Rock Against the Cuts – Barnet first stop on UK Tour

You heard it first here. Barnet UNISON & Barnet Alliance 4 Public Services are organisng a march across Barnet in response to cuts to public services on Sunday 30 January 2011 at 11.30 am. 

The march starts outside Finchley Central Underground Station and finishes at Barnet Arts Depot (also under threat)  

Plans are underway to bring together established musicians and up and coming young bands from Barnet.

Rock Against the Cuts campaign kicks off in Barnet, I predict a number of of established artists will be volunteering to support the 30 January Benefit Gig and others elsewhere as communities come together to defend their public services.

Keep an eye out for announcements of who is in line up here.

How easy is EasYCouncil?

This morning I woke up to find my car snowed in at my Dad’s place. Earlier this year my Dad had been stuck at home unable to get out for over a week. He missed an urgent hospital appointment because the Council could not clear the back roads. He rang several times for help but these roads are not a priority.

My Dad belongs to the generation that went through the war and the hardship it brought afterwards. A generation that despite the massive debt was still able to deliver the greatest legacy ever left to working class families i.e. the NHS, Council Housing, Free Education to name a few.

My Dad proudly served in the Royal Navy during the Korean War and Suez. He has worked all his life and does’t expect much. But as he says ‘I paid my taxes!’ and gritting roads is something he quite rightly expects the Council to ensure happens.

If my Dad lived in Barnet and he rang the Council requesting someone to grit the roads, he would be told to ‘get a shovel and do it yourself!’

Thing is my Dad would do what we did today and get a shovel, collect some grit from the grit bins and clear the road himself. Luckily I was there to help and as I look outside others in the street have benefited from this community action.

So, does this mean EasyCouncil works? Does this mean that valuable council resources can be better targeted elsewhere?

In my opinion it doesn’t because, whilst in this case we cleared some snow, there are many residents with no one to help them or have the resources to do so.

If I heard correctly the Cabinet member for Environment at a recent Cabinet meeting said Barnet do not want residents taking grit from the roadside grit bins!

So my Dad would probably find himself in conflict with Barnet Council….what is the saying like father like son!

There are politicians and senior officers who want to shrink the size of the Council and leave residents to fend for themselves. The key word they seem to fail to grasp is Public. Yes, Public Services are for the Public you are elected and or paid to serve. It is at time like this that the Public expect Public Services to be ready to deliver to those in most need.

None of this is rocket science, we spend too much money and time listening to Consultants most of whom have never run a business or a public service.

I wonder how many Consultants would be successful if Councils started saying they would only pay so much up front with the rest paid once the promised savings have been delivered.

I think we all know the answer to that one!

Job well done!

UNISON write to Leader of Barnet Council

6 December 2010

 

Dear Lynne

 

RE: Budget Consultation 2011-12

I have been reflecting on what happened at the end of last week. As you know on Friday Council staff attended Budget a number of briefings and 818 of them received protective redundancy notices, something I have not seen in 16 years of working in Barnet Council.

I noted your comment at the last Cabinet when you said you had not come into politics to have make cuts to services but that we are in unprecedented times.

The consultation process has begun and I will be submitting more detailed response with the other Trade Unions in due course but I think that as we are living in extraordinary times I wish to give you some initial comments.

 

If there was one current feeling I would like to report from staff it would be confusion. The confusion is not that they don’t recognise that we are in difficult financial times, but at the approach the Council is adopting in response to responding to this problem and why they are not being engaged in the process. It is a theme that the Joint Trade Unions have documented in over 20 reports over the last two years.

 

In times when every income source is precious to the council, staff working in services that generate income are angry and shocked that the Council would want to share that income with another organisation.

 

I would like to draw your attention to two significant income generating services albeit there are others.

 

Parking.

A decision has been made to privatise this service but no evidence has been offered by management to support the decisions being made. UNISON submitted a detailed report to which, to date, we have no response. I have bullet pointed below some of the key issues:

·         “Did you know that many pcn.s are contested by vehicle owners and are eventually resolved through an adjudication process. Last year Westminster was next to bottom in winning adjudications (21%) i.e. 4 out of 5 drivers that contest their parking ticket in Westminster get off without paying anything.

·         In 2008/09, that council’s private sector process provider (Vertex) did not contest 14,000 appeals which equates to approximately a loss of £1.12m.

·         Why is Westminster being quoted particularly by senior officers, as the example to follow?”

·         “Did you know in the last year across London private sector parking enforcement companies performed 29% worse than in-house operations,

·         How does the decision to appoint and external provider to deliver parking control in Barnet benefit our community?”

  • The only significant change in the Barnet Parking Team over the past two years is that the Council chose to release the senior managers who had delivered a parking account surplus of £6m. Under current management arrangements this is forecasted to be at least £3m. less in the current year.

All of the above is evidence based and understood by staff working in Parking, which is why they do not understand the rationale for privatisation.

Hendon Cemetery & Crematorium

Almost two years ago the Council was on the verge of privatising this service. UNISON submitted a critique and the recommendation was changed, senior officers were tasked to carry out a full Options Appraisal. One of the key drivers was the urgent need for new Cremators. The Options Appraisal was completed in July 2010 and the overwhelming best Value for Money option was the in-house proposal. The urgent work which needed to start has still not taken place and this service has now been added to the Future Shape DRS bundle.

 

You may be aware that four Funeral Directors signed our staff petition which we submitted to Cabinet. I am aware that they are frustrated that the plans for the new Cremators has not been progressed and as a consequence and there is a growing and significant risk that the Funeral Directors could easily take their business elsewhere.

 

In these extraordinary times how can it be acceptable that we could lose significant income as result of failing to implement the outcome of the Options Appraisal?

 

Frontline Services

I have mentioned two services that generate income which supplements funding for frontline services. I do so because I was shocked to read that we are proposing to delete 4.5 mental health social work posts (Home Treatment Team) and the one social worker in the soon to be closed Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit (BIRU). These are frontline of services, and despite the best efforts of the Director of Adult Services to mitigate the risks, they will almost certainly have a detrimental impact on service users. I could identify make similar concerns about the cuts across Children’s Services where we are seeing closures of children centres and youth services.

 

I would wish for you and your Cabinet colleagues to think again about how the One Barnet programme is being taken forward and to look to a “different relationship with staff and the trade unions & citizens” one in which all are equal stakeholders in future development of Council services. The Trade Unions submitted a report to Cabinet entitled “The Wrong Transformation” our recommendations presented a different and more inclusive approach to the financial challenges we face.

 

I am happy to meet up to provide clarification on any issues or concerns you may have with my feedback. I would be grateful for a speedy response, especially to the particular issues raised in this letter.

Yours sincerely

John Burgess

Branch Secretary

Barnet UNISON

CC: Barnet UNISON members

 

 

 

818 redundancy notices handed out

On Friday 3 December the Trade Unions were informed that 818 protective redundancy notices were issued.

“What does this mean?”

It means that everyone who receives a letter is at risk of redundancy however it does not mean that everyone receiving a letter will be made redundant.

E.g. In a team of 10 the Budget proposal may say that 2 posts need to be cut. This means all 10 staff are at risk but 2 staff will be made redundant.

“How do they select who can go?”

The Council will be selecting staff for redundancy using the Managing Change Policy. This is a new Policy which was passed by councillors without the agreement of the Trade Unions. You should be able to view the Policy on the Council intranet.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you are a UNISON member and have received a protective redundancy letter please contact the UNISON office on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk and we will arrange for a rep to make contact with you.

“What happens next?”

Consultation begins as from 3 December. Over the next few weeks new structures /job descriptions will be circulated to staff and trade unions. It is important that all members take part in the process.

In the week commencing 3 January a number of 1:1 meetings will be taking place for staff at risk. If you require UNISON representation please contact the UNISON office ASAP.

“Can I volunteer to leave?”

You can volunteer but the decision on whether your request is accepted rests with the Council.

Why Parking must not be privatised

Barnet UNISON has produced a report which is seriously critical of the risk and business reasons being used to recommend privatisation of this service.

Our report presents a damning analysis of the recommendations to view report click here

To view Appendices click here

1 192 193 194 195 196 230