The Campaign Against the Destruction of Disabled Support Services (CADDSS for short) has been set up by Barnet residents to protest against deteriorating social care provision in the London Borough of Barnet.

At the moment CADDSS is focusing on the plight of severely disabled adults facing drastic changes to their social care, which Barnet Council is responsible for providing. Neither they nor their families have been consulted about these changes which will have a great impact on their lives.

CADDSS to lobby Your Choice Barnet Board, Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Barnet residents and members of CADDSS will be lobbying the Your Choice Barnet Board meeting on Wednesday, 29 May at 6 pm, in Committee Room 2, 1st Floor, Barnet House, 1255 High Road, Whetstone, London N20 0EJ. We will ask why service users and their families have not been consulted about the changes the Board is proposing.

Petition to bring services back in house
CADDSS is urging people to sign the petition demanding that Your Choice Barnet services are brought back in house http://petitions.barnet.gov.uk?YourChoiceBack/

Background information
Your choice Barnet was set up by Barnet Council as part of the One Barnet Programme of outsourcing to provide services for adults with disabilities. It is failing financially and its proposed solution is to restructure services and reduce the number and skill level of staff.

These changes mean people who need care will have the number of days they can attend day centres reduced. Care will be provided by under skilled workers. There will be inadequate incontinence care at night in residential care units. There will be fewer opportunities for activities in a safe environment.

People needing care will be put at risk of social isolation and damage to their health and well-being. Their carers will suffer from increased stress.

JOIN US on the lobby of Your Choice Barnet board, Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 5:30 pm outside Barnet House 1255 High Road N20, 6 pm in Committee Room 2, 1st Floor, Barnet House, 1255 High Road, Whetstone, London N20 0EJ.

This is a surprising recommendation in view of the scandals linked with Capita, more of which came to light this week.

Do you want to live in Capitaville? Welcome to Barnet, the borough that is Putting the Community Profit First…

●Save Our Hospitals

●No to Privatisation

DEMONSTRATION

SATURDAY 18 MAY

12 noon, Jubilee Gardens, Waterloo

Belvedere Road, SE1

Join BAPS contingent:

Meet 10:30 am for 11 am set off, outside Finchley Central tube station

OR

Watch out for Barnet Alliance banner at the assembly point, Jubilee Gardens.

The court has issued the appeal and it has been served to Barnet Council’s lawyers, to Capita and to the other parties.

The legal team is confident that the grounds for the appeal are promising. The appeal is based on the substantial endorsement of Judge Underhill of Maria Nash’s argument that Barnet Council had failed to consult residents about a fundamental change to the way Council services are delivered and governed, under the One Barnet outsourcing programme. Maria Nash was granted legal aid for the appeal and she is now waiting for a hearing date from the Court of Appeal.

The legal team will challenge the Judge’s ruling on delay, arguing that he has not followed a House of Lords ruling on what is meant by a “final decision”.

[If you are on Twitter, look out for updates using the hashtag #BarnetJR]

Following the community’s successful campaign to Save Friern Barnet Library which Barnet Alliance had actively supported, the library is now a People’s Library – Friern Barnet Community Library (FBCL). Run by a board of trustees it is alive and kicking as ever, a true community centre.

Check out their website, and their next events:

Live and Loud At The Library-18 May 2013, FBCL - 18 May 2013

FRIERN BARNET WALK 19 May 2013, 12.30

Matthew Baylis – Author evening, 22 May 2013, FBCL 22 May 2013

 There have been a lot of questions about this Judgment and the amount of spin Barnet Council has put on the decision. This judgment has wide-ranging implications for the future of local government and the NHS in that more and more councils and Clinical Commissioning Groups will be under increased pressure to try to outsource their problems away. The stark reality is that if this decision is not challenged, it will leave the door open for mass outsourcing of public services on an unprecedented scale across the country.

What message does it send to public bodies across the UK?

It is all right to breach your statutory obligations because there are no serious implications for doing so.

This is why it is worth considering what Lord Justice Underhill had to say about the claim of failing to consult. Below are a number of key extracts from the judgment.

Judgment (extract)

“60. Not withstanding that conclusion, I believe that I should give my conclusions on the substantive questions. I do so partly in case the matter goes further but also because, so far as the issues under section 3 of the 1999 Act are concerned, I am told that there is no case-law, and in view of the thorough and expert submissions made to me it may be of some wider value if I expressed my views….” (2013.04.29 Lord Justice Underhill)

Rejecting the Barnet Council’s response to ‘Failing to consult’

“73. I do not accept Ms Carss-Frisk’s submissions. In the first place I do not think that the use of the formulation “for the purpose of deciding how to fulfil” as opposed to, say, “about how to fulfil” will bear the weight that Ms Carss-Frisk puts on it. Of course it is important to pay close attention to the statutory language, but I do not see how you can consult “for the purpose of” making a decision without inviting views on the substance of the decision itself. And even if that is theoretically possible, I do not see how it is possible to consult for the purpose of deciding whether to undertake a major outsourcing programme without inviting views on the proposal to undertake that programme. Consultation only about “priorities”, or about other general matters that might “assist” the authority in deciding whether to outsource, is not the same thing and is not what is required.” (2013.04.29 Lord Justice Underhill)

Barnet Council seeking to avoid consulting

“74. That seems to me not only the natural reading of the statutory language but what I would expect Parliament to have intended. It is hard to see why authorities should be entitled to fulfil their duty to consult in a way which avoided seeking views on the central issues raised by the substantive duty. Ms Carss-Frisk was of course obliged to put her case in the way that she did because it is clear that in the present case the Council did not make any attempt to consult on the specific question of whether the functions and services covered by the NSCSO and DRS contracts should be outsourced. (Indeed if what Mr Dix was told, as quoted at para. 52 (1) above, is to be taken at face value, the Council had taken the view that it would not consult on “the principles of the Future Shape programme”.)”(2013.04.29 Lord Justice Underhill)

No intention to consult residents

“Because here the Council never set out to consult about its outsourcing programme at all,” (2013.04.29 Lord Justice Underhill)

Failed to comply with obligations under section 3 (2) of the 1999 Act

“76. It follows that if the application for judicial review had been made in time I would have held that the Council had not complied with its obligations under section 3 (2) of the 1999 Act in respect of the decisions taken in 2010/11 to outsource the performance of its functions and services, covered by the proposed NSCSO and DRS contracts.” (2013.04.29 Lord Justice Underhill)

BAPS’ view on the response of the Council’s Leader

In light of this very clear condemnation of the Council it is hard to understand why Cllr Cornelius, the Leader of Barnet Council, thinks that the judgement is a victory for his Cabinet. It is clear that the judge thinks the Council deliberately did not inform residents of their plans to mass outsource, let alone did not consult with residents on these plans. It is also quite insulting for those of us, residents, who also work in the Council, that the Leader rejoices at the prospect of 400 jobs being lost.

Whilst the Council did its best to conceal its plans, as the judge noted, informing residents is precisely what Maria Nash intends to do through the court (having been left with no alternative as the council refused to listen), as she said to the Ham&High:

“I think the judge has actually done me a great favour in giving me the opportunity to go to appeal because we can go further and address the issue properly. The more time I have the better to tell people around the UK that if we privatise things democracy suffers and everything becomes about profit.”

The local Times‘ newspaper’s response

The local Times chose to quote only part of what Maria said, leaving out her intention to inform people, presenting the matter as if Maria is seeking to appeal the JR ruling just to indulge herself at the expense of the tax payer, when in fact she will be saving the tax payer’s money.

Furthermore, the Times headline to the article looks like it was meant to incite anger against Maria Nash as a disabled woman:

“One Barnet campaigner Maria Nash handed more taxpayer funding to continue High Court fight.”

BAPS’ response to the Times‘ article

At a time when disabled people are portrayed negatively to the public in order to justify the Government’s cruel war on disability rights and benefits, as a result of which hate crime against disabled people is on the rise, such incitement is not only wrong – it is dangerous.

BAPS is shocked and horrified by such irresponsible behaviour on the part of one of our local newspapers, and it strongly objects to the attempt to present Maria Nash as anything other than a responsible, concerned citizen who has put her head above the parapet for the sake of us all.

In conclusion: Maria Nash is setting out to save our borough’s local economy, its local democracy, its services and jobs and the Council’s financial resources from the current administration, which seems determined to damage all these. The Legal Aid Maria was granted (no doubt out of recognition of the truth in her arguments, as follows from Judge Underhill’s ruling quoted above), is peanuts in comparison to the huge sums that Barnet Council, led by Richard Cornelius, had already wasted, and in comparison to the billions it is risking to waste if the One Barnet Programme is allowed to go ahead.

We had a well attended first campaign meeting of the Your Choice campaign on Thursday 9 May.

One of the challenges for family carers is the fact that so far there has been no consultation with them about the proposed changes in Your Choice service provision. Parents-carers are extremely concerned about the risks these changes entail for their loved ones. There had been only three information meetings, but at no point were parents or service users asked about their views or suggestions.

We hope that if more parents ask for a meaningful consultation, such consultation will be carried out by Your Choice or the Barnet Group Local Authority Trading Company.

Please find enclosed some model letters we are providing for carers to send to Your Choice or to the local press.

The treatment of  the most vulnerable in our society is a matter of concern for all of us, and ensuring good quality social services is the interest of every resident, even if currently he or she has no direct link to these services. We therefore urge you to please send a letter requesting a consultation or reminding the council of their promise to bring Your Choice services back in-house in case of failure. You can use the model letters or draft your own.

See the Campaign Calendar for details of our next actions and future meetings.

The next campaign meeting will be held at the Greek Cypriot Centre, Britannia Road, N12 on Thursday 23rd May, 7-9 pm.

We also invite you all to join our lobby and then attend the Your Choice Board meeting on Wednesday May 29th at 5.30 pm (lobby) Barnet House, 1255 High Road, N20.

We call for a Cumulative Impact Assessment of Welfare Reform, and a New Deal for sick & disabled people based on their needs, abilities and ambitions.

Sign the petition here: http://wowpetition.com/

On Twitter: #WOWpetition

Here is the press releases of Barnet Alliance on the judgement and the grant of Legal Aid.