Barnet UNISON

“The Commissioning Council- It’s what it says on the Tin!”

There has been a lot of talk about what is Commissioning Council means. What it really means is the Council moves to a strategic commissioning role and away from delivering services.  

In the last 12 months we have seen the following services leave the council

·         Residential/ Supporting Living/ Day care services for adults with disabilities

·         Council Housing Services

·         Parking Service

·         Legal Services Department

·         Audit Service – the majority of the service is provided by the consultancy Pricewaterhouse & Cooper

The next big tranche of Council services are New Support Customer Services Organisation (NSCSO)

Which involves the following services

·         Information Technology 

·         Human Resources & Payroll

·         Pensions

·         Health & Safety

·         Financial Services

·         Customer Services (Call Centre) which includes Social Care Direct Team             based in Adult Social Care.

·         Estates, Property Services

·         Revenues & Benefits

·         Corporate Programmes (Project management)

·         Procurement

·         Electoral Registration

These Council services are closely followed by Development and Regulatory Services (DRS):

·         Trading Standards & Licensing,

·         Land Charges,

·         Planning & Development,

·         Building Control & Structures,

·         Environmental Health,

·         Highways Strategy, Highways Network Management, Highways Traffic & Development, Highways Transport & Regeneration,

·         Strategic Planning & Regeneration,

·         Hendon Cemetery & Crematoria.

·         Priority Intervention Team

Music Service is going out early 2013.

Public Health Service – This critical responsibility was recently handed to Local Authorities. The staff have only recently arrived in the Council for the NHS only to hear Barnet have decided to transfer them out of Council control. 

 

The next stage of One Barnet is called Wave Two

1. Street Scene Services.

The decision to keep these services in-house was agreed at a Cabinet briefing at the ‘eleventh’ hour. Brent Council had announced in their executive meeting that they were going to carry out a joint procurement of Street Scenes with Barnet Council. The recycling service is being brought back in-house next year because the council will gain all of the financial benefits. The decision to bring this service back in-house was always the plan even if they had gone ahead with the joint privatisation with Brent.

2. Registrars Service

At the Cabinet Resources Committee on 17 December councillors are going to consider service delivery options for this service.

Incredibly they are now looking at Children’s social work.

Have you noticed a theme emerging?

When services are being reviewed, the question being asked is not if we (Barnet Council) can do them better ourselves but WHO can deliver them instead of the Council.

This is what a Commissioning Council looks like.

This is why the Council is breaking up the staffing structure and issuing redundancies.

This is why in-house staff are being referred to as delivery units!

The key message Council staff are getting is that the Council does not want them and are desperately seeking other organisations to take them on. What we have seen with the NSCSO project has reinforced this view and it seems the Council are unconcerned about the numbers of redundancies it brings. 

CAPITA have been named as the preferred bidder in the senior officer reports going to scrutiny committee on Thursday 29 November.

You can view all the reports here on Barnet Council website http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=123&MId=7348

One of the key issues raised by UNISON and Barnet Alliance concerns ‘lesson learnt’ from other poor outsourcing projects. At last weeks scrutiny committee councillors were told that the council had learnt from other council experiences.

I wonder if they came across the report below ?

Southampton Council has a long term contract with CAPITA.

Take a look at this committee report on CAPITA Property Services Performance Review dated 15 December 2011

You can read the full report here

Here are some highlights

“The report identified that performance in Capita Property Services was poor and client satisfaction was below the mean.”

“During the financial year 2010/2011 the number and range of issues that arose between service departments and Capita Property Services increased. A significant number of these were escalated within the dispute resolution procedure to the highest levels within the partnership. As a result the perception within the service areas and key stakeholders within the Council of the performance of the property service gave rise to a number of areas of concern.”

“Poor value for money due to high fees: A number of issues highlighted

concerns within service areas over the fees charged by Capita.

Disputes over fees have formed a very high proportion of the Property Services issues. The cause of many of the issues has been attributed to:

• A lack of clarity when fees have been proposed by Capita;

• Differing interpretation of the fee tables in the contract by discrete business units operating within the Capita office;”

 

“Poor reactive maintenance of school buildings” This has led to difficult decisions regarding prioritising expenditure and a perception that Capita are responsible for the poor maintenance of the schools.”

 “Quality of Professional Services: A number of issues have related to the quality of the professional services received from Capita.• Service errors were escalated to issues due to a lack of willingness on the part of Capita to accept responsibility for them and take corrective actions.”

 “Key Performance Indicator: The services provided by Capita Property Services are monitored by a selection of indicators. The reporting by Capita of their performance during the first three years of the partnership was not supported by robust assurance data and the results were often obtained immediately prior to reporting to the Council”

Finally

“The performance issues in the service provision by Capita Property Services have led to a significant amount of senior management time and resources,”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CAPITA WINS – MASSIVE JOB LOSSES FOR BARNET COUNCIL STAFF

Today approximately 520 Barnet Council staff have been told in a series of briefings that Capita is to be their new employer.

From figures released in the presentations today approximately 57% of staff will face redundancy as local jobs are exported to Belfast, Blackburn, Bromley, Carlisle, Darwen, Sheffield, Banstead, Swindon, Southampton.

For the last four years UNISON has warned of the danger of jobs being exported out of Barnet. Leading Councillors and senior officers have either played down this risk or discounted it as irrelevant.

John Burgess, Branch Secretary said: “It is a dark, dark day in the history of Barnet Council. Staff and residents will remember this date as the day the council carried on marching over the cliff ignoring the stark warnings of residents and other key stakeholders. The implications for our members are awful. I thought the morale of the workforce had already hit rock bottom, this news I believe will drag it down deeper and it will have an impact on other council staff. I also fear for the impact on future quality of services to Barnet residents. I really hope Councillors will think again about the implications of what they are proposing and the risks of ignoring a growing dissenting community voice emerging from a resilient committed community campaign. But, it isn’t over yet, there is an alternative way to delivering public services and our campaign is still very alive and focused. Watch this space”

***** Ends *****

Notes to Editors.

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

Background

Barnet Council is implementing a policy known as the One Barnet Programme, sometimes referred to as the ‘Commissioning Council’. This mass privatisation policy is designed for the Council to divest itself of responsibility to deliver services to its residents.

The first One Barnet project known as New Support Customer Services Organisation (NSCSO) will be for back office services such a Finance, Revenues & Benefits, Estates, IT, HR & Payroll etc, it is estimated to be worth up to £750 million.

It involves approximately 700 council workers. There is a high probability that the winning bidder will not deliver these services from Barnet so there is a high risk of significant redundancies at the moment of transfer.

This contract will be awarded to either Capita or BT at the Barnet Council Cabinet Resources Committee on Thursday 6 December 2012.

The second One Barnet project is known as Development & Regulatory Services (DRS) which includes the following services:

Trading Standards & Licensing, Land Charges, Planning & Development, Building Control & Structures, Environmental Health, Highways Strategy, Highways Network Management, Highways Traffic & Development, Highways Transport & Regeneration, Strategic Planning & Regeneration, Cemeteries & Crematoria.

This contract, worth up to £275 million pounds, will be awarded to Capita Symonds or EC Harris at the Barnet Council Cabinet Resources Committee on 8 January 2013.

This involves approximately 300 council workers

Both contracts are for ten years with an option to extend for a further five years.

UNISON’s position

Over the past four years UNISON has published over 40 detailed reports on the Future Shape/EasyCouncil/One Barnet mass privatisation programme.

Our message has remained clear.

 Provide a level playing field and follow good practice and include a fully funded in house service improvement model to run alongside the procurement process.

 Our proposal – In house model

There are a number of examples of where Councils have followed this approach to good effect. Most recently Edinburgh City Council considered the potential for using private contractors to deliver a wide range of its services. It embarked on separate procurement processes for 3 blocks of services utilising the Competitive Dialogue process in an attempt to obtain the best offers available from the market. At the same time in-house teams were asked to work on service improvement plans or Public Sector Comparators, so that when it came to the award of contract, the Council could be sure that the services it was purchasing would genuinely optimise its use of scarce resources. In the end the Public Sector Comparators proved to be more attractive than any of the external offers and no contracts were awarded.

For a fuller explanation click here

Barnet UNISON has produced a list entitled “100 PLUS reasons why One Barnet is high risk and bad for residents and services” which you can view here

NSCSO Meeting

Oak Room, NLBP, Building 4

Start 1pm

Branch Meeting

Oak Room NLBP Building 4

Start 12 noon

Start time 7pm

Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, NW4

From: John Burgess
Sent: 20 November 2012 18:03
To: Andreas Ioannidis; cllr.a.brodkin@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.campbell@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.finn@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.harper@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.hutton@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.moore@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.schneiderman@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.slocombe@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.sodha@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.strongolou@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.a.tambourides@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.coleman@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.evangeli@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.gordon@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.perry@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.rawlings@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.salinger@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.b.schama@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.c.farrier@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.c.omacauley@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.c.rogers@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.c.salinger@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.d.longstaff@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.d.seal@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.d.thomas@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.d.yawitch@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.e.greenspan@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.g.cooke@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.g.johnson@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.g.old@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.g.sargeant@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.h.hart@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.h.rayner@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.cohen@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.hart@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.johnson@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.marshall@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.scannell@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.tambourides@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.j.tierney@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.k.mcguirk@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.l.rutter@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.m.braun@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.m.cohen@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.m.palmer@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.m.shooter@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.p.coakleywebb@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.r.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.r.houston@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.r.rams@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.r.thompstone@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.r.turner@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.s.khatri@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.s.palmer@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.s.rajput@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.s.sowerby@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.t.davey@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.w.prentice@barnet.gov.uk; cllr.z.zubairi@barnet.gov.uk; Mittra, Cllr Arjun
Cc: ‘Terry, Stephen’
Subject: UNISON report on the Audit scrutiny of the One Barnet NSCSO & DRS Projects:
Importance: High

 

Dear Councillor

 

On Thursday 22 November a report naming the preferred bidder for the NSCSO Project will be published.

 

Please find enclosed UNISON report entitled ‘Report on the Audit scrutiny of the One Barnet NSCSO & DRS Projects.’

(To view report click here)

The report is accompanied by a number of Appendixes (A- D) some of which are internal audit reports and one is a Health Check report.

APPENDIX A here

APPENDIX B here

APPENDIX C here

APPENDIX D here

In relation to Appendix A &B please note the following:

“This document has been prepared only for London Borough of Barnet Management and solely for the purpose and on the terms and scope agreed with management.  We accept no liability (including for negligence) to anyone else in connection with this document, and it should not be relied upon by any third party.”

As ever if there is a point of clarification or concern please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

Dear Councillors

 

On Thursday 22 November the report naming the preferred bidder for NSCSO is to be published.

 

I want to take an opportunity to provide you all with a real example of a Public Sector Comparator (internal improvement plan) looks like in practice.

 

You should all be aware that the One Barnet Programme has not followed best practice in adopting a Public Sector Comparator alongside the Competitive Dialogue Process.

 

This enclosed report from Edinburgh Council (to view click here) provides an insight into how a complex procurement process has been open to public scrutiny and information has been shared with councillors and key stakeholders.

 

The key elements coming out of this report include :

 

1. Scrutiny

Under paragraph 4.9 the report refers to Gateway Reviews being carried out throughout the lifetime of the procurement process.

 

1.1  Have there been any such reviews to provide robust independent assurance to guide ‘councillors’ in Barnet Council?

1.2  If so, have they been made available to councillors?

 

2. Independent Validation

In 5.3 of the report KPMG recognises the importance of the public sector comparator and the report concludes:

 

“KPMG were commissioned to assess the deliverability and associated risks and benefits of the internal improvement plan or public sector comparator. The review concluded that, whilst the public sector comparator provided a legitimate comparison for the purposes of the procurement process, that further work was required to develop the vision into a robust design and deliverable plan.”

 

2.1 On what grounds was the inclusion of a public sector comparator ruled out of procurement process?

 

3. Information to councillors

 

In the case in Edinburgh councillors were independently informed of the critical risks around procurement savings under paragraph 4.11 of the report where it states:

 

“The latest review has also highlighted the risks identified at 4.7 associated with Capita’s procurement savings proposals. The Gateway Review emphasises the importance of a robust risk assessment of both the internal and external proposals.

 

The Capita Bid provides greater savings but the councillors were informed under the Risk section about the critical risks for the deliverability of savings including the following:

·         “Complex commercial mechanisms for calculation and delivery of savings expose the Council to significant risks that may have financial or operational impact

 

·         Realisation of procurement savings has significant dependency on services in other areas of the Council which are not directly influenceable by either the Partner or the Intelligent Client Function

 

·         External changes to implement Universal Credit represents major service change that will require early and effective management.”

 

3.1 Have councillors been provided with the risks to the deliverability of the savings as provided to Edinburgh Councillors included in Appendix 2

 

Recommendation:

 

Councillors are unable to take an informed decision about the NSCSO contract award until the following has been completed.

 

·         Public sector comparator for NSCSO is completed to compare alongside the preferred bidders solution

·         Independent validation of the deliverability of savings and assessment of associated risks

·         Comprehensive series of Gateway Reviews for NSCSO       

Public Services are littered with broken promises, contact variations and changes which always end up costing the tax payer more.

 

 

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

Screening of the Film  

‘Barnet – The Billion Pound Gamble’

Monday 19 November, Committee Room 12 , House of Commons, London, SW1A 2TT

6.30 for a 7 pm start

Public Meeting and Free Entry