Don't Care UK

Press realease from Islington UNISON:

Islington UNISON welcomes the recent news that Care UK has lost its contract to provide home care services in the borough. We have long argues this organisation is not fit for purpose in regards to these services.
Care UK has been found to be woefully inadequate in all the services that it provides to the local authority and in that respect, UNISON believes these services should be re integrated into the services that are directly provided by the council.

The Care UK home care contract should be taken over by the in-house home care service and not re tendered or given to the second favoured bidder as sometimes has happened in the recent past.

Care UK still run residential care homes via an Islington contract and these should also be brought back in-house and an independent inquiry should be undertaken as to the care provision provided by Care UK in those homes and in home care.

Islington UNISON agrees with the view expressed by Catherine West and the Labour Group on Islington Council when they state:

“Islington Labour have been calling for this contract to be scrapped for years. But the Lib Dems in Islington opposed these moves for far too long.

Let us not forget, they shamefully slashed the wages of over 80 council carers . While we welcome today’s news, it is long overdue and raises serious questions about the council's continuing partnership with Care UK. This remains despite last year's failings, where dead bodies of residents were left lying in their rooms for days.”

We call on the Lib Dem council to end the contract for the Care Homes and bring those service in-house

We call on the Council to bring the home care service back in house and Increase the in-house complex needs service to look after our most vulnerable clients

If Care UK are not fit to provide care in peoples homes then they are not fit to provide care in care homes!


Mike Calvert

Deputy Branch Secretary

Islington UNISON Local Government Branch

2 Fieldway Crescent
London N5 2EA

Attacks on Unison activists - Doncaster and Hammersmith and Fulham.

A couple of attacks on trade unionists that you should be aware of

Firstly in Doncaster
(From facebook) on the 7th September 2009 Doncaster UNISON branch secretary Jim Board was suspended after giving an interview to Channel 4 news in defence of children's services in Doncaster. The very same day Mayor Davies gave a press conference, in which he condemned the public sector union, and appealed for workers to join the union affiliated to HIS own party – 'Workers of England'. With massive attacks planned by the Mayor the public sector services and the equality agenda in Doncaster, Jim Board and UNISON would be at the forefront of fighting for jobs and the services of the most vunerable sections of our community; making this attack no more than an effort by the mayor and senior council management to remove opposition to their plans, and to clearly attack the trade union movement. This is not acceptable. As a response a demonstration in support of Jim Board and against the Mayor's divisive attempts to undermine trade unions has been called. This is part of the Mayor's overall assault on public services and the equalities agenda in Doncaster – and we must show him this is unacceptable.
There will be a protest against the mayor Peter Davies, on Sat 12th Sept 11am till 1pm outside Doncaster's Mansion House.

Please invite as many people as you can and lets make this as loud and defiant as possible as we say NO to the Mayor's attack on trade unions, public services, and tolerance and diversity in our town.

Secondly in Hammersmith and Fulham. (Hat tip www.hangbitch.com )

News reaches hangbitch that Hammersmith and Fulham's Tory council has derecognised H&F Unison branch secretary Noreen Morris and two other branch officers. These are most unpleasant times.
The derecognition is punishment for a post that appeared on the H&F Unison blog last year. The post (rightly) slagged off several overpaid management sycophants who had helped rush through plans to shift the council contact centre to Rochdale. Management insisted that the union branch turn the post author in. The union branch told management it was unable to comply
Now, Hammersmith and Fulham Unison has effectively lost its branch secretary and two of its best officers - at a time when H&F jobs and public services are being annihilated by the Conservatives, too. And what is Unison's regional office doing to help its beleaguered branch comrades? Is it offering its considerable legal and financial resources to help these three officers mount a defence against this most wretched of Tory councils? Is it hell. It has sent in a couple of regional officers to negotiate on employee matters directly with management, circumnavigating the branch
MarshaJane
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www.unionfutures.blogspot.com

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Back to school/free school meals

Well yesterday was Stephens first day back at school moving into year 1 very exciting :) and my first blog post since Lydiarose arrived - not that this is the first time she has been mentioned on a blog - stroppy got in first :)
http://stroppyblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/congratulations-to-marsha-jane.html
and of course the world of facebook new about her arrival minutes after it happened.

Some good news for Primary school kids in Newham as they will all get free school meals for the next 2 years. This is probably the first good thing I've been able to say about the New Labour administration in Newham - so well done for finally doing something I approve of!

I'll try and keep blog a bit more up to date from now on!

Pic of Lydiarose @ nearly 2 weeks old.
Mj

MarshaJane
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EasyBarnet - John Burgess responds in todays Guardian.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gmg/op/s565Q3lRCWnl_ev4Q2pP53Q/view.m?id=165917&tid=120787&cat=The_Guardian

The budget airline model won't work for councils
Wed 2 Sep 2009 00:05 BST

The best way to get value for money in public services is democratic accountability.

According to your report, the London borough of Barnet "wants householders to pay extra to jump the queue for planning consents, in the way budget airlines charge extra for priority boarding" (Tories adopt budget airline service model, 28 August).
This business model, you state, will be used "to inspire a radical reform of public service provision which is being seen as a blueprint for Tory government".
Well, queue-jumping is not a popular practice in Britain. While we must keep our eye on innovation, we don't need any ideas which will promote inequality.

Last year the council began a consultation called Future Shape of the Council. I led the trade union side for the negotiations. Initially the consultation's focus was looking at changing the role of the council from a provider to a commissioner of services. Last December the council agreed to explore a model which would see the bulk of its staff working for somebody else. In the space of six months that model has been dumped. We were waiting for details of the next big idea when this happened.

You quote Barnet's chief executive, Nick Walkley, as saying: "The snowfall this winter was a good example … A lot of people phoned the council to ask when we were going to come along to clear the pavement. In the past most residents would have got out their spades and cleared the pavement in front of their house" (Welcome to Barnet, the Tory test-pilot of no-frills government, 28 August).

I would agree that, in the days of coal fires, citizens used to scatter ashes on to snow on the pavements outside their homes. Perhaps it is out of fear of an injury claim that citizens do not clear pavements nowadays. I wonder how many of those calls to the council were from disabled residents or the elderly.
You report that the Conservative party leader, David Cameron, "said he would give local authorities a 'general power of competence' that will allow councils to make their own judgments". I would rather councils were allowed greater financial freedoms so they could compete with the private sector.
Democratically accountable public services are the best way to ensure quality services and value for money; comparing public services to gimmicks used by a cheap airline company beggars belief. If this is genuinely what is in store for public services, it needs to be stated loud and clear in the political manifestos come the general election. Our national union has produced numerous reports on privatisation of public services where public money has been lost through failed outsourcing schemes. In Barnet we outsourced our care homes for older people several years ago; now the council is being taken to an arbitration court by the organisation which gained the contract over a disputed £8m which the organisation claims it is losing.Rather than outsourcing and easyJet-style services, councils such as Barnet should be focusing on duplication of work in back-office services, and placing greater emphasis on making significant savings through joint procurement with other public sector partners.
John Burgess is the branch secretary of Barnet Unison john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk
MarshaJane
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