Barnet DRS - Increased Charges at Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium

Going through the DRS Business Case which will be discussed at the Budget & Performance Overview & Scrutiny Committee  on 11 June, there are some very worrying statements which every resident should be concerned about.

Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium has been identified as generating an extra £4.3 million of net additional revenue. That is just £1 million less than Barnet will receive from all of the costs savings over the period of the contract. They will generate this revenue through "Pre-purchased graves, extended opening hours, additional cremation activities". Now we don't have the full details  of exactly how this will be generated but to my mind it does not stack up.

Pre selling graves seems a bit tasteless to me but more to the point it is just bringing forward income that will be realised at a later date so after the end of the contract we run the risk of having lots of burials to fulfil without the income.

More worryingly is the extended opening hours and addition cremation activities. Are they proposing hosting budget late night cremations with higher prices for peak periods. This runs the risk of pricing out the less well off to late night and early mornings. I wonder if this is what was envisaged when the title EasyCouncil was previously used?

As for the additional cremation activities, does this mean pet cremations? Who knows because there is absolutely no details and as ever the contract itself is strictly confidential. Hopefully Tuesday will give us a few answers.

Your Choice Barnet - 66% price hike for the most vulnerable.

Your Choice Barnet was set up as a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) to provide adult social care for some of the most vulnerable people residents in Barnet. The purpose of the "arms length" organisation is to separate out the delivery of services from the funding of services. In so doing it has very neatly allowed Barnet Council to wash its hands regarding the provision of care services and to find a very underhand way to cut social care budgets.

John Sullivan wrote on Friday that a friend of his had seen their monthly charges from Your Choice Barnet (YCB) rise from £672/month to £1,120/month since April -  a 66.6% increase. This is not because the person was having more service or because wage costs have risen 66.6% but because the business plan that was written when YCB was being suggested was fundamentally flawed. They assumed at the time that they would be generating income from lots of new customers something which anyone with an ounce of common sense would have challenged as high implausible. Indeed Barnet Unison analysed the report in detail and found serious shortcomings which undermined the credibility of the entire scheme. But as ever in Barnet, a few political dogmatists ignored the obvious and pressed ahead with YCB.

Two years on and the entire scheme is falling apart. Staff are being made redundant meaning worse care will be given to service users, and charges are rocketing. And very neatly Barnet Council are standing on the sidelines saying "Not us Guv. Take it up with YCB". Well on Wednesday evening it is every residents opportunity to show your disgust with YCB as there is a lobby organised of their quarterly board meeting.

Wednesday 29 May, Committee Room 2, 1st Floor, Barnet House. The meeting starts at 6.00pm so get there at 5.30pm to make sure you get a seat.