Join the VIGIL to support the ONE BARNET legal challenge

Tuesday 19th March, vigil outside from 9.30am, hearing @ Court Room 28 Tuesday to Thursday

Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Please join us outside the Royal Courts of Justice to support Barnet resident Maria Nash who is challenging Barnet Council’s decision to outsource a large group of public services without properly consulting Barnet residents, the so-called One Barnet programme.

Barnet Council is effectively selling off their public services to Capita, a private company, in a single contract for a minimum of 10 years, putting the quality of services at risk as profit becomes the over-riding priority. Under the proposals, customer services will be delivered from call centres in other parts of the UK that won’t have local knowledge or connections. There are many concerns about the impact on the local economy, about risks that the promised savings will not materialise leading to further cuts to services, about the ability of the council to accurately and properly monitor services once outsourced, and about the loss of democracy the entire procedure represents.

We are already seeing the failure of the One Barnet programme as staff working with disabled people through the ‘Your Choice Barnet’ local authority trading company are having their terms and conditions slashed because the enterprise has not delivered the profits it was forecast to. This is what happens when profit is put before people yet Barnet Council is pressing ahead with its plans.

What is happening in Barnet is important to all of us because where Barnet leads in selling off our services other local authorities will follow.

For information about the vigil please tel. 07534 407703 or 07446 292994; email [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @BarnetAlliance (hashtags: #BarnetSpring #OneBarnet)

Press release: Barnet residents support Maria Nash’s application for Judicial Review of ‘One Barnet’