John Burgess UNISON Branch Secretary said:

“Yes I know it is Barnet, and yes we are currently consulting on our thirteenth TUPE transfer in three years but this is unbelievable, is nothing sacred, what will be next, Street Scene services? But our branch doesn’t let outsourcing stop us organising so for the first time in our history that we will be holding our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 2 March from 4 pm at the St John the Apostle Church Hall, Friern Barnet Lane, Whetstone, (opposite the Three Horseshoes Pub).

All Barnet UNISON members are welcome it is going to be cracking meeting.”

Summary

1) UNISON members have given a strong mandate to UNISON to register their disagreement with the proposals outlined in the document to the employer.

2) The proposals see around 18% of jobs in Adults and Communities excluding mental health being lost. Whilst this is offset by the creation of 22 jobs and the reduction then falls to around 9%, the majority of those new posts are in place of higher paid and professional posts. Whilst there are fewer hard redundancies there is huge concern as to how any consequent increase in workload can be managed in a safe way against a backdrop of a workforce already struggling to keep on top of managing the work safely. » Read more

On Wednesday 25 November Chancellor George Osborne will announce details of his Comprehensive Spending Review. Barnet Council agreed at their Policy & Resources Committee, 9 July 2015 that their Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) needed to deliver £81.1 million in budget cuts.

A large part of the strategy is outsourcing and becoming a commissioning council, outsourcing their staff to other employers and asking them to deliver the staff savings.

On Wednesday 18 November councillors on Children, Education, and Libraries & Safeguarding Committee agreed to award a contract to global multinational giant Mott MacDonald.

This decision which still has to be ratified at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday 8 December 2015 will mean 476 Council workers transfer out of the Council to the private contractor.

At the same meeting councillors agreed to add staff working in Family Services to the ever growing outsourcing pipeline, aka Barnet Commissioning Council. This outsourcing project includes children’s social workers (child protection), children centre workers and youth workers among others.

At the Performance and Contract Management Committee, on Tuesday 17th November the following staffing figures were produced:

1. Education & Skills and Catering 300.93 full time equivalent posts

2. Street Scene services 428.46 full time equivalent posts

3. Library Service 114 full time equivalent posts).

4. Adults & Communities 235.71 full time equivalent posts

5. Family services 461.31 full time equivalent posts. Library figures have been excluded

6. Commissioning Group 147.87 full time equivalent posts

The decision to add all staff working in Family Services to the outsourcing project means that 92% (1,540.41 full time equivalents) of the current Barnet Council workforce are now facing the likelihood of being outsourced.

This would leave only council staff working in the Commissioning Group as Council employees. 

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: On Wednesday 25 November the Chancellor George Osborne will provide the details to his Comprehensive Spending Review. It is the worst kept secret that his review will lead to damaging future for social care and public services. The attack will be delivered by either cuts and or mass outsourcing.  The model for the sell-off of the NHS has been hatched and delivered here in Barnet. We have had 7 years of Future Shape, Easy Council, One Barnet and now Commissioning Council and we are finally at the point we predicted back in 2008, that the Council was looking to handover their staff to other employers, leaving behind a small core of workers. Whilst the Council will claim that decisions have not been made, staff in Barnet are fully aware of the ‘direction of travel’ for staff and will now be no doubt be making their own plans. This news presents a serious risk particularly for social services as social workers are highly likely to consider moving elsewhere. There is already a social work recruitment and retention crisis in Barnet this news is unlikely to help.”

End.

Notes to Editors.

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

Background:

Six years ago Barnet Council introduced a policy known as Future Shape which morphed into ‘easyCouncil’*.This imposed a series of tariffs on residents wishing to access a range of services. A basic service would be offered to residents at a fixed price, but ‘fast track’ services might be available if you paid extra.

This approach was quickly abandoned by the consultant driven One Barnet Programme, which led to the following Council Services being outsourced/privatised in the space of three years:

1. Social Care for Adults with disabilities to Your Choice Barnet

2. Housing Options to Barnet Homes

3. Parking Services to NSL

4. Revenues & Benefits, IT, HR & Payroll, Pensions, Health & Safety, Finance, Estates, Property Services, Procurement, Projects all now part of Capita CSG

5. Environmental Health, Planning, Building Control, Hendon Cemetery & Crematorium, Highways, Trading Standards & Licensing all now Capita RE

6. Legal Services

7. Registrars & Nationality Services

8. CCTV

9. Music Trust

10. Public Health

11. Mortuary Services.

Over the past three years our members have seen hundreds of colleagues transferred to other employers. This has often meant redundancy as the new employer moved jobs out of the borough and Greater London to places as far afield as Belfast, Carlisle, Coventry, Southampton and Darlington.

On Wednesday 25 November Chancellor George Osborne will announce details of his Comprehensive Spending Review. Barnet Council agreed at their Policy & Resources Committee, 9 July 2015 that their Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) needed to deliver £81.1 million in budget cuts.

A large part of the strategy is outsourcing and becoming a commissioning council, outsourcing their staff to other employers and asking them to deliver the staff savings.

On Wednesday 18 November councillors on Children, Education, and Libraries & Safeguarding Committee agreed to award a contract to global multinational giant Mott MacDonald.

This decision which still has to be ratified at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday 8 December 2015 will mean 476 Council workers transfer out of the Council to the private contractor.

At the same meeting councillors agreed to add staff working in Family Services to the ever growing outsourcing pipeline, aka Barnet Commissioning Council. This outsourcing project includes children’s social workers (child protection), children centre workers and youth workers among others.

At the Performance and Contract Management Committee, on Tuesday 17th November the following staffing figures were produced:

1. Education & Skills and Catering 300.93 full time equivalent posts

2. Street Scene services 428.46 full time equivalent posts

3. Library Service 114 full time equivalent posts).

4. Adults & Communities 235.71 full time equivalent posts

5. Family services 461.31 full time equivalent posts. Library figures have been excluded

6. Commissioning Group 147.87 full time equivalent posts

The decision to add all staff working in Family Services to the outsourcing project means that 92% (1,540.41 full time equivalents) of the current Barnet Council workforce are now facing the likelihood of being outsourced.

This would leave only council staff working in the Commissioning Group as Council employees. 

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: On Wednesday 25 November the Chancellor George Osborne will provide the details to his Comprehensive Spending Review. It is the worst kept secret that his review will lead to damaging future for social care and public services. The attack will be delivered by either cuts and or mass outsourcing.  The model for the sell-off of the NHS has been hatched and delivered here in Barnet. We have had 7 years of Future Shape, Easy Council, One Barnet and now Commissioning Council and we are finally at the point we predicted back in 2008, that the Council was looking to handover their staff to other employers, leaving behind a small core of workers. Whilst the Council will claim that decisions have not been made, staff in Barnet are fully aware of the ‘direction of travel’ for staff and will now be no doubt be making their own plans. This news presents a serious risk particularly for social services as social workers are highly likely to consider moving elsewhere. There is already a social work recruitment and retention crisis in Barnet this news is unlikely to help.”

End.

Notes to Editors.

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

Background:

Six years ago Barnet Council introduced a policy known as Future Shape which morphed into ‘easyCouncil’*.This imposed a series of tariffs on residents wishing to access a range of services. A basic service would be offered to residents at a fixed price, but ‘fast track’ services might be available if you paid extra.

This approach was quickly abandoned by the consultant driven One Barnet Programme, which led to the following Council Services being outsourced/privatised in the space of three years:

1. Social Care for Adults with disabilities to Your Choice Barnet

2. Housing Options to Barnet Homes

3. Parking Services to NSL

4. Revenues & Benefits, IT, HR & Payroll, Pensions, Health & Safety, Finance, Estates, Property Services, Procurement, Projects all now part of Capita CSG

5. Environmental Health, Planning, Building Control, Hendon Cemetery & Crematorium, Highways, Trading Standards & Licensing all now Capita RE

6. Legal Services

7. Registrars & Nationality Services

8. CCTV

9. Music Trust

10. Public Health

11. Mortuary Services.

Over the past three years our members have seen hundreds of colleagues transferred to other employers. This has often meant redundancy as the new employer moved jobs out of the borough and Greater London to places as far afield as Belfast, Carlisle, Coventry, Southampton and Darlington.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “Its official Barnet Council UNISON members to take 24 hour strike action on 2 November”

Barnet UNISON members who still work for Barnet Council (excluding community schools) will begin a 24 hour strike action on Monday 2 November

The dispute involves social workers, coach escorts, drivers, occupational therapists, schools catering staff, education welfare officers, library workers, children centre workers, street cleaning & refuse workers, all of whom have made it clear they want to remain employees of Barnet Council and don’t want to be outsourced.

In November 2015 a number of Barnet Council Committees will be making decisions about the future employment of staff working in

· Education and Skills and School Meals

· Adult Social care

· Children’s Centres

This is all part of the wider strategy to reduce the workforce to a small core of commissioners.

Our Picket Lines will be:

· Barnet House from 7 am.

· Mill Hill Depot—Starts 6 am onwards.

· Edgware Library —Start 9 am onwards.

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: “Our members want to work for the Council, they want to be directly accountable to the residents of Barnet. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will have to place the shareholders’ legal demands before local residents’ needs. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which uses zero hours contracts. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will not pay the London Living Wage as a basic minimum. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which won’t allow their colleagues to belong to their Pension Scheme, and our members don’t want to work for an employer which will take jobs out of the borough. That’s why 87% of our members working for the Council voted ‘Yes’ to taking strike action. So far the Council has failed to come close to agreeing to any one of these demands. One of our members has written and produced a music campaign video called “UNISON Army” which pretty much sums up the mood of our members take a look https://youtu.be/9AcYT2YTFLE ”

End.

Notes to Editors.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UNISON Library response to 70% cut in staffed hours by Barnet Council.

On Friday 2 October 2015, Barnet Council published their devastating report on the future of the library service which revealed:

· 46% of workforce to be sacked

· Council are now proposing to cut the 634.5 staffed library hours a week to 188.

· Four out of 14 Libraries will be run completely by volunteers

Our report found

“The cost of the three phases of the Library Review is expected to be about £3.15m, plus £4.41m to reduce the size of libraries and install technology enabled opening systems, a total cost of £7.56m. This is 4.4 times the projected annual savings in the library service operational budget.”

“The scale of the cut in the Library budget is unprecedented and could result in permanent damage to the service, drastically reduce resident’s use of the service and demotivate staff. The planned savings fall short of the target, so further cuts may be made in the Library budget.”

Barnet UNISON report makes the following recommendation:

1. The Council should commit to retaining direct provision of the Library Service, eliminate the need for Phase 3 and save the £500,000 costs.

2. Undertake a more rigorous and comprehensive equality impact assessment of the potential effect of the technology-enabled opening hours, drawing on the socioeconomic profile of users in the Edgware pilot.

3. The equality impact of the proposals on staff must be included in the Equality Analysis.

4. The proposed additional risks should be included in the risk register.

5. The consultation process should prioritise the views of service users and groups and organisations that are potential users of library services and facilities.

Professor Dexter Whitfield said: “Instead of trying to recruit a contractor, the Council should commit to continued provision by Library staff and use the £500,000 savings to increase staffed hours”

Hugh Jordan Barnet UNISON Library Convenor said: “The Council’s proposal “Barnet future Library Service” is a plan to replace qualified, experienced staff who have a wide range of skills and knowledge with volunteer and machines, and to reduce the size and quality of Libraries. The people of Barnet, including our members, did not march, lobby, sign petitions and respond to the consultation in support of volunteer and machine operated libraries, they were defending a service staffed by real library workers, libraries with enough space for people to study and use IT, and to house sufficient items for loan to meet the needs of their users. UNISON members working in Barnet Libraries oppose the Council’s dire future vision of our Service.”

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said:

“It is a little early for Halloween, but this Library proposal is more trick than treat. The trick is pretending to save our Libraries, the cut in staff and subsequent staff opening hours is tantamount to wholesale closure of all of our Libraries. This proposal will leave all the libraries to ‘wither on the vine’. I can predict a future Library meeting recommending closure of the Libraries with the justification being that no one is using the Libraries. Our members will be joining the Save Barnet Libraries campaign at the Library Committee meeting on 12 October.”

Save Barnet Libraries campaign are holding a rally outside Hendon Town Hall on Monday 12 October at 6 pm.

End.

Notes to Editors.

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

Background:

1. Barnet UNISON response to proposal to sack 46% of Library workforce. –http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Barnet%20Library%20Review%202%20UNISON.pdf

2. Save Barnet Libraries rally details here http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/12%20Oct%20CELS%20Lobby%20Flyer_0.pdf

3. The Future of Barnet Libraries – http://www.european-services-strategy.org.uk/publications/public-bodies/transformation-and-public-service-reform/options-appraisals/the-future-of-barnet-libraries/future-of-barnet-libraries.pdf

4. Why we are striking from a Library worker http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1576