Barnet UNISON along with Barnet Alliance are organising a protest at Full Council meeting on Tuesday 1 March.

Full Council will be voting through a budget proposal of £54 million of cuts.

In the past the Council has refused to allow council meetings to be filmed. Last week Eric Pickles, the Conservative Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government said:

“Many councils are internet-savvy and stream meetings online, but some don’t seem to have caught up with the times and are refusing to let bloggers or hyper-local news sites in. With local authorities in the process of setting next year’s budget this is more important than ever.

“Opening the door to new media costs nothing and will help improve public scrutiny. The greater powers and freedoms that we are giving local councils must be accompanied by stronger local accountability.

“We are in the digital age and [the] analogue interpretation of the press access rules is holding back a new wave of local scrutiny, accountability and armchair auditors.”

you can view whole statement here

On Tuesday 1 March residents and trade unions will taek part in a mass film making protest.

Come along and join us.

 

Barnet Council has carried out another options appraisal and surprise surprise it recommends privatisation. This makes 24 out of 25 council services have the same decision! Yet the Council says the decision is not predetermined!

UNISON submitted an interim response and is now consulting its members in order we can provide a fuller response by 28 February.

The decision will be made at Cabinet Resources Committee on 2 March.

You can read our interim response here

 

Dear Minister

 

RE: Your interview on Radio 4’s Today programme

I represent UNISON members working for Barnet Council and a number of voluntary and private sector organisations who provide services to Barnet residents on the behalf of the Council.

I have been contacted by a large number of members and residents about the content of your interview on the Today Programme this morning; in particular your policy that Councillors vote in open session on pay deals worth over £100,000.

Whilst I am sure we probably have different views about the future for local authorities, it does appear we both seem to agree on the issue about senior management pay, especially in times when public sector spending is under scrutiny and vital frontline services are facing direct and indirect cuts.

I am aware that you have received a letter (January 2011) from the Leader of Barnet Council seeking support, I am unaware if you responded favourably to her request? I also know you have had at least one letter from a concerned resident about some of the choices being proposed in our Council’s Budget which is due to go before a Full Council meeting on Tuesday 1^st March.

 

Last week Barnet UNISON submitted the following Budget proposals:

To view full letter click here

Westminster UNISON is organising a mass lobby of the next Westminster Cabinet meeting.

Members and Community Groups are urged to meet up outside

Westminster City Hall, Monday 21st February 2011 at 6pm

 

As well as a further 201 redundancies, Westminster Council are proposing to:

Reduce Care services to 3,000 vulnerable adults; Cut £200,000 from the Portman Family Centre; Reduce Street Cleansing; Close Play Centres ; Dismiss Youth Workers employed to reduce gang crime ; Change to the Meals on Wheels service;  Close St James’s Library in September and reduce staff in other libraries with self service machines.

And this is just the beginning. The Tri Borough Report cites 50% reduction in management alone. Phases 5a and 5b redundancies will start next week . As Westminster demands reductions in the contract price from its outside contractors, further services will be reduced and more staff will be made redundant.

This week Housing21 issued 361 redundancy letters to the Home Care workers employed to look after Westminster’s most vulnerable residents.

However, Westminster has spent £3,973,952 on 12 temporary staff, all of whom cost  over £500 a day.

The Temporary Head of Regeneration and Partnerships, costs the Council £745 a day and has cost £453,446 for the 608 days worked for the Council.

A Senior Project Manager, costing £600 a day, has cost the Council £852,600 for 1,421 days’ work, while a Senior Business Analyst, costing £521 a day, has cost the Council £827,400 for 1,588 days’ work.

Information released by the Labour Group last week detailing some £74,259 spent on flowers as well as £91,390 spent on media training. Whilst these sums may not seem large, the spend on flowers alone is equal to two average staff posts (excluding on-costs).

Last night all members of the Cabinet Committee walked out of the above meeting, there was no announcement to the public gallery as to why or where they had gone.

At one stage a rumour circulated that the meeting had moved to the Council Chamber, so residents started to make their way to the Chamber only to find out they were being encouraged to leave the Building. Everyone turned round and returned to the committee rooms where residents began a chorus of “we shall not , we shall not be moved!”.  It felt like a game of hide seek

Perhaps we all missed the message to the Gallery, from the outset there were problems being able to hear what was being said and nigh on impossible for those sitting beyond rows five of the gallery. As I have been to a number of council meetings (sad anorak that I am!) this issue has been repeatedly raised by members of the public and still the issue remains unresolved. All night there were problems with the mike, although on a few occasions it appeared that the mike had been turned off so we couldn’t hear what was said; but that could be just my paranoia?

A concerned member of the public has subsequently contacted the branch and directed us to a DPR which was approved for a new system to be provided by “Sound Advice PA Installations Limited in accordance with their quote in the sum of £111,768.00” you can view DPR here

Public Question Time

This is the spot for residents to submit questions. Residents receive a response to their questions before the meeting and are given an opportunity to ask a supplementary question (members please note this level of scrutiny does not happen if you work for the Private sector).

For this Committee the Council had received an unprecedented amount of questions. Cabinet refused to agree to pleas from residents for Question time to be extended the 30 minute slot, this did not go down well with residents who quickly realised there wasn’t going to be enough time for their questions/issues.

UNISON Marathon Twitter – 14 February

There was so much to see and hear at the meeting, if you want to read the twitter news as it happened last night click here

What the papers say

Hendon Times- Councillors flee meeting due to public outrage

TOP councillors were forced to abandon a crucial meeting in mid-flow last night amid public anger at their plans for this year’s budget………………..During the meeting councillors moved to quieten the crowd with leader Councillor Lynne Hillan telling the group: “There are places where we can have proper discussions and cabinet is not one of them.” ……………….After continued public interruptions transport councillor Brian Coleman said: “I’ve rarely met such rude members of the public.”

To read full article click here

Unison letter to Barnet Council urges review of senior staff pay to save frontline jobs

UNION bosses have urged Barnet Council to look again at their budget proposals in a bid to protect frontline services before tonight’s crucial budget meeting. Read full article here

What the local Bloggers have to say

·         Barnet Eye: “Barnet Council Budget meeting : Bunfight at the KO Coral “

·         Vicki Morris “Civilisation”

·         Mr Reasonable “Lollipop staff and management waste”

The College announced the VS scheme on Tuesday 8th February 2011 and invited staff to apply for figures and information. Staff that are successful in their application will leave on the last working day of February 2011.

The Learning Difficulties department (LLDD) has had to cut 6 courses from its tariff and this means a loss of 70 places for the most vulnerable members of our community and society as a whole.

The Mental Health Department will also be making cuts, another blow to this already disadvantaged section of society and as soon as these are announced, we will bring them to you.

A grave example of too many cuts coming too fast and effecting the future of this and the forth-coming generations’ education and opportunities.

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. 

To view report click here

Leave the libraries alone. You don’t understand their value.

Best-selling author Philip Pullman spoke to a packed meeting on 20 January 2011, called to defend Oxfordshire libraries. He gave this inspirational speech, which we are very pleased to co-publish with openDemocracy.

“Here in Oxfordshire we are threatened with the closure of 20 out of our 43 public libraries. Mr Keith Mitchell, the leader of the county council, said in the Oxford Times last week that the cuts are inevitable, and invites us to suggest what we would do instead. What would we cut? Would we sacrifice care for the elderly? Or would youth services feel the axe?

I don’t think we should accept his invitation. It’s not our job to cut services. It’s his job to protect them.

Nor do I think we should respond to the fatuous idea that libraries can stay open if they’re staffed by volunteers. What patronising nonsense. Does he think the job of a librarian is so simple, so empty of content, that anyone can step up and do it for a thank-you and a cup of tea? Does he think that all a librarian does is to tidy the shelves? And who are these volunteers? Who are these people whose lives are so empty, whose time spreads out in front of them like the limitless steppes of central Asia, who have no families to look after, no jobs to do, no responsibilities of any sort, and yet are so wealthy that they can commit hours of their time every week to working for nothing? Who are these volunteers? Do you know anyone who could volunteer their time in this way? If there’s anyone who has the time and the energy to work for nothing in a good cause, they are probably already working for one of the voluntary sector day centres or running a local football team or helping out with the league of friends in a hospital. What’s going to make them stop doing that and start working in a library instead?

You can read the full article here