#Capita consultation only 2 weeks to go !

Dear Barnet resident.

I am writing to you as the Lead Barnet UNISON rep on behalf my members who work on the two #Capita contracts here in Barnet.

Barnet UNISON has campaigned for over a decade to oppose mass outsourcing to Capita. Sadly the outsourcing meant hundreds of redundancies as jobs were moved out of London. The issues with Capita were not just redundancies, service issues started to emerge across a large number of former Council services.

Barnet UNISON has been campaigning in the community for the past year to bring back services in-house following the collapse of Carillion and Capita’s dramatic share price fall last February 2018.

Following the serious fraud recently committed by a Capita employee the Council has reviewed both contracts and is in the process of bring back Finance and Strategic HR as from 1 April 2019.

However other Council services currently provided by Capita are now being reviewed to see if they should come back in-house.

Here are services currently provided by Capita

Phase 1 – Finance and Strategic HR (the focus of this TUPE consultation)

Phase 2 – Highways and Regeneration (review between Jan to Sept 2019)

Phase 3 – Barnet-based customised services – Estates, Social Care Direct, Safety, Health and Wellbeing , Strategic Planning, Procurement, Insight, Cemetery and Crematorium (review between Jan to Sept 2019)

Phase 4 – Revenues and Benefits, Customer Services, Information Services, Planning (Development Management) and Regulatory Services, transactional HR services (including pensions administration). Will form part of the Year 7 Contract Review of both contracts from September 2019 onwards.

Barnet UNISON is campaigning for all services provided by Capita to come back in-house.

I am encouraging all Barnet residents to take part in Barnet Councils Capita online consultation which you can access here https://engage.barnet.gov.uk/strategic-contract-review

The deadline to complete the consultation is Friday 15 February 2019.

It is really important that Barnet Council hears from residents about Capita.

There are 12 questions including some multiple choice and written responses.

In order to encourage and assist Barnet residents to complete the Capita online consultation I strongly recommend residents read this helpful guidance produced by Barnet Alliance for Public Services click on link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16sMdE3V9gA1peQ-5Gw1vS7HeqRcFI4aU/view

I have attached a info graphic produced by Barnet Blogger Mr Reasonable showing how many millions Barnet Council have already paid Capita.

Please complete the survey and let others know.

Best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary.
Barnet UNISON

 

Barnet Council Capita consultation : Complete ASAP

To All Barnet UNISON members living in Barnet

I am writing to you as a member of Barnet UNISON and according to our postcode information a Barnet resident.

Barnet UNISON campaigned for over a decade to oppose mass outsourcing to Capita. Sadly the outsourcing meant hundreds of redundancies as jobs were moved out of London. The issues with Capita were not just redundancies, service issues started to emerge across a large number of former Council services.

Barnet UNISON has been campaigning in the community for the past year to bring back services in-house following the collapse of Carillion and Capita’s dramatic share price fall last February 2018.

Following the serious fraud recently committed by a Capita employee the Council has reviewed both contracts and is in the process of bring back Finance and Strategic HR as from 1 April 2019.

Other former Council services currently provided by Capita are now being reviewed to see if they should come back in-house.

Barnet UNISON is campaigning for services to come back in-house.

As a Barnet resident and UNISON member I am encouraging you to take part in Barnet Councils Capita online consultation which you can access.

The deadline to complete the consultation is Friday 15 February 2019. It is really important that Barnet Council hears from residents about Capita.

There are 12 questions including some multiple choice and written responses.

In order to encourage and assist Barnet residents to complete the Capita online consultation I strongly recommend residents read this helpful guidance produced by Barnet Alliance for Public Services here

****Important links******

 

  1. Barnet Council Capita consultation here.

 

  1. Helpful guidance here

 

Bet wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

 

Update for Capita Staff in Finance and Strategic HR

Dear member

I am currently involved in TUPE transfer consultations for Finance and Strategic HR with Capita and Barnet Council.

***Please note: I have asked for meetings with Capita in relation to HR and Finance workers who currently provide a Traded Service for Schools. At this moment in time this group of workers are not included in this TUPE consultation. However I have had asked for legal advice from UNISON on this decision. Traded Service for Schools are identified in Phase Four groups of services we are being considered for insourcing.

I understand two meetings with staff with Barnet Council and Capita have been arranged on:

Staff briefings

Tuesday 22 January, 2.30 pm in the Boardroom Building 2, NLBP

Wednesday 23 January, 9.30 am in the Boardroom Building 2, NLBP

It would be useful if you can attend one of these meetings. However, as it was published at short notice I will be asking for other meeting dates to be made available for staff.

One to One meetings.

If any Barnet UNISON members wants a one to one meeting with Capita/Barnet Council and would like a UNISON rep to attend please contact the Barnet UNISON Office on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Formal TUPE transfer meetings.

These are formal meetings that I attend with Capita and Barnet Council. The next meeting is in 30 January after which they will be weekly until the staff transfer on 1 April 2019.

Communication

Capita and Barnet Council will be providing regular updates and some frequently asked questions. It is important that if you have any issues or concerns you raise them as soon as possible.

Key UNISON meetings for members

There are a couple of branch meetings at which Capita is on the agenda in order staff can ask questions. You can view the details of these meeting meetings on this link https://bit.ly/2DrdO1C

What about the other Capita Services?

The council confirmed further information on the approximate timescales to review the remaining services:

Phase 1 – Finance and Strategic HR (the focus of this TUPE consultation)

Phase 2 – Highways and Regeneration (review between Jan to Sept 2019)

Phase 3 – Barnet-based customised services – Estates, Social Care Direct,          Safety, Health and Wellbeing , Strategic Planning, Procurement, Insight,     Cemetery and Crematorium (review between Jan to Sept 2019)

Phase 4 – Revenues and Benefits, Customer Services, Information Services,      Planning (Development Management) and Regulatory Services,           transactional HR services (including pensions administration). Will form          part of the Year 7 Contract Review of both contracts from September 2019     onwards.

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

 

 

*****Important Update for Barnet UNISON Bin workers*****

Important Update for Barnet UNISON Bin workers

Dear Waste and Recycling Barnet UNISON members

First of all I want to say that you are all doing an incredible job.

I know that you have had no influence on the bin collection changes and that you have tried to tell the Council about the things that are not working over the last 11 weeks. .

I know many of you simply want to be able to go to work, complete your task,  finish, and go home.

Unfortunately the bin collection changes has brought significant problems for residents and staff.

What has Barnet UNISON been doing?

Barnet UNISON has had conversations with senior manager and Leader of Barnet Council.

Unfortunately the discussions we are having about the bin changes are limited because the information we require from management has not been provided.

We used to meet with management once a week at the Oakleigh depot, this was changed by management to fortnightly and now it is over a month (12 December 2018) since we last met.

What is wrong with the rounds?

The simple answer is we don’t know.

Only earlier this week we asked for information about all the rounds in ordee we can carefully go through each round in order to try to understand what is going on,

Unfortunately senior management are unable to provide this information at this time. This is what they said at our last meeting on 12 December 2018.

What do the workers say?

Over the last 11 weeks we have received the following feedback from our members.

Not in any particular order:

  1. Because of the split depots and the traveling time to and from rounds and to and from tipping stations (Hendon and Edmonton) area based working does not appear to work.
  2. The Round sheets were wrong from day one and are still wrong, which is frustrating for the drivers.
  3. Work has been taken off some rounds, but it is still showing on round sheets, no one appears to know why this is happening?
  4. The maps were wrong from day one and are still wrong.
  5. Assisted collections are still wrong.
  6. Route and round risk assessments have not been done
  7. The mileage being walked by the loaders is too great.
  8. The rounds are too big.
  9. Putting agency staff on the same round who don’t know the borough, don’t know where they’re going and who have had no banksman training is very dangerous.
  10. The trade rounds are too big and having only one loader is very dangerous, with R.A.T.S left uncollected for weeks because a big vehicle just can’t get in the alleyways.
  11. Restricted access rounds have been biggest problem, again because big vehicles just can’t get into small locations.
  12. Flat rounds have been a big problem, again because of access problems and the sheer volume of tonnage involved.
  13. Green waste rounds have been impossible to complete even a single day because of the size of the rounds.
  14. No lessons have been learnt from previous years about Xmas collections and the sheer volume of waste and Xmas trees to be collected.
  15. Bulking area problems, not helped by off-hiring1 artic cab, deleting 1 job and using the other 2 staff to drive refuse rounds, leaving 1 worker to run site.
  16. Too much recycling for the area to cope with, so it is up to the roof and left on site overnight. Add to this tons of green waste tipped in unsuitable holding bays also left on site overnight.
  17. Not all staff trained on new vehicles.
  18. Vehicles left full overnight and not fuelled up, causing knock on effects for the morning crews, also rat damage and fitters unable to do repairs, servicing and MOT’s.
  19. When work is left uncompleted, no proper procedures in place to identify what’s been left and on what round or road, with sometimes several crews sent out to clear up only to find work has already been cleared.
  20. No way of monitoring tonnages.
  21. Supervisors and managers unable to do their jobs because they have been out loading or driving.
  22. No procedures in place to pick up loaders to drop them off to other rounds to help them or take them back to the depot.
  23. Bin deliveries regularly cancelled
  24. Clinical waste regularly cancelled
  25. Hazard round too big to complete and regularly cancelled
  26. Fear some staff working over their driving and working hours to clear up work.
  27. Staff being abused by members of the public because of their frustration
  28. Members of the public reporting they can’t get through on the help lines and when they do no one gets back to them.
  29. Staff off sick with stress, depression and injuries.
  30. Household waste left uncollected for weeks.
  31. Trade waste left uncollected for weeks
  32. Flats left uncollected for weeks
  33. Green waste left uncollected for weeks/months
  34. Drivers coming from Harrow to pick up loader or vehicles in Oakleigh depot
  35. No shunts have been available
  36. Occasions where there may be up to 6 vehicles working on the same road
  37. Saturday and Sunday working almost since the new service started.
  38. High level of agency staff at both depots
  39. Lack of keys or FOB’s or codes on round sheets
  40. Some support crews cancelled
  41. Emptying refuse, recycling and green waste into same vehicle

Barnet UNISON Bin workers please check

If there is anything we have missed or there is something you want us to bring up in our meetings with management, please contact the Barnet UNISON office on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

Capita: Counting the workers back into easyCouncil  

On Wednesday 12 December, 2018 I sat in three Capita staff meetings here in Barnet.

It was a joint meeting with Barnet Council and Capita following the decision the previous night to start insourcing services at the Policy and Resources Committee (P & R).

The P&R Committee agreed to look at insourcing services back into Barnet Council in four phases.

Phase 1 – Finance and Strategic HR

These services are due to transfer back in-house on 1 April 2019

 

Phase 2 – Highways and Regeneration

These services will be considered for insourcing between January and September 2019.

 

Phase 3 – Barnet-based customised services – Estates, Social Care Direct, Safety, Health and Wellbeing (SHaW), Strategic Planning, Procurement, Insight, Cemetery and Crematorium

These services will be considered for insourcing between January and September 2019.

 

Phase 4 – Revenues and Benefits, Customer Services, Information Services, Planning (Development Management) and Regulatory Services, transactional HR services (including pensions administration).

These services will be considered for insourcing in 2020.

 

Public Consultation

The Council are consulting Barnet residents about both Capita contracts starting sometime next week and ending in February 2019. More details will be found on the Council web site.

Please note: Barnet UNISON branch meetings begin in January 2019

Wednesday               9th January   Barnet House           CR4

Thursday                   10th January NLBP 4                      Central

Tuesday                     15th January Barnet House           CR2

Wednesday               16th January NLBP 4                      Willow

Wednesday               23rd January NLBP 2                     G2

Tuesday                     29th January Barnet House           CR3

Wednesday               30th January NLBP 4                      Central

Thursday                   7th February Barnet House           1.1

 

Blackburn with Darwen Council: Why they ended the contract Capita

The following email was sent to all 63 Barnet Councillors 30 November 2018

“Dear Councillor

Please find attached Barnet UNISON Briefing Number 3 which provides an insight into a number of decisions made by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council at the following Executive Board Committee meetings.

To aid transparency I am including the link to the relevant reports referred to in our Briefing.

The Blackburn with Darwen story covers a 17 year relationship with Capita when local government was in a very different environment unlike today. Take a look at the which services start to come back and the reasons given for the final group of services to be brought back in-house.

Best wishes

John Burgess”

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

0208 359 2088

www.barnetunison.me.uk

 

To view flyer click on link below

Briefing Number 3 – Blackburn and Darwen

 

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