Barnet UNISON

Following the merger of the two former Colleges and the recent completion of the middle management restructuring, the next stage of the merge restructuring is to review all service area structures to bring together the two former structures and respond to the requirements of the new organisation.  The new management team are planning to issue proposals in relation to these structures for consultation during the Autumn Term, this will effect UNISON members.

At a recent support staff interest group, UNISON raised some queries regarding how the existing curriculum administrative support is undertaken and acknowledged that the structures in place at the two former Colleges operate differently for the provision of this  services and offered to assist with the audit of the curriculum administration arrangements currently in place to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current structures and practices, understand the roles currently in place and the requirements for this service going forward. 

As a result it has been agreed that UNISON and Organisational Development/HR (OD/HR)  will undertake a curriculum admin audit and feed the finding through to the Executive Leadership Group (ELG) for consideration when reviewing the proposed structures going forward.

To undertake this work UNISON and OD/HR will be holding focus group meetings at each site with the different staff groups either currently providing this service or using this service to obtain your input and hear your views.  Curriculum admin staff, compliance team staff, curriculum managers and teaching staff will be invited to attending these focus groups.  In addition 1-1 meetings will also be held with Academic Heads and Managers of Curriculum Admin and Compliance Team. These focus groups will be held on all sites to obtain your feedback to inform the audit and recommendations being put forward for consideration.  The dates the focus groups are on:

·         22 June at Grahame Park Campus (9-10.30 = Admin Staff; 10.30–11.45= Curriculum Managers; 12 noon–1pm teaching staff in room GP/ F224)

·         28 June at Wood Street Campus (1pm -2pm = Teaching staff; 2pm-3pm = Curriculum Managers in room WS/BG09)

·         29 June at Wood Street Campus (1-2pm = Admin Staff in room WS/BF03)

·         19 July at Southgate Campus (10.30-11.30 = Admin Staff; 12noon – 1pm= Teaching Staff; 1pm-2.30pm = Curriculum Managers in room SG/Staff Training Room)

Please note, whilst this information/report will be useful and will be considered by ELG when preparing the proposals for consultation there will still be a consultation process which will be held during the Autumn Term which will give all staff potentially affected by the service area restructuring and UNISON the opportunity to put forward your/their views, comments and alternative proposals for consideration before final decisions are reached regarding the structures and role responsibilities required for the new structure.

Please try to attend one of these sessions as this provides you with an opportunity to voice your views regarding the admin support you require.  If you are unable to attend please send your comment/views by email to curriculum admin review inbox.

Dear Councillors

Please find enclosed copy of latest UNISON report entitled ‘Cost Costs and consequences of a One Barnet Commissioning Council’

If you have any questions or concerns with regards the report please do not hesitate to contact me.

I want to leave you with the words of Ian Liddell- Grainger Conservative MP for Somerset West and Sedgemoor talking about IBM and the Strategic partnership known as Southwest One. I am copying in the MP for Somerset West and Sedgemoor in case any of you would like to seek further clarification on what he is reporting.

“The company has recorded chronic losses in every year of trading and has failed to do what its creators promised – namely save any significant public money. Instead it squandered cash on a computer system that still isn’t working properly and continues to overcharge Somerset County Council and other “partners” for so-called services.

Somerset Council has now caved in to FoI requests and published the bids:

“BT came in almost £34 million cheaper than IBM on the standard bid – and very nearly £6 million cheaper on the “variant” bid – the projected cost of the grandiose extras the customer (Alan Jones) fancied. Capita’s approach was to pitch ridiculously high, like a builder who doesn’t really want the work at all. But the fascinating thing about this table of statistics is the IBM tactic. There is no difference whatsoever between their standard and variant bids. In other words IBM seemed to be prepared to keep the price the same whatever nutty bolt-on extras the customer wanted. Jones had asked for an “iconic” HQ for South West One, for example, to be built in Taunton. Needless to say IBM never provided it. They were promising the moon for the same price as an ordinary product.”

You can read his full article here

http://www.liddellgrainger.org.uk/local/THETRUTHABOUTIBM.html

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

Front Page

Question: What does a letter look like when a service comes back in– house?

Answer: Take a look at the letter sent to staff following the decision of Sefton Council to terminate their contract with Capita Symonds

Glen William Sefton UNISON branch secretary said the firm had failed to meet its promises. “We have asked for two years for this contract to be reviewed in the knowledge it was not meeting promises of job creation or income generation.

“We certainly welcome the workforce back to the council but hope neither the council or Capita Symonds use this as an opportunity to shed jobs.”

You can view a copy of the letter sent to the Sefton UNISON rep explaining the service will be returning in-house

click on link below

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Sefton%20UNISON%20Letter%20to%20staff%20re%20TUPE%20030112.pdf

Question: “Can a Council which has gone so far down the road of privatisation decide not to award the contract to the private sector companies?”

Answer: “Yes they can as long as they have sound reasons to do so.”

Lets look at Edinburgh Council who had launched a mass privatisation programme and at the eleventh hour voted to keep services in house. In the minutes of their Council Meeting on 19 January 2012 they decided the following:

3) To further note that an internal improvement plan had been developed which had the potential to deliver significant improvements and savings to in-house service delivery and to agree:

(i) To develop the vision of the Integrated Facilities Management internal improvement plan and instruct the Chief Executive Officer to take appropriate steps to secure implementation of internal improvement.

To view the full minutes of the meeting click http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Edinburgh%20Council%205.2_Minute_190112.pdf

There it is, if the business case is not there then the Council can retain its in-house services.

Come along to the ‘Barnet Council Not For Sale Conference’ on Saturday 7 July at 12- 3 pm Greek Cypriot Centre, 2 Britannia Road North Finchley,London, N12 9RU to hear a speaker from Edinburgh tell their story. 

Dear Richard

I am formally requesting that you directly intervene in the Legal Services transfer to Harrow Borough Council. At a Legal Services briefing yesterday (14 June 2012) given by the Director of Corporate Governance, a significant number of staff began to raise very serious concerns about the transfer. The overwhelming feeling arising from this meeting was that Harrow is not treating this venture as a ‘shared service.’ Please find enclosed flyer which refers to ‘Harrow Legal’ which further reinforces the view of staff that this is not a real ‘shared service’ arrangement. In all the contributions there was a reoccurring theme being raised namely that Harrow seem to have a belief that their Lawyers are better than ours and that this perception is influencing the dialogue between both sides. I am concerned that without addressing these fundamental concerns it could lead to a first class service to Harrow and a second class service to Barnet.

I am seeking a postponement of the TUPE Transfer (due date 1July 2012) in order that there is genuine and meaningful discussions with your staff.

I believe you are already aware of what happened at a Planning Meeting earlier this week. I understand Standing Orders were allegedly overruled by a Harrow lawyer and as a result five decisions made have been declared ultra vires.

There is a real and urgent need for a meeting to scheduled with all staff to discuss the myriad of concerns raised by your staff at yesterday’s meeting. Until these concerns are addressed it would be in my opinion imprudent to sign the ‘inter authority agreement’

I can give an undertaking that I and the branch and our members want to work together with the Council to make this Shared arrangement work. However in light of what I heard yesterday a great deal of work needs to be done for this to happen.

Yours sincerely

John Burgess

Branch Secretary

Barnet UNISON

Read full report here

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/APSE%20Procurement%20and%20contract%20managemement.pdf

A worrying extract from page 6 of the report

“The elected members of the Council are perfectly entitled to develop and pursue their vision for the authority. They are obliged however to do so within the parameters set by law. This includes a requirement to act reasonably whilst taking into account all relevant factors and ignoring irrelevant ones. The numerous examples of failure to abide by internal procedures, as well as various potential breaches of competition law, should be relevant to any decision about whether and how quickly, the authority should implement its planned commissioning approach to service delivery. APSE has not been able to find any evidence that there has been any formal consideration of the implications of the apparently institutional inability to let and manage contracts adequately, for the Council’s future contracting strategy.

UNISON along with Barnet Alliance are hosting ‘Barnet Council not for Sale’ Conference

Saturday 7 July 12 – 3pm

Greek Cypriot Centre, Britannia Road, Britannia Road, North Finchley, London N12 9RU

Guest speakers

Professor Dexter Whitfield

Andy Mudd APSE Consultant

John Dix aka Mr Reasonable (local resident & Blogger)

Aberdeen UNISON

Edinburgh UNISON

Sefton UNISON

Details of other speakers to follow

Background:

Dexter Whitfield

Dexter Whitfield is Director of the European Services Strategy Unit (continuing the work of the Centre for Public Services founded in 1973) and Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre, University of Adelaide.

He has carried out extensive research and policy analysis of regional/city economies and public sector provision, jobs and employment strategies, impact assessment and evaluation, marketisation and privatisation, public private partnerships, modernisation and public management (www.european-services-strategy.org.uk).

He is the author of In Place of Austerity: Reconstructing the economy, state and public services (2012); Global Auction of Public Assets: Public sector alternatives to the infrastructure market & Public Private Partnerships (2010); Public Services or Corporate Welfare: The Future of the Nation State in the Global Economy (2001) and several other books on privatisation. He has published articles in journals, delivered papers and advised public bodies and trade unions in Europe, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Andy Mudd Consultant for Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE)

APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) is a not for profit local government body working with over 300 councils throughout the UK. Promoting excellence in public services, APSE is the foremost specialist in local authority front line services, hosting a network for front line service providers in areas such as waste and refuse collection, parks and environmental services, leisure, school meals, cleaning, housing and building maintenance.

APSE provides services specifically designed for local authorities, such as benchmarking, consultancy, seminars, research, briefings and training. Through its consultancy arm APSE delivers expert assistance to councils with the overt aim of driving service improvement and value for money through service review and redesign. APSE delivers in excess of 100 projects a year and clients benefit from the consultancy’s not for profit ethical approach to consultancy services.