Barnet Council

Barnet locals are extremely unhappy at apparent council plans to outsource and privatise most of the services the council provides.

It's getting harder and harder for local government to sell the argument that the market knows best - that your schools, nurseries, housing, roads, etc, would be better provided by the likes of HBOS, anyone lately of the Lehman Brothers, or Tescos.

I'm a capitalist at heart, but even I doubt the market's genius these days. I don't think the private sector is inclined to deliver good public services at reasonable cost. I think it is inclined to tender loss leaders when bidding for public sector contracts, and then to recoup losses by cutting staff salaries and service corners when contracts are won.

I am a capitalist, but I don't think the private sector is capable of providing public services in a way that will simultaneously save tax pounds and shore up communities with the all-important health, education and housing services that keep those communities functional.

People in Barnet aren't convinced either. Hundreds turned up for at a protest about the proposed outsourcing several weeks ago, and an even bigger crowd showed on Wednesday outside a council meeting - on a freezing cold night, too.

I'll be writing more about the Barnet proposals as time goes on.

For now, here are some photos from the event.

Not sure how Santa got into the mix - thought he'd be more of a capitalist...?

For much of 2007, careworkers in Fremantle Trust carehomes in Barnet took strike action in protest against the harsh pay and leave cuts a new Trust contract forced on them in April. The careworkers started striking to try and win back their lost earnings and leave allowances. The dispute is still unresolved:

A year's a long while to fight your employer: Sandra Jones, a careworker at the Fremantle Trust's Rosa Freedman day centre, says there are days now when she wonders if there's much point to it. She will 'keep on with the fight, because you have to keep fighting,' but she doubts very much that Fremantle will budge. 'Fremantle doesn't give a shit about its staff. It's gone on for so long now. They [the careworkers] are so demoralised. Some people have depression and stress.'

One thing everybody is particularly stressed about is Barnet Council's recent announcement that it plans to terminate part of the lease at the Rosa Freedman home - that's the carehome that Jones works at. Fremantle says that it will move residents in that home into residential care elsewhere.

Careworkers say that families of residents in the Rosa Freedman carehome are extremely unhappy about the transfer, because of the effect it is likely to have on their vulnerable elderly relatives - Fremantle management got, apparently, a vinegary response at a recent meeting with the families of Rosa Freedman residents.

The careworkers are worried about the transfer and the job implications of the closure, as well they might be. 'The closure of the residential care part of Rosa Freedman could result in staffing issues,' notes a 6 December 2007 report to Barnet Council's Cabinet Resources Committee. 'Fremantle will be responsible for these issues under the terms of the staff agreement with Fremantle Trust and Catalyst.'

And who be Catalyst, I hear you ask?

A few pics from Saturday's Fremantle careworkers' rally for you to enjoy... report to follow soon.