UNISON – Evaluate the One Barnet bidders 14 March 2012

Barnet Council staff have had a visit from EC Harris & Capita Symonds, both of whom were shortlisted through to the next round for the £275 million Development & Regulatory Services (DRS).

Both bidders delivered a presentation to staff and will now be going in confidential discussions with the Council.

In the meantime there have been smaller scale One Barnet outsourcing taking place across the Council. Our branch is currently supporting members who are facing the daunting prospect of being handed a ‘at risk of redundancy’ letters in the first week of their TUPE transfer. In pre-consultation discussions UNISON has learnt that some Council jobs being TUPED to the contractor are  immediately going to be handed over to another subcontractor, all before the contract has even started!

What is really upsetting staff is that senior managers have known about this, months ago!

Any way UNISON members working across DRS services are going to meet up for lunch on Wednesday 14 March to evaluate the presentations delivered by EC Harris and Capita Symonds.

Key message to the Bidders from members – ‘Sign up to TUPE Plus’

TUPE Plus can be viewed here

Well done – One Barnet UNISON members!

Over the last few weeks I have attended a number of TUPE meetings with contractors (Barnet Homes and NSL) and tow briefing sessions with EC Harris and Capita Symonds who are bidding for the DRS contract.

A common theme is emerging from these discussions, TUPE. In every meeting I have attended the contractors have been at pains to point out that they will honour TUPE not just for 12 months but for the life of the contract, something which was a key issue in TUPE plus.

Barnet Council rejected TUPE Plus and offered TUPE Commitments instead. However the TUPE commitments are rapidly proving to be, in the words of a UNISON member facing a TUPE transfer ‘not worth the paper there are written on’ a view which was overwhelming supported at the UNISON AGM last week.

We will be asking all of the Bidders to back up their statements and sign up to TUPE PLUS and have put up the details on our web site here

SCHOOL STAFF CHECK YOUR PAY!

All school based members should re-check they are paid at the correct level and have the correct holiday entitlement.

It is UNISON’s view that the best solution is an increase in the weeks paid formula once you have reached 5 years service i.e. 40- 41 weeks thus providing pay for the extra weeks holiday. And ensuring that the inset training remains remain available for all.

Term Time only  staff pay formula.

The salary formula for term time only  staff includes an allowance for Bank Holidays and annual leave (hence working 5 days less after 5 years service) and is:

Annual salary ÷ 1728 hours x hours worked per week x weeks employed per annum.

This formula was devised pre 1988 on the following basis:

‘As a term time only employee you receive an enhanced rate of pay which includes payment in lieu of annual leave, equivalent to twenty days (4 weeks).  This is done by reducing the working year – 1872 hours (36 hours x 52 weeks) by 144 hours (36 hours x 4 weeks).  Thus you are paid 1/1728th of the full time annual salary for each hour worked.

There are 190 school days in any school year.  As a ‘term time only’ employee initially you will be appointed for between 37 and 44 weeks in any year and you will be required to work XX weeks per annum less 5 days if less than 5 yea

With less than 5 years service 5 day leave with pay is granted on 3 days for Bank Holidays and 2 days in respect of the New Technology Agreement.

Employees with 5 years continuous local government service are entitled to an additional 5 days annual leave and so work 5 days less per annum.’

                                                                                    Extract from Statement of Employment

                                                                                                                Particulars issued to term time only staff

Term time only staff can be employed between 37 and 44 weeks. As outlined above, If employed on a 40 week contract they are paid for 200 days. Staff with less than 5 years service are required to work 195 days, 190 of which are pupil days which allows HT’s to allocate a further 5 days which could be and often is for training / inset days.

Staff contracted to work 40 weeks that have 5 years service or more are only required to work 190 days. They will therefore be entitled to additional payments if required to attend the training / inset days. Alternatively HT could increase their contractual pay to 41 weeks, give time off in lieu or pay additional hours.

Most important thing to remember is that staff will always work five days less than they are contracted/paid to work and then after 5 years continuous local government service then that will alter to 10 days less.

Term time only staff are paid in 12 equal monthly instalments.  

One Barnet – Deputy leader forced to apologise for false promises

A SENIOR councillor has apologised after it was revealed that council workers who are outsourced to private firms could be made redundant almost immediately.

Staff from the Barnet Council’s housing department could be handed at risk of redundancy notices the moment their contracts are transferred to arms-length management organisation Barnet Homes, as part of the council’s controversial One Barnet outsourcing programme – despite the insistence in February from deputy leader and cabinet member for policy and performance Daniel Thomas that their jobs would be safe for at least a year.

Branch secretary for Unison John Burgess, told The Press that in meetings with Barnet Homes he had learned that an unspecified number of the 76 front-line and back-room staff could be issued with compulsory redundancy notices as soon as they move to the ALMO on April 2. He added that existing Barnet Homes staff were also facing redundancy as a result of the transfer.

The transfer of housing services to Barnet Homes is one of the first in a raft of council services due to be outsourced during the One Barnet programme, which the council claims will deliver better services for less money.

On February 9 Mr Thomas was quoted in The Press criticising staff striking over the plans, and denied claims that jobs were at risk.

He originally said: “Any staff who move as part of the restructure will remain in local government pension scheme, keep the same level of pay and have a job guaranteed for 12 months at the very least from their move.”

Mr Burgess said that many staff no longer felt they could trust the council’s promises on One Barnet.

“People are very uneasy that the council is making all these commitments that apparently mean nothing,” he said.

“A lot will be said before you are outsourced and then the moment before you’re outsourced it will change.”

Read the rest of the report here

UNISON members to meet BT, one of the two bidders for the £750 million NSCSO contract

Dear Colleagues

I understand that you have received an invite (see here) to meet with BT on the following days

Wednesday 28th March

Friday 30th March

I hope you take up this offer to meet the Bidders as I know you will have many questions which I hope they will be able to answer.

Several weeks ago I wrote to the Council seeking a meeting with the Bidders, this request has been refused.

For your information last year Barnet UNISON wrote to all the companies taking part in Dialogue 1 for NSCSO. To date we have not had a reply I hope you all fare better.

Barnet UNISON 6 key questions

Your proposed new model of service delivery

1. Please describe how you would develop and improve all of the services throughout the whole life of the contract. In particular, please outline your plans for

innovative and continuous improvement

achieving and monitoring high levels of customer satisfaction

effective consultation and engagement with residents, officers and members

involving the staff and trade unions and detail what role they will have in this process

meeting the Council’s target of 10% cost savings and the 5% increase in income?

2. How are you going to be able to maximise the opportunities provided by links with other organisations, the development of central government’s agenda for local authorities and the opportunities for inward investment of all kinds that will be available as a result of the Councils regeneration programmes.

Please describe what measures you will put in place to address this aim, including each council service in your response.

3. In these ever changing global economic times how do you propose to meet the Council’s ever changing strategic requirements?

These are likely to be substantial, and might be due to (for example) changes in the council’s political leadership, central government objectives or relevant changes in legislation that we want to or must account for.

4. What do you see as the key financial, operational, democratic governance and employment risks in this contract and how do you propose to mitigate these risks?

5. Central Government recognises that LG has a key role to play in stimulating economic growth locally. This contract is looking to make significant cost reduction and income generation please provide details as to how you aim to reach these targets with details of the effect on the economic activity within the borough over the course of the contract period?

What contribution can you make to regeneration in Barnet, in particular, the creation of additional employment opportunities for local people and the use of local sub contractors? Will you engage sub contractors on a similar price structure as the main contract to encourage local firms and employment?

6. Do you plan to bid for all the services in the ITPD and which services will be delivered by subcontractors? How do you plan to monitor their performance?

* =  Local Government

** = Invitation to Participate in Dialogue

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

 

UNISON members to meet Capita, one of the two bidders for the £750 million NSCSO contract

Dear Colleagues

I understand that you have received an invite (see here) to meet with CAPITA on the following days

Friday 23rd March

Monday 26th March

I hope you take up this offer to meet the Bidders as I know you will have many questions which I hope they will be able to answer.

Several weeks ago I wrote to the Council seeking a meeting with the Bidders, this request has been refused.

For your information last year Barnet UNISON wrote to all the companies taking part in Dialogue 1 for NSCSO. To date we have not had a reply I hope you all fare better.

Barnet UNISON 6 key questions

Your proposed new model of service delivery

1. Please describe how you would develop and improve all of the services throughout the whole life of the contract. In particular, please outline your plans for

innovative and continuous improvement

achieving and monitoring high levels of customer satisfaction

effective consultation and engagement with residents, officers and members

involving the staff and trade unions and detail what role they will have in this process

meeting the Council’s target of 10% cost savings and the 5% increase in income?

2. How are you going to be able to maximise the opportunities provided by links with other organisations, the development of central government’s agenda for local authorities and the opportunities for inward investment of all kinds that will be available as a result of the Councils regeneration programmes.

Please describe what measures you will put in place to address this aim, including each council service in your response.

3. In these ever changing global economic times how do you propose to meet the Council’s ever changing strategic requirements?

These are likely to be substantial, and might be due to (for example) changes in the council’s political leadership, central government objectives or relevant changes in legislation that we want to or must account for.

4. What do you see as the key financial, operational, democratic governance and employment risks in this contract and how do you propose to mitigate these risks?

5. Central Government recognises that LG has a key role to play in stimulating economic growth locally. This contract is looking to make significant cost reduction and income generation please provide details as to how you aim to reach these targets with details of the effect on the economic activity within the borough over the course of the contract period?

What contribution can you make to regeneration in Barnet, in particular, the creation of additional employment opportunities for local people and the use of local sub contractors? Will you engage sub contractors on a similar price structure as the main contract to encourage local firms and employment?

6. Do you plan to bid for all the services in the ITPD and which services will be delivered by subcontractors? How do you plan to monitor their performance?

* =  Local Government

** = Invitation to Participate in Dialogue

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

 

Barnet Alliance for Public Services – A TALE OF TWO BARNETS

World Premiere launch of a community film called “A TALE OF TWO BARNETS!”

The film is being shown at Phoenix Cinema East Finchley on Monday 19 March from 6pm, film screening 7pm

You can read more about the film here http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/

Ken Loach introduces the film here

http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/gallery-and-trailers.php

Contact details

http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/contact-us.php

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