The papers have been published for the Budget and Performance Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting next thursday, which I encourage all Barnet residents to attend.
I have not yet had a chance to go through them in detail, but my first impressions are that this will be a horrific disaster. And the New Support and Customer Services Organisation contract, despite being bigger at £700 million, is the less contrvoversial one.
The Labour group have had our briefing, which I will not go into detail, as they were behind closed doors, and we had an opportunity to put some questions about this contract. Whilst some fears were allayed, and some benefits were pointed out, I remain thoroughly unconvinced.
You will hear more of my arguments on Thursday, though they will be recognizeable as the points I have been making for months. I feel this is a bad deal, and it is us who are taking the risks, not Capita. I also feel there has been no consultation, no proper scrutiny, no public involvement, and no mandate. God help us all if this gets through.
