***Barnet UNISON AGM Tuesday 25 February 2025 4-5.30 pm ***

It is your democratic right to attend and participate in your UNISON AGM.

It is important that members register to attend.

You have two choices:

You can join in person at the Colindale office, or you can join online.

Please click on the link below to register to join the meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrd-GorTsrGtQzqR9L3h9L-z1mKymCRU_i

End.

 

“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.

 

 

Over £1 million back in the pockets of our lowest paid: School Support Staff

Barnet UNISON is proud to announce that over a five-year period of constant chasing and negotiations we have managed to reach agreements with schools and some employers e.g. Barnet & Southgate College, Capita, ISS, BELS to ensure that Term Time Paid staff received some backdating money they were owed by their employer not using the correct formula to calculate their pay.

Barnet UNISON wants to thank colleagues at London Region and UNISON HQ for supporting the campaign to claw back some of the money that was owed to our members.

The Term Time Pay claim started because of UNISON pursuing several local authorities over their failure to use the correct formula for calculating pay of term time staff in schools.

Barnet UNISON quickly wrote to over 50 schools in Barnet seeking meetings and the opportunity to talks to our members about the campaign. We also discovered some of the outsourced contractors were using an incorrect formula and we pursued those organisations to correct the error and to negotiate back pay.

 

“As soon as UNISON established that term time only staff (TTO) were being incorrectly paid due to a flawed formula being applied in calculating the amount of holiday pay entitlement members were receiving we commenced on going meetings with management to rectify the situation. After several years of negotiations, we resulted with a positive outcome and agreement that the College would apply a new and correct formula to calculate their holiday pay entitlement.  I was pleased to announce to my TTO UNISON members that a settlement had been finally agreed and that all the College’s term time staff would receive back pay to 1 September 2019 ( 3 years) which resulted in approximately £200,000 total back pay deal for TTO staff. I informed my members that this was not compensation, that it was backpay as they had been underpaid for the work that they had already done.  This is a good example of why it is important to join UNISON as it provides collective strength and means we can talk to the employer to negotiate and improve conditions in the workplace.” Christalla Tsattala Barnet UNISON rep of members of staff working for Barnet & Southgate College.

 

“It was a massive team effort across the UNISON family with support and advice from both regional and national colleagues. School support staff are some of the lowest paid members we have in our branch, and they are totally committed to their work and the children they support. It was important that our branch took on this campaign and we would recommend any other UNISON branch thinking of doing the same to go ahead. We are in a cost-of-living crisis which is hurting our low paid members every penny we have helped put back into their pockets makes all the work worthwhile.” John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON.

 

Background:

Term Time Pay members meeting – February 2021

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2021/02/19/term-time-pay-members-meeting/

 

Update on the Barnet UNISON Term Time Pay Campaign – 2020

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2020/12/09/update-on-the-barnet-unison-term-time-pay-campaign/

 

Term Time Pay Drop-in meetings: February 2020

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2020/02/07/term-time-pay-drop-in-meetings/

End.

 

Updated Barnet Council Grades – includes new National Pay Award.

Dear Barnet UNISON member

We can confirm that the National Pay Award has now been formally agreed. This means that Barnet Council workers should receive their new rate of pay and back dating to 1 April 2024 in your November payslip.

If you have worked any overtime since the 1 April 2024, the backdating for this will be paid in December payroll.

If you have any questions, please email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

The table below are the new Barnet Council grades which include the National Pay increase.

End.

 

Any queries please email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

**Please note the above Grades are based on 36 hour a week contract. Barnet UNISON is waiting for the Term Time Pay figures for the Barnet Grades.

End.

UNISON National Pay ballot : Frequently Asked Questions 2024

1. What was the UNISON pay claim?

UNISON, alongside the other Local Government trade unions Unite and GMB, submitted a claim for an increase of £3,000 or 10%, whichever is the highest at every pay point. In addition, the claim also included a 2 hour reduction in the working week with no pay detriment, an additional day annual leave, and reviews of discriminatory pay gaps

 

2. What did the employers offer?

The employers offered an increase of £1,481 or 2.5%, whichever is the highest and rejected everything else.

 

3. Why is UNISON balloting us?

Yet again, the pay offer from our employers is another pay cut in real terms. We’ve had years of pay cuts and we have to say enough is enough. School and council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being balloted.

 

4. When will I get my ballot paper?

The ballot opened on 4 September. Ballot papers will start arriving over the next few days – they are being sent out in batches because there’s about 360,000 UNISON members in schools and councils!

 

5. Is UNISON recommending how to vote?

Yes, and YES! UNISON has rejected the employers offer, and is recommending to all members to vote YES for strike action

 

6. Shouldn’t UNISON be negotiating first?

UNISON reps spent weeks negotiating with the employers, but they wouldn’t increase their offer. So now we need to make it clear how serious we are about getting a decent pay rise.

 

7. Will my vote really make a difference?

Definitely – every single vote will make a difference. That’s because we have some really restrictive anti-union laws – so we can’t vote online, and over 50% of members must vote.

 

8. How will I know when I get my ballot paper?

It will arrive in an A5 bright purple envelope, it will have the UNISON logo on the front and will also say in large letters Stand Together For Better Pay, Council and School Pay 2024 on the front. It should be hard to miss!

 

9. How do I vote?

In the bright purple envelope, you will have a ballot paper – you put a X in one of the boxes (preferably YES) and then use the pre-paid, pre-addressed envelope to post the paper back to CES who are running the ballot for UNISON.

 

10. When do I need to return my ballot paper?

Your ballot paper must be returned before 16 October 10am. CES need to have received it by then, so really just complete and post it back as soon as you receive it.

 

11. What if I don’t get a ballot paper?

If you haven’t had a ballot paper by 17 September, then call the Hotline immediately on 0800 0857 857 and they will check your address and send out a replacement paper

 

12. I’ve heard people say it’s a disaggregated ballot? What’s that?

A disaggregated ballot means that we are all being balloted by employer. So for instance in Barnet, we have over 20 separate ballots – some smaller ones in schools that pay NJC pay, plus one for council workers and school workers still employed by Barnet. This is the same in every branch in the country. We need to get over 50% in as many of those ballots as possible.

 

13. If a workmate joins now will they get a ballot paper?

Someone not already in UNISON has until 3 October to join if they want to have a vote. They can join here: Join UNISON and get essential cover

 

14. Can people not in UNISON go on strike?

Yes, but we would always encourage someone to be in a union if they are going to strike. Plus, they wouldn’t be eligible for any strike pay unless they join the union taking strike action!

 

15. Can agency/contract workers join and strike?

Yes, agency workers can join UNISON and can go on strike

 

16. Will I get strike pay?

UNISON pays £50 a day strike pay. This amount can be changed depending on how many members are taking strike action. As soon as the ballot result is known, there will be discussions and decisions made about where strikes will be and about strike pay. If we get over 50% turnout and a YES vote for action, we will keep you updated about strike dates and pay. Details on how to claim it will be available when needed.

 

17. If we strike, we’ll lose money even with strike pay. Is it worth striking?

When we take strike action, we win more money overall than we lose. We know it’s difficult to lose money, but without taking action we know we’ll be worse off this year already. However, if we stand together, get the vote out and fight back, we can win more.

 

18. When we win, will the pay be backdated?

Yes, back to 1 April 2024

 

19. Do you know when we’ll get the money?

That will depend on when the employers give in and agree to our pay claim!

 

20. If someone isn’t in UNISON will they also get the pay rise?

Yes, but we have more chance of getting a better pay rise if we are stronger, so ask anyone not in UNISON to join and get involved to help us win for everyone!

 

21. Where can I find out more?

You can come to the visit the Barnet UNISON media channels where we are publishing updated information about the strike ballot on a regular basis.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/barnet_unison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarnetUNISON

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnetunison/

Website:  https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/

 

End.

 

Update on the “Barnet 41” Kosher Catering Service workers

picture of some of the catering workers

Update on Barnet 41 Kosher Catering Service workers.

Background:

The Kosher Kitchen Service was outsourced by Barnet Council in 2016 to ISS.

In 2021 and 2022, the Kosher Kitchen service, including staff, was TUPED to Signature Education.

On 1 March 2023 Signature Education TUPED the Kosher Kitchen service, including staff, to London Kosher Caterering.

The Kosher Kitchen Service used to provide a service for the following schools:

  1. Hasmonean Primary,
  2. Beis Yaakov Primary,
  3. Pardes House Primary,
  4. Menorah Primary,
  5. Sacks Morasha Primary,
  6. Rimon Primary,
  7. Mathilda Marks Kennedy,
  8. Beit Shvidler Primary,
  9. Nancy Reuben,
  10. Etz Chaim,
  11. IJDS,
  12. Menorah Foundation,
  13. Hasmonean High School MAT (2 schools),
  14. Kosher CPU.

When were the staff sacked?

Barnet UNISON is sad to report that the Kosher Kitchen catering service, after decades of providing school meals, was closed on Friday 5 May 2023.

At short notice 41 catering workers were asked to attend a meeting on that date when they were informed that the service was closing on the same day.

UNISON has been sent the HR1 form which sets out the details of redundancies.

The reason given for issuing redundancy is “insolvency.”

In response to this news Barnet UNISON has asked Barnet Council to take back the Kosher Kitchen service so that catering services to the schools can continue.

We have heard that many of the schools had no warning that the service would close, and no one knew who would be providing school meals the following week.

Our members are distraught as they had no idea that their jobs were at risk. All 41 staff were told to sign on as unemployed the following week.

In the meantime, Barnet UNISON has been arranging urgent meetings with our members.

Barnet UNISON is clear that the Kosher Kitchen service must remain open in Barnet.

“The One Barnet/Easy Council mass outsourcing policy has failed the Kosher Kitchen Service. It has failed to ensure schools provide meals for the children who relied on it. This is a service with a long tradition of providing kosher meals for pupils. Barnet Council must step up and save this service to ensure the pupils at the schools have a reliable excellent service going forward.” John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

End.

 

What does Barnet Council have to say about the request that the Council step in as the employer of last resort and ensure the children still receive school meals?

The Council states that it does not run Catering Services and that there are no statutory powers to ensure that the Council must deliver meals to schools.

 

Has Barnet Council ever intervened when services have failed?

Yes. See below.

  1. Council Housing repairs service

In 2010 Connaught went bust. They provided a council housing repair service. The workforce was sacked on the phone. UNISON asked for an intervention as all of the workforce were told they were sacked.

Barnet Council stepped in immediately, ensured meetings were set up with staff and speedily enabled another contractor to step in to employ the staff and ensure the services to residents continued.

  1. Home care services

Aquaflo, a Home Care provider, took over home care services and within weeks collapsed. Barnet Council stepped in and commissioned The Barnet Group to run the services.

  1. Resident and Day care services.

Fremantle (the contractor) said they could no longer run the residential and care service for older people. Barnet Council stepped in and commissioned The Barnet Group to run the services.

  1. Outreach Services

Genesis Housing said they would no longer continue to provide outreach services. Barnet Council stepped in and commissioned The Barnet Group to run this service.

  1. Education Services.

Global giant Mott Macdonald, who took on Education & Skills Services and the catering contract gave notice to Barnet Council that they wanted out of the contract.

Barnet Council stepped in and created a local authority trading company named Barnet Education and Learning Skills (BELS) to run Education & Skills services and directly contracted with ISS who had previously taken over the Catering services for Schools.

Capita Re.

Barnet Council made the correct decision to bring the Re contract to an early termination. The costs of bringing these services from Capita back is far greater than the Kosher Kitchen service. Until a political decision was made to run these services in-house the Council claimed they do not provide these services as they have a contractor.

Can schools choose who provides their school meals?

Yes, this has always been the case but when Kosher Kitchen service was run in-house the service was able to respond to the schools’ concerns and still ensure that hot meals were provided to the children.

The Kosher Kitchen Central Processing Unit facility is owned by Barnet Council and there is a long history of provision for Jewish Schools in Barnet. The in-house service built up an excellent reputation within Barnet Schools which enabled the Kosher Service to continue delivering hot meals.

 

What about the London Mayor’s pledge concerning Free School Meal provision?

It exposes the hard reality that unless there is an increase in funding the Kosher Service will not be viable. Food prices alone have increased by 20% but the funding for school meals has not increased.

This incident with the Kosher Kitchen service is likely to spread. The rising cost of food in what is the worst cost-of-living-crisis in 76 years is putting school meal provision in jeopardy.

More funding must be found for the Kosher Kitchen Service to be able to resume work for the start of the new term in September.

What is happening to the staff?

As from 5 May 2023 the staff have no money coming in. In a normal redundancy situation, there will be a consultation with staff and if the redundancy goes ahead the workforce will receive their redundancy pay and their notice pay.

In the current situation, as their employer became insolvent, employees had no warning and no notice pay.

This is the worst cost-of-living-crisis in 76 years and low paid workers are disproportionately impacted. This has had a devastating impact on these workers’ lives.

Staff must go online to claim their redundancy pay. This is proving difficult for many of the workforce, who are not familiar with completing online forms and do not necessarily have access to the appropriate facilities.

Furthermore, staff also must make a second online claim for a ‘protective award’. This is because they were given no notice of redundancy as their employer had been declared insolvent. This is yet another financial loss that these workers have to endure.

The claim for redundancy is further complicated because there are outstanding financial issues for this workforce unresolved before they were made redundant.

  1. Pension issues.

Many of the staff worked for Barnet Council and were in the Council Pension Scheme. We have discovered that two of the contractors have not paid Pension contributions into the scheme. This money is owed to the staff. Barnet Council is aware of this matter and has promised that it will support these workers. However, these workers need to know now what the Council is doing to get their money back. This is another financial loss that these workers have had to endure.

  1. Outstanding Pay issues.

Catering workers work term time only and therefore are paid using a term time pay formula.

Unfortunately, the term time formula they were being paid is incorrect. The incorrect formula they had in Barnet Council was continued with the TUPED contractors. This means they have been underpaid. This is another dispute that UNISON had taken up with ISS. The dispute has not been resolved. This is another financial loss that these workers have had to endure.  

  1. London Living Wage

The staff were all employed on the London Living Wage. Barnet Council stated that any contractor delivering a service must pay the LLW. Unfortunately, we have now discovered that following the first TUPE the staff have remained on the LLW rate of £10.85 which was the rate for 2020/21. This is another financial loss that these workers have had to endure.

 

End.

Note to Journalists : Contact details: Barnet UNISON on or 020 8359 2088 or email: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

 

Barnet Schools Joint Trade Union statement.

Over the course of the next three months the following trade unions will be or are balloting their members over pay.

  • NEU
  • NASUWT
  • GMB
  • UNISON
  • NAHT

All the trade unions are seeking an improved school funding offer to address pay for staff and for the schools.

It is important that all the trade unions successfully manage to beat the 50% turn out in their ballot to build pressure on the Government to properly fund schools.

We are asking all our members to work together to make sure that they take part in the democratic process of the strike ballot.

End.

 

 

Term Time Pay: What does it mean for school staff?

In 2018 UNISON lodged an employment tribunal claim against Greenwich Council on behalf of all term time paid staff. UNISON managed to negotiate an agreement which generated 5 years’ back dated payments plus a contribution to those in Council Pensions Schemes.

Term Time Pay (TTP) staff are paid using a formula that includes your annual leave entitlement. What UNISON discovered was that TTP staff were being underpaid. To put it simply not enough annual leave was being allocated to the TTP formula.

As a result of the Greenwich case claims began to be raised across the country.

In September 2019, Barnet UNISON lodged 52 TTP claims against 52 Barnet Schools and 3 contractors working for Barnet Council.

Over the last four years we have manged to secure back pay for 80% of our members in schools and contractors and we are hoping to complete the final 20% by the end of this year.

Why has Barnet UNISON written to Barnet Schools?

On 22 March 2023 we wrote to all Barnet Schools which implement the NJC National Pay Awards because part of last year’s claim included a permanent extra day’s annual leave. What this means is that the TTP formula will need to change to reflect the extra day’s annual leave entitlement.

We have asked each school to provide UNISON with the details of the new TTP formula. We need to check the formula is compliant otherwise there could be underpayments claims for our members. We need to be able to advise our members that they are on the correct pay.

In response to your questions if you think it helps this is the answer.

Why it’s going to take such a long time to get the back pay?

Because your school may choose not to respond to UNISON, or they may choose to delay the payment or find a way not to pay. If we can’t negotiate locally, we hand over to our lawyers and it can drag on for years in the courts. Once it is with our lawyers the branch has no control over the process.

What do UNISON members need to provide?

You will need to provide evidence for example payslips to show what you are being paid. You will also have to complete a case form where we will require more details about you.

End.

1 2 3 10