STOP PRESS: 92% of Barnet Council staff now face outsourcing
On Wednesday 25 November Chancellor George Osborne will announce details of his Comprehensive Spending Review. Barnet Council agreed at their Policy & Resources Committee, 9 July 2015 that their Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) needed to deliver £81.1 million in budget cuts.
A large part of the strategy is outsourcing and becoming a commissioning council, outsourcing their staff to other employers and asking them to deliver the staff savings.
On Wednesday 18 November councillors on Children, Education, and Libraries & Safeguarding Committee agreed to award a contract to global multinational giant Mott MacDonald.
This decision which still has to be ratified at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday 8 December 2015 will mean 476 Council workers transfer out of the Council to the private contractor.
At the same meeting councillors agreed to add staff working in Family Services to the ever growing outsourcing pipeline, aka Barnet Commissioning Council. This outsourcing project includes children’s social workers (child protection), children centre workers and youth workers among others.
At the Performance and Contract Management Committee, on Tuesday 17th November the following staffing figures were produced:
1. Education & Skills and Catering 300.93 full time equivalent posts
2. Street Scene services 428.46 full time equivalent posts
3. Library Service 114 full time equivalent posts).
4. Adults & Communities 235.71 full time equivalent posts
5. Family services 461.31 full time equivalent posts. Library figures have been excluded
6. Commissioning Group 147.87 full time equivalent posts
The decision to add all staff working in Family Services to the outsourcing project means that 92% (1,540.41 full time equivalents) of the current Barnet Council workforce are now facing the likelihood of being outsourced.
This would leave only council staff working in the Commissioning Group as Council employees.
UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: On Wednesday 25 November the Chancellor George Osborne will provide the details to his Comprehensive Spending Review. It is the worst kept secret that his review will lead to damaging future for social care and public services. The attack will be delivered by either cuts and or mass outsourcing. The model for the sell-off of the NHS has been hatched and delivered here in Barnet. We have had 7 years of Future Shape, Easy Council, One Barnet and now Commissioning Council and we are finally at the point we predicted back in 2008, that the Council was looking to handover their staff to other employers, leaving behind a small core of workers. Whilst the Council will claim that decisions have not been made, staff in Barnet are fully aware of the ‘direction of travel’ for staff and will now be no doubt be making their own plans. This news presents a serious risk particularly for social services as social workers are highly likely to consider moving elsewhere. There is already a social work recruitment and retention crisis in Barnet this news is unlikely to help.”
End.
Notes to Editors.
Contact details: John Burgess Barnet UNISON on 07738389569 or 0208 359 2088 or email: john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk
Background:
Six years ago Barnet Council introduced a policy known as Future Shape which morphed into ‘easyCouncil’*.This imposed a series of tariffs on residents wishing to access a range of services. A basic service would be offered to residents at a fixed price, but ‘fast track’ services might be available if you paid extra.
This approach was quickly abandoned by the consultant driven One Barnet Programme, which led to the following Council Services being outsourced/privatised in the space of three years:
1. Social Care for Adults with disabilities to Your Choice Barnet
2. Housing Options to Barnet Homes
3. Parking Services to NSL
4. Revenues & Benefits, IT, HR & Payroll, Pensions, Health & Safety, Finance, Estates, Property Services, Procurement, Projects all now part of Capita CSG
5. Environmental Health, Planning, Building Control, Hendon Cemetery & Crematorium, Highways, Trading Standards & Licensing all now Capita RE
6. Legal Services
7. Registrars & Nationality Services
8. CCTV
9. Music Trust
10. Public Health
11. Mortuary Services.
Over the past three years our members have seen hundreds of colleagues transferred to other employers. This has often meant redundancy as the new employer moved jobs out of the borough and Greater London to places as far afield as Belfast, Carlisle, Coventry, Southampton and Darlington.