99% is ....... The Barnet Eye

There's no christmas for John Quays

2012-02-11T11:25:00.000Z

Nearly four years ago, I was discussing starting a blog on the Hendon Times website. I had an agenda that I hadn't really told them about. I wanted to write about the local music scene. I wanted to promote local bands and local musicians. But there were also another couple of subjects that were on the radar. You probably think you know what they might be, if you've read the blog for a while. You are probably wrong.

The subject I wanted to cover was drugs. I happen to believe that the we are all victims of a criminal conspiracy. We are surrounded by drugs, most of us are drug addicts and we don't even realise. Tea and coffee contain caffiene which is a stimulant. If you drink a few cups of either on a daily basis, then the reason you have a headache when you do a detox is because of the withdrawal. But that isn't really the point I am interested in.

What concerns me is the lack of honesty in the information we are given about illegal and legal drugs. The big pharm companies make billions of pounds a year from their products, many of which are simply palliatives for completely avoidable conditions. Do you eat your five portions of vegetables a day? Do you drink a litre and a half of water a day? Do you thoroughly wash all fruit and vegetables, to remove pesticides before you eat them? Have you had your cholesterol, your PSA level and your liver function checked recently? How many cigarettes did you smoke before you read this blog today? How many pints did you drink last night?

How did I get on with these?

Do you eat your five portions of vegetables a day? Yes, I had nine portions
Do you drink a litre and a half of water a day? Nope, I had about half a litre
Do you thoroughly wash all fruit and vegetables, to remove pesticides before you eat them? I only eat organic
Have you had your cholesterol, your PSA level and your liver function checked recently?Yes
How many cigarettes did you smoke before you read this blog today? Three (which is a once in a blue moon event because I was pissed and stressed - but that is another story)
How many pints did you drink last night? Lost count after seven

So how did I do yesterday? Pretty shite really, but hey when you bump into a friend and they need a chat about serious problems at work, then it can have a bad effect on your good intentions. So I woke up this morning and thought "Why did I do that". The answer is because I was indulging in our favourite legal drug to excess. I don't consider myself to have an issue with alcohol, I drink less days than I abstain. But when I start and I'm in a pub with friends, I tend to stay there until I get chucked out. I'd still be there now, if it hadn't shut. Alcohol causes more social problems in the UK than all of the other drugs put together. Most of us have done things we regret under the influence. I do regularly and I never learn. But then again, I suspect alcohol has given me more than it has taken. I've probably met all of the women I've ever been serious about, since I left school, under the influence. When tragedy has struck me, I've drunk myself through the problems. Alcohol is a constant friend in such times. I work in a homeless shelter as a volunteer one day a week. Most of the people who visit have some sort of issue with drink/drugs or both. Does it scare me? Not really. I think I'm alright. Trouble is we are all alright with things until we are not.

I was discussing another friend at the pub last night. I'd had a few too many and the friend I was talking to was well past his limit, it was 10pm and he'd been drinking since lunchtime. We were discussing another friend who has serious issues with alcohol and who's life has fallen apart. Can he turn his life around. Sadly, I suspect that often this only happens, when you reach rock bottom and there is no one left to turn to or bail you out. Our friend seems not to have hit this, will he before the drink kills him? He's an adult and he's made his choices. We as friends have no choice but to watch the car crash unfold in front of us.

So what am I really saying? That we need to grow up. We need to have a proper discussion about the pervading wider drug culture in this country. I don't believe that such problems can be legislated away. I believe that they should be managed far better. All that happens at the moment is we put sticking plasters over the symptoms. I'm not an expert.

For some reason I awoke with the classic track about drug abuse and chaotic lifestyles - No Xmas for John Quays by The Fall - echoing around my head. I was reflecting on the lines in it - There is no Christmas for junky, He thinks he is More interesting Than the world, Ah but five fags Puts him in a whirl - and that I think is the issue. I believe addiction is linked to vulnerability and insecurity. When we have these campaigns such as TALKTOFRANK, I see nothing about "dealing with vulnerability and insecurity". Sadly I think this is why we are in the mess we find ourselves. Whether it is having a couple of drinks, so we have the courage to ask the person we fancy out, or the bottle of scotch to cope with our partner calling us a dickhead and telling us that they hate us and want to separate, or the lovin' spoonfull of Golden Brown to take away the pain of our abusive childhoods, the root cause is the same. We abuse substances because we don't like what we really are. Have a nice Saturday

No Xmas For John Quays,
By Mark E. Smith

No Christmas for John Quays
Come on get a bit of fucking guts into it
What what Well the powders reach you
And the powders teach you
But when you find they can't reach you
There is no Christmas for junky
He thinks he is
More interesting Than the world
Ah but five fags Puts him in a whirl
I'll have a packet of three-five fives
You fucking [full of money] or something for Christ's sake?
I'll have a packet of three-five fives
I'll have 20 of those over there
I'll have 20 No.6 for a headache
And I've had enough right there,
stop (Why is this)
Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah
He spits in the sky
It falls in his eye
And then he gets to sitting
Talking to his kitten
Talking about Frankie Lymon
Tell me why is it so?
Tell me why is it so?
Why did the sky break today?
Why did this happen today?
He gets out of his face with the Idle Race
He gets out of the room with this tune
Although the skins are thin
He knows its up to him
To go out or stay in
I'll stay in I'll stay in
Have a break
You Me X-Mas X-Mas
Well the powders reach you
And the powders teach you
But when you find they can't reach you
There is no Christmas for junky
There is no girls
Just the traffic passing by
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
Open the room,
there's a cloud of smoke
Will you fucking get it together instead of showing off?
Give me one
Give me B
Give me three Give me D
No X-mas for John Quays

Barnet Blogger Mrs Angry is nominated for The Orwell Prize

2012-02-10T16:47:00.000Z

Barnet Blogger Mrs Angry has been nominated for the Orwell Prize !
You can see full details here -

http://theorwellprize.co.uk/the-orwell-prize/how-to-enter/entries-2012/blog-prize-2012/

If anyone deserves an Orwell Prize it's Mrs Angry for the stirling work she did this time last year exposing the Metpro Scandal. Whilst all of the Barnet bloggers played a big part in making sure that the whole story was exposed, I personally think that if someone has to get a gong for it, then that should be Mrs Angry. She started her blog in response to neighbours from hell, dumped on her doorstep by Barnet Council. She'd only just got rid of the stress of them when the Metpro Scandal broke. A lesser person would have said "I don't need the hassle and let the matter rest". No one would have thought the lesser of her if she had.

When I started blogging, no one in Barnet was covering the issues we raise every day. I doubt that we do more than scratch the surface of the shit going on in Barnet, but the council now take us very seriously. They know that WE WILL eventually get to the truth of the matter. We are a dogged, persistant and very committed bunch. We are both competetive (in a good way) and collaborative. Whenever one of us is picked on, the rest of the bloggers will rally around. If one of us is put up for a gong, the rest of us will back them to the hilt.

I do wonder how many of the bloggers on the list have had the stress, taken the risks and put the work into their blog that Mrs Angry has? Not only that, but she writes a damn fine blog.

Barnet Unison Press Release : UNISON CALLS ON ERIC PICKLES TO INVESTIGATE BARNET COUNCIL

2012-02-10T14:07:00.000Z

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is calling on the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, to launch an immediate inquiry into the use of consultants at Barnet Council after public sector tax avoidance hit the headlines in the case of Ed Lester the Head of the Student Loans Company.

The union believes that the proper employment and procurement practices have not been followed exposing the Council to significant reputational and financial risks.

Eric Pickles has already had to step in and reprimand the council, after local residents and Barnet bloggers exposed the METPRO Audit scandal when METPRO a private security firm were awarded a contract at a cost of over a million pounds - without a tendering exercise, written contact or any proper invoicing - to ‘keep an eye’ on local bloggers.

Laura Butterfield, Regional Organiser at UNISON, said:
“We are really concerned that proper procedures have not been followed at Barnet Council. Over the last two years Barnet Council has employed a long list of consultants including the Deputy Chief Executive and Assistant Director of HR. Only an immediate inquiry can clarify the correct processes were followed. Given Danny Alexander’s intervention in the Ed Lester case last week how can we ensure that future cases are avoided unless all public sector employees are employed through the correct processes?”

UNISON’s key concerns
· The Council has failed to comply with its Contract Procurement Regulations (CPR) and Financial Regulations by employing consultants without any procurement/selection process being followed.– which exposes it to significant reputational and financial risks .

· The Council does not have accurate and complete centrally held contracts register and effective monitoring arrangements so are unable to confirm if this is an isolated incident.

· The Council does not have a complete, centrally held register of contractors showing who is employed, on what basis and at what cost.

We recommend that all spend over the stated threshold in the CPR be reviewed and matched to a central contracts register (in development) in a timely basis. This register needs to be drawn up in full and maintained.

Back in February 2011 the local UNISON branch submitted a report to all 63 Barnet Councillors on 10 February where they made the following recommendation

Recommendation
The Council undertakes as a matter of urgency a review of all payments to staff not employed directly by the Council.

Furthermore we recommend that the Council refer to the HMRC Guidelines in particular the advice to be found here that explains that “It's your responsibility to correctly determine the employment status of your workers - that is, whether they're employed by you or self-employed. This depends on the terms and conditions of your working relationship with each worker.

It's important to get your workers' employment status right because it affects the way tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) are calculated for them. And it determines whether or not you have to operate PAYE (Pay As You Earn) on their earnings.”

Read full details here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/employees/start-leave/status.htm <http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/employees/start-leave/status.htm>
For comment or more information please contact Laura Butterfield – 07718 520 850 / l.butterfield@unison.co.uk

End
Information links

1. Student Loans chief 'to pay tax at source'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16854187

2. Pickles attacks Barnet Councilhttp://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2011/07/pickles-attacks-barnet-council.html <http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2011/07/pickles-attacks-barnet-council.html>

Valentines day special - Larches Trust charity appeal

2012-02-10T13:25:00.002Z

The Larches Trust - a local charity working for local people with learning difficulties and autism.

They have asked me to publicise a Valentines day competition they are running and their current fundraising appeal. The competition is free to enter with a great prize. Please check this out :-

http://www.larchescommunity.org.uk

Brian Coleman - Barnet Council Standards Sub Committee hearing date

2012-02-10T10:30:00.001Z

News reaches the Barnet Eye that Barnet Council have announced the date for hearing the complaint against Brian Coleman, for abusing members of the public.

5th March 10am - Hendon Town Hall

The meeting will be open to members of the public.

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/meetings/meetingdetail.asp?MeetingID=7206

We will update this when report pack becomes available

Barneteye Weekly Roundup - 10/1/2012

2012-02-10T09:48:00.000Z

What a week it has been. On Monday we had the shop owners of Finchley holding a protest against Barnet Council's parking policies. The parkimng fiasco, overseen by Barnet and Camden GLA superemo Brian Coleman (who is up for re-election for his £50K a year part time job in May - hint, hint) has not only pushed many traders all over Barnet to the brink of bankruptcy, it has ACTUALLY COST THE COUNCIL NEARLY HALF A MILLION QUID IN LOST INCOME ! My fellow Barnet blogger Mr Mustard has done an excellent expose of just how much the fiasco has cost - http://lbbspending.blogspot.com/2012/02/permits-figure-differences-mr-mustard.html. You can see a video of the protest if you scroll down and look in the sidebar. It was a good humoured event, despite the snow! The North Finchley traders are a resilient bunch and any sane council would harnessing their energy for the good of Barnet, not indulging in a slash and burn policy of destroying their businesses.

On Tuesday we commemorated the 200th Borthday of Charles Dickens. Barnet was an inspiration for Charles Dickens, his experiences of the workhouse in Wellhouse Lane inspired perhaps his best known novel, Oliver Twist. Dickens was a staunch fighter for social justice and this was a permanent theme through all of his work. The Barnet Eye wonders what he'd make of a character such as Brian Coleman and his recent outburst against the disabled "Why should the Council subsidise transport for these people", which would be a bad enough thing to say without Colemans penchant for free taxis at the public's expense - http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Brian_Coleman_2010_2011.asp. I have wondered if the reason Brian Coleman and his chums in the local Tory party are so keen to shut all of the museums in Barnet is purely because they associate with the type of character Dickens used to lampoon ni his works and they want to erase all memory of one of our greatest authors links with the Borough. I can think of no other reason why the historic workhouse building would be demolished.

On Wednesday, the Barnet Eye stats counter showed that our website had been inundated with hits from recruitment companies and headhunters searching for a very well known (to readers of this blog) figure at Barnet Council. What was intriguing was that there was a splurge of them in the afternoon and then another splurge of hits in the evening from private emails. It rather looked to me as if people had been checking the individual out and then decided to dig deeper later in the day. Is someone planning to jump ship? Only time will tell.

Yesterday, the big news was the strike in Barnet by Council workers, against outsourcing, redundancies and cuts to services. To ensure their time was not wasted, they volunteered to put a shift in at a local charity. There is an excellent write up in the Edgware and Mill Hill Times -
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/9523342.Strikers_fighting_council_s_outsourcing_plans_help_out_charity/ - as ever the story has the obligatory inane comment from Councillor Daniel Thomas.

"Any staff who move as part of the restructure will remain in the local government pension scheme, keep the same level of pay and have a job guaranteed for 12 months at the very least from their move. I'm sure many of our residents would envy that level of certainty in the current financial climate."

At present, many staff are being forced to relocate to Croyden. All of this for a job which is likely to only last 12 months. Does Daniel Thomas really think that for mothers working part time for the council with children in local schools, this is enviable? The man is quite clearly a blithering idiot.

There are also a couple of big national stories. Of most interest to this blog was the news that Fabio Capello had resigned. My 11 year old son ran in excitedly and announced "Capello has just resigned". He was not a fan. I suspect that the England job is an impossible task. Harry Redknapp seems to be the man for the job. He has transformed Spurs from mid table mediocrity to Champions League contenders. Whilst he's made some shrewd signings, he has developed players such as Gareth Bale beyond recognition. He clearly is a great motivator and a man who understands the way British players play. Spurs play great football, which is something any purist such as myself would say should be paramount.

Then there was the Harry Redknapp tax trial. I have some sympathy for Harry Redknapp. Many footballers and rock stars do not have a great education and end up with pots of money. Many end up skint, due to the fact that they really don't understand tax. I would like to see all footballers and other short career/high earners have to be enrolled in a scheme whereby their tax affairs were managed by a competent professional, otherwise the football club/ record label would bear the tax liability. This would soon stop the situation where young people earn a lot of money in a short time, spend it and then get bankrupted because they can't pay the tax. For the taxpayer, the worst thing is usually by the time the Inland Revenue take action, the money has been spent, so they bankrupt the individual and never get the money back anyway. That is clearly a ridiculous situation. I don't blame the tax authorities, they are just doing their job as best they can. If we didn't pay tax, the country would fall apart.

Photo special : The death of the local High Street - Traders put the coffin on show

2012-02-09T14:20:00.000Z

Stop Brian Coleman killing our High Streets - Traders display the body in North Finchley

Barnet Council Strike - 9th January

2012-02-09T06:24:00.000Z

Today the staff at Barnet Council are on strike. To show their commitment to the community, striking staff are spending the day volunteering for community projects such as the Larches Trust, a charity based in Edgware, which helps people with special needs.

The Barnet Eye believes that the dispute is completely unnecessary and has been caused by the complete intransigence of Barnet Council and its unwillingness to engage with its own staff. Every industrial dispute is caused by failures of management and unions to communicate. It is completely clear to anyone who knows Barnet and knows the previously excellent industrial relations in Barnet where the fault for this dispute lies.

The Barnet Eye fully supports the staff and commends their efforts for the community on this day of industrial action

Mill Hill Special - Transport links, pubs and restaurants details and bank opening times

2012-02-08T19:55:00.000Z

When I started the Barnet Eye blog, I made a decision that I wouldn't use it to push my business interests. I set up a separate blog for this and a separate twitter account. I do occasionally cross post things, which I genuinely believe are of wider community interest. What you won't see here is a blog saying "come to my studios, they're great" as that isn't what the point of the Barnet Eye blog is.

There are occasions however when there is something which I think has a wider reason to publicise than for just narrow commercial reasons and I do mention these. Today is one such occasion. I have employed a talented website designer to revamp my studio website and they have added a couple of really useful pages, which I think are very useful to anyone who lives in Mill Hill. These are highly useful pages

First there is a comprehensive list of details for restaurants, banks, pubs and shops with links for opening times, telephone numbers etc - http://www.millhillmusiccomplex.co.uk/about-mill-hill.php

The other interesting page is one which is designed for studio users, but would be really helpful for anyone who lives in Mill Hill and uses public transport. This is a directory of all bus timetables and links for travel updates for the trains for Mill Hill - http://www.millhillmusiccomplex.co.uk/contact-map-and-directions.php

I hope these links are of some use to all of you who live in Mill Hill. Can I be so bold as to suggest every High Street should have a couple of pages like this. Well done to my web designer, this impressed me. Sometimes the simplest things are the most useful

The Madness of King Nick - Barnet Council on Strike

2012-02-08T09:26:00.000Z

As Barnet Council prepares for yet another strike by it's workers, my thoughts turn to the CEO Nick Walkley. What I really can't understand about the current bunfight is the fact that it is completely avoidable. You may think that this is a ridiculous statement but if you were to ask Nick Walkley these questions, his answer would reveal the truth. The questions are :-

1) Were the current in house services allowed to bid for the One Barnet contracts?
2) Are the criteria for awarding the contracts for the One Barnet bids available for public scrutiny?
3) Has the process of awarding the One Barnet contracts been open and transparent?

Sadly the answer to all of these questions is a resounding NO. Had the In House teams been allowed to bid and had these been shown to be uncompetitive, the staff and unions would have had no grounds for a dispute. You may ask how I can claim that the criteria are not available for public scrutiny? It is quite clear, I have a letter from a lawyer at Barnet council demanding that I take remove the document from my blog which explains the award criteria.

It is no wonder that the staff are up in arms. They know they are being shafted. The document makes it clear that the process is risky and dodgy. Barnet have not even published the business case. Recently a Barnet Tory councillor, Brian Schama stated "I have seen the business case and I believe the numbers add up". Well I believe in the tooth fairy, but if I wanted to convince you, then you'd expect me to come up with the evidence. If it is strong enough to convince Brian Schama, then it should be robust enough to be published.

Recently, the fight has become dirty. On the Barnet Council side I've had legal threats and on the other side I've had all manner of things from the workers at Barnet council, from embarrassing pictures of Mr Walkley claiming to be genuine (which in this day and age are probably photoshopped) as well as a few more highly confidential leaked documents. As the leaked documents contain commercially sensitive information relating to contracts in the process of being negotiated, there is clearly a huge risk of legal sanction should these be published and the leaker has advised me to take notes and then destroy them, which has been done. What do they tell me?

They tell me that if these documents were in the public domain, there is a significant chance that this program would be exposed for what it is. I am currently pondering exactly what questions need to be asked under the FOI act and whether I should try and get Eric Pickles, the Local Government minister to take a look. The most difficult issue is the fact that I've not seen all of the documents. It is clear that only the most damaging documents would be leaked and there may be other material that mitigates it. That is the madness of this secrecy culture, it is impossible to really know.

I would issue this caution to Capita and EC Harris and FM Conway. If I've seen stuff marked confidential, who else has? It is clear that some very senior staff at Barnet have grave doubts. My guess is that these companies realise that there is easy money to be had and so don't really care. I do wonder why EC Harris and FM Conway are continuing to throw money at the process given the likelyhood of their winning the contract. They have even been insulted at a council meeting by the Council leader who noted that they sound "like a firm of solicitors". Maybe they take the view that if you don't buy a ticket, you don't win the lottery.

What is clear to me is that whoever wins the bid, it will damage the economy of the London Borough of Barnet. Jobs will be exported and local people will suffer. I've no idea what the job description for Nick Walkley says, but does it really include "destroy the local High Street, damage the economic wellbeing of the Borough and export jobs to other London Boroughs, other parts of the country and other continents?

In short the whole thing is total madness and it's time King Nick realised.

Barnet Council Workers Strike - Barnet Eye commentary

2012-02-07T21:51:00.000Z

On Thursday Barnet council workers will be on strike in protest at the attack on their terms and conditions threatened by the One Barnet outsourcing program. I have been speaking to several Barnet Council workers, who took time to call me and thank me and the other Barnet bloggers for our support in the face of intimidation and threats to them during previous strike actions. It appears that the bloggers of Barnet have taught Mr Walkley and his cronies a harsh lesson and they have backed away from the intimidation and threats this time. The message has got through that the intimidation is counter productive. There have been no Stalinist Agitprop billboards from Walkley this time. In fact the message seems to be "go on strike if you like, we don't care".

I was intrigued by this sudden change of plan, the sudden relaxed attitude over the Ivory Towers of Barnet. Why on earth could this be? Then I noticed some rather interesting blog searches, using people associated with Barnet Councils names by some top recruitment companies - http://www.theadeptway.com/what-we-do.php - http://www.aon.com/human-capital-consulting/default.jsp - to name but a couple. Also several late night hits from home computers on that very same persons name. Someone is doing their homework. They are very interested.

I wonder if someone has realised that the grass may be greener on the other side of the hill. It certainly will when the grass on this side of it has dried up, withered and died.

I someone on the lookout for a new job? Someone checking someone out? Who knows, anyway, one more thing. Thank you Bob.

Charles Dickens links with Barnet

2012-02-07T07:59:00.002Z

The cabinet of Barnet Council discuss bringing back the workhouse

Today was the 200th Birthday of Charles Dickens. Dickens had many links with Barnet, you may be interested to know Charles Dickens opinion of the area :-

Victorian London - Directories - Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles Dickens, Jr., 1879 - "Barnet"

Barnet.—A pretty and still tolerably rural suburb, but on the north side of London and on clay. Perhaps the best situation on that side and standing high, its fell name being, in fact, High Barnet. Locally it is considered “the highest ground between London and York.” In September (4th to 6th) there is a huge horse and cattle fair, one of the most important in the kingdom. The best part of Barnet, from a residential point of view, is the ring of villas round the common. Rents, compared with those in choices spot on the south side, fairly moderate, From King’s-cross, Ludgate-hill, Moorgate, and Broad-street (about 37 min.),1st, 1/6, 2/6; 2nd, 1/2, 1/10; 3rd, -/9.

Charles Dickens (Jr.), Dickens's Dictionary of London, 1879

Local legend has it that Charles Dickens used to drink at the Red Lion.

Barnet is the home to many pubs, and it was even recognised for this in Charles Dickens novel, “Oliver Twist”, it became the location where Oliver first met the Artful Dodger. Barnet workhouse is said to have been the inspiration for the workhouse in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist after a friend of his paid a visit to the establishment and heard one its young inmates "ask for more".

It is a matter of great sadness to the Barnet Eye that so many young people are completely unaware of the rich history of Barnet. Everyone should visit Barnet Museum (sadly still under threat of closure from philistine cuts by Barnet Council - website http://www.barnetmuseum.co.uk/ ).

As I read "A Tale of Two ~~Barnets~~ Cities" I was shocked by the way the current round of cuts and austerity echoes today. These are the opening lines of the book

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom,

it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief,

it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light,

it was the season of Darkness,

it was the spring of hope,

it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us,

we had nothing before us,

we were all going direct to Heaven,

we were all going direct the other way

There was a theme which ran through all the works of Charles Dickens. It was that unfairness and social injustice is never acceptable. Although we view Dickens as a writer of novels from a bygone age, the enduring nature of his stories, the strength of the characters in his works and the message are still relevant today. The following text is from the wikipedia entry for Charles Dickens. He is one of my role models. I make no claim that my writing is in any way a patch on his, but he is an inspiration, one I believe we should all look to :-

Dickens highlighted the life of the forgotten poor and disadvantaged within society. Through his journalism he campaigned on specific issues—such as sanitation and the workhouse—but his fiction probably demonstrated its greatest prowess in changing public opinion in regard to class inequalities. He often depicted the exploitation and oppression of the poor and condemned the public officials and institutions that not only allowed such abuses to exist, but flourished as a result.

I hope that those of you who regularly read this blog recognise some echoes of the great mans influence in what I write. How sad is tt that 200 years after the great mans birth, we are still talking about these issues

Viva la Republic (but not just yet)

2012-02-07T00:31:00.000Z

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Queen becoming our head of state. Only an idiot would claim she's not done a fantastic job. Even staunch republicans realise that it is pointless making the case for a different system, whilst she is on the throne. Any such arguments are reserved for what or who replaces her. What is the secret of the success of Queen Elizabeth? I suspect that it is the fact that she doesn't get involved with the day to day politics of the UK. As she has aged, so have we. How many of us remember a time when another monarch was on the throne?

The bizarre thing about the monarchy is that some of our best monarchs have been female, yet the rules conspire to keep them off the throne. Ask any Londoner to name six great monarchs, who will they say? I'd guess The Queen, Henry VIII, Victoria, Richard the Lionheart, Alfred the Great, Boudicca and King Harald. I once read that whilst we all know William the Conqueror, most of us don't consider him our King. Our Scottish friends may make a few different picks, but I'd envisage that Mary Queen of Scots would make the cut. Is it odd that even though women are so discriminated against by the system, three of the best known six are female? I don't think so. Whilst male monarchs have looked beyond our borders, my reading of history tells me that the female monarchs cared about the people who lived here.

A succession of kings sought victories in far flung places, to cement their place in history. As far as I'm aware, only Richard the Lionheart actually cemented his reputation for his achievementsabroad. I'm not saying this to validate his campaigns, but he was widely acclaimed as a military genius even by his opponents.

So what exactly has cemented the place in our affections for Elizabeth II. In short, I believe it is the fact that she is viewed as someone who just gets on with it. Whether she is meeting Richard Nixon or Nelson Mandela, she makes all of us feel that we have a leader who we could be proud of. She is non divisive and calm. She is perceived as being the Queen of the Commonwealth. This means she unites us all. The issue for me is whether Prince Charles will carry the same affection. Whilst the Queen seems to naturally exude authority, without seeming oppressive, what will we make of Charles?

As a Republican, I would like to see an elected head of State. I would not seek to replace the Queen in her lifetime. I suspect she is far more loved and better qualified than anyone else. What about when Charles has to replace her? I'd advocate a referendum. If the people of Britain vote for Charles, then that is the end of the issue. If they don't, we can set up a Royal Commission to look at the question. Some people have said "but the Monarch is the head of the Commonwealth". Many commonwealth countries have a head of state. Why is that such an issue for us?

My readings of the history books tell me that there have been as many bad monarchs as good ones. We have a good one at the moment, so there is no necessity to change the system. We just need to consider the fact that things change. In a mature democracy, that is something all of us should face up to and if that means choosing our head of state in future by a democratic process, is there really any logical argument against it.

Rog T's Cancer blog - The results of your MRI scan are

2012-02-06T19:59:00.000Z

For those of you who are regular readers and have read the previous posts, you can skip this first paragraph.This is the latest installment in my occasional series about how I'm adjusting to living with a big C in my life. For those of you who aren't, here's a quick summary. I'm 49 years old and I recently had a prostate biopsy following two "slightly high" PSA tests - 2.8 & 4.1. The biopsy took ten tissue samples and one of these showed a "low grade cancer" which gives me a 3+3 on the Gleason scale. I'm now on a program of active monitoring. I've no symptoms and sadly for a few people, if I'm gonna die soon, it won't be from Prostate cancer. Got the picture?

Well, if you've read all of these cancer blogs, next time you read it the previous paragraph will change. Today I had the first of my follow up sessions on active survelliance since I was diagnosed as having a low grade prostate cancer on 8th November. I received my latest PSA test result and the result of my MRI scan. Which means that the next blog will have to have the preamble updated.

It may sound odd, but I hadn't actually given todays consultation much thought. I have just been too busy. I have a studio to build, a blog to write and another couple of projects which have completely filled my mental bandwidth. I also have a friend who has a serious cancer and a bad prognosis to cope with. This morning, I had my meeting with the specialist at 11.55am. How did I prepare? I went to North Finchley to video the traders protest against parking fees. I bumped into Mrs Angry and VickiM, the two esteemed lady bloggers of Barnet, along with a whole bevvy of traders, photographers and filmmakers. It seems that the idea of traders carrying a coffin down Finchley High Road was a great draw. I felt a strange sense of irony that I was going to an imaginary funeral before a meeting which may (although unlikely) give me some very bad news.

My good lady wife insisted on accompanying me to the meeting. As I've been in rude good health recently, I suspected she wanted to make sure I hadn't made the whole thing up as an excuse to have a permanently bad mood (only joking, she wanted to make sure that if I found out something horrible, I'd have her support). I picked her up on the way back from the demo. She wanted to make sure I was mentally OK, I wanted to show her the video I'd shot.

As regular readers of this cancer blog will know, I've made a few lifestyle changes. I've gone semi vegetarian. I've cut out meat (mostly apart from the odd treat) and gone organic. I'm drinking green tea instead of black with milk. I'm drinking the pomegranite and eating my broccoli (which I loath). I've always been fairly active, so my sport has simply been maintained. I'm now 10kg lighter than when I started. This is down to better eating (not the cancer eating me).

Oddly enough, I rather suspect that I wish I'd adopted this diet years ago. Eating meat as a treat rather than a norm agrees with me. I enjoy the odd steak (I had a beautiful cut of venison on saturday, first meat for a week). I enjoy cooking, so the challenge of transforming a box of organic veg from Abel and Cole into a weeks worth of tasty meals is a challenge I relish. I enjoy eating the mushrooms with tumeric, pepper and ginger that the diet I'm following recommends. I enjoy the fact that the green tea and water I'm drinking has resulted in the fact I've not had a hangover for three months, even though I've drunk way enough to warrant a monster headache. I believe that this is because my liver and kidneys are working far more efficiently than they have done for years, without all of the fat, omega VI and other crap to clean up. In May I was told my cholesterol was "slightly high". I had it tested again last week and will be interested to see how this has responded to the new diet.

So as you may have gathered, I entered the meeting with a positive mental attitude. We sat down. I must confess that my doctor is not a man I'd like to play poker with. He gives absolutely nothing away. When he gave me the cancer diagnosis, I honestly thought he was going to give me good news, until he pulled the "C" trump card out. "Left side 5 sticks clear, 4 of five on right clear, 1 stick with 2mm tumourous mass, Mr Tichborne you have cancer" or words to that effect. With this guy, I don't know how good or bad it is till I'm out of the room and the door is shut. Please don't take this as a criticism of him, it isn't. If my job was to give people bad news, I've no idea how I'd approach it.

So we sat down. "The results of the MRI scan are clear. Your PSA level is down to 3.5" he said. I responded "So we can cautiously say that this is good news?". He said "Well it is better news than if they had found a tumour or the PSA level was up". He then said "You are sure you don't want to consider treatment options?". Now to me this sounded like there was something I'd missed. I asked what exactly the MRI report said. He read it out and it indicated everything was OK. He then said "Sadly, we can only tell you what the limited technology at our disposal indicates, it is not necessarily accurate". So I enquired further. He responded "Mr Tichborne, you are 49 and you have a long way to go. Things can change". He then informed me that I should have another PSA test in May and another biopsy in October. This was the course I'd already agreed previously. I really didn't enjoy the previous biopsy and I do wonder how beneficial it really is at this stage. I am however not a doctor and there are graveyards full of people who thought that they knew better than the bloke in the white coat.

I have a friend who was a doctor and I asked him why on earth we can never get a straight answer from a doctor on anything related to cancer treatment. He gave me an answer, which I sort of understood. he explained "Listen Rog, for years you've said how much you fancy Uma Thurman. Hypothetically, Just suppose that I told you, I'd managed to get her phone number and got her round for an evening of passion, with my smooth talking charm, I could tell you what her phone number was and what I said to her, but would it necessarily work for you?" I responded "We'll I'd certainly give it a go". He then said "But just suppose I caught her at a time when she was lonely and vulnerable and she just wanted to see someone she didn't know. Just suppose she'd got that out of her system and moved on. You wouldn't know why your approach hadn't worked and mine had, would you". I said "Well I see what you are saying". He continued "Cancers are a little like that. Two people can have the same cancer and yet the same approach will work completely for one person and fail miserably for another. We don't know why. Just as you'd never know why your approach failed with Uma". He then continued "That is why you need to be careful when people say that "it worked for me"". Ignorant fool that I am, I still don't completely get it. Last week I had a pleasant evening with a friend who told me quantum physics and mathematics will ultimately resolve every problem in the Universe, he believes with no shadow of a doubt that science is the solution to everything. Two days later I was told that to understand the treatment of cancer, I had to understand the whims of fancy of Uma Thurman. It's a strange world we live in.

Of course, I'm happily married, so if I was caught having an evening of passion with Uma Thurman, that would probably prove far more deadly than my prostate cancer seems right now. Have a pleasant evening. I certainly intend to.

North Finchley Traders protest against Brian Colemans parking charges

2012-02-06T14:36:00.000Z

Barneteye TV - Barnet Traders North Finchley Protest

Fight back against Rip Off Barnet - North Finchley Traders to protest against Parking Charges - Monday 6th at 10 am

2012-02-05T17:02:00.000Z

If you care about the impact of the ludicrous parking charges in Barnet and the abolition of Pay and Display parking, please be at Cafe Buzz in North Finchley on Monday morning at 10am. Local traders are conducting a funeral services for the local High Street, officiated over by Brian Coleman (clearly this role is being played by an actor, as Coleman never takes responsibility for his own cock ups).

Please attend if you can. The protest has been organised by North Finchley trader Helen Michael.

Coping with Death and Bereavement

2012-02-05T13:50:00.000Z

I started writing this blog last Sunday. It was originally to commemorate the passing away of my beloved Dad 25 years ago and to comment on the fact that I've now been on the planet as long without him as I was with him. It was going to be a loving tribute to him. As I started to write it, I realised that even after 25 years, I have some painful and unresolved issues relating to his passing. I realised that the cause of many of these issues are social and cultural. I realised that if I still have issues and anger over the whole thing after 25 years, other people might as well. It struck me that maybe it's time we started a debate on how Great Britain as a society deals with such issues.

The seeds of these thoughts were planted listening to an excellent edition of the Robert Elms show on BBC London 94.9m, where the whole show was dedicated to the subject of death. I am not going to discuss the religious aspects of death or where we go or don't go, I try not to use my blog to promote my personal religious beliefs. I believe we need to have a discussion as to how we cope with the passing of a loved one.

I am an orphan. My father died in January 1987, suddenly after a heart attack on his return from a holiday in Florida. My parents had returned early as my mother's sister had died unexpectedly. They came back for a funeral. My father didn't realise that it would be his own. I wasn't living at home and I didn't even realise they were back in the UK. In those days, we didn't have mobile phones or emails. I was in a total state of shock when I heard the news. Perhaps the worst thing was the fact that no one seemed to know what to do. I guess if someone dies after a long and protracted illness, at least you have some idea and hopefully have made a few arrangements. My Uncle George died a couple of years later of cancer. He had everything planned to the last detail. His wake was in the "Load of Hay" pub in Hendon. At the end of the evening, myself and my brother Laurie were the last ones left. The landlord came up to us with two rather fine glasses of Johnny Walker whisky. He said "Are you Laurie and Roger?" We replied "Yes". He said "George said you'd be the last two in here and he asked me to give you these in his instructions for the wake".

With my own fathers funeral and wake, I remember virtually nothing, except one of his friends throwing a deck of cards on the coffin and a few old stick in the muds scowling at it disapprovingly. That and the sheer weight of the coffin (he was a big old boy). I had decided that I wasn't going to shed a tear and I would be strong. I built a huge wall between myself and the reality of the situation. I was devastated, but didn't want anyone to know. Sadly I found out almost immediately that as a society, we vandalise the emotional wellbeing of people who are grieving. Let me explain how, more through luck than judgement, at the time I had a dream job. At the tender age of 23, I'd managed to land myself a job managing a team of people doing a piece of work that to this day I'm proud of, for a blue chip company, which changed the face of High Streets in the UK. What could go wrong?

When my brother rang to break the news that my father died, I was stunned. I was getting ready to go to work. I immediately phoned my manager and said "I won't be able to come to work today, my father has passed away suddenly". What do you think she said? What would you say? Her response was perhaps the most incredible thing I have ever heard. She said "Under company rules, you are allowed one days compassionate leave for the death of a parent. I expect to see you in the office tomorrow". I was numb. I simply replied "I will be in when I'm ready and able to work" and I put the phone down. You may wonder how I felt. I don't know. I was just in a daze. The following Monday, I decided that the time had come to return to work. I made my way to the office. As I entered, I passed one of my colleagues walking the other way. This was a friendly amiable chap in his 40's. What he said took me back. "Decided to turn up at last have you?". I am not a placid person, I have a fiery Celtic temperament at times. Despite my general despondency, this roused me. I wondered exactly what he'd been told to make such a crass comment. I rared up and said "I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've not been told the full story. I have been off because my mothers sister died eight days ago. My parents flew back from Florida for her funeral and the the day after they returned, my father had a heart attack and died. My mother is in pieces, all of the family are in pieces and to be quite honest with you, I couldn't face working. I phoned in and said I'd be in when I felt capable of working". My colleague looked visibly shaken. He said "Oh my God, I didn't realise, Jane (the manager) just said you couldn't be bothered to come to work. She didn't say anything about your father". At this I became angry. I said "What, she told everyone I was skiving?". My colleague replied "Yes, I'm really sorry, we'd have sent a card and flowers if she'd told us". He then ushered me out of the building and into a cafe. He ordered me a coffee and said "Please wait here. I need to make sure everyone knows what has happened. I don't want anyone else to behave as I did".

I sat there alone with my thoughts for an hour. I couldn't make any sense of what had happened. Why would someone say that? Was it a personal thing? How could anyone be so cruel? I'm a pretty tough character but I felt like I'd been violated by this horrible woman. Eventually my colleague came back. He said "I've phoned everyone and they all know. They are really upset. Jane would like to see you now, I will come along to make sure you are ok. Don't lose your temper with her". I said "Ok, I'll be alright".

I entered her office and sat down, my colleague at my side. I expected an apology. She said "Why didn't you turn up for work last week.". I was determined to keep my cool. I responded "As I told you, my Father died and I didn't feel capable of working". She responded "I told you that you were allowed 1 days compassionate leave, why didn't you attend work". At this my colleague piped up "Jane, company policy states that you are allowed up to ten days compassionate leave if you are making funeral arrangements". She responded "He didn't say he was making funeral arrangements. In most families, it is the eldest children who do this". I replied "I was making the funeral arrangements". She said "You should have notified me of this". My colleague then said "Roger has now notified you. The funeral is on Thursday, so he needs to go home and continue making them". She replied "Just because you are entitled to ten days, doesn't mean you have to take ten days. I took half a day off when my father died, for the funeral". I responded "There are plenty of arrangements we need to make, I'd better go home and sort them out". At that I walked out of the office. I realised that even though I loved my job, I couldn't work with this woman. I found another job within two months.

As I reflect on this, I realise that it is an extreme example of how bad the British are at dealing with death. The response of the company to my bereavement was appalling. Now, 25 years later, as I thought about it, I came to the following conclusions.

1) My manager had received no training at all in how to counsel a member of staff who was coping with a devastating loss. She'd interpreted company policy purely based on her own prejudice. This is completely inappropriate and an abuse of position. Company policy should be clear and transparent.

2) The company had no formal process for assisting a member of staff who was struggling to cope with a life changing experience.

3) Although my colleagues were outraged at what happened, none felt that there was any point in making a complaint. A couple said "We'd like to make a complaint, but it is a waste of time for issues like this". Such issues are paramount.

What should happen? I contend that every company should have a formal policy for dealing with bereavements affecting members of staff. As soon as a member of staff reports that they've been affected by a bereavement, HR/Personell should be alerted. They should then do the following :-

a) Offer counselling and assistance to the member of staff to deal with the emotional issues relating to bereavement. I believe that a counselling session with a trained counsellor should be a legal requiremnt. If someone is in employment, the company should pay for this. If a person is on benefits, the state should. My family hadn't got a clue what to do when my father died. We employed the Coop funeral services, who helped and were very good. We shared the responsibility, although my sister did most of the work. For many people, who don't have a large family and the support that brings, a bit of help would be invaluable. It would also give an economic benefit to the company as a person with help is more likely to be able to do their job properly.

b) Ensure all managers with a responsibility to staff trained in how to deal with bereavement. I would not wish my worst enemy to have the experience I suffered.

c) Ensure that the issue of bereavement is covered in the school syllabus. Coping with it is something we all will face at some point.

There was one little addendum to the story,which shows how badly men in Britain deal with death. About a year after my father died, a friends father died. He'd suffered for years with kidney problems. He'd been waiting for a transplant. He'd been looking forward to when he had one so he could resume a normal life. Eventually he got to the top of the list. He had a transplant, but the operation went wrong and he sadly passed away.

I went along to the funeral to pay my respects. As the service progressed, I was suddenly back (in my mind) at my fathers funeral. I started thinking about all the grief I had, how much I missed my Dad and how many things I'd failed to say to him. I was overwhelmed with grief. I burst into tears and had to leave the chapel in floods of tears. I couldn't stop for about half an hour. Although it was most embarrassing, I didn't care. I went home and drank half a bottle of scotch and passed out.

I woke up the next day and I actually felt normal for the first time in a year. The sun was shining and that feeling that my head was going to explode had gone. I went to my local cafe and had a big fry up breakfast. I picked up the Daily Express and read the sports pages (reading the Daily Express is one bad habit I acquired from my Dad). I felt like I could get on with my life again. How many people are there who bottle things up for months, years or even a lifetime? I am sure that I'm not the only person who is so dysfunctional that it takes a friends Dad's funeral to release my pain and anger. How long would I have carried the burden, had I not gone that day?

I wish I could offer some help and hope and guidance to anyone who is under that cloud. That is why I wrote this blog, so that if nothing else you know someone else on the planet has an inkling of understanding of how you feel. Yesterday, for some reason, I did something I haven't done before. As I walked through the hall of my house, I paused by a picture we have. It is a montage of various family members - I rescued it from my mothers flat, when we clearing it out after her death. There is a picture of my Mum and Dad at the "Ross River Dam" in Townsville, Queensland, Austrailia taken in 1976. They are both standing there, smiling, happy, healthy and full of life, enjoying a holiday. They were in their mid 50's then. As I looked at it, I smiled and remembered all of the good times. I realised that I am over the loss of both of them. My memories are of the good things and the bad things, but they are not tinged with the anger, frustration and guilt. I no longer look at the pictures and think "why?".

What I haven't properly got over is the fact that I feel abusively treated by my employer at the time. A time when I was vulnerable and weak. I am still full of anger and hatred towards a person I feel treated me in an appalling fashion. I write this blog in the vain hope that someone, somewhere will realise that such pain is unnecessary and that it much of such pain can be avoided. I still feel an apology is warranted (although I know I'll never get one).

Life is for the living, but as a society, we will never be truly happy until we learn to cope better with how we manage the process of our loved ones passing away. I am sure there are some situations, I'd never recover from such as the death of a child. What I do know is that until we move beyond the "we don't talk about it" mentality, we are fighting the battle of coping with both arms tied behind our backs.

Update on Guest Blog - Sheltered housing ?... Ha ha. dont make me laugh.

2012-02-04T10:20:00.000Z

From Barnet Sheltered Housing Victim

editorial note : This is a follow up to a guest blog from earlier this week - http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2012/02/guest-blog-sheltered-housing-ha-ha-dont.html - detailing problems with the new "on call warden system", which replaced on site wardens in sheltered housing.

Thought I would keep you informed of latest...

I understand that a investigation is taking place,and certain people have been called in to explain,

A letter has been received from Assist (the company that manages the callout system), saying that they listened to the recordings of the calls and that they agree that procedure was not followed,

Cllr. Alison Moore has been in touch to confirm that this confirms many of her fears about the new service.

Will things change for the better for those that need it ?.....I do hope so.!

I have heard through the grapevine they are about to ....

But you know the Council ... a lot better then me ...

That's why Blogs like the Barnet Eye are very much needed..

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Barnet Sheltered Housing Victim is a friend of the Barnet Eye blog and lives in local "sheltered housing". Guest Blogs are always welcome. We also welcome updates on issues which affect our community.

Announcement - Can you Change Barnet and the world?

2012-02-04T10:08:00.000Z

You are warmly invited to an evening with:

Author, Environmentalist and Futurist Tony Kearney

Can Barnet Change the World?

Can you Change Barnet and the world?

The Centre

Bath Place
Barnet EN5 5XE
Friday 10th February 2012
7.30 pm

Tony, the author of the books Who Owns the Future?, Boo! and The Tao of Awe, will be exploring the relationship we have with our environment and how we can all make a difference and thus change the world for the better without ever even having to leave Barnet! How cool is that? He believes that enthusiasm, inspiration and co-operation are the best ways of building a better future together, especially as none of these qualities cause the wrong kind of climate change but lots of the right kind!

Local community group The High Barnet Green Home Zone will take up Tony's themes and look at how they might be put into practice on a day-to-day basis.

If you would like to hear how you can make your Community (local and global) a better place, then do not miss this most special event.

Admission: £3. Children under 16 free. Family groups welcome.
Refreshments available.

Thanks to Brian Coleman Mill Hill NW7 is in the top 20 UK Burglary hotspots

2012-02-03T15:31:00.001Z

As this blog reported last week, our local GLA member (and the man responsible for the parking mayhem in Barnet) Brian Coleman stated that crime was down in Barnet and it's all down to his hard work (full story here - http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2012/01/porkie-pies-of-brian-coleman-gla-member.html ). Imagine how surprised I was to read in the Sun that Mill Hill, where I live is in the top 20 burglary Hotspots.

Here is the image from the Sun's website
(full story here - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4105484/They-dont-live-appily-in-crime-hit-Apperley.html )

Not only is Mill Hill number 20, Barnet is actually no 14. You can read the whole sorry tale here. What Coleman has to face up to is that if he wants to claim the success for good crime figures, he has to take the rap for the bad ones. As the freedom of information request published by this website in the story listed above shows Coleman has had no meetings with the Met police in Barnet to discuss these appalling figures, it is quite clear he must shoulder some of the blame for being so lazy. It really couldn't be more simple.

If I were Boris Johnson, I'd get shot of Coleman before his ineptitude completely derails his Mayoral bid in May.

Guest Blog - GREENSPACES, SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUNDS

2012-02-03T11:26:00.000Z

Guest blog by Julia Hines

Barnet is in the final stages of preparing its Local Development Framework, which will contain its planning policy against which all planning decisions will be made in the next few years. They are consulting on changes which have been made to the policy along the way.

I am writing this to highlight the changes to the map which showing all the open spaces, sports and recreation grounds in the borough, Map 11.

This has been changed in the course of the consultation, and it might help if I explained why.

In 2009 Barnet Council employed Ove Arup to survey and map all the greenspaces and sports grounds in the borough, which they did. This was illustrated as Map 11 in the pre-publication stage of the consultation of the Local Development Framework. Technically this survey is a PPG17 audit. If you want to read PPG17 you can find it here

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/planningpolicyguidance17

Developers, who own some land behind my home, including the land on which the West Finchley Bowling Club stands, protested that this land should not be on the map because it was private land and did not have legitimate private access. So Barnet took it off Map 11.

There was another round of consultation, so my neighbours and I wrote in arguing that this was unfair because:

Ownership & access are irrelevant under PPG17;
The land behind our homes is PPG17 land (2 Planning Appeal Inspectors said so & Bowling Clubs are specifically listed in PPG17); and
It was unfair to remove us from Map 11 on these grounds, if other private sports clubs like Finchley Cricket Club, Finchley Rugby Club or the Hall School Memorial Ground; or public spaces without public access, like school sports grounds; or other greenspaces which are private and do not have unrestricted access, like College Farm or Long Lane Pastures, are not treated the same way. Basically I said it was unlawful to treat us differently; decisions should be policy based and not purely because developers or planning consultants.

We asked to be put back on the map.

I think Barnet accepted our arguments, because they realised they could not keep Map 11 as it was. However, instead of putting us back on the map, they removed EVERY sports ground in the borough. Map 11 now only shows Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Space.

You can see this on p.59 here. Look at the amount of dark green land lost from the map and the change in title.

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/further-proposed-changes-barnet_s-core-strategy-21-01-2012-v2.pdf

I believe that this will weaken the protection from development that all this land has.

Map 11 is supposed to support and illustrate policy CS7 in the LDF. I think it no longer does that. It is supposed to tie in with other policies, like the yet to be drafted Site Allocations Development Plan, but without laying the groundwork by describing the land accurately, it won’t do that.

If you would like to make your feelings known on this, or any of the other changes in the Local Development Framework, the link is here

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/index/council-democracy/consultations/planning-consultations/consultation-on-the-proposed-further-changes-to-the-core-strategy-and-development-management-policies.htm

The closing date is 4pm on 8 March 2012.

My feeling is that the Map 11 should revert back to the pre-publication version because that is the version which is

Justified – it is based on a robust and credible evidence base – the Ove Arup audit
Effective – it was the original plan
Consistent with national planning policy, in other words PPG17 (and also the Mayor’s London Plan). I believe the current version isn’t because it does not show all the land which ought to be on there.

If you agree with me, please let Barnet know.

Thank you for listening.

Julia

PS The planning consultants who act for the developers who own the land behind my home are Capita Symonds. They are in the running for the £250 million contract which would see them becoming the planning officers for Barnet. For my views on this see

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2011/09/guest-blog-greensquare-field-planning.html

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Julia Hines is a Barnet resident and a regular contributor to the Barnet Eye. Guest blogs are always welcome - This blog is read by 20-30,000 people a month. If you want them to hear what you have to say, please send me a guest blog via the email link at the side of the page.

Saracens at Copthall - Brian Coleman scores an own goal and loses the dressing room

2012-02-03T11:21:00.000Z

I got an excited phonecall from one of my friends in the Conservative group on Barnet Council last night. "Did you hear what happened at the meeting last night?" No actually, I'd been playing five a side football and drinking beer. "Coleman nearly got chased out of the Town Hall". My ears perked up. I'm pretty neutral on Saracens. I would much rather see Barnet FC move there and believe it would be an affront to natural justice if they don't and Saracens do. But on the other hand, I don't believe that Saracens proposal should not receive a fair hearing and it has many merits for the wider Barnet community. I am uncomfortable about the implications of any overdevelopment on the Green Belt as well. The trouble is that if we want 1st class sports facilities in a Borough like Barnet, someone somewhere will have to have a bit of disruption. I've not really got much sympathy for NIMBY's generally. I have the M1 motorway and the Midland Mainline railway at the bottom of my garden. So at the end of the day, I guess I'm agnostic on Saracens.

At the meeting to discuss the proposal, it seems Brian Coleman wasn't agnostic. He came out as soundly opposed to the Saracens. This did not play well. It got even worse when he gave his reason "it will cause parking issues". Uproar ensued. If Coleman was in any doubt as to what the general opinion of his various bonkers parking scheme. The place erupted. Not only that, but his colleagues present sat stoney faced. It is clear that the penny has finally dropped that Coleman could destroy them.

Apparently Mill Hill Tory John Hart made a fine intervention, in a bold attempt to show that not every Barnet Conservative is completely bonkers and out to shaft anyone who has ever supported the party. John Hart is one of a few Tories who realise the stupidity of much of what goes on. He has a simple plan. As he's 137 years old and counting, he just waits for all of his colleagues to die. He's already outlived six generations of preceding Tories (only joking he's not quite that old). John is one of the few Barnet Tories who is quite entertaining in private. He likes a good joke, but sadly has found himself in an administration which is rapidly becoming the laughing stock of London. He is astute enough to realise that now is a good time to divorce himself from Brian Colemans policies.

My informant in the Tory ranks tells me that rebellion is in the air. There are now a majority of Tory Councillors who privately realise Coleman is a liability. I asked if they had the bottle for a public "et tu Brutus" style knifing in the council chamber. The response was rather interesting "I think things will become rather interesting".

My advice to all Tory voters in Barnet, who are disgusted at the Parking charges is as follows :-

Go to this page on the Council website :-

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/council/wardmap.asp?intSubSectionID=-1&intSectionID=9

This is a map of Barnet. Click on your ward. This will tell you when your councillors have their surgery. Go along and tell them what you think of Barnet Council and their parking policies. Once you've done that, if you don't like what they said, email me via the link in the sidebar and tell me, and I'll share it with the whole of Barnet.

I have been inundated with guest blogs, comments and emails recently. The message I am getting loud and clear is that people across the whole spectrum are completely fed up. Oh and the Saracens bid was approved. In my Mystic Rog role, I make 2 predictions.

1) Saracens will move to Copthall and it will be a major asset for Rugby fans

2) Barnet FC will move out of The London Borough of Barnet and football fans across the Borough will never forgive the local Tories.

This seems to be the Tory mantra. Divide and rule.

FOI response proves that Brian Coleman's CPZ changes have wrecked Barnet Council finances

2012-02-02T13:10:00.001Z

Guest Blog from Barnet CPZ Campaign

The information in the email below is simply astonishing. The purchase of visitor vouchers by Barnet's CPZ residents has all but died out since the price was quadrupled.

This is not surprising. CPZ residents can't and won't pay £40 or more to hold a children's party at their home; £20 to invite friends round for coffee; £28 or more to hold a book club meeting, £4 to have the grandchildren drop by for a minutes.

So these sorts of simple social engagements have been abandoned by Barnet's all day CPZ residents or they are putting themselves and their guests to inconvenience and embarrassment to work around the charges.

Barnet Council in its 2011-2012 anticipated that almost 200,000 visitor vouchers would be purchased this year at £4 each. They'll be luck to sell 10% of this number.

Barnet Council predicted that quadrupling the cost of visitor vouchers would generate £590,000 MORE INCOME. In fact, it looks like it will create at least £100,000 LESS INCOME.

Barnet Council: Destroying its communities while destroying its finances.
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From: ********************** Redacted Barnet Council Employee
Date: 31 January 2012 14:11:58 GMT

To: xxxxx
Subject: Freedom of Information Act 2000

Dear xxxxx

I am writing in respect of your enquiry for information held by the Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.

Please find the information you requested enclosed. If you have any queries concerning the information please contact me at the supplied address.

18/04/2011 to 07/01/2012
Number of residents permits sold = 8,825
Number of visitor vouchers sold = 16,696

2010/11 - 01/04/2010 to 31/03/2011
Number of residents permits sold = 13,453
Number of visitor vouchers sold = 331,614

Unfortunately, we are unable to state how many of the applications received were for a households first car as we do not have the means of reporting on this presently. The figures provided are for the total number of resident permits and visitor vouchers sold for the periods between 18/04/2011 and 07/01/2012 and between 01/04/2010 and 31/03/2011.

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 you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF (telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45; website: www.ico.gov.uk). There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely,

******* *********
Administration Assistant
Environment, Planning and Regeneration
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk

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Guest Blogs are always welcome from community based campaigns in the London Borough of Barnet. Submit via the link in the sidebar

Guest Blog - Sheltered housing ?... Ha ha. dont make me laugh.

2012-02-02T12:02:00.000Z

Guest blog by Barnet Sheltered Housing Victim

Hi Roger

Thought you might like to hear how the New Sheltered housing Scheme is getting along.

Its been a year since we were informed in a meeting that big changes are coming with the promise of further meetings to keep us informed.

Well we have had a total of Zero meetings, not bloody one.No health and safety checks around the scheme. I have had No smoke detector checks, No Pull cord checks. So I decided as a reasonable fit septuagenarian to sign a waver,so the part time warden does not have to call on me, not that anyone knew what time of day they were coming or how long they would be on site, like I said not too bad for me as a reasonable fit person, but for others a problem. Still we have the assist (lifeline) just pull the cord, and help will wing its way too you, No problem right ?sort off.

I live in a block of flats at Prospect Place.Last night 1st Feb at 22:00 hrs., after hearing a commotion down stairs, upon opening my front door a very ill elderly neighbour,had locked herself of out home, wearing no slippers and dressed in her night clothes, so we took her to the premises common room which is heated.

One of us then went back indoors to call assist by pulling the emergency cord, that's what's its for, isn't it? After what seemed ages, they answered, they were asked for an emergency warden to be sent, so they would get the spare set of keys, we were informed there were no longer any wardens, and that the elderly woman should not have gone out, with out her keys, and that we should call the ambulance service / Police / fire brigade, after a few choice words, informing them they had better do something about it, they said they would try, but it could take a while.

After about 15 mins. they called me back, saying according to our records she has a Key safe fitted to the street door, once again we had to point out that we do not or want to know the number, as they are for carers / meals on wheels to use, not next door neighbours.

In the end they contacted the mobile warden, and after half hour or so, she was safely back in doors.

We thought Assist had residents details including next of kin contact details, medical details,... maybe not. Sadly, all these cuts will end up with a preventable death, but why worry about that, we are only old people and we only pay £20 per week for the lifeline.

As for me, I have recoverd my front door keys from the temp warden and as I said signed a waver, because I would rather pass away, then have to rely on this bumbling local authority, which has self interest at heart.

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Barnet Sheltered Housing Victim is a resident of Barnet Council Sheltered Housing accomodation and a good friend of this blog. They wrote this account so that the people of Barnet can understand exactly what the abolition of the Sheltered Housing On Site Warden scheme means to them and their neighbours. This budget cut policy predated the Coalition government and the budget cuts imposed as a result. It saved the council approx £400,000 per annum.

To submit a guest blog, please click on the link in the sidebar

Nick Walkley and what any Council planning mass outsourcing should consider

2012-02-01T08:55:00.000Z

Nick Walkley, the CEO of Barnet recently called a panic emergency meeting of senior staff. The reason? To give them a team talk and rally them to the cause of the One Barnet mass outsourcing project. The information this blog has received indicates that Mr Walkley has, in football terms, lost the dressing room. The reason? Because it is plain for all to see that the wheels are coming off the project and like King Canute, he cannot stop the tide coming in and all his minions can see it.

What did Mr Walkley tell the troops? There were two main message. Firstly he said that other councils were queueing up to talk to Barnet about their experience with the project and secondly that "there is no going back on decisions taken two years ago". Let us consider these statements. The first statement about other councils being extremely interested in what Barnet Council are doing is 100% true. Sadly it isn't true in the way Mr Walkley expressed it. How do I know this? Because I've seen hits on this blog from hundreds of Councils (for those of you not familiar with the art of blogging, I have a stats package which tells me the IP address of all visitors and who owns that domain (For example Buckinghamshire County Council - IP address 194.80.135.203 visited yesterday amongst others. You can put this IP address into the tool in the sidebar and it will tell you details of their domain). Most of these visitors have bookmarked the blog and look regularly. My stats also tell me what they are looking at. They tend not to search for blogs about football, cancer and dyslexia, but are very interested in blogs about outsourcing and leaks.

Why should councils be interested in the views of a blogger, with no role within Barnet Council and no official links with it? This is even more interesting to consider. If as Mr Walkley would have his staff believe, bloggers such as myself have no role to play in the process and write nothing of value, then the tens of thousands of man hours staff at other authorities have spent reading this blog is a complete waste of time. Sadly for Mr Walkley, many councils (mostly Conservative) are actually very interested for sound business reasons. It may shock Mr Walkley to know that I recently had lunch with the Leader, the CEO and the Communications director of another Council. For the absence of doubt, I paid for my own lunch and we met at a rather nice restaurant near Blackfriars. You may wonder why? Well they are a Conservative Authority who are seeking to make cuts and savings. Unlike Barnet, they are seeking to do it in a way that will not antagonise their workforce (in as much as such a thing is possible), will not upset their business community and will have the best possible effect on the levels of tax payers.

Why talk to a Barnet blogger? They recognised that this blog has wide contacts within the community. They recognise that we've read all of the analysis of the One Barnet project and the other cost savings/ revenue generating schemes and they wanted to avoid the public relations disaster which has befallen Barnet Council. What did the Barnet Eye get out of the meeting? We got the opportunity to see whether sane rational people running a local authority, of a right of centre persuasion, would be open and receptive to the ideas this blog has been expressing for the last three and a half years. They asked me not to name their authority, which I was happy to agree to.

We discussed the issues surrounding the One Barnet project. I expressed my view that there is no proper business case for the project. If there was then this would be the justification for the project. I explained that for the preferred bidder, most of the savings are "aspirational" and that Barnet had actually put such savings ahead of guaranteed savings from other bidders. Then I explained about the issues within Barnet and its procurement system. I explained how we'd seen massive problems with Metpro and RM Countrysides contracts. I explained the outcome of the Catalyst outsourcing court case, with a multi million pound settlement in favour of the contractor, because they hadn't made the expected profits. I also explained how one care home run by Catalyst had been found to be exposing vulnerable people to Legionella. They asked me a perfectly reasonable question. "If the One Barnet project could demonstrate that it would provide better services for the people of Barnet at lower cost to the taxpayer, would I support it?". They were surprised by my answer. I replied that if it could be demonstrated that this were true AND THAT IT DIDN'T DAMAGE THE WIDER ECONOMY IN BARNET, YES I WOULD. I then explained how small business was excluded and jobs were being exported from Barnet to other parts of the country and even abroad.

I explained that as a responsible local authority, Barnet should consider these factors as part of the bidding process and work out the net positive/negative effect on the economy of the Borough before proceeding. I used the example of the Bombardier exclusion from the Thameslink train contract as an example. To my surprise they nodded in agreement. I then discussed the changes to parking and the way this was destroying business. They explained how their authority has a senior member of staff with a brief for High Street regeneration and this was supported by all parties within their council. As I understand it, they have a committee responsible for this and in their authority moves such as those imposed by Brian Coleman simply couldn't be implemented. The leader explained that they "have a few Labour councillors who are talented and intelligent individuals and as a council we use their talents to the full, in the areas in which we all agree". Perhaps this was the most shocking statement for me. Can you imagine Barnet Council Conservatives giving any Labour councillor any responsibility at all, even if they combined the talents of Albert Einstien, Richard Branson and Mary Portas?

The head of communications was most interested in the relationship between the press, the bloggers and the council. He expressed the view that he was surprised that the council had not engaged with us. I was rather surprised by this. He stated that as the blogs were widely read, he would have thought that the council could have used the blogs as a channel for getting information across to the people of Barnet. The CEO chipped in and asked how regularly the bloggers got to interview Nick Walkley. I laughed - "never". I explained how I occasionally had a chat with Mr Walkley before meetings over a coffee, but he had not once agreed to be interviewed by a blog and virtually never responded to any email I'd sent him. The head of communications said another thing which rather surprised me. "We'd actually be keen to encourage bloggers in our authority and grant all the access they like to whoever they like within reason". I was intrigued. "Why?" I asked. "If ideas are not challenged, then they are not likely to be robust". What about if a blogger did a hatchet job? "If you have a public role, that comes with the territory, you should be big enough to take it. If someone says something which is clearly unreasonable, then they have to live with it." The leader chipped in "I'm a Conservative so I believe in open government and transparent process. That guarantees the best value. In our council it is very hard for Labour to attack us on anything except the priority of spending commitments, where we have ideological differences". And what are the differences? "levels of council tax, which departments we trim with budget cuts". And what about efficiency savings "You must constantly strive for these, surely that is recognised by all". Just before we parted company, I asked "Do you think you have much to learn from Barnet Council". The CEO said "It is a good case study, there is much to learn there". I rephrased the question "So will you be going down the same path". He replied "I really don't think so".

As we parted company, the Leader said "You know, you'd make a very good Conservative Councillor. You should charge a consultancy fee for your services, you could make a couple of grand a day if you did this commercially". I laughed, he said "actually I'm not joking". I googled their council website and some of their local papers. It is quite instructive to see the difference between the general atmosphere of the Borough and that of Barnet.

Which brings us to the second part of what Mr Walkley said. The bit about no changing decisions made two years ago. It is a principle of psychology that when someone makes a statement such as this it is a de facto acknowledgement that the decision was a bad one. If you look at a hugely successful decision, then no one ever discusses changing it. For example, Eurostar made a decision to move it's hub from Waterloo to St Pancras. Does the CEO of Eurostar ever say "We are not going back on our decision to move to St Pancras"? No of course he doesn't, because it was the right decision and the business case stacks up. There is an old axiom in management "If a plan isn't working, change it". There has been a rather decent series on BBC1 recently called Birdsong. This chronicles a young man in the trenches in the first world war. There was a scene this week, where he is brought before the generals as an expert on the local terrain in the Somme. They explained their plan and asked his opinion. He responded by outlining all of the weaknesses of their scheme. The generals derided him and asked the colonel who had brought him, how they'd found someone so lacking in backbone. The history books record what happened next. That is the situation we see with Nick Walkley. The plan clearly isn't going to work, but an ever shrinking cabal of senior executives carry on. They deride and ignore anyone who tried to question their plan. They rally the troops, but the troops all know it is going to go horribly wrong.

If I was the only person in Barnet or the wider world who saw the flaws in the plan, maybe Mr Walkley may have a point. Sadly, every day the number of people who believe in his scheme shrinks as more details emerge.
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If you run a local authority and are considering outsourcing or want advice on how to avoid the type of PR disasters we see on a weekly basis in Barnet, please get in touch. Prices for consultancy are negotiable.

Truth and the ability to admit it

2012-01-31T22:21:00.000Z

I've just spent a rather enjoyable evening with a mate of mine with a spinal injury, who is confined to a wheelchair. Like many people in his position, he is at the sharp end of the government policy on benefits for the disabled.

In a civilised soceity, the government should employ people to help him and make sure that he takes up all of the benefits he's entitled to, so his life is bearable. Like many honest and decent people, he's totally baffled by the rules and regulations. As I have a few friends who are knowledgeable about such matters, I got a couple of them to come around and see if they could help him.

Barnet Council used to have a department called the Welfare Rights Unit, which helped people in my friends situation. Sadly the deemed it a waste of money and chopped the funding. As a result, if you happen to know a blogger, who happens to know a few experts, you may get what you are legally entitled to. If you don't then you'd better get down on your knees and pray for a miracle, because you'll need it to figure out the minefield.

Let me just give you one of my friends dilemmas. He needs a new kitchen, his existing one is falling to bits. He needs to save up £10,000 to buy one. If he has more than £6,000 of savings, his benefits get chopped. Result? No kitchen and an unhygenic food preparation area. What sort of system puts you in a situation like that?

When my expert friends left, we had a chat about life, the universe and everything. There are many things we agree about and a few things we don't. It was great to have a chat and I left pondering a few of the subjects we talked about. As he has time on his hands, he's very well read on certain issues and I'll certainly brush up on a few subjects before I take him for the beer I promised.

We had a long debate about truth. The one thing which I know to be true beyond doubt it is the mind that matters, not the package it comes wrapped in. Sadly as a society, we push intelligent people to the margins, purely because they lack mobility. Most of my best friends are fairly spiky individuals. Nothing makes me happier than when they tell me I'm talking bollocks and can back up their statements with facts. What do I do? I go off do my homework and if they are right, concede the point. If they are wrong, I take great satisfaction in telling them so. One way or another, I suspect that the next conversation with my friend may be rather interesting.

It brings to mind the situation at Barnet Council. I rather wish that the people at Barnet Council responsible for the One Barnet project would do the same. We never here a justification based on fact and we never hear a concession that they've got it wrong. Why are they scared of the truth?

Welcome to the Barnet province of the Peoples republic of Londonski-Borisov

2012-01-30T23:03:00.000Z

Ok, so tell me this. We live in Barnet. It is run by the Conservatives? It is part of London, which is run by a Conservative Mayor. We have a government which is Conservative (albeit propped up by a bunch of Lin Dem collaborators). So I guess this means that the people of Barnet really want to live in a regime run under Stalinist principles, doesn't it? Well I don't know how we got to this situation, but read this DPR (Delegated Powers Report). I don't think I've ever read a more Stalinist document in my life. For those of you who don't know what a DPR is, it means that a bloke at the council is allowed to sign it off with no debate by his democratically elected colleagues.
Icon
I suppose what put the icing on the cake is the fact the document is simply called ICON on the Council website - http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=10954 . And we all know that Russia was famed for it's ICON's

The porkie pies of Brian Coleman, GLA member for Barnet and Camden exposed

2012-01-30T19:53:00.000Z

Last week I received a leaflet from the Back Boris campaign. In it there was this piece of "information" (apologies for the poor quality of the copy) :-

I was intrigued to read the claim that Brian Coleman had "worked tirelessly" to drive down crime in Barnet. It occurred to me that this is fantastic news and I should be reporting on this achievement as a responsible blogger. I immediately sent a Freedom of Information request to the Chief of Police in Barnet, to make sure I had the full details to make a proper report on the issue. I asked the following questions :-

I have just received a leaflet from the Conservative Party stating that "Boris Johnson and Brian Coleman have worked tirelessly to drive down crime in Barnet. I would be interested to know how many meetings you or you predecessor have had with Brian Coleman to discuss crime reduction strategy in Barnet. I would also like to know how many anti crime initiatives have been instigated by Brian Coleman in Barnet since 2008. Please could you provide me with details of these as an FOI response. Please forward this to the appropriate department or furnish me with their details.

Now as regular readers of this blog will know, Barnet Council invariably answers FOI requests way beyond the statuatory time of 20 days, in which they are supposed to answer such requests. Usually there is no reason given for the delay. Even worse, the responses are as obtuse as possible. Information is not revealed, because the completely exact question was framed in a way which allowed a degree of interpretation and Barnet have chosen to interpret it in a way which means they don't give you the information they clearly know you are seeking.

This is the first time I've had reason to send an FOI to Barnet Police. I was wondering how their response would measure up to the quality of service I usually get from Barnet Council?

Well, I sent the request on the 22nd January and received the response today. That is a working week. Barnet Council should take note. And what did it say? Well, here is the full response :-
TICHBORNE Final Reply Borough Commander

So what does this tell me? First and most obviously that Brian Coleman was telling porkies when he stated he'd been "working tirelessly" to drive down crime. As a GLA rep he's actually held no meetings that the Metropolitan Police can find any trace of. In fact the only meeting the Met can find on record is one to discuss licensing issues in his Council ward of Totteridge.

Now if it was just a question of a politician over egging the pudding in the run up to an election, in an attempt to preserve his £52K a year salary, I suppose no one would be too surprised. The trouble is that it is fundamentally more serious an issue than this. By printing such a misleading document, Brian Coleman has inadvertently drawn our attention to his complete lack of interest in engaging with the Metropolitan Police in his area. Why is this important?

Coleman gets paid £52,000 per year by the taxpayer to advise and assist the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson in his role as Mayor. Brian Coleman represents Barnet. Boris Johnson recently abolished the committee that oversees the Police and brought them under his direct control. It is clear that the priorities of Barnet Police will not be brought to the table, because Brian Coleman hasn't discussed them.

Every Borough has different issues. Barnet is a very diverse Borough. We have the largest Jewish population, so one would think that there may be the occasional meeting between our GLA rep and the Police to discuss issues relating to hate crime. We have many major road networks in Barnet (A1,M1, A406, etc) , which also fall under Brian Coleman's remit as the Council cabinet member with responsibility for roads. Barnet is plagued with traffic accidents and injuries. Most of these are caused by speeding vehicles, surely this would warrant the odd discussion with the Police. Then there are issues related to poverty in Barnet, Coleman has the Environment portfolio at Barnet. It is no secret that a bad environment breeds crime. Badly planned estates are hotbeds of crime. Given that Barnet has major redevelopments, and the Mayor has the final say on many of these, surely Coleman should at least canvass the views of the local Police on whether the plans are going to have an impact on crime in the Borough? It is not the job of the Police to tell the Police how to do their job, but they can help set priorities. They control huge budgets, which if spent wisely can bring crime down and if spent badly can send crime soaring.

Let us consider the current "growth" crime in Barnet. This is theft of mobile phones. Barnet has seen a 10% rise in crimes related to mobile phones in the last 12 months. It is becoming a major concern for the police as stolen phones have become a tradable commodity. What has this got to do with Brian Coleman and his policies? Well he is the man who brought in the "pay by phone" scheme. This requires people to stand on the street, talking on their phone, often with wallet and credit card in their hand. Did Brian Coleman consider the impact of his scheme on phone related crime? Well if he did, he didn't discuss it with the Police.

One final note about the FOI response. It is refreshing to see a response which is clearly in line with the spirit of the FOI act. It was on time and answered the question. It also provided additional information, which was clearly related to the inquiry and has forestalled the need for a follow up question. In short, the Metropolitan Police in Barnet have given the council a timely lesson in how to do their job. I suppose that the point Brian Coleman and Barnet Council should learn from this is that if you do your job properly, there is no need to tell porkies, no need to claim credit where none is due and no need to waste everyones time with silly follow up enquiries.

Andrew Dismore give Brian Coleman a parking ticket !

2012-01-30T12:33:00.000Z

The Barnet Eye always appreciates a cunning stunt (I had to check that statement six times being dyslexic). Andrew Dismore pulled off a corker. He issued a parking ticket to Councillor Brian Colemanm the man responsible for the parking carnage in Barnet. Here is Mr Dismores press release
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When out campaigning with Labour Councillors and activists against Barnet Council’s monstrous parking charges on Saturday 28^th January, Labour’s London Assembly candidate for Barnet could not resist the temptation to “ticket” Barnet parking supremo Cllr Brian Coleman’s car with Labour’s “parking ticket” campaign leaflet (photo and copy leaflet attached)

Mr Dismore said:

“It was too good an opportunity to miss.

When I saw Brian Coleman’s car parked on his off street parking space outside his church owned flat, it seemed to me grossly unfair that while others in his street needed parking permits for which he has jacked up the charges, he did not, so I “ticketed” him.

It’s a pity we can’t levy a fine on Cllr Coleman just as his parking wardens fine so many residents and business customers as they struggle with his outrageous charges and convoluted payment systems. But our parking ticket leaflets make the point by demonstrating the unfairness and asking people to sign labour’s petition against the charges.

He is now planning even higher charges with a proposed increase of 5% from April this year.

People power forced Westminster Council into a humiliating climb down over their proposed night time and weekend charges in the West End. We need people power to stop Conservative Barnet Council’s unfair charges too, so that’s why we are encouraging people to sign our on line petition, which has thousands of signatures already.”

For further details call Andrew Dismore 07957 625 813

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I hope that the people of Barnet make their point in a manner which Coleman really will have to take notice of by shunning him at the GLA elections. Does he deserve his £52,000 a year allowance to represent us? I dont' think so. Well done to Dismore for an amusing stunt. I think many Barnet residents will agree wholeheartedly with his sentiments.

Guest Blog - Housing Emergency - Time for an Alternative

2012-01-30T08:57:00.000Z

By Defend Council Housing,

Council Housing in Burnt Oak

Tenants' security, rents and benefits, and the principles of council housing are under all-out assault.
DCH and Housing Emergency have lauched an open statement and on 21st Feb 6.30 House of Commons Ken Loach, Owen Jones (author, Chavs), Stephen Battersby, Councillor Catherine West, Austin Mitchell MP, Gail Cartmail,tenants, unions and others will launch a new wave of meetings and campaigning round the country: Time for an Alternative. Meetings already organised around the country to galvanise action, including: 25 Feb Leeds, 16 March 7pm Cambridge, 26 March Tower Hamlets, 29 March Harlow. Many more are planned, by Tenants Federations, Trades Councils, local DCH and housing campaigners and others.

What you can do
1. sign the Housing Emergency statement - download the statement here. Get tenant, union, community and political group(s) to sign it.
2. Come to an organising meeting 7th Feb 6pm at Camden Town Hall Judd St WC1 9JE - see map here
3. Get people to the launch meeting 21 Feb 6.30pm meeting at House of Commons with Ken Loach, Owen Jones, Stephen Battersby and others - see leaflet here or contact
info@defendcouncilhousing.org.uk for copies
4. Organise a local meeting - get in touch if you want help with leaflets, speakers etc

For background information on the demand for investment in council housing and who supports the campaign see www.defendcouncilhousing.org.uk
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Defend Council Housing is a regular contributor to this blog. Guest blogs are always welcome

Rog T's Cancer blog - another week another test

2012-01-29T16:48:00.000Z

For those of you who are regular readers and have read the previous posts, you can skip this first paragraph.This is the latest installment in my occasional series about how I'm adjusting to living with a big C in my life. For those of you who aren't, here's a quick summary. I'm 49 years old and I recently had a prostate biopsy following two "slightly high" PSA tests - 2.8 & 4.1. The biopsy took ten tissue samples and one of these showed a "low grade cancer" which gives me a 3+3 on the Gleason scale. I'm now on a program of active monitoring. I've no symptoms and sadly for a few people, if I'm gonna die soon, it won't be from Prostate cancer. Got the picture?

Friday morning, I had my third PSA blood test. This followed hot on the heels of my MRI last Saturday. I've had two so far. The first one I scored 2.8, which I was imformed was "slightly raised". It was one of ten different blood tests and at the time the last thing I expected was a diagnosis of prostate cancer. I'd had no symptoms and was part of a suggested "MOT" because the doctor hadn't seen me for a while. I actually went for a referal for a bad knee ! So then I had the follow up test. This I fully expected to be normal. It was 4.1 - it had gone up. I still thought it was because the test is "notoriously unreliable". The specialist recommended a prostate biopsy. I agreed, I thought this would put the silly suggestion of cancer to bed and I could sleep soundly. They took ten cores. One came back as cancerous. A low grade cancer, six on the Gleason scale. "Active monitoring" was recommended. This and the MRI are the start of this regime.

I've made a few lifestyle changes. I immediately read everything I could, to try and ascertain what I could do for myself. I read a great book on the subject - anti cancer - a new way of life - at the behest of my gym personal trainer. A well researched book, based on sound scientific principles, written by a trained medical practitioner. This recommends a diet based on pesticide free foods (organic as far as possible). The idea is to eat drink as many things as possible which have been shown to inhibit cancer and as few as possible which promote it. Out go the processed foods, the fatty foods, the high omega 6, low omega 3 foods. In come the low fat foods, the high omega 3, low omega 3 foods, the high in antoxidant foods and drinks. Green tea with honey, ginger and lemon replces black tea with milk, for example. Pomegranites and pomegranite juice come in. I've been doing this for nearly three months. The effect so far? Well my weight has come down from 106 kg to 98 kg. People keep telling me I'm looking great (usually not knowing the reason for the weight loss). How do I feel? Physically good right now. Mentally? Now this is a harder thing to describe. I am extremely positive. I am busy at the moment so I don't spend hours thinking about it, and I feel fine, but at times I have dark moments. I'm told by the family that I've been exceptionally moody right now. I don't know if this is purely down to the diagnosis, or other stresses in life. Who can say?

I've changed my working schedule. I'm volunteering one morning a week at The Passage - a homeless drop in centre. It is strange to think that although I have cancer, statistically I'll probably easily outlive most of the people I serve breakfast. A friend asked why I was volunteering there. Was it an attempt to set myself right with God in the face of a challenge to my health, a sort bargain "I'll help the homeless, if you heal me". Sadly for me, I doubt that God is open to such deals. The two things are unrelated, although I have found that sit does help me get my head around the human condition. I would recommend such work for anyone in my position. I am not sick, I have no symptoms and the only thing wrong at the moment is my unease at the possible difficult journey which awaits me at some point in the future. The thing is that we live in the here and now, not the future. I sleep in a warm bed in a centrally heated house. I can afford to eat organic carrots and bananas if I choose. The people I dole out the breakfast for have a choice of bacon, eggs, sausage tomato and toast. Food is a fundamental requirement. The day centre offers the chance to eat, get cleaned up and get warm. For me it puts it in perspective.

Which brings us back to the PSA test and MRI scan. There are three possibilities. The small cancer in my prostate will either a) be roughly the same as it was in August when I last had the PSA test, b) It will have continued to rise or c) It will have dropped. I suspect that the most likely option is a, then b then c. If the diagnosis is a or c, then to me at least that will validate the lifestyle changes and make me pleased that I've made the changes. What about if it has continued to rise? That will be a bit more problematic. Whilst I have no doubt that the changes are doing my general health a world of good, it will cast doubts on my strategy for dealing with the cancer. To me this won't mean that I've deluded myself, it will merely mean more research and potentially more changes, if there is anything else I can change. There are other factors I believe could create issues, such as mobile phone radiation and stress. These are issues I've really done nothing to address so far. I'm really not sure how you destress when you are me? Due to recent changes to my working day, I'm not using my gym where I do yoga, so I've actually removed one of the things which may help. I'm still going to my other gym, where I do have the luxury of the sauna and the jacuzzi after my session, which I'm taking full advantage of.

One of the most sensible things in the book I've been reading is the fact that there is no miracle cure for cancer. All you can do is alter the odds in your favour. The strange thing is that unless you have a clone double with the same condition and they don't make any changes, you never really know. On the 6th, when I see the specialist again, I may be told it's gone into meltdown. I may be told it's disappeared. Whatever they tell me I'll never know how the changes have affected me. If the news is really bad, it may have been even worse. If a miracle has happened, it could have happened anyway.

I have a friend who has been told he has 6-12 months to live. His doctor has told him that if he enjoys smoking, he may as well carry on because stopping won't cure him and if he enjoys it, then he might as well do it. The awful truth is that the doctor has a point. I'm hopefully at the point where I can make a difference by such changes. My anti cancer bible tells us we should avoid all carcinogens at all costs. The philosophy is to do everything in your power to improve your chances and remove all cancer promoters. I don't really smoke, so it's not a dilemma I have. Basically the theory is to get yourself as far as you can into the tail of the bell curve graph at the top of this blog. You do this by avoiding all things which promote cancer. I'm an engineer by trade, so it is a philosophy which seems sound to me.

Like religion and helping the homeless, it is something you do because you think it is the right thing for you. That is all you can do.

Exclusive - Guest Blog : The One Barnet Consultation

2012-01-28T10:43:00.002Z

By Wally Nickley,

------
Preamble by Rog T of the Barnet Eye,

Barnet council is about to launch a massive program of outsourcing under the title (currently) of One Barnet. These contracts are worth approximately One Billion pounds and it will have a huge impact on the people of Barnet. You may think that none of this will affect you directly. Sadly this is something that none of us can know for sure. The contracts will last for ten years and who knows what will happen in that time. For any of us, our lives can change in an instant. I will briefly give you two examples of people I know well, and why they demonstrate that such huge changes may affect us all.

In the case of my mother, she was a successful business woman. She was wealthy and in the year 2000 she was semi retired. She was in good health and went on three long cruises, spending her hard earned cash. In December 2000, she suffered a major stroke which changed her life. She couldn't communicate effectively and her ability to walk was severely restricted. She lost all self confidence and after a lengthy spell in hospital recuperating, she returned to live independently. Although financially secure, her ever declining health and frailty required ever increasing support from the NHS and Barnet Social services. She became reliant on the Barnet meals on wheel service for her main meal, as she was physically unable to cook. In april 2007 Barnet Council outsourced provision of these meals to Sodexho. For a period of weeks, the delivery of these meals became extremely unreliable and the quality decreased massively. The whole experience completely demoralised my mother as she had become to used to a routine. She knew the people who delivered the meals and they made sure she was OK, as they did for all of the other vulnerable people they served. My mother was extremely upset that they were summarily replaced. She became depressed and despondent. The summary actions of Barnet council emphasised to her that she was vulnerable and her independence was subject to the whim of the pen pushers at Barnet Council.

The second case is a friend of mine who I'll call Bill. I've known him since I was eight years old. Bill and his family used to live up my road. Bill was a successful website designer. Seventeen years ago he married a lovely girl from the Czech republic and planned to move there to make a new life. On his honeymoon, he broke his neck. He has been paralysed in a wheelchair ever since. His condition is described as permanently life threatening, so his care is directly funded by the NHS. Due to changes made by the Coalition, even though he is paralysed and totally reliant on a team of home carers for every function, he has been deemed a "jobseeker" and has had his benefits cut. Barnet Council abolished the disabilty rights units as a response to budget cuts. As a result, Bill has had no one to help him navigate the minefield of trying to survive, when thousands of pounds have been removed from his benefits. Due to his condition, he cannot regulate his body temperature, so turning off the heating is not an option.

Neither of the cases I described above, ever thought they'd have to be reliant on services provided by Barnet council, merely to exist. Lives can change in an instant and our needs can also change in an instant. I used these cases as examples to try and explain why the changes are important to all of us on a human level. There is another level to the One Barnet program we also need to consider. Does it make financial sense? Barnet has shown that it cannot manage small contracts. We need look no further than the Metpro and Freemantle/Catalyst contracts to see major disasters with huge financial impact on the taxpayer. Barnet are talking about contracts for ten years for a billion pounds. Would you think that someone who failed to run a whelk stall should be put in charge of running Tescos? That is in effect what they are doing. The most bizarre aspect of the whole thing is that they have spent millions on consultants to "redesign the council", when employing a far smaller team of auditors to sort out the existing mess would have saved a fortune. Surely they should have got their house in order first.

Then there is the impact on the local economy. Hundreds of Barnet jobs are being destroyed and exported to other Boroughs. You may think that this doesn't affect you. Consider this. There is a recession. The local business relies on the incomes of local people. Many businesses are struggling. As people are laid off, they spend less. Shops and businesses with no links to Barnet Council, see less turnover. For businesses already struggling, this may be the final straw. What about the people being transferred to private companies? They've been told that their conditions of employment will be protected for one year. What then? The only way private companies can make more money is to cut wages. The staff will either suffer pay cuts or be replaced by cheaper staff. More money out of the Barnet economy. Sadly unlike an in house team, any savings go to the shareholders of the companies.

Sadly, Barnet Council fail to try and do any "joined up thinking" in respect to any of this. Now it may well be that Barnet Council have information about the process which makes a positive case for the changes. Why haven't they gone public and made this case? Surely something which will so fundamentally change peoples lives and will involve ten year contracts, should involve public consultation? It is scandalous that we aren't being asked for our views. The Barnet Eye has seen (and published) much leaked detail about this process. None of it reassures us at all. Like Carlsberg, the Barnet Eye does not do public consultations about major changes to the way the Council interacts with the taxpayers. If we did, these are the questions we would ask you, before we changed anything. I sincerely hope that the other Barnet bloggers, the local media and our councillors also ask these questions, because I believe they are fundamental. Most of all I hope Barnet Council use it as a template.

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One Barnet Public Consultation

Dear Barnet Council Taxpayer,

~~Barnet Council~~ The Barnet Eye is committed to public consultations before any major changes are made to the way services are delivered to the Barnet taxpayer. The Council are currenlty considering making major changes to the way services are provided and we believe that it is vital that the taxpayer, as the funder of this process is kept well informed of the process and is given the opportunity to comment on the changes so that Barnet Council can deliver a package of services which fully meets the requirements of the people who pay the bills.

The local economy.

Do you believe it makes sense, especially at a time of recession to export hundreds of jobs from the London Borough of Barnet, to other parts of London, other parts of the country and to other parts of the world?

Do you think that it is appropriate that local businesses are excluded from the process of providing council services?

Do you think that companies bidding for One Barnet Contracts should have to show that they are making a contribution to the local economy as a key deliverable of the contract?

Do you agree that all companies bidding for One Barnet Contracts should agree to pay the London living wage for all London based staff?

Quality of services.

For people with acute care needs from Barnet Council, do you think that private companies should be subject to large financial penalties if companies fail to deliver the current high quality of services?

As a Barnet resident, would you be happy discussing your council related business with a telephone operator in a foreign call centre?

When vulnerable people such as the elderly, the infirm and adults with care needs, experience constant changes to provision of care, this can cause stress, lead to depression and can massively impact their quality of life. Do you think that continuity of service should be guaranteed, by financial penalties, for any services outsourced by the council?

Financial security.

When the council reviewed bidders tenders for the One Barnet program, the council considered that "transfer of risk" only warranted less than 3% of the total scoring for evaluation of the bid. Do you believe that private companies taking on provision of services on behalf of the council, should pick up the financial risk for their failure to provide services/

When the council reviewed bidders tenders for the One Barnet program, the council considered that "Maximising commerciality of the services" warrented nearly 13% of the total scoring for evaluation of the bid. Do you think that this is more than four times more important than ensuring the council does not incur financial risk?

When the council reviewed bidders tenders for the One Barnet program, the council considered that "Maximising commerciality of the services" warrented nearly 13% of the total scoring for evaluation of the bid. Do you think that the council should be seeking to transform itself into a commercial supplier of services and incur the risks associated with this on behalf of the taxpayer.

When the council reviewed bidders tenders for the One Barnet program, the council considered that "Compliant high quality service delivery" warrented nearly 5.7% of the total scoring for evaluation of the bid. Do you think that this is less than half as important as "Maximising commerciality of the services"?

Do you think that the council should tie itself into a supplier for ten years, when the whole concept of such a massive outsourcing is completely unproven?

Cost to taxpayer.

In previous examples of Barnet Council outsourcing projects, badly drawn contracts have resulted in multi million pounds financial settlements being awarded against the council. Do you think the Council has the expertise to avoid similar problems?

As a taxpayer, who do you think should bear the risk of financial penalties caused by the failure of contractors. Should it be the taxpayer of Barnet or the service provider?

Best Value for taxpayer.

In house bids (ie the council providing the services themselves after efficiency savings) have not been considered by the One Barnet team. In house teams, who actually know how to provide the service were not invited to bid. Do you believe that excluding the in house option can be demonstrated to deliver best value for taxpayer.

Due to the scoring mechanism used by Barnet Council to decide the provider of the services, it is possible that a company tender could provide the highest quality of service and the highest guaranteed financial benefit to the Barnet taxpayer, but fail because another bid may demonstrate an aspiration to provide a more commercially saleable product. Do you think that it is appropriate that the Council puts risky, speculative income ahead of service and guaranteed return?

Transparency.

Do you think that Councils should follow the Barnet Council method of working, where all decisions are made in top secret and taxpayers are not allowed to know why decisions are made, on pain of legal action, or should they follow the Windsor and Maidenhead Council model where all decisions are made transparently and all relevant information is freely available via the Council website?
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Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye. Wally Nickley sent me the "One Barnet consultation" for publication. He asked me to write a suitable preamble. Wally Nickley (not his real name) is a Barnet Council employee and avid Barnet Eye reader. Although guest blogs are usually printed without comment or edit, Wally specifically asked me to in this case. All figures etc used in Wally's consultation document are supplied by him. Although I happen to believe them to be correct they cannot be verified as the council refuses to release the information. I also amended the first sentence of the blog as Barnet Council was not asking the question and I felt this may be misleading.

What is going on at NLBP today?

2012-01-27T23:47:00.001Z

Dear Mr Walkley,

Please could you do me a favour? I am intrigued. My blog stats give me all sorts of interesting information. They tell me what people were looking at before they visited my blog and what google search they arrived on to find it, amongst other things. Now as CEO of Barnet, I'm sure you can get your IT department to tell you anything you need to know about who at Barnet was looking at my blog and why. There was very unusual pattern of hits today. I'm intrigued. Something is clearly going on. I'm sure you won't but I'd be most grateful if you could drop me a quick line, as it were, and let me know exactly what it is all about. Have I missed something?

I wasn't even going to look, but Linda asked me if anyone at NLBP had been looking at her blog. That was a rather less unpredictable spike.

Regards
Rog

The Friday Joke - 27/1/2012

2012-01-27T20:55:00.003Z

My friend Jeff always told me he wanted to die in bed with two hookers. He got his final wish, his wife burst in on him and shot him.

Have a pleasant friday night.

Guest Blog - Learn From the Past? London Borough of Barnet (LBB) Adult Social Care and Health Or Continue to Repeat in The Present and Future!

2012-01-26T20:11:00.000Z

By Linda Edwards

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts toimprove the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth atiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centresof energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down themightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Robert F. Kennedy

Past

Myadult daughter has a learning disability and is on the autistic spectrum. I am a family carer. I am a reasonable person. However, I am sure that the London Borough ofBarnet (LBB) Social Care and Health senior Managers and Directors would notagree!

Idon’t want anything for my disabled daughter that she is not entitled toreceive or that other vulnerable people do not receive. I believe this to be fair and reasonable!

Havingchallenged their shoddy commissioning and lack of monitoring of damaging andinappropriate services for my disabled daughter, they continued to fund theseservices and sign them off as “good value” for over 15 years. I believe this to be unfair, unreasonableand just plain stupid!

Theydoggedly refuted my formal complaint submitted 28^th March 2008 andwasted thousands of pounds of LBB and ratepayers money in defending thecomplaint, allowing it to progress as far as the Ombudsman stage.

Allthey had to do was become more competent in their monitoring and evaluatingprocess. This should undoubtedly haveled to the removal of the bullying service provider that was not providing theservice to which my disabled daughter was entitled to receive and which theyhad irresponsibly commissioned.

Mydaughter became emotionally unwell, struggling for many years because of thisinappropriate support, lack of management and staff being thrust on her that wewouldn’t trust to take our dog for a walk! They certainly knew very little about the needs of people on the autisticspectrum. Their management were soarrogant as to not want to learn from the Recommendations from the NationalAutistic Society!

What did LBB Adult Social Care and Health learn from my complaint?

They shortened the complaints process, making it harder for family carers to have a successful outcome.
They learnt that reporting and listening to lies (their response 4^th July 2008 to my complaint) prevails and succeeds within the culture of LBB Adult Social Care and Health.
How to best discourage paid and family carers from reporting complaints and safeguarding issues.
LBB Adult Social Care and Health Senior Managers vindictive behaviour results in promotion.

Whatthey should have learnt from my complaint:

Family Carers will challenge their dogma, injustice, oppressive culture and resistance to listen to vulnerable people and family carers.
We will find the energy and support to continue until there is a satisfactory conclusion for our family member and the people we are supporting and working with.
We will do this individually, supported by each other and through organisations and newly formed groups such as “The Campaign Against Destruction of Disabled Support Services” (CADDSS). For further details, please email CADDSS1 @ gmail.com

Update, Celebration and Thanks

Manyof you have read my previous articles and I am thrilled to share with you thatthere has been a ‘Eureka’ moment because of the change in my daughter’s ServiceProvider.

Iwould like to thank my daughter’s solicitor, Yvonne Hossacks without whom Iwould still be asking for a meeting, which if agreed, would go nowhere becauserarely was anything from LBB Adult Social Services and Health Managers followedup or actioned! There were so many timesover many years that I was disregarded but in her role as my daughter’s solicitor,she achieved some considerable change for my daughter. Solicitors representing vulnerable people inAdult Social Care and Health should not be necessary and I am a sure solicitorwho has a social conscience like Yvonne Hossacks would much prefer to beunnecessary and have more profitable work. Why is the culture of LBB Adult Social Care and Health so unfriendly toworking in partnership with family carers?

Thankyou to the Family Advocate who accompanied me to so many LBB meetings, eventhough the meetings achieved nothing for my daughter. She left many meetings feeling frustrated andupset and once remarked “I have been doing this job for over 30 years andhave seen no change in how they behave towards family carers!” However, it proved crucial that there wasa witness to the many broken promises and lack of action from LBB Adult SocialCare and Health Managers!

Ishould also like to thank my daughter’s LBB Social Worker who has ‘listened’to, ‘heard’ my daughter’s explicit needs, choices and decisions and checked outthat they were from her rather than from me as some LBB Managers havesuggested! In spite of her assessment ofmy daughter’s needs July 2011, in August 2011 when she was on holiday, the LBBIn-House Learning Disabilities Services Manager overrode her assessment andremoved my daughter’s crucial night support. This LBB social worker has supported the transition of the new serviceprovider and demonstrated her excitement at the recent amazing changes in mydaughter’s personal development. Thismust make the role of a caring social worker all the more worthwhile andsatisfying.

Mysincere thanks and appreciation to this new Head of Integrated LearningDisability Services who has been proactive in trying to heal the emotionaldamage done to my daughter after the LBB Manager of the In-House LearningDisability Services withdrew my daughter’s night support suddenly in August2011. The outcome for her was…….. Guesswhat? Promotion!

Thenew Head of Integrated Learning Disability Services has authorised DirectPayments for as long as my daughter needs night support and has alsodemonstrated a desire to work in partnership with me as the family carer. Whilst I fully accept she doesn’t approve ofmy ‘tone’ in correspondence, I hope she can try to understand that my daughterand I have been on the receiving end of LBB’s Adult Social Care and Health’s“oppression, injustice and resistance” for many, many years…..

Itwill take a long healing process and conditions set by family and paid carersbefore we can withdraw from our campaign to highlight the effects of the abuseof power that prevails in LBB Adult Social Care and Health.

Thankyou too, to the new service provider who I cannot name just yet for fear that Iam ‘dreaming’ about the way in which the new service provider are working withmy daughter and me, (family carer) and that tomorrow I may wake up to anothernightmare!

Trustingthey are working in this way with everyone, these are some of the differencesbetween the new service provider culture and the previous service providerbullies that LBB Adult Social Services and Health Director refused to removesince her response to my complaint on 4^th July 2008. The new service provider:

Responds to my emails
Responds to telephone messages.
Is proactive in planning for my daughter’s future and greater independence
Has not lied to me!
Has been respectful of my daughter’s needs.
Whilst they have been proactive in supporting my daughter’s needs, they have also reacted positively to her decisions and choices and encouraged her rather than attempted to control her.
The new Service Provider has been respectful of my own needs as a family carer (I am at last beginning to plan my own life because my daughter is being supported appropriately and I am no longer having to fight for my daughter’s support to be as it should be!) For example, on one occasion, when I became ‘panicky’ because of the many years of the previous staff being late, their response was “you’re allowed to panic, too!” There was no contempt or scorn, as I have been so used to in the past.
They have demonstrated respect, civility and understanding of everyone’s needs.
They have not blamed me if my daughter has made a decision that is opposed to their own view.

Ofcourse, with all the above, the new service provider has higher expectations tomeet and further to fall than the previous service provider bullies, but we areall willing to take this risk!

WhenI thank them, they respond, “We are only doing our job!” Why didn’t LBB Adult Social Care and HealthManagers and Director insist that the previous service provider bullies didtheir job?

Withmy daughter’s now superb service,why am I still campaigning about the past?

My daughter will never get the wasted years back that LBB Adult Social Care and Health robbed her of by rebutting my formal complaint.
She will not recover from the emotional damage done to her because LBB ignored the NAS Recommendations and my ‘expert’ knowledge and experience as a family carer
I was made unwell on many, many occasions. This still affects my work and my life.
LBB Adult Social Care and Health Directors and Managers have never acknowledged their responsibility for our many years of angst caused by them.
We have uncovered many similar issues that are being ‘swept under the constantly expanding LBB Social Care and Health carpet’
In spite of many issues of abuse, safeguarding, lies and rudeness reported to LBB Senior Managers and Director of Adult Social Care and Health, they have refused to remove the previous bullying service providers from the list for other LBB vulnerable people. This is outrageous!
A written acknowledgement statement and apology needs to be forthcoming.
A commitment for change needs to be put into place and monitored by independent lay leaders, including family carers.
£16,000 is owed to my daughter, which LBB promised to ensure was returned to her. This was never actioned and I have always been too exhausted and weary in fighting to ensure my daughter was safe and had the necessary support to worry about her money.

Present

Whyam I connecting my daughter’s past trauma caused by LBB Adult Social Care andHealth senior management to LBB Cabinet Resources Committee Meeting Monday 16^thJanuary 2012 to finalise the handing over of Learning Disabilities Services tothe new Local Authority Trading Company? There are a few reasons for this connection and my continuing campaign:

Cllr Rajput, Cabinet Member for Adults fervently believes that LBB Adult Social Care is providing a high quality of service to vulnerable people and their family carers. The problem is that whilst he may be taking note of carer’s surveys etc, he appears to be listening too much to the same senior managers and directors who have behaved so unprofessionally!
Many other vulnerable people are receiving a similar lack of support and respect and suffer from the same lack of partnership.
One of the people who asked questions at the Cabinet Resources Committee Meeting, asked about previous Safeguarding issues that had not been dealt with adequately when reported to LBB Adult Social Services and Health senior management.

Immediatelyafter the Cabinet Resources Meeting on Monday 16^th January, theDirector of Adult Social Care and Health rushed out of the meeting to approachthe person who had asked the Safeguarding questions. She informed us that it was not appropriateto bring Safeguarding issues to this public meeting (no personal confidentialinformation had been divulged). She alsosaid that had these Safeguarding issues been brought to her privately, shewould, as she always does, have dealt with them immediately… watch this spacefor update!

Councillor Brian Coleman, (together with his dear mother), who both give considerable service to the community, came downstairs to speak to the people who had asked Safeguarding questions at the Cabinet Resources Committee Meeting. Coincidentally, he also advised them that this meeting was not an appropriate place to ask Safeguarding questions.
The Director of Adult Social Care and Health had been responsible for responding to my complaint (4^th July 2008). I have continued to question LBB why what is written in glossy brochures and spoken in meetings and public conferences are not being put into practice.

Becauseof my behaviour in this way, the Director has refused to allow me to be amember of the Learning Disability Partnership Board. This is in spite of an “excellentinterview” and “vast knowledge and experience” as reported by thepeople who interviewed me for the position of being a member!

This decision is spiteful and undemocratic andshould have been challenged by Cllr Rajput – please look forward to my letterenclosing the communications and notes of meetings regarding my exclusion.

The Manager of Barnet Homes and the Director of Adult Social Care and Health spoke at the Cabinet Resources Committee Meeting about LBB having extensive carer involvement. I believe this to be true. However, is this involvement only with family carers who do not complain and challenge injustice? Once they complain about a service for their family member, senior management abuse their power and authority by discriminating and excluding them!

TheFrench sculptor Auguste Rodin said “Nothing is a waste of time if you usethe experience widely”

So how have I used “theexperience widely”? Whilst LBB AdultSocial Care and Health were actively rebutting my complaint and allowing all mydaughter’s problems to continue, little did I know that in another part ofBarnet were Safeguarding issues being reported to the very same people who weredisregarding the issues that I had complained about on behalf of mydaughter! Shame on all the people whoknew about this and did nothing!

Future

Pleasewatch this space for further celebrations of good practice from my daughter’snew service provider. I am optimisticand hopeful that the ‘honeymoon period’ of the first six months will continuebecause of the management of her service.

Recommendationsfor LBB Adult Social Care and Health,which I am so sure, will be disregarded:

Adhere in practice to Government policies and strategies, instead of merely speaking and writing about them.
Monitor and evaluate outcomes!
Adhere in practice to their own LBB policies and strategies, instead of continually speaking and writing about them.
Monitor and evaluate outcomes!
Whistleblowers should be embraced and helped to feel safe, as they are able to see what Managers and Directors don’t have the opportunity to see. Safeguarding training and administration is costing LBB a great deal of money. Therefore, as soon as whistle blowers have the courage to bring issues of abuse to the notice of managers, considerable energy and resources has been put into cover up, thus allowing the abuse to continue. This is unforgivable, unacceptable and must be reversed immediately!
The Director of Adult Social Services and Health ignored my three communications for a meeting (early 2011) so that I could describe how her response in refusing to remove the ‘cowboy’ service provider had put my disabled daughter at risk and damaged her and me, as a family carer. Instead, she passed my request to her senior manager to action as a complaint, when it clearly was not a complaint! Once again, wasting valuable resources and money in investigating a complaint that hadn’t been made rather than agree to meet with me to hear the outcome of not removing the bullying service provider. They must be made accountable for the money and resources they waste!
Some people are not suited to working with vulnerable people. The odd day training cannot break down a culture of bad practice that has been in place for many years, especially if Management endorses this practice. LBB need to be less concerned with protecting staff and themselves and more concerned with the rights of vulnerable people according to the Seven Key Outcomes for Social Social Care Service Users.

“Thetime is always right to do what is right” Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Linda Edwards is a carer in Barnet. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye

Brian Coleman calls Barnet traders lazy and boasts of his own uselessness !

2012-01-25T09:06:00.000Z

Sometimes I cannot believe what I read. The following is taken from the report pack for the next Council meeting.

Question 60 Councillor Alison Moore

Some local businesses are citing the cashless parking service and huge parking charge increases as a major reason for a reduction in trade, and even for shops and businesses closing down - when will the Cabinet Member listen to local people and reverse the enormous and unfair parking charge increases that he imposed last year?

Answer by Councillor Brian Coleman

Since Christmas there have been an interesting set of announcements to the Stock Exchange from many retail companies and a number of chains have called in the receivers. What all trading announcements had in common was that Internet sales are booming. Even Tescos have announced relatively poor trading and the vast majority of their supermarkets have free car parks. We need to manage these dramatic changes in the High Street , more flexibility on change of use, support for the nightime economy , more intelligent Planning decisions , the promotion of There are more empty shops in Whetstone where there are no parking controls than North Finchley where there are . The parking income figures prove the numbers visiting our High Streets and elsewhere are buoyant. Quality retail businesses that are flexible will always survive those that are not will go to the wall.

The lazy cop out is to blame the Council

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I could ask WTF Brian Coleman knows about running a business, given that he makes his living from a string of taxpayer financed non jobs. Let us consider what Coleman said in a bit more detail. Firstly Brian Coleman acknowledges that High Street retailers are struggling and that this may be related to the boom in on line trading. This shows a complete lack of understanding of what makes a successful High Street. Firstly Brian Coleman implies that the only businesses on the High Street are retailers. In North Finchley the person leading the campaign against High Street parking charges is Helen Michaels. She runs a Cafe. The leader of the Council, Richard Cornelius acknowledged that restaurants are keeping many Barnet High Streets alive. Coleman clearly has no understanding that someone like Helen makes her living from passing trade, people buying a cup of tea and a sandwich. Don't such businesses matter. Then Coleman talks about the figures from Tesco's. Again Coleman shows a complete ignorance of that retailers business. Coleman states that the majority of their sites have car parks. In actual fact, the majority of Tescos outlets are small Tescos Express type outlets. These do not have parking facilities and are located on the High Street. Tescos have spent a fortune building this chain up and are as a result now far more vulnerable to the vampiric parking policies of the likes of Brian Coleman.

When Coleman talks about what needs to be done to re-energise the High Streets, he completely ignores the fact that the parking charges he's championed are the biggest single factor damaging businesses. Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of his outburst is the bit where he trumpets his own incompetence and uselessness. He exclaims that Whetstone is a less successful town centre, with many boarded up shops, than North Finchley. Who is the councillor for Whetstone? None other than Brian Coleman. If you needed a more stark example of what happens when you have a completely useless councillor, you couldn't find a better example.

His claim that retailers blaming the Council is a "lazy cop out" is offensive. Last week I had a meeting with North Finchley traders. Did I get the impression I was talking to a bunch of lazy bastards? Not at all. In fact, nothing could have impressed me more than their attitude. Helen Michaels said "We are not looking for handouts, all we want is for our customers to not be penalised when they park". Brian Coleman exemplifies all that is bad in career politicians. He fails to listen to anyone. He spouts complete nonsense about subjects he knows nothing about and he makes offensive comments about anyone who has the audacity to argue with him. He is standing for the GLA in May, at the same time as the elections for Mayor of London. If he wins, he will get £50,000 a year for doing a part time job. I think he's shown that he is unfit for this role.

Coleman claims that "The parking figures prove our High Streets are buoyant". I suspect that when the GLA Election results are published, those figures will "prove that the People of Barnet think Brian Coleman is useless".

When will Barnet Councillors grow some of these?

2012-01-24T10:12:00.001Z

Let's not mince any words. I am thoroughly sick of the way the cossetted councillors of the London Borough of Barnet hang impotently around the council chamber, pocketing huge allowances and doing nothing at all for the people of Barnet. Let me a few examples of this

Parking charges. They ALL know that these are killing the High Street, which is the heart of the community. Which of them have done anything to help. Even the Leader says "he can do nothing".

One Barnet. They know that the business case is a complete joke. No one has come forward to defend it. No one knows who the project sponsor is. We even had one Tory councillor telling a resident at the weekend that he didn't understand it and voted for it because he was told to. An opposition councillor told me that the report I leaked was shown to them for 10 minutes. They were not allowed to take a copy and weren't allowed enough time to read it properly, consider it or debate it. They are paid to scrutinise such things, yet are "not allowed to".

Overdevelopment. Councillors know that there are too many rabbit hutch flats going up all over Barnet. Which of them say a dickiebird to oppose it. One Tory Councillor told a resident at the weekend that he was "relieved Boris had canned the Brent Cross scheme". He voted for it.

Sell off of Church Farmhouse Museum for redevelopment. Another Councillor told a resident that he was "sickened" by this proposal. He has said nothing publicly about the proposal. (Note : I emailed every single councillor about this. Only Susette Palmer bothered to reply. She sent an email to council officials demanding to be informed of progress - an example to all).

Cabinet allowance rise. All of the Tory group, apart from Kate Salinger, voted for this, even though most knew it was morally wrong in the current climate.They ostracised her for her stand

Even the most lowly councillor gets thousands of pounds in allowances, for merely attending two council meetings a year. They have to do nothing else to get the cash. We elect them to represent us. Is it too much to ask them to grow some balls and represent us properly. This isn't party political. It is aimed at just about all of them (with a shamefully few honourable exceptions). DO YOUR JOB, REPRESENT THE PEOPLE PROPERLY.

Holocaust Memorial day - A special day in Barnet

2012-01-24T09:21:00.000Z

Today is the day we remember victims of the Nazi holocaust. Barnet has the largest Jewish community in Great Britain, largely as a result of this atrocity and the earlier pogroms and other persecutions of Jewish people in Europe. When I attended Orange Hill Senior High School in the late 1970's , the school had a large number of Jewish pupils, many had parents and grandparents with direct experience of concentration camps. Virtually none had families unaffected by the holocaust. Thirty years later many of those parents and grandparents have passed away and the stories move from being a living memory to a page in a history book. Holocaust memorial day is one way that we can remind ourselves of the risks of regimes who seek to divide our communities by race, creed or ethnicity. If the holocaust was the last time that ethnic cleansing was attempted, maybe people could say we'd learned the lesson. If discimination based on faith, colour or creed was a thing of the past we could treat it as a historical anomaly. Sadly, even in Europe, we've seen ethnic cleansing. Even more sadly we still see evidence of anti semitism even in Barnet. Synogogues and Jewish gravestones are often targets of those who seek to turn the clock back and bring an era of hatred back upon us.

When I was 16 I had the pleasure of working with a stonemason who was Jewish and had been an officer in the British army during the second world war. He had been one the first British officers into the Belsen concentration camp. The experience overwhelmed him and he suffered a nervous breakdown. The British army was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted them and they were unable to save thousands of people who they had liberated. The medical teams simply had no experience of how to treat people suffering acute starvation. The SS officers who were captured at the site immediately claimed protection under the Geneva convention. These cowards sought refuge under international law, having violated every law ever written in their treatment of the people of the camp. One of the most poignant things I was told was that for many of those who died, they simply gave up believing even hell could be no worse than where they were. Today on BBC radio 94.9 Vanessa Feltz played an interview by a father who's daughter was savaged by an out of control dog. In Belsen, brutal guards would routinely give the babies of camp inmates to guard dogs to be torn to bits. Anyone who couldn't work was systematically murdered. It is worth remembering that as well as the Jewish population, the disabled, the gypsy's, Homosexuals, political dissidents, and a host of other groups also suffered persecution and murder.

Over a cup of tea in 1977, I was told one thing which I simply refused to believe. After hearing the story of how my work colleague entered the camp, the stench and the pure horror of what he saw, he said something which seemed completely ridiculous. "Some people are trying to say that none of the things I've told you really happened. In the future as people die off, these lies will be told more regulalry. When the British army occupied the camp, we shot thousands of hours of film, as a record so that the truth of the situation can never be denied, remember this if ever you hear such a rumour".

At the time of the conversation, I was a dyslexic sixteen year old, considering a future working in the building trade (as a back up to my music career). It never occurred to me that anyone could possibly take such lies seriously. It never occurred to me that people would desecrate synogogues and Jewish graves in the London Borough of Barnet. As blogs had not been dreamed of, it never occurred to me that I'd write a blog and anyone would care what I wrote. It never occurred to me that the things I was told over numerous mugs of tea, may be important enough to be retold.

Sadly, the man who spoke those words to me passed away many years ago. With him, the things he saw went. Only the conversations with people like me remain. Those and the thousands of hours of film footage, which serve forever as a reminder of the foul, evil brutality of the regime which perpetrated the crimes. We have holocaust memorial day for one reason and one reason alone. Because we all need to be reminded of the truth of this abomination.

A statement : The Barnet Eye and Barnet Council

2012-01-23T19:51:00.001Z

On the 8th November 2011, I was told that I have prostate cancer. In the intervening weeks, I have done a huge amount of soul searching and taken a long hard look at my life and the things I spend my time doing. Writing a blog about Barnet Council takes an inordinate amount of time and creates a massive amount of stress in my life. There are many things I could do which would bring me far more pleasure and many subjects I feel I could write about, where possibly I could make far more difference to peoples lives. Barnet currently has four other bloggers who are more than capable of doing what I set out to do on my own in 2008. That is to cover the activities of the council in a way that the local press seems to not be interested in doing. I've spent a fair amount of time researching the issues, causes and treatment of cancer and I feel that there may be people who would benefit if I shared this knowledge. I also feel it is important to make the case for dyslexics and to try and dispel many of the misunderstandings and myths associated with the condition. Then there are all of the other issues I enjoy, local history, interesting things to do in Barnet, and non council related issues affecting Barnet residents such as the Thameslink service. I felt the time had come to move on. I also felt that the way forward for this blog was through more guest blogs, using the readership I've built up to give a platform for other local campaigners and activists such as Linda Edwards and Julia Hines. Their work deserves the widest possible audience.

I have one thing to say to anyone at Barnet Council who may be reading this. Thank you (in a Cee Lo Green sort of way). Your actions have made me realise that I've been getting lazy, complacent and have managed to shove my head up my own arse in relation to Barnet. Barnet Council needs as many active bloggers as possible at the moment, digging as deeply as they possibly can. Whilst in a perfect world, I would love to do all of the things I stated above, I don't live in a perfect world. I live under the jurisdiction of Barnet Council. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. I rather suspect that when I do the round up of 2012, I will see this whole sorry saga as a huge own goal by Barnet. In other words, any major change of emphasis of this blog will just have to wait (although the guest bloggers are more welcome than ever).

There are many things I would like to say today, but it is very necessary to keep my powder dry. I can just advise one thing. Nothing I write on this blog, in relation to Barnet Council is done lightly. I have a large and informal circle of people who have advised, helped and steered me in the right direction from day 1. They are from the right, left and centre of political spectrum. They encompass a whole range of skills, talents and professions. When this blog is attacked, they are also attacked. What is heartening is that this is the message they have been at pains to make sure I understand and appreciate.

A few people have told me they are worried about me, especially following a few comments on the cancer blogs I've written recently. Please don't be. I couldn't feel fitter or more healthy than I do right now. I just perhaps share my darker thoughts a bit too much with you. Let me explain why.

In 1985, I co wrote a song. The chorus went like this

if you don't try,

You might as well be dead.

I have sung this song to myself ever since, whenever I've needed to motivate myself, be it to run for a bus, to drag myself out in the rain to a meeting, to get out of bed and go to work, when I've felt like dying (and I mean this mostly in relation to hangovers). It has seen me through good times and bad and helped me meet many challenges. I may be wrong, I may be deluded, but I truly wonder what certain people sing to themselves for motivation?

On Saturday morning I had an MRI at Barnet General. I'd been stressing on it all week. On Sunday morning, I had to take a washing machine to the flat of a friend who is suffering from a far more serious cancer than I have. I have been dreading seeing him. He is one of my best friends, but I was scared to see a window into my own future. Wheras I'll probably die of something else, he's been given a prognosis of 6-12 months. He's 45 years old. When I saw him, it was great. He has the right attitude to life. It isn't money, possessions or power which matter and make us happy. It is knowing we have people who love us. Nothing else matters at all, but you only find out when you are stripped to the bare bones of your existence.

That is why I'm truly afraid of nothing apart from seeing the people I love suffer.
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Many apologies for the self indulgent tone of the second section of this post. I just really don't want anyone who cares about me to worry. If I wasn't feeling strong, I wouldn't write any of this

Boris launches the Brian Coleman charm offensive

2012-01-23T09:15:00.001Z

This weekend the Barnet Tories launched the Brian Coleman charm offensive. We got a leaflet showing just how hard Brian Coleman has been working on our behalf. Strangely it makes no mention of the way Coleman has hiked up parking charges. Apparently the fact that certain types of crime are down is completely down to all the hard work Boris and Brian have been doing. Strangely, the leaflet doesn't mention that theft of mobile phones is up by 10%. What is the police advice for residents? Don't make lengthy mobile phone calls on the street or have your valuables handy. What does Brian Colemans policy for pay by phone require? Lengthy calls on the street, with your credit card in your hand. Due to the document being bigger than the scanner. I've sent an FOI request to the police to find out exactly how hard Brian Coleman has been working with the Police. Should be interesting

It is nice to see that Boris completely associates himself with Brian Coleman and his policies. Next time you get a parking ticket, or if your business is suffering, ask yourself this. Do I really want Brian Coleman to be rewarded with £50,000 a year for the next four years at the GLA elections in May for these policies? Hear is a rather crappily scanned version of the leaflet.

In response to the taxpayer funded pro Boris rally at the Peel Centre last week, I received this letter from the Labour candidate Andrew Dismore. He clearly is rather upset at the taxpayer funding such a rally. I was under the impression that in the run up to an election, public funds should not be used to exclusively promote one side. I'm not taking sides in this, I don't belong to the Conservative or Labour party. You may think I'm a secret Dismore fan. In actual fact the Labour party expelled me in 2010 (even though I'd quit the party in 2009) and told me I was banned from membership for five years. What amuses me is that Brian Coleman could join the Labour party tomorrow if he wanted to, but I can't. Anyway, here's what Andrew has to say

Dear Editor,

The Press (19^th January) gave extensive coverage to the London Mayor’s meeting at the Peel Centre. However, chaired by the Conservative GLA member Brian Coleman, also facing the ballot box in May, one could be forgiven for thinking it was nothing more than a Conservative election rally.

Most of the time was taken up by the Mayor extolling his own virtues, supported by the rest of his “ backing group” panel. Ostensibly to discuss local economic issues, the GLA member was very careful to avoid calling any questioners who wished to raise the parking charges issue- the biggest elephant in the room and for which he is personally responsible - and indeed to avoid calling anyone likely to ask challenging and difficult questions in the short time they left for questions. Criticism was confined to outside the formal meeting.

Of course, if the meeting had been paid for by the Conservatives, one could hardly object to the holding an election rally: but it wasn’t. It was paid for by London’s council taxpayers.

Personally, I think the money could and should have been better spent on ameliorating the Mayor’s police cuts or fares rises, but clearly the Mayor and GLA member have other things on their mind as the May elections approach.

Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly candidate for Barnet and Camden

Exactly who is in charge of Barnet Council?

2012-01-22T10:05:00.000Z

"The Devils greatest trick is to convince us all that he doesn't exist"

Who is in charge of Barnet Council? Who has the desk with the sign on it saying "The buck stops here"? Is it council leader Richard Cornelius, the man who says "I'm sorry, I can't do anything about that" to residents when they ask why he can't sort out the mess created by the Councils parking policies. Is it "Non Stick" Nick Walkley, the CEO, who's name never seems to be on any embarrassing document? In Barnet we have the massive One Barnet outsourcing project. Who is the sponsor of this project? Who is the top man who thinks it's a good idea and is prepared to say "This is my baby, I think it will save the people of Barnet a fortune and I think it is the future of local government in Barnet". The strangest thing about such a huge, transformational project, which the council is spending billions on, is the fact that no one is prepared to stand up in public and explain it.

On Friday I had approx 400 different hits on this website from people at Barnet Council. More than half of these arrived through google searches for phrases such as "Barnet Eye". Why? I don't know, but I'll take a wild guess and say that it's because they are interested what is happening to the organisation they work for. Let me tell you something I found out on Friday. "Barnet Council strongly disapprove" of me and my blog. Funny that. All 400 of them who read the blog all thought "I strongly disapprove of Roger Tichborne and his blog". Maybe I should emigrate to Australia to be in the land of my ancestors. I must be so unpopular that I should hide my face behind a mask when I walk the streets of Barnet. If you work for Barnet Council, is that how you feel about this blog? The council have spent 3 1/2 years trying to completely ignore this blog. They routinely reply to the most routine and trivial email late. I have emailed the CEO of Barnet Council on numerous issue, I routinely copy him into every communication and yet he never, ever responds.

Does Mr Walkley believe in the One Barnet project? He has spent millions of pounds (of our money) promoting it and on consultants to implement it. Nick is an intelligent guy, quite friendly whenever I've chatted to him. Maybe he thinks I'm a complete moron or a fool. Maybe I am not worthy of a response. He's the CEO, he can talk to who he likes, yet he chooses never to respond to my emails. The leader, councillor Richard Cornelius does sometimes if he thinks it's appropriate. Why doesn't Nick. Is he scared of what I'll say? Many of his employees and many of the councillors email me regularly. If they say "This is in confidence and not for the blog" It stays in confidence and off the blog.

I've offered Nick the opportunity to write a guest blog which would be universally read by his staff, explaining what the whole One Barnet project is all about. I've offered to interview him. He could have persuaded me that it was a good idea. I'm not stupid. I can read a balance sheet or a business case. If the numbers stack up, I'd buy into it if it was good for Barnet. There are many great services in Barnet supplied by other organisations. I'm not implacably opposed to the concept of outsourcing.

Many people may think that I'm opposed to large corporations such as Capita, who are the front runner for the One Barnet contract. Let me let you into a little secret. I'm not. Several years ago I used to own shares in Capita. I bought them as an investment because I thought the company had an interesting business model and would produce a return on my money. I took an interest as they were the company which implemented the Congestion charge for former Mayor Ken Livingstone. I believed that this was a technology they could resell to cities around the world. I made thousands of pounds when I sold them, they had doubled in value. I sold them to invest the money in my own business. If I had any spare cash to invest right now, I'd probably invest some of it in Capita, because I'm sure they will clean up on the Barnet project. Whilst many people locally are implacably opposed to their business model, Capita as a PLC exist solely to produce a return for their shareholders. I can see no circumstances where the One Barnet project will not deliver a handsome return for them. I may not like what this will mean for many of us in Barnet, but as a cash investment, I really don't think you could argue with it.I wonder how many employees of Barnet Council and consultants working on the project are Capita shareholders? Is this something we should be interested in?

I can see what is in the deal for Capita, but I cannot see how it is in the long term interest of the people of Barnet to have this project proceed. I've read hundreds of documents and none support the proposition as being for the benefit of Barnet. Which brings us back to the proposition "Who runs Barnet Council". Why is this important? Because whoever that person is, they must fully understand the project and the benefits. They must step forward and say "I support this project because it will deliver these benefits". Let's have the conversation and move on. What happens in the absence of leadership? Well as I write this blog, there is a large ship lying on its side in the Med, there are families grieving and a cruise line is likely to disappear, due to the reputational damage of the actions of one man. The captain of that ship allowed a disaster to happen, letting his personal whim take precidence over doing his job properly. When it was clear that his mistake had caused a disaster, he legged it, leaving the people who were looking to him for guidance and ledership in the lurch. With no one at the helm, making the important decisions, the boat sank and people died. That is what happens when no one knows who is really in charge and what needs to be done.

At the start of the blog I quoted the old maxim that the devils greatest trick is convincing us that he doesn't exist. I suspect that this is the greatest trick of whoever at Barnet Council is responsible for the One Barnet project.

Have a pleasant Sunday.

Rog T's Cancer Blog - Cancer vs Dyslexia

2012-01-21T20:44:00.001Z

Barnet Council - Private Eye legal bullies 2011 strike again ?

2012-01-21T09:10:00.001Z

At 19.10 lat night I received a letter from Barnet Council legal team. The letter suggested that as the document I published on Thursday concerning the One Barnet tender process was marked confidential, I was not allowed to publish it and must remove it from my website immediately. They also suggested that I may be liable for any legal costs of claims arising from publishing it. As it the letter arrived at such a late hour on a Friday evening as I was going out, I removed the document from my website pending legal advice. Today I have a CAT scan, so I have other things on my mind, and in the absence of any legal advice, I do not intend to comment further on this particular issue until such time as advice has been sought other than to say that any legal challenges will be vigorously contended. I have put this clarification up merely to explain the removal of the document from this website.

I do however want to remind my readers of some general issues regarding Barnet Council and data security. I received this document from the London Borough of Barnet on 7th July in a freedom of information response. This clearly demonstrates that Barnet Council has been aware of issues surrounding information security since at least April 2011.

Is Action Plan Final Redacted)

On page 4 of this document it outlines the following risks regarding Information and Data management.

* Information is leaked through weakness and ICO impose a fine on the council for not taking all possible steps to prevent loss

* Information can be downloaded to personal home computers via Citrix leavving the council fully exposed to data falling into the wrong hands

* Unable to track source of information leak

So it is clear that there is an acknowledged issue with information security at Barnet Council. Whilst it may be easy or convenient for Barnet Council to kid themselves that this document is the only document to have been leaked regarding the One Barnet process and that I am the only person it may have been leaked to, they clearly haven't got a clue who has seen what or who has sent what to who.

Let us just for one moment consider exactly what is happening at Barnet Council at the moment. There are two contracts being tendered as part of the One Barnet process. One is worth £250 million and one is worth £750 million. Whoever wins those contracts will make a huge amount of money. This is public domain information. The companies who are bidding for these contracts are probably spending tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds putting together their tenders.

That makes the information used to decide the outcome of the tenders a valuable commodity.It is clear that the security surrounding these tenders has been compromised. If a document was leaked where there was clearly no financial benefit to the recipient and presumably no financial benefit to the person who leaked it, what else could have been leaked and to who? If a person is prepared to take the risk of leaking a document for no financial gain, what on earth could have been leaked if people were offered financial inducements? Many people working on the One Barnet program are consultants with no long term allegiance to Barnet Council. Other staff know their jobs are under threat and may be vulnerable to temptation. Now I am not alleging anything of the sort has happened. All I am saying is that in light of what has happened it clearly COULD of occurred and the Council would clearly be none the wiser.

As with the fact that Metpro were operating without licenses, CRB checks or accreditation, this weakness in process has happened because Barnet have no robust systems in place to detect problems. No one from the CEO of Barnet down can be sure that any information, at any stage of the One Barnet program hasn't been shared inappropriately with any third party. The truth is that the only leaks Barnet become aware of are the ones to bloggers. Whilst these are embarrassing, the ones which have the potential to really damage the council finances are ones to commercial companies that no one ever finds out about. These give companies an unfair competetive advantage to the detriment of the taxpayer.

What never ceases to amaze me in my dealings with Barnet Council is the way that whenever a crisis emerges, they always seek to shoot the messenger. If I was the CEO of Barnet, Mr Nick Walkley I would have been far more concerned with working out what is wrong with my organisation, why such problems occur and how I could restore faith in my administration. If Mr Walkley really believed that the document was damaging, he could have picked up the phone, explained why and asked me to remove it. If I had been unreasonable, he would then have been quite justified in taking whatever actions he deemed necessary. I could have explained exactly why I published it, what my concerns were and why I felt that such a leak showed that the program had been compromised (not by myself or this leaked document).

All of the Barnet bloggers have received leaked documents. I am not alone in this respect. Most are not published because they would put the person who leaked them at risk. Barnet Council have resorted to ever more stringent procedures to prevent leaks, but still the leaks happen. Most important meetings are now held in the offices of expensive city lawyers. Distribution of documents is supposedly strictly controlled, yet I am sure Mr Walkley and his team would be flabbergasted to see what bloggers have received and not published. All of this is unsolicited. I have never once asked a Barnet Council employee to tell me anything or give me any document. This has been going on for three years now, more or less since the blog first appeared. Barnet Council are fully aware of this situation, but seemingly have never asked the question "If staff can leak this to bloggers out of a sense of public duty, what could have been leaked by staff with other motivation?". That is by far the most serious question. Barnet Council are obsessed with leaks to bloggers, but have completely missed the elephant in the room - leaks to commercial companies. Let me give one example. I was given information which proved beyond doubt such information loss had caused Barnet Council financial loss. I could not act on the information (and destroyed the brown envelope) because it would without doubt have exposed my source and they would have lost their job. Who knows what else has occurred, which will never see the light of day? I believe that more than 99% of staff at Barnet are honest decent people who care passionately about the Borough. In every organisation, there is a small element who have a different motivation. The concern is that there is no effective process in place to ensure that such breaches ever come to light. It seems it only ever comes to light by chance or when the person does something extremely stupid.

One final piece of advice for Barnet Council and their legal team ( I am sure they will be avidly reading my blog today). Any document which contains information which you do not want the world to see should contain a legal warning on every page. Here is an example of such a warning :-

This document may contain information that is privileged, confidential, legally privileged, and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

A document carrying text such as this leaves no one in any doubt as to the legal status of the document. It is a sensible precaution that costs nothing. I would suggest that Barnet legal put their time to good use today and design a document template which ensures that every Barnet Council document which they believe to be sensitive carries this wording.

Oh and finally I'd like to thank everybody who has contacted me with pledges of support and advice.

Rog T's Cancer Blog - What is the point?

2012-01-20T14:27:00.000Z

For those of you who are regular readers and have read the previous posts, you can skip this first paragraph.This is the latest installment in my occasional series about how I'm adjusting to living with a big C in my life. For those of you who aren't, here's a quick summary. I'm 49 years old and I recently had a prostate biopsy following two "slightly high" PSA tests - 2.8 & 4.1. The biopsy took ten tissue samples and one of these showed a "low grade cancer" which gives me a 3+3 on the Gleason scale. I'm now on a program of active monitoring. I've no symptoms and sadly for a few people, if I'm gonna die soon, it won't be from Prostate cancer. Got the picture?

I started writing this blog on Wednesday. The idea was to put it up today (Friday) in the morning and the Friday joke in the afternoon. As regular readers of the blog will realise, events took an unexpected turn and all of my planned blogs went out of the window. Ironically the subject of this blog was going to be stress and the ways to deal with it. Why? Stress is recognised as a major factor in the development and progression of cancers. Rather ironically, I was going to talk about my regime for destressing. Sadly, when you are a blogger and you get sent explosive council documents by whistleblowers any concept of stress management goes out of the window.

In a perfect world, I'd have completely stopped blogging about Barnet Council. It takes up a lot of time and causes me a lot of grief. I'd much rather be writing blogs about music, football and health related issues, but I feel I am obligated to the people of Barnet to do my best. Whilst I recognise that there are four other fantastic bloggers currently beavering away, I do not feel able to step away. The fact that people trust me enough to send me documents and put their jobs at risk, means that I in turn cannot ignore this debt of trust. I am sure every single reader of the blog, if I asked them whether I should put my health first would say yes. Being a blogger means taking chances (if you are any good). At the height of the Metpro scandal, other bloggers confided many fears about where the whole thing was going. My advice was to stick together and win through strength in numbers.

My own issues right now are different. I have a PSA and a CAT scan lined up in the next couple of weeks. I have a business to run and a family to feed. Maybe I should take these responsibilities more seriously? This is a question I ask myself. Then I come back to the old conundrum. If I was to ignore all of the leaks I get sent and stop blogging, what sort of message would that send my kids? They'd say "Dad gives up when life gets hard". I don't want my kids to learn that lesson. What about my business? If Barnet Council destroy the borough with stupid policies that are anti business, then my business will die. What about my cancer? Yes the stress of all this is bad, and surely can't help. But then what is the point being alive if you can't look in the mirror? In some ways my resentment of the people running Barnet Council has deepened, because all the stress caused by running the Barnet Eye is caused by a Council who clearly don't care and seem to not really know what they are doing.

So how do I deal with stress? I play football twice a week. I go to the gym most days and follow my workout with a trip to the sauna and the jacuzzi, followed by a short swim. At the start of the year, I decided to try and limit my blogging to one blog a day (that hasn't gone to plan). I also have been trying (and failing) to spend more time playing guitar and writing songs. Sadly some of the other things I do to destress have not exactly gone to plan recently. Watching Manchester City has returned to being a fraught experience of hair pulling in recent weeks (with the kids invariably getting yelled at in the process). So how successful is the destressing going. Well like most things there are good days and there are bad days. More good than bad though.

I also had a meeting this week with my GP. It confirmed that I really think the medical profession struggle to deal with patients dealing with cancer. I believe that having a positive attitude to everything is the best way to deal with it. I've started a semi vegetarian diet and massively boosted my intake of antoxidants and foods with properties which are known to impede development of cancer. My GP asked me how I was and I told her this, adding I was drinking five cups of green tea a day. Her response "Well I suppose it won't harm you". In truth I wasn't too impressed with this response. Clearly she was of the view that green tea has no proven beneficial effect and that I shouldn't put my trust in such things. What I felt was wrong with her comment is that she clearly didn't recognise that my lifestyle changes are not about thinking that if I drink green tea I'll magically get better. It is about trying to take charge of the process and trying to do anything at all I can to improve my odds. I recognise that doctors are suspicious of alternative remedies that distract people from conventional treatments which are clinically proven. What they seem to miss is the fact that many such things are complimentary to conventional treatments. If nothing else, they give the patient a feeling of doing their bit in the fight. I believe that people who are up for the fight do better. This may or may not be true, but it makes me feel better about myself. I am not going to give in to negative feelings.

And you may ask, how am I feeling. Well right now, pretty good. I am positive about everything.

Stay healthy and have a good weekend (a friday joke may or may not follow, but I've already written one more blog than I was supposed to today).

Whistleblower puts a spanner in the works of One Barnet project - update

2012-01-20T09:26:00.000Z

Yesterday this blog published a document which was sent from a Barnet Council office (verified by the postmark) and was a printed copy of the selection process for the multi million pound One Barnet bidders. Before this was published, I had to satisfy myself about two issues. Was it legal to publish the document and was it the right thing to do? Firstly let me address the issues of legality. I had received the document anonymously through the post. It contained no information describing any legal reason why the document should not be published, other than a statement that it was confidential and that if it was leaked it could have financial implications for the council. The view was that the document was only confidential because Barnet Council would find it inconvenient to see it published. As the document didn't even contain a Barnet Council logo, it meant that either someone had carefully doctored the document or the council had deliberately removed any information so they could claim "plausable denyability". Having decided that there was no legal reason why the document shouldn't be published, we come to the question of "whether it was the right thing to do".

So what were the reasons to refrain from publishing it. The reason Barnet give is that it contains information that could have serious financial consequences the Council. I reject this argument. In the USA, which has a far lower tax base than us, all public tenders and such evaluations are published. This ensures transparency. It ensures that bidders know why their tender was rejected, so they can improve them next time they bid. There is no chance of shenanigans, because a fair playing field is guaranteed. I think that it is highly immoral that a company can be rejected by a public authority and not really know the weaknesses of its bid or the strengths of the rivals. Us as taxpayers should want companies to all put the best bids possible and up their games accordingly. I have been accused of many things since I started writing this blog. Perhaps the most stupid and misguided is that I'm a swivel eyed Trotskyite and that I'm implacably opposed to ANY form of private involvement in the public sector. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've never belonged to a Trades Union, I run a small business which has been a supplier to several local authorities (including Barnet), I'm a member of the Federation of Small business and I stood at the last election as a candidate for for the Lib Dems. The reason I oppose the One Barnet process is because I understand business, I understand efficiency and I understand the concept of competetive tendering.

I oppose the One Barnet program for the following reasons :-

* It discriminates against small business and excludes them from the process
* There has been no transparency at all in the process
* The business case has not been made
* Councillors have been excluded from the process, removing democratic oversight
* There has been no consultation with the people of Barnet to ascertain their views
* The process threatens vital services for vulnerable people
* Barnet Council has a record of botched outsourcing projects, costing taxpayers millions
* Barnet Council has not got its procurement process in order. It is not fit for purpose for such a large contract

When I read the report, it became 100% clear to me that yet again Barnet was running the risk of embarking on a huge contract without correctly identifying the full risk associated with all bidders. This paper removed two of the companies who were bidding without resolving the issues of risk associated with the other bidders. Until all companies can accurately describe the costs and risks associated with their bids, it is completely irresponsible to proceed to the next stage. However Barnet Council try and gloss over this, you cannot exclude bidders if you are not comparing all tenders on an equal footing. Barnet council has had to pay a company called Catalyst, that runs its care homes over £8 million because the contract failed to remove the risk of financial loss from the Council. This project is far bigger, but yet again, despite their previous experience, they are proceeding to the next stage of the tender without resolving these issues.

Whether or not you agree with my reasons for opposing One Barnet, you cannot dispute the fact that risk is being ignored, because this is written in black and white in the report. Barnet Council claims that leaking this report would expose the Council to financial loss. What they don't say is that failing to expose it would have allowed the council to proceed with a hugely risky project. I am a Barnet Council taxpayer. I will ultimately fund this process. I expect my council to represent my interests in a professional and transparent manner. I expect to be able to find out the financial basis for the spending decisions they make. If they want to chose Capita Symonds and EC Harris as partners and exclude Mouchel and Jacobs, I expect to be able to see that this has been done on a fair basis that has delivered best value to me as the funder of the project. There is information that the Council has that should not be published. Things such as details of vulnerable people or plans to cope with terrorism. I also agree that evaluation of tenders should be conducted in private. The point is that once the decison has been made, details should then be published to show that the job has been done, properly. This document was published in November 2011. It does not say DRAFT, so we have to suppose it is the final report. The time for secrecy has gone and the time for the world to see why the decision was made is upon us. The fact that Barnet Council do not understand this shows that they are not committed to transparency and as such cannot guarantee "best value" for me the taxpayer.

It has been suggested that I won't be very popular in the corridors of power in Barnet today. They should be thanking me for doing something they should have done themselves. My blog stats yesterday show a huge public interest in the document. The stats show vistors to the blog from all the bidders along with a host of media organisations and other local authorities. I would propose to Barnet Council that no one leaks a document lightly. The mere fact that a senior member of staff has done such a thing demonstrates the fact that the executive have "lost the dressing room" on this.

It was suggested to me that publishing the document might open the council to the risk of legal action by disappointed bidders. This can only be the case if they have been unfairly treated. If this is the case, then it is correct to have leaked the document. It has also been suggested that I have created an impression that the Council cannot be trusted to look after confidential information. This is ridiculous, I did not leak the information or create the culture where it happens. Had I sat on the document, the Council would have been no more secure, but the world wouldn't have known. I could have secretly contacted the bidders and sold them the info. I'm sure they would have been interested. I didn't, all I did was accurately report exactly what happened. The Council could avoid all of this by opening its processes up to scrutiny. That is the way forward in the information age. There is no place for secrecy in local government finances. Anyone who does not recognise this is not fit to be running a council in the year 2012. One Barnet is a toxic brand. It is time this is acknowledged

Exclusive : Barnet Council whistleblower calls time on the One Barnet Project

2012-01-19T14:29:00.000Z

Firstly a health warning. This document was received by me in a brown envelope with a Barnet Council franked postmark (ie posted through the Councils mail system). I have no idea whether it is a pukka document or a spoof, knocked up to discredit the blog. You will have to read it to decide for yourself. I am basing the commentary on the assumption that it is the real deal, but this is merely conjecture on my part. I sought legal advice prior to publishing this. As there is no disclaimer anywhere on the document to indicate that is privelidged information subject to legal sanction, I assume there is no reason to refrain from publishing it.The front page says "The information contained in this document is confidential as it is highly sensitive commercial information. Any leakage of this information will have very serious financial implications for the council". When I received the document, this concerned me. I did not want to cause expense to the Barnet taxpayer. Having read the document, I believe that the leadership of the council are embarking on a dangerous and risky path and failure to publish this document would expose the taxpayer to avoidable risks. I believe public sector accounts and bids should be open and transparent and companies biddings for work should be able to find out why their bid was rejected. I also see no reason why the taxpayer should not be kept informed.

My thanks go out to the member of Barnet Council who sent this. Whistleblowing carries risks and they should be commended for their actions by everyone in Barnet who believes in open, honest and transparent government. Here is the report. Read it and then read my analysis. I believe that this shows that the whole One Barnet outsourcing project is built on a house of cards of risk, untested assumptions and shoddy process.Firstly, I must say how shocked I was to receive this document. As access to this was stricly controlled, it shows that people at the heart of the Barnet Council must lack faith in the process. They must believe that it is safer to send it to a blogger to expose the process than it is to keep this under wraps. Why?

First lets look at the percieved weaknesses of the two bidders moving to the next stage. Read the risks associated with the EC Harris and Capita Symonds bid. These are huge for a contract worth £290 million. For example on risk the EC Harris bid was weak because "Ownership is not set out for a number of identified risks" or Capita Symonds "More specific commitments required eg regarding the financial implications of change". So they want to sign a huge contract with companies, when they don't know who is responsible for the risks involved. We've seen this before. In the railway industry, National Express took over the East Coast mainline. Then there was an economic downturn, the contractor couldn't make any profit, so they gave it back to the Government. On the financial and commercials, Capita Symonds actually are charging the highest fee. In the financial commentary, EC Harris are the company which offers the best guranteed financial benefit. This is nearly £4 million higher than Capita Symonds. In the final picture, they move to second because Capita Symonds add £5.7 million worth of "confidence adjusted aspirational financial benefit". You may ask WTF? Well in English an aspiration is something we'd like. I aspire to get a better job or live in a better area. It is something I want. So Barnet Council have paid a team of consultants a fortune to decide that Capita Symonds are more likely than EC Harris to want to give us (the taxpayer) a few million quid? Could you make it up? It is clear to me that the wheels are off this project and it is clear to me that the whistleblower also knows this and has decided it is time to end this expensive charade. Whilst I doubt that Barnet CEO Nick Walkley will be overly chuffed to find his organisation has more leaks than Wales on St Davids day, the rest of us should be reassured that people at Barnet Council care enough to take the risk of letting us see how such decisions are made and why we should be calling time on such a flawed process.

*********************** Updated 20/1/2012 at 19:34 ******************************
The link to SCRIBD detailing this document has been removed following a letter received at 19.10 from Barnet Council Legal Department. The Barnet Eye will be taking legal advice on Monday to ascertain any further action.
*****************************************************************************

Here's a brief summary which may help you understand what this is all about and why it's important.

What is this leaked document ?

Barnet Council is seeking to become the first all commissioning council whereby it no longer delivers any services. To do this the council have employed consultants to implement the One Barnet Programme, the total cost to the tax payers for these consultants to implement this Programme will be over £10 million. This figure does not include the amount of council officer time and resources provided to the Programme at a time when services to the most vulnerable and young people have been cut.

Who will deliver Council Services?

The Council have decided that only the big FTSE companies are able to carry out this task.

“What is DRS?”

DRS means Development and Regulatory Services

The following Council Services have been brought together for this outsourcing. Trading Standards & Licensing, Land Charges, Planning & Development, Building Control & Structures, Environmental Health, Highways Strategy, Highways Network Management, Highways Traffic & Development, Highways Transport & Regeneration, Strategic Planning & Regeneration, Cemeteries & Crematoria;

The Document appears to be a summary of the evaluation of bids from four big Companies

· Jacobs Engineering (US international technical & profesional construction consultancy)

· EC Harris & FM Conway (EC Harris is a construction consultancy owned by Arcadis, a Dutch based international engineering and management consultancy). FM Conway is highway, building, cleansing and recycling company operating in London and south east. Clearly, EC Harris leads the 'partnership'.

· Capita Symonds (subsidiary of Capita Group plc)

· Mouchel Enterprise (a joint venture between Mouchel Group plc and Enterprise plc)

The document provides confidential information about what each bidders are claiming they can save and what income they can generate.

It is worth noting that a number of these services are income generating (like Parking) hence the attraction to the Private Sector e.g. the Cemetery & Crematorium). This assumption has been done before in Westminster!

Why is the report being leaked?

The local UNISON branch has already conducted a number of high profile strikes and it is clear that the whistle blowing release of this information indicates there are serious concerns. When organisations are engaged in competitive dialogue, confidentiality is a key risk to all parties.

The full cost of bidding is likely to be between £500,000 - £1m for each company involved in the full procurement process.

The One Barnet Programme has been under considerable scrutiny by local bloggers, residents and UNISON.

The fact that this document has been leaked suggests there is major disquiet over what is happening within the Council and its drive to outsource at any cost (cut following sentence - Someone has taken the very serious risk to alert the public about what is going on.)

This is a serious business, according to the OJEU notice this could be worth upwards of £270m - £290m to the private contractor in a ten-year contract.

*So who is the lead bidder?

From looking at the document it appears Capita are the clear favourites and unless there is some pretty major turnaround it is clear Capita are going to win this contract.

Although Jacobs have come out bottom who is to say that their bid is the more realistic?

* This is an assumption made only on what is in this document. The document refers to more detailed information contained somewhere else.

Barnet Pay by Phone - How many Barnet residents have registered?

2012-01-19T13:50:00.000Z

At a council meeting in December, Barnet Council announced the success of the Barnet Pay by Phone scheme. They announced that 115,000 people had registered. The implication was that this was because the scheme was popular. I wondered if this was the full story.

According to the Leader of the Council, there are 350,000 residents of Barnet. So the implication is that less than 1/3rd have registered. Not quite as successful then, is it? Then I thought some more. At the recent meeting the Leader also stated that there are 20,000 registered businesses in Barnet. I wondered how many of the employees of these companies are residents of other Boroughs, who have to drive to work and are lumbered with parking. The more regularly you have to park, the better pay by phone is. So I asked an FoI question

The Council Leader recently said that 115,000 people had registered to pay by phone.Please can you tell me how this figure was arrived at and what constitutes registering. Are all of these people Barnet residents?

Today I got the answer (late again.The council said

This number was the number of unique users who have registered on the system by any method to open an account, and have used this account to undertake a parking transaction in the London Borough of Barnet. By this definition they are registered Barnet customers.

We do not have any details of their residence as this is not something that is needed for a phone parking account.

So we have absolutely no idea of how many Barnet residents are using the scheme. It is clear that the biggest beneficiaries are people like trade reps, who visit lots of shops in Barnet and wouldn't want to carry pockets full of change. I'm not against pay by phone, so long as there are credible alternatives and it is economically priced. Neither of these criteria are met by the current scheme.

Westminster has listened, why can't Barnet? Updated

2012-01-19T08:03:00.000Z


Boris listens to Barnet residents deride Brian Colemans parking	scheme

The news on BBC London this morning is that Westmintser Council has "listened to the views of residents and business" and scrapped its outrageous plans for punitive parking charges at Evenings and Weekends, designed solely to fleece people and fill the councils coffers. The local businesses of Westminster knew this would be bell of doom for them. Local Churches also complained, asking why parishioners should be penalised. Residents were livid. Crafty old Boris, the Mayor of London, spotted the opportunity to garner a few votes and brush up his image and pressurised the Council to listen. Not only did they listen, they crumbled.

In Barnet we have a slightly different situation. The man who introduced the charges is Boris's trusted wing man, Brian Coleman. Whilst the Westminster Tories who snuck in the charges were at arms length, Coleman is a key member of the Boris Team. Sadly for Boris, everyone in Barnet knows that Brian isn't a team player. At Tuesdays BorisBash, Brian Coleman did everything in his power to prevent local residents raising the issue of parking. It appears from conversations that this policy came unstuck. At the end of the meeting, Boris had a chat with the "Save Barnets High Streets" protestors.They gave him a t-shirt. Boris isn't stupid, so he will have realised that the protestors were largely core Conservatives. These are the people who fill the party coffers, do the donkey work campaigning and turn up without fail to vote. If there is anyone Boris should represent it is them.

Now he has a dilemma. Does he turn his ire on Barnet and risk undermining Brian Colemans GLA campaign, or does he back his wingman and say "Barnet is a special case, they need the cash, Westminster doesn't". I suspect that Boris is shrewd enough to know that whatever he does, he haas to do it now. If the parking mess can be sorted out now, then Coleman has three months to rebuild his reputation and re-engage with local business.

What Boris (and Brian) must realise is that however much the local business owners may be natural Conservatives, if local business decide that local Conservatives don't support them, they will vote with their feet. Westminster Conservatives have woken up to this fact, the only question in Barnet is whether the local Conservatives will wake up now, or will it be when Brian Coleman loses in the GLA elections in May? One way or another, they will.

Update : 15/11/2012 -
It seems that the W. anchor effect of Brian Coleman is starting to weigh down on the Boris Campaign. Time to dump him - http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-24029304-ken-takes-lead-over-boris-in-race-for-mayor.do - Ken Livingstone has unexpectedly overtaken Boris in the polls

Local Business protests against Barnet Parking policy at the Boris bash

2012-01-18T22:33:00.001Z

Here are some pictures of local business owners protesting about excessive parking charges and the abolition of Pay and Display at the Boris Campaign meeting at the Peel Centre in Colindale Yesterday.

As ever. I'm proud of Barnet residents for turning up to show that they won't be pushed around ! Lets hope, for the sake of everyone in Barnet, that Boris gets it and can get through to the numbskulls running the council that if its bad for Barnet it's bad for business

Guest Blog - Boris at the Peel Centre, a personal view

2012-01-18T10:43:00.000Z

By Helen Michael,

I did not get to ask my question, despite having my hand up for an hour and standing up for another half hour with my hand up. I was asked to sit down by security and I refused. I thought I was going to be manhandled when I refused again but fortunately the security guard had the sense to back off (maybe not, it would have made a good story)

The were 10 of us wearing t shirts in a row, so we were very conspicuous. Coleman's face visibly dropped when he walked into the venue. Brian Coleman made a big mistake ignoring us/me, it was almost embarrassing for him. He bypassed me throughout and even when all 10 of us had our hands up he pretended not see us. In the end the Mayor indicated to us and said that the white t shirts had something important to say, and even despite the mayor drawing attention to us on two occasions after that Coleman still ignored us, thereby drawing even more attention to us all. Boris said that he thought our issue was parking and that he would look at it. We didn't even need to make the point.

Fortunately another lady made most of the relevant comments, and Boris made ours for us. It was brilliant! Gail Laser also came across strong and made several relevant points re parking.

There was shouting from all angles for Coleman to let me speak, he ignored them all.

I gave Boris a t shirt which he was happy to accept.

In all 14 t shirts around the room. 10 in a row! Effective.

Councillor Cornelius made the same speech as last Tuesday at the Barnet business breakfast meeting. Gail Lazer did as well, except she didn't use notes, so much better. And in closing she made the relevant comments regarding parking. She was great.
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Helen Michael is a local resident, has run Cafe Buzz in Finchley High St for the last 5 years and is actively campaigning for fair parking charges in Barnets High Streets. Guest blogs are always welcome, see the information in the top right hand corner of the blog

Boris at the Peel Centre - The fall out

2012-01-18T10:09:00.000Z

Due to other commitments, the Barnet Eye was unable to attend the event. Fortunately we have a good network of spies, who kept us informed with Tweets, emails and phonecalls. As I suspected, the "chair" of the meeting, Brian Coleman refused to let the de-facto leader of the business campaign against parking charges - Helen Michaels speak. It seems that even Boris was a little irked by this. Helen had a group of fellow business owners decked out in rather fetching T-Shirts, decrying the death of the local High street due to the bonkers parking policies of Barnet Council and Brian Coleman. In some ways Coleman was clever not letting Helen speak, he knows she'd have wiped the floor with him.

Sadly for Brian, I suspect that his actions were simply those of a fool poking a dozing tigeress with a small stick. I suspect that on the 6th May, when the votes are counted for the GLA election, Brian will wish he'd let her. Instead he's simply goaded her into organising an even more high profile campaign against him and his scheme. Helen is a fan of Boris, in normal circumstances she'd be a cheerleader for him and his local GLA rep. If I wanted to get elected in that neck of the woods, I'd rather have her organising my campaign than anyone. Sadly for Brian, she is now the leader of the dump Brian Coleman party.

It is quite clear to me that the local Tories have a stark choice. Dump Coleman completely or get humiliated in the GLA election. However much many locals like Boris, his warm glow cannot save Coleman. In fact, all the rally did was to demonstrate the difference between a Tory with a bit of wit and charm and one who is a pompous, arrogant crashing boor. There is an old saying that when a Tory gets a ballot paper, they know where to put the cross. Coleman will test this loyalty to the extreme.

If I was a Tory strategist, the following issues are the ones I'd consider with regard to the GLA and Boris.

How many extra local voters for Boris will Brian Coleman add?
How many extra local voters for Boris will Brian Coleman lose?
How many extra local voters for Andrew Dismore (The Labour Candidate) will Brian Coleman add?
How many Andrew Dismore voters will Brian Coleman get for the Conservatives?

I have a friend who works in the IT department of a large polling organisation. I asked him how close the Mayoral race would have to be, before a 20% boycott of the local Tories could affect the Mayoral election. The answer? If the candidates are within 3% of each other or less, then Coleman could be the man to torpedo Boris.

Coleman has made a career out of upsetting people. He is usually pretty shrewd who he upsets - people like me, who would never vote for him anyway. With the parking he's crossed the line and unleashed his shotgun on his own supporters. I suspect he'll need a miracle now to save himself.