The Report of the Independent Enquiry on the role of the RA in respect of the Henrietta Barnett School buildings is now available to download . If you wish to receive a hard copy, please either send a Stamped Addressed Envelope to HGS Residents Association, FREE POST, NW 3364, London NW11 6YT, or post through the letter box at 40 Temple Fortune Lane. The SAE should have stamps to the value of £1.20 and should be C4 size to hold the A4 Report. Requests for further information should be addressed to rachairman@hgs.org.uk.

View Report of the Independent Enquiry (pdf 560k)

HGS Residents Association Enquiry

Do you have evidence re the RA’s role in approval of Henrietta Barnett building extensions ? (The report will respect the anonymity of individuals) - evidence closed February 2012

 At the RA’s AGM in 2011, a resolution critical of the RA Council and relevant committees was passed by RA members. The RA Council has now commissioned an independent enquiry that aims to answer three questions about the RA’s role and actions:

 1 - Who knew what and when?

 2 - Given 1, above, what should have been done with the information?

 3 - What beyond those measures already adopted, should be done to achieve a good provision of information and action for Suburb residents in respect of major issues in the future?”

As many are aware, there have been disagreements among HGS residents regarding the performance of the RA in relation to the new buildings of the Henrietta Barnett School. After the above resolution at the AGM, the RA Council, after discussion, responded by commissioning an independent enquiry and is grateful to the John S. Cohen Foundation for a grant to enable this.

Please note that the enquiry is not about the aesthetics of the building, or whether or not the buildings could have been prevented or significantly modified, or about what steps might now be taken in relation to them. Nor will it comment on the behaviour of individuals.  The focus is the RA as an organisational entity.

The RA is pleased that Dr Margaret Harris has agreed to conduct the enquiry. Dr Harris is Professor Emeritus of Voluntary Sector Organisations at Aston University, and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. She has more than thirty years’ experience of working in and with the voluntary sector and she has published widely on topics concerning the organisation and management of voluntary associations and community groups.  (You can see more at www.margaretharris.org.uk).  Dr Harris moved to the Suburb two years ago  but she has not, until now, had any involvement in the activities of the RA.  Thus she brings to the enquiry, academic professionalism combined with a sensitivity to the complexities of HGS living.

The enquiry is being carried out during December 2011, January, and February 2012. The intention is to have a fairly short report produced in the first instance for the RA Council, followed by publication of the report or a summary for the use of Suburb residents. The report will respect the anonymity of individuals.  In preparing her report, Dr Harris will draw on a range of evidence including RA papers, written submissions and some interviews.  Evidence collected will be treated as confidential in the sense that Dr Harris will not share with individuals information or viewpoints provided by other individuals. 

If you would like to submit written evidence to the enquiry, please send an email to Dr Harris and she will send you some guidelines about how you might frame your evidence [evidence closed February 2012]. Her email address is m.e.harris@aston.ac.uk     For more information contact:  abbott.s@virgin.net