Barnet Tories 2023/24 Council Budget Plan to cut hundreds of jobs……

Barnet Tories 2023/24 Council Budget Plan to cut hundreds of jobs and the right to representation by a trade union.

Read details here on the Council website https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s76600/Conservative%20Alternative%20Budget%20Final%20Publish.pdf

In the biggest Cost of Living Crisis in over 75 years Barnet Tories have proposed an alternative budget that according to the Councils Chief Finance officer has this to say:

“Notionally this would be taking approximately 100 posts out of the services not mentioned above. This would have a significant impact on the delivery of those services and the S151 would advise caution in the delivery of this saving and the impact it could have on services.”

https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s76601/S151%20and%20Monitoring%20Officer%20Comments%20on%20Alternative%20Budget.pdf

 

This anti worker rhetoric sums up where we are politically. The only response the Tories have is to frighten workers with redundancies and at the same time take away the right of workers to organise and be represented by trade unions.

If they want to look at waste, Barnet UNISON warned the Tories of the dangers of their mass outsourcing ideology back in 2008. We warned it would lead to poorer services, mass redundancies and of course we warned that Barnet would become a cash cow to the contractors.

Take a look at Barnet Blogger Mr Reasonable and read in horror the latest figures of Council spend on the two Capita contracts read below

http://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.com/2023/02/capita-continuing-to-disappoint-in.html

 

To date Barnet Council has given Capita an eye watering £634 million of which £273 million more than the contracted value.

Back in 2012 Barnet UNISON was assured that Capita would be held to account, but the reality is that they have been treated differently to in-house services who have had to try to deliver services through austerity whereas Capita keep holding their hands out asking for more.

What was worrying at the last Audit Committee on 16 January 2023 is that the Council were not seeking compensation for poor performance and even more worrying that the Council is not monitoring Capita in the last few months of contract take a listen below:

https://aisapps.sonicfoundry.com/AuditelScheduler/Player/Index/?id=2329a97b-5ee9-40b6-ad39-aef3cce9a3b6&presID=b142792e21954335a5579e2a62fb46ef1d

 

The Tories spent £13 million to consultants to help develop and manage the mass outsourcing of services.

What about the decision to set the Council depot based in the centre of the borough ideally located to deliver frontline services to the residents of Barnet. A decision that saw services split between Barnet and Harrow. This model did not work, and the costs associated with moving services back to one location have cost millions with more still to be spent.

Barnet UNISON is proud of the hard work and commitment of all our members working across all parts of the Council including schools. They were quite rightly lauded as key workers, most of whom went into work when others worked from the safety of their homes.

We will continue to organise and mobilise our members wherever they are.

End.

UNISON submit National Council and School Pay offer alongside GMB and Unite

“UNISON is campaigning for a decent NJC pay increase for 2023, which will affect members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We are asking for a pay increase of RPI + 2%. 

The Treasury’s annual forecast for RPI for 2023 is currently 10.7%, so the increase we are asking for would amount to 12.7%. 

This would ensure that council and school workers are able to afford basic necessities without having to go from the front line to the breadline.”

For more details, please click link to UNISON National website below

https://bit.ly/3HFiGjg

 

Insourcing win at Barnet council

Insourcing win at Barnet council

Over 300 staff in a variety of services like trading standards, environmental health and other regulatory services, will now be transferred back in-house

Staff at Barnet council are due to be transferred back to council employment thanks to a decade-long campaign by UNISON.

The 330 affected workers are currently employed by outsourcing multinational conglomerate, Capita, and are being brought back in house after the council was used as a test case for the outsourcing of local government services.

The staff who work under a joint venture called ‘Capita Re’ in a variety of areas like trading standards, environmental health, planning highways and other regulatory services, will be TUPE transferred back in house on 1 April this year.

In 2012, much of the service provision at the council was outsourced to Capita on decade-long contracts by the Conservative-controlled council, with the intervening 10 years marred by several controversies including a multi-million-pound fraud and contracts running vastly over budget.

Barnet’s UNISON branch has campaigned for services to be brought back in-house since the contracts were initially handed to Capita and there have already been major in-sourcing successes at the council.

In May last year, Labour won control of the council after 20 years of Conservative leadership and, though the contracts had already been due to end next year, the new council has fast-tracked plans by six months to bring some services back in house.

John Burgess, Barnet local government branch secretary, said: “This is good news for staff, good news for residents and good news for the services. I welcome the decision and look forward to welcoming back all the services back into Barnet Council where they all belong.

“For a decade, our branch has campaigned for local government services at Barnet to be brought back in-house and, while we are happy that this latest has been fast tracked, there are still many issues to address for our members who are being TUPE’d.

“These include workplace inequalities such as staff being paid differently for the same role. Barnet UNISON is already seeking discussions with the council about harmonisation of the terms and conditions of the TUPE’d workforce.

“During the worst cost of living crisis in 75 years it is imperative that our branch does it best to look after the interests of our members transferring back into the council.”

https://www.unison.org.uk/news/2023/01/insourcing-win-at-barnet-council/

 

Emergency HGV drivers depot meeting 1 February 5.45 am

Barnet UNISON carried out an informal ballot of our members on the offer of 10 % Recruitment/Retention for our HGV driver members.

97% of members rejected this offer.

Barnet Council has been paying social workers in Family Services Recruitment/Retention payments up to 20% for the past 5 years.

In the worst Cost of Living Crisis our members believe they are worth more than 10%.

We are calling a meeting of all drivers to discuss what happens to our claim. It is important that all drivers turn up to the meeting

Wednesday 1 February, 5.45 a.m.

End.

Cost of Living Crisis one off payment to lowest grades except in community schools.

Yesterday Barnet Council has announced in an email to all staff that it will be making a Cost-of-Living payment of £150 to all non-schools’ staff on grades A-E.

Whilst Barnet UNISON welcomes this payment for our lowest paid members, we are concerned that another group of low paid female members working in Barnet Council Community Schools will not be receiving this payment from the Council.

We have been informed that Barnet Council will be writing to all the Community schools to advise them of the payment.

Barnet UNISON has asked for Barnet Council to support Community Schools to enable them to make this much needed payment to their staff.

 

End.

A shift of a care worker in Barnet: The London Living Wage is not enough!

Barnet UNISON is in negotiations with The Barnet Group (TBG) about improving Pay and Terms and Conditions of our members.

One of our members, a care worker put together a list of work she does each day.

 

The list is enormous but it’s a critical service. The impact on the quality of life of residents is determined by the skill and professionalism of the care worker.

 

Whilst politicians will queue up to say that care workers are central to the delivery of care in the community they still refuse to commit to dealing with the ‘elephant in the room’ which is Pay.

 

Care workers have been subjected to outsourcing which has seen the pay and terms and conditions sink.

 

Considering the care work workforce is largely female it could be said that  outsourcing of care work is an example of institutional misogyny within procurement and commissioning of care services.

 

Look at this list of tasks and ask yourself whether you think that care workers should be paid more.

 

As a Carers we do:

  1. Personal care
  2. Make bed and tidy up bathrooms and rooms.
  3. Put water in the jug.
  4. Give bedtime tea.
  5. Serve tea after personal care.
  6. Take all clothes, bed linens, towels to laundry to wash.
  7. Assist residents to go to the dining area.
  8. Support residents to walk with jimo frames. or in a wheelchair.
  9. Assist residents to sit on the chair.
  10. Serve breakfast and prepare tea and toast.
  11. Assist residents to go the toilet.
  12. Assist residents as required.
  13. Assist residents to go to the lounge or in their room.
  14. Make sure they have everything as needed.
  15. Take Covid Temperature and record.
  16. Clear dining area and set up for lunch time.
  17. Wash all dishes and serving pots and pans.
  18. Clear and sweeping floors.
  19. Medication administered.
  20. Assist and respond when is needed.
  21. Do daily logbook and record.
  22. Served 11 am tea or juices choices if residents.
  23. Change bed linen.
  24. Dealt with residents as different needs.
  25. Escort residents to their hospital appointment.
  26. Take samples of residents to GP.
  27. Support residents with hearing aids, glasses, dentures.
  28. Weigh residents regularly.
  29. Take BP regularly.
  30. Admin work monthly based filing all documents.
  31. Everyday take fridges temperatures and food temperatures.
  32. Daily logging and administration medication.
  33. Assist residents to go to toilet before lunch.
  34. Assists residents to sit on their chair to eat lunch.
  35. Bring food trolly from kitchen to dining area.
  36. Get ready to serve lunch.
  37. Served lunch and dealt with individual’s needs.
  38. Again scraped all dishes and take to the small kitchen to wash.
  39. Clear, sweep, collect and wash.
  40. Support and assist residents needs to go toilet, lounge, in their room.
  41. Empty bin and take to waste bin outside.
  42. Do daily logging book.
  43. Laundry to put way and hang in the wardrobe in the resident’s room.
  44. Teatime 3pm prepare tea and served tea and coffee and cakes.
  45. Take Covid Temperature.
  46. Do Menu for next lunch and supper ask individual what they would like to eat and explained to residents what is in the menu.
  47. Do shopping list for next day.
  48. Collect all cups and plates and wash them.
  49. Set up tables for suppers.
  50. Do daily logbook.
  51. Administration medications.
  52. We do behaviour chats, fluids records, bowels records, oral care records everyday morning and evening.
  53. Serve suppers bring trolly to the dining area.
  54. Do personal and oral care individuals.
  55. Scraped dishes and wash and clear dining area.
  56. After all personal care done take clothes and towels into laundry room and put them in the washing machines and clean kitchen.
  57. Medication administered.
  58. Serve bedtime’s tea.
  59. Put residents in beds.
  60. Empty dishwasher and put cutlery way.
  61. Collect all cups and mugs and put in washing.
  62. Do daily logbook.
  63. Check resident before finish shifts and handover.
  64. Go home.

 

64 reasons why £11.95 (London Living Wage) is not enough Pay for care workers.

 

End.

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