the people of the borough and that responsibility that duty of care to these vulnerable people is placed in the hands of local councillors in trust. Barnet council have abused that trust by trying to make a profit from this vulnerable group which for me is immoral.

Councillor Rajput one of the architects of the Your Choice business plan disaster allegedly said if the plan fails we will take the service back in-house, I am asking the people of Barnet to demand that all services currently run by the failed Your Choice be brought back in -house, that is the only way our duty of care to these folk can be ensured, Your Choice is a failed experiment in fact it is a bloody disaster  it is a Winterbourne View waiting to happen and these services should now be brought back in-house.

Have a look at the policy abomination of 1st march and form your own views by visiting the link here 

Contact your local councillors via this link and demand these services are brought back in-house

Barnet Eye Note - There is a board meeting of "The Barnet Group" which is the "parent company" of Your Choice Barnet, they have invited people to attend. I urge anyone who is concerned to turn up. It is at 6pm On Monday 4th March at Barnet House, 1255 High Road, Whetstone N20 0EJ - details here

http://www.thebarnetgroup.org/events/2013/03/group-board-meeting/

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John  Sullivan is a Barnet resident and carer. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye.

A day of renewal

In 2010 I was elected to the Pastoral Parish Council of the Sacred Heart Church in Mill Hill. This is the body which oversees the activities in the Parish and works with other groups to help develop activities within the parish. The PPC itself organises a few events, but its primary role is to act as facilitators to ensure that the resources available are used in the most beneficial way for all concerned.

Yesterday the PPC organised a day of renewal for its members and representatives of other groups in the parish and locality. A group of speakers were arranged to discuss all manner of initiatives in the locality and the theme was very much on addressing social needs in and around Mill Hill.

We had a couple of guest speakers. The first of these was the Rev Steven Young from St Michaels and All Angels, which is the Anglican Church over the road. Rev Young was speaking about his experiences running an overnight shelter for homeless people in Camden Town. The various local faith groups in Barnet have set up a scheme to provide overnight sleeping arrangements for a group of up to 15 homeless people in Barnet. This was pioneered in Finchley with a joint initiative between the local Jewish community and various churches. Fr Steven gave a graphic account of some of the challenges which the scheme will face and also the enormous good it can do. It is good to see diverse groups working together to deliver something practical and such initiatives were the reason I put my name forward for the PPC in the first place.

We also had a represenative give a run down on the work on the overnight shelter scheme. 

Mill Hill Churches will be hosting an overnight shelter one night a week at John Keeble Church for six weeks in March and April. Meals will be provided as well as sleeping facilities. The scheme is run in association with Homeless Action Barnet.

We also had a vistor from Borehamwood, who explained how their church was participating in a scheme to organise a food bank. She explained how the local rotary club had organised collections at Morrisons and Tescos and how the supermarkets had supported the scheme. She also explained how many families are teetering on the brink of a financial precipice and the food bank fills a vital need ensuring families can get a decent meal.

I spoke of the work of The Passage, a homeless day centre in Victoria which is another charity which the Sacred Heart supports. I explained how we provide a hot meal for homeless people, but how this was not the main thrust of the work, which was to try and help people resolve the issues which made people homeless in the first place.

What struck me was the amount of work we have to do on our own doorstep just to ensure people have a roof or a meal. In a rich country like the UK that is a scandal. I urge everyone to support these initiatives. I am greatly encouraged by the way the local religious groups are working together on this. I personally would also encourage people who don't want to particpiate through such groups but who care about such issues to find a way of participating. The need is real and growing.

The Saturday List #36 - Odd web things in the London Borough of Barnet

1. The Dismore4Hendon.com website. Andrew Dismore was the former MP for Hendon. This was his campaign website. It appears that the domain has lapsed and been taken over by someone who likes writing in Swedish and clearly has no association with the Borough. Here is an example post

"Now the car packed, we have changed the tires on the car and is ready to just take the car down to Skåne, where we will be for a week with my in-laws. As I have told my friends that we should go there, they have looked very surprised at me and wondering how I can expose myself to it but they do not know my in-laws that I think are some of the most relaxed and beautiful people that I have encountered and not that annoying as you usually hear about or seen on film. I've been through tough laws so I know exactly what it could be and that's also why I appreciate my current in-laws so much because they are so far from the former as you can get and it's really nice I think."

2. Did Winston Churchill meet Rudolph Hess in Barnet? You can find out all of the details here
http://www.barnet4u.co.uk/Barnethistory/Churchill-Hess/churchess.html

3. The Battle of Barnet.  With the recent interest in Richard III's bones and his final resting place, it is worth having a look at this site about his first battle - The Battle of Barnet. http://www.r3.org/bookcase/texts/reboul_barnet.html

4. The number of bombs dropped on Barnet in the second World War. This site lists all of the bombings of Barnet that were officially noted. http://bombsight.org/explore/greater-london/barnet/

5. If ghosts is your thing, then check out this site, which has details of some famous ghostly sites in the Borough. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/644353.print/

Dyselxia blog - English as a foreign language

For those of you who haven't read my dyslexia blogs before, here is a little preamble and introduction, so you know who I am and what I do and why I write this stuff. For those of you who know the story, skip to the end of the paragraph for todays installment. Let me give you a bit of Background so you know who I am and what I do. I was born in 1962. I didn't start talking until I was 4 years old (at all, not a single word). My parents thought I was deaf. My reading age at eleven was 5. When I was fifteen I started a rock and roll band called the False Dots, the band is still going strong. When I was 16 I started a business called Mill Hill Music Complex (although then it was simply called the studio), a rehearsal studio, as we had nowhere to rehearse. The business has grown into a very successful enterprise, one of Londons biggest and most well respected independent studios. We now have 16 studios and a music shop and also have a photography/video studio and a dance studio. I also have done IT work, mostly on a freelance basis since 1983. In 2012 I also moved into film production, producing two highly acclaimed documentary films, both of which had screenings at the House of Commons. When I was 31, a friend suggested I had a dyslexia test. To my surprise I was told I was moderately dyslexic. This made me interested in the subject. To my amazement, what I have learned over the years is that my lack of educational aptitude, my feelings of anger and injustice and the core of my personality have been formed by the fact I cannot read words in a linear fashion. In 2013, I have set one of my objectives to use this blog to let dyslexics know they are not alone, to suggest that people who think they may be dyslexic to get an assessment and toget people who have dyslexic children or siblings to understand the issues that they face.

There is a fantasy I have. In my daydreams, God approaches me and says "I am going to give you a chance to live your life again, from a point of your choosing." I can then go back and totally reshape my life based on my experiences. I have probably had this daydream since I was five years old. When I was a kid, the things I would change were quite mundane. I would have chosen to sat next to such and such at the start of term. I would have asked for Meccano for Xmas instead of a train set. I would have asked for a tropical fish tank instead of a bike for my Birthday.

Then you become a teenager and the changes seem so much more intense. There was a long list of girls I wished I'd plucked up the courage to ask out. Then there was the long list of girls that I'd asked out and not put the effort to keep as girlfriends. Then there was the long list of times I'd made arrangements and then got sidetracked and let people down. Then there was the times when I'd been truly horrible to people who didn't deserve it.

And then you hit your twenties and Thirties and the again the changes are rung. Jobs I'd not taken, jobs I took. Girls I split from and girls I didn't split from. Things I wish I'd said to my father before he died, things I wish I'd not said to him.

Then in my forties, the things I didn't do with my kids that I wish I had and the things I wish I'd not done and feel bad about. In this long list of slow motion replays of my life, I realised the other day, I've never ever wondered about what would have happened if my mother hadn't had a difficult birth, I hadn't brain damage and I wasn't dyslexic. Of course I don't know that this is the reason I am dyslexic, but I am convinced. Imagine for a second I wasn't dyslexic how different.

Just imagine all of the pisstaking at school I would have avoided. Just imagine all of test I wouldn't have finished bottom of the class in. Just imagine the concept of going to University, getting a good degree and having a set career path? Just imagine how nice it would be to remember peoples names or song lyrics. Just imagine how nice it would be to be able to fill in forms? Best of all, just imagine that on a Friday night, I wasn't sat in front of my laptop, writing blogs about dyslexia. Maybe the alternate me wouldn't have spent the best part of fifty years trying to control a burning sense of anger and resentment. Maybe I wouldn't feel the need to shout and scream at people when they told lies and put other people at a disagvantage. Maybe I wouldn't want to spend my time battling for people who can't fight their own battles and instead could go out enjoying myself. Maybe when I saw people being victimised, I'd be able to happily look the other way and say "not my problem". Maybe when my wife tells me not to blog and to talk to her instead, I'd stop blogging and have a nice chat rather than say "I'll be in in fifteen minutes, this is important". Maybe I'd like nice easy listening music like Chris De Burgh, rather than aggressive and angry punk rock music. Maybe I wouldn't feel the need to push myself to run 10K for Age UK Barnet and train like a lunatic so I could do it in a vaguely half decent time, even though my calfs, knees and thighs hurt. I am sure the different me would not be as driven, as angry or as unpleasant a person as I am.

And then I think of the other me. Twenty Stone, contented, oblivious, sitting in my chair, drinking fine wines as Rome burns. Maybe I'd be a Conservative Councillor chiding "childish irritating bloggers" for not trusting the Council on One Barnet. Maybe I'd be a pillar of society, working as a consultant working out how to outsource the functions of the council and getting £150,000 for my troubles (nicely tax efficient). What would this other me, make of the messed up individual who writes this blog. I am sure he'd hate him. I am more than sure that the other me would never want to go back and inflict dyslexia on himself. I am sure the thought would never for a second cross his mind.

But when I look at this other me, despite all the shit which has forged my personality, if God took me back I would not change the gift of dyslexia. I don't like it. I don't like being the village idiot. I don't like standing up and speaking in public meetings thinking the world thinks I'm an imbecile, bit I have learned not to be afraid and to do it anyway. I have learned that I am not ashamed of myself, in fact I am rather proud of myself.

I love my wife, my kids, my life and my job. I have great friends and I am proud of my blog, my music and my studios. Although there is little in my life I would have proactively chosen, it is all a very happy accident.

If I don't raise another £33 for Age UK Barnet in sponsorship (check https://www.justgiving.com/RogT) 
I have promised my wife I will quit blogging next Sunday, so this could be the last Dyslexia blog I write. I just wanted you all to know that if that is the case, it all turned out alright and I would change any of it.

The Friday Joke - 1/3/2012

A boy says to his mother, "Mom, when I grow up I'd like to be a musician." She replies, "Well honey, you know you can't do both." 

Have a nice weekend.

North Fincley regeneration meeting - or how not to spend £1.6 million

So at 6.30pm yesterday, I turned up in North Finchley to go to the Arts Depot to find out about the plans to regenerate North Finchley. Parking campaigner Helen Michael had invited me along to hear how we'd be allowed to spend £1.6 million of our own money, to boost the local High Street. I've been doing some research into the Outer London fund as a background to the trip. When Sayy, the consultant who is leading the program stood up she announced "Boris has given us £1.6 million to spend improving the High Street". I was a little bit irritated by this assertion. As far as I can make out from the GLA/Mayors finances, the money has been removed from the police budget to be reallocated to splash around the Boroughs, to fund areas that bid for cash, to generally tart the place up.

We've already had a substancial amount of money in Barnet. A large grant was given to Barnet, to improve the area around Barnet Church. Has this been a huge success? Not from what I can see or from what the locals tell me. Is taking money from police budgets, to "improve" High Streets a good way to spend our money? Again I am not convinced. Sally further irritated me with a reference to "mad old buggers beating the same drums" as a reference to people talking about issues in the locality.  (Note : Sally has contacted me to correct this - She says she said "mad old buggers banging on the same old drum" - I must have misheard her)  This irritated me on two levels. Firstly, if a problem exists and the council have failed to acknowledge it, then you have to "beat the same drum" it isn't madness, it is the only way you ever get anything done. let me give you an example. My father was a pilot for bomber command. These brave mens sacrifice was never recognised. No memorial and no campaign medal. Only in the last year has this terrible decision been overturned. My Dad died in 1987, and so it was too late for him and about 90% of the survivors. It is only mad old buggers beating the same drum that sorted it. The other level it upset me on is that I run a music studio and I have about 200 customers who are "mad old buggers who've been beating the same drum" for many a year". Nothing wrong with mad old buggers, especially drummers. Local bloggers also were referred to (as an irritation with lots of energy - thanks team ! ).

She then talked about unlocking the private and charity sectors, dividing large shops into smaller units and improving training and skills. Sally informed us that she doesn't like meetings and finds them draining. I thoroughly agree with her. I've been to hundreds of meetings about Barnet, just like this one and yes, she couldn't be more correct.

Next up we had Tracy Cooper of the Arts Depot. She talked about getting the word around about all of the great things the Arts Depot do. It is a fantastic space and a great resource. I don't think we need a grant from the Mayor to do this. She is right that the people of Barnet by and large are oblivious to what is on at the Arts Depot. It has always amazed me that they have never sought to work with bloggers etc to promote the shows etc that they have on. Check there Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/artsdepot - the last tweet promoting an arts event was the 22nd Feb, they should be tweeting their program on a daily basis. They currently have 3,603 followers. This is a derisory total for such a prestigious venue and shows a real lack of ambition to promote the place. Here you go guys, a free plug for your website. I'd urge everyone to keep an eye on the place as they do have good show.

Then we had Brenda Goldberg. Tracey is a lady who has got involved for all the right reasons. She talked about knitting groups, grandma and toddler groups and other community activities which would generate a sense of community. Tracey's heart is in the right place and we need people with her motivations to step up.

Next up was Helen Michael, owner of Cafe Buzz. Helen spoke about local community, then she let slip she wasn't allowed to talk on the subject of parking. A visible hiss went up. She outlined many positives for North Finchley and asked for people to get involved.

Then Sally lead the Q&A. I don't think this went to plan. Paul Shea of Tally Ho Discount raised parking. He stated that we've seen a 20-30% drop in High Street trade since the abolition of pay and display parking. Sally said this was all very well but outside the scope of the meeting.

A local architect asked why he hadn't been approached to contribute and who had selected the architects (who are not Barnet based). I couldn't understand the answer, it involved a transparent process and there being nothing to hide. The company chosen are MUF architects (unrelated to the diving school I believe), who are based in EC1 http://www.muf.co.uk/contact-2 - I'd prefer the work to have been allocated locally, but hey what do I know. There was also  a quesion raised about the consulants fees and what percentage of the £1.6 million would this take up. Sally told us she gets £1,000 a month. Another lady told us her firm were getting £68,000. So we have identified a minimum of £82,000. I'd have preferred a lump sum figure.

Another question was asked about who decides how the money is spent. Again this was most unclear and no satisfactory answer was given. I am all for such funds, but I am always worried when there seems to be little accountability or democratic control.

There was also some disquiet amongst the disabled members of the audience at the proposal for trees to be planted outside the Arts Depot. They felt these may make accessibility more difficicult.

I also spoke. I explained that Barnet Council has failed to exploit  the opportunity to engage with the local community via social media as they have an overriding need to control everything. I stated that I've invited councillors to write guest blogs on numerous occasions to no avail. I explained that the decision to exclude parking from the remit was nonsense. I even gave Dan Hope, blogger from the Barnet Bugle a plug for the sterling work he does videoing the council. The point is, If they invested in new cash pay and display meters this would be a massive improvement and boost trade far more than a  few trees. The audience agreed, but the people with the dosh didn't. In Camden & other London boroughs, bloggers are invited to talk to the council and are the first to recieve press releases. Here they would strangle us if they could. (This morning I had breakfast with Helen Michael at Cafe Buzz. Paul Shea from Tally Ho Discount came in and said that Barnet now resembles North Korea).

At the end I was approached by a nice chap who chastised me for my negative attitude. I explained the history of the abolition of pay and display and why the scheme would fail unless this was addressed. I thena asked who he was. It turned out he worked for Boris.

Who am I? I am just a mad, sad bugger who keeps banging the same drum. What mandate do I have? None at all. Who listens to me? Well actually from the response I got, I rather suspect that quite a few people do.

This may all sound negative. I hope Sally does a good job and regenerates North Finchley. I just think that unless she persuades the council to properly engage with local people, it is a complete waste of time and cash and the money would have been better spent on coppers who could nick a few criminals and put a lid on street crime, which is becoming a scourge in Barnet. For what it's worth, I had a chat with Labour GLA rep Andrew Dismore and he agreed with everything I had to say.