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From Barnet Unison:

This Wednesday (29 June) Barnet council’s cabinet resources committee will sign off a contract for a new support and customer services project worth up to £750 million to whichever private company wins the contact.

The contract could be worth over £1b if the option of five or ten year extensions is taken up.

Barnet UNISON commissioned outsourcing expert Dexter Whitfield to critique the business case going to this week’s cabinet resources committee. You can read the full report here.

The report found the following problems with the council’s business case:

– Key procurement risks have been omitted such as Judicial Review if unequal treatment
– Key transition risks omitted such as loss of critical skills before or at transfer
– Key operational risks omitted such as high level service user complaints
– Key contract management risks omitted such as effectiveness of performance assessment regime
– Key financial risks omitted such as hidden costs emerge
– Key democratic governance risks omitted such as accountability and reporting failure
– Key employment risks omitted such as pensions

Up to 253 staff could lose their jobs before, or shortly after, the CSO-NSO contract commences.

There is a full list of key risks here.

This contract is one of many that the council has put out to tender in the last five months with more planned later in the year.

Already, the combined total costs of contracts stands at more than £1 billion of public money.

Barnet ‘easycouncil’ has been making headlines for a number of ‘cock ups’ in procurement and failings in contract monitoring.

The latest was the official audit report on MetPro – the bust security company employed by Barnet Council. The report made shocking reading, especially for a council which aspires to outsource all services to the private sector.

Some of the key findings from that audit report:

– There was no procurement exercise in line with Barnet’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPR) and there was no written contract with the council
– There was payment of some invoices with no VAT number quoted and some invoices were from companies had different names – MetPro Group and MetPro Emergency Response. Internal Audit found inappropriate changes to MetPro’s bank accounts
– MetPro was not registered with the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme, making the council vulnerable to prosecution or civil claims.

See Barnet Unison’s recommendations here.

“It is now three years since the Future Shape/Easycouncil/One Barnet programme started. In that time I have dealt with two chief executives, three council leaders and hundreds of consultants. While the consultants pedal outrageous unsubstantiated claims to deliver £100 million in savings, all I see is £millions going into the pockets consultants for a further three years – £9.2 according to the last council budget. In that time I have seen hardly any savings. What worries me is how ‘consultancy dependent we have become!” John Burgess Barnet UNISON Branch Secretary.

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

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So – we know Southampton council workers are striking and working to rule as Unison and Unite finally permit local government members to take action against the government’s horrific job and service cuts, plans to mass-privatise services and so on.

Other Unite and Unison members at other councils are starting to follow suit – hopefully a sign that action is starting to spread and that Unison general secretary Dave Prentis means it when he says his members will be kicking up rough this autumn. We’ve heard fighting talk from Prentis before, of course, but who knows? – this time, he might have to do more than talk. Which will be a bit late for the thousands of people who have already lost jobs and services, but, you know – better really, really late than never, etc.

At Barnet council, staff are already working to rule in environmental health, highways (four departments), land charges, registrars, building control, revenues and benefits (which has got to worry the council – revenues is council tax collection), and cemeteries and crematoria. Workers in regulatory services have been working to rule for 13 weeks.

Council workers at Somerset county council have also just voted to work to rule in protest at savage council cuts to redundancy payments – exactly the sort of assault on salaries and terms and conditions that has so angered Southampton staff. Lincolnshire county council staff voted to work to rule last month.

These are small actions, of course, but they’re worth noting. They may just be bigger than they seem. Industrial action is notoriously difficult to take in the UK and Unison is notoriously strike-shy (and aggressive towards activists who want real action) – Prentis still seems to hope negotiations will save pensions. He’s dreaming – which is why small work-to-rule actions could be important. Services might be saved if those actions ignite.