Mr Reasonable has been indisposed for the last week or so but today I am back to blogging. Several matters have caught my eye over the intervening period, all of which are inextricably linked to a Conservative regime which is out of touch with the people it is supposed to represent.
The first is the fun and games going on in the Brunswick Park Ward By-Election for which I am indebted to the Barnet Bugle for bringing to my attention. The Conservative candidate makes a series of claims including fighting against the introduction of parking charges in the local car parks and helping to relaunch Church Farm Youth Club. The fact that the conservative group voted repeatedly to introduce charges and that the conservatives withdrew funding from the Church Hill Road Youth Club seem to have passed her by. By claiming that she is not a politician simply a working mother is somewhat disingenuous given that she is the Executive Secretary of The Conservative Muslim Forum, an integral part of the Conservative Party.
The second is the consultation on Door to Door Transport. This seems to be a very clear way of cutting services to the most vulnerable. Like so many consultations carried out by this administration, simply going through a process in order to impose a policy that no one supports is not what most reasonable people would classify as 'consultation'.
The third matter relates to the railings outside Martins Primary School in East Finchley. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have realised that this was a bonkers idea but the Council went ahead with it anyway. New person in charge, Cllr Dean Cohen realises its a mistake and agrees that the railing should be replaced. Ultimately the right decision but by not listening to local people in the first place this fruitless exercise will have cost the ratepayers of Barnet several thousand pounds.
I genuinely hope that the voters in Brunswick Park send another signal to the Conservative group at Barnet council that they have got to change their ways and start actively and honestly engaging with residents. It seems to have had a small effect with Brian Coleman but there is still a great deal of change required. The Council needs to recognise that the residents of Barnet are its biggest asset. They have knowledge, they have skills, they contribute to their local community and ultimately it is the ratepayers who pick up the bill. Barnet needs to stop ignoring residents and start taking them seriously.
Standing up for common sense in New Barnet
Showing posts with label no democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no democracy. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Barnet Budget Consultation - Not at the Residents Forums
At tonight’s cabinet meeting the big agenda item was the budget proposal for next year. Rather than get into the detail of the budget at this meeting, where I know there is not a chance of getting a straight answer I thought I would ask a rather simple question:
Will the Council be using the forthcoming Residents Forums scheduled for November as one of those forums to consult with residents on the budget process.
The answer was, unsurprisingly a masterpiece in flim flam.
“Last year the Council organised a public meeting as a means of consulting residents on its entire budget. It was cancelled because less than five residents registered an interest to attend even though it was advertised for two weeks in the local press. Residents seem to prefer service specific consultation events and web based feedback. We plan to continue using these methods. Given previous lack of interest in a public meeting on the entire council budget, we are not planning to repeat last year's attempt in the form of one meeting or through Residents Forums. We will be making information available at each forum on how residents can get involved in budget consultation. I will ask the chairman to ensure that residents are aware of opportunities to take part.
This month’s Barnet First will include information about the budget and how residents can tell us their views”
So that’s no then!
As for residents preferring, “specific service consultations” well how about offering them a choice. As for last year’s meeting it was not clear that you had to register in advance before coming, difficult if you are elderly and have no internet access. The meeting was cancelled 48 hours before it was due to take place and who knows how many would have turned up if it had gone ahead.
The reality is that they can’t restrict who comes to resident s forums and they might actually hear something they don’t like. The constitution specifically allows for the new format residents forums to be used for consultations so there are no rules preventing it happening. No it is the simple fact that democracy in Barnet is under threat. There are a handful of people who control Barnet . Everyone else is irrelevant.
No open discussion on budget, no discussion whatsoever on One Barnet why bother when all the decisions have already been made. So the entire cabinet agenda tonight, all 246 pages of it was neatly dealt with in 30 minutes. If you bother going to the forthcoming residents forums ask why you can't discuss the budget. Oh sorry you can't ask that question.
Will the Council be using the forthcoming Residents Forums scheduled for November as one of those forums to consult with residents on the budget process.
The answer was, unsurprisingly a masterpiece in flim flam.
“Last year the Council organised a public meeting as a means of consulting residents on its entire budget. It was cancelled because less than five residents registered an interest to attend even though it was advertised for two weeks in the local press. Residents seem to prefer service specific consultation events and web based feedback. We plan to continue using these methods. Given previous lack of interest in a public meeting on the entire council budget, we are not planning to repeat last year's attempt in the form of one meeting or through Residents Forums. We will be making information available at each forum on how residents can get involved in budget consultation. I will ask the chairman to ensure that residents are aware of opportunities to take part.
This month’s Barnet First will include information about the budget and how residents can tell us their views”
So that’s no then!
As for residents preferring, “specific service consultations” well how about offering them a choice. As for last year’s meeting it was not clear that you had to register in advance before coming, difficult if you are elderly and have no internet access. The meeting was cancelled 48 hours before it was due to take place and who knows how many would have turned up if it had gone ahead.
The reality is that they can’t restrict who comes to resident s forums and they might actually hear something they don’t like. The constitution specifically allows for the new format residents forums to be used for consultations so there are no rules preventing it happening. No it is the simple fact that democracy in Barnet is under threat. There are a handful of people who control Barnet . Everyone else is irrelevant.
No open discussion on budget, no discussion whatsoever on One Barnet why bother when all the decisions have already been made. So the entire cabinet agenda tonight, all 246 pages of it was neatly dealt with in 30 minutes. If you bother going to the forthcoming residents forums ask why you can't discuss the budget. Oh sorry you can't ask that question.
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