Budget response for 14 February Cabinet

Recommendations

1. The Council undertakes as a matter of urgency a review of all payments to staff not employed directly by the Council.  Furthermore we recommend that the Council refer to the HMRC Guidelines in particular the advice to be found here that explains that “It’s your responsibility to correctly determine the employment status of your workers – that is, whether they’re employed by you or self-employed. This depends on the terms and conditions of your working relationship with each worker. It’s important to get your workers’ employment status right because it affects the way tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) are calculated for them. And it determines whether or not you have to operate PAYE (Pay As You Earn) on their earnings.”

Read full details here

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/employees/start-leave/status.htm

2. Merge the Director’s posts for Adults & Children’s Service

3. Delete the Deputy Director of Children’s Service post.

4. Merge the above Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive Directorates Posts; and reconfigure Assistant Director posts to release savings.

5. Reconfigure PHR Directorate by reducing the number of AD posts.

6. Review the salaries for Directors and Assistant Directors with a view to restricting them to a ceiling of no more than £100,000 p.a. (the salary of a social worker is around £33,000 p.a.).

7. Delete Enforcement and Operations manager post.

8. Implement the savings suggested by UNISON and use the money to save frontline posts, such as (no particular order) social worker posts, Sheltered Wardens, Youth workers, the Barnet Garden Project or Children’s Centres workers or training and development posts.

9. Without any dialogue on any of our recommendations outlined above, UNISON is opposed to all job cuts and service reductions. 

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