PublicEye, October 2013

PUBLICEYEProspect members in public service

www.prospect.org.uk • Issue 3, October 2013

TALK TO A COLLEAGUE AND HELP THE UNION GROWPROSPECT is urging every reader to share their copy of PublicEye with a non-member and encourage them to join the union – see pages 4-5. Although these are tough times, Prospect offers a clear vision for the future and the best means of getting there.

You can help. Ask your colleagues if they are Prospect members. If anyone says no, ask them to read this, visit our website and join.

The civil service and civil servants are getting a raw deal. We are facing pay caps and freezes, job cuts, reductions in terms and conditions and a sense that the civil service is seen as a drain on the public finances, rather than an asset which delivers essential services.

Simplistic exhortations to change and improve might be popular with the tabloid press, but do nothing to address the major challenges we face. Nor does the tendency to blame civil servants if things go wrong.

As specialists, Prospect members are under immense pressure to deal with the ever more complex problems of a changing world. Let us help make a difference.

PROSPECT SAYS fundamental civil service reform is long overdue, but has called on government to take the process seriously as well.

The committee’s report, Truth to Power: how civil service reform can succeed, published in September calls for a Parliamentary commission to look at the nature, role and purpose of the civil service.

Prospect deputy general secretary Leslie Manasseh said: “Prospect is ready to play its part in a commission. The reform process must provide a genuine opportunity to talk to the unions representing the staff who deliver services and manage change.

“Prospect agrees that it is vital to review the role and purpose of the civil service. But this must be against a clear assessment of the future challenges faced by the government in an increasingly complex and changing world.”

Manasseh agreed with the PASC that the government’s approach to the civil service is characterised by a tendency to blame rather than to analyse and seek solutions to difficult problems.

On skills, Prospect endorsed the committee’s finding that “the inability of the civil service to develop, recruit, and retain key skills is a fundamental failure of today’s civil service, which successive governments and the leadership of the civil service have failed to address.

“The fact that so many with key skills just leave the service also underlines how counterproductive it is to maintain the existing restrictions on salaries and conditions for leading professionals in a modern civil service.”

In its introduction to the report

Value staff and reform can succeed

the committee says that although “the civil service is one of the great institutions of state, we conclude that ‘incremental change’ will not achieve the change required. Unless change is clearly heralded and given high-profile leadership by a united team of ministers and senior officials, it is bound to fail.

“Failing organisations demon-strate common characteristics, such as a lack of openness and trust, which are very evident in some departments and agencies. In our deliberations with ministers and civil servants most recognise a prevalence of these behaviours. We remain unconvinced that the government has developed the analysis, policies and leadership to address these problems.”

■■ Download■the■report■at■http://bit.ly/PASCtruth

STEFANO

CAGN

ON

I

■■ Manasseh■–■government■should■analyse,■not■play■the■blame■game

Prospect • PublicEye – October 2013

Prospect has backed the House of Commons public administration select committee’s finding that the current civil service reform plan is inadequate and not fit for purpose

PROSPECT HEALTH and safety reps in the civil service should report any instance where they are not able to fulfil their union functions as a result of the reductions in facility time.

Last year, in a bid to identify efficiencies in areas of public expenditure, the government held a consultation on trade union facility time.

The Cabinet Office has now issued guidance to departments and agencies that limits the time available for staff to carry out union duties, including health and safety reps.

The departmental secretary of state or chief executive must now approve any rep that needs to spend more than 50 per cent of their time on union activities.

While the government says it recognises the important role that unions play in contributing to the efficient operation of public services, reps now have less time to do their union work effectively.

In particular, health and safety reps have specific functions, which are underpinned by the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 and associated regulations.

“The evidence shows that

ASK YOUR MP TO MAKE A PLEDGE FOR PROSPECT PROSPECT has a proud history of campaigning for causes that matter to members and to the communities they live in. A new campaign launching in November will focus on five issues in particular.

The Prospect Pledge campaign aims to bring those issues to the attention of MPs – in Westminster, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The policy areas cover:

● the need to increase the number of women in science and technology careers

● the need for the government to promote better behaviour through responsible procurement practices

● the importance of stemming the loss of specialist talent from the civil service

● the importance of investment in green energy

● improving engagement between the union and the political community.

“The cards will be distributed to members in the November issue of Profile. It is a good time to grab the attention of politicians because they will be thinking about policies for the next general election in 2015,” said Parmjit Dhanda, parliamentary and campaigns officer.

“I hope Pledge cards will be posted from constituencies around the country by our members to politicians, asking them to consider these key policy requests that we would like to see implemented.”

■■ For■full■details■visit:■www.prospect.org.uk/prospectpledge

Good health and safety means a more productive workforce

employers who adopt good health and safety practice – including providing proper facilities for health and safety reps – save money by creating better, more productive workplaces,” said Sarah Page, Prospect’s health and safety officer.

“Capping the amount of time for safety rep activity could compromise compliance with health and safety law.”

An important section of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, states:

“An employer shall permit a safety representative to take such time off with pay during the employee’s working hours as shall be necessary for the purposes of performing his [sic] functions and undergoing such training in aspects of those functions as may be reasonable.”

Any Prospect health and safety rep who feels the forced reduction in facility time is preventing them from carrying out their role should speak to their branch secretary and full-time officer.

Prospect’s civil service sector and health and safety officer are carefully monitoring the overall situation given the potential for legal challenge.

‘The evidence shows that employers who adopt good health and safety practice save money by creating better, more productive workplaces’

■■ Page■–■safety■could■be■compromised

Published by Prospect,New Prospect House, 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN

PublicEye editor: Graham Stewart e [email protected] t 020 7902 6605

Printed by: College Hill Press


NEWS2

Prospect argues that pensions fair deal should be lawPROSPECT HAS called for New Fair Deal pension arrangements to be underpinned by legislation.

New Fair Deal allows members of public service pension schemes who are contracted out of the public sector to retain membership of the scheme they were in before privatisation.

The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 provided the legislative underpinning for the new policy, though New Fair Deal is a policy, not a statutory protection.

When existing contracts are retendered, there will be a presumption that staff covered by the Fair Deal policy should be offered access to a public service scheme.

However, Prospect has agreed to provide flexibility for employers to provide a broadly comparable scheme where – but only where – legal requirements are a bar to providing access to a public service scheme.

The government expects that in the vast majority of cases, when a contract is retendered, previously transferred staff will be offered access to a public service pension scheme.

Trade unions and ministers have been discussing the detail of changes to legislation and regulations required

to implement the new package.

There have also been consultations by the Treasury and the Cabinet Office on the regulations required to implement New Fair Deal.

Pensions officer Neil Walsh said: “Overall the provisions meet the commitments made to members when the agreements on public service pensions were

concluded. There will always be areas where we will seek to make improvements.”

In its response to the consultation, Prospect calls for: ● the policy to be established in statute ● the policy to apply to the widest definition of transfers

possible ● proper monitoring to ensure that members’ rights are

protected ● access to new entrants to be considered ● flexibility in determining whether staff remain “wholly

or mainly” engaged on a public service contract.Walsh said the biggest problems likely to be faced

were around two-tier workforces when new entrants are excluded from public service pension schemes; problems with continuing eligibility if staff are moved from their current duties; and issues about restrictions to pay increases before retirement.

■■ Prospect■submission■to■the■Treasury:■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01206

■■ Prospect■submission■to■the■Cabinet■Office:■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01207

THE SCOTTISH government announced in October that it is to buy Prestwick International Airport. The airport was put up for sale last March by New Zealand-based owners Infratil and has been running annual losses of between £2m and £7m. The government said that otherwise the airport would have closed.

Scotland’s deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that over time Prestwick “could go back to profit.” A six-week timetable of detailed negotiations has now begun with the owner. The airport will be kept fully operational while negotiations are ongoing.

Sturgeon said it was the only realistic alternative to closure and that once the airport was in public ownership there would be a detailed business case made, which would include levels of investment and a timescale on turning around its fortunes.

However, Sturgeon said that

saving the airport would require a “wide-ranging efficiency programme and disposal of surplus assets.”

The decision to buy Prestwick comes just months after Cardiff

Airport was sold to the Welsh government for £52m.

Prospect national secretary Alan Denney said the

closure of Prestwick would have been a disaster for the local economy with about 1,400 jobs linked directly or indirectly with the airport. “In the short to medium-term this is good news for job security at the airport and it could bode well for future investment in infrastructure. Passenger numbers have been rising for the last eight or nine months, so the potential is there for the airport to be a Scottish economic success.”

Passenger numbers were boosted by Ryanair’s decision to add more flights.

Speculation over future of Prestwick airport ended by government purchase

STEFANO

CAGN

ON

I

PA ARCHIVE/PRESS ASSO

CIATION

IMAG

ES


NEWS 3

An agenda for a better futureProspect members want to do a good job, free from the impact of short-term political calculations by the government of the day. Deputy general secretary Leslie Manasseh outlines the union’s vision

Please encourage your colleagues to sign up online at www.prospect.org.uk/joinus


4 RECRUITMENT

http://www.prospect.org.uk/joinus

SHARED SERVICES THE Cabinet Office has announced that the preferred bidder for ISSC2 is Steria UK. The company will work in partnership with the government to form a separate business known as Shared Services Connected Limited (SSC Ltd). The government will retain a 25 per cent share in the company, while Steria will take the remaining 75 per cent.

Negotiator Dave Allen said: “The key development has been the announcement of outsourcing proposals for the Independent Shared Services Centre 2.”

Unions have written to the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – the key departments affected

and integrated in ISSC2 – setting out their objections to creating such an outsourced ‘ joint venture’, which also relinquishes the government’s controlling stake/share in this new company. Unions are seeking assurances over the potential loss of jobs and the guarantees about off-shoring.

“Although Prospect members are not directly affected, we have a strong interest in proposals that see civil service work and services transferred into the private sector, potentially denuding the skill and expertise within that organisation, and ultimately affecting the delivery and quality of service our members receive on the key work areas to be outsourced,” said Allen.

REX FEATURES/RAY TAN

G

On payWe do not believe arbitrary pay caps constitute an effective pay policy or that cutting pay is the route to economic recovery. In the short-term Prospect is doing all it can in negotiations to mitigate the effects of this approach – and for the long term we are calling for a review of specialist pay to address major issues such as the pay gap with comparators in the private sector; the need to recruit, retain and motivate specialists; and the need for pay progression based on skills and competencies.

On performance managementWe believe effective performance management is about helping to improve performance. It is not about the forced distribution of appraisal markings to meet some pre-determined quota. That will only serve to discredit the system and encourage line managers to try to manipulate the process.

On terms and conditionsThere is no single set of terms and conditions across the service. Rather, they have developed over many years via negotiation with Prospect and other trade unions to meet particular needs. A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer appropriate. We reject the notion that our terms have to be reduced to an alleged private sector norm, but not enhanced to match any benefits available to our private sector counterparts.

On skillsWe believe in strengthening specialist skills across the service, because we know that demands are increasing in complexity. But so far the government has not addressed the real issues, preferring to focus on generic competencies and behaviours, rather than functional knowledge. This is a missed opportunity and we are pressing for a proper skills audit and stronger professional groups,

which provide real opportunities for specialists to acquire skills and develop their careers.

On pensions We continue to negotiate and represent our members’ interests in this very complex area. In recent years we had to face up to the inevitability of pensions reform and we achieved the best deal possible. Since then we continue to make advances so that members enjoy the benefits of a market-leading pension scheme.

On civil service reform We recognise the need for reform. But we don’t accept that simply cutting jobs and pay is the answer. We are ready to engage constructively with employers to work out how to shape and deliver reforms that improve the service and the working lives of our members.

Our workAs you read this, Prospect reps and officers will be working on behalf of members – either collectively in negotiations with employers, or individually – to solve a problem at work.

Much of what we do is not visible – for example, the thousands of personal cases we handle every year – but all of it is designed to get a better deal for specialists in the civil service. The more members we have, the stronger our voice. Most of your colleagues are Prospect members because we are the only union that speaks up for specialists.

A message to non-members We’d like you to join us. As a member you would also receive a host of individual services.

For most people, membership costs from £12-£17 a month, depending on your salary.

Please join us by visiting our website at www.prospect.org.uk/joinus

Please encourage your colleagues to sign up online at www.prospect.org.uk/joinus


5RECRUITMENT

Maude in ManchesterCABINET Office minister Francis Maude told the Conservative party conference in October. “We’ve cut the size of the civil service – down 15 per cent so far, with more to come. By the end of this Parliament we want to be saving around £20bn a year, with another £5bn the year after. To do more for less we have to transform the way services are designed and delivered. And we need a 21st-century civil service that is capable of delivering 21st-century services.

“Last year I published a reform plan which set out how the civil service would be smaller, faster, more capable, more accountable for delivery, focused on outcomes, not process. More digital, more unified, with rigorous performance management, and terms and conditions more in line with the private sector.”

http://www.prospect.org.uk/joinus

FOR THOSE of you that have never heard of this small civil service charity, it was established almost 50 years ago when trustees in the Civil Service Benevolent Fund (now called the Charity for Civil Servants) realised that for civil servants retiring at that time, a pension was not enough.

So, the CSRF was created to provide fellowship through social activities, delivered through about 250 local groups run by volunteers and a home visiting service for lonely or ill colleagues.

It was given financial support from the Cabinet Office and from both sides of the National Whitley Council, which committed resources by nominating official staff and union reps to serve as trustees on the board. The financial support allowed all retired civil servants to become beneficiaries. However, that financial support ends in 2015.

My role is to liaise across all government departments to build, develop and promote the benefits of the CSRF; to establish ambassadors in every department to raise the awareness of the fellowship and increase participation by working civil servants through volunteering and fundraising.

A new dawn for StonehengeSTAFF at English Heritage, including Prospect members, are looking forward to the culmination of several years’ hard work with the opening of the new Stonehenge visitor centre in December 2013.

The project has had to overcome several obstacles, including two public inquiries and losing partial government funding of the project in 2011, says branch secretary Sarah O’Neill.

She actually worked on the Stonehenge project in 1996 when early plans were proposed for closing the road and building a new visitor centre.

“The project is financed almost entirely by Heritage Lottery Fund money, English Heritage commercial income and substantial philanthropic donations,” she said.

“The scheme at last provides Stonehenge with the visitor centre that it and its visitors deserve – including a stunning museum-quality exhibition, housing archaeological finds from the world heritage site.

By removing the existing car park and visitor facilities, and closing the nearby A344 road, Stonehenge will be reunited with its processional approach, the Avenue, and will once more have a dignified setting.”

The £27m project is the largest capital programme ever undertaken by English Heritage and has seen huge commitment from many people across different departments – not to mention those who have worked in previous years planning this and previous schemes.

English Heritage has not revealed the cost of entry for visitors yet, but has said there will be no entrance fee to visit during the summer and winter solstices.

The future for the CSRF raises huge challenges. I have had discussions with Geoff Lewtas, secretary of the national trade union committee, on what the trade unions can do at a national level.

We have a well motivated and enthusiastic board of directors – but we are a very small charity and need the support of all departments and unions.

■■ Please■visit■www.csrf.org.uk■■to■learn■more■about■the■CSRF.

Whither fellowship in austerity?Russell Brown, vice-chair of the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship, asks for help

ELEANO

R BENTALL

■■ Above,■Russell■leafleting■on■the■pensions■day■of■action,■November■2011


NEWS6

THE NEW law is likely to raise further uncertainty about when TUPE applies, particularly where there is a change of service provider.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) seek to safeguard employees against changes to their contracts, or being dismissed when their employer changes by means of sale of business, privatisation, or contracting out.

Under the revised regulations TUPE will only apply to changes of service provider where the service is essentially the same following transfer.

Employers will also be able to seek to vary terms of a contract that derive from a collective agreement after one year. The change will need to be agreed and must leave the contract no worse overall. Other changes include:

● changes of location will be harder to resist

● consultation about redundancies before transfer will count towards the duty to consult for redundancies

● small organisations with less than 10 employees without a recognised union will no longer need to consult with employee representatives in advance of a TUPE transfer.

After a period of relative stability following the improved regulations in 2006, Scovell says the new rules will introduce doubt and allow unscrupulous employers to argue about whether or not TUPE applies, leaving workers with little protection.

It is also likely that some of the changes will not be compatible with the EU Directive and case law.

The government’s decision to allow employers to seek to renegotiate terms that derive from collective agreements after one year is particularly worrying. While they have indicated that changes can only be by agreement and the overall package must be no worse, this leaves scope for significant

Changes to TUPE regulations reduce workers’ rightsThe government has announced plans to weaken the rights of employees transferred from one employer to another, reports legal officer Marion Scovell

reduction in terms.Until the draft regulations are

published at the end of October we will not know the detail of the changes. It is expected that the final regulations will be laid before Parliament in December and the changes will take effect by April 2014.

TUC seeks case studiesThe TUC is asking unions to provide case studies demonstrating problems that have arisen under TUPE and particularly difficulties with employers trying to change terms and conditions.

■■ Please■send■details■of■case■studies■to■[email protected]■

Prison cuts a major blow to north east, says ProspectUNIONS representing staff at HMP Northumberland, near Morpeth have reacted with shock at the news that 200 jobs are to be lost when the prison’s operation transfers to private sector provider Sodexo Justice Services in December.

The company was the winning bidder in the recent contracting-out exercise and intends to reduce staff numbers from nearly 600 to under 400 when it takes control of the prison.

Prospect negotiator Richard Hardy said that although the company had a good track record in running its own purpose-built brand new prisons, HMP Northumberland is an old RAF base, not designed for custodial use and far removed from Sodexo’s experience.

“Any operation losing one third of its staff causes severe concern. Nearly 100 prison officer jobs will be lost and of course this is also a real concern to the POA, the prison officers’ union.”

Hardy said programmes to address prisoner behaviour would be threatened by planned reductions to prison psychology staff, chaplains and the offender management unit.

“The prison is the biggest employer in the area and the loss of 200 jobs is a major blow to the local economy and the community. We will work hard to avoid compulsory redundancies.”

“Employers will also be able to seek to vary terms of a contract that derive from a collective agreement after one year”


NEWS 7

ANYONE NOT attending the TUC conference in Bournemouth in September might think that the union-Labour link was the main debating topic. In reality, economic and employment issues were to the fore and Prospect chose to focus on the enduring problem of gender segregation in the labour market.

In 1913 the vast majority of women at work were in domestic service, while those with appropriate qualifications could make it into the lower ranks of teaching, nursing and secretarial work. While there have been tremendous changes in the past 100 years, some things haven’t changed.

In STEM (science, engineering, technology and maths) women account for only 12 per cent of employees overall compared with 50 per cent in the workforce, less than 7 per cent of engineering professionals and only 1 per cent of skilled tradespeople.

Women make up a higher proportion of the public sector STEM workforce, in particular in the health sector, though accurate data is hard to come by since the UK Resource Centre for Women in STEM had its funding slashed two years ago. In the civil service, where generic banding predominates, the size of STEM workforce cannot be accurately identified, let alone disaggregated by gender.

Prospect has around 14,000 female members working in STEM and we’ve been investigating their experiences.

It’s clear from what our members tell us that they enjoy doing work that makes a difference. But they are also frustrated by lack of leadership, inconsistent treatment and being side-lined. They identify too many organisations that don’t provide cover for gaps in staffing, including maternity leave. Around one third of respondents felt that their career had been hindered by their gender.

Many of the issues identified were difficulties with having a family or of part-time working – often associated

with either childcare or elder care. Many of the women we spoke to felt that they had only survived because they did not have caring responsibilities. They pointed to some good public sector practice, including family-friendly working in the Forensic Science Service – before it was abolished. The survey also showed that respondents working in the public sector now feel the most insecure and pressured to consider employment options outside STEM.

As the business, innovation and skills select committee reported in June, the STEM leaky pipeline matters – because when people do not have the opportunity to reach their full potential, it is “a waste to that individual; a waste to the economic benefit of the country; and a waste to society.”

Prospect’s charter for women in STEM (http://bit.ly/187CeIG) addresses these challenges, and was endorsed by the TUC women’s conference earlier this year. In our view, a concerted programme of action is needed – ranging from the provision of science and engineering apprenticeship programmes for disadvantaged young women to targeting science and engineering-based organisations to enhance board-level representation of women. Government should add value to sectoral initiatives by creating a Cabinet-level science minister with specific responsibilities to increase the representation of women at all levels of the STEM workforce.

At the TUC, Meg Munn MP pledged her support for our charter, and we’ll be campaigning hard for wider political support when Parliament reconvenes. Without visible, strong and sustained political leadership, the reality is that progress will continue at such a slow pace that few women already working in STEM will see any real difference during their careers. Future governments, of whatever political hue, may just find that the specialist and impartial STEM advice they take for granted is no longer available when they need it.

Cabinet needs a science ministerProspect is arguing for wider political support for its campaign to get more women into senior STEM posts, writes Sue Ferns

Putting women in the frameIN 2014 for the first time Prospect will be producing a calendar featuring members at work. The theme will be women working in male-dominated industries – and will feature photos from sectors including air and road transport, fisheries protection, defence, energy, telecoms, science and fire and rescue.

The calendar will go on sale in November, but you can register your interest now by emailing [email protected] with your name, membership number, workplace postcode and number of copies. Please put ‘2014 calendar’ in the subject box.

Money raised will go to the union’s project with Oxfam to empower women working in Nairobi’s slums.

■■ Right,■Lindsay■Chapman,■senior■research■scientist■at■the■National■Physical■Laboratory

LEON

ORA SAU

ND

ERS

■■ Densie■McGuire,■Prospect■vice■president■chaired■the■TUC■fringe■meeting■that■discussed■the■campaign■to■get■more■women■into■STEM■jobs


8 WOMEN IN STEM

PublicEye, October 2013

Documents

Transcript of PublicEye, October 2013