Barnet UNISON

Yesterday Lord Hutton announced some key Pension reforms he wants to work up in greater detail for the budget in February 2011.

According to Lord Hutton 12 million tax payers benefit from a public sector pension. That is a lot of tax payers and a lot of voters!

“What he is looking at?”

M Increase the retirement age..65, 70….75?

M Increase the employee contributions

M Cut Final salary and replace with career average scheme

BUT

Attacks on public sector workers doesn’t stop there.

The Con-Dem government want to

M cut jobs across the public sector…….

Before they do that they want to….

M cut redundancy payments

BUT

It doesn’t stop there!

Those staff still working in the public sector face

M Privatisation.

TUPE won’t prevent further and more brutal attacks to public sector workers terms and conditions.

AND

What about the pensions for those public sector workers working in the private sector?

M Rubbish pension schemes not worth joining.

How do I know….Lord Hutton said himself that

M 85% of public sector workers are in a Pension scheme as opposed to

M 25% in the private sector.

The Future for public sector workers is…….cuts to pay, pension, redundancy and privatisation.

Why?

Because bankers and politicians looked the other way when gross negligence practices were going on in the finance sector and still are because politicians are frighten to regulate.

Politicians & bankers are culpable, they both have had their noses in the trough…incredibly bankers are now looking at receiving £7 Billion in bonuses.

Now they want us to pay.

Con_Dem government say ‘we are all in it together’…when they know they aren’t going to feel the pain.

The wider public still don’t know how this will impact of them, but that time is very close, and it is going to be a massive shock.

BUT

It doesn’t have to be this way!

Public sector workers and the communities they serve are waking up and organising.

Across the UK, community alliances are springing up.

In Barnet we now have Barnet Alliance for Public Services.

Barnet UNISON members need to join residents on the streets of Barnet.

Every week there will be Barnet Alliance community stalls across Barnet. Make time to come down and talk to residents about what is happening to your service.

This Saturday there will be stalls in

·         New Barnet (outside Sainbury’s)

10.30-12.30

·         North Finchley (outside Poundland)

10.30- 12.30

·         On Sunday (outside Golders Green library)

2.30- 4pm

Don’t let the government treat us like mugs.

1. Consultants
 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-management-consultancy-scam-2057127.html?action=Popup
 and here
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?reportid=9396
 
2. Private sector
“Poor and inadequate” management by the Department for Transport (DfT) of the failed Tube maintenance firm Metronet cost taxpayers up to £410m, MPs said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8544491.stm
Catalyst Housing wins……
http://www.hangbitching.com/2010/08/barnet-council-loses-6m/

3. Bankers 

Bless they deserve it …don’t they????
http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2010/10/05/city-bankers-to-receive-7bn-bonuses-this-year/

Audit Commission produced a report in 2008 called For Better For Worse, it was damning indictment of SSDP’s

“Private sector experience suggests that 60 to 70 per cent of strategic partnership arrangements between companies fail, and few meet expectations.”

For the last two years the Trade Unions have submitted countless reports produced by Professor Dexter Whitfield.  The Trade Unions have offered another way to deal with the challenges facing public service but do date this offer continues to be rejected.

Yesterday I received a briefing from national UNISON concerning damning leaked internal Liverpool City Council (LCC) report into Liverpool Direct Limited (LDL) which is highly critical of LDL.

Having read the report to call it damning is being polite. It makes horrendous reading for supporters of Strategic Partnerships.

The report found that

1. The council had been overcharged (at a conservative estimate) by £19m
2. The cost of the contract could be cut by £10m a year
3. Transparency and agreement on future investment were problematic
4. There needed to be an effective and transparent governance structure
5. The council could save £23 million annually by taking the work in-house.

Rather than read my rant read it for yourself and make your own decision.

The report is to found at two links

here and here

Barnet Council Cabinet Committee agreed Strategic Service Delivery Partnership’s (SSDP) are the only way to deliver 25% savings.

I don’t how they came to this decision without any supporting evidence.

 

“Baldrick, thanks for bringing easyCouncil in particular ‘The Development & Public Health Services Future Shape Project‘ to my attention.

I have read the Audit report. I have seen the articles in the Guardian and the local newspapers here and here 

It is clear this is the biggest stitch up in the history of stitch ups and I know a stitch up when I see one….yes, I think this could be an even bigger stitch up than when Mrs Miggins won the pie making championship in 1569 defeating the previous nine time winner Sweeney Todd!

I am reminded of my old friend General Melchett before he went doolally became a member of the House of Lords. His philosophy when facing difficult decisions, which I sense has influenced this report was:

“If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.”

So endeth my first consultation,…….money back if not satisfied…not a chance!.”

The Development & Public Health Services Future Shape Project formerly known as the Regulatory Services Bundle was published online here

Open the PDf and scroll down to page 20. Click on the table entitled Options Scoring Matrix. Copy and paste into a word document and ‘Hey Presto’ you can see the scoring.

I have never seen this sort of thing before, is it deliberate or is it a mistake and why should the details be secret?

The Trade Unions will be producing a report in response to the Options Appraisal which even from a cursory glance is full of contradictions assumptions without supporting evidence and quite insulting to staff. Just what were thinking when they wrote this “But it is also very clear that the services require a fresh injection of intellectual capital..”

Many of our members working in this area have let me know they have been hurt by this comment.

If I was a Barnet tax payer I would be pleased to see that almost all of these services are  high performing and low cost. It is difficult to see where the 25% cuts and the 20% profits for the private sector are going to come from……or is it?

Answers on a postcard.

My guess it has to be staffing or something more fundamental a cut back on what is provided.

It is not too late if you have any question on the content of this Options appraisal please send your comments to john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk

On a dark rainy September evening 30 people took the trouble to navigate their way through terrible traffic to attend the Barnet Alliance 4 Public Services first planning meeting in South Friern Library. After introductions the meeting discussed the idea of a public march and demonstration in leafy Barnet.

 

One 88 year old resident explained how last Saturday, she and her husband took a petition to save the local post office out in Muswell Hill and got over 100 signatures. It was fantastic to listen to staff and residents who are prepared to offer their own time to make the Alliance a success.

 

There was a common feeling that people are sick and tired of the constant talk of cuts, and want to fight back.

 

The meeting agreed that a number of activities, including organising community stalls in town centres across Barnet. There were a lot of exciting ideas as to how to capture the attention of residents and staff working in public services in Barnet.

 

All I can say is look out Barnet!

 

Barnet Alliance is up and running……..

 

Shirley Franklin speaking abouty the Save the Whittington Coalition.

A lesson for all of us, on what we have to do in Barnet.

To view click here