Dear Councillors
In the next few days you will be asked to vote on a motion of no confidence in
the Conservative party leader Richard Cornelius.
You will no doubt be asked to express your loyalty to Councillor Cornelius and
to defeat the motion.
As local residents we would like to ask you to think very carefully about the
consequences of such an action.
We know that many of you are now deeply concerned about the future of the
Conservative administration, that you have profound misgivings about the
viability of the One Barnet programme, and that you are also concerned by the
response of the leader to issues arising from the arrest and consequent
charging of your colleague Councillor Brian Coleman, in relation to an alleged
assault. The announcement today that the much trumpeted Landmark Library plan
has fallen through can only add to your sense of misgiving.
The continuing difficulties felt by residents and traders over the contentious
parking policy has caused enormous damage to the relationship of trust between
this administration and the residents of Barnet, and now it has become
abundantly clear that the massive scale of privatisation of a further £1
billion worth of council services envisaged by the One Barnet project is hugely
unpopular not only amongst residents and voters, but within your own ranks.
Last week Andrew Travers, the newly appointed 'interim' Chief Executive of
Barnet Council, affirmed to a committee that the 'Joint Venture' model was
still very much under consideration, despite the fact that elected members have
not been involved in the discussions for such a proposal, and that the leader
has stated previously that he was being excluded from such discussions.
Councillors must ask themselves why they are being distanced from policy
decisions of such vital significance. Who is in control of this council,
councillors or the officers of the senior management team?
Once the £1 billion contracts are signed, of course, elected members will
effectively lose all control over almost all of our council services, which
will then be in the hands of unaccountable private companies for a period of
ten years, with huge financial penalties to the authority, that is to say to
residents, should any serious difficulties arise, which they inevitably will.
Councillors must also ask why there never been an independent assessment of the
risks posed by the One Barnet programme, and why there has been such a clear
failure to mitigate the risk of conflict of interest raised by the exchange of
senior officers between the council and the private companies bidding for
contracts as part of the One Barnet programme.
Such an apparent lack of regulation might reasonably be said to have
compromised the whole procurement process, and to have exposed the authority to
legal challenge, a prospect already a clear possibility on the basis of the
blatantly inadequate consultation with the residents and stakeholders who will
be bearing the full impact of the privatisation of almost all our council
services.
Another question that must be addressed is the extraordinary level of cost to
local taxpayers of Agilysis/iMPOWER, the consultants who are acting as the One
Barnet 'implementation partners' - newly released figures reveal that their
bill for September alone cost us nearly half a million pounds, and spending on
all consultants, wildly out of control, is now estimated to reach a staggering
total of £9.5 million.
Such extravagance with taxpayers' money at a time of austerity, with no return
in the form of savings is clearly a reckless indulgence, benefiting no one
other than the consultants themselves. In combination with the loss in revenue
as a result of the newly privatised parking service, it perfectly illustrates
the improbability of the delivery of any of the promised savings from the
outsourced profit of the One Barnet programme.
Last week Cornwall County Council voted to halt their own Joint Venture
proposals at a late stage in the negotiations, due to the extent of concern
felt by councillors and residents over the plans for their large scale
privatisation of council services. The Conservative leader lost a vote of no
confidence, having shown a determination to proceed with the plans in the face
of enormous opposition.
Now here in Barnet you, our elected representatives, face the same choice as
your Cornish counterparts - and now is the time for you to have the courage to
act.
Please use this opportunity to bring a halt to the One Barnet programme and
instigate a fundamental review of a commitment which will place the long term
future of our borough, our services, our residents, in the hands of
unaccountable private sector companies using us for their own profit.
Please take this last opportunity to stand up for what you know is right, what
is the sensible thing to do.
Derek Dishman
John Dix
Vicki Morris
Theresa Musgrove
Roger Tichborne
