The One Barnet project was started before the last Council elections and the Conservative Group were elected on this mandate.  The proposals contained within One Barnet – formerly known as Future Shaping – have been in the public domain since 2009 and even received publicity at that time in the local press.

Against a background of extremely challenging financial times inherited from the previous Labour Government, every aspect of the Council’s operations has been, or is being, looked at from the point of view of cost and efficiency.  I believe that Councils do their job best when they have genuine freedom to respond to local circumstances – not when they are told what to do by central government.  This freedom is more important than ever when there is a squeeze on public funds as it enables local authorities to deliver better value for taxpayers’ money.  By 2016 Barnet will have had to take £72million out of their budget, equivalent to 38% on a band D household’s council tax.

Outsourcing and sharing local authority services is not new and some of the most successful Councils in the country have been doing this to a greater or lesser extent for many years.  We are fortunate in Barnet that the Council had the foresight to take this a step further with the One Barnet initiative three years ago – and I am pleased that such innovation has emerged in the area in which I live.

The proposal has been established on a proper business case evidenced by the agreement of the Council’s own Section 151 Monitoring Officer.  The savings made, primarily in bureaucracy, will enable a council tax freeze whilst also maintaining high quality services which I am sure will be welcomed by residents.