“No stone left unturned” Number 12: Service Pressures

4th December 2024 admin Austerity, Libraries, Local, News, Report, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

UNISON comment:

We have produced a graphic to show how service pressures appear to be driving the financial crisis.

What is surprising is the pace the figures are changing.

For Barnet UNISON members who are now aware about the Budget setting process, the Council must present and pass a lawful budget each year.

Once of the financial considerations when setting a lawful budget is to consider the risks such as service pressures on the budget. For example, Adult Social Care (Communities, Adults and Health) is always under pressure due to demand. UNISON understands financial information is provided to senior managers and they must make a decision as to what level of service pressures their budget is likely to have for following years.

In the case of Adult Social Care if you look at the first table at the top of the graphic which was agreed at the Council Budget Meeting on 1 March 2022, Adult Social Care was forecasting services pressures of £3.2 million in 2023/24 and £2.2 million in £2.22024/25 and another £2.2million for 25/26.

If you look at the second table showing a year later, which was agreed at the Council Budget Meeting on 28 February 2024, there are changes. Adults Social Care has changed their forecast from £2.2million to £22.3million. That is a massive increase. However, in the same table Adults Social Care forecast that service pressures for 2025/26 will only be £87,000.

Now look at table three. This table is going to Cabinet Committee on 5 December 2024. Adults Social Care has revised its service pressure from £87,000 to £23.7million for 2025/26.

Below is a list of questions which UNISON has requested a response.

1.Is the right financial information being made available to inform decision makers?

1.1 When the financial information is being produced is the most up to date service demand properly understood and considered?

2. Do the decision makers understand the information being made available?

2.1 Do service managers promptly identify and prioritise action plan to mitigate service pressures?

3.How can the service pressures being agreed at Council Committee meetings be so wrong?

4.How can service pressures be relied on going forward to support a legal budget?

End.

“No stone left unturned” Number 11: We got to talk Capita

4th December 2024 admin Austerity, Libraries, Local, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

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.

“No stone left unturned” Number 10: Barnet Homes the elephant in the room.

4th December 2024 admin Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Housing, Local, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

Barnet Council published its Cabinet Committee 5 December 2024 report here:

https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s87121/Business%20Planning%20and%20Medium%20Term%20Financial%20Strategy%202025-2030.pdf

The report paints a stark picture for Council funding.

Barnet Council, in response to the serious overspend for 2025/26, has published a savings plan which is outlined in Appendix B here https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s87123/Appendix%20B%20Breakdown%20of%20savings%20and%20income%20generation%20proposals%20v2.pdf

Whilst the Government repeats the tired old phrase of needing to fix the foundations, they have ignored the fact that councils have been seriously underfunded over the past 14 years and they are teetering on the point of bankruptcy. They need upfront funding (not a loan) now whilst a new funding formula is agreed which will allow councils to plan and keep our communities safe.

This financial crisis means Barnet Council needs to take a serious look at how it is organised. It must decide whether to keep the organisation it inherited from the Tories or to rebuild it.

This means addressing the “elephant in the room”, Barnet Homes.

Currently Housing services are delivered by Barnet Homes which is part of The Barnet Group (TBG).

Click on the three links below if you want to know more about the history of Barnet Homes and The Barnet Group

“No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 5: Part One https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/11/15/part-one-who-is-the-barnet-group/
“No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 6: Part Two https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/11/15/9925/

3 “No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 7: Part Three https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/11/15/part-three-who-is-the-barnet-group/

Barnet Homes is one of the few Housing Services that is still outsourced. Across London in both Labour and Tory Councils, senior officers and politicians have all come to the same conclusion that Housing must and should return in-house.

Earlier this year a senior officer report to Cabinet Committee recommended that Barnet Homes continues to be outsourced. Barnet UNISON submitted our report calling for Housing Services to be brought back in-house.

Considering the serious financial crisis facing Barnet Council and the knowledge that Barnet UNISON members are now facing redundancy and services are at risk, UNISON has reviewed what other Councils had to say about the outsourcing of Housing services.

Haringey Council Cabinet meeting 7 December 2021

Title: Decision on the Council’s proposal to bring Homes for Haringey (HfH) in-house https://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/documents/s128415/Cabinet%20December%202021%20HfH%20insourcing.pdf

“Value for Money

4.3.1 The rationales for bringing HfH back in-house to deliver VFM [Value For Money] are based on the

following:

Efficiency savings are anticipated by eliminating areas of duplication and bringing together Council and HfH back-office services;
Corporate services supporting the HfH Board and subgroups will no longer be needed;
Client-side monitoring resources in the Council can be repurposed;
Some HfH functions will be integrated with Council functions to deliver added value;
Any efficiency savings to the HRA can be reinvested in resident services or add value by funding capital investment in estate improvements and new homes.”

Lewisham Council approved at a Cabinet Meeting in Dec 2022.

https://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?AIId=32800

Appendix 3: Cost Benefit Analysis

“Immediate annual savings of £300k would be made through the changes to governance structures and no longer servicing Lewisham Homes’ boards, as well as removing the need to client Lewisham Homes.”

“There will be one-off costs to the transfer of services relating to project management, professional services (IT, Finance, HR and Legal) and any one-off rebranding costs.”

“The transfer of corporate and shared services offer additional opportunities for savings to be made through the removal of duplication and restructuring; the level of these savings cannot be calculated at this stage and are dependent on decisions made by individual services.”

Source: https://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s103862/06%20Appendix%203%20Cost-benefit%20Analysis%20171122.pdf

Brent Council

“54. It is the In-House option that, by a wide margin, best interacts with the requirement to make significant savings. The Council has a track record of successfully delivering large budget reductions whilst carefully managing the impact on services and residents over recent years. These experiences will be directly relevant to, and can be directly applied to, an in-house option. In contrast BHP will find it harder to achieve the savings potentially required due to being ‘arms length’ with the associated costs this structure carries. The Joint Venture will take time and money to implement and in any case becomes difficult, if not impossible, to engineer as the cost reduction requirement increases.

The financials are the most important factor in reaching the recommendation.
Control is another important factor. The In-House option gives the highest level of strategic and operational control. The Reformed ALMO and Joint Venture options offer good levels of strategic control (though the ability to change course operates more slowly) and lower levels of operational control.
In conclusion, taking into account the challenging financial landscape, and all other factors outlined above, it is recommended that the In-House option is chosen. Moreover, the InHouse option offers the opportunity to re-position the housing service within the Council with the aim of improving a broad range of outcomes for almost 12,000 households. This is not the lift and shift of a self-contained housing service into the Council’s structure. This is the engagement of the housing service with the Council’s wider agendas in order to secure improved outcomes for residents and to enable the Council’s expertise in cost reduction to be brought to bear. However there are two areas for particular consideration within the planning for the In-House option and these are identification and mitigation of the key risks arising from the new position of the housing service within the Council’s wider business and providing effective arrangements for resident and Member oversight and scrutiny.

Source: https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/documents/s46023/Review%20of%20Housing%20Management%20Options%20Full.pdf

Enfield Council

“The reintegration of Enfield Homes offers opportunities to streamline functions across the Council and Enfield Homes, which will enable more efficient working so resources can be effectively prioritised to improve the services delivered to local residents.

The reintegration of Enfield Homes offers the potential for efficiency savings of up to £540K through the deletion of the Enfield Homes Chief Executive post and the governance function, accountancy services, HR savings and from a review of the senior management structure including the appointment of Joint Chief Operating Officer and Joint Head of Housing Finance.

There is the opportunity to improve the performance of the housing management and maintenance services by building on synergies that exist between the services provided by Enfield Homes and those by the Council.”

Source: https://governance.enfield.gov.uk/documents/s45967/ALMO%20Reintegration%20Cabinet%20report%20Final%2023-07-14%203.pdf

Harrow Council

“Keith Burchell, cabinet member for housing at Harrow, said keeping housing within the authority would save it £3.6m over 30 years since the running costs of the ALMO were expected to exceed £15m over this period. ”

https://www.building.co.uk/harrow-council-to-drop-almo-plans-in-pursuit-of-better-financial-deal-/3042326.article#:~:text=Harrow%20council%20is%20to%20become%20the%20first,it%20could%20get%20better%20value%20for%20money

Tower Hamlets

“Reasons for the decision

The current Management Agreement between Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) and the Council ends on 31 March 2024 (with a possible extension of a further four years). The Council must take a decision on whether to extend the Management Agreement no later than six months prior to this date.

Having reviewed the options for the future of housing management services, the Council has assessed that bringing services back in-house will:

provide an opportunity to join up services.
increase accountability to residents and the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH).
enable the Council to take a strategic approach to delivering good quality and new homes.

Given that no more additional Decent Homes funding is available, the Council did not find a significant reason to justify sustaining an Arms-Length Management Organisation (ALMO) model.

Between 24 October and 18 December 2022, the Council consulted residents on the future of housing management services. A mixed methods approach was used to collect views on if the Management Agreement with THH should be extended or if services should be brought back in-house under direct control of the Council. 86.21% of tenants and leaseholders agreed with the Council’s proposals to bring services back in-house.”

Source: https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/g13217/Decisions%2022nd-Feb-2023%2017.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=2

Ealing Council

“Cllr Bell said he hoped the local authority might be able to bring the ALMO back in-house before its contract runs out in March 2011.

He added: ‘We need to look at the books closely, but we believe that we can make around £5 million worth of savings by running the service ourselves. The tenants and leaseholders who were at the meeting were very, very pleased that we won the vote.’”

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/ealing-to-take-housing-management-in-house-19754

“This Council resolves that with immediate effect it withdraws its support for

privatising the Management Contract of Ealing Homes. It instructs officers to

draw up proposals immediately to return Ealing Homes to direct management by

the Council in such a way as to ensure that:

a) tenants and leaseholders have a genuine say in how the stock is managed

and the Council proactively encourages the setting up of tenants’

management organisations;

b) costs are tightly controlled; and
c) management of the housing stock will in future be closely scrutinised in

public so that problems such as poor repairs, expensive and slow Decent

Homes works and lack of adequate communication with tenants and leaseholders can be resolved and future problems avoided.”

https://ealing.moderngov.co.uk/Data/Council/20100518/Agenda/Minutes%20-%2018.05.10.pdf

Havering Council

https://democracy.havering.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=2095

Reasons for the decision:

The Council no longer needed to have an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in order to access funding from the Decent Homes Programme
Tenants and leaseholders had expressed their views clearly, that they would prefer their homes to be managed by the Council rather than retain the existing ALMO structure
The integration of the housing management service with the remaining housing services would provide a more transparent and accountable structure for the housing service
The removal of duplication in the management and governance arrangements for the service would save at least £300,000.

Westminster Council

https://www.publicsectorexecutive.com/News-archive/westminster-city-council-to-bring-almo-housing-scheme-back-in-house-after-performance-concerns

“Pursuing option 2, bringing the service back in-house, would be in the best interests of tenants and leaseholders and in line with feedback from tenants and residents’ groups. This should be combined with consultation and engagement with tenants and leaseholders on the future provision of housing management services and how these services can improve, in order to re-establish residents at the heart of service delivery.”

Hammersmith and Fulham Council

https://democracy.lbhf.gov.uk/documents/g1546/Public%20reports%20pack%2010th-Jan-2011%2019.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

4.4 Financial advantages from the creation of single direct management

Housing & Regeneration Department 4.4.1 There will be some significant immediate savings that will flow from the integration of the ALMO into the Council. These will result from the deletion of vacant posts, which would otherwise be duplicated in the new structure, and the elimination of agency workers and contractors to whom TUPE does not apply.

4.4.2 The present organisational structures were created to facilitate the formation of the ALMO and not because they represented the most efficient or cost effective managerial teams. As a result there are some significant areas of overlapping responsibility and accountability which give rise to higher costs

than is necessary.

4.4.3 By bringing the two separate structures together, it will be possible to significantly streamline the current Assistant Director structures under one Director of Housing & Regeneration. Recruitment of the Director of Housing and Regeneration is currently under way.

4.4.4 In addition, It is recommended that the Housing Management Division in the ALMO is linked to the Housing Options Division to create a new Housing Services team. LBHF is currently in the process of recruiting an Assistant Director of Housing Services to develop and lead the integration programme for the Housing Options and ALMO Housing Services teams. Appendix C provides a summary of the proposed Structure of the integration Housing and Regeneration Department.”

UNISON comment.

What is clear from reading the reports of other senior council officers is that there are clear organisational and financial benefits to bringing Housing services back inhouse.

The financial crisis facing the Council means that they can no longer continue to allow the expense of running a shadow council with its own bureaucracy and senior management structures. If it is good enough for all the other London Councils, then why is it not good enough for Barnet Council?

UNISON is asking for the Housing Services to be brought back inhouse.

**Please note: This article will be periodically updated as we discover more evidence of Councils bringing back housing services in-house.

End.

“No stone left Unturned No 8: “Fixing the foundations or looking after corporate big businesses?”

4th December 2024 admin Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Local, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

“Treasury forgoes ‘billions’ of pounds of potential revenue as well-paid self-employed partners spared employer NIC increases

Well-paid City lawyers and other self-employed partners at businesses including top accountancy and private equity firms have been spared the increases to national insurance contributions announced in October’s budget, in a move that will deny the Treasury “billions” of pounds of potential revenue.”

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/nov/26/well-paid-partners-in-city-firms-escape-paying-national-insurance-rises

UNISON members who have older relatives being hit by the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance or UNISON members who have children hit by the two-child benefit cap or UNSION members with family members with a disability feeling they are being attacked by the recent soundbites about going after “benefit scroungers”, or UNISON members with children who are thinking about going to university must now think about the impact of an increase in tuition fees, will all be wondering whose side the Labour Government is on. The article above demonstrates there was a choice about who the Government could target to raise much needed income to address 14 years of Tory Austerity. It looks like the message is clear. Corporate Big Business comes first and at the expense of the rest of us.

This brings us back to how the increase in National Insurance impacts on our members and residents in Barnet. The Government has given councils protection from the increase but not for other employers. One of the biggest Council budgets is Adult Social Care which uses care agencies to provide a service. These companies are getting no protection. Social Care services are already underfunded, understaffed and at breaking point. There have been decades of empty promises from politicians from both parties that if they are in power they will fix the system. The social care providers are going to have to pass the cost onto the Council. This places an additional financial burden on Barnet Council finances.

It is worth noting that Barnet Council chose to create two local authority trading companies that are 100% owned by Barnet Council they are The Barnet Group (TBG). TBG has an organisation called Barnet Homes which provides Housing and another organisation called Your Choice Barnet which provides social care services.

The second is called Barnet Education and Learning Skills (BELS) which provides services for Barnet Schools.

We have recently been told that TBG is not protected and will have a find extra funding for almost 1,000 staff. This is another massive service pressure of extra funding that Barnet Council will have to find.

This cost would not apply if Barnet Council brought these services back in-house like other London Councils.

We are waiting to hear from BELS as to whether they are having to pay the increases in National Insurance.

End.

“No stone left unturned” Number 3: Does it make sense to have a Barnet Council CEO & CEO The Barnet Group.

25th November 2024 admin ASSIST, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Housing, Local, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

For transparency the salary details of the Barnet Council Chief Executive salary are £201,456 to £212,685

(Source: https://www.barnet.gov.uk/sites/default/files/pay_policy_statement_2024_2025.pdf )

Barnet Council has responded positively to our request for oncosts information for posts to enable Barnet UNISON to understand the true cost for all posts in the Council.

In the case of the Barnet CEO if oncosts are applied to the figures above, the total oncosts would be £285,214 to £301,183.

Oncosts include National Insurance contributions along with Pension contributions. All staff working directly working for Barnet Council can join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) which is a Defined Benefit Scheme.

For transparency the salary details of CEO of The Barnet Group (TBG) are as follows:

“The highest paid director cost £218,643 including £16,132 of contributions to a defined benefit scheme on the same employees (2023: £211,477).”

Source: https://thebarnetgroup.org/download/the-barnet-group-financial-statements-2023-24/

For transparency Barnet UNISON has emailed TBG to seek clarity about the calculations above. There is no mention of oncosts for this role and we assume that National Insurance contributions are being made for this post. Barnet UNISON has also noticed that it refers to “contributions to a defined benefit scheme.” Barnet UNISON understands that staff working for TBG are not able to join LGPS (which is a defined benefit scheme) and are instead offered to join a Defined Contribution Scheme which is not comparable to LGPS.

Meanwhile in response to Barnet UNISON’s proposal to save money in our original post:

“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/ that by having one Council, Barnet Council has been quick to point out that the CEO of TBG is paid the same as an Executive Director of Housing in other London Councils.

UNISON comment.

Barnet UNISON conducted a short survey of equivalent salaries for Housing in other London Councils.

1. Ealing Council

Strategic Director £139,830 £185,268

https://www.ealing.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/12546/appendix_1_-_organisational_context_and_principles_for_pay_policy.pdf

2. Haringey Council

Director Place and Housing £165,000 – £170,000

https://new.haringey.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-08/Haringey%20staff%20list%20with%20pay%20grades%202024%20.pdf

3. Croydon Council

Corporate Director Housing £146,020 – £154,731

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s43397/Appendix%201b.pdf

4. Enfield Council

Strategic Director ‐ Housing & Regeneration £130,000 ‐ £134,999

https://www.enfield.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/3696/Structure-data-Your-council.pdf

Harrow Council

Director of Housing Place D2 £113,358 – £127,368

https://www.harrow.gov.uk/downloads/file/32034/Senior_Managers_Pay_____20222023.pdf

As we don’t know how TBG calculate oncosts the above data does suggest that there could be a saving if the Housing Service was run by a senior officer working directly for Barnet Council rather that a CEO.

Barnet UNISON is waiting for the breakdown of how TBG calculates oncosts for their posts. In the meantime, our members are under considerable stress due to the financial crisis facing the Council.

Before any services or jobs are deleted Barnet Council must show full transparency by insisting that TBG comply with Localism Act 2011 – Openness and accountability in local pay

“1.1. Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to publish an annual pay policy statement.

In the Pay Policy document that is published annually the Council set out the reasons why they publish the salaries of certain Council posts.

You can view the relevant paragraph below and here is the link

https://www.barnet.gov.uk/sites/default/files/pay_policy_statement_2024_2025.pdf

Related Remuneration and Transparency Context

1.5. The Council follows the transparency requirements on remuneration as set out in the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 issued in February 2015 by the then Department for Communities and Local Government; and specific guidance relevant to the Localism Act issued by the Department in February 2012 and February 2013.

1.6. The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency includes publishing information relating to salaries over £58,200. Similarly, the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 stipulates that salaries over £50,000 should be published. In order to comply with both Codes, the Council publishes a summary of posts that are paid more than £50,000. The summary is available on the website of the Council and is periodically updated.”

Barnet UNISON is waiting to hear back from Barnet Council on this point.

End.

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

25th November 2024 admin Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Housing, Local, News, Pensions, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

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 7: Part Three

15th November 2024 admin Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, COVID 19, H&S, Housing, Local, London Living Wage, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

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 Three which we noticed someone was watching it on a bus.

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

15th November 2024 admin Anti - Racism, ASSIST, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, Health and Safety, Housing, Local, News, Pensions, Recruitment, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign

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.

End.

Barnet UNISON NSL meeting Thurs 28 November 6.30 pm.

11th November 2024 admin Anti - Racism, Austerity, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Dear NSL members

Barnet Council has decided to go out to the market to ask for contractors to bid to deliver the parking enforcement service.

This will involve contractors submitting their bids to deliver the parking enforcement service for London Borough of Barnet.

Barnet UNISON has organised the first of a number of UNISON NSL members meetings in order we can discuss what action can be taken by members

The UNISON NSL meeting is on Thursday 28 November 6.30-7 pm

This is the link for the meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87371964533?pwd=3bgMyAzDbHrvqAWofce8Mv83c7Zysx.1

Many of our members will be aware of the Camden UNISON NSL members who have won two successful pay claims. They have won these pay claims by acting together. They agreed a proposal which was submitted to NSL and rejected. UNISON members voted for strike action, and they took strike action on both occasions their strike action was successful.

We are going to invite someone from Camden UNISON to speak at our meeting.

Barnet UNISON has along track record of backing our members who have wanted to take strike action. That same support is being offered to our NSL members if we are not able to secure better pay for our members.

Your local reps are working with me to develop a plan to campaign for parking enforcement to come back inhouse, but it also needs members to become involved.

Please look out for future communications from Barnet UNISON. We will produce a leaflet for the meeting on Thursday 28 November meeting. Please help publicise and recruit members as this is the only way to make change in the workplace.

Solidarity

John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON.

Barnet Council interim Chief Executive responds to UNISON members on grading dispute.

11th November 2024 admin Anti - Racism, Austerity, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Brief history to this grading dispute.

On 25 April 2024 at the formal meeting with the former Chief Executive in the JNCG about the agreement to move grades A to E starting from 1 April 2024. It was agreed that Barnet Council would update UNISON on this matter in a few days.

It is worth noting in January 2024 when the trade unions were informed that Chief Executive and Director of Resources had agreed to the changes and payment from 1 April 2024, we were told that implementation would not take place until September due to concerns about Oracle, but we were assured that the payments would be backdated to 1 April 2024.

In March 2024, Barnet Council HR informed Head Teachers of the proposals to move their staff on Grades A-E. Feedback from Head Teachers was that they were supportive of this decision.

On 19 July 2024 the trade unions were formally notified that there would be a delay and the Council “would be in a position to implement changes to grades A-E towards the end of this calendar year.”

On 16 September 2024 at a formal meeting with the interim Chief Executive UNISON was informed that Barnet Council would not be able to fund this proposal and that it would not be backdated.

Barnet Council stated they want the implementation date to be from 1st April 2025 they went on to say they were waiting to hear of local government finance settlement before categorically 100% confirming this. If the budget on 30th Oct was bad news for local government financing, then this date cannot be guaranteed adding that once the budget for 25/26 is set, a firm implementation date will be confirmed with trade unions.

Following this meeting UNISON organised workplace meetings of our members which led to members submitting signed collective letters requesting that the decision not to implement from 1 April 2024 be reconsidered.

On 23 September 2024 UNISON emailed to signed letters from hundreds of our members asking the interim chief executive to reconsider.
On 17 October UNISON emailed the interim chief executive if they were going to respond to staff.
On 18 October the interim chief executive emailed UNISON to say they were speaking with Executive Director of Environment and proposed that the communication would be sent at the end of the month.
On 18 October UNISON confirmed that would work as we had a mass meeting of members on 6 November 2024.
On Wednesday 6 November 2024 UNISON attended a mass meeting of members where they confirmed that they had not received any communication from you.

At that meeting our members were clearly upset over the handling of this matter and requested that UNISON record a trade dispute over failure to honour an agreement to implement the uplift from the 1 April 2024.

On 6 November UNISON emailed the interim chief executive formally registering a dispute adding that UNISON was still open to meetings to find a resolution, but confirming that we are now beginning UNISON’s internal processes for applying for an industrial action ballot

Late on Friday 8 November 2024 UNISON received the following memo which we are sharing as a hard copy and via email to our members to read and report back to our next mass meeting on Wednesday 4 December 2024, 1^st Floor in new building at the following times.

5.45-6.15 am
6.30- 7 am

PLEASE READ MEMO FROM INTERIM CHIEF EXECUTIVE BY CLICKING ON LINK BELOW.

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/241108-GradesA2E-LetterResponse-CS.pdf

End.

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