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On Friday I was supposed to doing a million other tasks but as is the case in the UNISON office something always bigger and more crazy turns up and today it did!

Friday 27 April was the last Friday Parking workers will be working for Barnet Council. On Tuesday they are due to be handed over to their new employer NSL and for some staff a sub contractor called RR Donnelley.

It is no secret that staff would prefer to be working for the Council, but sadly the Council ignored the views of staff and UNISON and outsourced the service. It is also no secret that most of the staff currently working in the back office will be made redundant. On Tuesday staff have to report to the NSL Office in Solar House in Finchley where they will be handed ‘at risk of redundancy’ letters. Again this is not new. What has been truly devastating for our members is the recent personal data protection breaches. Late yesterday afternoon members reported that copies of letters were being handed out to staff. The letters were supposed to be confirmation of the personal data being transferred to the new contractor. Instead member noticed they had been handed inaccurate information and in some cases personal information about other members of staff. If that wasn’t enough, this morning I was greeted by angry staff reporting that letters had been posted to staff with other people’s personal data.

UNISON has demanded an investigation into these serious breaches and I have been informed an investigation is taking place. In the interim complaints are going to be submitted to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Our members are clearly upset and distressed about what has happened after providing years of loyal and hard working service to the Council.

In the interim the branch has done the following

We have contacted the councils Data Protection officer and we have been notified that an investigation has commenced. We have also requested the following information

• Can you let me know what advice and training been provided to the Parking contract monitoring staff to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).
• What requirements have been communicated to the main contractor and any subsequent sub contractor to ensure such compliance?
• What processes are in place to ensure DPA compliance at the client side by the main contractor and subsequent sub contractor?
• Can you provide me with details of what percentage of staff currently working on the Parking Services outsourcing contract have received DPA training?
• In view of the fact there has been a previous serious data protection breach within Parking Service within the last three months, please provide me a copy of the investigation report which will include any recommendations

I am sure all UNISON members will be shocked to hear this news. It would be nice if all UNISON members could send messages of support to the Parking workers to contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

“We’re known in the community for being a place where you can get easy advice”

“The child care is a universal service and so therefore it is non-judgemental – there’s no stigma attached to using the Children’s Centre for a lot of other support”

“We get to know the parents as they access the Children’s Centre for childcare. We get to develop a relationship with them which means we pick up when they’re not doing too good. It’s preventative.”

“The beauty of our service is that it’s seamless. The parents and children get all round support.”

“We had a toddler join us with learning problems that the mother was in denial about. With team work from the teacher, SENCO and observations from the key worker, gentle persuasion and talking to the mother she has at last agreed to come to a drop in speech therapy session. All the background work happened in the child care nursery! This is just one of many examples and this family wasn’t referred, they just came in off the street.”

“Without the childcare i.e. the daily contact with the children and their parents through teaching the children and key working them, the staff would not have the opportunity to form relationships with the families.”

“Families can get support without having to ask for it – we are a route to them getting support.”

Thank to all members/ reps/ and the schools who have replied to our letter, the vast majority of Schools who have contacted us  are making the adjustment to peoples contract so they will get an extra weeks pay after 5 years service, some individuals have made local arrangements and UNISON has no problem with that the key point being that people are aware of the contract commitment and get the extra week holiday/pay.

Under Barnet terms and condition all Barnet employees and people who are covered by Barnet terms and conditions (Academy’s) have an extra week holiday after 5 years service Schools were not aware of this with regards the 2005  TA agreements and we took the step of contacting all Schools and all Staff outlining the options to date  most replies have been in favour of Option B which is

After 5 Years Service automatically alter contract increasing contracted  day by one week but maintain existing days worked.

A good number of Head teacher have already made the adjustments and more will follow.

I would like to thank the individuals who have been proactive in Schools. If you have not made arrangements in your school please contact louis.smyth@barnetunison.org.uk

Regards.

 

The Governors at Mary’s High School (Hendon) have issued a formal notice closure of the School. http://www.st-maryshigh.barnet.sch.uk/clients/www.st-maryshigh.barnet.sch.uk/uploads/doc/statnotice.pdf

The School now enters a 6 week formal consultation period, and full closure will take place in July/August 2016.

St Mary’s C of E (Hendon) dates back to 1707. 

The reasons why  according to the consultation document “St Mary’s has good teaching and some students achieve very well at the school however the school is not a popular choice for parents and in recent years the school has become undersubscribed. The school is reaching a point where it is no longer viable to continue.”. At the moment there are only 75 children in Year 7 at St Mary’s High School. (150 capacity)

The nearby St Mary’s and St John’s School (C of E) plans to expand and become an all-age school to cater for children from Reception right through to 18 years old. If St Mary’s closes, this means that St Mary’s and St John’s will grow and take over the Sunningfields Road and the Downage sites that currently make up St Marys.

The expanded St Mary’s and St John’s School could be able to cater for 120 students in each year group.

UNISON has consistently claimed that the One Barnet programme was simply outsourcing the cuts and redundancies to the Private Sector.

The first wave of outsourcing has begun and we are collating the impact on our members

Proposed

·         24 Revs & Bens *

·         20+ Parking *

·         14 Housing *

Actual

Unknown as consultation has not finished.

* = Consultation process ongoing

The proposals to restructure a services which is part of the larger NSCSO One Barnet project has generated an unprecedented level of concern from members

To view latest questions please click here

UNISON is concerned that such a significant change to Revs & Bens was presented to staff on the eve of the Easter break, thus limiting the opportunities for staff to digest and consider the implications of proposal.

 

UNISON intends on submitting a formal response but wants to take an opportunity to provide some early comments to members and seek feedback from our members.

 

The proposal entitled ‘Customer Transformation for Revenues & Benefits’ presents a significant and high risk proposal for the future viability of such a high performing service.

The following legal judgements made with regards consultation  

 

“To be proper, consultation must be undertaken at a time when proposals are still at a formative stage. It must include sufficient reasons for particular proposals to allow those consulted to give intelligent consideration and an intelligent response; adequate time must be given for this purpose; and the product of consultation must be conscientiously taken into account when the ultimate decision is taken” Lord Woolf MR when giving the judgment of the Court of Appeal in R (on the application of Coughlan) v North and East Devon Health Authority [2001] QB 213, [2000] 3 All ER 850, 258 [108]

 

 “Since the person affected cannot make worthwhile representations without knowing what factors may weigh against his interests fairness will very often require that he is informed of the gist of the case which he has to answer.” Lord Mustill also explained in R (on the application of Doody) v Secretary of State [1994] 1 AC 531, [1993] 3 All ER 92, 550

 

UNISONs initial comment is that there is worrying lack of detailed information around the proposal indeed there have been reports that there are some missing slides from one of the presentations given to staff last week.

 

UNISON will be making an urgent request for full disclosure of all background papers/reports which support and evidence the rationale about the radical proposals identified in the proposal. In the absence of this material being provided it is UNISON view that the consultation processed is flawed Interim comments

 

It was unfortunate that the slides presented to staff last week were incomplete, UNISON has been given an undertaking that the full presentation will be made available on the intranet for all staff to read. UNISON has been given a hard copy of the presentation which we have converted into a PDF document and sent off to all our members.

 

UNISON has the following comments on the limited information being made available.

1. Transformation proposals

This is a significant transformation which from the limited information being provided could have an impact on the current safe and robust controls in place. Have these proposals been referred to internal audit and CAFT to ensure any changes in risk around appropriate controls are in place?

2. Workload – increased?

Reduction in team leaders will lead to an increase in workload of current officers and potential change in the complexity of the work

3. The selection of staff into the Call Centre

• Are there any staff who want to volunteer to go into call centre?
• Will flexi time and flexible working be impacted by working in a call centre?

It was stated in one of the presentations that the contingencies of the service (peaks and troughs) will dictate the inclusion of flexi time and flexible working within the Call Centre.

There have been comments made that there is also the possibility of a late night call centre?

Appointment system for benefit face to face will be assessed for the possibility of late night work due to working benefit claimants. It was said that no one in Barnet who works is on benefit according to their records.

4. Not sustainable structure

There has been a 66% management team reduction in the last 12 months from 9 to 3 posts.

Posts deleted

• Head of Benefits March 2011
• Head of Revs and bens 13 Feb 2012

In the current proposals the following posts are to be deleted

Posts to be deleted

• Local Taxation manager
• 2 Benefit Managers
• I collection or recovery manager

There is a lack in detail in the presentation; it is our view that this structure is not sustainable in the long term. The cuts are so savage at a time of increased activity in the Revenues and Benefits arena nationally, case loads are increasing and there is localisation of taxes and an ongoing recession.

As a result of unsustainable structure above there is a risk the contractor may be unable to deliver the projected savings identified in the business cases.

Team Leader posts

Posts being slashed 21.5 to 14

Out of 8 in Taxation there will be 3 remaining.

 

Risks:

Performance dip

No Capacity for annual/sick leaves 

The simplistic analysis of spans of control, do not reflect an understanding of the complexity of the work that is being carried or the expertise required by the roles being performed.

5. Savings

The consultation proposal does not include any direct reference to the savings required for this service

UNISON is requesting that it should be noted and further established in the risk logs that a 1% dip in collection re Councils Tax Business Rates would result in a £3.3 million loss

6. Hand Offs Customer Care standards dropping

UNISON notes that the news customer care standards in customer’s services are 80% one touch. Revenues & Benefits are already achieving close to 100% in the existing the structure

The division of work for level 2 and below will be dealt by customer services. Without out any supporting evidence for this proposal UNISON believes this will mean that there will be hand offs to the back office during the process for calls that become more complex during the call. This will reduce the percentage of calls resolved at the first point of contact from what is currently being achieved

 

Revenues and Benefits Restructure Meeting

 

Monday 16th April 12.30- 1pm & 1pm-1.30pm

 

Central Room (Ground Floor) Building 4

Have your say,

Make your point,

Your chance to say how good it is for you

Your chance to ask what it means for you

Your chance to give the union feedback so we can do the best for you.

You can just turn up to the meeting or we are inviting you to fill in the slip below and hand or post it into the union office before the meeting and we will do our best to respond to your query in the meeting – don’t be shy! We will decide how best to give feedback on the questions to all members at the meeting.

This is about your future so if it’s important to you it’s important to us.

Next meeting: Monday April 23rd 12.30pm-1pm &1pm-1.30pm, Central Room

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON 

Last night I attended an emergency Pensions Fund Committee. The meeting was called a short notice because the Council were not informed until the end of February that NSL were going to use a sub contractor to carry out some of the work. Originally the council were informed it was a company called Parseq (based in Doncaster) but a week later they were informed it had changed to RR Donnelley (who are based in Lansing). If members can remember the now infamous TUPE commitments, one of which was access to the council pensions for any members transferring. The purpose of the meeting was to agree to allow RR Donnelley to become a member of the Council scheme. BUT, the Committee (i.e. councillors) were not aware of one simple fact. IF, any council workers accept the offer of a job with RR Donnelley they will NOT be allowed into the Pension Scheme. Yes, that is correct. The Committee was asking toa allow a sib contractor into the scheme, knowing that if the staff transfer to the sub contractor they would not be allowed to remain in the scheme. If anyone can make then sense of that “answers on a Postcard” to contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Confused? …It was obvious from the looks on the faces of councillors they were not aware of this and to be honest it is all completely mad to me. What then transpired was a discussion as to what the entitlements are for these workers at risk of redundancy as a result of the TUPE transfer out of the Council. Forty five minutes later and there was still no clarity as to the entitlement of the workers transferring. Legal and HR officers were asked to liaise with UNISON ASAP as I pointed out we are less than two weeks away from the TUPE transfer date.

UNISON view is that this transfer should be delayed until this matter is resolved.