UNISON report on staff consultation Flower Lane for Your Choice Barnet staff 13.3.13

Brief report of staff consultation meeting held at Flower Lane for Your Choice Barnet staff 13.3.13

It’s fair to say the meeting was fiery as staff expressed their anger freely.

The financial problem for Your Choice Barnet is one of cashflow as they will no longer receive the block contract but receive payments in arrears reflecting the change to one where individual services are invoiced. This cashflow problem equates to £1million.

In addition there is a deficit of £1million as LBB will pay service users only a flat rate irrespective of whether the care they need is at night or at the weekend. Also a market rate will apply. It is also the case that YCB has been providing more service to the service user than is reflected in their care plan and therefore leaving a shortfall.

An obvious question was immediately that BH knew the payment arrangements would change before going into the LATC with YCB and so why did they not immediately see the finances for YCB would be compromised?

The response was that at the point of creation of the LATC Barnet Homes did not know the volumes they were taking over.

We pointed out that the Business Case had been very confident about being able to make surpluses, knowing LBB was talking about paying market rates. What has changed?

Ans: The Business case was based on assumptions

In the Business Case of May 2011 much had been made of the freedom for the LATC to step outside SLA’s and for example purchase its own IT equipment. Yet we are now in a situation where LBB is insisting YCB stays with LBB for its IT, knowing this is going to Capita. Is this not the case of a not-for-profit organisation being used to prop up the business case for a contract to be successful with a for-profit organisation?

Ans: in a procurement exercise YCB had established they could find a cheaper IT provider. LBB stepped in to say that IT should remain as provided through the Council (Capita) and YCB need only pay the amount they had established through their procurement exercise. LBB will make up the difference.

In other words LBB is prepared to subsidise a service when it means securing a contract for Capita, but this would then seem to be at the cost of staff working for YCB!

In other parts staff criticised the move to reduce night time care on the basis that there was little need. The staff providing that service contradicted the view in the report that they are not needed as they could point to many examples where they had been needed.

More later….