Category: UNISON Campaign

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 81% of Barnet Council workforce to be outsourced!

Barnet UNISON Press Release: 18 November 2014

Later this week the Environment & Adults Safeguarding Committee are due vote on decisions to begin the process of outsourcing Council staff working in Street Scene (refuse & recycling, street cleansing, parks etc) and Adult Social Care (social workers).

These decisions follow earlier Committee meetings which also recommended outsourcing.

The numbers of staff to be outsourced are as follows:

· Street Scene 478.42 posts.

· Adult Social Care 362.75 posts.

· Education & Catering 336 posts.

· Early Years Children’s Centres 170 posts.

· Library Service 150 posts.

Full details of Barnet Council Committee decisions can be found in our latest report here.

John Burgess UNISON Branch Secretary said: “We have already been through massive changes with a third of the Council staff outsourced under the One Barnet Programme (1371). BUT this latest set of proposals is going to hit staff particularly hard and will have a detrimental effect on the ability of Barnet Council to recruit new staff.

If all of the above services are outsourced the Council will have outsourced 2878 staff leaving behind a small cohort of 332 staff. Our branch has unfortunately had to deal with a lot of outsourcing in the past two years and in almost all cases it has meant cuts & redundancies for the staff transferring and led to the emergence of a two- tier workforce. In response to this shocking news we have organised a public meeting on 26 November at the Greek Cypriot Centre, North Finchley to discuss the implications for our members and council services.”

End.

Notes to Editors.

Contact details: John Burgess Barnet UNISON on 07738389569 or 0208 359 2088 or email: john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk

Background:

Between January 2012 and October 2013 Barnet Council outsourced the following services:

Adult Social care, Parking services, Legal services, Customer Services, Estates, Finance, Human Resources and Payroll, IT Infrastructure and Support, Procurement, Revenues and Benefits, Commercial Services, Housing Options, Building Control, Planning Administration (Development Management),Strategic Planning and Regeneration, Transport, Highways Services, Land Charges, Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing, Cemetery and Crematorium, Barnet Registration and Nationality Service.

In September 2012 Barnet Council employed 3,200 staff (excluding maintained school staff)

In September 2014 Barnet Council employs 1829.71 staff (excluding maintained school staff)

Links:

1. 81% of Barnet staff facing outsourcing an Update on the “Disappearing Council”

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/2014.11.14%20DisappearingCouncil.pdf

2. Barnet libraries threatened with closure as council earmarks £2.8m cuts

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/politics/barnet_libraries_threatened_with_closure_as_council_earmarks_2_8m_cuts_1_3828729

3. 26 November 2014 public meeting http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/26%20November%202014%20Public%20meeting.pdf

Introduction:

After a series of outsourcing under One Barnet Programme our branch has been following the decisions of the new committee system at Barnet Council.

The data reveals a shocking headline whereby 81% (1497 out *1,829.71 posts) of the current Barnet Council workforce is now facing outsourcing. Whilst decisions on what type of outsourcing will be selected, the lack of in house option means that staff will no longer be employees of Barnet Council.

To view the details behind the headline click here

Last Tuesday at a full Council Meeting it was voted by a majority of one to go ahead with the Libraries Strategy. Three options are to be offered for the future of libraries, but no matter which one is chosen the following results will apply.

Well before  2020  Barnet Libraries will have been replaced  by  a  number  of  libraries in the borough either run for profit by a private enterprise, or  by a mutual struggling to survive, or by community groups with insufficient resources.

Up to two in three library jobs will have gone. They will be replaced by volunteers and machines.

Most surviving libraries will   be smaller, being only 540 square feet in area. Book and audio-visual stock will be reduced, cutting choice. There will be less computers for the public to use and less study space available.

Libraries will be unsafe. For most of its’ opening times a library will not have any staff (or even volunteers) on site. Access will be gained through a swipe card. Unsocial behaviour and theft are not   unknown in libraries today despite staff being on site. The Council will replace on site staffing at these times by CCTV, and “remote voice or video information”.

These changes   will result in disaster for the service, and will discourage use by the public, increasing the likelihood of more closures in the years to come.

UNISON oppose the Library Strategy and call for its replacement with a plan for  that will benefit all those who have a stake a real Library Service.

Join your union in resisting the Council’s attack on libraries and library workers implicit in the Library Strategy.

The vote which was won last night 32 votes to 31 was an amendment to the original motion submitted by Labour Councillor Rebecca Challice which said:

“Delete report recommendations 2-5 and replace with:

2. Council and the Children, Education, Libraries & Safeguarding (CELS) Committee actively supports the ongoing discussions with Brookhill, St Margaret’s and Hampden Way Nursery Schools but recognises that they need more time to resolve budgetary issues and ensure a mutually agreed and sustainable future. Council and the CELS Committee therefore instructs officers to work with these three nursery schools to achieve this and report back to the CELS Committee for a final decision.

3. Council and the CELS Committee supports and agrees the Moss Hall nursery school business plan proposal that will save LB Barnet £160,000 each year from 2016/17, and instructs officers to implement the proposal.”

This means Moss Hall Nursery is now safe for the time being as their proposal has been accepted.

Future for St Margaret’s, Brookhill and Hampden Way Nursery Schools

The key sentence is “instructs officers to work with these three nursery schools to achieve this and report back to the CELS Committee for a final decision” the next CELS meeting is on 12 January 2015 see here

Next meeting

The Joint Trade Unions are meeting with their members on Thursday 13 November 2014 at 4.15 at Hampden Way Nursery School to discuss how they will be involved in developing a plan which secures a future for all three schools and the community they proudly serve.

Earlier this week the Trade Unions and the Council agreed the following joint statement here

Dear Colleague

Good News

UNISON has welcomed the news that the negotiations have been extended in order to ensure the grading of jobs has been completed before the final Council proposals are formally submitted to the Trade Unions. UNISON is also pleased the proposed changes to the redundancy have been withdrawn……read more here

No so good news?

Apologies for the lack of information about the negotiations which have been taking place over the last three weeks. Some of the delays have simply been as a consequence of requests made by the Trade Unions in response to the initial Council proposal submitted to the Trade Unions on 9 October 2014. Whilst it I understand that our members are anxious to know what is being proposed it is important to understand that any proposed changes will have an impact on almost 5,000 staff (including maintained school support staff). This is why the Trade Unions are concerned and have requested further information in order to understand which groups of staff may be affected and how.

Over the next few weeks the Trade Unions are busy on the job evaluation panels after which we will be back in talks with the Council over the details of the Council proposals.

In the meanwhile you can view the 3 November 2014 Joint Communication on the UNISON website HERE or on the Council web sites here www.barnet.gov.uk/unified-reward