Barnet UNISON Press Release: 2 September 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Support #Kids4Libraries march 12 September

On September 21st the Council will vote whether to accept one of three options for the future of Barnet Libraries. This will be an important decision for Barnet as libraries promote literacy and learning for all, provide access to information and enable people to engage as citizens in their local and wider communities.  But this vital contribution is threatened as the Council’s proposals appear to have been designed not to safeguard our libraries but to wreck them.

The Council’s proposals include;

• Library staffing budget to be cut by up to 68%. It likely that even staffed libraries will not have enough workers available to maintain a sufficient level of service.

• Two or six Libraries to close

• Most remaining Libraries to be reduced in size. They could no longer house adequate book collections, or a sufficient number of computers for the public to use.  There will not be enough study space to meet the needs of students.

• Libraries will be privatised or run by a “Mutual”. There will be no guarantee they will be run for public good and not for profit.

• Libraries will be unstaffed for two thirds of their opening times.   Library users will have to rely on self-service machines and volunteers (if any can be found) for help. As a result of not having staff on site, children will be denied entry to the libraries for most of the day.

Adoption of any of the current options will be an act of vandalism, resulting in Barnet Libraries no longer being an inclusive, efficient and loved public service, as the accessibility and quality of the service will suffer.

This destructive plan has seen the emergence of a Save Barnet Libraries campaign which is made up of Barnet UNISON, residents and Library users.

Our next action is the Kids4Libraries march on the 12th September. More details can be found here

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: The current proposals would in effect have meant the end of a comprehensive public library service for the residents of Barnet. It is impossible to view these disgraceful proposals in isolation from what is going on across Council services across the UK. Councils have had their government funding cut by 40% since 2010, which is a deliberate attack on local democracy and public services. Our march is attempting to raise awareness within our community and wider afield of what is at stake. Our message to the Council is think again, Libraries are beacons within our communities which must be allowed to flourish.

“Notes to Editors.

Contact details: John Burgess Barnet UNISON on 07738389569 or 0208 359 2088 or email: john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk

Background:

Barnet UNISON launch Thunderclap in support of 12 September march.

https://www.thunderclap.it/my/stats/30839-join-ourkids4libraries-march

Kids4Libraires march video

https://youtu.be/gb6R7M-0Kgo

“Inappropriate, over the top, dire, painful, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, restrictive and unimaginative”

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1625

Barnet Council – Why is this happening to us?

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1627

Local authorities ‘cannot cope with further cuts’

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/01/local-government-association-cannot-cope-further-cuts

The simple and straight forward answer to the above question is that Council services are being punished for the global financial crisis caused by the bankers.

On 8 July the Chancellor George Osborne published his budget which set out a vicious attack on public services and the staff who provide them. There is widespread consensus that by 2020 Councils will have had their budgets cut by 40%.

Think about that figure. No private company could survive such a cut in funding. Barnet Councils response to the austerity agenda is the ‘commissioning council’ which seeks to move staff out of the council into different employment models. Whilst expensive consultants will spin the commissioning model as a new way of working, the bottom line is that they are looking to find someone who will employ staff on cheaper terms and conditions and without access to the Council Pension Scheme.

What do we know?

I know from talking to our reps and speaking to members that everyone is exhausted, angry about the relentless attacks on staff almost on a weekly basis. Feedback we are getting from members is that more and more staff are leaving the Council, which is destabilising teams and adding to the already heavy workloads.

UNISON has raised this as a concern and linked it directly to the mass outsourcing agenda, which is not only having a negative impact on current staff but is a barrier for in house services trying to recruit new staff.

It is clear from our own direct experiences of outsourced contracts that the contractors offer inferior terms and conditions; and they are not offering new staff the opportunity to be part of the Council pension scheme.

So when the Council talks about risk, it is the staff that are taking on all of the risk.

We will be speaking with our local reps and members about our responses to the following major outsourcing decisions (see below).

1. The future of the Library Services will be decided on Monday 21 September Children’s, Education, Libraries & Safeguarding Committee.

2. The future of the Education & Skills and School Meals will be decided on Wednesday 18 November at the Children’s, Education, Libraries & Safeguarding Committee.

3. The future of our Children’s Centres will be decided on Wednesday 18 November 2015 Children’s, Education, Libraries & Safeguarding Committee.

4. The future of Adults and Communities will be decided on Thursday 12 November Adults and Safeguarding Committee.

5. The future of Street Scene Services will be decided on Monday 11 January 2016 at the Environment Committee.

Barnet UNISON branch meetings

9 September 12 noon in Oak Room, Building 4, NLBP

As a direct result of Osborne’s 8 July budget our branch and our members are facing a massive attack both in the workplace and within the public services they are trying to provide to Barnet residents.

Our branch is facing mass outsourcing/cuts to the following Council services:

1.    Libraries

2.    Children’s Centres

3.    Adult Social Services

4.    Street Scene services

5.    Education and School meals

In addition Barnet Group (includes Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet) are seeking permission from the Policy & Resources Committee on 2 September to create a new Legal Entity (a new company wholly owned by the Council). For staff it will mean no access to the Council pension scheme an end to national bargaining and grossly inferior terms and conditions

We are about to enter in negotiations with Barnet Council over a new Pay and Grading review for all council staff including schools. From previous discussions it will mean attacks to terms and conditions, and taking workers out of national pay bargaining. It has been described as ‘asset stripping’ by our reps.

And finally last week staff were informed the Council has to find another £30 million of cuts.

Keep checking our web site for the Barnet UNISON response to the above.

 

That is the view of participants stated in the recently published Council’s Library Consultation report*.

UNISON and Library user groups challenged the fairness of the consultation from the outset, viewing it as forcing responses   accepting the Councils options as being the only ones possible for the future of our Libraries. But even with this weighting the result is a resounding no to the Council.

The report finds:

95 % support for libraries being run directly by the Council

Little support for library closures.

Condemnation of the proposed minimum average size of 540 square feet for Libraries.

Widespread praise of the expertise and professionalism of Barnet’s library staff, and a strong sense that these qualities could never be adequately replaced through the use of

The quality of the library service would be negatively affected if any of the options are implemented volunteers

Criticism of the ‘open library’ model (unstaffed libraries)  on grounds that it would pose a security risk to users, stock and facilities; as well as diluting the overall quality of the service

The Council, if it has any claim to be a democratic body responsive to the wishes of residents, must now discard the current proposals for libraries and instead present the people of Barnet with a plan that will save our Libraries and develop on the already admirable service they provide.

* Barnet’s Future Library Service: Final Report of the Consultation Outcomes.

Report of Findings for Opinion Research Services July 2015.

https://engage.barnet.gov.uk/consultation-team/library-review/user_uploads/barnet_libraries_final_full_report_2015_07_24_v2.pdf-2

IMPORTANT NEWS: Kids4Libraries march Saturday 12 September details here

The above is the real reason why Barnet UNISON members are facing mass outsourcing.

View the next wave of outsourcing projects from September to January 2016 click here

Keep a look out for details of our next campaign………

“I have been proud to support John Burgess and all the Barnet UNISON members in the campaign against outsourcing these vital services, I have been on every picket line with them so far, and wish them well in the Employment Tribunal that started today.

Barnet are on the front line of the savage cuts to Local Authority budgets that the conservatives are forcing on local councils, Barnet UNISON have been dealing  with the consequences of the government’s deep cuts to local government funding. We need to listen more to local government and prepare to revitalise local government under Labour from 2020.

“This government have centralised power while devolving the pain inflicted by cuts to local councils. It is the most deprived communities in the country that are bearing the brunt of the government’s economically flawed programme.

 

“We in the Labour movement must stand for strong, democratically accountable public services and support our councils in delivering them”

Foxes & Trade Unions have recently found themselves a target of the Tory government.

Barnet UNISON has had exclusive access to news of this ground breaking innovative campaign.

A secret recording of their soon to be released campaign song revealed:

“The Foxes & Trade Unionists will never be defeated!

 

The Foxes & Trade Unionists will never be defeated! …..”

Employment Tribunal starts TODAY 27 July 2015

The Barnet UNISON office is due to move today Friday 24 July from NLBP to Barnet House 1255 High Road, Whetstone N20 0EJ.

Our office is on the first floor.

Our contact details are same 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk