Barnet Unison mental health social workers remain in year-long dispute after talks with Barnet Council break down. 50% of permanent workforce have left since January

 

Photo: Barnet Unison

Mental health work is one of the most under-funded and under-valued part of the public sector. Here Barnet Unison explain what their year-long dispute is all about.

Barnet UNISON mental health social workers dispute with Barnet Council since 1 September 2023 has been over the failure to agree a recruitment and retention payment due to high turnover of staff across three mental health social worker teams.

On Monday 15 July 2024 UNISON wrote to Barnet Council suspending strike action and agreeing to go into talks to try and resolve the dispute.

Unfortunately talks broke down as it became clear in the meeting that Barnet Council was not prepared to reconsider their position.

The following facts provide a glimpse of the scale of the crisis facing Barnet Council.

• 50% of the permanent workforce will have left one of the three mental health social work team workforce since 1 January 2024.
• 31 mental health social workers will have left one of the three mental health social work teams in the last two years.
• 12 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team North in the last two years.
• 19 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team South in the last two years.
• Did you know that 40% of AMHPs have left the AMHP team in the last two months.
• 100% of AMHPs across the North and South mental health teams resigned and left the Council by the end of August 2024.
• In July 2023 Barnet Council informed UNISON that they had a budget of £266k to resolve this dispute.
• In a meeting with Acas in March 2024 with UNISON they doubled their budget to £532k.
• It would cost £150k to settle this dispute

You can read more facts about this dispute here on our website h

At our last meeting with Barnet Council our reps informed senior management that they were leaving because it had become clear that Barnet Council does not value their staff or service users. Our members strongly believe that it is not safe to practice as a mental health social worker in the three frontline mental health teams.

 John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON said:

It has become apparently clear that Barnet Council has chosen confrontation rather than negotiation to resolve this high-profile dispute. It is not about the money because we know there is a pot three times bigger than what would be needed to bring this dispute to a close. The sheer scale of the numbers of social workers leaving these three teams should have set alarm bells ringing with senior management. The fact that they appear unconcerned about the risks of the chronic levels of turnover has left mental health social workers feeling deeply unsafe. We still have some members who are currently still working but feeling very scared about what could happen in terms of risks. Failure to end this dispute will leave Barnet Council exposed as an uncaring and unsafe workplace for mental health social workers.

I have recently reached out to the Chief Executive and Leader of Barnet Council to come back with a revised offer which may be able to retain some of the current staff and encourage experienced mental health social workers to come and work for Barnet.

Until there is a credible offer the Barnet UNISON mental health social worker dispute remains live and we will continue to report on the dispute. It is our duty to advocate for a safe working environment for our members and no one will silence our voice for our members.

 

Capita Barnet Scandal: 'Never mind Brexit, it's time for Capzit!'

From Barnet Unison

Grant Thornton was commissioned by the London Borough of Barnet (the Council) to provide support in its response to the discovery of an alleged fraud.

On Friday 21st September 2018 Barnet Council published the Grant Thornton (GT) review LINK
The GT review looked the two Capita contracts below.

Contract 1: The London Borough of Barnet and Capita (BRDS) Limited relating to the provision of Development and Regulatory Services signed 5^th August 2013 “DRS”
Contract 2: New Support and Customer Services (NSCSO) Partnering Agreement between the London Borough of Barnet and Capita Business Services Limited. “CSG” contract commenced September 1^st 2013.

The combined worth of both contracts over a 10 year period £424 million.
GT review reported:

“The individual is believed to have committed a fraud to a detected value of £2,063,972 by directing CPO payments to personal bank accounts.”

“Our view of both contracts has identified a number of significant weaknesses which may have resulted in contractual breaches. We have identified and reported what we believe are fundamental weaknesses in budgetary control and financial accounting.” 

“We note both the DRS contract and the CSG contract detail consequences for the Service Provider of Persistent Breach”.

“Lack of effective review of controls over financial ledgers.”

“The monthly and annual budgetary control process provided by CSG Finance for capital projects in Re lack sufficient rigour to challenge unusual transactions and journal entries.”

“Significant financial control weaknesses”

“Poor accounting controls

“Weakened scrutiny over regeneration scheme KPIs” 

 SOURCE

The GT review goes on to develop five broad themes and referred as control ‘Pillars’. GT had this to say about their ‘Five Pillars’

“In our view, if any one of these controls Pillars was functioning effectively at any point during the period (July 2016 to December 2017) on question it should not have bene possible for the individual to perpetrate the fraud…”

John McDonnell Shadow Chancellor said:

The Grant Thornton (GT) review of the two Capita contracts in Barnet provides yet more evidence of the folly of privatisation of public services. When I read “significant financial control weaknesses…“poor accounting controls” in the GT review it summed up what I have been saying about the current Tory government. They have failed our economy by rewarding their friends in big business, leaving our communities and public services to suffer at the hands their brutal austerity policies. I want to send a personal message of solidarity from the Labour Party Conference to Barnet UNISON and the residents who have fought side by side against a right wing mass outsourcing ideology. I fully support your campaign to #KickOutCapita from Barnet and bring services back in-house.

Professor Dexter Whitfield who recently published a joint review entitled “’Future Shape’ ‘easyCouncil‘, ‘One Barnet’= Failure” with Barnet UNISON on both Capita contracts had this to said: 

The Grant Thornton audit reveals very serious flaws and inadequate operational practice in both the Capita regeneration and back office services contracts. The fact that it took a fraud case to reveal the full nature and scope of these flaws is a damming indictment of Capita and Barnet Councils contract management and monitoring.

Furthermore, implementation of the remedial action plan may address the current inadequacies but gives little reassurance that there are no other serious flaws that remain to be exposed. The audit provides further significant evidence for the Council’s review of both contracts and a decision to terminate the Capita contracts and return to in-house provision as a matter of urgency.

John Burgess, Barnet UNISON Branch Secretary said

I am shocked but not surprised at the content of the GT review of both Capita contracts. Barnet UNISON predicted that service quality would suffer once the services were privatised however there is little comfort in saying “we told you so” for the hundreds of local jobs in Barnet that were lost as a direct result of Capita winning the contracts. What is surprising, is that it took a fraud, to deliver the forensic scrutiny we have long demanded.

Over the past five years frontline in-house services have endured vicious cuts whilst the two Capita contracts have drained badly needed public money, in order to satisfy the needs of Capita shareholders who put profit before quality services to residents. When Capita issued a dramatic profit warning on 31 January 2018, why did the Council not begin discussions to bring services back in-house. It seems clear from the GT review that even at an early stage there were serious endemic financial and budgetary issues. The Council is currently preparing a review of both Capita contracts.

It is my view that in light of the GT review, it is untenable that the Council could even consider allowing Capita to run any of their services again. The relationship between the Council and Capita is in my opinion irreversibly broken, it’s over, and now is the time to end it, no expensive divorce bill, Barnet Councils services, and residents have tolerated enough of the mass privatisation ideology. Never mind #Brexit it’s time for #Capzit”.

UNISON - 'It is time to re-build Barnet Council & start process of bringing services back in-house'

Today Barnet Council have published a financial report detailing three options for the two Capita contracts in Barnet LINK

The options are as follows:

1. Maintain the status quo in relation to the CSG and DRS contracts;
2. Re-shape the contracts to better align service delivery to the council and Capita’s strengths and priorities, within the context of the existing contractual structure; and
3. Bring the partnership to an end, and either bring services back in house or re-procure them.

The senior officers preferred option is Option 2.

They have identified the following services to be brought back into Council control

CSG (Customer Support Group)

• Finance and Accounting (excluding transactional services provided from the Darlington shared service centre)
• Estates (Property Services, Building Services and Facilities Management)
• Strategic HR
• Safety, Health and Welfare
• Insight
• Social Care Direct

Re (Regional Enterprise Ltd)

• Regeneration Commissioning (including commissioning the Brent Cross programme)
• Highways
• Economic Skills and Development
• Cemetery and Crematorium
• Strategic Planning

John Burgess, Branch Secretary of Barnet UNISON, said:

I could say we, told you so, and we did. However the Council is in a financially critical situation and now is not the time to for rhetoric. It is time to start rebuilding our Council. I welcome the report going to Policy and Resources Committee on Thursday 19 July 2018.

However, Barnet UNISON will be supporting option 3 with qualifications. We support bringing the partnership to an end, and beginning the process of bringing services back in house. It is simply not feasible to contain to peddle the Commissioning Council model. Pragmatism driven by the financial crisis has to mean that the Council needs to include in their business case a major restructuring of senior management across the Council including the Barnet Group. The Commissioning restructure 2012 is not fit for purpose. The Council need to look at how services best fit including those within the Barnet Group. There must not be a silo approach to insourcing. 

NOTES FROM BARNET UNISON

Footnote: On 26 June 2017 Capita share price was 705.50 now six months later the share price closed today at 202.09 which represents a 72% drop in their share price over a six month period.
On Wednesday 31 January, 2018 the Capita share price opened up at 347 and closed at 182.50 which represents a 47.53% fall in share price.

Links.
Damning report into EasyCouncil, Outsourcing including forward by John McDonnell
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barnet-UNISON-Capita-report-2018.pdf
Below are three short video messages from Dexter Whitfield on his report.
Dexter Whitfield on campaigning against outsourcing
https://youtu.be/zDt8VKKQ-Vs
Dexter Whitfield on outsourcing failures
https://youtu.be/IiD17Pt7OwY
Dexter Whitfield on true costs of Barnet easyCouncil
https://youtu.be/V0SytYCj1HA

Barnet Unison launch great recycling video and song

Barnet rocking against austerity and education cuts on Saturday with fair funding meeting on Tuesday

People in Barnet are really getting organised regarding education cuts. In addition to the event above a meeting has been organised for next week:

Fair Funding For All Schools

The meeting is at East Barnet Secondary School on Tuesday April 25th at 8pm.

Chestnut Grove, 

East Barnet

EN4 8PU 

Speakers will be from Fair Funding For All Schools, NUT and  Barnet Head teachers.

Barnet UNISON 24 hour strike on Monday November 2nd

Barnet UNISON members who still work for Barnet Council (excluding community schools) will begin a 24 hour strike action on Monday 2 November 

The dispute involves social workers, coach escorts, drivers, occupational therapists, schools catering staff, education welfare officers, library workers, children centre workers, street cleaning & refuse workers, all of whom have made it clear they want to remain employees of Barnet Council and don’t want to be outsourced.

In November 2015 a number of Barnet Council Committees will be making decisions about the future employment of staff working in

· Education and Skills and School Meals

· Adult Social care

· Children’s Centres

This is all part of the wider strategy to reduce the workforce to a small core of commissioners.

Our Picket Lines will be:

· Barnet House from 7 am.

· Mill Hill Depot—Starts 6 am onwards.

· Edgware Library —Start 9 am onwards.

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said:

Our members want to work for the Council, they want to be directly accountable to the residents of Barnet. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will have to place the shareholders’ legal demands before local residents’ needs. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which uses zero hours contracts. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will not pay the London Living Wage as a basic minimum. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which won’t allow their colleagues to belong to their Pension Scheme, and our members don’t want to work for an employer which will take jobs out of the borough. That’s why 87% of our members working for the Council voted ‘Yes’ to taking strike action. So far the Council has failed to come close to agreeing to any one of these demands. One of our members has written and produced a music campaign video called “UNISON Army” which pretty much sums up the mood of our members take a look. (see above)  

Trade unionist attacked in wake of Pride and anti-Fascist mobilsation

 Helen Davies, Barnet Unison Branch Chair has issued the following statement:

It is with deepest anger I have to report that our Barnet UNISON branch secretary, John Burgess, had his car vandalised as it was parked up outside his own home. After the day’s activities on 8^th July, which involved a strike and protests, John returned home to find a large note stuck on his car windshield: “Fucking Union Faggotts Get Back Home From Here!”  and a nail stuck into a front wheel of his car. This came within 2 weeks of the Barnet UNISON banner, and a branch presence which of course included John, proudly appearing on the Pride Demo. It is our view this particular use of offensive language is far too coincidental for us not to understand this as an attack on John as a trade unionist and also for being seen on the Pride demo.

We also think there is a strong coincidence that our branch was a very early signatory to the Unite Against Fascism statement about the proposed Fascist gathering in Golders Green and encouraged our members to attend the protest last weekend (4^th July). We are proud that we were part of a larger community mobilisation which meant Fascists could not raise their heads in our community. Fascists are organisations which peddle hatred and what happened to John is in every sense a Hate crime which has been reported to the police.

John has a job to do and that is to represent the members of his union branch. We choose him year after year as we believe he is the best placed person to do this. He enjoys the confidence of the branch membership. This means whoever did this is trying to intimidate and silence all of our membership. We will not be silenced!

We believe it is the demonisation of trade unions by the current Government which also encourages this type of personal attack on individual trade unionists. We condemn such attacks and call on our supporters to rally round and show solidarity and support to one who has done nothing other than defend us and offer solidarity to all those fighting the effects of Austerity and oppression.

George Binette, branch secretary, Camden UNISON said: 

On behalf of Camden UNISON I express our shock and horror at the vicious homophobic vandalism carried out against John Burgess, Barnet UNISON branch secretary. This attack is a perverse tribute to the effectiveness of John’s tireless commitment to both his members and the defence of public services. Unfortunately, all too many politicians and sections of the media seem set to whip up a Jeremy Clarkson-style climate where it is literally open season on active trade unionists. Solidarity with John and the Barnet branch.

This afternoon Noel Lynch (Chair) and Pete Murry (Secretary) of the Green Party Trade Union Group released the following statement:

The Green Party Trade Union group and Brent Green Party condemn the vandalism and homophobic abuse directed at John Burgess, Barnet Unison Secretary.  John, like many other Trades Unionists is involved in opposition to the London borough of Barnet’s extreme free market policies and also to an avowedly anti-semitic demonstration scheduled to take place in Golders Green. He had also been a participant in the recent Pride march.

On all these counts we wish to send our support to John. The Green Party opposes free market based austerity and privatisation policies, it opposes racism and it opposes homophobia. We are grateful that Trades Unionists, like  John, stand up against such obnoxious tendencies and we hope we will be able to work together to defeat them.

(Pete Murry is also Brent Green Party Trade Union Liaison Officer)