Wednesday 24 November 2010

If Tories hate Quangos, why does Barnet Council want to set one up?

One of my loyal army of readers asked me this question :-

I was having a look at the Cabinet meeting papers as regards Adult Social Services. It looks like there is a planned transfer of Adult Social Services to an arms length management organisation, an LATC (Local Authority Trading Company). Any idea what the implications of this are?

Now I'm not an expert, but here was my answer :-

It means that Barnet is setting up a Quango, so that there is no democratic control. It means that we'll have to pay for a whole new level of senior management. It means that when something goes wrong, it's not the fault of the council so they don't get booted out or have to pay the political price
 
Well that's what it means to me. If Tories are so keen to get rid of Quangos, why are Barnet so keen to set them up? If David Cameron thinks Quangos are a waste of money, why does Lynne Hillan and Robert Rams think they are such a good idea?

2 comments:

Moaneybat said...

Barnet already have an ALMO it's called Barnet Homes wher Lord Palmer is probably still on it's board. He thought it was a good idea to create that one.

Jaybird said...

The consultant fees for setting it up look pretty high to me.