“Withdraw the compulsory redundancies”: £7,804,000

Before our members read this article. It is important to note that there is no detriment to the best of our knowledge to the Pension Scheme because of the unlawful actions identified in the report going to Full Council on Tuesday 28 January 2025. This is confirmed in paragraph 10.2 of the report.

“It should also be emphasised that as the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a defined benefit scheme there is no impact as a result of these transactions on members’ benefits.”

 

What has happened?

UNISON has only recently discovered that something unlawful has taken place involving payments to the Council’s Pension Scheme.

The matter was first publicly discussed Pension Fund Committee – Tuesday 14th January 2025 7.00 pm.

You can listen to the discussion by clicking on the link below. You need to scroll 1 hour and 6 minutes to hear the discussion about the unlawful payments.

https://aisapps.mediasite.com/AuditelScheduler/Player/Index/?id=a1c6cfd1-5311-44ae-94fa-6aff99b35ae6&presID=11f4679ca075408d948fb7b34a51a1811d

 

The next piece of critical information came to our attention when the reports were published for the Full Council on Tuesday 28 January 2025.

One damning paragraph stands out:

“5.2.1 After taking advice, and based on the information available the Monitoring Officer and the Section151 Officer are of the view that the Additional Payments and the Repayments were unlawful.”

Source: Report to all Elected members of London Borough of Barnet Under Section 5(2)(a) of the local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Section 114 (2)(a) Local Government Finance Act 1988 By Jessica Farmer Monitoring Officer and Kevin Bartle Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer).

https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s87758/Appendix%20A%20joint%20report%20S5S114.pdf

The report uses the term unlawful ten times unlawfully once and unlawfulness once.

It is a shocking report.

UNISON recommends that members read the above report that is being discussed at Council meeting.

The two paragraphs set out what happened:

“4.2 The Council (acting as a scheme employer) made a one-off prepayment of £20,477,000 to the Fund in April 2020 (“the Prepayment”) instead of secondary contributions for the years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. This was because the Council was advised that a Prepayment would save the Council money compared  with making secondary contributions over three years. The Council received leading counsel’s advice, which was taken without reference to the Monitoring Officer, that making the Prepayment was lawful in principle.”

“4.4 After the Prepayment, the Council continued to make periodic payments of (in effect) secondary contributions for the three financial years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 (“Additional Payments”). These were made contrary to the Rates and adjustments Certificate. In effect, the Additional Payments would duplicate the Prepayment, and so officers also arranged that the Fund would repay most of the Additional Payment back to the Council in three annual repayments (“Repayments”). Because of a lack of documentation and staff turnover, the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer have not been able to understand clearly when or why the Additional Payments and Repayments were arranged. As far as the Monitoring Officer and current Section 151 Officer can tell, the most likely explanation is that, at the time, officers believed that the outcome of these fund flows would be advantageous for the Council in accounting terms, while not being disadvantageous to the Fund. In any event, the Additional Payments were made and two of the three planned Repayments have also been made: £6,508,000 in October 2020 and £7,574,000 in October 2021.”

For those of us who are not financial experts the two paragraphs explain that not only was an unlawful payment of £20,477,000 made into the Pension Fund but that a further three payments were made of the next three years which resulted in effect in a double payment into the Pension Fund. Towards the end of the final paragraph the Council explains that the Council clawed back two payments back but that once the unlawful payments had been discovered everything was put on hold.

Many of our members reading this report will know that they all are expected to follow Council procedures and understand what happens if you don’t follow. Many of our members will be wondering about who has the powers to authorise spend. The responsibilities for senior managers are set out in what is referred to as the Scheme of Delegation which you can read on the Council website here https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s24780/Appendix%20D%20-%20Scheme%20of%20Delegated%20Authority%20to%20Officers.pdf

There are a number of questions UNISON has about how this could happen, but our immediate concern is in regard to the numerous redundancy consultations taking place.

£7.8million is a lot of money that is owed to the Council.

At this moment in time the Council is coming to a close on a number of redundancy consultations which, if confirmed, are going to mean staff will be made redundant. Vacancies will be deleted in teams where there is already increasing pressure on the workforce to deliver more with less resources and to work in a job where their pay has failed to keep up with the cost-of-living crisis.

It is UNISON’s understanding, and we would be happy to publicly correct it if we have misunderstood the report above, that Barnet Council is attempting to find a way to retrieve £7,804,000 back from the Council’s Pension Fund.

£7,804,000 is a lot of money and it is UNISON’s view that if this money were back in the Council’s bank account, then it could be used to mitigate some of the redundancies/cuts to public services which are about to be signed off by Barnet Council.

In the meantime, we have several questions.

  1. Was there a scheme of delegation for the Pension Fund?
  2. If not, why not?
  3. Who made the decision to make the prepayment?
  4. Who decided to make the decision to subsequently carry on with payments that the prepayment was intended to cover?
  5. Who can authorise a payment of up to £20million
  6. What was the cost of the initial legal advice in 2020?
  7. Who has authority to seek counsel’s opinion
  8. Who did seek counsel’s opinion in this case?
  9. Was counsel’s opinion seen by the monitoring officer?
  10. If yes what was their opinion, if not why not?
  11. Was the scheme was initiated by the council acting as the fund or as the employer i.e. did the pension fund ask them to do it?
  12. What has been the total cost of legal advice and tax advice taken so far?
  13. Has anyone been subject to a disciplinary investigation?

 

Recommendations:

As a result of the breaking news UNISON is demanding the following:

  1. The redundancies are withdrawn in anticipation that the monies owed can mitigate the need to make the redundancies in this year.

 

 

“No stone left unturned” Number 2: CEO The Barnet Group & Plumber with oncosts.

Barnet UNISON was approached by Barnet Council to correct the figures included in our article UPDATED : Barnet Council the Tale of “Three Chief Executives and one plumber” https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/10/18/barnet-council-the-tale-of-three-chief-executives-and-one-plumber/

According to information provide by Barnet Council, The Barnet Group (TBG) Chief Executive (CEO) salary is £202,511 with and additional £16,132 for pension which makes a total cost for this role £218, 643

According to information provided by Barnet Council, TBG Plumber salary is £36,029 with additional £12,308 on costs which makes a total cost for this role £48,337

What is concerning about this information is that it appears that the oncost for the CEO is lower as a percentage than the oncosts of the plumber.


UNISON Comment:

Barnet UNISON has written to TBG asking for details of how they calculate oncosts for each post.

At a time when Barnet Council is in a serious financial crisis it is important that there is clear transparency and openness around spend.

Barnet UNISON will update this post once we have a response from TBG.

End.

“No stone left unturned” Number 1: Update of Barnet Council Agency Spend.

After a delay by Barnet Council in publishing the figures online, Barnet UNISON is now able to see the latest Agency Spend up to 30 September 2024.

This data represents six months of agency spend.

First the good news.

As our members will know the last time we looked at the agency spend up to 31 August, Barnet Council had spent £11,950,348 million on agency workers. UNISON forecasted that if Barnet Council continued this rate of spend for the rest of the year the Council will have spent £28,680,836 million, which would be a record breaking spend when compared with the last 15 years of agency spend. The good news is that our forecast is down by £1,411,295 million which demonstrates that the brakes have been applied to agency spend.

The bad news is that even with this reduction the Council is still heading for a massive record breaking spend of £27,269,541 million which would be a record breaking spend when compared with the last 15 years of agency spend.


UNISON comment.

We are waiting. UNISON has been waiting for two and half months to be provided with a breakdown of agency worker spend across the Council workforce. 20 years ago UNISON used to be provided by Barnet Council with a breakdown of the staffing establishment including vacant posts and agency workers by directorate. It is concerning that we are approaching a timetable of potential redundancy consultations and UNISON still has no insight as to where there are vacancies and where agency workers are being deployed.

We understand that the report going to Cabinet Committee on Thursday 5 December 2024 will provide some insight as to where there will be possible redundancies. Once statutory redundancy consultation begins Barnet Council has a lawful duty to provide this staffing/agency information to UNISON.

End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 6: Part Two

Ever since we published our article called Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, we have been inundated with questions about The Barnet Group (TBG).

Barnet UNISON published three animations which were put together with the help of our Barnet UNISON reps in TBG

Here is Animation Number Two which appears to have been screened in London Docklands.


After watching this animation we strongly recommend you reading our article Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, here https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/10/18/barnet-council-the-tale-of-three-chief-executives-and-one-plumber/

End.

“No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 5: Part One

Ever since we published our article called Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, we have been inundated with questions about The Barnet Group (TBG).

Barnet UNISON published three animations which were put together with the help of our Barnet UNISON reps in TBG

Here is Animation Number One which appears to have been viewed in the Council Main Office in Colindale.


After watching this animation we strongly recommend you reading our article Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, here https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/10/18/barnet-council-the-tale-of-three-chief-executives-and-one-plumber/

End.

Change in pension contributions – explanation below .

Several members contacted our branch this month as they noticed a change in the employer contributions.

The branch contacted the Council and requested that they put out an announcement to the workforce explaining why this has happened and what it means to each member.

Below is the statement sent out in an email to all staff. We are conscious that not all staff have access to a work email, which is why we are publishing the statement in full on our web site.

 

 

Change in the employer contribution to the Local Government Pension Scheme

As of this month, there has been a reduction in the amount of pension contribution that the council will pay into the Barnet Pension Fund (part of the LGPS). This does not affect your pensions benefits in any way.

The pensions team have provided a detailed update about the Pensions Fund and why the employer contribution has reduced.

You may have noticed in your payslip that the amount of Employer Contributions towards the Barnet Pension Fund has reduced.  This does not affect your pension benefits in any way.  Pension benefits, and your contributions to your pension, are set according to a formula.  The council pays in an amount to ensure that there is enough money in the pension fund to cover all of these benefits, and this amount is recalculated from time to time.

Understanding the Pension Fund Financial Background

It is important to understand the financial background to the Pension Fund.  The Barnet Pension Fund (the “Fund”) funding position has improved to a very strong financial position due to increased long-term interest rates. This means that the Fund expects higher returns on the investments it holds.

This also means that the Fund is expected to need less money from employers like the Council to fund the benefits promised.

Despite this improvement in funding, the Council had been paying around £6 million a year to address a “funding shortfall”, which was determined on 31 March 2022, when the contribution rate was set.  Crucially, the Council had been paying more than necessary to address the “shortfall” that existed in March 2022.

The Actuary, an independent specialist advisor to the Fund, has determined that this shortfall no longer exists at the present time – indeed on 31 December 2023, the Actuary estimated the Fund was 123% funded.

Council’s Financial Situation

 As you will be aware, and like many local authorities, the Council is facing significant financial challenges, prioritising resources to protect essential services. Due to current financial pressures, the Council requested to contribute only what is required to address the funding shortfall identified on 31 March 2022 (rather than more than was what was required).

 

Pension Committee’s Decision Making

The Pension Committee, composed of elected members, carefully considered whether it was appropriate to review the Council’s pension contributions over four meetings. Expert advice from legal professionals confirmed the legality of the review.

In February, the Pensions Fund Committee approved the Council’s request for a reduction to their contribution from 28.4% to 20.4% of salaries (i.e. an 8% reduction) over a two-year period, starting from April 2024. This contribution reflects the amount required to address the funding shortfall on 31 March 2022 and does not take into account the significant improvement of the Funding of the Pension Fund since then.

 

Impact on member contributions

Individual member contributions will not change.  LGPS pension contributions are set by regulations and no Local Authority has the power to alter them.  This means that the recent decision to reduce the Council’s employer contribution rate will have no effect on individual member contributions.

 

Impact on member benefits

Member benefits are a statutory obligation set out in the statutory regulations governing the Local Government Pension Scheme and therefore cannot be changed by the Council and remain fully protected.   Pension scheme member benefits are therefore not impacted by any adjustment to the Council’s contribution rate.

 

Monitoring the Position

If the financial position of the Fund deteriorates significantly, such as through decreased interest rates or poor performance of the Fund’s assets, the Pension Fund Committee has the power to require the Council to increase its contributions to previous levels. As part of the agreement, and to protect the Fund, the Pension Fund Committee requires the Council to demonstrate that it is budgeting for the higher level of contribution within its long-term financial planning. The Fund will also have another full valuation in any event in March 2025.

 

End.

Barnet UNISON: How to access your Barnet Council Pension details online.

Below is a message from Barnet Council Pension Provider West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF). The aim of the advice below is to help members register to view their Pension details online. Once you are registered you can see all your Pension details. UNISON recommends that UNISON members in the scheme to register using the advice below.

If you have any issues registering, please contact Barnet UNISON at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Portal Available for Barnet Pension Fund Members.

Are you aware of the MyPension member portal for members of the Barnet Fund?

This portal (offered by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund) will enable you to view important pension documents such as your annual benefit statement and you will also be able to update your pension records directly and complete an expression of wish form online. You can also run online estimates of how much your Barnet Pension may be at future retirement dates.

If you have not done so already, you are able to register for the portal at https://www.wypf.org.uk/mypension .

If you would like help in registering (which should only take 5-10 minutes), Jim Nokku from the Barnet Pensions Team will be in Room 3.5 in Colindale on 28 March to assist you with registration. To book a 10 minute slot with Jim, please send an email to pensions@barnet.gov.uk and we will book you in.

 

 

 

Bringing Services Home – Barnet UNISON campaign

 

Barnet UNISON is proud to announce that we are promoting UNISON Bringing Services Home campaign.

As a branch we have had more than our share of outsourcing. The easy Council experiment was a spectacular failure. It cost more money (yes, we told them it would!) and it did not lead to better services.

In May 2022, Barnet Labour Party won the election with a massive majority and one of their priorities was “Review of contracted out services, in the context of the new administration’s aspiration to bring privatised services back in-house.”

Last year Barnet Labour Party brought back one of the big contracts with Capita and other services on the other Capita contract have been coming back in-house.

The Council is going through a period of healing from the badly advised outsourcing ideology which dominated our Council for over a decade.

Today Barnet UNISON has written to all senior council officers responsible for outsourced contracts seeking a meeting to discuss how and when they are going to review the outsourced service.

Barnet UNISON also want to deal with the Ethnicity Pay Gap which the outsourcing easy Council ideology promoted by always securing the outsourcing option for services which are largely provided by Black workers e.g.

  1. NSL: Parking Services
  2. ISS: Catering Services
  3. Your Choice Barnet: Social Care services
  4. Norse: Cleaning services
  5. Blue 9: Security Services.

All the above services were outsourced under the Tories.

Barnet UNISON positively supports the statement of UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“Black workers make a vital contribution to the health and care sector but are all too often at the bottom of the pay scale as care workers, porters, healthcare assistants and catering staff. They frequently face shocking discrimination, threatening their health, job security and life chances.”

This why Barnet UNISON is determined to work with the Labour Administration to bring back these services into the Council thus enabling real life meaningful changes for a workforce that is often invisible and often low paid and without occupational sick pay.

End.

 

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