Barnet services outsourcing legal challenge rejected

Some Barnet residents have been campaigning against the council's plans to outsource services

A judge has rejected a north London resident's application to take her local authority to court over its plans to outsource some services.

Maria Nash, who is a wheelchair user, claimed Barnet Council failed to carry out a proper impact assessment under the Equality Act.

But her application for a judicial review was rejected by the High Court.

The lawyer representing Ms Nash said he intended to take her case to the Court of Appeal.

'Clear victory'

Gerald Shamash said: "Barnet failed to consult in line with its statutory duty."

Lord Justice Underhill's judgement said that "the council never set out to consult about its outsourcing programme at all".

But he added: "I would regard the claim based on failure to consult as out of time."

Commenting on the judgement, Conservative councillor Richard Cornelius said: "This is a clear and complete victory for the council. We won and our opponents lost.

"More importantly it is very good news for Barnet residents, Barnet taxpayers and in particular for anyone who relies on Barnet Council services.

"We can now get on with making budget savings of £12m a year in our back-office costs while investing in service improvements and protecting our frontline services."

Campaign group Barnet Alliance for Public Services (Baps), which is supporting Ms Nash's case, said the High Court judgement had relied on technical grounds and "despite today's setback, Barnet Alliance's campaign against One Barnet will continue".