Here are answers to further questions about our proposals we have recently received.

Your Choice Barnet’s changes in context

It’s important to put Your Choice Barnet’s proposals for change into a wider context.  This country is facing an unprecedented programme of savings by any health system anywhere in the world.  The sector is struggling with the impact of a 28% cut over four years in English councils’ funding from central government.  Although NHS funding is frozen, because of rising demand and health price inflation the sector needs to save 4% every year for four years – a cumulative £20 billion.

  • Public spending cuts have meant that care and support providers all over theUKhave had to focus on how they can make their services much more cost effective.
  • Our staff terms and conditions are generally higher than the industry norm.  This makes us uncompetitive and no longer value for money when compared with other providers of care and support.
  • Our services have too many managers – other providers have already reduced their tiers of management.
  • The personalisation of adult social care means that people will be purchasing our services using direct payments.  If we are not competitive in the market we will lose customers and no longer be financially viable.

 

Financial viability as a limited company

The main reason that YCB was created by Barnet Council was to ensure that our customers could continue to purchase our services using their personal budget allowances, particularly if they had chosen to hold these budgets as direct payments (cash allocation).  People cannot purchase the in-house services of any council by direct payment.  To have remained a council department would have had a detrimental affect on some of our customers and taken away the choice and control which underlies the government’s personalisation agenda.

Being a limited company means that we have the flexibility to grow and promote our services to customers and other local authorities.  This will increase our ability to remain strong and financially viable.

The impact on services will be negligible.  If anything, being part of The Barnet Group gives us additional resources in terms of central service provision.  It means greater efficiencies, such as improved IT systems, process improvements, better communications and promotional resources.  This will have a positive impact on front line service delivery.

We’re projected to make a small deficit in years one and two of our contract and a surplus in year three.  At the end of year one (31 March 2013) our deficit was approximately £70,000.  This was better than we had anticipated, thanks to efficiency savings we’d made and some extra additional income.  But we will receive approximately £1 million less income this year, so we have to make savings to compensate for this reduction without affecting the quality of the services we deliver and the satisfaction of our customers.

 

Growing the business

In terms of growth, we are promoting our services more widely to attract different sources of funding.  We are looking at tendering for new service provision both within Barnet and other authorities.  We are pursuing a robust new business strategy, which is detailed in the Operational Plan 2013/2014.

We recognise that this process will take time to fully materialise.

 

66% increase in charges

This relates to two customers only out of our total number of 282.  Two other customers have seen a 61% increase in charges.  This is less than 50% of those customers who pay direct.

The market rate set by the council is £15 per hour and, as we have said before, we have to make reductions in our costs to deliver services at this price so clearly the rates we were historically charging to those customers of between £9 and £10 were falling far below competitive market rates.

We are working with the local authority to ensure customers are not significantly affected by these increases; if they are unable to meet the increases we will put in place arrangements to phase these over two years.

 

Lack of consultation with parents/relatives and carers

It was never our intention to consult, as this restructure is considered a staffing/organisational change.  We are making changes to staff terms and conditions and staffing and management structures, not to the services we deliver.

We have, however, written to service users, carers and relatives about the changes.  We invited relatives to three early meetings at different times and locations.  We followed these up with further meetings during May at each of the service locations.  On request, we have been meeting with families individually.  All service users, carers and relatives have been told that their feedback is valued and that their views will be carefully considered when the final decisions are being made.

At the Board meeting on 29 May a number of relatives requested further discussion with Board members.  Following an invitation sent to all our customers inviting them to meet with members of the Board, this meeting could place on 10 June.  Further meetings will be arranged if all interested customers cannot be accommodated at the first session.

These future open forum meetings will not impact on imminent Board decisions.  These will be based on outcomes of extensive consultation with staff and the unions, together with close consideration of opinions expressed at the meetings with relatives and carers across our different services.

 

Issue of incontinence in Valley Way Respite Service

We have fully assessed the needs of our service users and there is no requirement to have two waking night staff, as in the main we do not have to lift people to go to the toilet at night.  There will always be a second person on a sleep-in shift available for emergencies and they will be called upon if the need arises.  If a person has been highlighted as needing one-to-one support at all times of day and night, we will ensure that two waking night staff are on duty during their stay.

Our service users will still be completely safe.

 

Changes after six months?

In our consultation process with employees and unions we explained that we were carrying out a benchmarking exercise with regards to terms and conditions and that if, once we completed this work, we proposed changes we would come back and consult about these separately.  We can confirm we are not seeking to make changes to services but we may seek to make some changes to terms and conditions but if we did, we would consult with our employees and unions and share our proposals with service users, carers and families as we have this time.

 

Staff morale

Maintaining staff morale is vital to us and we always work to ensure all our staff feel valued.  Changes inevitably affect staff morale and we are doing everything possible to address this by giving colleagues who are directly involved opportunities to apply for other internal posts.

We hope our staff will take advantage of the enhanced opportunities for career development in the new structure.  For all staff affected by the changes we are offering ongoing one-to-one support meetings, recruitment workshops and change management workshops.

 

If you have any further questions please contact us at info@yourchoicebarnet.org.