“No stone left unturned” Number 11: We got to talk about Capita
What can we say about the Capita contract that we have not already said.
It should never have happened.
Below is the latest update graphic (courtesy of Barnet resident and Blogger Mr Reasonable) on how much Barnet Council has paid Capita over the last 14 years.
Whilst a great deal of the services have been brought back in-house they still have the following services
- Customer Services
- IT
- Revenues and Benefits
- Payroll
Barnet Council extended the contract with Capita for the above services which guarantees Capita around £20 million a year until the contract ends mid-2026.
Barnet Council has paid out over £254million more that the contract price.
We are in a difficult place in terms of the financial crisis and every penny counts.
Capita is running the Revenues service and that means their performance in relation to collection rates for Council Tax and Business Rates can have a direct impact on the financial viability of Barnet Council.
It is disappointing to read that according to the recent Barnet Council Review of Capita report that Capita is underperforming and has been set an improvement plan.
This means the Council is not getting the income it should be collecting which means services and jobs are put at risk unnecessarily.
This has nothing to do with temporary accommodation or adult social care spend. This is something for which the Council has sole responsibility. Before this service was outsourced it was the highest performing service in London.
Now it is underperforming and according to Barnet Council a 1% increase in Council Tax would bring in an additional £2.3m for the Council.
For Business Rates Collections, every 1% improvement in collection is worth £324k per annum to the council.
UNISON Comment:
The improvement plan is meaningless and does not address the crisis facing services and staff. Barnet Council must enforce the contract and reduce the contract payments to try and mitigate the need for redundancies and cuts to services.
End.