Busy Barnet Alliance events for June-July

Here are some details of Barnet Alliance for Public Services events coming up. As you can see, we are very busy! Please come and support these activities to defend public services in the borough.

YOU ARE INVITED:
Barnet Alliance Annual General Meeting
Tuesday 12 June 2012
7-9pm, Greek Cypriot Centre, 2 Britannia Road, North Finchley, N12
‘The One Barnet Programme and what privatising of all council services really means’, a talk by Prof. Dexter Whitfield, Director of the European Services Strategy Unit, following a short AGM of Barnet Alliance for Public Services. ALL WELCOME, FREE ADMISSION
* * *
Barnet Council Not For Sale
Saturday 7 July
12–3pm, Greek Cypriot Centre, 2 Britannia Road, North Finchley, London N12
A special conference by Barnet Alliance for Public Services and Barnet Unison
Speakers include: Prof. Dexter Whitfield, Director of the European Services Strategy Unit, Mr. Andy Mudd, Principal Consultant in the Association for Public Service Excellence, Mr. John Dix, resident and "Mr Reasonable" blogger.
Refreshments provided.
* * *
Our Barnet – Not “One Barnet”
Our Barnet Torch Relay festival and march
Saturday 21 July
Cyclists, bands, fun – come on foot, come on your bike, come in your wheelchair and pram, and bring your neighbours.
10:30 for 11 start – Friern Barnet library, Friern Barnet Road
11:30 North Finchley library, Ravensdale Avenue opposite High Road’s Sainsbury N12:
March through our threatened High Road to support local traders
12:00 Tally Ho Corner
13:00 Victoria Park, Party
Tell councillors WE DON’T WANT YOUR “ONE BARNET” PROGRAMME loudly and clearly.

Barnet Alliance's first AGM, Tuesday 12 June

Coming up in the next few weeks, a lot of important dates for Barnet residents already persuaded of the need to resist the council's mass privatisation plan 'One Barnet' - and those who simply want to find out more about what it all means. I'll post some advertisements for these over the next couple of days.

First off, the inaugural meeting of the Barnet Alliance for Public Services (our first AGM). These details are from our website:

Barnet Alliance annual general, Tuesday 12 June

The first Annual General Meeting of the Barnet Alliance for Public Services will take place on Tuesday 12th June 2012, 7-9pm, at the Greek Cypriot Centre, Britannia Road, N12. All who support our aims or would like to find out more about the Alliance are welcome.

Our recently finalised constitution will be available with the agenda closer to the date. Please contact barnetalliance4publicservices@gmail.com if you wish to be sent the agenda and constitution.

There will be an opportunity on the evening to join BAPS and gain voting rights. The amount of membership subscription will be decided during the AGM; the constitution allows for a reduced subscription for those on benefits or who are unemployed.

It is also possible for groups and campaigns to affiliate to BAPS. Again, please contact us for details or attend on the evening to discuss.

The guest speaker at the AGM will be Professor Dexter Whitfield, who will talk about the dangers of privatising council services, here in Barnet, through the One Barnet programme, and more widely.

Dexter Whitfield is Director of the European Services Strategy Unit and Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian Institute for Social Research, University of Adelaide. He has carried out extensive research and policy analysis of regional/city economies and public sector provision, jobs and employment strategies, marketisation and privatisation, modernisation and public management (European Services Strategy Unit website).

He has undertaken commissioned work for a wide range of public sector organisations, local authorities and agencies and worked extensively with trade unions in the UK at branch, regional and national levels, and internationally. He has advised many tenants and community organisations on housing, planning and regeneration policies.

Please join us! We have a very important year’s work ahead of us and we need the involvement of as many groups and campaigns as possible.

Proof, were it needed, that the world has gone barking mad

Dexter Whitfield (that's Professor Whitfield to you, councillor Rams) was on "File on Four" on Radio 4 today, detailing his research into the super-profits made on PFI schemes.

Dexter's organisation, the European Services Strategy Unit, has also produced more than 30 papers exposing the problems with Barnet council's One Barnet (mass outsourcing) Programme.

This week, Barnet council's audit committee discussed its scathing report into the MetPro scandal, and the no less scandalous Internal Audit Annual Opinion on the council - "a shocking report", in the words of one of the independent members of the committee. 72% of the areas examined had performance below satisfactory. (And an accountant friend of mine tells me that, in any case, satisfactory would be nothing to boast about.)

But what Barnet story grabs the headlines? What makes national lunchtime news today? A piece of fluff about Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon - my MP, as it happens - claiming that the House of Commons has breached his human rights by not letting him take his dog to work.

Although Offord risks looking stupid by making such a fuss, the real laugh, unfortunately, is on us. We've got real problems here in this borough, but we can't seem to rise above the level of farce.

P.S. Those critical audit committee reports are available here.