Feeling nobody is listening to what you are saying? Do you feel sometimes like you are banging your head against a brick wall?
Why not have your very own brick wall. Well times are hard so why not have your very own CORPORATE STRESS BRICK.
To order your very own Corporate One Barnet Stress brick do not email us at donotemailus@thisisnotaproperemailaddress.org.uk
The Parking project has raised a serious concern about the transparency of the procurement process specifically in relation to financial evaluation procedure. UNISON had hoped that they would receive an explanation as to how the Council use this evaluation process. To date this has not been provided. There is a fundamental issue here about the purpose of the Evaluation process. In the absence of a response to our concerns the evaluation process is appears to be meaningless. As a long as an organisation provides a Bond it doesn’t matter what state their finances are in. We will be reporting more on this matter in due course.
On Thursday evening UNISON submitted a report in response to the proposal to transfer our members to NSL. You can read our report here
Basically our report sought a delay to the decision to transfer because of our serious concerns about the financial evaluation of NSL which you can read here . UNISON had used NSL latest publicly available accounts and used the Councils own Financial Evaluation criteria. The results were alarming see Appendix C of our report here
Before I was allowed to address the committee I was informed that I couldn’t talk about the serious financial concerns raised in our report. I was only allowed to talk about staffing issues only. I responded by saying our financial concerns were directly related to staffing issues. Our concerns about the financial evaluation did give cause for concern about the TUPE commitments and the future welfare of our members working on this contract. UNISON was simply seeking an explanation about the outcome of the financial evaluation carried out by the Council on the winning contractor.
Only the two Labour councillors and the Lib Dem Councillor asked any questions, which is quite worrying considering the issues and questions raised in our report which you can read here.
After responding to a number of questions one of the Conservative councillors made a request that the Councils section 151 officer respond to the email ( see Appendix A of UNISON report here) sent by UNISON on 15 March. This was accepted by all councillors. Furthermore it was agreed that the senior officer responsible for Parking respond in writing to all the questions raised by UNISON in our report. This was accepted by all councillors.
Finally a Labour Councillor made a recommendation to defer the decision to transfer the staff until the concerns raised by UNISON had been addressed and reported back to General Functions Committee.
Sadly, the party political battle lines were drawn. The two Labour councillors and the one Lib Dem councillor voted for this recommendation but they were over ruled by four Conservative councillors.
The Committee then voted on the original recommendation to transfer staff to NSL and RR Donnelly.
The vote went as follows
Cllr Scannel, Cllr Thomas, Cllr Rams, Cllr Prentice (all Conservative) voted to transfer staff to NSL
Cllr Farrier, Cllr Hutton (Labour) and Cllr J Cohen (Lib Dem) voted to oppose transfer to NSL.
Parking…..you couldn’t make it up!
It has been a roller coaster of a week for our members working in parking specifically those working in the back office.
On Tuesday, I attended TUPE consultation with NSL and RR Donnelly (a sub contractor). At the meeting UNISON was informed that on 1 May (date of transfer) back office staff would be requested to attend a meeting at Solar House in Finchley (new site for the enforcement team). The staff would be given ‘at risk of redundancy’ letters and consultation would begin. However NSL announced that consultation would be for two weeks instead of 30 days. This was a significant change from what UNISON and our members had obviously been told. I made the point that two weeks pay was a significant loss especially for staff facing redundancy especially in the current economic climate. Both NSL and the Council were insistent that it was two weeks.
On the same day two hours later a member of staff produced an email which has previously sent out to all staff which stated
“One of the questions clarifies that you will now be paid for the whole of May at the end of May as you are salaried rather than hourly paid staff.”
I attended a meeting later that day with members where it was confirmed that staff would now be paid for the month of May as previously agreed.
Dear members of General Functions Committee
Please find UNISON response HERE to General Functions Committee, 29 March 2012, AGENDA ITEM: 7, TUPE Transfer of Parking Services staff to NSL Ltd.
Recommendation
Before General Functions Committee approve recommendations 1.1 and 1.2 of the report, UNISON is requesting General Functions Committee to consider our report and provide responses to the questions therein.
Questions and Request for Information
1. Please provide UNISON copies of the financial evaluation on all the bids to ensure that the contractor is an economic operator and therefore the interest of the employees has been safeguarded.
2. Is the current Civica CE system fully functional to complete a full statutory end to end Civil Enforcement process, including the generation of charge certificate notices, instructions to bailiff and effective debt recovery?
3. Please provide UNISON a copy of the financial risk assessment to the Pension Fund on the application for AMS by RR Donnelly.
4. When were Barnet council first notified that there was a subcontractor being used on the contract?
5. What Due Diligence was carried out on the first subcontractor (Parseq) and what was the outcome? Please provide copy of the evaluation.
6. What Due Diligence has been carried out on RR Donnelly and what was the outcome? Please provide copy of the evaluation.
7. Can the Committee confirm that the Council has secured a Bond which adequately protects the Barnet Pension Fund?
8. In light of the ongoing issues about contract monitoring which have been raised over the last four years why recruitment for critical positions have not been made for this important function?
Best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary.
Barnet UNISON
BBBREAKING NEWS!
The big issue coming out of this Briefing is the location issue. UNISON members are already fully aware that the two Bidders (EC Harris and Capita Symonds) for the DRS contract also in Dialogue Two made a public statement that they will be delivering the services within the borough of Barnet for the life of the10 year contract and beyond.
The evidence is for all Barnet staff to read here on the intranet
Click here to view the EC Harris and Capita Symonds presentations from the Meet the Bidder Days
However at the NSCSO ‘Meet the Bidder briefing’ the response from Capita is that they are unable to answer this question at this stage, the reason being they are about to enter Dialogue Two. Furthermore they are not the ‘preferred bidder’ so until that point (approx 5 month time) they will be unable to answer this question.
I left the briefing with the following questions ringing in my ear “why are they refusing to answer this question, if they can do it for DRS why can they not do the same for NSCSO?”
I wonder what BT have to say this Friday?
Copthall School is in formal consultation for academy status with a transfer date of 1st September 2012; if this academy conversion goes ahead this will make 14 Barnet Academy Schools, out of Barnet’s 118 Schools. The difference with Copthall is that they are investigating using the Cooperative Trust model. The school will benefit by an estimated £140,000 that conversion would bring. ( but considerably down on the extra funding that earlier conversions received)
The argument against this proposal is of course that schools converting to academy status may gain financially for themselves but at the cost of the schools remaining within the local authority, because the central education fund is cut as a consequence – such a loss, multiplied several times over, would severely affect Barnet council being able to carry out its role as an education authority. Ironically one of the arguments put forward for this strategy is that the local education authority has reduced Copthall School funding some 7% last year, thus making conversion more attractive, but each conversion will negatively impact on the local authority schools that remain even more.
Staff at the School are obviously very concerned about what the future holds for them and how this will impact on pay, conditions and job security. UNISON will need to be active, and pro-active, along with other unions in the school. Reps and good communications are the key factor in allowing sharing of knowledge/expertise.
If the main reason for adopting a cooperative school model was the adoption of cooperative principles this could have been done without becoming an academy and without the funding implications. One fear is that the cooperative school approach of working in clusters could extend academies into the Barnet primary sector.
The cooperative model may on the surface look attractive in terms of ethos and values but it is not a long term solution to the problem of cuts in funding. That said UNISON has signed a framework agreement with the co-op trust putting is in a slightly better position than in a number of other Academy Schools.
The NUT is calling a one day strike and demonstration in London on 28 March as the next step in the pension’s campaign.
The strike action on March 28th is for NUT members in the following areas:
Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, East London, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster.
A central London demonstration on will be held on the 28 March. Assemble at 11am in Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY and a march to Westminster.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said:
“The Government is well aware that teachers do not accept the changes that they propose to make to our pensions. The vast majority of teaching unions have not signed up to the latest pension proposals which still mean that teachers will have to pay much more, work much longer and get much less in retirement.”
UNISON Advice
UNISON respects the rights of other trade unions to take industrial action. Members in schools and colleges have not been balloted and therefore they are advised to continue with their normal duties and responsibilities on the 28th March. UNISON members should not take on any additional responsibilities being given to them directly as a result of the teachers’ industrial action.
School support staff should not be expected to provide cover for or take classes, where this would normally be done by teachers who are on strike. In particular, Higher Level Teaching Assistants or cover supervisors should only be taking classes or providing cover where they are contracted to do so, it is timetabled or part of their normal duties. Staff should not be moved from the duties they would normally have carried out in order to cover classes and frustrate the industrial action of colleagues. Members who are under pressure to cover should contact their UNISON rep, branch or region for further advice and support.
Members are reminded that due to industrial relations legislation only those employees who have been involved in a legal ballot are allowed to take industrial action. However, members are encouraged to show support for their striking colleagues by attending meetings/rallies outside working hours.
Official picket lines
Refusal to cross an official picket line could render members of staff liable to disciplinary action including deduction of salary. The exception to this is where there are genuine grounds to believe that crossing the picket line could put the person concerned at risk of injury. Members are advised that when crossing a picket line they should assure official pickets that they will not undertake any work normally done by those on strike. NUT colleagues are unlikely to expect UNISON members to do anything unlawful.
Health and safety
Members should not be pressured to provide cover on health and safety grounds to avoid closure of a workplace.
What’s going on with our Pension – LGPS Survey
The UNISON team involved in negotiating over the ‘new’ Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) from 2014 has been considering whether to propose a ‘low cost option’ as part of the new scheme. This would enable members to opt for 50% contributions – and 50% benefits – for future service. The option would probably apply for up to a maximum of three years, during periods of financial hardship or reduced pay and might also help those members not in the scheme to join for a short period before entering the full scheme. At the end of that period, members could either opt out or transfer to the main LGPS. We also want to encourage as many non-LGPS members as possible to join.
It would really help us to know whether you might use this option – or think it’s a good idea in principle – whether you are already an LGPS member or not.
Please complete the short survey and let us have your views. To start the survey, click here:
If there is one news story I would ask every UNISON to read then it is the story that broke earlier this week about a senior figure working for Goldman Sachs who had his resignation letter published in the New York Times. It is of massive interest is the connection of Goldman Sachs with a number of catastrophic financial failures including the Greek Debt crisis? At a time when we are told that we need to accept the deficit and accept less money, less services, more misery, it appears that the whole financial system has learnt nothing. Please find a number of high profile articles of the subject of Goldman Sachs and their connection with the Greek Debt Crisis.
1. TIME Magazine “ 7 Ways of Seeing Goldman Sachs”
The article in the TIME magazine see link below refers to another article by James Shaft of Reuters argues along similar lines, saying that financial markets don’t operate properly without strict regulation, and that pining for the days when banks took the long view misrepresents the past. It wasn’t because investment banks weren’t publicly traded or that bankers of 40 years ago had more scruples, he argues, but that heavy regulation prevented the kind of excesses that investment banks engage in now.
2. “Goldman Sachs shares slump”
3. “Goldman Secret Greece Loan Shows Two Sinners as Client Unravels”
According to the article below Goldman Sachs appears to have used a clever financial instrument to disguise the Greek Governments growing debt burden
“As first reported in 2003, Goldman Sachs used a fictitious, historical exchange rate in the swaps to make about 2 percent of Greece’s debt disappear from its national accounts. To repay the 2.8 billion euros it borrowed from the bank, Greece entered into a separate swap contract tied to interest-rate swings.”
4. “Toxic bank Goldman”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/toxic-bank-goldman-sachs-web-763345
5. Goldman Sachs involved in the Greek debt crisis watch this YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-hA9DW-Po
Questions:
“In light of this story breaking what should the Regulators do about Goldman Sachs?”
“Should those people who lost out as a result of Goldman Sachs advice now consider putting in a claim for losses from Goldman Sachs?”
