Personally I think it would be a better consultation to ask people to list their top twenty Council priorities which would give a view of what residents find the most valuable and a query about the most annoying Council services which would tell the Administration where to make inmprovements. The budget simulator stuff on the website is to my mind not the way to go about the consultation.

Book is selling well and those of you who are local and want to see it before purchasing should go to Hendon Library’s first ‘Knit and Natter day’ on Thursday 19th at 2.00. Brilliant idea for local knitters to get together( whether they want to knit gloves or not!). I can’t get to this one but hope to be at the next.

Book now published and available from bookshops etc. Cover price £9.99.  £7.99 from me (postage £1.50).  I am doing a signing/demonstration at Borders Brent Cross 2.00 on Sunday 22nd November.  To order send an email to susette@susetteknits.org.uk.  You can pay by cheque or Paypal.

I had mixed feelings about Thursday’s Question Time which I watched with friends.On the whole I think it was better to have Griffin on the programme where he was clearly held to account by the panel and the audience but I feel that a more varied set of questions would have shown up the BNP on other issues.
I am not altogether surprised that they appear to have made members from the programme-a fact I deplore.
As Chris Hunhe said there clearly are social problems to be answered and where other political parties make an effort to deal with them they can beat the BNP. The BNP didn’t increase their vote to win the Euroseats-Labour lost it.

I do feel that at a time when the administration are cutting grant to outside bodies that the granting of an additional £7500 to a Cabinet member for 4 extra Meetings a year is untimely to say the least.

According to Friday’s Guardian the Leader of Barnet Council is planning to run Barnet ‘like Ryanair’, for example if you want your planning application to go to the front of the queue it will cost extra. I think Cllr Freer and Barnet’s Conservative Administration have missed the point. A Council is not a cheap airline but should be a body with social and communal responsibility. Ruthless cutting of services by a Borough (which already has a higher Council Tax rate than the neighbouring Liberal Democrat led Boroughs , Brent and Camden) cannot and will not provide the services that residents are entitled to expect.

I cannot believe that Richard Cornelius-he of the ‘I didn’t go to meetings with residents because I would have found it too upsetting’ has the nerve to put down a resolution asking COuncil to approve the removal of wardens as part of a ‘better service’.

Monroe and I attended the Barnet Schools Music Festival last night. It was brilliant . 78 schools are taking part over the 6 evenings of the festival and it really does your heart good to hear them. All the Barnet staff and pupils concerned are to be congratulated.

So despite all the objections both from groups and from individuals the Cabinet decided to ge ahead with abolishing Wardens for Sheltered Accomodation.  Disgraceful.

I am thoroughly frustrated with the habit of some officers of ignoring Councillor’s emails even when they are reminded . I have just had to take an advice case up to the Acting Chief Executive to get a response from the education department on an extremely sad special needs case. It is not rocket science to set the computer as I have  so you can see emails are being read but not answered, which is what was happening. If the answer is too complex for an email they have our phone numbers.

On the subject of phones would anyone like to recommend a simple cameraphone (i.e.not a smart phone) with black, easy to read keys?