All this talk about Austerity and minimum wage… ..
Hourly rate league table
Chair of a Barnet Council area sub committee is £2,213/hr.
Chair of Barnet Council Housing committee is £1,916 – £1,278/hr
Chair of Barnet Council residents forum is £296/hr
Cleaner is paid £6.31/hr to clean Barnet Council offices & Schools.
1. Barnet Homes writes off the £1 million loan.
2. Barnet Council stop penalising YCB for ‘no shows’.
3. Barnet Council pays up front to YCB in order to help the cash flow situation.
4. Barnet Council pays the going rate for the services being offered.
5. Barnet Council conducts an immediate investigation as to why Adult Social care services have referred only a handful of referrals in the last 2 and half years.
6. Senior management and other Service Level Agreement costs imposed on YCB are reduced.
7. YCB & Barnet Council find a more efficient way to invoice for services. The current arrangement is that Barnet Group invoice Barnet Council then YCB invoice Barnet Group.
8. YCB is allowed to independently procure its own support services and not be forced to use Capita CSG services.
It is critical that the sole shareholder attends these critical ACAS talks.
UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said:
“Barnet Council is the sole shareholder of Your Choice Barnet and as such they should attend talks with UNISON, YCB and ACAS. If the Council want to genuinely end this then they have to stop hiding behind political ideology and recognise YCB is in a financial crisis. Anyone looking at the books will see that. The silence over the £1million loan is deafening. We have submitted our proposals onto the negotiating table and it is for Barnet Council to respond.”
Family Services open statutory consultation with staff and the Trade Unions on Monday 22 September 2014. This transformation involves all staff in Family Services with the exception of Libraries and Early Years.
This consultation is for 30 days however if there are significant issues of concern UNISON may request that the consultation be extended.
In initial discussions with senior management we understand the following will be provided:
· Large staff briefings will be taking place on 22 September 2014 so please make sure you can attend these meetings.
· Staff will be offered 1:1 meetings
· HR surgeries
· A Frequently Asked Questions link with be uploaded onto the Council Intranet
In response to this consultation it is important that UNISON provide support & advice to all of our members. To this end we have arranged a series of UNISON meetings for members in Family Services.
The first set of meetings are open to all of our members across Family Services.
The second set of meetings are for specific service areas across Family Services to allow for particular service issues to be discussed.
UNISON members are entitled to bring a rep into 1:1 meetings, however sometimes we may need notice of these meetings. If at any point you need to speak to a UNISON rep please do not hesitate to contact the branch at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk or call 0208 359 2088.
To view flyer click here
We would like to express our solidarity with YCB workers who are resisting cuts to their wages of nearly 10%.
We met with YCB workers on the picket lines and they told what the devastating impact these pay cuts would mean for them, their families and also the service users. They are also concerned that this will be only the first of a series of attacks
When the Council’s Cabinet Resources Committee approved the setting-up of YCB in 2012, it stated that:
“The obligations and risk placed on the LATC will subsequently be fully passed down to the operating subsidiary companies. Commercial risk ultimately remains with the Council and in the unlikely event of failure, the services will need to be brought back in-house.”
We therefore call upon Barnet Council as the only share holder in the Barnet Group and therefore the owner of YCB to intervene urgently to save YCB and ensure that care staff are not subjected to this savage wage cut. We have also written to the Leader of the Council to instruct a representative of the Council to attend the ACAS talks on Monday 22nd September, and help to bring the dispute to a satisfactory resolution, for the sake of staff and service users alike.”
Cllr. Amy Trevethan, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Chipping Barnet and Underhill Councillor and
Cllr. Paul Edwards Underhill Councillor
“It is outrageous that Your Choice Barnet is cutting care workers’ pay by 9.5%. These dedicated workers are not paid nearly enough to start with, and pay cuts like this are a kick in the face to these hardworking staff who do a demanding job, that most people would find they could not do nearly as well or as cheerfully.
YCB talks about loyalty- but YCB workers in this desperate dispute for justice show what real loyalty means. Not sham ‘loyalty’ out of fear of hardship to a heartless and exploitative ‘rip off’ boss, but loyalty to their clients who need a decent service for which decent pay should be awarded; and loyalty to each other, through their solidarity and support for their union backed by its members, including myself, who are standing side by side with YCB workers in their fight for a fair settlement .’
Best
Andrew Dismore
Labour Parliamentary candidate for Hendon
London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
Breaking News in-house services back in contention
Dear Colleagues
Last night I attended the Children’s, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee. This committee was being asked to recommend reject the in house service option and develop three outsourcing options.
Barnet UNISON presented a report (see attachment) to all of the councillors on this Committee for them to consider. In case I was asked to comment on our report I prepared a speech (see attached) to the Committee.
Our report made the following recommendations:
Recommendations
1. Barnet UNISON recommends a fully resourced innovative in-house option be included alongside further development of the schools-led social enterprise option. The two joint venture options should be rejected together with the outsourcing and LATC options.
2. School catering is a highly successful income generating service serving 90% of schools in Barnet, in which all surpluses directly benefits schools. It should be excluded from the scope of the project.
3. If the Committee recommends continuing the JVC options, then Capita should be approached and asked not to bid for the education and skills contract.
4. Before the Committee make any decisions the Performance and quality category weighting should be increased from 20% to 40% with a 10% reduction in the category weightings for Strategic Direction and Cost Saving.
Who were the contractors mentioned in the Council report?
In the Council report there is reference to discussions with the private sector some of whom suggested adding Early Years and Libraries in this bundle of services. In the meeting we were informed of the names of these contractors
What happened next was a surprise.
As the item opened up for discussion Labour Councillors proposed that the in-house option be included with the other outsourcing options.
The Deputy Leader of the Council disagreed with the wording of the Labour motion and proposed an amendment of recommendation 3 of the council report which added and the in-house service.
This amendment was put to the vote and all councillors voted in favour of in-house.
Several of us in the room fell of our chairs as this is the first time councillors have insisted that the in-house be included in a report on outsourcing proposals.
I will be writing formally to the Council seeking urgent talks as to how the in-house service is going to be resourced and supported in putting together a business case to deliver Education & Skills & Catering service in-house.
I will be organising meetings for all of our members between now and the end of the year. Please keep a look out for updates.
Key Links to the Your Choice Barnet (YCB) care workers dispute
If you want to understand why our care workers are taking strike action please take some time to read the following links:
1. Your Choice Barnet (YCB) “The real deal”
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1394
2. Why Your Choice Barnet (YCB) Care workers are taking strike action
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1406
3. Barnet UNISON Your Choice Barnet 8 Point charter
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1397
4. Come and join “Your Choice Barnet” (YCB) care workers over the next six weeks
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1407
5. Your Choice Barnet (YCB) – ACAS – UNISON response
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1410
6. When is failure not a failure……..Your Choice Barnet
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1405
7. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Care Workers to take strike action 8th and 9th September.
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1400
8. Barnet UNISON response to Your Choice Barnet Consultation Paper
9. ‘The way out of financial crisis’ Analysis of Consultation Paper Your Choice Barnet Ltd The Barnet Group Ltd (Local Authority Trading Company), London Borough of Barnet
http://www.socialworkfuture.org/attachments/article/330/CADDSS%20analysis%20.pdf
10. Barnet UNISON Report: The Barnet Group Ltd, Local Authority Trading Company: Privatising Adults and Housing Services
11. Stop the ongoing destruction of services for adults with disabilities in Barnet petitionhttps://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-ongoing-destruction-of-services-for-adults-with-disabilities-in-barnet
