Barnet Council - car parking enforcement sharp practices

This email was sent to selected people in Barnet Council, including a select group of councillors from a disillusioned member of the parking enforcement team. It details various sharp practices. Click on images for more readable format. I think this is a real scandal. Some names are redacted

How to leak information at Barnet Council and not get caught

I have seen some quite amusing emails recently, some of which have come from rather lofty places in Barnet Council. The likes of Lynne Hillan quite clearly think we are all stupid and will publish anything that "looks like a leak". Messages such as "please make sure this is not leaked to bloggers" appears, along with other information which would make it rather clear who is the leaker. Of course we are wise to such tricks here and have comparison software, which allows us to filter out such blatent attempts to catch people out.  Of course, whilst it is amusing, email tittle tattle is not really what we are interested in. We are far more interested in the documents which show projects such as Future shape are a mess. The ones they won't show us.

If you want to lek any information, make sure that there is no audit trail back to you. Make sure that  other people have access to it. Make sure that you don't email me via a Barnet Council Computer. If possible get someone else to send me their copy as well, so I can compare for "markers".

We don't want personal information about individuals, just proof of systemic failure (and we're evaluating and verifying a fair bit of that right now).

Barnet Future Shape : Exempt from publication report

This document is one of many that Barnet Council have deemed "not for publication". Click on images for a more readable format.

Why Barnet needs a web site for leaks.

Barnet Council has an unhelthy culture of secrecy. There are two examples of this detailed on the Hendon Times website this week.

1) Barnet Councillors are having their register of interests on line. Sadly they are giving councillors an opt out. Why would any councillor with nothing to hide need this.
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8439167.Councillor_interests_to_be_published_online_by_end_of_October/

2) Barnet Council are in "special measures" because they are not replying to Freedom of Information requests.
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8440951.Council_being_monitored_over_handling_of_FOI_requests/

If you think Barnet Council are hiding something, send it here and we'll publish it !

Leaked email from Barnet CEO Nick Walkley to all staff on the subject of this website

I am immensely proud of the professionalism with which staff in this authority carry out their work and provide support and services to our residents.  Maintaining that professionalism requires a commitment from us all to behave in a way which respects colleagues’ work.

Earlier this week, a copy of a council document relating to a One Barnet project was published on a blog.  It was a fairly unexciting document showing officers getting on and doing their job.  But I am deeply upset about this leak - not because of its content, or its impact in the wider world. But by what it says about the attitude of at least one member of staff to their colleagues and employer. Leaking a document suggests to me that at least one employee thinks that trying to undermine the work of colleagues will shift how the council deals with challenges we need to confront if we are to continue to provide good services at a time of extreme financial stringency. Instead it simply illustrates a lack of professionalism which undermines us all.

That lack of professionalism contrasted strongly with a group I encountered having an end of season beer whilst I was on holiday. They regularly give long hours at high personal risk for little or no financial reward and were being rightly thanked by their community for their work and their contribution to local life.  Of course the lifeboat men of St Ives are all volunteers but no one doubts their professionalism, or the valuable role they play. At the time that got me thinking about the balance between what the Council does and what the Community do - a One Barnet theme. I hadn’t expected it would also cause me to reflect on the professionalism (or lack of it) of some of our own staff.

I know that the vast majority of staff show their commitment to our standards and values on a daily basis and I trust everyone will take pause to think carefully about the impact that they have on their colleagues as well as the Council as a whole in the difficult times ahead. 

Nick

The secret future shape matrix for scoring Future Shape bidders

I got an email concerning this blog, which I posted earlier today

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2010/10/exposed-barnet-council-and-art-of.html

It said the following :-

Go to this link

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=9648

Open the PDF and go to page 20 and click and copy the table entitled Options Scoring Matrix. Paste into a word document and hey presto you see the scoring

I didn't believe it, until I tried. Here's what popped up. Try it quick as I'm sure they'll fix it ASAP