Today sees the publication of March 2015 supplier payments and marks the end of the financial year. Unsurprisingly Capita have picked up a large chunk of revenue. In total in 2014-15 Capita have been paid £51,787,011.34. According to my reckoning we shouldn't be paying more than £36.56 million plus inflation which as we know at the minute is zero %.
The other beneficiary is Comensura who supply interim and agency staff to Barnet. In March they billed the council a whopping £1.9 million bringing their grand total for the year to £15,538,090.25. This is without a doubt a contract entirely out of control rising inexorably at a time when agency costs should be plummeting. Not one Conservative councillor has done anything to rein this contract in. Indeed Cllr Shooter foolishly planted a question back in July last year about how the Comensura contract was declining. Sadly he was told a whopping great lie.
In 2012/13 Comensura billed £12.5 million, In 2013/14 it rose to £13.8 million and this year, 2014/15 it has jumped again to £15.5 million. Instead of cutting libraries Barnet should get a grip of this contract and start saving money.
More updates on the financial year end to follow.
Standing up for common sense in New Barnet
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Saturday, 21 March 2015
FOI refusals in Barnet - Hiding behind Capita
Looking via Google at cached searches I managed to find the previous FOI's and one in particular caught my eye. It asked for Information relating to Fixed Telecommunications and Internet Services, an issue that has been the source of problems in the past.
So what was Barnet's response?
I am writing to inform you that the requested information is not held by London Borough of Barnet (the council). The council has outsourced its IT services to Capita under a 10 year contract. Information about the outsourcing can be found on the following page of our website:
http://www.barnet.gov.uk/info/940431/customer_and_support_group_csg_formerly_nscso_contract/1142/customer_and_support_group_csg_formerly_nscso_contract
I then looked at another FOI request which related to IT training. It was a detailed question and clear expressed concerns about money being wasted. So what was Barnet Council's response - yes you guessed it:
I can confirm that the requested information is not held by London Borough Barnet (the council). The council outsourced its IT services to Capita as part of the Customer and Support Group (CSG) contract. Details of the contract can be found on the following page of our website:
http://www.barnet.gov.uk/info/940431/customer_and_support_group_csg_formerly_nscso_
contract/1142/customer_and_support_group_csg_formerly_nscso_contract
The same answer is given for FOI requests about Servers, IT maintenance and ICT strategy, although a request about printers does get an answer even though it acknowledges the contract is provided by Capita.
This represents a major problem and undermines genuine transparency about costs of operating ICT. The council maintain that they have signed a ten year contract with Capita and therefore they don't need to worry about costs. That seems mad to me given that the cost of ICT equipment has plummeted over the past 10 years and may continue to change, develop and be sourced at a lower costs over the next ten years. Without the public being allowed to question how much is being spent on this very expensive cost centre, we don't know whether or not Capita and making excessive profits from this area of their contract payments.
Prior to Barnet contracting with Capita, the Council would have had to answer these questions and indeed they were asked and the answers showed what a complete mess the Council's IT department was in back in July 2011 http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/barnet-council-datacentre-at-risk-of.html
Now I'm not the only one who thinks hiding behind a contractor is wrong. The Information Commissioner Office (ICO) has written a report specifically on this subject Transparency in Outsourcing: A Roadmap which says:
"We do feel there is a strong case for designating outsourced services as falling under FOIA when they are of significant monetary value and long duration: for example, those over £5 million in value or continuing over 5 years or where the contractor solely derives its revenue from public sector contracts". That would definitely apply to Capita's contracts with Barnet.
With the Children's, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding already in the process of being outsourced (see the tender here), there will be virtually no services that are not provided by a contractor and everything will be hidden behind the cloak of commercial confidentiality.
Monday, 16 March 2015
Monday, 2 March 2015
Cutting Councillor Allowances - an alternative view
Barnet will be discussing Cllr allowances at the meeting on Tuesday, the same meeting where they will be receiving a petition on library closures.
Cllrs currently receive an allowance of £10,597 and, in addition, certain Cllrs receive a special responsibility allowance. These range from an additional £35,000 for Richard Cornelius as leader of the council down to an additional £2,368 for Chairmen (even women are Chairmen) of the Residents Forums and Vice Chairmen of 8 committees. 17 Chairmen of committees receive an additional allowance of £15,333. This ranges from committees which sit frequently such as the Planning Committee - 10/11 times a year, to those which sit just four times a year such as the Housing Committee or Community Leadership Committee. The Licensing Committee Chairman attracts a lower special responsibility allowance of £8,852 but in 2014 this committee only sat twice.
From what I can see, 26 of the 32 Conservative councillors receive some form of special responsibility allowance whereas only one Labour Cllr receives an additional allowance, Alison Moore, as leader of the major opposition group. Some Cllrs work hard for which they receive their main allowance and I understand why the leader and opposition leader receive an additional allowance as they have to devote a great deal of time to the running of the council but the rest of the special responsibility allowances seem to me like a way to reward loyalty within the Conservative group.
If we really want to make cuts, I would do away with all special responsibility allowances other than for Cllr R Cornelius and Cllr Moore. If committee chairmen didn't receive an allowance then maybe the council would rationalise the number of committees.
By way of example of how the current system isn't working is Danny Seal, the globe trotting Cllr for Hampstead Garden Suburb who has only attended 9 of the 15 meetings he should have attended, or just 60%, see the details here. However, in addition to his standard allowance of £10,597 he receives an additional allowance of £2,368 for his role as Chairman of the Finchley & Golders Green Residents Forum. Imagine an employee turning up only 60% of the time and asking for extra payment. They would be shown the door.
By cutting out special responsibility allowances it would reduce the allowances bill by approximately £300,000 a year and in addition would do away with the patronage system that buys loyalty with committee chairmanship roles.
Perhaps Cllrs should consider this before they go making cuts to the library and other essential services which residents value on Tuesday.
Cllrs currently receive an allowance of £10,597 and, in addition, certain Cllrs receive a special responsibility allowance. These range from an additional £35,000 for Richard Cornelius as leader of the council down to an additional £2,368 for Chairmen (even women are Chairmen) of the Residents Forums and Vice Chairmen of 8 committees. 17 Chairmen of committees receive an additional allowance of £15,333. This ranges from committees which sit frequently such as the Planning Committee - 10/11 times a year, to those which sit just four times a year such as the Housing Committee or Community Leadership Committee. The Licensing Committee Chairman attracts a lower special responsibility allowance of £8,852 but in 2014 this committee only sat twice.
From what I can see, 26 of the 32 Conservative councillors receive some form of special responsibility allowance whereas only one Labour Cllr receives an additional allowance, Alison Moore, as leader of the major opposition group. Some Cllrs work hard for which they receive their main allowance and I understand why the leader and opposition leader receive an additional allowance as they have to devote a great deal of time to the running of the council but the rest of the special responsibility allowances seem to me like a way to reward loyalty within the Conservative group.
If we really want to make cuts, I would do away with all special responsibility allowances other than for Cllr R Cornelius and Cllr Moore. If committee chairmen didn't receive an allowance then maybe the council would rationalise the number of committees.
By way of example of how the current system isn't working is Danny Seal, the globe trotting Cllr for Hampstead Garden Suburb who has only attended 9 of the 15 meetings he should have attended, or just 60%, see the details here. However, in addition to his standard allowance of £10,597 he receives an additional allowance of £2,368 for his role as Chairman of the Finchley & Golders Green Residents Forum. Imagine an employee turning up only 60% of the time and asking for extra payment. They would be shown the door.
By cutting out special responsibility allowances it would reduce the allowances bill by approximately £300,000 a year and in addition would do away with the patronage system that buys loyalty with committee chairmanship roles.
Perhaps Cllrs should consider this before they go making cuts to the library and other essential services which residents value on Tuesday.
Friday, 27 February 2015
Only £1 million in January for Capita
Barnet's January supplier payments are published and there are just a few items of interest. Capita billed a modest £1,059,978.80 significantly down on the £16.69 million paid in December.
The bill for Comensura in January was £1,304,913.12 which shows no sign of reducing. In December Barnet made an advance payment to Comensura of £1.25 million something which I queried with the Council. In response to and FOI request they stated:
"The Comensura payment prior to Christmas was to ensure business continuity and cover payment to agencies for provision of a temporary workforce during the Christmas closure period. This was offset by a credit note in the first week of January by Comensura to LBB."
Frankly this doesn't wash. The requirement for temporary or interim staff during the Christmas closure period is minimal specifically because the council is closed and the £1.25 million represents an entire month's typical payments. According to the January supplier payments the credit note was paid on 30 January. So for a month from 23 December till 30 January Comensura had an interest free loan of £1.25 million. I wish someone would be that kind to me because I reckon that is worth around £5,000.
On a few of the minor payments, I'm not sure why Re spent £2,374.98 with Evans Cycles. Perhaps they are getting staff out on their bikes? It looks like CSG are considering who they bank with as they have spent £3,276.20 with Focus on Banking who are consultants that specialise in reducing banking costs and work extensively with local authorities.
Barnet spent £11,925 with M.E.L. Research Ltd who help council with services like:
Just a shame that having spent all that money to consult with residents, Barnet consistently ignores what they say.
Parking contractor NSL was paid £278,495.62 in January but I wonder if we are getting value for money from this contractor - Any views Mr Mustard?
Penna Consultants were paid £19,500 for "Employee Expenses" for which I think it means payment to a consultant but commercial confidentiality prevents understanding any more.
Finally the bill from Vodafone was pretty high at £166,630.05 in just one month and one I just can't reconcile. I think it needs a bit more attention for cost cutting rather than cutting the library services.
I will keep watching supplier payments - because someone has to!
The bill for Comensura in January was £1,304,913.12 which shows no sign of reducing. In December Barnet made an advance payment to Comensura of £1.25 million something which I queried with the Council. In response to and FOI request they stated:
"The Comensura payment prior to Christmas was to ensure business continuity and cover payment to agencies for provision of a temporary workforce during the Christmas closure period. This was offset by a credit note in the first week of January by Comensura to LBB."
Frankly this doesn't wash. The requirement for temporary or interim staff during the Christmas closure period is minimal specifically because the council is closed and the £1.25 million represents an entire month's typical payments. According to the January supplier payments the credit note was paid on 30 January. So for a month from 23 December till 30 January Comensura had an interest free loan of £1.25 million. I wish someone would be that kind to me because I reckon that is worth around £5,000.
On a few of the minor payments, I'm not sure why Re spent £2,374.98 with Evans Cycles. Perhaps they are getting staff out on their bikes? It looks like CSG are considering who they bank with as they have spent £3,276.20 with Focus on Banking who are consultants that specialise in reducing banking costs and work extensively with local authorities.
Barnet spent £11,925 with M.E.L. Research Ltd who help council with services like:
- Residents Surveys
- Budget Consultations
- Research on access to services
Just a shame that having spent all that money to consult with residents, Barnet consistently ignores what they say.
Parking contractor NSL was paid £278,495.62 in January but I wonder if we are getting value for money from this contractor - Any views Mr Mustard?
Penna Consultants were paid £19,500 for "Employee Expenses" for which I think it means payment to a consultant but commercial confidentiality prevents understanding any more.
Finally the bill from Vodafone was pretty high at £166,630.05 in just one month and one I just can't reconcile. I think it needs a bit more attention for cost cutting rather than cutting the library services.
I will keep watching supplier payments - because someone has to!
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Barnet Housing Commission - Do we need some radical solutions?
Last night Mrs Angry and myself were invited to give evidence to Barnet Labour Housing Commission. There were several other speakers including an very interesting and helpful speech about cooperative housing groups which seem to make a great deal of sense. Make sure you read Mrs Angry's blog here setting out her speech and I have set out below a copy of my presentation. The purpose of my presentation was not to come up with a final solution but to stimulate debate on some new ideas.
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