Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Friday, December 20, 2024

Elevated to the peerage

 

Hat tip to Martin's blog for this news "Lyn Brown, who stood down as MP for West Ham at the last general election, has been appointed to the House of Lords.

The full list of political peerages is here.

Many congratulations, Lyn!"

Lyn is of course a long standing UNISON member (and former local government officer). I was also really pleased that UNISON convenor (and our nominee on the Labour Party NEC) Wendy Nichols was also appointed UNISON welcomes new appointments to the House of Lords | News, Press release | News | UNISON National

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Saturday, December 14, 2024

West Ham Xmas Door knock & Street Surgery

This morning after my indoor Councillor surgery, we went on a door knock in West Ward with Councillors and activists including our new MP for West Ham & Beckton, James Asser. 

The door knock went very well and residents were visibly pleased to see their Councillors and new MP and to have a chat (and in one case a selfie) about local issues and personal casework. 

There was a lot of concern about a new healthy schools streets scheme but it was wholly constructive. Residents understood the need of such schemes to protect children but were concerned by the small numbers of inconsiderate parents, who park in and/or block resident bays, while dropping off or collecting their children. We will be approaching Council officers to extend the pilot area to stop this. 

Afterwards, we went to the Sawmill café for Xmas coffee and cake (no mince pies available)

Friday, December 13, 2024

UNISON GLR LGBT+ Reception marking World Aids Day

Last Tuesday evening I was invited by the UNISON Greater London Regional LGBT+ Committee to their annual reception in Parliament. This was sponsored by GLR Labour Link and hosted by new Labour MP, Deirdre Costigan (former UNISON National Officer). 

The theme was was to mark World Aids Day with the launch of the new UNISON Model-policy-to-support-workers-living-with-HIV.pdf to tackle HIV stigma at work, with speeches from the National Aids and Terrance Higgins Trust.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Winter Essentials Grant - Wednesday 11 December 2024 - only!

 


Winter is tough enough. UNISON's charity has a Winter Essentials Grant to help members with £200 food shopping vouchers. Open 24 hours from 12 noon 11 Dec! Check eligibility here 👇 www.unison.org.uk/get-help/ser...

Sunday, December 08, 2024

"Private credit, public squalor"

 

Check out this Substack article in "The Social Factor" by Tom Powdrill regarding the attempt by the owners of a food manufacturing company in Wrexham, North Wales to cut the terms and conditions of its workers by "fire and rehire". 

I have contacted Newham Council Pension Officers and the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV} about this. By coincidence I was brought up near Wrexham and have some experience of the impact of "fire and rehire". Thankfully the new Government is consulting on how to effectively "ban" such dismissals in the future. Hat tip picture to Herald, Wales

Private credit's link to fire and rehire in Wrexham may open up more questions

Ryan Reynolds has made Wrexham AFC internationally famous. His co-ownership of the club, and the Welcome To Wrexham TV series, have made the club visible to millions of people. But there’s another increasingly high-profile drama, involving a change in ownership, playing out in Wrexham - the takeover of food producer Oscar Mayer by private credit manager Pemberton Asset Management.

Oscar Mayer operates several sites including one in Wrexham. Pemberton became an 85% owner of the business in 2023, having previously been a lender. In 2024 Oscar Mayer has proposed reduced terms and conditions in new contracts under threat of dismissal, known as ‘fire and rehire’.

The workforce is fighting the changes and 550 workers have been on strike. They recently voted 97% in favour of continuing strike action. These are not well-paid workers, so the proposed cuts are going to hurt. Not surprisingly, the dispute is a big deal in Wrexham.

Wrexham is linked to the dispute in another way. Clwyd Pension Fund, which includes Wrexham council workers, invests in a private credit fund via the Wales Pensions Partnership (WPP), the local LGPS pool. That fund, run by Russell Investments, in turn allocates money to underlying managers including Pemberton.

Understandably, there is a reluctance on the part of councillors representing wards in Wrexham to award money to an asset manager that owns a company that is cutting the pay of workers in Wrexham under threat of getting the sack. Private credit is a popular asset class and there are plenty of other managers available. Clwyd has confirmed it won’t be giving Pemberton any more money and will engage with WPP over the issue.

Oscar Mayer may be an indicator of future flashpoints. As noted, private credit is a hot asset class. Every asset manager now seems to want a piece of the pie and in turn lots of pension funds have made allocations to Pemberton and other managers. Because of the type of companies they lend to, it shouldn’t be surprising that some struggle financially. Nor should it be a surprise that the floating rate nature of the loans that are prevalent in private credit can push up borrowing costs quickly.

The IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report notes “The transmission of higher rates into firms’ cost of debt has been more swift for firms with variable rate debt” and “Private credit borrowers almost exclusively use floating rate loans. By contrast, only about 29 percent of high-yield corporate bond issuers’ total debt is variable rate.”

It’s possible that we’ll see more cases like Oscar Mayer where the lender ends up becoming an owner. Some managers combine both PE and private credit under one roof but others like Pemberton focus on lending. Without a PE background such managers probably have don’t have expertise in owning/running an investee business and so in a crunch may reach for How To Cut Costs For Dummies without thinking through the reaction from the workforce.

Simply repeating “this business is in difficulty, these changes are unpleasant but necessary” and not budging is recipe for a prolonged dispute. Anyone with a basic understanding of industrial relations - which some private credit managers may simply not have - knows this is where you start from, not end. Other private credit managers might think of Oscar Mayer as an example of how not to do it.

In turn, pension funds and other asset owners may find themselves caught up in similar disputes, since the circumstances that result in a lender becoming an owner are unlikely to be brilliant. And as the Clwyd example shows, there is a risk of a problem showing up on the fund’s doorstep.

For asset managers and asset owners I can see this asset class has the potential to chew up carefully curated ESG / Responsible Investment credentials without a much clearer sense of how they will handle workforce issues when, inevitably, a portfolio company ends up in trouble".


Monday, December 02, 2024

UNISON London Labour Link & Black Members

 

Many thanks to London Assembly member, James Small-Edwards, for organising an event last week at City Hall for Labour Link and Regional Black members. He gave a key note speech together with Abena Oppong-Asare MP. Other speakers included UNISON activist (and Councillor) Joseph Ogundemuren (who also helped organise the event), UNISON Director of Political Strategy, Maggi Ferncombe (and myself). 

The main theme was the new Government bill on Employment rights and how it is so important for all workers. 

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Compensation for WASPI women petition



Please sign and share our petition. We’re over halfway to getting Parliament to debate a compensation scheme for DWP mistakes in informing #WASPI women. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/7007


Monday, November 25, 2024

Calling all Union Learning Reps! 📢

 



Join our interactive online event on Thurs 5 Dec - to celebrate your amazing activism & successes Gain knowledge and skills, share ideas, and network with fellow reps from across the regions To register & more info: learning.unison.org.uk/events/ulr-act


Friday, November 22, 2024

Rough Sleeper Street Count 2024

 

Picture is from around 11.45pm last night of 2 teams about to leave the Council offices in Dockside to go out and count rough sleepers in Newham. At least 4 other teams had already left for the midnight start. Today was a national annual count day of rough sleepers across the UK (I think - or maybe only England).  The data is used to inform the Government and partners about the scale of the problem. It is no secret that the numbers of rough sleepers have been rising since Covid. 

The data from the national council is also confidential until released by the ministry. 

The numbers today (the count was between 12 Midnight and 3AM) will probably be lower because of the recent cold weather, which has trigged the London Mayor SWEP (severe weather emergency provision). Newham Council has been funded for a number of emergency beds located in a local community centre.

As well as the national count, Newham does a bi-monthly count, to assess how successful its own Government funded internal programme is in reducing numbers of people sleeping rough in the borough. In Newham the Count volunteers are made up of Council officers, stakeholders, volunteers and Councillors (as well as myself, Cllr Wilson & Cllr Lofthouse). 

I went with Aidan who is a Newham officer who works in a Government funded team to support long term rough sleepers and to help them get off the streets. A difficult but at times rewarding job. We were joined by another Newham Council colleague, Cllr Shaban Mohammed.

We went to a part of Newham that I had been to a number of times and I was pleased that we "only" came across 2 rough sleepers on a pavement next to a busy road (but 2 too many of course). The temperature was just above freezing. They only had a light duvet covering them. Aidan spoke to them and took some details. They had apparently refused the SWEP centre earlier today but agreed to speak to a follow team of outreach workers, who will be visiting people who had been found from 5AM this morning. 

After we had visited all the sites,  I drove back to Newham Dockside building and we passed on details to the Newham Council organising team led by its amazing manager, Ajitha Sajeev BEM (Front centre of main photo). 

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Help Save Homeless Londoners' Lives

 

"As temperatures drop to freezing, the @mayorofldn.bsky.social and London Councils have activated the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP), which means that London boroughs and City Hall will be opening up emergency accommodation for rough sleepers".

Hat tip @tomcopley.bsky.social

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

UNISON Housing Workers Survey 2024

 

"Dear John,

If you haven't already, please take our anonymous survey and help us campaign for a better approach to social housing, and for better support for the workers who deliver it.

Amidst the ongoing housing crisis and with a new government in place, it is vital that housing workers have a seat at the table and have their voices heard when it comes to housing policy. 

Take our survey today and share your experiences".

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Today marks the 1000th day of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

 

Today marks the 1000th day of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
This Labour Government stands with Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

Monday, November 18, 2024

Need our support? Don't delay in letting us know

 

Well done to Notts UNISON for bringing this important issue up. To be clear though, UNISON will not offer full representation on issues that arose before you joined and 4 weeks afterwards. 

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

It's a gray area...

 

For transparency - no known family connection (maybe some long lost Scottish cousin - this is the second time in a week I have made this declaration) and I have no idea about what really has happened except that it indicates that the  Labour Party does have problems in many places and at many levels.  This is not a great look but hopefully it can learn and move on.  

I will also say that it is more than a shame that a respected public servants career appears to have ended in this way.  

Check out what Labour List reports today:- 

Sue Gray: Did she turn down nations and regions envoy job or was it withdrawn? - LabourList .

Is this the final chapter of the Sue Gray saga? - BBC News

Monday, November 11, 2024

UNISON Winter Essentials Grant - one month to go


A month to go before low paid UNISON members can apply for this welcome grant. I was worried that the cuts to the welfare budget approved by the majority NEC Group would have meant it might have been discontinued but the money cut could have helped thousands of extra UNISON members.

The system is also a little fairer this year as members will have a 24 hour window to apply and be selected at random (see below). Not perfect but better than previous system.

Please pass on this link as many members (and branches) are unaware of this potential £200 grant.

"You shouldn’t have to choose between heating and eating, but UNISON Welfare is there for you. If you’re a UNISON member on a low income, you may be eligible to apply for a £200 voucher towards your food shopping.

Applicants must:  

  • Be a UNISON member and have paid at least four weeks’ subscriptions as of 11 December 2024. Subscriptions must be up to date.
  • Not have received a grant from UNISON Welfare since 11 June
    2024, excluding the School Uniform Grant.
  • Have savings (including the total combined rolling balance on current accounts) below £1,000 to qualify.
  • Must be responsible (or their partner, if applicable) for household fuel bills. Only one application per household will be considered.

And EITHER:

Be on a low income, meaning a net household income of no more than £26,000/year (£2,166.67/month)**

OR:

Be in receipt of means-tested benefits. This includes:

  • Universal Credit
  • Housing Benefit
  • Child and/or Working Tax Credits
  • Pension Credit
  • Means-tested Jobseekers Allowance
  • Means-tested Employment Support Allowance
  • Income Support

**Where members have no recourse to public funds and their household income is above £26,000/year an assessment will be undertaken to see whether they would be eligible for benefits if they did have recourse to public funds so that they are not disadvantaged.

How do I apply?

All applications should be made online. Applications will open on this page for 24 hours from 12 noon on Wednesday 11 December. Eligible members will be chosen at random from the applicant pool and contacted to submit supporting documents.

Due to limited funds and in anticipation of high demand, we regret that we will not be able to help all members who apply.

If you are unable to complete the application due to a disability access need, please email: weg@unison.co.uk or call UNISONdirect on 0800 0 857 857.

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Nye | Full Show | Watch for free | National Theatre at Home

Fantastic. Never watched a play in this way. Cried my eyes out, every so often and at end. So, so much better than the Netflick, prime etc rubbish I have been watching lately

Last day tomorrow? (11.11.24)

1st Labour Government budget 2024

 


West Ham Remembrance Sunday 2024

 

This morning I joined the Congregation at the 12th Century All Saints Church in West Ham with my fellow Councillors, for the Service of Remembrance.  As well as local residents and veterans, there were Council, Police and Fire Brigade Officers as well as soldiers from the local Army Reserve unit, The 7th Battalion, The Rifles. 

The service was led by Rev'd Farida Pashi and was, as always, very moving and thoughtful. The choir are particularly good. Councillor Winston Vaughan, who served in the British Army (in a conflict zone) recited in full the Ode of Remembrance ("For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon). 

This year I had been asked to lay a Parliamentary wreath on behalf of the new MP for West Ham and Beckton, James Asser, who was at Silvertown Remembrance service. 

Afterwards I had a chat and catch up with colleagues and residents and then a brief look around this amazing and historic church. 

Monday, October 28, 2024

Labour Housing Group: "How can the Labour Government Deliver on Housing"

 

On Saturday I went to this conference in Camden which had a great range of key note speakers and workshops.

Lots and lots of great ideas, changes and initiatives but I do worry that while the supply and condition of our housing stock can be improved by important changes such as planning reform, getting rid of no fault evictions and right to buy etc. 

We will not be able to build enough affordable homes without significant public subsidy. 

This is a huge problem since the Government simply does not have enough money to do everything it wants (and needs) to do. 

Lets see what happens at the Autumn budget this week. Fingers crossed but...

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Employment Rights Bill - Second Reading - PASSED

 

SECOND READING - PASSED. Brilliant job

and

, and all the Labour MPs who spoke in the debate to explain why it matters and highlight important issues. Now for Committee Stage BRING. IT. ON.

Hat tip @labourunions

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Speech to Newham Council on Temporary Accommodation Crisis

Below are my notes for my speech yesterday evening. The motion was passed unanimously with cross party support.  You can see the actual contents of the motion here mgov.newham.gov.uk/documents/s175786/Motions report.pdf which was seconded by my colleague, Cllr Dr Rohit Das Gupta. See his Facebook page for video of his speech https://fb.watch/vnNCwnv8_o/

"Chair, Council, Cllr John Gray, West Ham ward, moving motion 2 – Newham Temporary Accommodation (TA) Crisis

Council, the word “crisis” is being widely used to describe many of our key public services, the NHS, Schools, courts, universities, transport, utilities and not least, local government and in particular TA.

While Newham is not the only Council to be experiencing a TA crisis, we are by far an outlier, with arguably the worse TA situation in the country. Our statistics are frankly incredible and unacceptable.

6700 vulnerable individuals’ and families living in temporary and insecure accommodation, when they deserve permanent, decent and affordable homes. Yet this is not only an unacceptable form of tenure for these families, the cost of proving temporary housing is rising and there is clearly a danger that this will make the Council insolvent. In lay persons terms “bankrupt” or just running out of money.

It is projected that soon, until something radical changes then we will end up spending our entire Council budget on what is called statutory services – Children social services, adult social services and TA. There will be nothing left over for any other council services and we may even not have enough to provide those services demanded by law.

Council, we must act. Simply doing nothing and hoping for bail outs from central government is not an option.

So, what can we do as a Council, as a borough? The motion makes many recommendations, but there are 3 main over lapping themes

Firstly, we must believe that we can do something. Too often, TA is just seen as being in the “too difficult to do” box. We have had such as crisis for decades and that is just the way it is... This is wrong. We can and must act. Not alone, but with our partners and stakeholders.

Secondly, before we find a way out, we must examine why we are in this mess. Why is TA in Newham so different from other similar London boroughs or other Councils? What works elsewhere and why can’t it work here. Such is the scale of the crisis that we will have to take risks and try different and maybe things that we are uncomfortable with.

Thirdly, we must not let the Government completely off the hook. Despite the appalling financial situation it is in, there are a number of measure such as restricting RTB and bringing forward a ban on no fault evictions, which will potentially make a huge difference.

We must continue to make the case that if the Government of the day makes the provision of a particular council service a statutory service, then there is an obligation for that government to provide the funding needed to provide that statutory service. While no one here is expecting a blank cheque from the Government, we must continue to press the case for money to provide what the government is telling us to provide.

Finally, I note that there has been concerned expressed by scrutiny about capacity and resource to ensure this taskforce is successful, and I will be asking the Chief executive to ensure that they are made available. I believe this motion is also flexible enough to ensure that there is no duplication when agreeing any terms of reference.

So Council, let us set up this taskforce as a matter of urgency and let us have an initial report within 2 months and let us tackle and end this crisis together. Council, I move."

Saturday, October 19, 2024

"Newham seeks EFS to stave off section 114 – but says only funding reform will prevent ‘exceptional becoming normal’

 

Important article in Room151 blog not only for Newham but also for many, many other Councils facing section 114 notices (a form of municipal insolvency and/or technical bankruptcy).My understanding is EFS is not an increase in Government funding but an expensive loan being paid for by selling off of Council assets.    

"Exceptional Financial Support risks becoming normalised across the local government sector and is only a “sticking plaster solution” to councils’ financial problems anyway, according to Conrad Hall, corporate director of resources at the London Borough of Newham.

The authority’s Cabinet will discuss Newham’s financial position today (15 October) – with a £175m budget gap forecasted over the next three years – and will be asked to continue discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on receiving Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) in financial year 2025/26.

Temporary accommodation costs account for £100m of that £175m budget gap, with Hall stating that the “housing crisis and the consequence of the failure of the housing market” has fallen “very disproportionately” on authorities. Some, like Newham, are being put in a “completely impossible” position.

“There’s something wrong with a funding system that allows that degree of, frankly, randomness between two different councils,” he told Room151.

Conrad Hall

EFS would provide temporary financial relief for Newham but only “kicks the can down the road”, according to Hall. He also fears that with so many other authorities across the country in an unstable financial position, EFS could “stop being exceptional and start to look a bit normal”.

Newham anticipates an overspend for the current 2024/25 financial year in the region of £47m, of which a £31m overspend is forecast on temporary accommodation and £16m on social care provision.

The authority has identified savings – including asset sales – for 2025/26 that have an annual value of £20.3m, growing to £51.2m for 2027/28, and the Cabinet will be asked to approve these immediately. Further savings options have also been listed for consideration that amount to £13.5m in 2025/26, growing to £20.9m for 2027/28.

Hall described the savings as a “substantial package of pretty unpleasant cuts”.

If the MHCLG does not provide EFS, Hall said that a section 114 notice becomes a “very serious consideration” and might be needed in around 18 months in that scenario. However, it is an effectively “pointless” action when the issue is not underlying financial mismanagement but instead external factors beyond the authority’s control.

“Issuing [a section 114 notice] is foremost to say that we haven’t got the money. It doesn’t really help because we still have the same duty to house people in temporary accommodation, and that is the cause of the financial problem,” he said. “So while it is a dramatic moment, it doesn’t actually change the dial much. We’re trying to get [government] to change policy so that you don’t have local authorities just collectively all going under. The current situation is just unsustainable.”

Hall noted that Newham has had initial conversations with the MHCLG, but has heard nothing since. This situation, though, “is not unexpected, because I think they will be waiting until after [the Budget] of 30 October”. If the government operates to the same timetable as the last financial year, a final decision might be expected around February.

Consequently, Newham has so far not specified an amount of EFS it is seeking, as much will depend on what the government does with the homelessness funding system, Hall said. “It’s so dramatically broken in London and beyond that it’s hard to imagine that they’re not going to do anything,” he added.

Action on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, for example, could be “taken overnight”, which would reduce the cost burden on individual councils and transfer it “at no overall cost to the public purse”, Hall noted.

Ultimately, Hall said that funding reform was needed, which goes beyond just multi-year settlements, to solve the underlying issues that are forcing more councils to seek EFS and potentially issue section 114 notices.

Photo: Shutterstock

“EFS can be done for, say, a year while [the government] fixes the overall funding system and sorts out housing and things like that. But it’s not something that will work for any period of time,” he said.

“It must be accompanied by funding reform. The difficult thing for the government to do is to find some money to fix the problem, because if they don’t it’ll just get worse and worse. And if housing isn’t fixed, other things also get worse, and you need more expensive interventions elsewhere. It is an extraordinary crisis, and the government just doesn’t seem, so far, to have reached a clear and funded policy about how they’re going to deal with it.”

Hall said that while the government would surely “like to help” they may have boxed themselves in in terms of verbal commitments to action in other areas. “What about education? What about universities? The criminal justice system? And the list goes on,” he said. “They are probably thinking, ‘we can’t afford to fix all those things’, and local government usually ends up pretty far down the public sector pecking order....

See link for further report on Newham rents and HRA plans...