Case summary confusion

As part of the evidence pack which enforcement authorities have to submit to London Tribunals at least 3 clear days in advance of the hearing, is a case summary which is meant to give the adjudicator an overview of the case, address all the issues raised, summarise the council's case, make submissions & comment on the representations made by the Appellant. 

It should, of course, be even-handed as it is the duty of the council to assist the tribunal, not to mislead.

Mr Mustard finds Barnet Council's case summaries to be verbose, inaccurate and partial.

Looking at the extract above, for a case coming up next week, the first thing to note is the council have failed to check it before submission. They comment both upon fact that the appellant (the registered keeper of the car & the driver in this instance) was collecting their child from their school (and there isn't a school in the road in question) and that they were dropping off elderly relatives. Both statements are not true, the second one is.

The council omit the part of the TMO (Traffic Management Order) which allows 2 minutes for anyone to be collected or dropped off. One of the passengers being dropped off is a blue badge holder so by (current) definition has mobility problems, or is blind. For such passengers there isn't a 2 minute limit.

The council apply a ridiculous and unsafe rule for boarding and alighting of children, that you cannot leave the vehicle unattended. There are keep clear zig zag markings outside most schools so you can't get that near especially with the parental competition for space at drop off and pick-up times. At what age is it safe to sit in your car whilst your child exits the school gates and comes to find you, when they don't know if they should go left or right or across the road? Mr Mustard isn't a parent so asked one and the answer was not until year 6, when the child will most likely be 11.

It doesn't matter how credible the council think the traffic warden (CEO) is. What matters is what the adjudicator thinks, as one told them a long time ago, as it is their job to weight up the evidence in an Appeal, not the council's.

There wasn't any catering going on, as the council suggest.

The second observation time is before the initial observation time!

This is an example of how you need to read the evidence pack slowly & carefully and point out the flaws in the council's case, which even if not fatal to it, may undermine it enough for you to get the benefit of the doubt when the adjudicator would otherwise be unsure of what decision to make.

Mr Mustard doesn't mind that Barnet Council write utter tripe so often, it helps him to win.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

One Barnet blatherings 8 May 12

tripe is readily available in Barnet

From: onebarnet
Sent: 08 May 2012 10:46

Dear colleague

The last fortnight has been packed with meetings (meetings, bloody meetings, what about some real work?) as Estates, Procurement and Corporate Programmes, and the Advisory Group, and our Schools stakeholder group, met with BT and Capita, alongside the ongoing core dialogue meetings, and the regular finance and HR stream meetings. The service meetings are an opportunity for service leads to put challenges to the bidders on how the new provider will operate. Don't let the tail wag the dog. Tell the bidder what they are to provide.

The Core dialogue meetings discuss strategic and cross-cutting aspects of delivering the contract and partnership. One aspect of this that we have been talking about in the past fortnight is technology and information management. We can expect better investment in technology and information systems over the term of the contract, which will support continuous improvement of processes and a better experience for customers.  Which is not a free lunch. Whatever technology the bidder provides will have to be paid for by Barnet residents.

The Schools’ Stakeholders Group, which consists of a group of head teachers from across the borough who currently use one or more of the traded services in scope, also met both bidders last week, and set out the challenges they want the bidders to develop solutions for. In particular, the Heads have made it clear how much they value the expertise and personal service they currently receive from the traded services teams and their keenness for this to continue. Personal service from BT - impossible, they are just too big.

You will be aware that the Customer Services Transformation programme is happening in parallel to NSCSO procurement, and one consequence of this is that there will be new members of staff identified as part of the scope of the NSCSO TUPE transfer. These staff will be offered the same opportunity to ‘Meet the bidders’ as everyone else has had, and these sessions will take place in July. That means we are trying to outsource a moving target. Not a good management decision. So even more staff are to be outsourced. There won't be enough people left at NLBP to field a five-a-side team.

The TUPE frequently asked questions have been updated and are available on the intranet. You might be particularly interested in updates to the questions about pensions. We have also updated some of the NSCSO intranet pages and there is now information on Who’s Who in NSCSO* including, the advisory group, service leads and representatives on the staff group for each area.

There are new dates available for the Change and Me Workshop, and I would encourage all staff to attend. The dates and times are below, along with further TUPE workshop dates. If you would like to book onto a session, please email onebarnet@barnet.gov.uk:

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*Who's Who in NSCSO Tuesday, 01 May 2012 12:07 chloe.morales-oyarce  Project Team (if Mr Mustard has failed to identify any consultants please do let him know) Kari Manovitch, Project Director Alison Woodcraft, Project Manager Commercial Services Jennifer Burt, One Barnet Lead – HR and Change Consultant Frances Hubbard, Project Co-ordinator Commercial Services Basil Jaber, Assistant Project Manager Commercial Services John Hooton, Assistant Director Strategic Finance Corporate Services John Newton, NSCSO Commercial Lead Consultant Patrick Drysdale, Finance Consultant Consultant Susan Lowe, Procurement Manager Corporate Procurement Team redacted, Business Support Officer Commercial Services Advisory Group Martin Cowie, Project Director of DRS was Head of Planning and Development Lauren Doody, Head of Customer Services Stephen Evans, Assistant Director of Strategy Chief Exec's Service Clair Green, Head of Caft Mathew Kendall. Assistant Director Performance and Supply Management, Adult Social Services Jonathan Tunde-Wright. Corporate Web Manager Val White, Assistant Director Partnership Performance and Planning, Children's Services Service Leads HR - Mark Rudd, Head of HR Services Delivery Finance - Maria Christofi, Finance Manager and John Hooton, Corporate Services IS - Kevin Girling, IT Strategy Consultant Customer Services - Lauren Doody, Head of Customer Services Revenues and Benefits - Patricia Driver Benefits Area Manager,and Rowena Gates, Local Taxation Manager Estates - TBC Corporate Programmes - James Wills-Fleming, Major Project Team, Children's Services Procurement - Lesley Meeks, Assistant Director Commercial Assurance  (possibly a Town Hall Tax Dodger as Eric Pickles MP would say) Why are there so many people in the 3 groups above. What the dickens are they all doing? Is anyone in charge, does anyone know what is going on? At least the next group know what happens when, on a day-to-day basis. Staff Group Representatives HR - Stephen Cranfield and Alisha Gervais Finance – Tina Mascio and Samat Sharda IS – Steve Tann and Anne-Marie Ford Schools ICT Support Service – Tony Rafferty and Sally Bellinger Customer Services – Simon Fielder or Hina Khosa Revenues & Benefits – Heidi Velloen or Nicola Jones Estates – Ashley Wright, Jill Parmenter and Sean Patten Corporate Programmes – Ciaran Bennett Procurement – Martyn Carter Cllr Thomas remarked recently and adversely upon the glacial pace of change at Barnet Council. It must take for ever to get anything done when this many people are involved. Imagine the Barnet Council team in the Olympics for the coxless pairs, here it is: Yours frugally Mr Mustard