NIPSANEWSAugust 2014 Tel: 028 90661831 www.nipsa.org.ukTHE NEWSPAPER OF THE LEADING PUBLIC SERVICE TRADE UNION

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NIPSA has strongly welcomed Finance Minis-ter Simon Hamilton’s announcement that theExecutive has earmarked £900,000 in capitalfunding for the Exploris Aquarium and SealSanctuary in Portaferry.The union also backed Ards Borough Council’s

decision in principle to accept the offer of funding. The drive to secure funding has been long and

arduous with NIPSA setting up a campaign groupmade up of trade unions, local councillors, NIPSAmembers and local residents.At first NIPSA had made representations on be-

half of its members to the council as it was debat-ing the closure of the facility. However, the unionquickly understood that a broad-based communitycampaign was needed to keep Exploris open. Given the council’s financial position and the

fact it provided a service to the whole of NorthernIreland, NIPSA took the view the Northern IrelandExecutive had a responsibility to fund Exploris asa regional service. Subsequently, NIPSA maderepresentations to the DETI and DOE committees.On September 29, 2013, NIPSA organised a

public meeting which was well attended by localresidents, MPs, MLAs, local councillors, NIPSAmembers and other interested groups. Following speeches and arguments from the

floor, the meeting unanimously voted to seek re-gional funding for Exploris and for it to be retainedas a public service.A pressure group – Save Exploris Aquarium

Campaign (SEA) group – was set up led byNIPSA. It consisted of several trade unions, local politi-

cians, NIPSA members, local campaigners andother interested parties. On many dark nightsthroughout the winter months, the SEA campaigngroup met to review what actions were beingtaken. A strategy was developed to seek to secureregional funding as the only way to secure the fu-ture of Exploris in the long term. A source told NIPSA News: “Every week there

seemed to be a new and higher hurdle to jump butthe SEA group members debated, argued andreached consensus on the way forward deter-mined to find a solution.”

But SEA, however, was not the only group in thecampaign. The source continued: “This created a whole

other dynamic which the SEA group had to dealwith taking into account that the other groupswere seeking to save Exploris albeit in a differentway, which unfortunately did not meet the objec-tives of the public meeting resolution.” Some local residents set up Facebook and Twit-

ter accounts to save Exploris which in no smallway helped enormously with the campaign. The next step in the campaign was getting a

motion passed supporting regional funding atStormont. The Alliance party put forward a motion.However, it did not specifically seek regional fund-ing. This created a major problem for SEA as the Al-

liance motion had the support of a number ofcampaign groups. NIPSA and the SEA group lobbied a number of

political parties. The Ulster Unionist Party came tothe rescue with an amendment to the motion. At Stormont the motions were hard fought. How-

ever, with the support of the UUP, SDLP and SinnFein, the Alliance motion fell. The amendmentwas then tabled but this time the Alliance partyalso supported the amended motion and the UUPmotion passed. This was a decisive point in thecampaign and there looked to be light at the endof the tunnel.After several months, the Northern Ireland Ex-

ecutive agreed to provide capital funding of ap-

proximately £900,000. DOE minister Mark Durkanalso agreed to fund the Seal Sanctuary up to£120,000 on an ongoing basis. NIPSA Official Antoinette McMillen told NIPSA

News: “This is good news for Exploris staff, for thelocal community and for all in Northern Ireland.This outcome vindicates fully the united campaignby NIPSA along with community supporters of Ex-ploris to keep this important facility operating fullyfor the future.“NIPSA wishes to thank the Assembly members,

Ministers and other political representatives fortheir support for this campaign.”NIPSA Deputy General Secretary Alison Millar

added: “This has been a long and difficult cam-paign for all involved. However, NIPSA and theSave Exploris Aquarium campaign for regionalfunding has borne fruit and will secure the futureof this excellent regional facility to be enjoyed bygenerations to come.”NIPSA and other campaign group members at-

tended a special meeting of Ards Borough Councilon Wednesday, August 6, and will continue tolobby the new North Down and Ards Council toensure the future of Exploris “gets over the line”.After a long and often arduous campaign to

keep Exploris open and as a public service facilityNIPSA, together with other members of the SEACampaign Group will continue to work on behalfof Exploris staff, the local community and all citi-zens of Northern Ireland to realise the full poten-tial of this valuable regional asset.

Trust’s newworking proposals –‘outrageous’– See page 2

EOII internalcompetition‘welcomed’by NIPSA– See page 5

Concern overDVA’sVoluntary ExitScheme –See page 4

Action paysoff for health payroll staff– See page 6

Strong support for J10 strike –pictures and report– See page 3

Success at last as Explorissecures regional funding

NIPSA ‘Save Exploris’ supporters on hearing the decision to save the aquarium

AS REPORTED in the last issue of NIPSANews, NIPSA accepted an invitation to at-tend the Northern Ireland Pensioners' Par-liament (NIPP) in May, taking part in adebate on health and social care reform.

NIPSA Policy/Research Officer JohnMcVey’s presentation at the debate, basedon his investigations into TransformingYour Care (TYC), has now been producedin booklet form.

Copies of the booklet – which is aimedat, in the first instance, NIPP attendees andNIPSA retired members – can be obtainedby contacting Lesley Anne Scott at NIPSAHeadquarters.

Alternatively members can downloadPDF versions of the document by clickingon the cover images at the following link:http://bit.ly/1oEmJ2b

John McVey told NIPSA News: “The coreof the presentation reinforced the pointthat there is such a thing as society andthat it is held together by universally pro-vided, accessible and high-quality publicservices funded from progressive taxation.

“This principle, of what in effect consti-tutes a civilised society, faces constant at-tempts to undermine it – not least fromthose who are attacking our NationalHealth Service in order that it is broken upand re-shaped for their corporate, profi-teering benefit.”

He added: “We have to see the false

promise of TYC put in a national and inter-national context. In addition, only by de-veloping the broadest possible campaignagainst the privatisation of the NHS will wesave this ‘jewel in the crown’ of the WelfareState.”

NIPSA NEWSNIPSA Harkin House, 54 Wellington Park,

Belfast BT9 6DP, Tel: 028 90661831 Fax 028 90665847or email: alison.millar@nipsa.org.uk Editorial contact details: Bob Milleremail: bob.miller@nipsa.org.uk

Correspondence should be sent to the above address.

Unless otherwise stated, the views contained inNIPSA NEWS do not necessarily reflect the

policy of trade union NIPSA.

Page 2 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

‘A Pay Rise For All’ must be our clarion callEditorial

NIPSA has slammed as“outrageous” WesternHealth and Social CareTrust proposals to im-plement a new arrange-ment for therecruitment of staff thatdo not work shifts. This change, slated to

be implemented fromSeptember 1, would in-volve all new staff beingoffered contracts at amaximum of 35 hours aweek [rather than the cur-rent full-time arrange-ment of 37.5 hours aweek]. The same hourly con-

tractual change will be of-fered to internalpromotions and the Trustis also seeking volun-teers to reduce theirhours voluntarily to 35hours a week.NIPSA Official Alan

Law told NIPSA News:“This is just another out-rageous proposal from

the Trust to save money. “It is absolutely clear

that staff would be re-quired to work fewerhours, receive lessmoney but do the samevolume of work. “The work has not re-

duced but this is the lat-est penny-pinchingproposal from the Trust,which will impact mainlyon administrative andclerical staff.”NIPSA is to resist this

proposal which has justbeen received by unionofficials who have beengiven a short two-weekperiod to respond. NIPSA will be lobbying

the Trust Board meeting,local politicians, andmounting a high levelcampaign to ensure thisproposal is consigned, asone source commented,“to the wastebin where itbelongs”.

LOCAL Government employees across theUK, including NIPSA staff in Education, Li-braries, Housing and other NJC pay-relatedsectors in Northern Ireland are lining up for afurther one day strike on October 14 in a cam-paign to secure a decent pay increase aftermany years of nil or negligible pay increases.

Those working in the Northern Ireland CivilService are likely this year to feel the full forceof the HM Treasury pay limit of 1% on total ad-ditional pay costs, having managed over thelast number of years to breach the pay limitdue to the out-workings of the Equal Pay set-tlement and Comprehensive Pay and GradingReview which delivered increases for manyover and above the Treasury limit.

For civil servants the prospect of a four-years pay freeze looms and the union has a re-sponsibility to challenge this grossly unfairand arbitrary attack on their pay. Many staffon the max of the scale have not had a consol-idated increase for well-nigh four years.

This comes at a time when wages as a shareof the wealth in the UK have decreased whilethe greater share of wealth is attracted by

company profits and astronomical pay ratesfor the captains of industry and the high-flyersin the financial sector.

The Bank of England has now slashed itsprediction for pay growth by half, from 2.5% to1.25%. This means that wages will continue togrow by less than inflation. Other forecastspredict that the UK economy is now in the topfive in the world and the coalition governmentboasts that the economy has now been re-stored to its pre-Great Recession level.

Unemployment has fallen but what is ig-nored is the increased significance of under-employment, zero-hour contracts,self-employment and poverty wages.

People who need full-time employment arestuck in part-time work, on the minimum wageor slightly above and face a future of uncer-tainty and hardship. Many in this position willalso have their income further eroded by theattacks on social security provision as a resultof the so-called welfare reform initiative. Manyworkers who have declared themselves asself-employed struggle to make a living.

As TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady

pointed out, “the economy is getting biggerbut not better”. It is though getting better forsome with Executive pay increasing by 14% in2013 with the pay of others increasing by 0.6%over the same period.

It is not surprising then that both the TUCand the Irish Congress of Trade Unions aremaking pay a major issue. On Saturday, Octo-ber 18, both bodies will be organising publicrallies in towns and cities. The Northern Ire-land rally will be held in Belfast under the slo-gan “A Pay Rise for All”.

We need to mobilise the community behindthe campaign for decent wages. This appliesto both the private and the public sectors andto workers who are unionised and those whoare not.

However, surveys from different sourcescomprehensively demonstrate that unionisedworkers are better off and the campaign for a“Pay Rise for All” must have at its core thebenefits of trade union membership.

Brian Campfield,General Secretary

Trust proposals onfull-time working are ‘outrageous’

Hospital staff to protest over parking chargesSTAFF at the South West Acute Hospitalstaged a lunchtime demo on Wednesday, Au-gust 20 to protest at the imposition of carparking charges at the health service facility.It is understood these charges will apply to most

parking spaces on site. The rate will be 70p perhour – which works out at approximately £1,500 ayear.A source told NIPSA News: “There has been no

provision made for staff, nor has any considera-

tion been given to staff who work during peakhours between Monday and Friday. “In addition, a number hospital employees work

in community posts requiring them to visit clientsacross the local community. “This will impact on them disproportionately as

they will be entering and leaving the site at vari-ous times throughout the day making it virtuallyimpossible to locate a free parking space.”

‘False Promise and Real Threatof TYC’ booklet is published

Letters to the editor should be sent to:bob.miller@nipsa.org.uk - rules apply

Page 3 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

Strong support for strikeNIPSA members together with thousands ofother union members joined the strike onThursday, July 10 in defence of their pay.At a packed Grosvenor Hall in Belfast, strikers

joined together to send a clear message toLocal Government Employers to get backaround the negotiating table to resolve this dis-pute. A similar message was delivered from therally in Derry’s Guildhall Square.Alison Millar, Deputy General Secretary said:

“There are reports from across Northern Irelandthat thousands of workers in Local Government,

Housing Executive, Education, Libraries, YouthJustice Agency NSL Traffic Attendants and otherpublic sector workers have joined the call forstrike action. “The message from the striking workers was

strong – ignore us at your peril. “The unions collectively agreed that if the Em-

ployers refuse to negotiate then further strikeaction will take place in the Autumn. “Our members do not want to be on strike,

they want to be in work delivering vital publicservices, however they have had enough. Theball is now firmly in the court of the Employers

to resolve this major pay dispute before it esca-lates.She added: “Workers, all of whom have expe-

rienced a significant reduction in real pay andpurchasing power since the 2008/09 financialand economic crisis, need a decent pay in-crease, whether they are employed in the publicor private sectors. We all no longer tolerate thefurther enrichment of the wealthy while ordinaryworkers struggle to live on reduced real in-come.”

NIPSA is now considering whether to joinfurther strike action planned in October.

Pictures: Kevin Cooper

Tories ramp up rhetoric on strikesA General Election can never befar away when the ConservativeParty turns up the rhetoric overtrade unions. This time the To-ries have turned their attentionto turnouts in ballots for indus-trial action.Cabinet Office minister Francis

Maude said the Tory manifestowould include the requirement forat least half of eligible union mem-bers to vote in order for a strike tobe lawful.There would also be a three-

month time limit after the ballot forthe action to take place and curbson picketing.As well as the 50% threshold,

Maude also pledged to requireunions to set out on the ballotpaper the exact form or action theywere proposing, with a vote oneach aspect of the dispute.Unions would also be required to

give employers 14 days notice be-

fore taking industrial action, ratherthan seven days now.The Tories would also end

“rolling mandates” for industrial ac-tion with the three-month limit —citing the National Union of Teach-ers, which is using the result of a2012 strike ballot to stage actionnow.TUC general secretary Frances

O’Grady said: “These proposalsare designed to make legal strikesclose to impossible, and the Con-servatives do not include a singleproposal — such as allow- ing se-cret online balloting — that wouldincrease participation.“Britain’s strike laws are already

some of the tough- est of anydemocracy. You do not have tosupport every bit of industrial ac-tion to see that the right to strike isan important human right — andalways one of the first thingsbanned by any dictatorship.

“You cannot have proper negoti-ations between employers andunions without some power for theunion side. Making strikes near im-possible will fundamentally shiftthe balance of power in Brit- ishworkplaces in favour of the em-ployer — and as union negotia-tions often set the pace for payrounds, this will hit non-unionworkers as much as those inunions.“The purpose of this is clear. It is

to ensure that the fruits of recoveryare reserved for the few and keptfrom the many.”The TUC has written to business

secretary Vince Cable urging himto modernise the rules that gov-ern strike ballots and bring unionvoting methods into the 21st cen-tury.General secretary Frances O’-

Grady has called on the Depart-ment for Business, Innovation and

Skills to change the rules so thatunion members might use theirwork computers, home laptops,tablets or smartphones to vote infuture strike ballots.O’Grady told Cable: “Three-quar-

ters of adults now have access tobroadband at home, 94% own amobile and seven in 10 a smart-phone."With these figures going up all

the time — even for low-incomeworkers — it seems strange forsome ministers to slam unions forlow turnouts, while having little en-thusiasm for the 21st centurymethods of voting that would en-courage greater participation.“Unions already use digital

means to reach mem- bers andwhen they use these modernmethods to gauge feelings overpay offers, for example, they cansecure turnouts as high as 96%.”

Page 4 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

THE Driver Vehicle Agency Vol-untary Exit Scheme, provision-ally set to be launched inNovember, “falls far short” ofwhat is expected of local politi-cians in protecting NICS jobs,NIPSA has claimed.It is understood, one of the key

recommendations contained in apaper presented to the NorthernIreland Executive over the deci-sion to concentrate Vehicle Licens-ing Services in Swanseaconcerned the setting up of a “arestricted NICS Voluntary Exit/Re-dundancy Scheme for the Admin-istrative Assistant (AA) andAdministration Officer (AO)grades, to deal with the surplusstaff”.According to the union, indica-

tions at this stage are that thescheme will be NICS-wide, albeitrestricted to the non-mobile gradesreferred to above. It is also likely that a restriction

will apply on a geographical basis,as the purpose of the scheme is tocreate opportunities for these non-

mobile grades.Assistant General Secretary

Kieran Bannon (pictured right)said: “NIPSA is extremely con-cerned with this recent develop-ment particularly as we have beenpressing for more effort to be di-rected at finding alternative workto deal with this surplus. “NIPSA believes this scheme

falls far short of what was ex-pected of political representativesin protecting NICS jobs particularlyin the local economy of Coleraine,given the concentration of the sur-plus posts in that area. “This proposed voluntary exit

scheme, recent cosmetic an-nouncements from DOE and DSDand a limited number of redeploy-ments is all that has resulted frommonths of lobbying politicians andsenior civil servants. “This news will further leave

members disillusioned and de-spondent who undoubtedly will notsee this as ‘the best way forward’ -a matter that will be raised withNICS management.

“As this is effectively a politicaldecision, NIPSA will be writing tothe relevant Ministers and makingrepresentations at that level also.”He added: “Political representa-

tives must be made aware ofmembers strength of feeling atfirstly being let down by a GB Min-ister deciding to remove this workfrom Northern Ireland and now thisdecision by our own local adminis-tration.”In May, the DOE announced the

transfer of 50 permanent posts toColeraine. Also in May, the DSDannounced the creation of tempo-rary work up to December. Theunion claimed these measureshad no impact on the overall levelof net surpluses and that in thecase of the DSD move was nomore than “a time-buying arrange-ment”.In June, NIPSA raised a number

of concerns with ManagementSide of the CWC Selection andDevelopment Committee over howto address the staff surplus result-ing from the move of Vehicle Li-

censing Services to Swansea.According to NIPSA, Trade

Union Side called on CorporateHR to be “more proactive” in find-ing alternative work for the dis-placed staff.Mr Bannon added: “Arrange-

ments are also being put in placeto urgently meet with NIPSA mem-bers in the DVA affected by thecentralisation of their work inSwansea, to discuss our responseto this most recent and disappoint-ing development.”

Austerity’s real winnersand losers revealedTHE Nevin Economic Research Institute,a think-tank supported by a number ofICTU-affiliated unions including NIPSA,has just published a new report lookingat hours and earnings in the NorthernIreland labour market. Outlining the purpose of the paper, NERI

economist and report author Paul MacFlynntold NIPSA News: “While UK economicgrowth is now reaching 3% per year, theeconomy has only just returned to its pre-crisis peak and it is nearly the last of the G7economies to do so (Italy still lags behind). “Furthermore most of the recent growth

has been fuelled by population increases asGDP per capita is still almost 5% belowpeak. In Northern Ireland the situation is ar-guably worse… [and] these contrastingtrends lead to questions about the type oflabour market recovery we are having. “It is not enough to look at employment

versus unemployment; we need to examinehow employment may have changed… howthe profile of those in employment haschanged, where they are employed andhow they are employed.” The paper underlines how emerging

trends within the Northern Ireland labourmarket pose a series of “challenges for poli-cymakers”.Writing in the report, Mr MacFlynn states:

“The first challenge is to tackle low paythrough increased wage floors and to pro-mote wage agreements across sectors.Regulation also needs to ensure that em-ployees cannot be exploited through theuse of flexible contracts by introducing mini-mum work requirements. “The shift toward lower paid sectors of

employment poses a challenge to industrialpolicy, that in order to achieve a significantincrease in prosperity, more active and fo-cused state intervention is required.”Such findings demonstrate how the eco-

nomic shift towards low pay and job insecu-rity is the economic reality behind themainstream media’s propaganda about ‘re-covery’. Policy/Research Officer John McVey told

NIPSA News: “By contrast to the ‘tip’ of theclass pyramid in the UK – where we can ob-serve the Sunday Times Rich List’s 1,000entrants ‘holding’ £519 billion between them– the picture painted by NERI about what’shappening locally within the rest of thatpyramid shows who have been austerity’swinners and losers and for whom the Cabi-net of millionaires shapes its economic pol-icy.”

(Check out the full report athttp://bit.ly/1sJ9Ing)

URGENT government action is needed to addressproblems in the new Personal Independence Pay-ment (PIP) system, according to the campaigningcharity, Disability Rights UK.

Figures released by the Department for Work andPensions in June showed that around 75% ofclaimants were still awaiting a decision. Of 349,000new PIP claims made since the introduction of thenew system in April 2013, only 84,900 had receiveddecisions in the first 12 months.

Excluding those who are terminally ill, over 50% ofthose disabled people who had actually received adecision had not been granted any award at all.

Disability Rights UK has demanded an “end to thefurther roll-out of PIP” and urgent action “to reducethe scandalous backlog of PIP claims” responsiblefor “causing financial hardship, despair and frustra-tion to nearly 300,000 disabled people”.

Kate Green, Labour’s shadow disability minister,commented that if the current rate of assessmentswere to continue, it would take “a staggering 42years” to assess all claims.

PIP was introduced to replace the Disability LivingAllowance. Assessments for claims in central Eng-land, Wales and Northern Ireland are carried out byCapita. Atos — which lost the contract to carry outwork capability assessments earlier this year — un-dertakes the PIP assessments in Scotland and therest of England.

A report by the House of Commons work and pen-sions select committee in March criticised the levelof service offered to PIP claimants. www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2014/june/pip-stats-show-broken-system

NIPSA concern over DVAVoluntary Exit Scheme

Claimants suffer hardships

Page 5 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

EOII internalcompetition‘very welcome’

NIHE stocktransfer takesa new twist

NIPSA has described newsthat the next Executive Offi-cer II competition is to be in-ternal as “very welcome” buthas further underlined theneed for an internal Adminis-trative Officer promotionboard.The union has also raised

questions over the working ofthe Line Managers Assess-ment process.For a number of years,

NIPSA has sought to end thepromotion drought for Adminis-trative Assistants (AA) and Ad-ministrative Officers (AO) inthe absence of promotion com-petitions at AO and ExecutiveOfficer II (EOII) levels respec-tively. At the 2013 NIPSA Civil

Service Group Conference, aresolution put forward by theExecutive Committee and call-ing for internal AO and EOIIpromotion competitions, wasadopted following a resoundinglevel of support from NIPSABranches. This lead to further renewed

representations being made byTrade Union Side at CentralWhitley level.Trade Union Side highlighted

the anger and frustration felt bymembers with many years’ ex-perience over being deniedpromotion opportunities. For some time, NICS Man-

agement insisted that the deci-sion to conduct external AOand EOII recruitment exerciseswas based on an imbalancedpool of internal candidates interms of religious background. While TUS recognises the

need for action to be taken toredress any imbalances froman equality perspective, con-cern was expressed overwhich dated data was beingused in claims that there wasan imbalanced internal pooI. In addition to Central Whitley

Trade Union Side raising theseconcerns, Departmental TradeUnion Sides had also raisedwith Departments the seriousmorale problems that had builtup due to the lack of promotionopportunities for many mem-bers of staff. In response it appears that a

number of Departments alsomade representations to Cor-porate HR on the matter.At a meeting of the CWC Se-

lection and Development Com-mittee in June, Trade UnionSide was advised that NICSManagement was seriouslyconsidering the basis on whichthe forthcoming EOII competi-tion would be held. Shortly afterwards it was

confirmed the competitionwould be by an internal promo-tion board. Assistant General Secretary

Kieran Bannon told NIPSANews: “It has been a long androbust set of negotiations andthe news that the next EOIIcompetition is to be an internalpromotion board is very wel-come, especially for membersin the affected grades. “Notwithstanding this, NIPSA

continues to advance repre-sentations on the need for aninternal Administrative Officerpromotion board.” He added: “Although we are

pleased with this news, a num-ber of issues remain to be ad-dressed over thehighly-questionable Line Man-agers Assessment (LMA)process and the use of assess-ment tools.”Trade Union Side had raised

concern about LMA and howthese had been conducted,particularly in the recent Exec-utive Officer I competition anddrew upon members’ experi-ences at the June meeting. The examples given sug-

gested that, as previously

claimed by Trade Union Side,the LMA process was not oper-ating on a fair and equitablebasis with members rightlyclaiming it to be contrived in anumber of areas. While NICS Management

was not prepared to abandonthe LMA process as part of theEOI promotion competition,consideration was being givento whether it should be used inthe EOII competition.Another area of concern to

members is the proposed useof an assessment tool (test) aspart of the EOII competition.Trade Union Side reiteratedevidence-based concernsabout the use of assessmenttools within promotion competi-tions. To date these havebeen used at EOII and Grade7 levels. NICS Management con-

firmed that an independent ex-amination of the 2007 and2011 EOII competitions hadbeen completed and would beshared shortly with TradeUnion Side. It was also confirmed that the

NICS was developing bespoketests in order to iron out poten-tial adverse impacts and in abid to incorporate a processbased on best practice. Earlier in the year a Branch

Secretary Circular (CS14/14)was issued advising membersthat Departments had beenasked to submit volunteers atEOII level to take part in devel-oping a test for use in the nextEOII competition. Memberswere also advised of theNIPSA Civil Service Group Ex-ecutive’s concerns about theprocess and they were askedto exercise caution about vol-unteering their services. Thisremains the position as someDepartments have renewedtheir efforts to seek volunteersfor this purpose.

IN recent weeks, NIPSA has become awarethat the process of voluntary stock transfersfrom the Housing Executive to Housing As-sociations has moved on considerably. It comes months after a report by the Northern

Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) into the transfer of 55Housing Executive homes in Rinmore, Creggan,to the APEX Housing Association.The houses in Rinmore were the first Housing

Executive homes to transfer to a Housing Asso-ciation.At the time, NIPSA voiced fundamental opposi-

tion to the move, warning of a potential landslideof transfers. On a practical level, the 55 tenants in Rinmore

were left with a Hobson’s choice – either totransfer to APEX Housing Association and havethe major works carried out or stay with theHousing Executive and not have that work un-dertaken. After many years of waiting in expectation of

the work being carried out, the tenants had noreal alternative but to transfer. However, since the transfer anecdotal evi-

dence clearly shows that tenants wish they hadstayed with the Housing Executive. Their rents have increased significantly but the

service they receive from the Housing Associa-tion is inferior to the service and engagementtenants had with the Housing Executive as theirformer landlord.At the time of the Rinmore transfer NIPSA had

raised a number of concerns with the NorthernIreland Audit Office (NIAO). One of those wasabout the lack of a procurement or biddingprocess for the Housing Association. In effect, North West Housing (now APEX

Housing Association) were gifted these proper-ties without competition.The NIAO subsequently produced a report that

was critical of a number of the issues concerningRinmore including the lack of a procurementprocess.NIPSA Deputy General Secretary Alison Millar

has informed NIPSA News that the union hasbeen made aware that the process of the possi-ble voluntary stock transfer has moved consider-ably. Social Development Minister Nelson McCaus-

land made it known more than a year ago thathe wanted 2,000 properties to be part of thestock transfer process. The initial proposals were to transfer proper-

ties and this involved both large-scale and small-scale transfers – i.e. from 100 plus homes to insome cases a small block of rural cottages. Under the new proposals agreed by the Hous-

ing Executive Board, it is proposed to transfer onan “estate-based approach”. While the Housing Executive have refused to

provide NIPSA with a copy of the Board paper, itis clear this current proposal has significantlyupped the ante on stock transfer.Alison Millar underlined NIPSA’s serious reser-

vations about this proposed change which shepointed out could mean that Housing Executivehomes which do not require any or substantialupgrading/maintenance could be hived off to aHousing Association.NIPSA will continue to seek further detail on

the proposal and it intends to raise the matterwith the Social Development Committee. It is understood the proposed “estate-based

approach” will arise out of the Stock ConditionSurvey to be carried out by Savills.NIPSA will be mounting a campaign to resist

this approach which, in our opinion, is movingahead of political decisions over the future provi-sion of social housing in Northern Ireland.

Organise to protect services, jobs, pay and pensionsYOU HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY...SUPPORT YOUR UNION AND YOUR COLLEAGUES

Page 6 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

NIPSA has joined with sister unionPCS and other organisations such asGingerbread and the Child Poverty Ac-tion Group in hitting out at the intro-duction of charges by the Governmentunder Phase 2 of the 2012 Child Main-tenance Scheme.Under Phase 2 of the scheme, new ap-

plicants will be charged a flat rate of £20– whether they ever receive any mainte-nance or not.The Government has claimed the

charges are being introduced to boost thenumber of private arrangements brokeredbetween parents. This claim is hotly contested and has

led to an Early Day Motion being placedin the House of Commons on the issue.NIPSA has called on Northern IrelandMPs to support the motion. The union fears the changes – to be in-

troduced from August 11 – will furtherdeepen child poverty in Northern Ireland.It means that “paying parents” will be

charged 20% on top of their maintenanceassessment and the “receiving parent”will be charged a further 4% of the main-tenance collected. NIPSA Assistant General Secretary

Kieran Bannon told NIPSA News: “Forevery £12 collected by the Child Mainte-nance Service, only £9.60 will be paid tothe parent receiving support for theirchild. “In addition, there will be levies applied

for tracing the ‘paying parent’ should theirwhereabouts be unknown and for en-forcement action, if required, which willfurther reduce this figure.”NIPSA claims that this is another at-

tempt by the Government to raise fundsfor the Exchequer at the expense of par-ents trying to make ends meet – the veryparents Ministers insist the Child Mainte-nance Scheme was set up to assist andbenefit. In July 2013, the Child Poverty Action

Group published estimates of the costs tothe economy and to government, gener-ated by child poverty rates in every North-ern Ireland parliamentary constituency. These estimates show that almost

100,000 children are living below the rela-tive poverty line. Another issue that will have an impact

on child poverty is the fact that “payingparents” cannot have their payment levelreviewed unless their income haschanged by more than 25%. As average earnings in Northern Ire-

land are £22,000 a year, a cut of morethan £5,500 of income would be neededbefore a review could be conducted.A number of these points was included

in a NIPSA submission prepared by JohnMcCloskey, Deputy Section Secretary,NIPSA Headquarters, and the Child Main-tenance Service Trace Union Side. Concerns were also raised on the

staffing front in the submission whichflagged up the fact that inadequate train-ing prevented staff from being able to op-erate the system in a live environment. A number of other concerns over fi-

nance training were also featured in thesubmission – issues of how arrears are tobe paid and the fact that no paymentschedules are being provided to “receiv-ing parents”.It was pointed out that Deduction of

Earnings Orders were very time-consum-ing and that much time would be spentreviewing information on the new system. NIPSA activists and members working

in the area have pointed out manage-ment’s reluctance to admit that there areproblems both with the computer systemand with the level of training. In addition, staff raising legitimate con-

cerns are branded as being negative.Members have also reported that priori-ties are constantly being changed –sometimes almost on a daily basis. According to NIPSA, this situation has

led to morale problems among staff aswell as creating uncertainty and a lack ofconfidence in the 2012 computer systemand the scheme as a whole.Kieran Bannon added: “Our members

are frustrated as they are committed toproviding a high-quality service. Not onlyare they being prevented from doing sobut they are also on the frontline, at thereceiving end of the understandable frus-tration expressed by angry parents aboutthese changes. “It is crucial that all parents support

their children financially and that morechildren are lifted out of poverty to im-prove their standard of life, health and ed-ucation. “Parents should be encouraged to enter

‘family-based arrangements’ but wherethis is not possible ‘receiving parents’ andmore importantly, their children, shouldnot be penalised through what are effec-tively financial sanctions while the Ex-chequer appears to profit from theproposed changes. Surely there is amoral issue to be addressed here.”

NIPSA members in the new Shared Services Centre at theBusiness Services Organisation (BSO) have expressed “re-lief” after a series of grievances were resolved in talks withmanagement following a period of industrial action.Members took part in an overtime ban and refused to cover

the work of absent colleagues from July 21 in a bid to settle adispute about staffing structures, among other issues.Deputy General Secretary Alison Millar told NIPSA News:

“NIPSA members working in Health as well as members of theunion working in other sectors cannot have failed to notice thedisaster that has unfolded over the last number of months withthe new payroll, human resources and payments system(HRPTS). “However, behind that we have around 50 staff who have

been working tirelessly to fix Health Service employees’ pay witha system that is not fit for purpose. “During this time, staff in the new Shared Services Centre in

Belfast worked under immense pressure and stress because ofsystem’s many failures. “However, despite there being a plethora of issues being

raised with management both prior to the Shared Services Cen-tre being implemented and since, management had initially ig-nored all representations made by NIPSA.”Happily, that was subsequently to change after members

voted for industrial action.

Tommy Brownlee, NIPSA Official for the BSO, went on to ex-plain: “I have spent many hours over the last few months withthe members in College Street and with management seeking tofind a resolution. However, all of NIPSA’s suggestions havebeen rejected out of hand. This resulted in members being bal-loted for industrial action. “The action commenced on July 21 and while initially manage-

ment refused to engage, following a letter being sent to the BSOChairman asking for speaking rights at the Board meeting at theend of August, the mood changed. “This resulted in three weeks of intensive negotiations and a

resolution of the issues, including the recruitment of six Band 4posts (with a further two in October) as well as a review to becompleted by March 2015.”A NIPSA member in the BSO commented: “It is an absolute

relief that NIPSA have negotiated a resolution to this issue. Weare working under immense stress and pressure and we havebeen adamant that the structure proposed was never correct.The member added: “It is deeply regrettable that we had to

take a stand through industrial action just to be listened to.”It is understood Tommy Brownlee and local representatives

will be keeping a “very close eye” on issues impacting on staffas they move to a new building – which will hopefully addressmany of the health and safety issues that have arisen during thisstressful time.

ANTI-FRACKINGprotesters havebeen celebrating adecision to blockpermission for anexploratory bore-hole for shale gas inCounty Fermanagh.

Environment Min-ister Mark H Durkansaid drilling couldhave a significantimpact on the envi-ronment.

Tamboran Re-sources wanted todrill a 750m deephole at a quarry atBelcoo, using per-mitted developmentrights.

It issued a state-ment saying it was"deeply concerned"by the minister's de-cision.

"The company iscurrently reviewingits position and willrelease a furtherstatement in duecourse," Tamboransaid.

Tamboran will nowhave to make a fullplanning applicationwith an accompany-ing environmentalstatement.

Tamboran staffmoved into thequarry three weeksago and carried outwork to secure thesite.

Protesters object-ing to both frackingand gas explorationhad held a perma-nent vigil at thequarry.

The aim of theborehole was tocheck if there wasenough gas belowground to warrantseeking a licence toset up a fracking op-eration.

Protesters saidthey feared a bore-hole could be thefirst step towardsthe setting up of anindustry that theybelieve could dam-age the environmentand the health oflocal residents.

The boreholedrilling processwould not have in-volved fracking.

Frackingprotest decisionwelcome

NIPSA raises concerns overChild Maintenance charges

Health payroll staffaction pays off

Page 7 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

Options galore in newtraining programmeNIPSA MEMBERS can now choose from awide range of courses available in the newICTU and NIPSA Autumn/Winter 2014 Train-ing Programme. And there is something for everyone on offer:

courses for NIPSA Reps as well as training inHealth and Safety, Union Learning, NegotiationSkills, Handling Grievance and Discipline. Training Officer Naomi Connor told NIPSA

News: “These courses focus on the everydaypractical skills reps need to carry out their tradeunion duties.” As well as long-standing courses, ICTU and

NIPSA have developed new courses such asSocial Media for Trade Union Representatives,Governance Skills and Trade Unions and theEconomy.Ms Connor said: “It is important that reps are

trained not only in the skills to represent peoplein the workplace, but are also provided with theopportunity to discuss and develop argumentsaround wider issues including the role of unions,equality for all and the austerity agenda – key is-sues which affect our daily working lives.”She added: “We all know having a good

teacher is essential and ICTU and NIPSAcourses are taught by trade union tutors withmany years experience in the trade union move-ment. “Our courses are designed to encourage

everyone to learn in a friendly, supportive envi-ronment. There are no tests or exams and tu-tors are on hand to help support everyone’slearning.”Interested?Simply complete and return an application formeither by hard copy or scanned email as soon asyou can. Don’t forget to seek time-off to attendfrom your employer at an early stage! Confirma-tion of attendance on your chosen course will beissued as early as possible. However, to ensure your employer has reason-able and sufficient time to put cover arrange-ments in place, it is recommended that time-offis sought immediately upon application for thecourse.Course details can also be found atwww.nipsa.org.uk or by contacting Naomi Con-nor at naomi.connor@nipsa.co.uk or Tel: 0289066 1831 or Mobile: 07435 786 055

CONSULTATION on a new pensions schemefor NI Water staff recently commenced and it isunderstood staff are far from content with theproposals.

Although NI Water is officially classified asan NIPB, staff are no longer classed as civilservants having been forced to TUPE into aso-called Government Owned Company(GOCO) in 2007.

A new pension scheme and new pay systemwere also introduced following the transfer.

However, staff now fear that they are facingcuts to their pension benefits as well as in-creased contributions.

The consultation, which lasts until the end ofSeptember, is based on proposals which re-semble changes made to other public sectorpension schemes.

Essentially, if the proposals are accepted,then NIW workers will have to pay more, worklonger and get less in return.

However, NIPSA News understands staff atNI Water may be gearing up for a fight to de-fend the current scheme.

NIPSA Assistant Secretary Ryan McKinneysaid: “The rationale for change has not beenmade out. Unlike the NICS scheme, for exam-ple, the NIW scheme is private, it is funded bythe scheme members, has its own trusteesand is in rude health.

“There is no need to change the benefits andmuch less to force huge contribution in-creases on workers who have seen no real payincrease for several years. Some staff will beasked to increase their contribution from 1.5%of salary to 7.6%. The arguments for changes

don’t stack up.“So far NIPSA have held three consultation

meetings and members have been unambigu-ous in their response. They feel that enough isenough, they agreed to change their pay andpensions after they transferred from the NICSin 2007, they have absorbed ‘efficiencies’ andmet tougher and tougher performance targets.

“Staff have saved the public purse millionsover the past three or four years and now theyare being asked to give away pension benefitsand work to they drop.”

It is understood all three unions at NI Waterhave agreed to work together to defend the in-terests of water workers and further meetingsbetween the unions and management repre-sentatives are planned.

WHENEVER you get your first pay to-wards the end of September, checkyour NIPSA deductions are still beingtaken to ensure you are still coveredfor all the excellent services NIPSAcan provide. In the past a number of members –particularly those who work term-time – have had their NIPSA deduc-tions, and effectively theirmembership, terminated by their em-ployer. It’s important you make sure youremployer continues your NIPSA sub-scriptions.Any queries please contact your em-ployer or NIPSA Membership Sectionon 028 9066 1831 ormembership@nipsa.org.uk

NIPSA has reacted strongly to news thatthe Northern Ireland EnvironmentAgency is to end the temporary contractsof more than 100 casual staff.

Many of the staff are based at historicmonuments, parks and tourist attractionsand some staff are concerned about theimplications for health and safety andpublic access.

Union official Ryan McKinney toldNIPSA News: “After a summer in whichwe showcased NI to the world via theGiro d’Italia it is incredible that local peo-ple and tourists could find some historicsites closed due to cuts in staff.

“The fact that the Minister for the Envi-ronment suggested that ‘interest groups’could take on responsibility for manag-ing and running some sites is shockingtoo.

“NIPSA will be working with thesesame interest groups to ensure thesepublicly owned assets are run by publicservants.”

NI Water pension proposals opposed

NIPSA membership: school-based staff take note

Jobs shock for NIEA casual staff

Page 8 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

OUTSOURCING is now entrenched in aswathe of the UK’s public services. And thereality is that the government’s reliance on asmall number of large private sector firmshas made these companies “too big to fail”.Pioneered under the Conservative govern-

ments of the 1980s and 1990s, and cementedunder their Labour successors, outsourcing ofpublic services has soared further under thecurrent Conservative-led coalition governmentsince 2010. Outsourcing is already entrenched in a num-

ber of public sector areas, including a swathe oflocal government services, welfare-to- work pro-grammes, disability assessments, social careservices, border security, housing of asylumseekers and prison and offender management. According to the National Audit Office (NAO),

about £187 billion is spent in the public sectoron goods and services each year. Around half ofthis is estimated to be spent on contracting outservices to third parties. Contracts cover both “back office” functions,

such as IT services and facilities management,and “frontline” activities, ranging from Work Ca-pability Assessments to management of prisonsand maintenance of nuclear weapons.

Dominance of major outsourcing companies

Since 2010, government reforms have in-volved increased outsourcing of central govern-ment services which is increasingly dominatedby a small number of private companies. The NAO report, The role of major contractors

in the delivery of public services, published atthe end of last year, showed that over £4 billionof public funds was paid out to four of thelargest outsourcing companies — Atos, Capita,G4S and Serco in the year 2012-13.

Who are the major outsourcing companies?

AtosAtos is a French-based multinational com-

pany, formed in the 1980s out of a merger of ITcompanies. It later broadened its operations through

mergers and acquisitions, acquiring Schlum-berger Sema in 2004 — which held employmentassessment contracts for the Department forWork and Pensions (DWP) — and Siemens ISSin 2011, which operated National Savings andInvestments (NS&I). For the year 2012-13, its worldwide revenue

was £7.2 billion. Its UK public sector revenuewas £0.7 billion. This included £155 million from

the DWP, £154 million from the Treasury for run-ning NS&I, and £107 million from the Ministry ofJustice. UK employees numbered 10,400. This in-

cluded 2,800 TUPE transfers from the publicsector or other private companies.

CapitaCapita developed following a management

buy-out of a division of the Chartered Institute ofPublic Finance and Accountancy in the 1980s,taking advantage of the new emerging marketsin local government outsourcing. It generally focuses on back-office operations,

including IT services, human resources and re-cruitment, as well as financial services and cus-tomer contact operations. It also administershundreds of occupational pension schemes.For the year 2012-13, its worldwide revenue

was £3.4 billion. Its UK public sector revenuewas £1.1 billion. This included £506 million fromlocal authorities, £146 million from the DWP,£99 million from the Home Office and £71 mil-lion from the NHS.UK employees numbered 54,640. This in-

cluded 35,800 TUPE transfers from the publicsector or other private companies.

G4SG4S was formed out of a merger between UK-

based Securicor and Danish-based Group 4Falck in 2004 — itself the product of a merger ofBritish and Danish companies. It claims to be the world’s leading global secu-

rity solutions group, providing security for build-ings, people and cash in 125 countries. It hasheld a number of contracts to run prisons, cus-tody and secure training facilities for offenders. For the year 2012-13, its worldwide revenue

was £8 billion. Its UK public sector revenue was£0.7 billion. This included £303 million from the Ministry of

Justice, £118 million from the DWP, £80 millionfrom the Foreign Office, £76 million from theNHS and £71 million from local authorities.UK employees numbered 44,840. This in-

cluded 11,463 TUPE transfers from the publicsector or other private companies..

SercoSerco was originally formed as the UK division

of the Radio Corporation of America in 1929 tosupport the cinema industry. From the 1960s onwards it won contracts to

maintain and provide technical support for mili-tary installations. A management buy-out established Serco as

a separate company in 1987, and it expandedand diversified through a number of acquisi-tions. It holds a number of defence and security-re-

lated contacts, including the operation of prisonsand immigration removal services. It also oper-ates rail franchises, the London Cycle HireScheme, school inspections and is expanding inthe NHS. Nearly half of its revenue comes fromoverseas governments. For the year 2012-13, its worldwide revenue

was £4.9 billion. Its UK public sector revenuewas £1.8 billion. This included £611 million fromthe Ministry of Defence, £382 million from localauthorities, £214 million from the Ministry ofJustice, £209 million from the Department ofTransport, and £201 million from the NHS. UK employees numbered 36,368. This in-

cluded 16,968 TUPE transfers from the publicsector or other private companies.Overall, there are around 200,000 providers

delivering public contracts for government. How-ever, there are some public services that areonly provided by a few large providers. A smallnumber of larger providers tend to predominatein sensitive “frontline” activities delivered on be-half of central government, and in certain sec-tors. This is notable in the justice sector, where

there are three providers of private prisons —Serco, G4S and Sodexo. Serco and G4S arealso the only two providers of child custody es-tablishments and — along with a third company,Clearel — hold the contracts to manage asylumseeker accommodation.Government contracts have helped the major

outsourcing companies grow significantly in thelast decade or so. Much of this growth hascome from buying other businesses, particularlysmall and medium enterprises already involvedin delivering public contracts. Acquisition of smaller companies has also en-

abled the major outsourcing companies to con-solidate in existing markets and to enter newmarkets. Atos, which was originally an IT com-pany, acquired Schlumberger Sema in 2004, en-abling it to become the sole provider of medicalassessment contracts for the Department forWork and Pensions. Companies have managed to diversify their

markets to an astonishing degree, and some-times from rather unlikely origins. For example,established as the UK-arm of the Radio Corpo-ration of America in the 1920s, Serco spun off inthe 1980s after diversifying into defence con-tracts and now operates contracts in the health,

The reality behi

Page 9 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

education, transport and justice sectors. While the NAO investigation focused on these

high-profile companies, a recent briefing by theUnite general union refers to a top 10 of out-sourcing companies in terms of value of con-tracts. Capita is the biggest, but such luminariesas Telereal-Trillium, HP Enterprise Services, Air-wave, EAGA and A4E also figure. Although A4E found itself in the spotlight in

2012 over fraud investigations in its administer-ing of welfare-to-work contracts, a number ofthese companies focus on “back-office” or lesshigh-profile functions and have avoided publicattention. For example, HP Enterprise Servicesis a division of Hewlett Packard, delivering ITand business processing services, while Tele-real-Trillium manages a number of governmentproperties.Government failure to exercise

proper oversight The NAO investigation was requested by the

House of Commons Public Accounts Committee(PAC) when it became clear that governmentdepartments were unable to put a figure on justhow much public money the contractors weregetting. The PAC issued a report in February criticis-

ing both the government’s failure to provideproper oversight over the management of publiccontracts and the lack of transparency within thecompanies regarding performance and costs. PAC committee chair Margaret Hodge re-

ferred to a number of high-profile failures andscandals involving the contractors. This included “the astonishing news that G4S

and Serco had been overcharging the Ministryof Justice on their electronic tagging contractsfor eight years, including claiming for ex-offend-ers who had actually died — and the completehash that G4S made of supplying securityguards for the Olympics”. The report also highlighted Capita’s failure to

fulfil a contract to deliver court translation serv-ices, concerns over Atos’s Work Capability As-sessments, and misreporting of out-of-hours GPservices by Serco. The Committee echoed theconcerns of the NAO that the increasing re-liance by the government on a small number ofcompanies to run highly complex public con-tracts had made them “too big to fail”.

Government over-dependenceon big outsourcing companies While some companies are highly reliant on

taxpayers’ money for income, the governmenthas in turn become highly reliant on these com-panies to deliver public services. A similar argument was made in a 2012 report

by Social Enterprises UK, the national body forsocial enterprises. The report, The shadowstate, refers to emerging “private sector oligopo-lies … where a small number of companieshave a large share of the market”. It adds thatthese firms — on which the running of a multi-plicity of public services now depends — arenow regarded as “too big or too complex to fail”. Smaller providers, including the charities and

social enterprises that governments have cham-pioned, are unable to compete with larger com-panies benefiting from economies of scale andable to take on bigger and more complex con-tracts. The Unite briefing, No to selling off our

services, emphasises the favourable conditionsthe current policy climate is providing to the bigcontractors. “When contracts are being decided on cost,

and at a time of the most savage spending cutsever in this country, large private companieshave the capacity to tender at a very low pricebecause of economies of scale and on a ‘lossleader’ basis to get their foot in the door,” itpoints out.

Poor performance no obstacleto winning more contracts

The lack of alternatives to run complex serv-ices means that even where the larger providersfail to deliver, they often go on to win more busi-ness. In the wake of the electronic tagging scan-dal, Capita was made the sole provider for thiscontract while G4S and Serco were barred frombidding for further Ministry of Justice contractspending a government review. Although the Serious Fraud Office is continu-

ing to investigate G4S and Serco over the elec-tronic tagging scandal, and is also investigatingG4S over overcharging in facility managementcontracts for UK courts, the government never-theless gave G4S the green light to bid again inthe justice sector in April. Shortly after this decision, another report from

the House of Commons Public Accounts Com-mittee was issued criticising the handling bySerco and G4S of contracts to house asylumseekers. The report concluded that the asylumseekers had been placed in “unacceptably poor”housing, and that G4S and Serco had lackedthe required experience to deliver the contract.Serco and G4S have continued to be awarded

new contracts this year as the market expandsfurther. Analysis by outsourcing company Ar-

vato, suggests that the value of UK public sectoroutsourcing contracts increased by 168% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014.Level of outsourcing increasesThe Health and Social Care Act 2012 has fur-

ther accelerated the entry of private providersinto the NHS. The government’s academy and free schools

programme is doing likewise in the educationsector, while reform of the probation servicemeans that 70% of its work will have been putout to private tender by next year. The government’s drive to hand over more

public services to private companies has beendenounced by public service unions.“A shocking £13 billion worth of NHS contracts

were up for sale last year,” a spokesperson forthe UNISON public services union told LabourResearch.“And a growing number of public services are

under threat from takeover by Serco, G4S andother profit-driven private companies with poortrack records.”Advocates of outsourcing claim that competi-

tion among private providers will generate moreefficient services and cost-savings. However, recent reports have highlighted the

increasing dominance of the market for out-sourced public contracts in Britain by a smallnumber of private companies, meaning that thecompetitive pressures that are supposed todrive optimum service delivery are somewhat di-minished.The unions link the government’s outsourcing

drive to changes to TUPE regulations earlier thisyear which make it easier to weaken workers’terms and conditions once transferred to newemployers. The UNISON public services unionwarns of the “devastating impact” on the termsand conditions of workers transferred from thepublic sector to private contractors. At the same time, the quality of service levels

is predicted to decline further. John Medhurst, policy officer for the PCS civil

service union, told Labour Research that be-cause the primary goal of outsourcing compa-nies is to deliver profit to their shareholders,“one of the main ways in which they will goabout delivering that goal will be to downsizeheadcount, cut pay, and restrict the reach of theservice”. And, Medhurst pointed out, “all the evidence in-dicates that this is what has been occurring”.

National Audit OfficeThe role of major contractors in the delivery of

public serviceswww.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10296-001-Delivery-of-public-services-HC-8101.pdf

Public Accounts CommitteePrivate contractors and public spendingwww.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-ac-counts-committee/news/public-services-pri-vate-contractors-report

Social Enterprise UKThe shadow statewww.socialenterprise.org.uk/uploads/files/2013/02/the_shadow_state_report.pdf

nd outsourcingAnalysis by outsourcing company

Arvato, suggeststhat the value of UK public

sector outsourcing contracts increased by 168%

year-on-year in the first quarter

of 2014.

Page 10 NIPSA NEWS Give Your Support www.nipsa.org.uk

THE survey findings havebeen revealed by interna-tional humanitarian organisa-tion, Concern Worldwide,who are about to launch theirHunger Stops Here appeal inNorthern Ireland, backed bythe UK government and sup-ported by NIPSA.Millions of children in the de-veloping world do not haveaccess to enough nutritiousfood and, as a result, hungerwill kill 8,000 children today –that’s one child every 10 sec-onds. Even if a child sur-vives, it is likely that theirchildhood will be plagued bysickness and poor perform-ance at school, and a life-sen-tence of disease, debt andfear.This autumn, Concern has aunique opportunity to helpstop hunger for thousands ofthe world’s poorest children.Every donation made to theaid agency between 15th Sep-tember and 14th Decemberwill be matched pound forpound by the UK govern-ment, meaning even morechildren can be helped.

Peter Anderson, Head of Con-cern in Northern Ireland, said:“Nearly 80 per cent of peoplein Northern Ireland surveyedthink that hunger in the de-veloping world is unaccept-able. Hunger Stops Here isour chance to do somethingabout that and make twicethe impact on giving childrena life free from hunger.“Hunger is the world’sbiggest health problem but itis also the most solvable.This is an amazing opportu-nity for us, in partnershipwith NIPSA, to make evenbigger strides towards aworld where people’s livesare not put at risk or limited

by a lack of access to enoughnutritious food.”NIPSA Assistant SecretaryGeraldine Alexander said:“As a socially responsible or-ganisation, NIPSA is de-lighted to support this appealto advance our aim to tacklehunger in the world’s poorestplaces, providing an opportu-nity to show solidarity withthose who are voiceless, des-perate and living in poverty”Concern has more than 40years of experience workingwith some of the poorest

communities in the world,combining their expertisewith local knowledge to cre-ate lasting solutions. Lastyear, they helped more than24 million people in 28 coun-tries.All donations to the HungerStops Here appeal will go to-wards projects that will freethousands of people fromhunger for good in placessuch as Zambia, where morethan half of all children underfive suffer from chronic mal-nourishment.In Mumbwa, one of the poor-est provinces, many peoplehave only maize to eat whichdoes not have the nutrientsgrowing children need to stayhealthy. This causes stunting,making them more suscepti-ble to disease and impactingtheir ability to grow and learn.Concern is enabling mothersin the region to provide morevaried and nutritious food fortheir children by supplyingthem with the seeds, tools,and know-how to grow theirown food at home.By supporting Hunger StopsHere, you can help Concernmake twice the impact inreaching thousands morechildren to give them a lifefree from hunger - allowingthem to grow up, able tolearn, earn and aspire.For more information: www.concern.net/hungerstopshere

Making twice the impact: giving a life free from human hungerFour out of five members of the Northern Irelandpublic say that it’s unacceptable that so manypeople in the world still go hungry. And nearly two thirds of them believe that more could bedone for children in poor countries who are affected for life because of malnutrition.

NIPSA is delighted to support this appeal to advance our aim to tackle hunger in the world’s poorest places

Phot

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Page 11 NIPSA NEWSGive Your Supportwww.nipsa.org.uk

IT’S crucial that in the firsttwo years of a child’s life, theyreceive adequate nutritiousfood.Without the right food at theright time, their health will bedamaged forever. They becomechronically malnourished andcan’t grow mentally or physi-cally. That’s why ConcernWorldwide is working withwomen like 36-year-old MonicaMalunda to provide them withthe knowledge and skills to growthe food their children desper-ately need.Monica, who lives in ruralZambia, used to find it difficult toprovide three meals a day forher children, and, when she did,they rarely contained the nutri-ents needed for her children togrow up healthily. They wouldeat nshima, made from maizeand water, meal after meal.While maize is a staple crop, ithas little nutritional value.Sometimes they would have tomiss meals.“Before, there were times wejust had one meal a day,” saidMonica.“At other times, we would justeat the same things for eachmeal for over a month. Hungerbecame normal. I was weak andso my child was weak.”Concern worked with Monica,teaching her about different crop

varieties, farming techniquesand food preparation. After re-ceiving seeds and livestock fromConcern’s Realigning Agricul-ture to Improve Nutrition (RAIN)project, as well as vital farmingand nutrition training, Monicahas been able to provide a var-ied diet for her children, includ-

ing tomatoes, carrots, greenbeans, rapeseed, okra, andsweet potato.“I’ve learnt a lot about nutri-tion. I know more about how togrow food and now haveenough to last throughout theyear. The children’s perform-ance at school is better. They

now leave home in the morningwith a full stomach.”By donating to Hunger StopsHere you can help Concern trainmore mothers like Monica howto grow nutritious food and en-sure their children get thehappy, healthy life they deserve.

Transforming lives: getting theright food at the right time

Monica Malundu, 36, a participant in Concern's nutrition programme, can now feed her family. Photo: Gareth Bentley/2014/Zambia

A healthy fish and vegetable dish cooked by Monica Malundu for her family.Photo: Gareth Bentley/2014/Zambia

Page 12 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

OVER the summer, NIPSA’s Organising Unithas been engaging with local governmentBranches by holding information sessionson the Review of Public Administration (RPA)in Councils. To date most of the existing 26 Councils havebeen visited by NIPSA organisers and officialswith responsibility for Councils in the run-up tothe setting up of the 11 ‘Super-Councils’,planned for April 2015. The sessions have involved presentations byorganisers urging members to be active withintheir Branches as well as encouraging non-members to join the union. The range of services and benefits provided bythe union has also been outlined to members

and non-members alike. Sessions have given existing members the op-portunity to meet with experienced NIPSA offi-cials so they can air any concerns they mayhave over changes to the Councils set-up.These have also included recommendations asto how they best use their NIPSA membership tosecure the most value from their subscriptions. With considerable uncertainty still attached tomany aspects of the RPA process, NIPSA’sproactive measures to engage directly withmembers and non-members have had a positiveimpact and generated an uptake in new mem-bers across those areas visited. A source told NIPSA News: “The sessions havedemonstrated that NIPSA is the union with the

experience and commitment to deliver for localgovernment staff bearing in mind the majorchanges that RPA will undoubtedly bring.”Given the success of the sessions it is envis-aged that a series of follow-up meetings will takeplace during the autumn.The need for workers to join NIPSA is greaterthan ever and the Organising Unit can assistBranches with the essential task of recruitingnew members and encouraging existing mem-bers to be better organised and more activewithin their Branches.If you require help from the NIPSA OrganisingUnit in your Branch, please contact the Organi-sation and Recruitment Unit at NIPSA Head-quarters and they will be happy to assist.

Super organising drive for ‘Super-Councils’

BUYING and/or selling a housecan be an exciting time. It can alsobe a very daunting and stressfulexperience. Having an understand-ing about how the process works –from agreeing a price to droppingoff or picking up the keys at theestate agent's office – can makethe experience much more man-ageable and a lot less stressful. This article aims to give you a basic

understanding of the practicalities ofbuying or selling a home and particu-larly what your solicitor has to do dur-ing the process.

SELLING A PROPERTYThe first step to selling your prop-

erty is to instruct an estate agent tomarket the property. Once you haveagreed a price with a buyer, your es-tate agent will pass matters over toyour solicitor and send your solicitora sales advice note. This sales advice note provides de-

tails such as the property address,the agreed price, the buyer's solicitor,your solicitor and sometimes an an-ticipated completion date. It is important to understand at this

stage that the anticipated completiondate is for guidance only as there aremany matters which can arise duringthe sale process which may requirethe date to be changed.

So what does your solicitor donext?n Your solicitor will request your titledeeds from your mortgage lender.• Once the title deeds arrive, your so-licitor will prepare a draft contract andsend it along with the bulk of the titledeeds to the buyer's solicitor.n Your solicitor will ask you to com-plete a "pre-contract enquiries" ques-tionnaire and a fixtures and fittingslist and both will then be sent to thebuyer's solicitor. If you need to nego-tiate a price for various fixtures andfittings you would normally do thisthrough the estate agent.n Next your solicitor will obtain a De-partment of Environment (DOE) anda Local Council property certificate.Both of these certificates are requiredwhen you are selling a property. TheDOE property certificate provides de-tails about the property being sold

and the surrounding area includingplanning permission applications anddetails in relation to whether theroads and sewers servicing the prop-erty are adopted by the DRD and NIWater. The Local Council propertycertificate provides details in relationto building control applications, build-ing licensing matters and environ-mental health matters.n Your solicitor will then carry out anumber of searches to include aLand Registry search against theproperty being sold, a Bankruptcysearch and an Enforcement ofJudgements search against you asthe seller. Again, all of thesesearches are required during the saleprocess. The Land Registry searchwill provide details as to who theowner of the property is and whetherthere are any mortgages registeredagainst the property. The Bankruptcyand Enforcement of Judgmentssearches are carried out to ensurethat a seller is not subject to anybankruptcy proceedings or enforce-ment proceedings (e.g. in relation toan unpaid debt) via the Enforcementof Judgments office. n The property certificates andsearches will then be sent to thebuyer's solicitor. At this stage thebuyer's solicitor may raise somequeries relating to the property andthe paperwork furnished and your so-licitor will then deal with these variousqueries.n Once all matters have been ironedout the buyer's solicitor should be in aposition to release a signed "Offer toPurchase" (i.e. the contract) to yoursolicitor (the buyer will have alreadysigned the contract). You will then be

asked to accept the offer by signingthe contract, subject of course to youbeing happy to proceed. It is impor-tant to note that the contract is notbinding on either you as the seller orthe buyer until a copy of the acceptedcontract has been sent to the buyer'ssolicitor.n A completion date will have beenagreed at this stage and you willtherefore be able to get organised –packing boxes, booking a removalvan, sorting out matters such asgas/electric/rates accounts.n On the day of completion it wouldbe normal to expect the seller to havevacated the property by in or around12 noon and to have removed all per-sonal belongings from the property.Once your solicitor has received thepurchase funds from the buyer's so-licitor and has dealt with the comple-tion formalities he or she wouldnormally phone you to let you knowthat everything has been completed.At this stage you can close the doorof your home for the last time andhead to the estate agent to hand inthe keys (if you haven't already donethis).

BUYING A PROPERTYOnce you have agreed to buy a

property the first step is to let yoursolicitor know that your offer hasbeen accepted and that he/sheshould expect to receive a sales ad-vice note from the estate agent. Forthe majority of buyers a mortgage willbe required and it is very important toensure that if you do require a mort-gage, you have an offer of mortgagein place before your solicitor pro-

ceeds with any legal work.

So what does your solicitor donext?

n Your mortgage provider will sendthe mortgage documentation to yoursolicitor. Your solicitor should at thisstage have already received a draftcontract and the title deeds from theseller's solicitor. He/she may alreadyhave the required searches and prop-erty certificates too.n Your solicitor will review all of thepaperwork and meet with you to ad-vise you in relation to the propertythat you are buying and the mortgageyou will be obtaining. n At this stage you will probably beready to sign the contract and willhave a completion date in mind. n Once the contract (already signedby you) has been signed by the sell-ers and a copy of the signed contracthas been sent to your solicitor, youare at this stage in a binding contractto purchase the property. n Before completion your solicitor willrequest the balance purchase fundsfrom you (if you are not obtaining a100% mortgage).n On the day of completion your so-licitor will have already sent the pur-chase funds to the seller's solicitorand will then ask the seller’s solicitorto authorise the estate agent to re-lease the keys of the property to you. n Once the estate agent has re-ceived this authority you can go tothe estate agent's office and pick upthe keys. The property is yours andyou can start the moving in process!

Lastly, don't forget to make sureyou have home insurance in place tostart on the day of completion.

If you have recently agreed to buyor sell a property please feel free tocontact our conveyancing departmentfor a fees quote. McCartan Turking-ton Breen offers reduced conveyanc-ing rates for NIPSA members and forfamily members of individuals withNIPSA membership. If you wish toobtain a quote please contact our of-fice on 02890 329801 or send us anemail to legal@mtb-law.co.uk

A guide to buying and selling a house

By Marie-Anne McVeighChancery House, 88 Victoria Street, Belfast BT1 3GN

Tel: 028 9032 9801 www.mtb-law.co.uk

Page 13 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

UNIONS representingover half a million NHSworkers have announcedplans to ballot for indus-trial action over pay, withstrike action planned forthe autumn.

At this point in time,NIPSA (and Unison) arenot balloting in NI, how-ever, this may change.The decision will be takeby NIPSA HealthPanel.The announce-ments from Unite, UNI-SON, the GMB and theRoyal College of Mid-wives (RCM) came fol-lowing memberconsultations on the gov-ernment’s imposition of a1% non-consolidated in-crease for some staff inEngland for each of thenext two years.

The increase appliesonly to staff at the top of

their incremental payband, meaning thataround 60% of NHS staffand 70% of nurses willget no pay rise at all forthe two years.

Pay for NHS staff hasfallen in real terms byaround 15% since thegovernment entered of-fice in 2010. UNISONhead of health, ChristinaMcAnea said balloting forstrike action was not aneasy decision, but thegovernment was showing

“complete contempt forNHS workers”.

Health secretary Je-remy Hunt had rejectedthe recommendation of a1% consolidated pay in-crease for 2014-15 for allNHS staff made by the in-dependent pay reviewbody.

The RCM industrial ac-tion ballot will be the firstin its history. RCM chiefexecutive Cathy Warwicksaid that midwives were“at the end of their

tether” after acceptingyears of pay restraint andchanges to their pen-sions and terms and con-ditions.

Members will not beballoted in Scotlandwhere the pay reviewbody’s recommendationswere implemented.

Unite is also ballotingin Wales, where a non-consolidated paymentwas also imposed, andNorthern Ireland, where adecision on pay is yet tobe taken. Unite head ofhealth Rachael Maskellsaid that action “will becarefully calibrated tobalance the real and deepanger that our membersfeel about their falling in-comes, with concern forpatient care”.

The ballots will run inAugust and September.

THE NIPSA Youth Com-mittee has launched acharter for young people. At the launch event,

NIPSA Youth ChairpersonGrainne McGinley set out aseries of simple demandswhich she claimed wouldhelp build a future thatworks for young people inNorthern Ireland.These were:

n All young people are paida living wage as a basicminimum;n Young workers aretreated with respect, freefrom bullying, harassmentand discrimination;

n An end to the use ofzero-hour contracts;n Real apprenticeships inall sectors;n Genuine and sustainableemployment opportunitiesfor young people; andn Proper training opportuni-ties for all young people.

Why is this important?

Austerity and recessionare destroying employmentopportunities in NorthernIreland.More than 24,000 young

people, aged 18-24, are

now out of work in NorthernIreland. There are 34,000young people who are notin Education, Employmentand Training (the so-calledNEETs).With one in five young

people jobless, many arefaced with taking unpaid in-ternships or work experi-ence. Others simplybecome detached from so-ciety.Meanwhile, increases in

tuition fees are preventingthousands from gainingqualifications and new skillsfor the job market.

Take action!Urgent action must be

taken to give all young peo-ple of Northern Ireland a fu-ture that works.Taking positive action to

help our young people willdemand commitment, de-termination and real re-

sources from our Govern-ment, employers and tradeunions.The NIPSA Youth Com-

mittee pledges its part andwe urge you to pledgeyours by signing up to ourYouth Charter online atwww.nipsayouth.co.uk

A new report by the EuropeanAgency for Safety and Health atWork (EU-OSHA) looks at the eco-nomic costs of work-relatedstress. The report, a literature review sum-

marising studies in this area, exam-ines how it costs more to ignore thisproblem than to address it. The report, Calculating the cost of

work-related stress and psychosocialrisks, looks at work-related stressand its effect on ill-health and identi-fies new challenges to tackling it.These include increasing globalisa-tion, advances in information tech-

nology and new types of contractualand working arrangements. Working life today is described as

becoming more difficult due, amongother things, to the constant pres-sure of time and multi-tasking. The report reaches three conclu-

sions around the costs of work-re-lated stress, job strain, workplaceviolence and harassment (bullying)and psychosocial risk factors suchas lack of support at work and an ex-cessive workload. The first conclusion is that studies

indicate that there is a strong busi-ness case for preventing stress and

psychosocial risks at work. Secondly,simple systematic analysis is neededto help organisations assess thecosts related to stress and psy-chosocial risks. These costs relate toabsence at work, presenteeism andstaff turnover. Finally, the report looks at the rela-

tionship between work-relatedstress, psychosocial risks and men-tal health problems, cardiovasculardisease, musculoskeletal diseaseand diabetes. https://osha.europa.eu/en/teaser/cal-culating-the-cost-of-work-related-stress

Health unions toballot in pay row

Q. My employer has started formalcapability procedures against me.What are my rights?A. You have the right to be treatedfairly and reasonably in a formalcapability procedure. You should contact your union

rep as soon as your employer tellsyou that they have decided to usea formal capability procedure to as-sess your work. You might find it helpful to pre-

pare a diary of events at work. Thisdiary will help you to spot any prob-lems with your work that you mightwant to raise during the procedure.By noting down details of any par-ticular dates, tasks and names ofindividuals concerned in your diary,you can easily refer to any particu-lar situations later on.Your employment contract is

likely to have a section about for-mal capability procedures. Youremployment contract might alsorefer you to your organisation’s for-mal capability procedure. Youshould check this procedure assoon as possible to make sure thatit is followed properly.There should be reasonable no-

tice of any formal capability meet-ing in writing. The letter from youremployer should include details ofany allegations against you, as wellas an indication of what could hap-pen if the capability proceduredoes not go in your favour. The letter should also include

any evidence found against youduring an investigation.You have a legal right to be ac-

companied by someone at a formalcapability meeting. There is an en-titlement to bring a trade union repor a work colleague to support youat the meeting. After the formal capability meet-

ing, you should be given details ofthe decision as soon as possiblewith reasons for it. If you disagreewith the decision, you should havethe right to appeal the decisionwithin a reasonable amount oftime. If you find yourself to be unfairly

dismissed for an unfair reason orprocedure, or both, you can bring aclaim at the Industrial Tribunal ifyou have been employed for atleast one year.

Capabilityprocedures

Employment law

NIPSA Youth launch youth charter

Economic costs of work-related stress

Page 14 NIPSA NEWS Books www.nipsa.org.uk

THE TUC has set out a four-point campaigncalled Respect at Work on employmentrights that it hopes will inform the debate inthe run-up to next year's general election.The four elements are:

n Stemming the tide of casualisation, includingending the abuse of zero-hour contracts andwinning equal pay for agency workersn Abolition of employment tribunal feesn A new framework of employment rights, in-cluding reversal of the coalition attack on statu-tory redundancy and Tupe and bringing aboutunfair dismissal protection from day onen Improved worker voice, including promotion ofcollective bargaining, better information and con-sultation rights and, worker directors.It is in connection with the fourth point that this

booklet has been launched by the TUC, a collec-tion of essays on reforming corporate gover-nance that includes some discussion about thepossibility of worker directors in Britain.There is now no question that reform of the

way our large corporations are managed isclearly overdue.A recent study by the High Pay Centre found

that directors' pay was now running at almost180 times that of the lowest-paid workers.The booklet points out that, 30 or so years

ago, directors' pay may have seemed reason-able in relation to other wage earners, but it hasgrown exponentially under neoliberalism,prompting some to argue that if they could havegot away with this before they probably wouldhave done, but there were social brakes pre-venting them from doing so. These brakes arenow gone.At the public launch of the book, Labour

shadow business minster Ian Wright MP wasmoved to promise a worker representative oncompany remuneration committees and evenTory Jesse Norman MP spoke about crony capi-talism - the broken link between corporate re-ward and company performance.Readers will soon discover that the debate on

reform of corporate governance may be dividedinto two schools of thought - reform to improveeconomic performance and reform to provideworker voice, although of course there is somecrossover between the two positions.In the former camp, some reformists argue

against the corporate greed discussed above.Others are more concerned about moving awayfrom a duty to solely promote shareholder valueand open up duties to other stakeholders, whichis the central thesis of the booklet.An exclusive focus on shareholder value is

said to promote short-termism in that directors inBritain work to the publication of quarterly re-ports and eschew long-term measures that maynot synchronise with a quarterly reporting struc-ture.Corporate bonuses are structured to short-

term results. Further, how does the advent ofhigh-frequency share trading in the Anglo-USworld fit in with the long term?Colin Crouch's essay also raises the dubious

practice of private equity investment delistingstock exchange-listed companies, often to stripout the assets before returning the significantlypoorer corporation to the market.The crossover for advocates of improved eco-

nomic performance and worker voice is found

with those who argue that an involved workforcewith access to the highest levels of decision-making bring to the table knowledge and infor-mation otherwise unavailable to management.Worker voice is the key to open improved per-formance.There are statutory provisions for worker direc-

tors in 19 European countries - 14 with wide-spread rights across the public and privatesectors - Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ger-many, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Lux-embourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden,Slovenia and Slovakia plus a further five withmore limited rights - Greece, Ireland, Poland,Portugal and Spain.It's clear from this list that although worker di-

rectors do not guarantee improved economicperformance, those countries that are economichigh-flyers are also the ones that have a systemof industrial democracy that includes worker di-rectors.Michael Gold's essay argues that our system

of corporate governance denies to workers thefourth element that makes a democratic whole.First, we have civil citizenship, the rights to in-

dividual freedom. Second, we have political citi-zenship, the right to vote. And third, we havesocial citizenship, the right to social welfare,which is gradually being eroded.In Britain, what is missing is citizenship at

work, which meaningful participation rights, in-cluding worker directors, would go some way inmeeting.At the level of mobilising workers to support

the demand for a voice, we should leave the ar-gument linking worker directors with improvedeconomic performance slightly to one side, im-portant though it is - see Frances O'Grady'sessay on promoting a high-investment, high-skilland high-productivity economy.We should shift the argument to a rights issue,

workers' rights to seats on the board to act as acountervailing power to the obsession with short-termism and boardroom excess.These issues have contributed to the crisis, a

crisis under which working people are bearingthe brunt with overbearing austerity measuresand attacks on their limited rights at work.Adrian Weir is assistant secretary of the Cam-paign for Trade Union Freedom on whose web-site this article first appeared:www.tradeunionfreedom.co.uk. The TUC bookletis downloadable as a pdf via www.tuc.org.uk

IN HIS first-hand, panoramic ac-count of the hacking scandalfrom 2008 to the present day,Nick Davies artfully draws theconnections between Murdoch’snewspaper group and the offi-cially powerful, and their corro-sive impact on the public’sinterests.After investigating a £1m hush

payment by Murdoch’s News Inter-national to a hacking victim in2009, the investigative journalistcame up against a wall of officialobfuscation and deceit. Hack At-tack is especially good in trackingthe sustained and intractable ob-struction of the Metropolitan Police.

He sets out too the threats of re-taliation against himself, his editorAlan Rusbridger and The Guardian(absent is the parallel campaign ofunsuccessful intimidation againstThe Independent).Mulcaire was just one of dozens

of ghosts in the machine. An ap-pendix lists 41 private detectiveswho worked – some legally – forFleet Street newspapers, and theirspecialisms. Many of these charac-ters were previously unknown.Davies captures the use some ofthis information was put to: not justfor stories, but threats againstpoliticians and other policy-makers.His set-pieces – a close-up of

Andy Coulson’s dirt-digging, back-stabbing newsroom and RebekahBrooks’s wedding in 2009, at-tended by anyone who was anyonein Britain (240 people) – arebreathtaking. In captivating im-agery, he muses that, while it tooka small band of lawyers, politiciansand journalists years to smashdown the company’s fortifications,once the outrage of summer 2011had dimmed, the public’s advancewas washed away by the incomingtide “like sandcastles”.Murdoch’s power was sometimes

deployed subtly, often brutishly. Inessence, Davies writes, the scan-dal is about the “everyday occur-

rence of a natural exchange of as-sistance between those who oc-cupy positions in society fromwhich they can look down uponand mightily affect the everydayworlds of ordinary men andwomen…”.We have “the casual arrogance

of a group of people who take it forgranted that they have every rightto run the country and, in doing so,to manipulate information, to con-ceal embarrassing truth, to try tofool all of the people all of thetime”. Hack Attack captures a pic-ture of bullying and nepotism thatshould be absent from a demo-cratic society.

Improving workers’ voicesADRIAN WEIR reviews the latest TUC booklet on corporate governanceBeyond Shareholder Value:The Reasons and Choices forCorporate Governance ReformEdited by J Williamson, CDriver & P Kenway

Hack Attack by Nick Davies: A panoramic account of the hacking scandal

Hack Attack:How the TruthCaught Up withRupert Murdochby Nick Davies448pp, Chatto &Windus, (RRP£20, ebook £5.98

Page 15 NIPSA NEWSEuropean and world affairswww.nipsa.org.uk

WITH the crisis in Gaza, the rise of Islamistmilitants in Iraq and Syria and the interna-tional stand-off ongoing in Ukraine, it cansometimes feel like the whole world is at war.But experts believe this is actually almost uni-

versally the case, according to a think-tankwhich produces one of the world’s leading meas-ures of “global peacefulness” – and things areonly going to get worse.It may make for bleak reading, but of the 162

countries covered by the Institute for Economicsand Peace’s (IEP’s) latest study, just 11 were notinvolved in conflict of one kind or another.Worse still, the world as a whole has been get-

ting incrementally less peaceful every year since2007 – sharply bucking a trend that had seen aglobal move away from conflict since the end ofthe Second World War.The UK, as an example, is relatively free from

internal conflict, making it easy to fall to thinkingit exists in a state of peace. But recent involve-ment in foreign fighting in the likes ofAfghanistan, as well as a fairly high state of mili-tarisation, means Britain actually scores quitepoorly on the 2014 Global Peace Index, coming47th overall.Then there are countries which are involved in

no actual foreign wars involving deaths whatso-ever - like North Korea – but which are fraughtby the most divisive and entrenched internalconflicts.The IEP’s findings mean that choices are slim

if you want to live in a completely peaceful coun-try. The only ones to achieve the lowest scorefor all forms of conflict were Switzerland, Japan,Qatar, Mauritius, Uruguay, Chile, Botswana,Costa Rica, Vietnam, Panama and Brazil.And even those countries are not entirely ex-

empt from other problems that, the IEP says,could lend to conflict further down the line.In Brazil and Costa Rica, for instance, the level

of internal conflict may be the lowest possible –but civilian access to small arms and the likeli-hood of violent demonstrations are worryinglyhigh.Switzerland is famously detached when it

comes to any external conflict, and has a verylow risk of internal problems of any kind – butloses a number of points on the overall index be-cause of its proportionately huge rate of armsexports per 100,000 of the population.The IEP says that for a country to score at the

lowest level for all its indicators for conflict, itmust not have been involved in any “contestedincompatibility that concerns government and/orterritory where the use of armed force betweentwo parties, of which at least one is the govern-ment of a state, results in at least 25 battle-re-lated deaths in a year”.

Harder still, analysts from the Economist Intel-ligence Unit must be satisfied that it has “no con-flict” within its borders. This rating on civil unrestcannot even include “latent” conflict involving“positional differences over definable values ofnational importance”.he Global Peace Index measures the latest

data up to the end of the year before – meaningthat the state of international conflict right now isactually even worse than the study suggests.With the protests over the World Cup still vivid incollective memory, for instance, Brazil might finditself off the list of peaceful countries by 2015.Speaking to The Independent, the director of

the IEP Camilla Schippa warned that the state ofpeace in our time has been “slowly but steadilydecreasing” in recent years.“Major economic and geopolitical shocks, such

as the global financial crisis and the Arab Spring,have left countries more at risk of falling intoconflict,” Ms Schippa said.“In the last year we have seen a large increase

in terrorist activity, a resurgence of conflict inGaza, and no resolution to the crisis in Syria andIraq.“Outside of the Middle East, civil unrest in

Ukraine has turned into armed rebellion, andthere has been increasing violence in SouthSudan and the Democratic Republic of theCongo.”She added: “Continuing global unrest means

that there is unlikely to be a reversal of this trendin the short run.”To explore the 2014 Global Peace Index in full,visit the IEP’s website here: http://www.vi-sionofhumanity.org/#/page/indexes/global-peace-index

World peace? These are the only 11 countriesin the world that are actually free from conflict

Israeli military in heavy bombing of Gaza

www.nipsa.org.ukPage 16 NIPSA NEWS News

Pride brightens up Belfastdespite the downpoursHEAVY RAIN it did notdampen the spirits ofthousands of peoplewho came out to sup-port and take part inthis year’s Belfast PrideParade on August 2.

NIPSA has not onlysupported the BelfastPride Parade for someyears but has alsobacked Foyle Pride Pa-rade on August 23 andPride in Newry Paradeon August 30.

A source told NIPSANews: “The union isproud to be part of thiscelebration of diversityof communities andcultures in NorthernIreland. We believe thispublic expressiondemonstrates our com-mitment to equality forall.

“It also demonstratesour commitment tofight against homopho-bia, transphobia, bipho-bia and allmanifestations of dis-crimination and intoler-ance in our society.”

Camera lens couldn’t cope with the rain as NIPSA LGB&T members and supporters attend Pride event in Belfast

If you are interested in joining our LGB&TGroup please complete the application formbelow or join confidentially by calling our di-rect line on 028 90686566 or emaillgbt.group@nipsa.org.uk.

NIPSA’s LGB&T Group is open to bothLGB&T members and non-LGB&T members.The objectives of the group have been for-mulated around the principles of equality, in-clusiveness, raising awareness, enablingactivism, holding employers to account, en-suring confidentiality and a safe environmentfor the group.

Strict confidentiality procedures have beenput in place.

JOIN NIPSA LGB&T GROUP

FALLING inflation figures do notdisguise the longest fall in livingstandards, the TUC has said.

Commenting on the latest infla-tion figures showing RPI at 2.7%and CPI at 1.7%, TUC generalsecretary Frances O’Grady said:“The longest fall in living stan-dards continues.

“Lower inflation is good news,but this cannot hide the longestcut in real wages since the 1870s.

An average worker is getting ninepounds in pay for every tenpounds they were getting beforethe crash. Pay packets are aboutthe same level that they were tenyears ago.

“These figures underline justhow far we have to go to restoreliving standards so that ordinarypeople share in the recovery.Britain needs a pay rise.”

One senior union official

added: “Today’s inflation figureswill not repair the holes in thepockets of millions of publicservice workers.

“Hundreds and thousands ofhealth workers, including nurses,paramedics and therapists, willnot get a pay rise this year, withthe remainder getting just 1% –below both of today’s inflationmarkers. And only last week,more than a million Local Gov-

ernment workers were offered a1% increase for the second yearrunning – on top of a three yearpay freeze.

“The Government must moveaway from beer and bingo budgetgimmicks and do more to closethe gap between what people areearning and the cost of everydayessentials. This gap is not clos-ing fast enough for familiesstruggling on low incomes.”

Inflation figures cannot disguise fall in living standards