publiceye, dec 2013

MANX MEMBERS’ WARNING ON REFORMSGOVERNMENT reforms must be open-minded and lead to real improvements in service, says

Angela Moffatt, Prospect negotiator for the Isle of Man.

The union has sent a booklet, Look Before You Leap, to all

Manx ministers and members. It warns against “leaping into a new direction that we could all come to regret.”

The booklet is the union’s response to a review of the Scope of Government report.

“Difficult decisions must be made and it would be foolish not to expect possible job cuts, but politicians, chief executives and employers also need to be open to all options,” said Moffatt.

One of Prospect’s main concerns is an assumption that the private sector is better able to deliver public services currently carried out by public bodies.

Moffatt says quality public services are a feature of Manx life, and suggests centralisation could be a way forward.

Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, who visited the Isle of Man in November to meet ministers and members said:

“Prospect members face unprecedented changes across the public and private sectors in the UK and the Isle of Man. Our aim is to ensure change is based on evidence, not short-term political calculation.”

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT is racing up the list of members’ concerns. This does not surprise me. Sometimes known as the ‘beetroot in the salad,’ performance management can colour everything that happens in the workplace.

Pay, promotion, training, job content, job security and relationships with colleagues and managers can all suffer if individuals fare badly under a performance management system.

But what happens if the system is at fault? What if it doesn’t improve performance but serves other, less worthy, objectives?

Members have little confidence that the appraisal system assesses their performance fairly.

They can be forgiven for viewing the introduction of performance management with some suspicion.

At the heart of their concerns is the idea of forced distribution. Even in its softer clothing of targeted or guided distribution, this refers to

■■ SEND A POSTCARD TO YOUR CHIEF EXEC■–■Prospect■reps,■we■can■adapt■these■for■your■workplaces.■Look■at■the■postcard■text■online,■amend■it■and■email■[email protected].■Please■let■us■know■how■many■postcards■you■want■and■where■we■should■send■them.■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01646

Performance management: the beetroot in the salad

a system which sets pre-determined quotas for appraisal categories.

It discredits the whole process because it means an employee’s appraisal marking may not be determined by how they do their job, but whether the quota is full.

It also puts line managers in an invidious position. For example how does a line manager deal with the situation where all their direct reports are good performers? Will they be told that the numbers dictate otherwise?

Will members of the team have to take it in turns to take the hit? Will an employee who has done all that is required of them in their job, nonetheless find themselves in “need of improvement”? How much damage will this do to trust and confidence?

Prospect is not against perfor-mance management systems which improve performance. We are against those, which serve other purposes.

Members in the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory sent a postcard to their chief executive. It said imposing a guided distribution system for grading staff performance would undermine their ability to deliver world class science and technology to DSTL’s customers.

Pre-determined quotas for appraisal systems are about reducing numbers, not rewarding effort, says deputy general secretary Leslie Manasseh

■■ Briefing■on■two■recent■successful■employment■tribunal■cases:■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01430

■■ Appealing■against■performance■appraisal■https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2004/00004

■■ Advice■for■members■and■reps■in■BT■http://bit.ly/bt_pmadvice

PUBLICEYEProspect members in public service

www.prospect.org.uk • Issue 4, December 2013

Prospect • PublicEye – Decem

ber 2013

Find your way with Prospect learningTHE Prospect course map has now been updated. It makes a good noticeboard poster so please download it and stick on your workplace noticeboard. You can find it in the library at: http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01587

Remember to check the website for details of upcoming learning opportunities from Prospect learning services.Book online now

● Handling cases in your workplace – 10-11 Dec, Cardiff

● Introduction to health and safety – 14-16 Jan 2014, London

● Handling cases in your workplace – 22-23 Jan 2014, Wimbledon

■■ www.prospect.org.uk/education

4 =

South Yorkshire prisons stay public

PLANS TO privatise three prisons have been cancelled because of an on-going investigation into the leading bidder, Serco, by the Serious Fraud Office.

In November, Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling said the prison service would remain in charge at Hatfield, Lindholme and Moorland, all in South Yorkshire.

Serco was named as the leading bidder in July but has been accused of overcharging the government for electronically tagging criminals.

Government contracts are under scrutiny after outsourcing giant Serco and security group G4S overcharged the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds on a contract to tag criminals.

It emerged in the summer that 3,000 offenders they had charged for were living abroad, in custody or dead. G4S admitted it had overcharged the taxpayer by £24m for tagging. Prospect and other unions wrote to

the minister for prisons in November, calling for the competition to be halted because of the outsourcing scandal enveloping bidders and operators.

Staff at the three prisons signed a petition calling for an end to the competition.

MPs from the Public Accounts Committee want reform of how government contracts are run by the private sector following failures by Serco and G4S.

Margaret Hodge, PAC chair, wants to see financial information on all government contracts revealed under what is known as open-book accounting.

Ministry of Defence plans to privatise the Defence Equipment and Support organisation, the £14bn agency that procures defence equipment, is also in trouble. The process is now in question after one of only two bidders pulled out in November.

The process is now on the brink of collapse after one of only two bidders pulled out last week

RECRUIT A MEMBERThe more members we have – the stronger our voice. Ask your colleagues to join us at www.prospect.org.uk/join or call 020 7902 6600 for more details.

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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


ber 2013

NEWS2

Subscription rates 2014Working membersSalary range Monthly

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IN BRIEFNATIONAL Audit Office says government and its private sector contractors must work together more effectively in the interests of taxpayers and address the issues behind the crisis of confidence in contracting out public service

■■ http://bit.ly/audit_challenge■

AN NEW report into the dearth of women engineers in the UK says it is causing enormous problems for the economy.

The UK has lowest percentage of women engineers in Europe at less than 10 per cent, while Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus have nearly 30 per cent.

The report, by the government’s chief scientific adviser for business, Professor John Perkins makes 22 recommendations to boost the UK’s engineering industry.

It says the UK must introduce new vocational qualifications, create stronger links between industry and education and provide more help for professionals returning to industry after career breaks.

Other recommendations include: ● government should invite

employers to put forward innovative proposals to develop engineering skills in sectors suffering acute skills shortages

● the engineering community, including all the professional engineering institutions, should

join in partnership with Tomorrow’s Engineers, to agree effective messages to disseminate to young people

● a high-profile campaign reaching out to young people, particularly girls aged 11-14 years, with inspirational messages about engineering and diverse role models, to inspire them to become tomorrow’s engineers

● the engineering community should provide continuing

professional development for teachers, giving them experience of working in industry to put their academic teaching in practical context and enabling them to inspire and inform their students about engineering

● government should develop plans to boost diversity of engineering apprentices, building on the pilots and research commissioned by the Skills Funding Agency.

■■ http://bit.ly/perkins_report

If you want to be a female engineer, then think about moving to Bulgaria, Latvia or Cyprus

Only 15-16 per cent of engineering applicants at under-graduate level are female

■ ENVIRONMENT AGENCY reps are asking colleagues to sup-

port their campaign against 1,400 job cuts. They believe the cuts could: ● damage the Agency’s operational effectiveness ● lead to increased risks to safety and ● damage quality of life.

Please write to write to the envi-ronment secretary Owen Paterson to protest about the job cuts and the impact on the environment.

■■ Send■messages■of■support■to■EA■members■via■[email protected]

■ FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT RE-SEARCH AGENCY members also

face an uncertain future. Environment minister Lord de Mauley has started a new exercise to find a potential com-mercial partner for the agency.

Fera’s union reps are calling on FERA’s management and DEFRA to reassert the principles of partnership.

“We believe that the best way to preserve morale is to ensure that staff views are fully considered in the process of FERA’s proposed change of ownership; specifically through our trade union representatives being included in the discussions at each step of the process.

“We do not accept that notions of commercial confidentiality should exclude our representatives from any part of the process. Given that FERA is its staff, we contend that our representatives, under the

Partnership principle, have as much right as senior managers to be privy to any and all deliberations.”

■ HIGHWAYS AGENCY, the government is looking at a

government-owned contractor-oper-ated model for the organisation.

But Highways staff are fighting back. MP John McDonnell has put down an early day motion which says: “Proposals to change the status of the Highways Agency to a GoCo are a costly distraction and will do nothing to improve safety, the environment or the reliability of the network”.

It calls on the government to “halt this process of privatisation and allow the Strategic Road Network to remain a public asset, managed by the Highways Agency.”

■■ Support■your■colleagues■by■asking■your■MP■to■sign■EDM■number■747■–■www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/747

Prospect reps fight for jobs and servicesProspect members across a range of organisations need your support

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PROSPECT REPRESENTATIVES are hugely frustrated by the government’s attack on pay progression and the drive for a performance management system that forces managers to identify 10 per cent of staff as ‘poor’ performers.

Prospect’s view is informed by new survey data drawn from 5,000 members. This showed that while 63 per cent understand their own performance objectives, fewer than one in five are clear what they need to do to be recognised as one of the top tranche of performers.

Just one third understand what is required of them to avoid being one of the bottom 10 per cent. It’s a statement of the obvious, but such lack of transparency breeds demotivation and unfairness and provides no basis for positive behavioural change.

In the minds of many members, the new approach to performance management overshadows the civil service competency framework and undermines confidence in it.

Our survey does demonstrate members’ willingness to consider different approaches to pay progression, with particular interest in linking progression to acquisition of skills that demonstrate competence in a job role.

There is plenty of evidence, including from Prospect’s private sector membership, of fair progression systems operating to the mutual benefit of employer and employee.

These companies do not seek to impose a single model across a heterogeneous workforce and support individuals in providing evidence of their contribution as well as clear line-of-sight about what is required in order to progress further.

Prospect would be happy to work with government to develop a skills-based progression model, but our survey showed that there are other steps that need to be put in place at the same time.

● One in three specialists earning up to £50,000 do not have access to professional development opportunities

● 45 per cent do not belong to a recognised civil service profession, compared with 27 per cent who report that they do and 28 per cent who are not sure.

● Just one in five report any national contact with their head of profession.

This will be disappointing news for ministers who have repeatedly called for greater professionalism and sharing of expertise across departmental boundaries.

Administrations genuinely interested in sustainable civil service reform should take three immediate steps:

● enhance the authority of heads of profession ● give them more resources to undertake their role

effectively ● encourage collaborative working at national and

departmental level with the unions that represent their professional constituency.

“The new approach to performance management overshadows the civil service competency framework and undermines confidence in it”

Frustrations run high over civil service pay progression

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Sue Ferns reports on the annual civil service pay seminar held in November

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‘encourage collaborative working at national and departmental level with the unions that represent their professional constituency’


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Men get the benefit of equal payCIVIL SERVICE pay restraint is one reason why reps should be looking at pursuing equal pay cases, says Prospect legal officer Marion Scovell.

She highlighted some of the union’s equal pay victories and suggested what reps should look for in their own workplace.

“In the Intellectual Property Office we had six women claimants brave enough to put their heads above the parapet and the settlement they achieved was applied to over 180 staff, the majority of which were men.”

Scovell said it was important to bring cases because pay restraint in the public sector has stalled action to resolve equal pay inequalities in recent years.

Reps who think efforts to tackle problems are being hampered by the government’s

pay and progression policies should examine whether there are grounds for a case.

Success often resulted in improvements for large groups of people – or even all staff.

Do you have grounds for a case? ● long pay bands ● traditionally male-dominated jobs – such

as engineering or science – where women may be newer recruits

● shorter length of service among women ● a female dominated workforce – because

there are still areas where their roles are undervalued

● the lack of a robust job evaluation system.

■■ Resources:■Negotiator’s■Guide■to■Equal■Pay■(http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2006/00699)■and■the■Members’■Guide■to■Equality■at■Work■(http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2008/00092).■www.prospect.org.uk/advice_and_services/equalities/women

Progression should recognise skills THE ANNUAL survey of civil service members reveals a simmering sense of injustice over how the government has handled contractual pay progression.

Nearly 5,000 responded to the survey and feedback from it shows that the government has misused data on pay progression.

Prospect researcher Jonathan Green (pictured below) said the Chancellor’s attack – aimed at the broader public sector – was a typical misrepresentation of the position in the civil service.

According to the Cabinet Office, only 20 per cent of civil servants work for organisations where there is progression.

However, it can’t provide central information on the cost of it. The government has said it wants to end automatic progression by 2015.

“Progression costs are included in the Treasury pay remit, which means the paybill is squeezed to pay for progression. Even before

the pay freeze, many organisations had seen an erosion of pay maxima.”

He warned there was a real risk of equal pay claims arising because of the government’s pay policy.

Green said the survey would also help shape policy on pay progression. Most respondents favoured a system where individuals progress through pay ranges via recognition of skills by their employer.

The least favoured option was progression linked to appraised competencies as defined by the civil service competency framework.

“The survey data shows how contractual progression gave some protection during austerity.

“But vanishingly small numbers of people report being better off. A large majority are worse off. Although contractual progression made some difference, this was mostly wiped out by the pension contributions increase, said Green.”


ber 20135PAY SEMINAR

Reform is threatening public service ethos, warns MPTHE government’s decision to outsource policy development work for core civil service functions will undermine its biggest strength – its impartiality and ability to offer advice and make balanced judgements.

That was view of former housing minister and Yorkshire MP, John Healey, who added: “Why on earth would you try and pull the rug from under it.”

But on the issue of reform, Healey said senior civil servants should spend time in a ministerial or frontline office to understand the pressures of government, and that new governments should be able to decide certain appointments after each election.

“I’m not talking about an American system where thousands of political appointees are brought into the civil service, but there is a case for saying that there are two to three dozen government agencies and positions that are critical to the programme we have been elected to carry out.

“I would have those positions nominated by a secretary of state and approved or rejected by select committees in Parliament.”

He acknowledged that recent civil service reforms and cutbacks threatened the public service ethos. “Most of you would be able to earn significantly more in the private sector. But there is something special about the commitment people give by choosing to work in the public services.”

Healey said he had been tasked to work with stakeholders, including Prospect’s general secretary, on a prospectus examining what a future Labour government could offer public service workers.

A Scottish twist to pay remit

“This year Prospect submitted a pay claim as an individual

union rather a joint claim with some of the other Scottish

government unions”

■■ Avery■–■going■alone■has■paid■dividends

NORMALLY BETWEEN publication of the Scottish pay policy guidance in September and the start of negotiations in late spring, early summer, I tend to have a bit of a break from pay-related issues and concentrate on other things. This year however has been a bit different with several pay issues coming to a head in the last few weeks, including two big wins for Prospect.

This year Prospect broke from practice of recent years and submitted a pay claim as an individual union rather a joint claim with some of the other Scottish government unions. One of the main drivers was an ambition to see if we could address concerns around pay inequality for staff who work at sea.

There has been a long-standing problem that staff who work at sea on a public/privilege holiday do not get a day back on their return. This is out of step with overtime and other arrangements within the Scottish government. This was particularly unfair to staff on spring trips where it is very easy to lose two or three public holidays per trip. By contrast those with winter trips never lose holidays.

I’m pleased to report that our objective has been fully met. From the February 1, 2014 staff (mainly scientists) at sea will now be given an extra day’s leave for each public or privilege holiday to be taken immediately on their return.

There will also be a working group to look at working time to ensure that staff are not working dangerous hours over a protracted period of time. The working time directive limits hours to no more than an average of 48 hours over a 17-week rolling period. For most staff this is not a problem because to breach the limit requires either very long days or weekend working every week for three months. For sea-going staff with back-to-back trips and night working, it becomes a real possibility. The directive allows for a longer reference period and for waivers in exceptional circumstances.

Pay supplements Last year we consulted members who receive supplements on proposed changes that would remove pensionability, and in some cases, slash thousands of pounds from paid-for benefits from retirement income. These plans were dropped after pressure from Prospect and the only changes to supplements are a tightening of the approvals process.

To ensure fairness for all staff, supplements can only be paid:

● where an area is suffering demonstrable recruitment and/or retention difficulties and

● can show clear market evidence that these problems are caused by a gap in pay between our roles and comparable roles in other bodies.

Prospect will support any business area where this test can be met. We will also work with staff to ensure that supplements are extended where appropriate. All supplements are due for review by March 2014.

Prospect will be working with other unions to ensure the review is conducted in a manner fair to all members regardless of whether they receive a supplement.

Equal pay Work on the first equal pay audit in nearly five years has started. The audit has two functions: to ensure that all staff are afforded equal treatment regardless of protected characteristics and to look at the pay gap for each group.

There is a tension that needs to be explained. If we have been treating men and women equally, why do we still have a large pay gap with proportionally more women in band A and more men in the senior civil service?

We will also look at other protected characteristics to draw out lessons or, where we have poor data, seek to improve that data to allow future research.

Civil service sector executive member, David Avery reports on public sector pay developments in Scotland


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6 SCOTTISH PAY

Case for an independent pay review body for specialistsTHE CIVIL service is the only major part of the public sector without a service-wide pay review body arrangement. It is the only major part of the public sector not to have experienced fundamental reform of its pay and grading structures in the last 20 years.

The National Health Service introduced Agenda for Change and the Department for Education negotiated the National Agreement for Raising Standards and Tackling Workload.

Civil service departments and agencies were left to decide their own pay arrangements. This led to:

● a diminution in the quality of evidence available for decision-making. Previously the Office of Manpower Economics produced a detailed survey of comparable pay levels, which informed pay negotiations for the civil service as a whole and the professional groups within it.

● a significant increase in resources needed to determine and maintain pay and conditions in around 200 separate bargaining units.

● barriers to movement due to divergence of terms and conditions across the civil service – inhibiting career development opportunities for individuals and, from management’s perspective, flexible deployment of resources service-wide.

By contrast, the teachers’ pay review body has a remit to consider the professional duties of teachers as well as their pay and conditions.

The NHS pay body also takes a proactive approach to improving its understanding of the roles of all staff within the remit groups.

It is evident from recent experience that ministers have not understood the role of specialists in their departments and have only appreciated the loss of capacity when it visibly impacts on the quality of operational decision-making.

The Cabinet Office has attempted to plug the data gap by commissioning commercial consultants to provide pay data. However, it has become clear that

this data is not fit for purpose. It does not address the range of functions undertaken by civil servants and it does not recognise that not all civil servants have readily identifiable private sector comparators.

No single consultancy organisation can provide comprehensive coverage and we are aware that excluding significant employers in some areas has skewed the results.

Although there are pay review bodies for senior salaries and the

Prison Service, both of which operate with union support, their remit groups are not broad enough for recommendations to be confidently applied to other specialist groups in the civil service.

There is a strong case that employers should apply the same approach to pay at all levels of an organisation. But the reality is that strategies to recruit, retain and motivate able and qualified people need to be appropriate to the circumstances in which they operate. Past attempts to transfer senior civil service practices to other parts of the service have proved to be ill-judged.

What is needed are regular surveys of relevant external data, co-ordinated by an independent, expert body. This would provide a sustainable basis for managing civil service pay and ensure that organisations have people with the right skills in place.

Get your MP to pledgePROSPECT is asking its members to send ‘Pledge’ cards to politicians. The union wants to capture their attention as they start to think about policies for the general election in 2015.

The pledge campaign was launched in the House of Commons in November and will also go to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The pledges are on: ● increasing the number

of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers;

● improving public procurement processes to help Prospect members;

● stopping the brain drain of skilled civil servants – including a call for an independent pay review of specialists pay;

● challenges facing the energy sector and cutting CO2 emissions;

● working with Prospect.

More info at www.prospect.org.uk/prospectpledge


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A fundamental overhaul of pay arrangements for specialist staff is crucial if civil service reform is to succeed

■■ John■Healey■MP■signs■up■to■the■Prospect■Pledge■at■the■House■of■Commons■launch■event■last■month

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8 EQUALITY

PROSPECT IS committed to combating pay discrimination. Last year Bernadette Cadman’s equal pay case against the Health and Safety Executive was brought to a successful conclusion after almost a decade of fighting it through the courts. Since then we’ve had several successes, including most recently at the Intellectual Property Office.

But we know that ending unequal pay through legal action is a tortuous path and will benefit only a proportion of women at work. Legal action must go hand-in-hand with a concerted focus on tackling the enduring problem of gender segregation in the labour market.

One hundred years ago, the vast majority of women at work were in domestic service. It is sobering that despite tremendous changes since then, work patterns remain similar, with cleaning and childcare still the staples of women’s employment.

Charter for women in STEMIn STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) women account for only 13 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 are women.

Prospect has around 14,000 female members working in STEM, and while the majority remain motivated by the content of their work, they report very mixed experiences of the workplace. In March,

Prospect was pleased to receive the support of the TUC Women’s conference for our ‘Charter for Women in STEM’.

The charter sets out a programme of action – ranging from providing science and engineering apprenticeship programmes for disadvantaged young women, to enhancing board level representation of women. It also calls on the government to create a cabinet level science minister with specific responsibilities to increase the representation of women at all levels of the STEM workforce.

We followed this up at the Trades Union Congress in September with a resolution, seconded by ASLEF, and a fringe meeting calling on employers, goverment and unions to promote good practice policies and make case studies easily accessible to all union negotiators.

We want to see action – not words – to remove barriers to flexible and part-time working, and positive and diverse images of women at work.

Gender segregation also takes centre stage in a new union-wide ‘Prospect Pledge’ campaign, launched with cross-party support in the House of Commons.

We’ve got the appetite to stick with this agenda, and are finding a growing number of employers willing to take up the challenge too – not least because many, especially in STEM sectors, are faced with looming skill gaps and shortages.

INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATIONCELEBRATE the achievements of Prospect women working in male dominated industries – including energy, defence, telecoms, transport, marine and public services – and help inspire the next generation to follow their talents. Buy a ‘Prospect Pioneers’ calendar. Some of the proceeds will support a joint Prospect/Oxfam project with itinerant domestic workers in the Nairobi’s slums.

■■ Buy■the■calendar■for■£5■(plus■p&p)■via■PayPal■at■www.prospect.org.uk/pioneers

Signing up for equality at workTackling gender segregation in the workplace is as important now as it was one hundred years ago

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■■ Meg■Munn■MP■was■one■of■twenty-six■MPs■and■prospective■parliamentary■candidates■that■attended■the■launch■at■the■House■of■Commons■last■month

Resources for women in STEM ● CHARTER – http://library.prospect.org.

uk/id/2012/01730 ● RECRUITMENT LEAFLETS – http://

library.prospect.org.uk/id/2012/01117; http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2009/00569

● INFO ABOUT PROSPECT’S NETWORKS – Wisenet and Womanet http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2009/00263

publiceye, dec 2013

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