Barnet UNISON Press Release: 1 July 2015 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “3 wheels on my wagon and I’m still rolling along”

UNISON calls on councillors to stop Education privatisation project :

First there were three contractors, then there were two and now there is only one and as the song goes the commissioning juggernaut “keeps rolling along”

The fate of almost 400 Council workers hangs in the balance as two out of the three private contractors ‘bail out’ of the bidding process.

It is clear that the market has spoken and the message is loud and clear. The market is not interested in what has been offered up for sale which is why UNISON has written to Barnet Council asking to postpone the procurement process and exclude the Catering Service from the Joint Venture Company option and retain the service in-house.

Barnet Council actively promotes itself with the support of Capita as a “Commissioning Council.” Throughout this period of change the Council claims to be open to all options as to who delivers the service. However the reality paints a different picture as the outsoucing of over a thousand staff can confirm.

UNISON Branch Secretary, John Burgess, said: “The fact that Capita has pulled out of contract talks should be ringing alarm bells for councillors. The decision of officers to go ahead simply reinforces the feelings of the workforce that the Council is wedded to outsourcing even when the market is clearly saying that there is very little interest. Only outsourcing fundamentalists would argue that Best Value can be achieved under these circumstances. The common sense postion would be to postpone the process and look to develop an improved in-house service. Our members will be taking strike action on 8 July as they want to remain Council employees.”

Notes to Editors.

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

Background:

On 31 January 2015 Barnet Council put out an invitation to tender for Education & Skills and School Meals services which you can view here

http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:36188-2015:TEXT:EN:HTML

The contract was advertised & valued from £89 million up to £986 million.

The tender received only three bids from:

1. Capita Business Services Ltd

2. EC Harris LLP

3. Mott MacDonald Ltd, trading as Cambridge Education

However, just before the contract talks began EC Harris LLP mysteriously dropped out and this is what the Council had to say:

“As you are aware, we commenced dialogue with our bidders last week.  One of our bidders (EC Harris) withdrew from the process shortly before dialogue commenced.  Whilst this is obviously disappointing, it is not unusual in this sort of procurement and I’m pleased to report that discussions with the remaining two bidders have been very positive and interesting so far.”

On Wednesday 24 June staff working for Education & Skills received an email from the Council explaining that:

“Capita Business Services Ltd submitted a letter withdrawing from the procurement process, as they had concluded that this particular opportunity did not provide the right fit with their Entrust business model.”

They went on to add:

“It is recognised that this may raise questions about the lack of competitive tension in the process and the subsequent ability of the Council to test best value from the final tender.  However, it is not unusual for competitive dialogue procurements to end up with a single bidder and there are various robust means through which we can test best value.”

On 8 June UNISON submitted a report asking the Council to postpone the project after news that the third bidder had droped out before the contract talks began. http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Barnet%20Education%20&%20Skills%20subcontracting_0.pdf

On Monday 29 June UNISON submitted statement to Barnet Councllors asking them to call off the project http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1596

Key Links:

Barnet Council – Commissioning Council At Any Price

http://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/barnet-council-commission-council-at.html

Competitive tension, or: providing the right fit – another outsourcing farce in Broken Barnet

http://wwwbrokenbarnet.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/competitive-tension-or-providing-right.html