Search Results for: one barnet

Why are we on strike?

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 has moved jobs out of the borough and Greater London to places as far afield as Belfast, Carlisle, Coventry, Southampton and Darlington.

Now we are in the final phase for what remains of Council services.

Barnet has branded this final phase as the ‘Commissioning Council’.

Very few people know what Commissioning really means, but if you work for the Council we all know it means that we will no longer be working for the Council.

On 3 March 2015 Barnet Council agreed its next Five Commissioning Plans all of which are looking at ‘Alternative Delivery Models’, jargon for working for a different employer.

The Council Services now at risk of outsourcing are:

1. Early Years – 13 Children’s Centres

2. Library Services

3. Adults & Communities services

4. Street Scene Services e.g. Waste & Recycling, Street Cleansing, Parks and Transport

5. Education & Skills and School Meals services.

Speaking to the Council

Over the past six years Barnet UNISON has made numerous, well-documented attempts to speak to the Council. Our voice, however, has been drowned out by expensive consultants who appear to have been running the Council for all this time.

We exhausted the internal procedures to try and avoid having to register a dispute. We finally declared a formal dispute with the Council on 4 December 2014.

Despite this on 12 January 2015 Barnet Council made a decision to put Education & Skills and School Meals services out for sale.

Three big multinational contractors are now bidding to win a contract valued at almost £1bn.

We are still waiting for the Council to return to the negotiating table but time is marching on.

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.

John Burgess

Branch Secretary

Barnet UNISON

 

*easyCouncil is back: at a recent Full Council meeting on 14 April Conservative Councillors decided to adopt an easyCouncil approach to Planning Services. If you have the money you can fast track your request! 

IMPORTANT: TUPE outsourcing update

Dear Colleagues

In response to requests for an update on the TUPE Commitments negotiations.

On 3 March 2015, in response to a counter proposal from Barnet Council, the trade unions requested an urgent meeting to try to reach an agreement; we are still waiting for a new date to try and reach an agreement with the Council.

In the interim please take some time to look at the 13 outstanding TUPE commitments which are not contained in the counter proposal from Barnet Council.

1. No staff on the contract will earn less than the London Living Wage.

2. No staff on the contract to be employed on zero hours contracts.

3. The new employer gives an undertaking not to offshore work and not to transfer jobs out of the Borough.

4. Any sub-contractor commissioned to run any of the services included in the contract will be required to adopt the same TUPE Transfer Commitments.

5. A guarantee that TUPE will last for the length of contract (the regulations do not specify a time period). This is essential to protect conditions of service, existing redundancy payments and early retirement provisions.

6. New starters will be on the same terms and conditions and the company will not operate a two-tier workforce.

7. New staff must have the option of remaining within or joining the Local Government Pension Scheme or Teachers’ Pension Scheme as appropriate.

8. Nationally agreed local government pay awards will be implemented in full unless otherwise agreed with the recognised trade unions, and for teachers they will adopt each annual School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (or Soulbury pay scales for those paid on this Soulbury) unless otherwise agreed with the recognised trade unions.

9. The job evaluation scheme in use at the point of transfer will be applied for the duration of the contract.

10. The current trade union recognition and facilities agreement must be maintained, unless changed by joint agreement, for the duration of the contract. This should cover new staff who must have equal opportunity to join a recognised trade union.

11. There will be no restrictions on the employment status of branch trade union officers in the representation of their members.

12. The new employer will be required to make a contribution (as set out in the Trade Union Facility Time Charging Mechanism in the One Barnet contracts) to the Council’s Corporate facility time budget and/or the schools’ traded service for TU facilities time to ensure transferred employees continue to receive support from trade union branches.

13. The Council must allocate adequate resources to fully and effectively monitor the employment and health & safety policies and practices of the contractor as an integral part of the performance management and reporting process.

Summary

The Trade Unions submitted 18 TUPE commitments and only 5 have been included in the counter proposal.

UNISON wants to ensure maximum protection and representation for any members who are transferred to another employer.

Barnet UNISON Press Release:  10 March 2015  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “We told you so!” UNISON response to Care Quality Commission (CQC) poor ratings for Care settings in Barnet

“The service was not safe as we found that people using the service were exposed to significant risk to their safety.” (CQC Report 3 March 2015)

UNISON is dismayed at the inadequate ratings for Supported Living provided by Your Choice Barnet (YCB).

BUT, we had predicted that this would happen.

In a report on 31 May 2013 Barnet UNISON raised safeguarding risks as a result of a restructure which resulted in over one third of the existing staff leaving supported Living as Support Workers and being replaced with even lower paid Assistant Support Workers. Assistant Support worker roles are paid at approximately 33 % less that of a Support Worker role. We added that the current proposal undermined the need for qualified, professional, skilled staff to work in areas of care, the consequences of which would be dangerous for service users and also for staff.

How right we were and the CQC report provides evidence here:

· “One relative commented, “None of the cuts have led to improved care, all work has to be done in a hurry.” (CQC Report 3 March 2015)

· “Relatives told us of the effect that a changing work force had on people. One relative said, “My relative lost their key worker, it was very upsetting for them.” Another said, “When a worker leaves my relative feels it like the loss of a family member.” (CQC Report 3 March 2015)

· “However, we met and saw staff that were knowledgeable, enthusiastic and engaged with people, we noted these were all permanent staff.” (CQC Report 3 March 2015)

The restructures of staff in 2013 and 2014 were as a direct result of serious financial failings of the outsourced one Barnet project called YCB. Even a 1million bailout was not sufficient and led to YCB imposing a 9.5% pay cut on staff from 1 April 2014.

The CQC report fully supports concerns raised by our members about the risks to service users from the attacks on terms & conditions. This was always likely to be the case.

Barnet Council were aware of the report yet at no point were the findings publicly shared at any of the Scrutiny Committees.

“We contacted the commissioners of the service to obtain their views about the care provided in the service.” (CQC Report 3 March 2015)

“The ratings for this location were awarded in October 2014.” (CQC Report 3 March 2015)

CQC found the following breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.”

1. “This was a breach of Regulation 9 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulation 2010.”

2. “This was a breach of Regulation 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.”

3. “This was a breach of Regulation 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.”

4. “This was a breach of Regulation 14 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.”

5. “This was a breach of Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulation 2010.”

6. “This was a breach of Regulation 22 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulation 2010.”

7. “This was a breach of Regulation 23 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.”

The service has failed to deliver the growth to sustain a high quality service and has clearly failed to provide a quality service for vulnerable adults in Barnet.

It is time to call an end to the outsourcing ideology and put the needs of service users and parents and carers first.

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said:

“The driving motivation for our members in this dispute is their fears about what is happening to the quality of services. Low pay in the care sector does not deliver high quality services. This report gives a stark warning of the consequences of ongoing attacks on the pay of care workers. Therefore in light of the content of the CQC report we are calling on Adults & Safeguarding Committee to instruct Council officers to bring this service back in house in order to bring stability to the service and restore confidence of the services users, parents/carers that their children will receive a service to be proud of.”

Notes to Editors.

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

Background:

In February 2012 Barnet Council transferred Learning Disability and Physical and Sensory Impairment services for adults to a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) called Your Choice Barnet (YCB). About 160 staff (145.6 Full Time Equivalents) in Adults services transferred to the LATC.

Following a restructure in 2013 and cuts to pay on shift allowances there are now only about 105 FTE working for YCB a 30% cut in staffing levels.

Links

1. CQC Report Supported Living inspection report here http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-112848964

2. CQC report with highlights by Barnet UNISON here http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Barnet%20Supported%20Living%20inspection%20report%202014%20UNISON.pdf

3. Winterbourne quote: “The complaints heard at both the first inquiry and this one testified not only to inadequate staffing levels, but poor leadership, recruitment and training. This led in turn to a declining professionalism and a tolerance of poor standards.” (Page 45, Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry February 2013 Executive summary).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213215/final-report.pdf

4. UNISON response to Consultation Paper 31 May 2013

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Full%20UNISON%20response%20to%20YOUR%20CHOICE%20May%202013.pdf

5. UNISON response to Task and Finish Report 25 November 2013

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/UNISON%20response%20to%20Task%20and%20Finish%20Report.pdf

6. “I Found Myself Just Crying” – Your Choice Barnet

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1263

7. Why UNISON Your Choice Barnet Care Workers are taking strike action.

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/2015.01.15.%20YCB%20FLYER%20PUBLIC.pdf

8. UNISON Your Choice Barnet Care Workers “9 Point Flyer

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/2015.01.15.%20STRIKE%20YCB%20FLYER%20nine%20point.pdf

9. Support UNISON Your Choice Barnet Care Workers strike action video

http://youtu.be/9jVXn6_BcVY

10. The Capita £110million payment

http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s21029/Appendix%20I%20-%20Capita%20Payments.pdf

11. Your Choice – in built pension burden creates artificial loss to justify pay cut http://lbbspending.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/nochoice.html

12. Sign Petition to Stop the ongoing destruction of services for adults with disabilities in Barnet

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-ongoing-destruction-of-services-for-adults-with-disabilities-in-barnet

The Pension Deficit – Outsourcing

What is the total Pension Deficit?

2010 Valuation

The results of the valuation were as follows:

The London Borough of Barnet Pension Fund had a funding level of 76%, i.e. the assets amounted to 76% of the liability promises made as at that valuation date. This corresponded to a deficit of £189.6m at that time. It is important to note that the pension deficit affects all stakeholders in the LB Pension Fund, not just Barnet Council.

What is clear is that private contractors are being treated differently from YCB & Barnet Homes.

In order to explain here is a list of the One Barnet outsourcing projects. For each project there is a hyperlink to the relevant Pension Fund Committee report.

 

1. Barnet Homes/Housing options 2012 15/03/2012 (not funded) paragraph 6.2
2. Your Choice Barnet 2012 01/09/2011 not funded
3. NSL Parking 2012 20/12/2011 fully funded paragraph 6.3
4. CSG/NSCSO 2013 11/07/2013 not funded
5. Re DRS 2013 09/09/2013 fully funded paragraph 6.4
6. Harrow Legal 2013 13/06/2012 fully funded paragraph 9.7
7. Brent Registrars 2014 18/03/2014 fully funded paragraph 6.2
8. OCS CCTV 2014 18/03/2014 fully funded 7.2

 

To view full report please click here

“Council may be forced to outsource additional services, warns leader”

(Barnet Press 3 October 2013)

“THE leader of Barnet Council says that the authority will continue to outsource and make funding cuts if the government continues to slash local authority budgets after the 2015 general election.” More here

On Tuesday 1 October  UNISON attended a meeting to discuss the One Barnet Programme. Some of our members may be aware that the programme was split into Wave One & Wave Two. The meeting formalised the closing of Wave One with the caveat that there would be a lessons learnt report produced with an opportunity for the trade unions to contribute. We were informed that Wave Two has already started which includes CCTV service, Registars Services, Mortuary Service all of which will no doubt be outsourced at some point in time.

The latest big project for Wave Two is the Education Service or what used be known as the Local Education Authority (LEA). This service has had some pretty vicious cuts in the past but has now been lumped together with all the services that have remained in Education in readiness for the One Barnet treatment.

I reported back to the meeting that staff already believe it is simply a matter of time before they are outsourced. Many workers in our Education service are already aware that Capita won the contract to deliver LEA services on behalf of Staffordshire County Council late last year. More recently Capita won another big contract in Swindon to deliver the following services: administrative support and reception-based duties on behalf of the Children’s Integrated Service Localities teams, which includes education welfare, youth engagement, health visiting support, targeted mental health services and educational psychology.

So, the news headline will not be a shock to anyone working for the Council. The Commissioning model does not tolerate in house service delivery. It doesn’t matter whether the service is high performing, low cost, value for money, the ‘die has been cast’ and outsourcing is the ‘only game in town’.

It is only right to point out Streetscene services have remained in-house. This weekend sees the return of the Recycling services from May Gurney. However a straw poll of members working down the deport would reveal that no one believes that this services will be still in-house once Mill Hill Depot is sold by December 2016

UNISON does not support ideological adherence to One Barnet outsourcing and will continue to support our members and public services in Barnet.