Barnet UNISON

Dear |John

As you prepare to take action today, I want you to know that your fight is our fight. As you fight against privatisation, job cuts and a vicious attack on terms and conditions, we are standing with you.

Across the country the ConDems are attacking our public services and the UNISON members who work so hard to provide them. They are cutting services, cutting jobs and imposing pay cuts.

The services they cut are vital to the communities that UNISON members are wholeheartedly committed to – in Barnet you’re showing your commitment by donating your day’s work to the Larches Community, as you did during the last strike action in October.

It’s this dedication to public services that makes our members and the work they do so important.

As you take action I want you to remember the rest of UNISON, with our 1.4million members, is behind you.

Best wishes,

Dave

One Barnet Strikers left the picket line to donate their labour to the Larches a Charity providing services for adults with Learning Difficulties to view the thanks you letter click here

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NEWS FROM UNISON LONDON REGION

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2012

UNISON CALLS ON ERIC PICKLES TO INVESTIGATE BARNET COUNCIL

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is calling on the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, to launch an immediate inquiry into the use of consultants at Barnet Council after public sector tax avoidance hit the headlines in the case of Ed Lester the Head of the Student Loans Company.

The union believes that the proper employment and procurement practices have not been followed exposing the Council to significant reputational and financial risks.

Eric Pickles has already had to step in and reprimand the council, after local residents and Barnet bloggers exposed the METPRO Audit scandal when METPRO a private security firm were awarded a contract at a cost of over a million pounds – without a tendering exercise, written contact or any proper invoicing – to ‘keep an eye’ on local bloggers.

Laura Butterfield, Regional Organiser at UNISON, said:

“We are really concerned that proper procedures have not been followed at Barnet Council.  Over the last two years Barnet Council has employed a long list of consultants including the Deputy Chief Executive and Assistant Director of HR.  Only an immediate inquiry can clarify the correct processes were followed. Given Danny Alexander’s intervention in the Ed Lester case last week how can we ensure that future cases are avoided unless all public sector employees are employed through the correct processes?”

UNISON’s key concerns

·  The Council has failed to comply with its Contract Procurement Regulations (CPR) and Financial Regulations by employing consultants without any procurement/selection process being followed.– which exposes it to significant reputational and financial risks .

· The Council does not have accurate and complete centrally held contracts register and effective monitoring arrangements so are unable to confirm if this is an isolated incident.

·  The Council does not have a complete, centrally held register of contractors showing who is employed, on what basis and at what cost.

 

We recommend that all spend over the stated threshold in the CPR be reviewed and matched to a central contracts register (in development) in a timely basis.  This register needs to be drawn up in full and maintained.

Back in February 2011 the local UNISON branch submitted a report to all 63 Barnet Councillors on 10 February where they made the following recommendation

Recommendation
The Council undertakes as a matter of urgency a review of all payments to staff not employed directly by the Council.

Furthermore we recommend that the Council refer to the HMRC Guidelines in particular the advice to be found here that explains that “It’s your responsibility to correctly determine the employment status of your workers – that is, whether they’re employed by you or self-employed. This depends on the terms and conditions of your working relationship with each worker.

It’s important to get your workers’ employment status right because it affects the way tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) are calculated for them. And it determines whether or not you have to operate PAYE (Pay As You Earn) on their earnings.”

Read full details here
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/employees/start-leave/status.htm <http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/employees/start-leave/status.htm>

For comment or more information please contact Laura Butterfield – 07718 520 850 / l.butterfield@unison.co.uk

 

End
Information links

1.   Student Loans chief ‘to pay tax at source’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16854187

2.   Pickles attacks Barnet Council
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2011/07/pickles-attacks-barnet-council.html <http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2011/07/pickles-attacks-barnet-council.html>

Click here to view report

Barnet UNISON Press release: 07 February 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

On Thursday 9 February hundreds of *UNISON members working for Barnet Council will be taking strike action.

A decision has been made that a team of UNISON strikers will leave the pickets lines to donate their labour to the ‘Larches Community’ a local Charity in Edgware which provides services for adults with Learning Difficulties. Our members are committed public servants and have this to say

“We have withdrawn our labour from the Council but we have not withdrawn our commitment to our community which is why a team of UNISON strikers is heading off to donate their labour to help out a local charity providing services for adults with learning difficulties in Barnet!”

What is happening in Barnet is what is likely to happen across NHS services as Private Sector companies fight to win lucrative guaranteed contracts, all funded by the tax payer.

For many of our members this will be the fourth day of action in response to the One Barnet Project which seeks to transfer the majority of the staff out of the Council. The total cost of these projects will look to exceed £2Billion which is why the Big Private Sector Fat Cats are all lined up to try and win the contracts!

John Burgess Barnet UNISON Branch Secretary said

“Doing nothing is not an option for our members. I am proud of our members for taking what is always a difficult decision to go on strike. Furthermore their decision to want to go an help out a local charity demonstrates their commitment to their community. I am asking the Leader of the Council to donate all strike pay deductions to be donated to the Mayors Charities.

Barnet UNISON is asking for the One Barnet programme to be put on hold.

 

 

* Council services taking action will be in the following Trading Standards & Licensing, Land Charges, Planning & Development, Building Control & Structures, Environmental Health, Highways Strategy, Highways Network Management, Highways Traffic & Development, Highways Transport & Regeneration, Strategic Planning & Regeneration, Cemeteries & Crematoria; Parking Services, Revs & Bens, Social Care Direct

 

End.

 

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

 

Useful Links

 

1. UNISON strikers donate their Labor to local charity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GQN8q0nQms

 

2. List of Private Sector contractors involving in the bidding process

 

• Capita Symonds
• EC Harris and FM Conway
• SERCO,
• Capita,
• BT,
• HCL Axon
• NSL

 

 

3. UNISON response to transfer of Housing workers out of the Council

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/749

 

4. UNISON response to transfer of social care staff out of the council

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/750

 

5. UNISON response to transfer of Parking staff to NSL

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/2011.12.13.UNISONPARKINGresponsetoCRC.pdf