It's Crapita week!

Wonder if we can turn this around? Cartoon: Tim Sanders.

I'm laughing like a drain.

Capita have won the contract to run Barnet Council's New Support and Customer Services Organisation (NSCSO), worth between £320-750 million to them. But along with that licence to print their shareholders a tidy sum of money, they have also won the almost full and undivided attention of Barnet's growing activist community.

The implications of this must be starting to sink in for the Capita top brass.

For starters, the Barnet bloggers have declared this week 'Capita week', or 'Crapita week' or what-you-will, and are posting and tweeting stories about the misdeeds and failings of the multinational outsourcing company.

There are plenty of stories to go around, and we are busy keeping readers informed.

Then, this Thursday 20 December, Barnet Alliance for Public Services, and anyone else we can interest, will visit Capita HQ between 5-6pm at 71 Victoria Street, SW1 for a small protest. Please join us if you are free.

The most joyous aspect of all of this is that we wrote to Capita CEO Paul "£14k a week" Pindar to ask him for a meeting. Since his company is taking over a huge chunk of Barnet services and running them, and since he claims to value the views of Barnet residents, surely he would be happy to meet us on Thursday?

Paul Pindar has, get this, replied, saying that since Barnet Council's deal with Capita is still not sealed it would be inappropriate for him to meet us. But - he has replied! This has opened the floodgates on a generous correspondence flowing - increasingly in one direction, toward Capita - with Barnet residents.

I hope to post some of the letters on the Barnet Alliance website soon for your edification and delight.

When Capita were announced as the winners of the NSCSO contract, I tweeted that Paul Pindar would soon rue winning the contract. I am pleased to see my prediction coming true.

Capita, we are going to shine such a spotlight on you that you will beg to be put out of your misery! (Please excuse that rather violent imagery which rather goes against my peaceable nature. On this occasion, it is just making me laugh so much...)