The fact Barnet has been heavily criticised for not having a senior lawyer is hardly surprising, given the number of cock-ups; nor is the departure of the non-legally qualified monitoring officer who has become the fall guy — I wonder what her payoff was and whether it has a ‘gagging clause’ attached?

Surely those who take the rap should include those at the top?

Now we have a Westminster City Council lawyer on secondment to mind the gap, whilst Barnet’s Tweedledum and Tweedledee at the top ponder what to do. Can I suggest one of the first items in the secondee lawyer’s in-tray should be Barnet’s illegal secret meetings — so-called ‘working groups’— which are holding discussions behind closed doors and with unpublished papers about budget cuts.

Out of the public eye, they are making vital de facto decisions about slashing Barnet Council’s public services for later formal rubber-stamping under the new committee system.

Those discussions should be argued in public, not just for transparency and good governance, but also because otherwise, the council is wide open to further legal challenge.

Andrew Dismore

London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden