The Friday joke: civil servants win legal battle against boss Eric Pickles

I was tickled to see this week that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles was taken to the High Court by his own departmental staff over attacks on their union PCS. And that he lost.

I have a friend or two in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and I know they have had a very hard time recently trying to represent the interests of their members at the same as they are no longer given time off work to do union duties, and the union has been banned even from meeting on the premises.

In the same way that Pickles offered his own departmental spending as a sacrificial lamb in the Spending Review, promising savage cuts to local government spending, for example, for which we are all paying now in reduced and privatised services, he has also dumped on his very own departmental staff.

The main dispute that the union went to the High Court over is the plan to stop "check-off" whereby union dues are collected at source from wages. 

Pickles prides himself on representing the interests of local taxpayers. In Barnet he has had, albeit obliquely, to apologise for the sneering attitude towards democracy of the local Tories. I give credit where it's due, and I acknowledge Pickles' solicitude for the rights of the little man and woman against Town Hall bureaucrats, where the Town Hall does act like bureaucrats.

Pickles, apparently, was a socialist in his youth but he abandoned socialism when the Russian tanks went into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to crush the Prague Spring democratisation movement. When we organised our Barnet Spring march in the snow earlier this year, that was one of the echoes that gave our protest more poignancy.

However, just like many a leftist who ended up backing and apologising for vicious dictatorships just because they weren't Western imperialists, the politics of the Cold War seem to have disorientated Pickles and he went over to the right and joined the forces of Conservatism.

I would argue that it is a mistake to conclude that your enemy's enemy is your friend but, as far as I can see, that is what Pickles has done. From siding with the working class, he went over to the enemy, and has been batting for the rich ever since.

Now Pickles needs to remember that the people working in his own department are little men and women as well, who deserve to be supported against their own species of bureaucrat - their bosses. Trade unions serve such a purpose and always have - and always will. You can't kill the spirit.

Arguably, the key force that began the process that led to the collapse of the Soviet empire was the inspiring Polish Solidarnosc (Solidarity) trade union.

Alas, there is every likelihood that Pickles will appeal against this week's court ruling.

I would urge everyone who has drawn some comfort from Pickles' well-aimed jibes against Barnet's Tory Council to help him see sense over this issue. Send a message to Pickles via Twitter - @EricPickles - and watch for developments on the PCS website. Tell Pickles - hands off PCS!

Celebrate Friern Barnet Library's great future, Thursday 5 September; and online

I'm happy to share this mailing from Friern Barnet Community Library about an event tomorrow night (Thursday 5 September):

Exactly a year since the occupation and liberation of Friern Barnet Library, there will be an amazing anniversary celebration next Thursday, 5th September 7pm.

There will be a preview of the book Barnet Library - Occupied and Opened, edited by Rosie Canning with contributions by Pete Phoenix, Reema Patel, Richard Stein, Sarah Sackman, Mike Gee and many more. Several authors will be coming in to read their work.

Posters, pre-order forms, art work and printouts will be available.The book features the community voices and community spirit that went into saving the Friern Barnet Library. We look forward to seeing you there.

Recently I helped a friend with some research for his librarianship Masters degree. He was investigating the extent to which campaigns such as that waged at Friern Barnet Library chimed in with David Cameron and the Tories' 'Big Society' rhetoric.

My friend is from Sheffield. The campaign to defend libaries in that city - SCALP - was a bit quiet - mainly because they haven't announced any big library cuts yet! But I was able to put him in touch with some people involved in the successful campaign to save Friern Barnet Library, and I contributed my own views.

Hand on heart, I could say that the FBL campaigns and those like it fly in the face of Big Society notions. They are, first and foremost, about saving threatened public amenities for the public and, as far as possible, keeping them as part of an integrated, publicly accountable service.

That being the case, I am absolutely delighted to see this petition on the Barnet Council website, text: 

We petition Barnet Council to grant Friern Barnet Community Library security of tenure through a longer lease before May 2014.

The library has only been given a two year lease. A number of community libraries across the UK are already operating on leases as long as 25 years.

A lease of 21 years would take Friern Barnet Community Library up to its centenary in 2034.
We also petition Barnet Council to recognise Friern Barnet Community Library in its publications as a part of the network of Barnet Libraries, and to recognise the library as a part of its inter-library network.

Signed by prominent Labour councillors in Barnet, as well as community campaigners for the library, I take this petition as a commitment from the Barnet Labour group to re-integrate Friern Barnet Library back into Barnet Libraries should it win the council back from the Tories in May 2014. That is a very welcome commitment as far as I am concern. 

And I do hope that Labour will have the courage and conviction to go all out to win the Council as I think it is there for the taking!

One Barnet programme going ahead - reactions

Dear friends,

I've recently moved to Nottingham, of all places, but my eyes are still on what's happening in Barnet. We have the depressing but predictable (well, I thought it was predictable) news that Maria Nash's appeal for a Judicial Review of Barnet Council's One Barnet privatisation programme was rejected.

There is some possibility of going higher to the Supreme Court. However, on the basis of Maria losing at the Court of Appeal, Barnet Council signed the two big contracts with Capita. In case you want to know what that looks like, the Council has generously captured the occasion and published the photograph on their website (and, no, they aren't saving taxpayers £126 million).

While I've campaigned against One Barnet for the past four years, I haven't been on the ground for this most recent chapter of the saga, so I'll just provide some links to informed comment below.

Over the next few days I plan to write a few 'parting shots' blogposts reflecting on my experiences campaigning in Barnet and on what I hope to do next. I hope these posts will be useful for readers, and I'm sure they will be useful for my own thinking.

But, for now, back to One Barnet. What are we to make of the Barnet Tories' and Capita's victory? Allow me to quote from Roger Tichborne's "Barnet Eye" blogpost:

If anyone at Barnet Council thinks that the opposition will melt away, it will be the latest in a very long line of very bad judgement calls that they have made.

Appeal Court judges uphold One Barnet judgment - Barnet Eye blog
Justice denied: the One Barnet appeal fails - what next? - Broken Barnet blog
Giving up is not an option for us or any other resident - reaction by Barnet Alliance for Public Services
Capita's takeover of Barnet - Mr Reasonable blog
Mr Mustard no longer believes in Father Christmas - Mr Mustard blog
The One Barnet campaign shows local democracy is alive and well - the Guardian's Hannah Fearn
The One Barnet decision is a threat to local democracy - Roger Tichborne and Barnet Alliance for Public Services reply to Hannah Fearn

Barnet CPZs: Council should not appeal

Barnet CPZ Action campaigner David Attfield won their recent case for Judicial Review at the High Court. We understand Barnet Council intend to appeal. See below Barnet CPZ Action's latest campaign news. Please sign the petition:

• You may be interested to hear that David will be on today's Jeremy Vine Radio Two Show at 1.30pm (Wednesday 31 July 2013) in case you are in a position to listen. 

• As you know,  Barnet may file an Appeal by the end of this week.  Let's show them that residents do not want their hard earned money wasted on this course of action, and they should accept the Judgment given on 22nd July by Mrs Justice Lang DBE.  If you have not yet signed the petition, you can do so here http://petitions.barnet.gov.uk/CPZAction/.  This is not limited to Barnet residents, so please ask all your friends, family, neighbours, colleagues to get on and sign.  This is people power in motion.  We need thousands of signatures.

• David appeared in the Daily Mail yesterday (rather embarrassingly, he says, called the "superhero of suburbia"!) so, for anyone that missed it, you can read it here  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381593/Fed-soaring-residents-parking-charges-Read-mans-struck-blow-motorists-everywhere.html.  

On the broader issues raised by this case, it's my view (and not just mine) that the campaign against the exorbitant hikes in parking fees for residents living in Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) is part of the campaign against central government cuts to local government finances.

CPZs are part of Barnet Council's planned Revenue Income Optimisation (RIO) which is what we all face in future whatever services we use: higher fees where the Council thinks they can levy them.

The cuts to local government funding are wrong and should be fought! No to RIO!

Were Barnet’s Tory councillors secretly whipped?

Were Barnet’s Tory councillors secretly whipped? Barnet bloggers call for an investigation

At Barnet Council’s full council meeting on 16 July, Councillor Brian Coleman alleged that Barnet’s Conservative members are ‘entirely whipped’ when attending scrutiny and other Council meetings, including those dealing with the highly controversial One Barnet privatisation programme.

According to the Council’s constitution, any whipping arrangements must be declared, but we believe that no such declarations have been made at any of the relevant recent meetings. Such actions would be in breach of the constitution and therefore unlawful.

If Councillor Coleman’s allegations are true, this clearly has very serious implications and casts into doubt the legality of many of the highly significant decisions which have been taken by the current administration, most importantly the decision to grant two massive contracts to Capita and Capita Symonds in the outsourcing of a large number of our local council services.

We therefore call on the Leader of the Council, Councillor Richard Cornelius, to instigate an immediate and independent public inquiry into the claims made by his former colleague, and we also ask that the authority’s external auditors at Grant Thornton should as a matter of public interest hold an urgent inquiry into the allegations. Residents need to know whether decisions have been made legally and whether Tory councillors have acted constitutionally.

Signed:

Derek Dishman

John Dix

Vicki Morris

Theresa Musgrove

Roger Tichborne

19 July 2013

Barnet Council in the dock #2: One Barnet Judicial Review

Barnet resident Maria Nash and her lawyers will be at the High Court on the Strand once again, Monday 15-Tuesday 16 July. They hope to persuade Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls and the second highest lawyer in the land (I understand), that Barnet Council's privatisation programme 'One Barnet' is illegal and should be stopped from going ahead.

Barnet Council have put in place various measures to get around the fact that they should not be implementing One Barnet until this legal process has run its course. They seem to be hoping that, even if he finds against them, the judge will deem so much water to have flowed under the bridge already that One Barnet has become an unstoppable tide.

That seems wrong to me, but sometimes facts on the ground count in the real world more than the realm of legal rights and wrongs. (A sort of parallel universe.)

Barnet Alliance for Public Services will be in court to support Maria. If you have some free time in the day in central London on Monday and Tuesday, do go along to the Royal Courts of Justice: it is an interesting experience and more people deserve to hear what is actually said in court, which can often reveal much more than the simple verdict.

For example, during the first round in the court, Mr Justice Underhill heard the argument on whether or not Barnet Council had consulted residents about One Barnet - as they are legally obliged to - and found that they had not, even though he ruled against Maria Nash on the grounds of the timing of her appeal for a Judicial Review. This imminent hearing is an appeal against that judgment.

Barnet Council have had to replace their barrister for this hearing; the new person couldn't be less persuasive than their last choice, who is not free in July, but, to be fair, it was a very tough gig making this administration look good!

P.S. If you want to follow Tweets from the court on Twitter, follow @barnetalliance and the hashtag #barnetjr (short for Barnet Judicial Review).

The Comer Brothers - I don't know their music, or: Barnet Alliance fundraising social, Saturday 13 July

If you've ever read a far-left newspaper, you'll be familiar with the fundraising column. Invariably this starts with a phrase such as "unlike the Tories and their millionaire backers, we have to rely on the generosity of our readers to support our work". And there's nothing wrong with that! It's true!

In the same vein, you will be interested to read on this website a list of the backers - whether or not they count as millionaires, they are certainly well-heeled - of your local Tory MPs. For example, Mike Freer is backed, albeit in a roundabout way, by the Comer Brothers, whose property portfolio includes North London Business Park where Barnet Council's main offices are.

Meantime, Barnet Alliance for Public Services continues to do incredible amounts of campaigning in defence of public services without rich backers, on a shoestring and using volunteer labour. Please help support their work. Visit the BAPS website to find out more.

BAPS is holding a fundraising social event this Saturday 13 July at the excellent Safari Bar in North Finchley: 975 High Road, N12 8QR. The programme starts at 7pm; for £3 on the door you get an excellent poet and blues band.

Not to be missed: Barnet Alliance AGM - Monday night!

It's the final countdown... to the Barnet Alliance AGM. Details below - please come if you are free.

You don't have to be a member to come to the meeting, though, hey, why not join while you are there?! It's only £5 for a year.

We will review the work of the Barnet Alliance over the last year and make some plans for the coming year - hmmm, council elections looming in the spring. Wonder what impact we can make there...

There will be the election of officers, free refreshments, an overview of Barnet Council's One Barnet privatisation programme, and, the guest speaker will be... Gerald Shamash, Maria Nash's solicitor. (The appeal date for the Judicial Review is Monday 15-Tuesday 16 July at the High Court on the Strand.)

Come and hear a top lawyer talk about the case for the Judicial Review of One Barnet. Gerald has local connections as well: he was a Labour councillor in my own, beloved, Burnt Oak for some years. I'll see you there!

BARNET ALLIANCE FOR PUBLIC SERVICES ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Monday 1st July, 7-9pm

Greek Cypriot Centre, Britannia Road, London N12 9RU (North Finchley)

This will be an opportunity to join BAPS as a member or renew your membership and contribute to the community campaign to defend and improve public services in Barnet.

The business part of the AGM will be followed by a talk by Gerald Shamash Maria Nash’s solicitor in her Judicial Review: ‘One Barnet’ Council On Trial

Refreshments provided. Entry is free but we will take a collection for donations.

More details: barnetalliance4publicservices@gmail.com or 07534 407703

Barnet Council in the dock #1: CPZ Action

Barnet Eye blogger Roger Tichborne recently made a list of times Barnet residents have had to take Barnet Council to court in the last few years, and, against the Barnet Tories' claim that they always win, also made a list of the outcomes - it doesn't look good for the Council (reproduced without Roger's kind permission, but he is kind so I think he will forgive me):

• David Young won the case against the Council over sheltered housing wardens.
• The CPZ case is trundling on.
• The Maria Nash case against One Barnet is in the Court of Appeal, still going through process.
• The Catalyst Case was lost by the Council, who racked up £2 million and had to pay £8 million compensation. (The council is re-awarding the contract to the company.)
• John Sullivan has won an injunction against Your Choice, forcing them to consult.
• Unison won a case against Barnet regarding agency workers.

Maria Nash and her lawyers will be back in the High Court for their appeal regarding the One Barnet Judicial Review on 15-16 July. Before that, on this coming Tuesday, 2 July, the residents behind the Barnet CPZ Action campaign will be in court again. Below is their message on the eve of the hearing:

The papers are all filed, our arguments have been honed and we are ready to take on Barnet Council in the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand on Tuesday 2 July.

Our case in a nutshell

After two years of legal to-ing and fro-ing, the case has boiled down to on one point arising in one piece of legislation.  Essentially the question is "can a Council deliberately target CPZ residents in order to pay for other transport projects?" 

Our answer is "no!". A parking charge must be set to reflect local parking demand and the cost of administering the parking scheme.  If it happens to make a profit, then that profit can be spent on other projects.  But you can't set charges simply to meet a profit target you have plucked out of the air.  In our case, Barnet found that they had a £1.8 million hole in their budget when they decided at the last minute not to introduce new traffic cameras.  Their answer: Simply hike CPZ charges by whatever amount was needed to fill that gap.

Barnet say that they use parking to raise revenue.  Because a council is allowed to spend parking profits on other  transport projects, Parliament must have intended councils to be able to hike charges deliberately in order to pay for other projects.

The case is likely to have significant repercussions for how parking charges are set in the future since no other council  has been so bold as to argue that parking can be used deliberately as a revenue raiser.

We still need need your donations

A final appeal: we've received hundreds of donations and many thousands of pounds to help ensure that, should the legal action fail, money is available to pay Barnet's  legal costs.  But Barnet have estimated that their costs will be £50,000 and we still have a significant shortfall, leaving David Attfield personally exposed should he lose.

We urge every CPZ resident to make a donation if they can. If David Attfield wins, CPZ households could save hundreds of pounds in future and Barnet have promised to refund people who have paid the inflated charges over the past two years.  Please, make a donation now.

To all our supporters and donors, thank you.  We wouldn't have got this far without you.

North Finchley: la dolce vita

Prego! (Is this Sophia Loren?!)

My house-sitting gig in East Finchley has ended and I am now sofa surfing at a friend's house in Finchley Central (is there such a place or is it just a zone 4 tube station?). What I have lost in independence I make up for living in a sumptuous house paid for with the sweat of someone else's brow. This must be how Brian Coleman feels. Or used to feel.

I borrowed a DVD from North Finchley library last week and returned it this evening. I walked home through North Finchley, past Tally Ho Corner, thinking about dinner. I am living with vegetarians and if I want to indulge my disgusting habit of eating cooked animals I have to do it outside - rather like a caveman, aptly.

I fancied an Italian and as luck would have it, rounding the bend of Ballards Lane, came upon an Italian restaurant called Artista. This turns out to be Il Tocco D'Artista - the artist's touch - which I reckon must be one of the stars of the North Finchley dining scene, unprepossessing though it looks from the outside.

I have been on my own for a lot of my life and have spent too many evenings feeling apologetic as a singleton occupying a table in a restaurant. At Artista they turn things on their head and make a celebration of this state of affairs. Singles get promoted to the dais and receive VIP treatment. This seems most apt to me!

People in couples already enjoy - or should enjoy - the company of someone that cares deeply about them, whereas singles need little bits of attention from a few people to feel good. (This must be how my polyamorous friends feel.)

With its good prices, sunny Italian pop music, tasty food, friendly staff, free cold limoncello and fresh fruit, Artista made me feel for an hour the meaning of the phrase "la dolce vita". And this happened in North Finchley!

Then I went out again to walk home in the drizzle past the Finchley and Golders Green Conservative HQ, through the liminal lands between North and Central Finchley, into what I call Coleman country.

 

Il Tocco D'Artista, Ballards Lane