The board of Your Choice Barnet had never had a full public gallery as it had on the 29th May 2013. About 50 residents sat quietly throughout the proceedings and listened to the well staged discussion, assuming that following this there will also be a chance for the parents-carers in the audience to voice their concerns, and an interest from the board members to listen to them and hear their views. Preceding the board meeting there was an active

A three hours free training in Public Speaking is available for community activists. This will be given by an experienced trainer, Louise Chinnery from Unison, and will take place on: Saturday 1st June at 2 pm at the Larches Community hall, 1 Rectory Lane, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 7LF Please let us know by email if you are interested in coming. The objective behind organising this training is to equip more people from our community with the tools for

Watch this film of direct action of solidarity of Disabled People Against the Cuts and members of the Trade Unions Congress, who blocked Tottenham Court Road on Wednesday evening rush hour to bring a united voice against the attack on people with disabilities to the attention of the public.

Barnet Residents campaign for outsourced social care services provided by Your Choice Barnet to be brought back in house. 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,

It was announced by Barnet council on Monday 20 May 2013 that Capita Symonds is the recommended bidder for the outsourcing of the Development & Regulatory Services, as part of the One Barnet Programme of Privatisation. The official announcement is expected to be made to council staff on Monday, 20 May. 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

DEFEND LONDON’S NHS   ●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.

JOIN US FOR THE APPEAL HEARING ON MONDAY & TUESDAY 15-16 JULY, 9:30 for 10 am start, at the High Court, The Strand. We will be there in the court to support Maria Nash who fights the legal battle for us all.   Previous episode On 7 May, the lawyers acting on behalf of Maria Nash lodged an appeal against the refusal to allow a Judicial Review of the One Barnet programme. The refusal had been on the technical grounds that the request for a

  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

 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

  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