Barnet UNISON urges Council to pause welfare cut — Labour councillors and Barnet’s four Labour MPs asked to intervene

Barnet UNISON has today written to all Labour councillors and the four Labour MPs for Barnet constituencies, calling on them to stop a proposed cut to the Council’s Welfare Team during the height of the cost-of-living crisis.

The Council has opened a 30-day consultation (9 September–8 October 2025) to delete one full-time (36 hours) Income Maximisation Officer (Grade G) — a low-paid, high-impact frontline role that helps residents access benefits and emergency support, manage debt, and keep up with Council Tax.

Barnet UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said:

“This is a small saving with a huge human cost. Cutting frontline welfare capacity in the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades means longer waits, fewer successful benefit claims and more arrears. We’re asking councillors and MPs to back a pause and protect residents.”

What UNISON is asking for

1. Pause the restructure and any redundancy selection until after autumn national announcements on crisis-support funding/administration, so Barnet can align staffing to the confirmed model.
2. Fix the Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) — complete and accurate data on staff and service users, with concrete mitigations, before any decision.
3. Transparency and fairness in any selection process: publish the scoring matrix; ensure fair treatment for part-time staff; allow union observation.
4. A workload & service-risk assessment (phones, casework, outreach) showing how residents’ needs will be met if capacity is cut.
5. Redeployment first: priority placement and retraining into suitable roles; freeze external recruitment to relevant posts until at-risk staff are placed.
6. Alternatives to redundancy: temporary bridging (including available admin funding), voluntary hours reductions, and reductions in agency/consultancy spend to preserve this low-cost post.

Why this matters

Income Maximisation Officers:

• support residents to secure welfare entitlements, Discretionary Housing Payments, Council Tax Support/Discretionary Relief, Resident Support Fund, and related help;
• provide debt and budgeting advice, complete complex forms, and carry out home visits for vulnerable residents;
• help residents manage and pay Council Tax, preventing arrears and homelessness and reducing knock-on costs across services.

Management has acknowledged that additional posts were made permanent despite insecure funding in 2023. Proceeding now would reduce outreach to “ad-hoc” only and risks deleting experienced capacity just as national crisis-support arrangements are being redesigned.

John Burgess added:

“Our ask is simple: pause, fix the EqIA, and work with us on non-redundancy options. Protecting one Grade G post protects thousands of Barnet residents from falling through the cracks.”

Notes to Editors

• Consultation window: 9 September–8 October 2025.
• Proposal: delete 1.0 FTE (36 hours) Income Maximisation Officer (Grade G) in the Welfare Team.
• Decision route: Chief Officer delegated powers following consultation.
• Service impact: reduced capacity for benefits access, emergency support, Council Tax help, and outreach to the most deprived neighbourhoods.
• UNISON has formally raised concerns that the EqIA is incomplete/inaccurate and lacks practical mitigations.