Disabled pensioner set for High Court battle with council over One Barnet scheme

Campaigner Maria Nash outside Barnet House in Whetstone. Picture: Polly Hancock.

by Tim Lamden Monday, March 18, 2013
7:00 AM

A disabled pensioner is preparing for a High Court battle with Barnet Council this week in a bid to topple its controversial £320million outsourcing plans.

Lawyers instructed by New Barnet resident Maria Nash, 68, will go head-to-head with the council’s legal team in the Royal Courts of Justice tomorrow for a three-day hearing challenging the legality of the One Barnet outsourcing scheme.

Ms Nash, who has received government aid to fund the legal bid, called for the judicial review, citing a lack of consultation about the plans to outsource a swathe of council services to two private companies.

She also insists the council has failed to meet equality obligations in relation to the plans, which attracted a petition with 8,000 signatures in January calling for a referendum on One Barnet.

In a cabinet meeting last month it was revealed that should the High Court rule in favour of Ms Nash, it would cost the council £15million annually to deal with the collapse of One Barnet and would force a re-think on plans to freeze council tax over the next two years.

“This is a warning to everybody else that there is a better way of doing things,” said Ms Nash. “If a council consults with residents they can give more insight on how better to spend money and how better to cater for the needs of the citizens – much better than a private company which only caters for profit.”

Ms Nash is confined to a wheelchair due to severe arthritis and requires a full-time carer to help her with daily life. She also suffers from osteoporosis and diabetes.

The mother-of-one, whose husband died in 2001 after contracting a hospital bug and who lost her 13-year-old daughter to meningitis in 1992, has an autistic son she also helps to care for.