The One Barnet Partnership Board

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb

( Picture credit : herbalremedies )

One Barnet is probably the most fundamental and far-reaching change programme ever undertaken in Barnet. Probably only 1% of the residents of Barnet, who are funding it, have heard of it. There has been no meaningful consultation and no presentation of it by the Leader of the council. It is being progressed as quietly as possible and yet it might mean that hundreds of jobs could leave Barnet and end up in Bangalore ( Mr Mustard has nothing against Bangalore - it's just a name that goes well with Barnet and lots of jobs are out-sourced to India ).

Update 08:21 - someone has landed on this blog from Tamil Nadu in India, only 200 miles from Bangalore, after searching for 

"daniel seal + assistant cabinet member  + barnet" 

so maybe there have been some enquiries in India.

Firstly you need to understand the management structure of One Barnet ( if you do, please let everyone at the council know what it is ! )

click to enlarge; back to return

So here are the minutes of the March 2011 meeting of the One Barnet Partnership Board which according to Robert Rams' blog meets every 2 or 3 months ( I won't give you a link - if you really want to look at his blog you will have to find it yourself - it really isn't advisable ).

Was this a really productive use of so many people's time ?

Why has this board not met since March 2011 ?

Why were the minutes secret until March ?

Why are all Councillors not invited to attend if they so wish ?

Mr Mustard sent in the following questions under the Freedom of Information legislation.

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Dear Sirs

I see from Cllr Rams's (sic) blog that the OBPB meets every 2 or 3 months.

The latest minutes on the council website are from March 2011.

Has the OBPB met since then please?

If it has please send me a copy of the minutes now that they are a public document.

If the OBPB has not met since March 2011 what is the date of the next meeting please?

I have struggled through much of the Constitution without finding the rules for the conduct of the OBPB. Please can you point me at the correct section of the constitution or website page.

Are the meetings open to the public & if not, why not?

Are the meetings open to all councillors?

Thank you for your assistance

Yours sincerely

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and here is the reply

1. The OBPB has not met since March 2011. There are no scheduled future dates at the moment. Partnership arrangements are currently under review and the cabinet Forward Plan includes an item scheduled for the 14 December 2011 Cabinet ; Committee Papers.

2. The OBPB is the current name of Barnet's Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). ( would you have worked that out; Mr Mustard would not have ) Article 10 of the Constitution includes information on the LSP.

3. Government guidance on LSPs and their constitutional status (Here at the Communities department) does not specify whether meetings should be open to the public. The meetings are not at present open to the public, nor to all Councillors, unless specifically invited. However it was agreed in January 2011 that minutes should be published. ( Mr Mustard keeps hearing how "Open and Transparent" Barnet Council are. If that truly is the case these meetings should be open to the all councillors and the public. Secret meetings are bad. )

Mr Mustard believes in simple management structures. This looks like one layer that could be removed without any ill effect.  After all, it has done nothing for 8 months. 

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

The One Barnet Partnership Board - The Big Yawn

Here are the last published minutes of the One Barnet Partnership Board which you can read a little about on the council website here.

Now this body supposedly meets every 2 or 3 months but the latest published minutes are for March 2011. Perhaps summer holidays are more important than the most far reaching & ambitious change ever experimented with ( using your money )  in Barnet? That, or the council website is, as usual, in arrears with updates.

What is the board all about?

The One Barnet Partnership Board brings together the organisations in the Borough responsible for the quality of life in the area by addressing important issues affecting those who live and work here, such as health, housing, community safety, transport and education.

 

The members of the board are:

• Cllr Richard Cornelius, Leader of the Council
• Cllr Andrew Harper, Deputy Leader
• Cllr Robert Rams, Cabinet Member for Customer Access and Partnerships
• Alison Blair, Borough Director, NHS Barnet
• Carol Morris, District Manager, Job Centre plus
• Nick Walkley, Chief Executive
• Andrew Travers, Deputy Chief Executive, Barnet Council
• Chief Supt Neil Basu, Barnet Borough Commander, Metropolitan Police

So, no transport representative from a railway company, London Underground, or a bus company. Joined up government at it's very best.

Here are the minutes in the dreadful layout in which they were produced.

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click to enlarge; back to return

Now let us look at page 1 first. 

There is a plan to have a private sector appointment to the board. Will they be from Capita or Serco? Is the fox about to be introduced to the Hen House?

Community Coaching. It isn't available yet; Mr Mustard has tried to get some for his FOI OCD ( if this joke is in poor taste Mr Mustard will remove it - he did genuinely try to get some coaching for a friend of a friend to no avail.)

At the top of page 2 there is a reference to five questions and then four are listed. Can someone not count to five or is one omitted in error?

In summary Item 2 was a load of waffle which will end up in a report some time in the future. Great.

Item 3. Partners can't keep up with One Barnet's demands. No surprise there. Conclusion; talk some more. Great.

Item 4 is a good idea but it isn't working because others aren't committed to it ( what must it be like trying to work with Barnet Council? - answers on a postcard please ) and the Department for Work and Pensions can't give their data out willy nilly to all and sundry, naturally.

Looks like a talking shop to Mr Mustard that doesn't really get anything much achieved.

Why were the minutes previously Top Secret; perhaps because they were so dire?

as close to Barnet's corporate colour of Teal as possible

Picture copyright to the site here ( ladies, don't go there - just don't )

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard