Annual Report 2018Annual Report 2018 2018 ended as it began with no devolved institutions and no...

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Annual Report 2018Follow us on

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ForewordOfficers and Secretariat at 31st December 2018 �� i

Seconded Officers: Civil Service �� iii

Trade Union Side Officers ��v

General Council �� vi

Committees and Meetings ��vii

Resolutions and Motions �� xi

Headquarters Organisation Chart ��xx

Contents

Section ANIPSA Headquarters

General IssuesA1 Amnesty International ��2

A2 Bill of Rights ��2

A3 Equality Committee ��3

A4 Global Solidarity Committee ��5

A5 Health and Safety Committee��7

A6 Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) ��7

A7 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) Group ��8

A8 Pensions ��9

A9 Policy and Research Unit (PRU) ��11

A10 Public Service Defence Campaign ��11

A11 Youth Committee ��13

A Organisation and AdministrationA12 Appointment of Auditors ��15

A13 Donations ��15

A14 Headquarters Staff ��16

A15 Membership ��16

A16 NIPSA Annual Conference ��17

A17 NIPSA Financial Review ��17

A18 Services for Members ��17

A19 Trades Councils ��18

A20 Union Learning ��18

B SectionCivil Service

B1 General IssuesB1.1 Accommodation ��22

B1.2 Equal Opportunities ��22

B1.3 Grading Reviews ��23

B1.4 National Trade Union Committee (NTUC) ��23

B1.5 2017/18 NICS Pay ��23

B1.6 Annual Benefits Statements 2018 ��24

B1.7 Employee Contribution Rates ��24

B1.8 Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) Pensions Forum ��24

B2 Personnel ManagementB2.1 Personal Secretary/

Executive Assistants ��25

B2.2 Selection and Appointments��25

B2.3 Travel and Subsistence ��25

B2.4 Standardisation of Employment Relations Processes ��26

B3 Group ReportsB3.1 Department of Agriculture, Environment

and Rural Development (DAERA) ��27

B3.2 Department for Communities (DfC) ��35

B3.3 Department for Economy (DfE) ��39

B3.4 Department of Education (DE) ��41

B3.5 Department Of Finance (DoF) ��43

B3.6 Department of Health (DOH) ��45

B3.7 Department for Infrastructure (DfI) ��46

B3.8 Department Of Justice (DOJ) ��51

B3.9 The Executive Office (TEO) ��52

B3.10 Agri-Food and Bio Sciences Institute (AFBI) ��52

B3.11 Aramark ��52

B3.12 Armagh Planetarium and Observatory ��52

B3.13 Arts Council Northern Ireland ��53

Annual Report 2018

ContentsB3.14 Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) ��53

B3.15 Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) ��54

B3.16 Cross Border Bodies ��54

B3.17 Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI) ��55

B3.18 Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland��55

B3.19 Invest NI ��56

B3.20 National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) ��56

B3.21 NOONAN ��58

B3.22 Northern Ireland Assembly ��59

B3.23 Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) ��60

B3.24 Northern Ireland Court Service (NICTS) ��60

B3.25 Northern Ireland Water (NIW) ��61

B3.26 NSL – Traffic Enforcement��62

B3.27 Police Service Northern Ireland ��62

B3.28 Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI)��63

B3.29 Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPSNI) ��64

B3.30 Sport Northern Ireland ��66

B3.31 Tourism NI (TNI) ��66

B3.32 Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland (UREGNI) ��67

Section C Public Officers

C1 National Joint CouncilC1.1 National Joint Council (NJC) Pay ��70

C1.2 Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS/Northern Ireland Local Government Officers Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) ��70

C2 Education & Further/Higher EducationC2.1 Children and Young Peoples Services ��72

C2.2 Education Directorate ��72

C2.3 Human Resources/Pay Terms and Conditions and HR Policy Central Forum ��72

C2.4 Finance and ICT Directorate ��72

C2.5 Operations and Estates Directorate ��73

C2.6 Job Evaluation ��73

C2.7 Education Authority: Belfast Region (EA BR) ��73

C2.8 Education Authority: North Eastern Region (EA NER) ��73

C2.9 Education Authority: South Eastern Region (EA SER) ��74

C2.10 Education Authority: Southern Region (EA SR) ��75

C2.11 Education Authority: Western Region (EA WR) ��75

C2.12 Belfast Metropolitan College (BMC) ��77

C2.13 Northern Regional College (NRC) ��77

C2.14 South Eastern Regional College (SERC) ��77

C2.15 Southern Regional College (SRC) ��77

C2.16 South West College (SWC) ��77

C2.17 Queens University Belfast (QUB) ��78

C2.18 Stranmillis University College ��78

C3 Health and Social CareC3.1 BREXIT – HSC Implications ��79

C3.2 Health and Social Care (HSC) Conference 2018 ��79

C3.3 Plans Submitted for £100 Million New Health Care Centre on Kings Hall Site ��79

C3.4 Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) Closure and Restructuring ��79

C3.5 Health and Social Care Joint Negotiating Forum (JNF) ��80

C3.6 Senior Executive Pay ��83

C3.7 HSC Working Time Regulations Tribunal Cases and Rotas ��83

C3.8 HSC Transformation Seminar ��84

C3.9 Zero Tolerance ��84

C3.10 Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT) ��84

C3.11 Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) ��86

C3.12 Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) ��87

C3.13 Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) ��88

C4 Libraries NIC4.1 Budget 2018/19 ��89

C4.2 Summer Opening Hours ��89

C4.3 Christmas Opening Hours ��89

C4.4 Branch Library Managers (BLM) Job Evaluation Review ��89

C4.5 Review of Libraries NI NIPSA Constitution��89

C4.6 Capability Review ��89

C4.7 Open Libraries ��89

C4.8 Universal Credit ��90

C4.9 Policy Reviews ��90

C4.10 Calculation of Holiday Pay ��90

C4.11 NJC Pay Award Year 2 ��90

C4.12 Structural Review ��90

C4.13 Voluntary Redundancy Situation ��90

C5 Local AuthoritiesC5.1 Review of Public Administration (RPA) ��91

C5.2 Water Quality Inspectors ��91

C5.3 Councils ��92

C6 Northern Ireland Housing ExecutiveC6.1 Social Housing Reform Programme (SHRP) ��112

C6.2 Re-engagement of Stewart Smyth, Sheffield University ��112

C6.3 Stock Transfer ��112

C6.4 Reclassification of Housing Associations ��113

C6.5 Review of Private Rental Sector ��113

C6.6 Fundamental Review of Social Housing Allocations ��113

C6.7 Housing Benefit ��114

C6.8 HR Policies ��114

C6.9 Job Evaluation Scheme ��114

C6.10 Membership and Recruitment ��114

C6.11 Local Office Opening Times ��114

C6.12 Calculation of Holiday Pay ��115

C6.13 NJC Pay Award – Year II ��115

C6.14 Review of Pay Scales and Incremental Progression ��115

C6.15 Review of Industrial Relations ��115

C7 Other BodiesC7.1 Council for Homeless,

Northern Ireland (CHNI) ��116

C7.2 Controlled Schools’ Support Council (CSSC) ��116

C7.3 Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) ��116

C7.4 Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) �� 116

C7.5 EXTERN ��116

C7.6 General Teaching Council For Northern Ireland (GTCNI) ��117

C7.7 Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) ��117

C7.8 NILGOSC ��120

Branch OrganisationCivil Service Group ��124

Public Officers' Group ��128

Annual Report 2018Annual Report 2018

2018 ended as it began with no devolved institutions and no prospect in sight that the political parties were going to set aside their differences and seek to do what they were elected to do� NIPSA was not directly calling for the institutions to be brought back on the same basis as they were previ-ously in place given the cuts they had introduced to many areas of the civil and public services� Towards the end of the year the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill 2017-19 was implemented by the Secretary of State which sought to give limited powers to Senior Civil Servants� To date as far as NIPSA is concerned this has only been to the detriment of members as the Permanent Secretary, Department of Finance set the pay remit for civil servants at 1% and the Permanent Secretary for Communities has sought to unilaterally change the makeup of the NILGOS Committee which could be to the detriment of Scheme members� NIPSA, together with the other unions are seeking to challenge these decisions�

The RHI scandal has also dogged the agenda for the whole of 2018 and the implications of the fall out of this will be felt for a number of years to come� On the positive note members should take heart from the fact that never again will we ever accept that there is no money� There was literally money to burn and then the Tory government continued with the ‘Confidence and Supply’ arrange-ments despite the impact on members and the delivery of public services�

Throughout the year the scandal of the EU Exit and the circus that this has created has left NIPSA members and society at large wondering whether there will be a deal or a crash-out with no-one being clear on the implications for Northern Ireland and workers� Two years ago the trade union movement were clear in their ask of both the Irish and British Government – no matter how indi-viduals voted no worker should pay the price of a Brexit� As we stared into 2019 the uncertainty is real, the Tory Government is in disarray and they are being propped up by the DUP Confidence and Supply Arrangement�

Under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions the Better Work Better Lives campaign continued to be progressed with the same 3 key asks; and end to the scourge of low pay and to promote decent work; better improved investments in our public services; and an end to the 1% cap� While progress has been slow the NIC ICTU continues to press ahead with this campaign�

The biggest change to the Social Security System was introduced during the year with the roll out of Universal Credit� While our members implemented Universal Credit our policy position remains clear – we are opposed to further cuts to the unemployed and the working poor� The increase in food banks and our members taking on second jobs is real� We must ensure that all political repre-sentatives who brought in the changes to social security benefits are held to account and the miti-gations are extended and NIPSA is calling for a halt to further cuts� This campaign will continue until a satisfactory outcome is achieved�

Equality issues remained high on the NIPSA agenda with a number of new initiatives being promoted throughout the year including ‘Sling the Mesh’, Abortion Law Reform; Marriage Equality; Menopause Guide and Breastfeeding in the Workplace�

Foreword

The rise of the Far Right and Racism generally was a huge issue which was fed further by the Brexit debate� NIPSA lead the challenge to the Far Right at a number of Rallies throughout the year and established an Anti-Racism Network made up of a number of trade unions and other groups� It was clear that NIPSA’s anti-racism and anti-sectarian stance was being successful�

The challenges against the ongoing austerity and privatisation agenda will continue but NIPSA will be ready to fight on these issues to ensure that our members are represented at all levels against further attacks on workers’ rights no matter from what quarter they come�

Just as in previous years it is the NIPSA local representatives on the ground, working on behalf of members on a voluntary basis, who are the backbone and cornerstone of this union� We are confi-dent that working collectively we can fight back against austerity and attacks on our members and will refocus our efforts in the New Year to deliver in the interests of all members�

Patrick Mulholland President

Helena McSherry Vice President

John Toal Honorary Treasurer

Alison Millar General Secretary

Annual Report 2018

i

Officers and Secretariat 2018

Officers 2018

President: Patrick Mulholland

Vice-President: Helena McSherry

Honorary Treasurer: John Toal

Secretariat at 31st December 2018

General Secretary A Millar

Deputy General Secretaries K Bannon Vacant

Policy and Research Officer J McVey

Assistant Secretaries G Alexander D Harte K Graham P Mackel

K McCabe A McMillen Vacant

Higher Executive Officers C Arkinson T Brownlee N Connor(temp) R Graham

K Kelly A Law J Munton T Thomas

R Wilson(temp) Vacant Vacant

Executive Officers M Donnelly(P) T McAteer W McCallum A McDonnell

C McDonnell(temp) L A Scott Natalie Shiel(temp)

ii

Secretariat and Committees

Senior Personal Secretary E Buchanan

Personal Secretaries D Dawson L Hudson S Johnston C McConnell

C McLeish(P) M Ó’Coisneacháin

Administrative Officers K Doherty P Hartin(CB) G Jarvis(P) J Jennings(FT)

G Jones P Murray B Nugent D Whitford

A Wright

Caretaker A Burns

General Assistants A Mekelburg(P) S Overend(P) D Rolley(P)

(P) Part-time (FT) Full-time Term-time (CB) Career Break

Annual Report 2018

iii

Seconded Officers Civil Service

Department for Communities (DfC)

M Morgan, Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9037 6314 E: [email protected]

J Toal, Assistant Department Secretary, T: 028 9037 6277 E: [email protected]

T Creaney, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9037 6101 6101 E: [email protected]

S Harvey, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9037 6037 E: [email protected]

T McKillop, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9037 6073 E: [email protected]

R O'Sandair, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9037 6218 E: ruaidhri.o’[email protected]

DfC Trade Union Side Office, The Design Centre, Level 4 East, 39 Corporation Street, Belfast� BT3 1BA

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)

A Wise, Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9052 0802 E: [email protected]

C Morgan, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 2566 2882 E: [email protected]

M Walsh, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 7131 9749 E: [email protected]

NIPSA Office, Room 510B, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast� BT4 3SB

Department of Finance (DoF)/The Executive Office (TEO)

P Dale, Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9016 9642 E: [email protected]

E Farrell, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 9016 9644 E: [email protected]

Room 17, Craigantlet Buildings, Stormont, Belfast� BT4 3SX

G McKeever, Assistant Departmental Secretary, T: 028 7131 9085 E: [email protected]

Waterside House 75 Duke Street, Derry� BT47 6FP

Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI)

J Calvert, Secretary, T: 028 9052 5645 E: [email protected]

NIPSA Office, Room G2, 18a Newforge Lane, Belfast� BT9 5PX

Central Whitley

J McCloskey, Assistant Trade Union Side Secretary, T: 028 9066 1831 E: [email protected]

NIPSA HQ, Harkin House, 54 Wellington Park, Belfast� BT9 6DP

Department for the Economy (Df E)

C Gates, Secretary, T: 028 9052 9551 E: [email protected]

Room 20, Netherleigh, Massey Avenue, Belfast� BT4 2JP

Department of Education (DE)

J McNulty, Secretary, T: 028 9127 9659 E: [email protected]

Room G22, Rathgael House, Balloo Road, Bangor� BT19 7PR


iv

Department for Infrastructure (DfI)

J Veighey, Secretary, T: 028 9034 6230 E: [email protected]

J Rooney, Assistant Secretary, T: 028 9054 1025 E: [email protected]

B Dornan, Assistant Secretary, T: 028 9034 6248 E: [email protected]

M Robinson, Assistant Secretary, T: 028 9054 1003 E: [email protected]

NIPSA Office, Clarence Court, 10-18 Adelaide Street, Belfast� BT2 8EB

Department of Justice (DoJ)

L Hoy, Secretary, T: 028 9076 5720 E: [email protected]

S Brown, Assistant Secretary, T: 028 9076 5722 E: [email protected]

Block 1, Knockview Building, Stormont Estate, Belfast� BT4 3SH

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)

T Godfrey, Secretary, T: 028 9092 2828 E: [email protected]

G Walsh, Assistant Secretary, T: 028 9092 2828 E: [email protected]

NIPSA Office, PSNI Lisnasharragh, 42 Montgomery Road, Belfast� BT6 9LD

Department of Health (DoH)

P Feighan, Secretary, T: 028 9052 2877 E: [email protected]

NIPSA Section Office, Room 9, Annex 1, Castle Buildings, Stormont Belfast� BT4 3PP

National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI)

T Croft, Secretary, T: 028 9039 5178 E: [email protected]

c/o Cultra Manor, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, Holywood� BT18 0EU

Northern Ireland Assembly (NIA)

D Toner, Trade Union Side Secretary, T: 028 9052 1791 E: [email protected]

Room 377, Parliament Buildings Belfast� BT4 3XX

Public Prosecution Service (PPS)

James Murphy, , T: 028 9089 7040 E: [email protected]

NIPSA Office, Belfast Chambers, 93 Chichester Street, Belfast� BT1 3JR

Annual Report 2018

v

Trade Union Side OfficersHealth and Social Care (HSC)

B Crawford, Deputy Regional Co-ordinator, T: 028 9536 1809 E: [email protected]

12 Hampton Manor Drive, Belfast� BT7 3EN

Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE)

J McCaffrey, Trade Union Side Secretary, T: 028 9031 8416 E: [email protected]

S McDaid, Assistant Trade Union Side Secretary, T: 028 7130 6174 E: [email protected]

Seventh Floor, Housing Centre, 2 Adelaide Street, Belfast� BT2 8PB


vi

General Council Attendance of Members at General

Council Sessions: June to December 2018

Name Possible Actual

Mulholland, P 7 7

McSherry, H 7 6

Toal, J 7 5

Booth, B 7 5

Brooks, W 7 7

Burch, K1 7 3

Clarke, Y 7 7

Collins, L 7 7

Conlon, SP 7 2

Cowan, D 7 6

Creaney, T 7 6

Dobbin, M 7 5

Gates, C 7 7

Hoy, L2 4 4

Killen, T 7 5

Lawlor, P 7 5

Maguire, D 7 5

Malone, G 7 7

McCann, F 7 6

McConville, S2 3 2

Morgan, M 7 7

Mulholland, B 7 5

Murdock, J 7 7

O’Sandair, R 7 6

Scott, J 7 6

Walsh, J 7 7

1. Maternity leave from November 2018. 2. L Hoy took up a seat on 16 October 2018 following the resignation of

S McConville on 14 September 2018.

Annual Report 2018

vii

Committees Membership of Committees at 31st December 2018

General Purposes Committee

K Burch C Gates P Lawlor H McSherry

M Morgan P Mulholland J Toal

Equality Committee

T Creaney P Cobain P Dale S Harvey

E McDonald T Millar P Nicholl L O’Hagan

A Rea J Scott C Skelcher L Skelcher

Welfare Fund Committee B Booth P Mulholland J Toal

Finance CommitteeD Cowan C Gates T Killen H McSherry

P Mulholland J Toal

Management Side JNCC C Gates P Mulholland J Toal

Global Solidarity Committee

S Antal W Brooks B Cleary L Collins

F McCann G Malone R O’Sandair M Robinson

J Scott L Skelcher

Conference Arrangements Committee

B Booth L Collins D Cowan R O’Sandair

J Walsh

Standing Orders Committee J McCloskey K Loughran C Skelcher B White

NIPSA News Editorial Committee

J Davidson T McKillop T Millar M Robinson

J Veighey


Civil Service Group

viii

January to November 2018


Boersma, I 8 8

Brooks, W 8 8

Burch, K 8 3

Cobain, P 8 6

Collins, L 8 8

Creaney, T 8 8

Dale, P 8 7

Dobbin, M 8 8

Doherty, E 8 4

Gates, C 8 6

Higgins, G 8 7

Hoy, L 8 7

Loughran, M 8 7

Lynn, B 4 4

Lowry, D 8 8

Malone, G 8 8

McKeown, M 8 3

McNulty, J 8 7

Miller, T 8 5

Morgan, M 8 8

Robinson, M 8 8

Russell, V 8 7

Toner, D 8 8

Veighey, J 8 8

December 2018


Brooks, W 1 1

Collins, L 1 1

Cowan, D 1 0

Creaney, T 1 1

Crilly, D 1 1

Dale, P 1 1

Dobbin, M 1 1

Doherty, E 1 0

Gates, C 1 1

Godfrey, T 1 1

Harvey, S 1 1

Higgins, G 1 1

Hoy, L 1 1

Loughran, M 1 1

Lowry, D 1 1

Malone, G 1 1

Morgan, M 1 1

McAnallen, M 1 1

McNulty, J 1 1

O’Sandair, R 1 1

Robinson, M 1 1

Robinson, P 1 0

Russell, V 1 1

Toner, D 1 1

Veighey, J 1 1

Officers

Chairperson: M Morgan

Vice Chairpersons: T Creaney S Harvey

Officers

Chairperson: M Morgan

Vice Chairpersons: T Creaney S Harvey

Standing Orders Committee

M McKee, B White


B White, M McKee, B Dornan

Attendance of Members and Officers at Executive Committee Meetings

Annual Report 2018

ix

Public Officers Group

January to December 2018


Austin, D 5 2Booth, B 5 3Crawford, B 5 5Dowds, E2 3 0Duffy, L 5 3Killen, T 5 4Largey, G 5 2Lawlor, G 5 5Lawlor, P1 1 0Loughran, K1 3 0Maguire, D 5 4McConville, S1 4 1McKeegan, J 5 4McKinstry, H1 2 2McQuillan, S 5 4McSherry, H 5 5Mulholland, P 5 4Mullan, G 5 4Murdock, J 5 5O’Doherty, K2 3 0O’Hagan, L 5 4Rea, A 5 4Richards, S 5 4Scott, J 5 3Smyth, B 5 1Walsh, J 5 5

Attendance of Members and Officers at Executive Committee Meetings

Officers

Chairperson: A Rea

Vice Chairpersons: K Loughran D Maguire3 B Booth


E McLaughlin

1. Resigned during the year. 2. Deemed to have resigned due to non-attendance without apology. 3. Appointed following resignation of K Loughran.


x

All other Representations & Committees

Health and Social Services: Representation on Health and Social Services Trade Union Forum 31st December 2018

K McCabe B Smyth

Education Authority: Representation on the Education and Library Boards Joint Council, 31st December 2018

K Graham B Booth H McSherry

P Mulholland J Murdock J Scott

Northern Ireland Housing Executive: Joint Consultative and Negotiation Committee, 31st December 2018

B Cassidy B Graham P Mackel (HQ Official)

J McCaffery (Trade Union Side Secretary) C McConaghy S McDaid

(Assistant Trade Union Side Secretary)

E McLaughlin S McMahon W Mulholland (Vice Chairperson)

L O'Hanlon (Chairperson)

Resolutions and Motions

Annual Report 2018

xi

General Conference Resolutions adopted and Motions remitted Resolution No.1

Called on the General Council to outline a real needs-based budget solution for the Northern Ireland Assembly to operate, organise collective opposition to impose an austerity agenda on the northern economy, expose the propping up of the Tory Government within a confidence and supply arrangement and halt the future privatisation of public service contracts.

Referred to General Council and worked with NIC ICTU as appropriate.

Resolution No.2

Called on the General Council to begin a campaign of pressure on the DUP to end the confidence and supply deal.

Referred to Executive Committees and General Council.

Resolution No.3

Called on the General Council to campaign for extra funding in the overall budget and raise awareness with the public about the cuts across all sectors and how it impacts on them and their families, not only now but into the future.

Referred to Executive Committees.

Resolution No.4

Instructed NIPSA to engage with NISCC and HSC employers and other trade union and professional bodies regarding the NI Hyponatremia Inquiry Report.

Referred to Health Central Panel.

Resolution No.5

Instructed the incoming General Council to remedy the General Council’s failure to act on agreed Conference policy to organise and campaign for members in the Voluntary and Community sector.

Referred to Public Officers Group Executive Committee and to engage with Branch 725 to progress the campaign for members in the Voluntary and Community Sector. Resources provided to the branch to build the campaign.

Resolution No.6

Instructed General Council to campaign for adequate funding for child and adult diagnostic and intervention services, including continuation of care for teenagers whose support currently ends when they become too old for the children’s service.

Referred to General Council and Health and Education Panels.

Resolution No.7

Called on the General Council to affiliate NIPSA as a trade union to Health Campaigns Together, to create strong campaigning links with HCT affiliated unions in defence of our health service.

Affiliated to Health Campaigns Together.

Comprehensive Resolution No.10

Instructed the General Council to consider what practical help NIPSA can offer homeless people as part of a broader campaign to tackle homelessness.

Referred to NIHE Central Panel and General Council.

Emergency Resolution No.1

Called on the General Council to support any campaign that would be mounted to save special needs schools and ensure that the needs of the children are the focus in any upgrading of facilities and the staff that support them, should the Education Authority push forward with closure of special needs schools.

Referred to Education Panel.

Composite Resolution No.11

Called on the General Council for a re-commitment to opposing both the underlying ideology and exploitative practice of privatisation/outsourcing. This should also involve a challenge to existing private sector contracts within the public sector and a campaign to have such services returned in-house which supports the NIPSA policy of a socialist economy and a return to the re-nationalisation of outsourced companies and organisations.

Referred to General Council and NIC ICTU.


xii

Resolution No.12

Instructed NIPSA to reject and oppose charging for social care at all levels within the HSC system and to build alliances in any public forums and communities across the North to campaign for the rejection of charging for domiciliary social care. Also for NIPSA to publicly write to the Chief Executive of the HSC and his senior leadership team to consider their positions if the Department of Health implement this proposal.

Wrote to Chief Executive HSC and referred to NIPSA Health Panel.

Resolution No.13

Called on the General Council to support the reform of the Petition of Concern mechanism to one in which it protects human rights and civil rights and not as a discriminatory veto.

Referred to General Council and paper produced setting out options for a reformed Petition of Concern.

Resolution No.14

Instructed the General Council to take the necessary steps to affiliate to the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS).

Affiliated to the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS).

Resolution No.17

Called on the General Council to instigate a campaign to ensure members across the civil and public services are given the same pension scheme rights as their co-workers, that there are no two tier pension schemes and that this campaign takes all forms, up to and including industrial action.

Referred to Public Officers’ Group Executive Committee and Education Panel.


Instructed the General Council to continue with work in the incoming year to ensure that NIPSA’s finances and the reporting standards behind them are robust and ensure the best use of members’ money.

Referred to NIPSA’s Finance Committee. Worked continued throughout the year to implement, where possible, the 18 recommendations contained within the report. At the year end all the recommendations were implemented with the exception of those connected to the IT Strategy and the Staffing Review.

Motion No.21

Instructed the General Council to investigate and seek to implement the ability for members to use online digital voting in future General Council elections and ballots, including pay ballots.

Referred to General Council.

Motion No.22

Called upon the General Council to actively begin a process to reinvigorate and enthuse the membership with the stated aim of increasing participation in future General Council elections.


Resolution No.23

Called on the General Council to carry out an appraisal to include a cost analysis of technology needs in the Regional Office to assist members in the North West.

Implement as part of overall IT strategy.

Resolution No.24

Called on the General Council to offer full and vigorous support to the Union Learning Committee NIPSA ULRs.

Referred to the Union Learning Committee.

Resolution No.26

Instructed the General Council to devise a short and effective training course designed specifically to equip members to engage with all aspects of Conference, including confident public speaking.


Annual Report 2018

xiii

General Conference Resolutions adopted and Motions remitted Composite Resolution No.30

Instructed the General Council to reinvigorate its campaign of opposition to the Government’s Welfare Reform proposals and to work alongside other trade unions, community groups and civil society organisations in a campaign against Welfare Reform proposals and finally to campaign to abolish the privatisation of the assessment process and bring that work back in-house to be completed by appropriate medical professions.

Referred to NIC ICTU and engage with community groups and civil society organisations.

Resolution No.31

Called on NIPSA to fight against all cuts and to campaign for the protection and provision of free school meals for children whose parents and guardians are on benefits.

Referred to Education Panel and General Council.

Resolution No.34

Instructed the General Council to put in place more robust cross sectoral arrangements to protect the interests of members against a public sector wide Shared Services Programme.

Advised that the Programme Board of the Public Sector Shared Services Programme had decided not to progress with the Public Sector Shared Services Programme. The Business Case to support this requested by NIPSA.

Resolution No.35

Called for the development of a campaign that re-affirms the first line of public service defence starts in each workplace where vacancies are not filled. Secondly for NIPSA and its wider allies to challenge the ideology underlying this economic trend and make the case for funds to be made available for a progressive, long term and strategic operating model for public service delivery.

Implemented as policy.

Resolution No.36

Called the General Council to have an information gathering Branch consultation exercise, with a view to a motion being brought to Conference the following year on adopting a formal position of filling posts with substantive public sector workers and if necessary, to then lobby for a change in the recruitment practices and policies of all employers across the public sector to reflect this position.


Resolution No.37

Called on the General Council to campaign against Recruitment Agency use in the public sector, ensure these workers enjoy basic employment rights and are able to be represented. Lastly they should be included in our recruitment campaigns to organise all within our workplaces.

Referred to General Council


Called the General Council to engage with the Public Health Agency and other professional and support groups to campaign for additional resources to be made available and to raise awareness across the community about the benefits of seeking assistance for anyone who is suffering from depression.

Engaged with Public Health Agency.

Resolution No.109

Called on NIPSA to make representations to all Assembly Parties making clear that NIPSA will oppose on principle, any attempt to use the decisions of the previous mandate to advance a ‘pretend’ transformational agenda without the essential levers of democratic involvement and control on key decisions and to oppose proposals produced by the Department under the fig leave of TIG and TAB. Finally Conference Called NIPSA to open discussions with our sister HSC unions through NIC ICTU Health Committee with the objective that this position becomes the trade union position for all.

Referred to NIC ICTU and the Health Central Panel.


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Resolution No.42

Called on the General Council to explore current support afforded to bereaved families who have suffered a family death by suicide and to campaign for additional resources to be made available by Government.

Referred to General Council and Health Central Panel.

Resolution No.43

Called on NIPSA to stand with Sling the Mesh Northern Ireland to demand that the use of all polypropylene mesh implants are banned and to campaign for compensation for those whose lives have been affected by polypropylene mesh implants.

Referred to NIPSA Equality Committee. A series of measures in support of the campaign have been outlined.

Resolution No.44

Called on General Council to campaign for additional funding to aid transitions for young people leaving care.

Referred to Health Central Panel.

Resolution No.45

Called on the General Council to actively promote the NHS Organ and Tissue Donation Register amongst the membership and to support a policy of ‘opt out’ of organ donation which would save hundreds of lives a year.

Engage with DoH on the issue of NHS Organ and Tissue Donation Register and pursue as policy.

Resolution No.48

Instructed the General Council to develop an overarching strategy to deal with the crisis in public sector pay to ensure that workers no longer pay the price of austerity and also to develop a public sector pay strategy which will include real and meaningful engagement with members across the union.

Referred to Executive Committees and liaised with other unions as appropriate.

Resolution No.52

Instructed the General Council to resist all attempts to weaken the current arrangements and rights for all NIPSA representatives for paid time off.

Referred to Civil Service Group Executive Committee and indicate support from General Council.

Resolution No.55

Instructed the General Council to campaign against the persecution of the Rohingya people in Myanmar and demand the UK Government does more to help them.

Wrote to the UK Government and refer to the NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee.

Resolution No.56

Instructed the General Council to redouble its efforts to reach out to and work with trade unions and democratic working class organisations who stand with the Palestinian people to end the illegal apartheid occupation.

Engaged via TUFP and engage directly with relevant Palestinian Trade Unions.


Called on the General Council to support and promote the introduction of an Irish Language Act and legislation for the development and enhancements of Ulster-Scots language, heritage and culture, to recognise, to protect and to promote the rights of our Irish Language and Ulster-Scots minority communities and campaign within civic society on this matter.


Resolution No.58

Called on the General Council to support the rights of the Syrian refugees and to call for the release of the funds promised, to ensure resources can be made available to enable these children to reach their full potential.

Referred to NIPSA Education Panel.

Annual Report 2018

xv

General Conference Resolutions adopted and Motions remitted Resolution No.59

Called on the General Council to write to the Jobstown protestors congratulating them on their victory and to ensure lessons are learned from the Jobstown Campaign which can be carried forward in the defence of our public services.

Wrote to Jobstown Campaign Group.

Resolution No.60

Instructed the General Council to support the revolution in Rojava and to end all military aggression along the Syrian/Turkish border; an end to human rights abuses and military operations against the Kurdish people; an end to criminalisation of Kurdish activists in Western Europe and the immediate release of Abdullah Ocalan from prison in Turkey.

Referred to NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee.

Resolution No.63

Called on the General Council to initiate, through the ICTU, a campaign to ensure that all of our members’ rights are protected throughout and subsequent to the UK leaving the EU.

Referred to NIC ICTU.

Resolution No.67

Constitutional amendments to Objects, Rule 1.3 after current Rule 1.3(f) add: “1.3(g) To promote independent, cross-community, anti-sectarian trade unionism.”

Consequently the existing Rule 1.3(g) will become 1.3(h).

Rule Book Amended

Resolution No.71

Called for the General Council to develop a strategy to aid reps in the recruitment of Agency staff which should include research into reducing subscriptions in line with the service we are able to offer them.


Resolution No.72

Called for the immediate release of a General Council sub-committee report regarding the expulsions of two NIPSA members (since reinstated), to be issued to Branches.

Referred to General Council and legal advice sought.

Resolution No.73

Instructed the General Council to immediately cease the procurement of non-recyclable plastics for NIPSA promotional material.

Actioned.

Resolution No.74

Instructed the union to, where possible, replicate events run in NIPSA HQ in the North West and utilise the Regional Office for the purpose.

Referred to General Council. LGBT event held in Derry/Londonderry to raise the profile of the NIPSA Group and issues on the eve of Foyle Pride.

Resolution No.75

Asks that the General Council ensure there are proper resources from NIPSA to ensure NIPSA best represents its members.

Referred to General Council and to consider as part of staffing review. An additional Assistant Secretary post on the Public Officers’ Side of the union created and three temporary Higher Executive Officer posts (for 6 months) until 30 June to provide for backfilling of a number of vacancies.


Called on the General Council to consider how NIPSA should address the issue of the menopause across all employment areas, including raising with employers appropriate ways to address menopause related absences and also to consider the publication of a guide for Branches and activists to assist female members in the workplace and to bring about improved working conditions for women who are going through menopause.


xvi

A NIPSA Menopause Guide and sample policy produced and issued to branches.


Called on the General Council to give consideration to supporting the work of pro-choice groups and facilitate demonstrations of trade unions and pro-choice campaigners in Northern Ireland.

Action ongoing.

Resolution No.81

Instructed the General Council to initiate a broad based campaign to pressure both NI politicians and the Westminster Government to introduce legislation that gives full equality to LGBT people.

Continued to support the Love Equality Campaign and develop a campaign strategy to further NIPSA’s broader LGB&T equality aims with regards to a sexual orientation strategy, gender equality strategy, Blood Ban and employment rights around surrogacy, IVF treatment and maternity/paternity.

Resolution No.82

Instructed the General Council to make eliminating the Gender Pay Cap a priority in the coming year by identifying areas where equal pay cases may exist, challenging employers on continued discrepancies and implementing a campaign around the issue.

Referred to Executive Committees and NIPSA Equality Committee.

Motion No.83

Called upon the General Council to campaign for the introduction of gender-neutral toilet facilities in all Government buildings.

Agreed to examine guidance produced by GenderJam, Sail and Youthnet for schools, colleges and youth groups and other areas of best practice and produce a paper for consideration by the General Council.

Resolution No.84

Instructed the General Council to develop a campaign to raise awareness in the workplace of the #MeToo Campaign.

Referred to NIPSA Equality Committee. Incorporated into Equality Committee work programme for 2018/19.

Resolution No.87

Called the General Council to produce a specific booklet for members and Branches facing threats and intimidation by paramilitary groups offering advice on; engagement with management bodies, communication and media, lobbying political representatives and civic leaders, contacts with the wider union movement and up to and including advice on preparing and engaging in industrial action, as an assistance toward the eradication of the risk to members.

Referred to General Council and Health and Safety Committee.

Resolution No.88

Called the General Council to put pressure on employers to adhere to the legislation led out by the Health and Safety Executive (NI), to hold them to account and to ensure facility time for Health and Safety reps to carry out their role is protected.

Referred to Executive Committees.


Called on the General Council to revisit its “Stress at Work” guidance and to initiate a fresh series of engagements with employers across all employment areas to ensure that management have an up-to-date Health and Well-Being Strategy and that all managers are appropriately trained on how to deal sympathetically with staff who are suffering from stress and mental health issues in the workplace and to ensure that all vacant posts are filled to reduce pressures on staff.

The terms of the resolution were addressed as part of the 2018 NIPSA Health and Safety Conference programme. It was also agreed to revisit ‘The Perfect Storm: Stress at Work’ Guide to determine if any changes were necessary to reflect the terms of the resolution.

Annual Report 2018

xvii

Civil Service Conference Resolutions adopted and Motions remitted Resolution No. 1

Noted the terms of NIPSA’s NICS Pay Claim for 2018/19. Called on the Civil Service Group Executive Committee to continue to oppose any attempts to impose a pay increase.

Referred for discussion by Executive Committee and to inform negotiations at CWC.

Resolution No 2

Noted that many Arms Length Bodies do not receive the NICS pay agreements until months after. Called on the Executive Committee to take all necessary steps to ensure that members in Arms Length Bodies receive their pay increase at the same time as their civil service colleagues.

Referred for discussion by the Executive Committee and to inform negotiations at Central Whitley Council (CWC).

Resolution No.3

Noted that many agency staff are not given pay progression increases in a timely manner. Called on the Executive Committee to pressure management to ensure that staff employment by recruitment agencies are paid and pay arrears in a timely manner and appropriate safeguards are put in place to future proof the timely payment of these arrears.

Pursued with Permanent Secretary of DoF and referred to CWC Trade Union Side.

Resolution No.4

Called for a public call for the immediate return of MLAs to Stormont.

Executive Committee to consider.

Resolution No.5

Called for the Civil Service Group Executive Committee to promote the NDPB’s as examples of highly professional, skilled organisations that deserve proper pay.

Executive Committee to consider.

Motion No.6

Called for an improved Salary Advance Scheme for members in NICS similar to that offered to PCS members in DWP.

Referred to CWC Trade Union Side.

Resolution No.9

Called for the consideration of all casual temporary service for the purpose of final pension calculations.

Referred to the NICS Pension Forum.

Resolution No.10

Called for measures to be taken to ensure that members will not again suffer financial loss because they were temporarily placed in the higher pension tier for one month.

Referred to NICS Pension Forum and CWC Trade Union Side.

Resolution No.13

Noted the impact of the re-organisation of the HR function of NI Civil Service since the inception of NICS HR which has resulted in HR matters being considered and actioned by DoF staff irrespective of which department the member is employed by. Called on the Executive Committee to investigate this issue, seek the necessary legal advice as to who the employer is and report back to branches.

Relevant legal advice sought and reported back to branches.

Resolution No.14

Called for negotiation with Management Side to ensure that letters from NICS HR issued to line managers only, contain outcomes and no further information in relation to the investigation and members receive a copy of their formal decision along with the outcome letter.



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Resolution No.15

Called for improved terms and conditions for members.


Resolution No.16

Called for the Executive Committee to put pressure on Management Side to actively encourage job sharing and alternative working patterns.


Resolution No.18

Called for the Executive Committee to begin to negotiate a new managing attendance policy which has members’ interests at heart and has enhanced protection for those living with disability and long-term health issues.


Resolution No.19

Noted that agency workers within the NICS have not been provided with sufficient information to enable them to determine which parts of the NICS Handbook are applicable to them. Called on the Executive Committee to provide our members, who are agency workers, with clear details as to what they are entitled to in the NICS Handbook and with justified reasons as to why certain parts of it are not applicable.


Resolution No.23

Noted that NICS HR has attempted to change the mileage paid to members when travelling on official business. Called on the Executive Committee to urgently resolve the issue by industrial action if necessary, to ensure members receive all payments that they are entitled to when travelling on official business.


Resolution No.26

Called on the Executive Committee to continue the campaign to have aptitude tests and Line Manager Assessments removed from all internal promotion competitions.


Resolution No.27

Noted that too many posts in NICS are being filled by agency workers and very selective internal trawls or external recruitment. Called on the Executive Committee to oppose this management backdoor policy of ageism and favouritism.


Resolution No.30

Welcomed the decision to establish a Professional and Technical Disciplines Consultative Committee. Called on the Executive Committee to ensure priority was given by the Consultative Committee to an appropriately worded Professional and Technical Competence to the NICS Competence Framework.

Draft Constitution and P&T Consultative Committee established.

Resolution No.33

Noted that the NICS HR Connect contract will cease in 2020. Called on the Executive Committee to vigorously oppose the renewal of the contract and to campaign for the return of all functions to NICS, to recruit HR Connect staff and to investigate the possibility of TUPE arrangements.

Noted as policy and raised with NICS HR.

Motion No.39

Noted the lack of transparency in the Elective Transfer Process. Called for a standardisation of the format of “informal discussions” with due regard given to guidance produced by the Equality Commission.


Resolution No.40

Noted the amount of elective transfers that have been blocked throughout the NICS. Called on the Executive Committee to raise with NICS HR the fact that no statistics or records have been kept on how many elective transfers have been approved or rejected.


Annual Report 2018

xix

Resolution No.41

Noted the voluntary redeployment of NI Assembly staff. Called on the Executive Committee to continue supporting the branch, to campaign for the protection of these members and return back to NICS of these members if the NI Assembly collapses.

Continued contact with branch and negotiate for permanent transfer of staff when appropriate.

Resolution No.42

Noted continued use of agency staff and sometimes in management roles. Called on the Executive Committee to engage with NICS Management to ensure that agency staff are not put in a position where they have personnel managerial roles of substantive NICS staff.


Resolution No.45

Noted the increase in members reporting mental health and stress at work issues. Called on the Executive Committee to call for a review of current sick absence policies and procedures to recognise and deal effectively with the issue of mental health.

Resolution No.46

Called on the Executive Committee to negotiate for the introduction of a menopause policy within the NICS.

Continued to pursue via CWC Equal Opportunities Committee.

Resolution No.47

Noted the recent withdrawal of OHS services from Ballykelly. Called on the Executive Committee to ensure that provision remains for members in the North West to attend OHS appointments in a suitable venue in the North West.

Continued to pursue as policy.

Resolution No.48

Called on the Executive Committee to engage again with NICS Management to pursue the installation of AED defibrillators in every NICS building and the provision of training of staff in their use.

Referred to Departmental Trade Union Side.

Civil Service Conference Resolutions adopted and Motions remitted

Headquarters Organisation Chart

at 31st December 2018

xx

Deputy General Secretary: Civil Service Group

Vacant

Deputy General Secretary: Public Officers’ Group

Kieran Bannon: Public Officers’ Group including Health, Housing, Local Government, Libraries NI, Education Authority and the Further Education Sector, Voluntary and Community Sector. NIPSA Regional Office, Derry.

Assistant Secretary

Geraldine Alexander: Equal Opportunities, Human Rights, Global Solidarity, HQ Office Services, Health and Safety, Youth, LGB&T.

Assistant Secretary

Kevin McCabe: Health Service and the Voluntary and Community Sector. Joint Secretary HSC bodies.

Assistant Secretary

Vacant: Department of Communities, Department of Economy, Department of Education, NI Water.

Assistant Secretary

Vacant: Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Department of Health, Department of Finance, The Executive Office, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Northern Ireland Assembly, NIPSA IT Consultative Committee (ITCC).

Assistant Secretary

Antoinette McMillen: Department of Justice, Department of Infrastructure, Invest NI, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Public Prosecution Service.

Assistant Secretary

Vacant: Finance and NIPSA Pensions Scheme, Membership, Branch Organisation and Recruitment, Conferences, Buildings and Insurance.

Policy and Research Officer

John McVey: Development of research on political and public discussion impacting on the public sector.

Assistant Secretary

Paddy Mackel: Housing, Local Government and Libraries NI.

General Secretary

Alison Millar

Executive Officer

Mairead DonnellyLegal and Membership Services, Servicing of Public Officer Group Executive Committee.

Executive Officer

Aidan McDonnellAdvice and Information Unit, Servicing of General Council.

Executive Officer

Natalie Aspin(temp)

Organisation and Recruitment.

Executive Officer

Wendy McCallumMembership Records and Systems.

Executive Officer

Claire McDonnell (temp)

Finance.

Executive Officer

Lesley Anne ScottOffice Services and servicing of the Civil Service Group Executive Committee.

Higher Executive Officer

Kevin Kelly: Education Authority: (South Eastern and North Eastern Regions), CCEA, CCMS, Queen’s University, Stranmills College, South Eastern and Southern Regional Colleges.


Alan Law: Western Health & Social Care Trust, North West College, Causeway Coast & Glenns, Derry & Strabane and Mid & East Antrim Councils.


Terry Thomas: South Eastern Trust, Belfast Trust, Statutory and Voluntary Bodies.


Naomi Connor(temp)

: Antrim and Newtownabbey; Lisburn and Castlereagh, and Belfast Councils and Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), NIPSA Training.


Dooley Harte: Aramark, Construction Industry Training Board, Cross Border Bodies, Probation Board, Northern Ireland Authority Utility Regulator, Northern Ireland Commission for Children and Young People, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, NSL, Tourism Northern Ireland, Commissioner for Complaints, Electoral Office and Equality Commission.


Ryan Wilson(temp)

: SERCO, National Museums Northern Ireland, Sports NI, Health and Safety Executive, Noonan (NICS contract), NI Audit Office, United Dairy Farmers, Labour Relations Agency, Police Federation, Police Ombudsman, Armagh Planetarium, Arts Council, Northern Ireland Screen and the General Consumer Council.


Róisín Graham: Education Authority: (Belfast Region), Northern Regional College, Belfast Metropolitan College, Linehall Library, Libraries NI, NICIE, NIPSA Union Learning Project Coordinator.


Joan Munton: Education Authority (Western Region), South West FE College, Fermanagh & Omagh and Mid Ulster Councils.


Tommy Brownlee: Southern Health Trust, HSCB, BSO, RQIA, PCC, Statutory and Voluntary Bodies.


Catherine Arkinson: Northern Health Trust, Housing Associations, Statutory and Voluntary Bodies.


Kim Graham: Newry, Mourne and Down, North Down and Ards and Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Councils, NI Fire and Rescue Service, SERCO, NILGOSC and Local Government Staff Commission.

Regi

onal

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Hea

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Executive Officer

Terence McAteerGraphics, Publications and Web.

Section ANIPSA Headquarters

Annual Report 2018

2

General IssuesA1 Amnesty InternationalNIPSA renewed its affiliation to Amnesty Interna-tional UK maintaining strong solidarity links with individuals and trade unionists fighting for basic human rights worldwide�

NIPSA donated £200 towards the Amnesty Inter-national UK appeal to help end child labour in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo� NIPSA continued to respond to other urgent action requests and appeals in support of trade unionists and individuals under threat of death, abduction or imprisonment because of their trade union activities and other human rights issues�

Finally, articles highlighting Amnesty’s work on human rights issues continued to be featured in NIPSA News and NIPSA Global Solidarity News-letters�

A2 Bill of RightsNIPSA, through its membership of the Human Rights Consortium, continued to engage with local parties as well as representatives of the UK and Irish Governments to fulfil their obliga-tions under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement to introduce a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, especially in the context of Brexit�

In January the Human Rights Consortium published an extensive report ‘Rights at Risk in the Brexit Process’ which was based upon academic research and outreach with Consor-tium members and their service users� The main areas of concern which were highlighted included:

❚ Rights and the peace process;

❚ Rights that exist in EU law;

❚ Rights dependent on reciprocity and membership of the EU;

❚ Impacts of EU funding;

❚ Access to European networks;

❚ Identity, both in terms of community identity in Northern Ireland and EU/EEA nationals in Northern Ireland�

A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland was suggested as one of the best tools to protect these rights�

During January and February a good deal of lobbying took place particularly in the House of Lords and House of Commons on the EU Withdrawal Bill, with a particular focus on the protection of rights and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement� Work also continued with groups across the UK through the Withdrawal Bill Alli-ance for a Brexit that protected rights� The Human Rights Consortium successfully had an amendment moved in the House of Lords, but it ultimately did not go forward�

In March members of the Consortium were in Westminster to lobby Peers, MPs and Shadow Ministers about the importance of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the need for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights�

In April a seminar was hosted to mark the 20th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement which included reflections on the outstanding provisions of the Agreement� A follow-up seminar was held in December as part of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival�

In May a meeting took place with the Tánaiste and party leaders/Brexit leads to reinforce the need to protect rights and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in Brexit negotiations and the need for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights� Consortium members also met with the UN Special Rappor-teur on Racism and raised the continued, and indeed renewed, need for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights�

In June a submission was sent to the Pre-Ses-sional Working Group of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, calling once again for rights to be real-ised through a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland

Throughout the autumn the Consortium continued to deliver a series of workshops across Northern Ireland about the impact Brexit will have on rights and what can be done� The events were hosted in conjunction with other organisations such as the North West Commu-nity Network, Environment Link and the Centre for Cross Border Studies�

In September a submission was sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty which focused on the need for socio-economic rights to be available in domestic legislation, ideally through a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland�

General Issues A

3

In October a submission was sent to the Joint Committee on Human Rights as part of their inquiry into 20 years of the Human Rights Act�

In November the Consortium formed part of a women’s delegation to Brussels, bringing the message that a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland was necessary to secure rights post-Brexit to European Parliamentarians and members of Task-force 50� In addition, the Consortium hosted the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights for a round table on Brexit and Rights during his visit to the UK� The Consortium were one of a range of groups at this event calling for the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland as a way to get legally enforceable socio-economic rights and also to stave off the rights-reduction of the Brexit process� As part of the ongoing engage-ments with local parties, a training session was provided for Sinn Féin staff and politicians at Stor-mont on the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, its significance and potential uses�

In December the Consortium coordinated the seventh Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival� The aim of the festival was to use creative events in order to get the public involved with human rights� As part of the festival the Consortium held an event which looked at the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 20 years on and the unful-filled elements, including the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland�

A3 Equality CommitteeEquality Committee: Regular meetings of the Committee were held throughout the year� The key action areas were as follows:

Childcare for All Campaign: As reported in Section A3 of the 2017 Annual Report NIPSA formed part of a new coalition, representing the community and voluntary sector, trade unions, children’s services and others, calling for universal childcare that meets the needs of children, their family, childcare workers and providers� The Childcare for All campaign was launched on 1 May 2018 in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont� As part of the campaign the following action was taken:

a. A Childcare Charter was produced which set out the positive outcomes that universal

childcare would bring about for children, families, childcare providers and society as a whole�

b. Engagement took place with political parties and stakeholder groups�

c. A draft motion was produced and communi-ties were encouraged to table the motion at Council meetings�

d. A Family Fun Day was organised on 17 November 2018� NIPSA had a stand at the event and donated £100 towards organising costs�

The next stage in the campaign was to deliver a conference in March 2019 which looked at strategic policy and planning around childcare with a view to engaging a wide range of policy makers from all the departments�

Childcare Voucher Scheme: NIPSA supported Employers for Childcare campaign to keep the Childcare Voucher Scheme open to new entrants after 4 October 2018 cut off date� The following action was taken:

a. An e-zine was issued in June 2018 to branches and members were encouraged to contact their MP to ask them to put pressure on the Government to keep childcare vouchers open permanently� A further e-zine was issued in September 2018 reminding members about the cut-off date and asking them to take action to save childcare vouchers�

b. An article was produced for NIPSA News�

Sling the Mesh Campaign: Women from Sling the Mesh, a grassroots campaign led by women affected by vaginal mesh implants, gave an awareness raising session to the Equality Committee at a meeting in March 2018� In support of the campaign the following action was taken:

a. Issued an e-zine to branches�

b. The General Council donated £100 to the campaign group�

c. A fringe meeting was held at the ICTU Women’s Conference in June 2018�

d. An article was included in the May edition of the Equality Newsletter�

General Issues

Annual Report 2018

4

In furtherance of the campaign aims NIPSA wrote to Richard Pengelly (Permanent Secretary for Department of Health), Dr Michael McBride (Chief Medical Officer) and Dr Paddy Woods (Deputy Chief Medical Officer) calling for the purchase of a translabial scanner which can be used to diagnose women who were suffering from complications as a result of vaginal and pelvic mesh implants� A reply was received confirming a scanner was being purchased for use in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust�

NIPSA Menopause Guide: In furtherance of the aims of Comprehensive Motion No 79, which was adopted at the 2018 NIPSA Annual Dele-gate Conference, a guide and sample policy was produced� The guide aimed to assist branches and activists in supporting female members in the workplace and to bring about improved working conditions for women who were going through the menopause� The guide was launched to coincide with World Menopause Day on 18 October 2018�

Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse: NIPSA was part of a Task and Finish Group estab-lished to deliver Action 6 of the year-two Action Plan under the strategy� The group was tasked to produce guidance for employers on developing a workplace policy� The guidance was launched at an event in Belfast City Hall on 22 November 2018�

NIPSA also submitted a detailed response to the Department of Justice consultation on the introduction of Domestic Homicide Reviews in Northern Ireland�

NIPSA continued to be an active member of the Belfast, Northern, Western and Southern Area Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Part-nerships�

Disability: A major focus of the Committee was raising awareness of issues faced by members with disabilities, engaging with NIPSA Disability Champions and equipping NIPSA branch repre-sentatives and Disability Champions to deal with the many issues they encountered� The Disability Champions Forum that was set up continued to provide support, training and an exchange of knowledge and experience for the Disability Champions� On 6 March 2018 Ciaran Trainor from the Equality Commission provided

a refresher session on the law that bans disa-bility discrimination against disabled employees and jobseekers� The session also focused on the reasonable adjustment duty and how the duty may apply to absence management proce-dures� A series of posters were developed high-lighting hidden disabilities and were issued to branches and posted on the website� The NIC/ICTU Disability Committee was reconstituted and Paul Cobain and Tina Creaney were elected to represent NIPSA� NIPSA was also represented at the 2018 ICTU Disability Seminar on 1 and 2 February 2018 in Portlaoise�

Racism/Migrant Workers: To coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March 2018) a series of posters and a leaflet was produced and issued to branches� To coincide with Refugee Week (18/24 June) and in furtherance of the aims of Motion No 44, which was guillotined at the 2017 NIPSA Annual Delegate Conference, an event was held on 19 June 2018 in NIPSA Headquar-ters� The event examined ways to support refu-gees and asylum seekers and a series of actions were identified and under consideration by the Committee� The NIC/ICTU BME Committee was reconstituted during the year and Sean Paul Conlon and Edith Toppon were appointed as NIPSA’s representatives on the Committee�

Abortion Law Reform: NIPSA continued to support the Alliance for Choice Trust Women campaigned calling for free, safe and legal access to abortion in Northern Ireland� NIPSA supported a series of actions calling for Abortion Law reform in Northern Ireland and took part in a number of pro-choice rallies and demonstra-tions throughout the year� A representative from Rosa also spoke at the NIPSA Annual Delegate Conference�

Working Carers: To coincide with Carer’s Week (12-18 June 2018) the NIPSA Equality Committee launched a sample carers policy and guidance for branch representatives� Also to coincide with National Dementia Carer’s Day a Dementia Awareness Training session was held on 4 September 2018 in NIPSA Headquarters open to branch representatives and members who were carers to attend� NIPSA also issued an e-zine to branches raising awareness of Carer’s Rights Day�

General Issues A

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Guidance on Breastfeeding and the Work-place: New Guidance on Breastfeeding and the Workplace was formally launched at a NIPSA event to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March 2018� The guide aimed to assist branch representatives in negotiating a workplace policy to ensure that proper facilities and support was provided to mothers to enable them to maintain breastfeeding for as long as they chose to do so�

NIPSA Equality Event: To mark International Women’s Day and the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage an event was held on 8 March 2018 in NIPSA Headquarters� The theme was “Women of the Trade Union Movement – Past, Present and Future”� Keynote speakers were Sheila Nunan, President of ICTU, and Carmel Gates, NIPSA President� The event traced women’s action from the suffrage movement to NIPSA’s work in getting more women involved in the trade union movement and other areas of public life�

NIC/ICTU Women’s Committee: The NIC/ICTU Women’s Committee was reconstituted during the year� Geraldine Alexander (Headquarters Official) and Tina Creaney (Chairperson of the Equality Committee) were nominated as NIPSA representatives� Geraldine Alexander was also elected as Chairperson� NIPSA was also repre-sented at the 2018 ICTU Women’s Conference held on 13 and 14 June 2018 in the Killyhelvin Hotel, Enniskillen� Geraldine Alexander and Tina Creaney also attended the Women’s Council of the Isles on 27 and 28 September in Dublin�

A4 Global Solidarity CommitteeThe NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee met on a regular basis throughout 2018 and dealt with a range of issues as follows:

Projects: Table A1 (page 6) sets out the projects being supported by the NIPSA Global Soli-darity and Developing World Fund and the total amount contributed to date�

Donors: As at 31 December 2018 the number of donors contributing to the Fund was as follows:

a. 196 donors contributed though GAYE gener-ating a monthly income of approximately £1299;

b. 4 donors contributed monthly through cheques for charity creating an additional £35; and

c. 1 donor donated £60 annually (£5 monthly)�

The overall total number of donors was 201 generating a monthly income of approximately £1339�00�

Charity Annual Report and Audited Accounts: Notification was received from the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland to submit the Charity’s annual report and audited accounts for the year ending 31 December 2017� John McVeigh and Co� Chartered Accountants were appointed to produce the report and accounts which were approved by the Committee at its Annual General Meeting on 21st August 2018� The annual report and audited accounts were submitted to the Charity Commission by the deadline of 31st October 2018�

25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Fund: To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the Fund the following activities took place:

a. An anniversary poster was produced and issued to branches along with a branch secretary circular�

b. A celebration event was held on 11 December 2018 in NIPSA Headquarters� Project part-ners from the current projects spoke at the event�

c. A press release was issued to coincide with the celebration event on 11 December 2018�

d. A special article was included as a centre spread in the December issue of NIPSA News�

e. The 2019 NIPSA wall and desk calendars featured the anniversary�

Other activities were planned to take place at the 2019 Annual Delegate Conference�

Justice for Colombia (JFC): The peace process and the implementation of the peace agree-ment continued to be a major campaign focus� During the year a new initiative, the JFC Peace Monitor, was launched to support the peace process� The initiative was formed to provide international support and solidarity to the implementation of the peace agreement signed

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between the Colombian Government and the FARC in November 2016� As part of the initia-tive a series of delegations took place during the year� The project was sponsored by Fórsa and was supported by the Parliamentary Friends of Colombia, the International Trade Union Confed-eration and many British and Irish trade unions�

2018 also saw the escalation in murders of social activists i�e� political activists, community coun-cillors, trade unions, human rights defenders and journalists with over 220 people killed for political motives� The Committee continued to keep a watching brief on developments with the Peace Process and took action as appropriate�

Table A1: Projects Support by the NIPSA Developing World Fund

(a) Disability Aid Abroad - Employment support programme for trade union workers with disabilities in Ethiopia (Three year project January 2016 – December 2018) Totalling £30,000

To ensure that the full range of Ethiopian trade unions – currently the Confed-eration of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) which has 204,000 members – has access to accredited training of an internationally recognised standard in disability rights in the workplace, and that each of the trade unions affiliated to CETU will have its own Disability Committee, its own Disability Champion(s), and a commitment to people with a disability written into both its constitution and in each Collective Bargaining Agreement to be negotiated with employers�

£30,000

(b) Centre for Global Education - Psycho-Social support to children in the Gaza Strip through education (Three year project January 2018 – August 2020) totalling £36,000

To support delivery of education and psycho-social services to 400 children aged between 7 and 10 years in partnership with four community centres in different marginalised areas of the Gaza Strip�

£12,000

(c) Tools for Solidarity - Income generation and support for artisans in Tanzania (Two year project May 2018 – May 2019) totalling £7,500

To improve income generation for artisan workers through the provision of material, training and technical support in the Ruvama and Njambe regions in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania�

£3,750

(d) United Social Welfare Society - Integrated approach to skill development and provision of sustainable livelihood in Pakistan (six months March 2018 – August 2018) totalling £10,000

To empower vulnerable women in the areas of District Rahim Yar Khan for strengthening poultry and livestock value chains; enhancing capabilities of women farmers in the areas of UC-45 and Wah Kahan of District Rahim Yar Khan in order to increase their agricultural efficiency and productivity�

£10,000

Trade Union Friends of Palestine (TUFP)/Palestine Solidarity Campaign: NIPSA was represented on TUFP by NIPSA General Secretary, Alison Millar and NIPSA President� The main focus of activity centred on the following:

a. The Northern launch of Kairos Ireland which took place on 29 November 2018 in the Duncairn Centre, Belfast and the Southern launch which was held on 5 December 2018� A statement was produced�

b. A TUFP Ambassadors’ delegation took place from 27 October to 4 November 2018� NIPSA’s President, Patrick Mulholland, was part of the delegation and plans were underway to receive a presentation on his visit in the New Year�

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c. A campaign to boycott Eurovision 2019 was established and had attracted 600 signatures from musicians and other public figures�

d. A series of weekly protest rallies in support of the Great March of Return were held throughout the year�

Campaigns and Urgent Action Requests: In addition to the above campaigns NIPSA supported other campaigns and responded to a number of urgent action requests from various organisations including: Amnesty International, Labour Start; Concern Worldwide; Fairtrade Foundation and Medical Aid for Palestine�

A5 Health and Safety CommitteeThe Committee met on a regular basis throughout the year� A work programme was developed and a report on the key action areas was as follows:

Legislation and Consultations: In April the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) launched a three month consultation on their corporate plan� A detailed NIPSA response was submitted by the closing date of 29 June 2018�

Newsletter and E-zine: Two e-zines and an edition of ‘Spotlight’ were produced which covered a range of health and safety issues�

NIPSA Health and Safety Representatives Essential Toolkit: Two new sections on Violence and Abuse at Work and Drug and Alcohol in the Workplace were produced and issued to branches�

Stress and Mental Health: A NIPSA training event on ‘Managing Work Related Stress – The Management Standards Approach’ was held on 12 March 2018 in NIPSA Headquarters� The session was delivered to 20 branch Health and Safety Representatives� At the year’s end the Committee agreed to revisit the NIPSA guide ‘The Perfect Storm: Stress at Work’ to deter-mine if any changes were necessary to reflect the terms of Comprehensive Resolution No 89 which was adopted at the 2018 Annual Delegate Conference�

Defibrillators in Workplaces: NIPSA continued to put pressure on employers within the public

sector to install defibrillators in the workplace and provide suitable training to workplace first aiders� The campaign was successful in a number of areas and was ongoing�

Annual Health and Safety Conference: The ninth Annual Health and Safety Conference took place on 23 October 2018 in the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast to coincide with European Health and Safety Week� The theme of the Conference was ‘Say No to Stress – Challenging the Employ-er’s Agenda’� The Conference programme was built around the theme� Keynote speakers were Martina McIlkenny from PIPs and Patrick Anderson from Aware NI who addressed dele-gates on mental health in the workplace� John McShane from McCartan Turkington Breen Solicitors addressed the following types of claims: Stress at Work and Harassment� A prac-tical workshop session was delivered in the afternoon by Janet Heath and Claire Kelly from HSENI� The workshop focused on the use of preventative measures to control the risks asso-ciated with work related stress through the use of the HSE management standards approach� The Conference was a major success with over 110 NIPSA Health and Safety Representatives across its membership base in attendance� A full report on the Conference was posted on the NIPSA website and issued to branches�

A6 Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)The Biennial Conference of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was held in Derry/Londonderry on 11th -12th April 2018� The NIPSA General Secretary Alison Millar and Maria Morgan were elected to the Northern Ireland Committee with the General Secretary being elected as the Vice-Chairperson�

Throughout the year members of the Northern Ireland Committee, together with activists across the various unions met with 52 MLA’s to stress the need for the three key elements of the campaign:

❚ An end to the scourge of low pay and to promote decent work;

❚ Better improved investments in our public services; and

❚ End to the 1% public sector pay cap�

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There was a significant focus on the Better Work Better Lives Campaign, however it was accepted that more needed to be done by affiliates to main-stream this work with lay activists and members�

A meeting of all affiliates was planned for early 2019 to review the campaign and seek to expand beyond the current focus�

ICTU also played a key role in setting out a posi-tion of Brexit which would protect trading North/South and East/West� However at the end of 2018 it looked likely that a No-Deal Brexit would be the result which would have serious ramifications for jobs, people and trade�

Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI): The work of NERI continued throughout the year� NERI assisted with some economic data and pay data to assist NIPSA pay claims and negotia-tion� In addition a range of publications were published including the Quality of Employment in Northern Ireland, The End of Austerity?, Immi-gration and Low Pay Northern Ireland’s Public Finances – Revenue Matters and Measuring Job Quality: The Better Jobs Index�

International Solidarity: The Northern Ireland Committee continued to work closely with Trade Union Friends of Palestine and the NIPSA Pres-ident, Patrick Mulholland visited the West Bank in November as part of a trade union delegation�

The Northern Ireland Committee continued its involvement in the Labour Relations Agency Roundtable which also comprised representatives of the Confederation of British Industry (NI), Small Business Federation and Chambers of Commerce�

Equality: ICTU participated in seeking to work with a range of organisations in the progres-sion of key equality issues including the Right to Choose and Equal Marriage�

A7 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) Group

Since the establishment of the Group member-ship grew and regular meetings were held� A new three year strategy and year one action plan was developed� The following key activities under the strategy and action plan were under-taken�

Communication: The Group continued to make significant gains in relation to their communica-tion strategy� The website was regularly updated with news, articles, campaigns and publications and a series of e-zines were issued to branches�

Education and Awareness: One of the key stra-tegic aims of the Group was raising awareness and understanding of the issues faced by LGB&T members� The following action was taken:

a. NIPSA supported the Northern Ireland LGB&T Awareness Week (14-20 May 2018) and the International Day of Action against Homo-phobia (IDAHO) on 17 May� As part of the week NIPSA took part in a joint workplace event with the Public Health Agency and also produced a series of slides addressing each of the themes for the week which were posted on the NIPSA website;

b. NIPSA placed an advertisement in the 2018 Belfast Pride Festival Guide, took part in the Belfast Pride Fair and Parade (27 July – 5 August) and donated £100 towards the organising costs;

c. NIPSA took part in the Foyle Pride Festival (18-25 August) and the Pride in Newry Festival and Community Fair (27 August to 1 September)� NIPSA also donated £100 towards the organising costs for both events;

d. To coincide with Foyle Pride NIPSA organised a training event on 24 August 2018 in the NIPSA Regional Office, Derry/Londonderry;

e. Throughout the Pride Festivals NIPSA supported the LGB&T Health and Social Care Staff Forum lunchtime stalls held in various hospitals; and

f. NIPSA supported the eleventh Annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival (8-17 November), International Transgender Day of Remembrance (20 November) and World Aids Day on 1 December�

2018 Belfast Pride Awards: NIPSA was nomi-nated in the Belfast Pride Awards under the cate-gory ‘Pride Ally-Unions’ and had narrowly missed out in obtaining the award which went to the National Unions of Students – Union of Students Ireland�

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Marriage Equality Campaign: NIPSA continued to support Love Equality, the campaign group calling for civil marriage equality in Northern Ireland� In the absence of a functioning Assembly the focus of the campaign turned to Westminster� In furtherance of the campaign the following action was taken:

a. NIPSA supported a Private Members Bill intro-duced by Conor McGinn MP in the Commons� NIPSA members were encouraged to email the Prime Minister, Secretary of the State for Northern Ireland and the Equalities Minister calling on the Government to back the legis-lation but on the two occasions the Bill was introduced it was blocked by the objection of a single MP;

b. NIPSA supported a petition by Amnesty International calling for politicians and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to introduce Marriage Equality legislation in Northern Ireland without delay;

c. NIPSA members attended the launch event of the Civil Conversations Report on Marriage Equality held on 19 April 2018 in the Long Gallery, Stormont;

d. Representatives from the Love Equality Coali-tion attended the NIPSA Annual Delegate Conference;

e. NIPSA supported the march and rally on Saturday 2 June 2018 in Belfast; and

f. Regular Love Equality bulletins were issued to branches providing updates on the campaign, how to get involved and useful resources�

Gender Neutral Toilet Facilities: The Committee considered the terms of Motion No 83, which was remitted at the 2018 Annual Delegate Conference, which called for the intro-duction of gender-neutral toilet facilities in all Government buildings� In furtherance of the aims of the motion work had commenced on examining guidance produced by GenderJam, Sail, Youthnet and other areas of best practice with a view to producing a paper for considera-tion by the General Council�

Outing the Past – The Festival of LGBT History 2019: NIPSA submitted an application in October

to take part in the 5th Festival of LGBT History� The theme was ‘History 11: Peace, Reconciliation and Activism’� NIPSA’s submission was based on providing a presentation of the history of NIPSA’s fight for LGB&T rights through archival source and personal oral testimonies� At the year’s end notification was received confirming our appli-cation was accepted�

NICS Trans Policy and Guide for Managers: The Group considered the draft NICS Trans policy and guidance and submitted comments to Central Whitley Council Trade Union Side for inclusion in NIPSA’s overall response�

A8 PensionsThroughout the year there continued to be a range of developments in respect of the provi-sion of public service pensions� These were considered by the joint Department of Finance (DoF) and other sponsoring Government Depart-ments with the NIC-ICTU Public Service Pensions Group under the auspices of the Central Consul-tative Working Group�

It transpired that for all Public Sector Pension Schemes the ‘floor cap’ was breached and as a result at the year end a range of consultations were taking place on how to address the ‘Floor Cap’� The details of these are reported in C1�2�

a. Public Service Exit Payments: In the absence of a devolved administration the commitment entered into with DoF Officials in 2016 that they would await the outcome of the position in Great Britain before considering the possible implications for NI Schemes remained�

b. Pension Contributions and Pension Increase: With effect from 1 April Public Service pension in payment were increased by 3%, the rate of CPI inflation as at September 2017�

The employer contribution votes for 2017/18 for the three main schemes in which NIPSA has members were as follows effective from 1 April 2018�

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NICS SchemesScheme Year 1 April to 31 March 2019

Annualised Rate of Pensionable (Earnings (Salary Bands)

Classic Members or Classic Members who moved into Alpha All Other Members

From ToFrom 1 April 2018 to

31 March 2019

From 1 April 2018 to

31 March 2019

£0 £15,000�99 4�6% 4�6%

£15,001�00 £21,422�99 4�6% 4�6%

£21,423�00 £51,005�99 5�45% 5�45%

£51,006�00 £150,000�99 7�35% 7�35%

£150,001�00 and above 8�05% 8�05%

HSC

TierFull-Time Pensionable Pay used to deter-mine contribution rate

Contribution Rate (before Tax Relief ) (gross) 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2019

1 Up to £15,431�99 5�0%

2 £15,432�00 to £21,477�99 5�6%

3 £21,478�00 to £26,823�99 7�1%

4 £26,824�00 to £47,845�99 9�3%

5 £47,846�00 to £70,630�99 12�5%

6 £70,631�00 to £111,376�00 13�5%

7 £11,377�00 and over 14�5%

NILGOSC

Band Pensionable Pay Range Contribution Rate Main Section Contribution Rate 50/50 Section

1 Up to £14,100 5�5% 2�75%

2 £14,101 to £21,500 5�8% 2�90%

3 £21,501 to £35,900 6�5% 3�25%

4 £35,901 to £43,400 6�8% 3�40%

5 £43,401 to £85,800 8�5% 4�25%

6 More than £85,800 10�5% 5�25%

Note: The above rates do not take account of pensions tax relief.

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Legal Cases: At the year end the Employ-ment Appeal Tribunal ruled in favour of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) case on the issue of tran-sitional protection arrangements� The Govern-ment were considering whether to appeal this decision�

Training: Two 3 day NIC ICTU Pension Courses for those interested in knowing more about Public Service Pensions were held during the year with the majority of those attending being NIPSA activists�

A9 Policy and Research Unit (PRU)An updated and expanded analysis of 2016’s research into the extent and cost of the deploy-ment of agency workers throughout the public services (the Northern Ireland Civil Service, the new post-RPA Councils; the Health Service, Libraries, NI Housing Executive and Education Authority) was carried out at the beginning of 2018 and published in June 2018� Its recom-mendations informed discussion about how best, within all branch activity and negotiating fora, these costs and the disinvestment in public service/servants they represent could be chal-lenged�

The publication of the Treasury’s Pay Remit Guid-ance revealed that despite the rhetoric of the pay cap being “over”, pay awards were still expected to fall into a 1-1�5% range in addition to which productivity gains would also be sought� The PRU’s work challenged the narrowness of this remit and looked at the long-term, real terms adverse impact on pay that the failure even to match CPI inflation had delivered� Our research showed that within the NICS, this has meant that members across all grades are underpaid by at least 5%� This overview, supplanted by a wider analysis of economic pressures (inter alia increased pension and National Insurance contributions) informed the debate around the Civil Service pay claim and discussion with the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) on the broader economic consequences of austerity�

The statutory requirements of the update and extension of Data Protection legislation brought in on May 25 2018 by the trans-European General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) generated a

considerable amount of work across the Union generally and within Union Headquarters in particular� This required the PRU’s substantive involvement in a major in-house project the object of which was to create a number of new policies (including a new NIPSA Data Protection Policy) and, where relevant to the receipt and retention of members’ personal information, create/update new/existing forms and docu-mentation to ensure compliance with the new regulations�

A number of motions at the NIPSA Annual Dele-gate Conference reflected general frustration at the effect ongoing political crises at Stormont were having on attempts to advance rights issues (in particular same sex marriage and women’s reproductive rights)� The misuse of the Petition of Concern (PoC) mechanism to block progressive, legislative advance was noted and a call made for NIPSA to campaign for PoC reform that would restore its original anti-discrimina-tory purpose� In order to assist such lobbying the PRU produced a research booklet on the issue at the end of December 2018� This not only explored the potential for reform but also broad-ened the debate to emphasise the need for the Trade Union movement to renew a campaign for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland�

A10 Public Service Defence Campaign Throughout the year NIPSA continued to high-light a range of issues as part of NIPSA’s ongoing defence of public services� Throughout the year there remained many uncertainties due to the lack of an Assembly� The following are some of the key issues raised during the year�

a. Social Security/Welfare Reform: There were two separate and distinct areas – one involving staff employed in the Department for Communities and the other a wider policy issue of the impact of the changes to the Welfare system�

i� Staff within DfC: The staffing implica-tions due to Universal Credit (UC) meant significant redeployment of staff across the offices and caused major upheaval for those members on alternative working patterns i�e� members had to revisit

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working patterns and their contracted hours in order to be accepted into UC job roles�

UC replaced 6 working age benefits which resulted in members having to apply for Jobs in the UC offices, however as not as many staff were needed going forward this resulted in surpluses and created anxiety for members�

Management matched 137 surpluses across the grades to vacancies in Working Inclusion Group (WIG)� However it has been confirmed that 49 AA’s, 32 AO’s and 18 EO2’s remain in oversupply (not declared formally surplus)� As Managed Migration rolls out in 2019/2020 then there are likely to be further staffing issues�

ii� Social Security Policy: NIPSA was in-strumental in deferring the introduction of Universal Credit into Northern Ireland through its lobbying and engagement with political parties and other stake-holders� Universal Credit was introduced across Northern Ireland and the managed migration has now commenced� Some of the mitigations which were introduced by the Assembly run out and that would leave many claimants with serious finan-cial issues� NIPSA supported a protest outside the Capita offices in Belfast re-garding Personal Independent Payment (PIP)� It was also decided to engage with political parties to seek to put them under pressure to do something in the absence of an Assembly to work to achieve a better outcome for those who are at the forefront of the totally unacceptable welfare cuts�

b. King's Hall – Healthcare Park: NIPSA organised a protest and lobby of the Plan-ning Committee of Belfast City Council on 13 November in opposition to a planning appli-cation for Benmore Octopus to build Phase 1 of a GP Medical Practice at the King's Hall complex� NIPSA engaged with Councillors and asked them to oppose this development which would seek to centralise GP prac-tices in the South Belfast area and beyond� The 13 November meeting agreed to defer

consideration of the planning application to allow for a site visit� At the December plan-ning meeting NIPSA had speaking rights but unfortunately the Planning Committee approved the application on the basis of a vote 3 against, 7 for�

c. Housing:

i� Stock Transfer: Following significant engagement with the Ballee communi-ty through engagement, leafleting and meetings 88% of residents overwhelm-ingly rejected the Department for Com-munities attempts to remove their homes from Housing Executive stock� This fol-lowed the equally resounding NO vote last summer by local residents in The Grange, Ballyclare� Following these two very pos-itive outcomes NIPSA called for the scrap-ping of the discredited Stock Transfer Programme� In addition NIPSA called on all political parties to voice their support for a new housing initiative to tackle the growing housing crisis, to offer hope to the 40,000 on the housing waiting lists, 20,000 in housing stress and more than 10,000 officially declared homeless� With a real commitment from government thousands of much needed construction jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships for young people could be created, which would transform housing and alleviate the agony of those languishing on housing waiting lists�

However in mid October a letter from the Permanent Secretary, DfC, Leo O’Reilly to Mervyn Storey advised that the NIHE requires a £3bn investment in its housing stock over 11 years and that a backlog of maintenance and repair work means an annual investment of around £300m is required for the first 6 years� Leo O’Reilly set out in his letter various options as follows:

❚ Providing the NIHE with access to additional capital funding either by the NI Executive diverting funds away from other capital projects – which Leo O’Reilly said would be difficult and that

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the Executive had not directly invested in social housing on this scale before – or by increasing its borrowing powers which would require a reform of the current NIHE structure and a sufficient rental income�

❚ Increasing property rates which have remained frozen since 2016 at around £66 per week�

❚ Amending legislation so the NIHE is no longer required to pay corporation tax which was introduced in 2012� The current bill is £7m per annum�

❚ NIHE’s debts being written off by the UK Government�

The most controversial element stated by Mr O’Reilly was that one option that could help secure the future of the NIHE was if it were converted from a public body into a social enterprise-type organisation� He stated that the new organisation would be similar to a registered housing association although the final model had not been finalised and would require ministerial/executive approval� This was a worrying development and one that kept coming back into vogue� In line with NIPSA policy, NIPSA continued to resist�

d. Education Authority: The budget situation in the Education Authority is in crisis� It was reported that over 446 schools are in deficit� The Education Authority’s response was that it would send in individuals/a team to assist Principals in managing their budget� This was trying to cover over the cracks� It was not the Principals who could not manage their school budget� It was that schools were not adequately funded – nor was the Educa-tion Authority itself� Discussions took place at the ICTU Education Trade Union Group� a concerted effort amongst all the Education Unions to garner support for a demonstration against the wholly inadequate education�

A11 Youth CommitteeRegular meetings of the Committee were held throughout the year� The key areas of work were as follows:

Campaigning: The Youth Committee attended numerous events, rallies and demonstrations during the year in protest against the Govern-ment’s continued programme of cuts to public services and jobs and in solidarity with striking workers� The Committee worked in partnership with ICTU Youth, Students Unions and youth organisations to upfront broader social issues around housing, education and health� The Committee was also well represented at the NIPSA Annual Delegate Conference, NIC/ICTU Conference, May Day Parade, Marriage Equality Rally and Pride Parades�

NIPSA Living Wage Campaign: As reported in Section A11 of the 2017 NIPSA Annual Report the Committee held a panel debate on the living wage on 3 May 2018 in NIPSA Headquarters� The Panellists included Mark McAllister from the Labour Relations Agency, Paul MacFlynn from the Nevin Economic Research Institute, Carolyn Brown from the Federation of Small Businesses� The event was filmed by Northern Visions TV and shown on their community channel�

Voting Age: At the year’s end the Committee was engaging with Youth Action about the possibility of jointly organising a panel debate early in 2019 on the voting age�

Communication: The Committee continued to make significant gains in relation to their communication strategy� Work on the devel-opment of the NIPSA Youth Section, as part of NIPSA’s overall redesign of the website, was completed in June 2018� The Committee also continued to successfully use social media by regularly posting on Facebook and Twitter� A series of E-Blasts were also produced and issued to branches�

Building Union Capacity: One of the key priorities for the Committee was developing an outreach programme to increase member-ship of the NIPSA Youth Committee and union activism� The outreach programme focused on three strands: one to one contact with young

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members; holding discussion events/panel debates; and exploring the establishment of a young workers forum under the auspices of NIC/ICTU� In furtherance of these aims the following was endorsed by the General Council to commence in 2019�

a. To set up a NIPSA Youth email address;

b. To send a letter from the NIPSA Youth Committee Chairperson to all young members;

c. To advise Branch Secretaries of this engage-ment exercise and seek support; and

d. To produce an A3 poster to go with the Branch Secretary Circular�

NIC/ICTU Youth Committee Reconstitution: The two year term of office of the NIC/ICTU Youth Committee had expired and affiliated unions were invited to nominate two representatives for the new terms of office� Stephen Harvey and Mike Hamilton were appointed as NIPSA’s repre-sentatives on the Committee�

1515

Organisation and Administration A

A Organisation and AdministrationA12 Appointment of AuditorsJohn McVeigh & Co were reappointed as NIPSA Auditors�

A13 Donations

Organisation Amount Purpose Of Donation

Amnesty International Appeal £100�00 Christmas Appeal P Attanasio

Mencap £100�00 Christmas Appeal

War on Want £200�00 Stop the Arms Trade

Reclaim the Agenda £300�00 International Women’s Day

Sling the Mesh £100�00 Sling the Mesh Campaign

UCU £3,000�00 UCU Pension Dispute

Cork Mother Jones £100�00 Towards the cost of the 2018 Mother Jones Festival

Homeless Period £200�00 Homeless Period Appeal

Medical Aid for Palestine £500�00 Crisis in Gaza

Belfast City of Sanctuary £100�00 Great Refugee Picnic

Belfast Pride £100�00 Towards 2018 Belfast Pride Festival

Newry Rainbow Community £100�00 Towards 2018 Newry Pride Festival

Foyle Pride £100�00 Towards 2018 Foyle Pride Festival

Art Cetera Studio £500�00 Red Barn Gallery – Dave Sinclair Exhibition

United Against Racism £486�10 United Against Racism Supplies

Fermanagh Trades Council £200�00 100th Anniversary

Dementia £100�00 National Dementia Carers Day

Amnesty International £200�00 End Child Labour in Cobalt Mines

ROSA £298�88 Pro-Choice Group

Medical Aid for Palestine £500�00 Christmas Appeal Donation

NIPSA Global Solidarity Fund £7,500�00 Annual General Council Donation to Fund

All these donations were paid out of the 'Fee Fund'.

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Organisation and AdministrationA14 Headquarters StaffDuring the year there were several retirements, Bumper Graham, Deputy General Secre-tary, Tony McMullan� Assistant Secretary and Personal Secretaries Karen Barrett, Alison Leckey and Freda McCrory�

Two existing staff – Lynsey Hudson and Ciara McLeish were promoted to Personal Secretary and agreement was reached to fill the resultant vacancy at Administrative Officer (with word processing duties level)� This competition was underway at the year end�

Another administrative staff member in the Regional Office (part-time), Orla Forbes, who had been on a career break tendered her resig-nation� The resultant vacancy was filled by Kris Doherty who was the part-time Administrative Officer in the Regional Office�

At the year end the NIPSA Appointments Panel appointed Kim Graham and Dooley Harte to the Assistant Secretary vacancies�

The competition for the Deputy General Secre-tary vacancy was underway at year end�

In addition the General Council agreed to create three temporary Higher Executive Officer posts to fill vacancies at that level� Lisa Hoy, Bernard Trainor and Natalie Shiel were appointed� These posts will end on 30 June 2019� It was anticipated a permanent Higher Executive Officer competition would take place in the Spring of 2019 to fill the vacancies at this level on a permanent basis�

Part of the outworking of the Ross Boyd Ltd review of Financial Processes and Procedures reported in Section A14 of the 2017 Annual Report meant that decisions on the appro-priate staffing structure for the Finance Office were deferred� As a result a part-time qualified accountant was employed via an Agency�

Joint Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JNCC): Regular meetings of the JNCC took place throughout of the year and engaged in a range of collective bargaining issues including the filling of posts and proce-dure for the filling of acting vacancies�

NIPSA Pension Scheme: The Trustees of the NIPSA Staff Pension Scheme met regularly throughout the year� The main work progressed was a review of the Scheme Rules�

Composition of NIPSA’s Workforce: The moni-toring return for February 2018 to the Equality Commission showed the composition of NIPSA’s workforce as summarised below:

Below EO

EO and Above Totals

Male 7 12 19

Female 15 11 26

Protestant 10 6 16

Catholic 10 14 24

Unclassified 1 3 4

Disabled 2 4 6

A15 MembershipThe year end figures for 2018 and comparison 2017 are listed below:

Civil Service

Public Officers NIPSA

2018 16,801 24,625 41,426

2017 17,113 24,873 41,986

Increase/Decrease

-1�86% -1�00% -1�35%

Male 7,655 5,324 12,979

Female 9146 19,301 28,447

Membership records continued to be updated throughout the year with information given by employers and members�

Membership figures fluctuated during 2018 with the end of year total decreasing on the 2017 total� There was a slight decrease on the number of applications processed during the year� 2,425 were processed in 2018, a decrease of 37 on 2017�

1717


Career Breaks: The practice of inviting members to retain their NIPSA membership whilst on a career break continued with the annual fee remaining at £10�00� A total of 25 NIPSA members registered their career breaks with NIPSA throughout 2018 and retained their membership� This included 6 civil service members and 19 public officers’ members�

Student Membership: Student membership for social workers and other relevant catego-ries of students at university continued with an annual fee of £10�00� No new student members were recruited in 2018�

Organisation: Following consultation with Branches the General Purposes Committee approved the following branch re-organisations:

a. Current Branch 526: The members in GLL (approximately 105) transferred to a new Branch 536�

b. Current Branch 142: The members in the Engaged Communities area moved to a new Branch 146�

c. New Branch 145: Members in the Castle Court, Universal Credit processing centre were moved to create a new Branch 145�

d. Branch 10: As a result the proposal from the DoF NIPSA office to create two branches to aid their and NICS HR members’ organisation within NIPSA, the GPC agreed to retain all members in Branch 10 whose work location in NIPSA branch records begins with NICS HR� A new Branch 15 DoF Core was created with all remaining members in Branch 10�

A16 NIPSA Annual ConferenceThe 2018 NIPSA Annual Conference was held in Derry/Londonderry between 30 May and 1 June 2018� 254 delegates attended representing 99 branches�

The Civil Service Group Conference was held on 8 November 2018 in the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast� 74 branches and 148 delegates attended�

The Public Officers’ Group Conference was deferred until 2019 to allow for a detailed exam-ination as to the purpose and function�

The 2019 NIPSA Conference will be held in Enni-skillen between 29 May and 31 May 2019�

The venues for the 2020 and 2021 Conferences were also booked during the year for Newcastle and Derry/Londonderry respectively�

A17 NIPSA Financial ReviewAs reported in A17 of the NIPSA Annual Report a review of NIPSA’s Financial Processes and Procedures were conducted by Ross Boyd Ltd following a tender exercise�

Ross Boyd Ltd identified 18 recommendations� During the year 10 were fully implemented, 2 were agreed not to be implemented, 1 was linked to a wider staffing review (See A14), 3 were linked to a Long Term IT Strategy and 2 were linked to membership issues which were delayed because of staffing absences�

Income at the 6 month stage was 50% of income at the same point in 2017� In addition monthly management accounts and budget forecasts were introduced during the year�

In addition a revised procedure was imple-mented for the potential for the mutual termina-tion of staff contracts�

A18 Services for MembersLegal Services: The NIPSA Legal Advice (Personal Matters) Scheme was used by 46 members in 2016�

Legal Services (Personal Injury): In 2018, 105 new cases were submitted to the NIPSA Solicitor� In the same period 60 closed of these 49 were won or settled with awards totalling £615,245 and the remainder was closed at a cost of £17,314 to NIPSA�

Welfare Fund: 58 applications were received for the Welfare Fund, of these 55 were approved by the Welfare Committee resulting in grants total-ling £18,425�

Financial Services: Platinum Financial provided independent financial advice on all aspects of financial planning� This included participating in Pre-Retirement Seminars�

Discount Cards: The two year (2017/18) discount card was distributed to NIPSA members

Annual Report 2018

18

Annual Report 2018

18

Organisation and Administrationin December 2017� Further offers were added throughout the year at www.membershipplus.co.uk�

Specsavers: Premium Club discount vouchers continued to be available through NIPSA Head-quarters�

Abbey Insurance: Abbey continued to offer NIPSA members exclusive discounts on Car, Home and Travel Insurance�

A19 Trades CouncilsNIPSA continued to actively encourage Branches to affiliate to local Councils of Trade Unions�

The Trades Councils to which NIPSA Branches were affiliated were:

❚ Antrim and Ballymena;

❚ Belfast;

❚ Causeway;

❚ Craigavon;

❚ Derry;

❚ Fermanagh;

❚ Mid Ulster;

❚ Newry;

❚ North Down and Ards;

❚ Omagh�

A20 Union LearningDuring 2018 the third Union Learning Committee (ULC) was elected in March at the Annual Union Learning Conference which was held in the Wellington Park Hotel� The Committee members are listed below:

Name Employer Branch

Loughlinn Duffy3 Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) 733

Kieran Farmer1 Department of Justice (DOJ) 47

Steven Harvey1 Department for Communities (DfC) 117

Dwyer Henderson2 Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon Borough Council 527

Gerald McLernon1 Department for Communities (DfC) 119

Geradette McVeigh3 Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) 733

John Rooney1 Department for Infrastructure (DfI) 70

Jane Scott2 Education Authority (Belfast Region) 516

Brian Smyth3 Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) 733

Daire Toner1 Northern Ireland Assembly (NIAS) 180

Of the nominations received:

1. Elected by virtue of nominations having been received from at least 4 different Depart-ments in the Civil Service Group

2. Elected by virtue of nominations having been received from one of the 4 areas in the Public Officers Group- one minimum seat allocated to Local Government

3. Elected by virtue of nominations having been received from one of the four areas in the Public Officers Group – one minimum seat allocated to Health and Social Care

All others were elected by virtue of the shortfall in the take up of seats on the Committee from either Group

At a ULR Committee held after the Conference Dwyer Henderson was elected as the Chair and Jane Scott was elected as the Vice-Chair with Kieran Farmer being elected as the Secretary for the Committee�

At the conference were speakers from the Careers Service in DfE, and 2 workshops took place with Aware NI and Inspire�

The ULR Committee launched a ‘Negotiating Learning in Redundancy’ booklet for ULRs and

1919


Certificates for those who had completed their training during 2017–2018 were presented� Dwyer Henderson from Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council received the ULR of the Year award�

In the early part of 2018 discussions with the Department for the Economy (DfE) had taken place in relation to the terms of the Union Learning Fund for all the projects involved� No outcome was known at year end and discussions are to be held with the various projects and DfE�

A meeting was held with each Project Manager at the end of August following discussions with the Department� As a result all projects were to focus on the Essential Skills and other accred-ited courses� Each project had to resubmit their targets and budgets to the DfE to redefine what their focus was�

Union Learning Representatives (ULRs) continue to promote Essential Skills and the Union Learning initiative�

ICT Essential Skills Courses ran in the Depart-ment for the Economy (DfE)� NIPSA also worked with the other Union Learning Project Co-ordi-nators in organising Essential Skills Courses� PCS and NIPSA members attended an ICT Essential Skills Course in conjunction with the Financial Services Union (FSU)� In line with the partner-ship agreement that the Union Learning Fund have with the Open University, we also had NIPSA members continuing their studies with the Open University�

NIPSA ULRs attended the ICTU ULR Conference on 22 March 2018 in Mossley Mill and Dwyer Henderson also picked up their ULR of the Year award too� NIPSA was also successful in attaining the Essential Skills Learner of the Year� Mark McClean, a staff officer from DfE was the successful recipient�

There were 156 NIPSA ULRs, 93 in the Civil Service Group and 63 in the Public Officers' Group, 86 of these were trained with 49 in the Civil Service Group and 37 in the Public Officers' Group�

B SectionCivil Service

Annual Report 2018

22

B1 General IssuesB1.1 AccommodationProperty Management Reform: An Invest-ment Strategy ranked all assets in the portfolio in terms of potential for investment was drawn up by Management Side� The ongoing polit-ical impasse meant there continued to be finan-cial impediments to progress due to the lack of multi-year capital/budget assurances to ensure affordability�

Properties Division – Capital Projects: Trade Union Side took receipt on 7 June 2018 of updated details of capital projects relating to Clarence Court, Rathkeltair House, Colby House, Ballykelly House, Queen’s Court, Causeway Exchange, The Design Centre, Klondyke, Newtownards JBO, Boaz House, Coleraine JBO, Hydebank reloca-tion, Rathgael and Orchard House�

Hot-Desking: A number of meetings took place during the year on the Management Side proposals on ‘hot-desking’ i�e� staff not having dedicated workstations� The proposal was for a ratio of 8 workstations to 10 staff with some flexibility in some areas� Trade Union Side in objecting to the proposals referred to a number of research papers which supported their posi-tion of opposition to the proposals� Trade Union Side also argued ‘hot-desking’ would exacerbate sick absence amongst staff and reduce produc-tivity� Management Side argued the accommo-dation principles and standards would allow for a range of different working environments and reduce accommodation costs, with certain staff retaining dedicated workstations depending on the nature of their work� Management Side accepted that additional information was required� Despite the efforts of Trade Union Side a formal disagreement was registered through the Central Whitley Executive Committee was organised for early 2019�

B1.2 Equal OpportunitiesTax Free Childcare: As reported in B1�2 (a) of the 2017 Annual Report the UK Government announced the details of a new tax free child-care scheme� The NICS Childcare Voucher Scheme was due to close to new members from April 2018� As a result of lobbying of MPs the NICS Childcare Voucher Scheme which was

administered by Employers for Childcare was kept open for new applications until September� Despite ongoing pressure and political lobbying the Scheme closed on 30 September� This was as a direct result of Westminster Government legislative changes and their desire to promote their new tax-free scheme which in many cases was less generous�

NICS Gender Action Plan: A copy of a draft NICS Transgender Guide, was preceded by a trans specific equality policy statement, was received by Trade Union Side on 4 May� The draft took into account guidance from the Rainbow Project and Stonewall, incorporating elements of policies from a range of public and private sector organisations in the UK and Ireland� Trade Union Side submitted a detailed response on 25 June and Management Side undertook to liaise on progress�

Belfast Pride: Management Side confirmed on 19 June that the NICS would be participating in Belfast Pride� Members of the NICS LGBT Network participated in the Pride Parade and NICS HR had a stall in Pride Village, promoting the NICS as an employer that values and promotes diversity in all its guises and especially supports the LBGT community�

NICS Diversity Plans: At the October meeting of the Equal Opportunities Central Whitley Committee the Management Side agreed to forward copies of the Departmental Diversity meetings� Management Side advised that they had met with the Civil Service Commissioner’s regarding barriers to employment for people with disabilities and the interaction with the merit principle� Trade Union Side were advised that early discussions had focused around ring-fenced posts and/or a Guaranteed Interview Scheme� Agreement was reached that there would be further engagement with Trade Union Side when the policy was still in development stage

Disability Leave Policy: Trade Union Side lodged a draft Disability Leave Policy� Manage-ment Side undertook to consider and respond�

Menopause Policy: Trade Union Side lodged a draft Menopause Policy� Management Side agreed to consider and respond�

General Issues B1

23

Breastfeeding Policy: Trade Union Side lodged a draft Breastfeeding Policy� Management Side agreed to consider and respond�

B1.3 Grading ReviewsLegal Grades: The long running legal grades review came to a conclusion during the year� As a result a formal surplus was declared at Grade 6 level� Despite serious objections being raised regarding the decision to go to public adver-tisement for Grade 5 (Legal) the Management Side proceeded with this external competition� A Voluntary Severance Scheme was run and 8 Legal Grade 6’s were selected, on the basis of least cost, for voluntary severance�

B1.4 National Trade Union Committee (NTUC)

The National Committee met on a number of occasions during the year and NIPSA attended a number of the meetings�

The main issues dealt with were:

a. Civil Service Pay and the Public Sector Pay Cap;

b. Judicial Review on the Cabinet Office Guid-ance on Civil Service Pay;

c. Protocols on the reciprocal rights for UK Civil Servants transferring in the Northern Ireland Civil Service; and

d. Civil Service Pensions�

B1.5 2017/18 NICS PayAs reported in B1�7 of the 2017 Annual Report a claim for 5% increase on all points of all pay scales and allowances was lodged in July 2017� As a direct result of the absence of Ministers the Management Side advised they could not enter into formal negotiations as they had no remit in the absence of a Minister� In late April the Management Side advised they were in a posi-tion to table a formal offer as follows:

❚ all eligible satisfactory performers to receive one step progression with effect from 1 August 2017;

❚ all points on pay scales from minimum to maximum to be revalorised by 1%;

❚ any eligible staff receiving less than a 1% consolidated increase to receive a non-consolidated, pensionable payment to bring them up to the equivalent value of 1% of their salary (for those in receipt of a salary in excess of the maximum, this would be limited to 1% of the equivalent NICS scale maximum) at 31 July 2017;

❚ the bottom step of the AO – SO and analogous non-industrial pay scales to be removed�

On the issue of fixed rate allowances the offer was for 1% effective from 1 August 2018�

The Management Side also committed to engaging further with Trade Union Side on the issue of the AA grade�

The Civil Service Group Executive Committee recommended rejection of the offer and branches rejected the offer� Subsequently the offer was imposed and paid in the July salaries�

Pension Issue: During the consultation period it transpired that for some staff at AA, AO, DP and Grade 7 level an additional pension payment would be due as a result that the arrears would push them into the higher pension contribu-tion for one month only� This ranged from £20-£100 depending on grade� Trade Union Side made representations to the new Depart-ment of Finance Permanent Secretary and she agreed to examine this for future years� Trade Union Side had argued for an ex-gratia payment to be made, however this was rejected on the basis that Management Side argued there were ‘winners’ and losers� Towards the end of the year a consultation was underway (see Section B1�8) to address this issue in future years�

Arms Length Bodies: Trade Union Side wrote to the Department of Finance, Permanent Secre-tary and met in mid-August regarding the unac-ceptable length of time it took to clear pay remits� She undertook to carry out an urgent review and report back to Trade Union Side in due course� As part of the published public sector pay policy it was agreed that the Permanent Secretary in the relevant Department would be able to clear pay remits for Arms Length Bodies for 2018 year and beyond�

B1 General Issues

Annual Report 2018

24

B1.6 Annual Benefits Statements 2018Civil Service Pensions (CSP) issued the majority of the Annual Benefits Statements in August 2018� While there was a delay in some state-ments this was primarily those who had partial retirements� This was linked to the system issues whereby some had to be produced manually because the system was unable to automatically produce these�

B1.7 Employee Contribution RatesAn Employee Pension Notice (EPN) was issued in March 2018 to remind scheme members of employee contribution rates and applicable salary bands from 1 April 2018� Contributions were based on actual pensionable earnings rather than full-time equivalent pension earn-ings� Revised rates for all scheme members were as follows:

Scheme Year 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019

From To %

£0 £15,000�99 4�6%

£15,001�00 £21,422�99 4�6%

£21,423�00 £51�005�99 5�45%

£51,006�00 £150,000�99 7�35%

£150,001 and above – 8�05%

B1.8 Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) Pensions Forum

The NICS Pensions Forum met 4 times during the year and dealt with a range of issues impacting on scheme members� One of the critical issues was the issue which arose as a result of the late payment of pay, 11 months after it became due� NIPSA had sought to resolve this issue and towards the end of the year a consultation was launched which amended the pension bands which would address the issue identified which negatively impacted on AA, AO, DP and Grade 7 members� NIPSA responded positively to the consultation and it was anticipated the new pension bands would be implemented by 1 April 2019�

Personnel Management B2

25

B2 Personnel ManagementB2.1 Personal Secretary/

Executive AssistantsTrade Union Side continued to press for an external competition for the Personal Secretary discipline� A couple of meetings took place in the latter part of the year whereby Manage-ment Side agreed to run an external competi-tion� However issues regarding the appropriate skills and qualifications and the issue of allow-ances paid to Personal Secretaries remained outstanding at the year end�

B2.2 Selection and Appointmentsa. EO2 Boards: As a consequence of an initial

miscalculation of the numbers likely to be needed from the internal EO2 competition, more candidates were needed in order to meet the increased demand across Depart-ments� The next 1,000 highest scoring candi-dates who had already sat the on-line test were scheduled to be progress through veri-fication tests, interviews and publication of a list week commencing 23 April 2018� Later in the year a third phase became necessary due to higher than originally anticipated vacancy levels� An interim analysis of the competition of Phase 1 of the competition showed that the self-nomination rates from AOs (60�6% in total) and online test success rate (92�5% - ie 3438 from 3716 candidates)�

b. EO 1 Board: Trade Union Side took receipt of copies of the Departmental reserve lists from the EO1 competition on 5 February�

c. Staff Officer: A second reserve list from the 2013 competition was published midyear�

d. DP Board: A request from Management Side for an extension of time for the 2013 compe-tition was acceded to by Trade Union Side to ensure all those on the recently published third supplementary list were offered a post but raised concerns on the equality dimen-sion and slowness in filling vacancies� In addition Trade Union Side stressed the need for a new DP competition�

e. Grade 7 Competition: The Grade 7 compe-tition was dogged with issues from the commencement of the process with 63

individuals experiencing IT issues during the test� In order to seek an appropriate resolution of the issue Trade Union Side sought that all candidates be brought through to interview� This proposal was rejected by Management Side who sought to put in place ‘fixes to the IT issues’� This resulted in many disgruntled candidates and Trade Union Side continued to seek further details of those successful at progressing to the interview stage�

f. Grade 5: Following the publication of the list in mid July, Trade Union Side raised serious objections to the process whereby of the 497 candidates who had put themselves forward only 14 were deemed fit for promotion� Trade Union Side sought details of the NISRA statistics arising from this competition which had yet to be provided� Arising from the lack of successful candidates a number of Depart-ments proceeded to fill posts via internal trawls� One Department – DfC proceeded to fill posts via external competition� Trade Union objected strongly and queried how this outcome could have been arrived at given the NISRA statistics from an equality dimension would have been the same for all posts at this level�

g. Brexit Resourcing: During the year approx-imately 250 posts were identified as being required at mainly SO to Grade 7 level� Trade Union Side were consulted and agreed the Brexit Resourcing Principles� It was further agreed that these posts would be monitored at Departmental level�

B2.3 Travel and SubsistenceThe issue of Travel and Subsistence payments remained a significant issue during the year� A meeting was held on 15 October at which Trade Union Side set out the position clearly that we would not countenance a proposal that would not cover the same arrangements for all staff� The Management Side agreed to consider the issues raised� Subsequently the Interim Grade 5 sought agreement from Trade Union Side to allow her some time to discuss the situation with a range of Departments before re-en-gaging� This was agreed by Trade Union Side on the basis that if an acceptable proposal was not

B1 General Issues

Annual Report 2018

26

forthcoming then the Registered Disagreement would proceed through the Central Whitley machinery�

B2.4 Standardisation of Employment Relations Processes

Following exchanges of correspondence an informal meeting took place which agreed to a formal negotiating process to deal with the issue� An initial meeting took place in late November and a process was put in place for formal engagement on an ongoing basis�

Group Reports B3

27

B3 Group ReportsB3.1 Department of Agriculture, Environment

and Rural Development (DAERA)Finance: The Department provided briefing papers throughout the year to inform discussion on this topic at Whitley meetings� DAERA had funding of £196�1m Resource, £22�8m Deprecia-tion and £76�7m Capital totalling £295�6m� The Department of Finance (DoF) also confirmed that DAERA would also receive an additional £4�5m ring fenced resource funding for Brexit cost� See Group figures below�

Table 1: 2018/19 Allocated Budgets

Group Reso

urce

£m

Ring

fenc

ed D

/I £m

Tota

l Res

ourc

e £m

Capi

tal £

m

Food and Farming 71�4 8�8 80�2 33�8

Veterinary Service and Animal Health

42�5 1�6 44 4�1

Environment, Marine and Fisheries

36�7 3�9 40�6 8�1

Rural Affairs, Forest Service and Estates Transformation

21�2 1�7 22�9 17�5

Corporate Services 24�3 6�9 31�1 13�1

DoF Approved Position 196�1 22�8 218�9 76�7

Staffing: The staffing position as at November 2018 was 2906 permanent staff in post (2726�65 FTE) and 129 Agency staff, with 264 staff tempo-rally promoted� Trade Union Side continued to be concerned by the high level of tempo-rary promotion within the Department, and raised this issue regularly� Management advised believed the recruitment/promotion competi-tions should see a reduction in these numbers�

BREXIT: DAERA operate under a large volume of EU legislation including agri-food, fisheries and the environment, as well as the administration of nearly £300m of EU funding per annum� DAERA was one of the Departments most impacted by the decision to leave the EU� Therefore a new Brexit Division was set up to take forward the Programme of work required� The Division, had three objectives; be the central point of contact for all Brexit related material; provide advice and guidance to the Minister and Senior Officials on the Brexit process; and Manage the transition process from the current EU funded programmes�

These objectives were managed through three areas of work; Project Management Office, Cross-cutting Policy Co-ordination, and EU Services and Transition� Trade Union Side engaged Management at Whitley level in all Business Areas and centrally raising issues such as staffing impact, Day 1 readiness, legal impli-cations including changes needed to legislation and no deal preparedness�

Ballykelly Relocation: DAERA staff moved into the new building on the weekends of 28/29 April and 5/6 May 2018� While some snagging work had still to be completed by the end of the year which included landscaping, in general staff had settled in well and initial problems with the heating and ventilation of the building appeared to have been resolved� Construction cost was £11�7 million with a total of approx-imately £20 million which includes advisory costs, IT and kitting out of the building� As the project was completed the Ad-Hoc Trade Union Side/Management Side Relocation committee was stood down in June 2018� With any future issues are being dealt with by the local Whitley committee�

Agricultural Inspectorate Grading Project: This project was set up to address grading anom-alies found in the Corporate Grading Exercise, conducted in 2014 and is due to report to NICS HR by December 2018� The Project team has developed generic job descriptions for profes-sional Grade/Group staff across Business func-tions in the Department which aimed to capture the full remit and complexity of the various roles undertaken by Agricultural Inspectorate Staff�

B3 Group Reports

Annual Report 2018

28

Trade Union Side were consulted throughout the process and made significant contribu-tions to the finalised job descriptions� Tripartite meetings were held with the project team and NICS HR, where Trade Union Side sought assur-ances on the protection of members’ current grading� Discussions with DAERA Management continued on the future grading and structure of Inspectorate Staff�

Corporate Services Rural Affairs and Forest Service: Digital Services: Trade Union Side met with Management Side in a series of Whitley meet-ings throughout the year� A significant number of concerns were raised in relation to knowledge skills transfer, temporary promotions opportuni-ties and staff communication�

Knowledge Skills Transfer: Training was carried out by Management Side choosing the topics favoured by staff� These lasted for up to four days and consisted of classroom sessions, followed by practical work sessions within the teams� Trade Union Side welcomed this and acknowledged that the courses had been bene-ficial to staff�

Temporary Promotion Opportunities: Management Side introduced a rotation policy that granted opportunities to all eligible staff who had an interest in a temporary promotion�

Staff Communication: Management Side agreed to deliver regular staff updates and to further press managers to keep staff updated on Branch developments�

ICT Service Delivery: The contract for the delivery of ICT services was put out to tender and was awarded to Neueda, the lead organi-sation of the three IT organisations included in the winning bid (Neueda, Version 1 and SQS)� The contract was for an initial three years with an extension included that could bring it up to a possible 9 years� Trade Union Side asked about the likely impact of the procurement on busi-ness delivery� Management Side stated that the period of transition should result in minimal impact and that the various companies should be able to place their staff complement with little or no impact on delivery targets�

Forest ServiceTrade Union Side met with Management Side throughout the year to consult on the changes and issues within the areas of Forestry and Plant Health�

Agency Running Costs: Management Side provided an overview of the Agency running costs for the 2018/19 Financial Year, and also highlighted that the key target was to achieve an income of at least £9m from all sources� Manage-ment Side advised that the Forest Service budget was the same as the previous year with scope to adjust to priorities through in year monitoring�

Staffing: Trade Union Side queried the head-count shortfall for the Agency and asked how Management Side intended to address this� Management Side noted that there were 215 staff in post with an FTE of 205� The headcount for Forest Service was 215 FTE� Management Side advised of the latest recruitment of Forest Service staff and its overall aim to fill 10 posts to reach the headcount i�e� 215 FTE� In addition, Management Side advised of approval for up to 13 Brexit posts which would fall under Depart-mental budget cover� These posts are in addi-tion to the 215 FTE headcount� Trade Union Side welcomed this but sought to have this process implemented urgently to address staff pressures on the ground� Management Side advised that they aimed to have boards/competitions for FOI, FOII and FOIII grades and envisaged that they could commence movement on posts before the end of March 2019�

Training: Management Side provided a break-down of generic training completed by staff including:

❚ Accident and Investigation;

❚ Assembly Business;

❚ FOI Requests;

❚ Tree Safety Management;

❚ Wildfire;

❚ GIS�

Management Side stressed that they were keen to continued to promote the professionalism of Forest Service staff and continue to pay staff memberships fees to professional bodies�

Group Reports B3

29

Plant Health Operational Hub: Following concerns raised by Trade Union Side to the opening of a Plant Health Operational Hub in Craigavon, Management Side advised that this project was on hold� Management Side addi-tionally stated that since the Business Case for the Hub was written, the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive had resulted in no DAERA Minister in place to agree on politically sensitive matters� In addition there had been a change in position as CEO of Forest Service and the added pressures of Brexit all resulted in this impasse�

Management Side advised that as the Opera-tional Hub was on hold it would no longer have an impact on staff� Trade Union Side queried if staff impacted by this proposed move had been properly informed about the Operational Hubs status� Management Side indicated that they had recently verbally communicated with staff informing them of this� Trade Union Side indi-cated dissatisfaction with the delay in commu-nicating with impacted staff, and the method used� Trade Union Side requested that a written communication be issued to affected staff formally through HR� It was agreed that staff within Plant Health would remain at their current location and this proposal would be revisited once Brexit has been finalised and a minister in place�

Customer Services Branch: Management confirmed that the Year 2 Action Plan of the Customer Contact Model, had been updated to reflect the agreed target to reduce paper notifi-cations in respect of bovine births by 7% by 31 March 2019� Management Side further advised, that following the Ulster Farmers Union request for a full EQIA and public consultation, advice was sought from the Departmental Solicitor Office (DSO)� DSO advised that if the project continued, with the planned removal of paper, changes may be required to legislation� On balance the Board decided to alter the project slightly by retaining paper and focusing on promoting telephony and online�

Trade Union Side reiterated that they had always seen merit in retaining paper as an option and pointed out that in the past when there were problems with APHIS Online farmers had to

revert to paper to ensure animals were registered on time and therefore it made sense to keep it as an option� Trade Union Side also requested clarification on plans to expand the telephony project to include Farm to Farm and Market to Farm moves� Management advised that there were legal and logistical complications with telephony notifications of Farm to Farm moves� However, as the process of confirming Market to Farm moves is more straightforward, it was intended to offer a telephony option for this function by early 2019�

Environment Marine and Fisheries Group Recruitment: Progress is ongoing to fill 66�6 vacancies within EMFG in which 30 of these were Scientific Officers� It was anticipated other vacancies would arise as some staff would apply for the various positions�

Trade Union Side continued to raise concerns regarding vacant posts within EMFG� Around 66 posts remain vacant with almost half of these scientific officers� Further staffing pressures were likely if internal staff were successful in any recruitment process to fill posts and Trade union Side continue to monitor this�

Health and Safety: Management Side proposed tracking devices for lone working� Inland fisheries proposed a G4 device to see if it is suitable for the needs of their field staff� Management Side consulted with Trade Union Side who continued to raise this matter at the Health and Safety Consultative Committee� Trade Union Side negotiated an agreement/undertaking from Management Side that these devices would solely be used as for a Health and Safety purpose�

Trade Union side continued to pursue a Depart-mental Vehicle policy and this would also be reviewed by the Health and Safety unit�

Overtime: Trade Union Side requested a more detailed breakdown of overtime spend and the justification for overtime than had previously been provided� A response was awaited�

Continuous Professional Development: Management Side ran a series of seminars on CPD for EMFG staff early in 2018, seeking views and comments from staff� Trade Union Side

B3 Group Reports

Annual Report 2018

30

attended and reported generally positive feed-back from members on the proposals� Following on from this Management continued to seek views and comments from staff on potential training and development opportunities as well as appropriate professional bodies for affiliation�

Food and Farming GroupCountryside Management Unit (CMU): CMU commenced the CMU2020 project and there were developments across the Department which had an impact on some of the findings and recommendations contained in the report� For example, the Knowledge Advisory Service (KAS) has been launched in CAFRE and was being supported by CMU through the transfer of Grade 3 posts into KAS�

CMU2020 contains a number of recommenda-tions including that a CMU/LPIS-based map editing team should be established to process the majority of map changes currently carried out within the Customer Services Branch� The team would be established over a 2 year period through a phased implementation, rather than the single stage approach envisaged in the report� The implementation had no impact on the DAERA Direct office network and no individ-uals were required to move location�

The report made a number of recommendations about the organisation of the Inspectorate team� One significant change which has been imple-mented creates a two-region structure for Pillar I schemes, along with a separate Pillar II structure in CM Inspectorate Branch�

The CMU2020 report looked at changes relating to KAS, together with the ongoing Inspectorate Review and the Grading Review� As a result of this CMU assessed its technical capacity, focusing on the Inspector Group 2 and Inspector Group 4 teams� This work assessed the needs and capacity of the unit and implemented changes needed to meet these needs� As a result generic job descriptions for Inspector Group 2 and Inspector Group 4 staff were developed for inspection, agri-environment and LPIS roles�

Changes also took place in CM Operational Management Branch which was the subject of its own review but which was also referred to in the CMU2020 report� Two posts remain to be

filled in the revised structure in OMB (renamed EUASD Business Support Branch), which included 5 posts in Ballykelly House, as well as the posts which were already in Molesworth Place in Cookstown�

Area-Based Schemes Payment Branch: Management Side confirmed 70% advance payment percentage had been agreed by the Commission and that to date 21,452 businesses, just under 90%, had batched for payment� Two thirds of the 1200 inspected businesses had received advanced payments

Following a Judicial Review of the one stage “Review of Decision” the Department agreed to include within this process an independent panel review� It was agreed the independent panel would be set up for early 2019�

Management Side advised that ASSMB were preparing for the 2019 scheme year in conjunc-tion with DSD and hoped to enhance this process along with ironing out ongoing reported issues� Management advised that they would also be investigating opportunities to digitalise other processes and added that the HOBs would be meeting to discuss and prioritise work and staffing according to the benefits and cost anal-ysis of each project�

Trade Union Side registered a disagreement over the new car parking policy which Management Side were trying to introduce at Orchard House� The disagreement was discussed at Whitley A and a decision was awaited� Prior to any deci-sion being made Management Side withdrew this new policy as they claimed they did not have resources to implement it�

Rural Development Plan: The Trade Union Side Whitley Group continued to meet throughout the year with Management to discuss the progress with the Rural Development programme� The Business Development Group targets were on course with participation continuing to grow� Family Farm Key Skills was progressing well but was not meeting the attendance levels expected� Trade Union Side queried the short-fall and suggested CAFRE review training needs and target future training as required�

The Departmental Board have given approval for The Agri Food Co-operation Scheme to open

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in the absence of a Minister� CPD awarded the Tender to Countryside Services Ltd� This was to be delivered externally but the contract managed by DAERA�

Management Side advised Trade Union Side that Farm Business Improvement Scheme Tier 1 was now complete with 3000 applications received for Tranche 2� Tier 2 issued Letters of Offer to all with a good uptake from applicants� 98 have been accepted at a value of £11 million� Trade Union Side were further advised that lessons learned workshops had been established to bring about improvements in the scheme and address common errors� Trade Union Side welcomed this and asked to remain updated on this process�

Trade Union Side queried if the lack of a minister was impeding any scheme progression, Manage-ment Side advised that this had occurred in some instances such as with the Food Processing Grant Scheme which was on hold until a minister is in place�

Staffing: Trade Union Side requested that greater emphasis is placed on providing internal delivery in the first instance� Trade Union Side commented that the Department has received disallowance on LEADER for not delivering on targets in 2017� Had LEADER delivery been provided in-house, Trade Union Side believed the disallowance may not have been applied�

CAFRE: Regular meetings were held with Management Side to address many areas of change within CAFRE in 2018�

Capital Development Plan: A major Green-mount and Loughry campus development progressed throughout 2018� Economic Appraisals were nearing completion and it was anticipated that it will be signed off by the end of the year� Communications with Mid Ulster and Antrim and Newtownabbey District Council officials took place and were helpful in relation to planning considerations for the project� It was anticipated that this would be a 7 to 8 year project terminating in 2026, at a cost of £65m

Knowledge Advisory Service Review: Recom-mendations of the Advisory Review carried out by Deloitte which recommended that there

should be a Single Knowledge-based Advisory Service combining CAFRE advisers and Coun-tryside Management Unit (CMU) advisers was implemented in 2018� A number of CMU advisers transferred into CAFRE, with the remaining 12 advisers scheduled to transfer across on 1st April 2019�

Professional Development: Trade Union Side raised the issue of Professional fees and their payment as some members had incurred costs in good faith with no sign of reimbursement� Management Side assured Trade Union Side that staff would be reimbursed Professional fees expenditure which was essential for them to undertake their role� Management Side acknowledged that work had slowed down on this due to a retirement in June 2018�

Recruitment Competitions: Appointments from the Inspector Grade III recruitment compe-tition in Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering, Horticulture, Food Technology, Equine and Veterinary Nursing continues� It was envisaged that there would be sufficient successful appli-cants in most areas to meet the needs of the College over the duration of the competition� Inspector Grade I promotion board interviews concluded successfully� A merit list was in place should further appointments be required during the currency of the promotion board� Interviews for the Inspector Grade II promotion competition took place during November and December�

Mentoring: A mentoring programme for all new staff was initiated, inviting existing experi-enced staff to act as voluntary mentors/counsel for new staff over the first 12 to 18 months in post� The process was entirely voluntary for both mentors and mentees� Trade Union Side agreed that in principle it was a good idea, allowing mature, experienced staff help assist new recruits with any queries or concerns they may have� It was agreed that this process should complement rather than conflict with the role of the line manager and that training and guidance should be provided for mentors�

Science Transformation Programme: Consul-tation on The Science Transformation Programme began between Trade Union Side and Manage-ment Side in 2018� The need for this programme required a review of the Department’s wider

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science needs and priorities following the inclu-sion of the environmental functions of the former DoE, the inland fisheries functions of the former DCAL and the policy responsibility for sustainability within the DAERA umbrella� This would therefore be reviewed alongside the Department’s existing commitments to carry out a scoping study of DAERA science and a review of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI)�

At the same time plans to replace the labora-tory facilities for AFBI veterinary sciences and other facilities within the DAERA estate were progressing with recognition that much of the DAERA estate used for science was reaching end of life usefulness and large elements need replacing�

The Programme was at a very early stage and had been divided into 10 workstreams to be taken forward under the Science Transformation Programme� Progress saw work in the following workstreams:

Science Scoping Study: Management Side presented Trade Union Side with a copy of the draft Science Scoping Study for consideration and invited views from Trade Union Side on the study so these could be taken into account and appropriate adjustments made before it was finalised� Trade Union Side engaged with Management Side and sought further clarity within the Scoping Study Document� Once agreed, Trade Union Side established a structure on engagement going forward�

Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) Project: An initial planning stage of this project was being progressed to determine the business need and investigate options to provide for a new DAERA-wide LIMS which will enable the various laboratories’ LIMS installations to be standardised on a common platform eradicating some of the known issues and risks� A new over-arching system would facil-itate the inclusion of areas that had no current LIMS provision, and would improve the quality and throughput of the overall scientific service that the various laboratories, LIMSs and teams can offer�

Work commenced on the Discovery Phase� The objective of this phase was to review the

current LIMS provision, identify shortcomings and needs for intervention� Trade Union Side queried how this information was being iden-tified� Management Side indicated that work-shops were ongoing with DAERA Divisions, AFBI and NIEA to understand their high level require-ments and informal engagement commenced with suppliers to feed into Options analysis� Work was undertaken by a mixture of internal and external resources sourced through the DSD Neueda contract, with a planned Business Case completion date of March 2019�

Science Strategy: Management Side advised that the Science Scoping Study and AFBI Review, undertaken as part of the Science Transforma-tion Programme, identified the need for DAERA to develop a new science strategy addressing all its science needs and outlining its science prior-ities� As DAERA used science to underpin its responsibilities for food, farming, environmental, fisheries, forestry and sustainability policy and the development of the rural sector in Northern Ireland it is essential initiative for DAERA as it will guide expenditure in science services and investment in science facilities over the next 10 years�

Strategy development work was initiated through engagement with Branch Heads whose business areas use science� Outputs from these are being used to draft an initial “strawman” strategy, including Strategic Vision, Principles, Objectives, Goals / Strategic Outcomes and Benefits�

Animal Health Sciences Building Project: This project related to the replacement of AFBI’s Veterinary Sciences Building main building on the Stoney Road site as the existing building was in poor repair� The Outline Business Case was approved in 2016 by Department of Finance (£30�2m)�

A Gate 2 review was completed in April� An amber rating was achieved and recommen-dations were progressed� EQIA Screening and Rural Proofing were completed, with no impacts or public consultation required as there were no changes to the services being provided and the building would sit on the same site�

The first phase of the project included, the

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procurement of the Integrated Consultant Team (ICT) to undertake the design and plan-ning application process� It was anticipated that this phase would be completed in April 2019� A Procurement Strategy was agreed with Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) and the procure-ment process for the Integrated Consultancy Team (ICT) went live in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on 27th August�

The Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) process was completed with 10 successful appli-cants� It was proposed that Building completion and handover would happen in 2023�

Gateway Review: Trade Union Side were invited to meet with the Gateway Review team and this allowed for the opportunity to outline views on how the Science Transformation Programme could be progressed and issues around the consultation process� The Gateway Review team commented positively on the relationships that had developed and the contribution already made by Trade Union Side at such an early stage of the programme� A further Gateway Review was planned for 2019�

Advisory Services Review: This project was established to consider the recommendations contained in the Deloitte review� The overall aim of the project was to develop a single land based advisory service, incorporating integration and improved provision of environmental advice� With enhanced online provision for customers and a renewed focus on continuous professional development for technical staff, also a desired outcome�

The Knowledge Advisory Service took effect from the 4 April 2018, although not all staff moved on that date, as CMU staff transferred across as busi-ness allowed� Trade Union Side expressed disap-pointment at the lack of staff consultation on the Knowledge Advisory Service� Trade Union Side advised that members and managers had expressed their frustration at the lack of informa-tion on the process and highlighted that there were a lot of discontented staff�

The Continuous Professional Development (CPD) working group intention was to develop a CPD Strategy that would focus on staff develop-ment across Food and Farming Group and would

identify appropriate Professional Bodies for each discipline though membership would not be mandatory� In welcoming this in principle Trade Union Side stressed that staff engagement and buy in was essential�

Control and Inspection Review: This project was established to consider recommenda-tions from the Deloitte review� The objective of the project was to have a 12 month pilot testing synergy and efficiency opportunities on CMU and NIEA farm inspections incorporating elements of Veterinary, Forestry and Inland Fish-eries� Trade Union Side continually raised issues in regard to slippage, staff training and validity of data gained� However Management main-tained that areas of the pilot where progressing with collaborative working taking place as a matter of course between Water/Waste/Inland Fisheries� The Project Board had also agreed that CMU should complete environmental audits for farm businesses who have expressed an interest� An evaluation report is due to be completed and shared with Trade Union Side

Health and Safety Committees: Trade Union Side continued to represent members on a number of Health and Safety committees including, Veterinary Meat and Veterinary Field� Matters discussed included the reporting and investigation of accidents and near misses both on DAERA premises, operator premises and in the field� It was pleasing to note that the number of reported accidents and near misses had reduced over the year� Health and Safety audits continued to be conducted and showed a good level of compliance throughout the Department� During the year local Trade Union Side reps were instrumental in re-establishing the Dundonald House Health and Safety Committee�

Veterinary Service and Animal Health GroupFinance: Position for 2018/19 continued as business as usual with sufficient funding in place to cover existing headcount� Management advised that there was a significant deficit for TB compensation� An in year bid for the shortfall was made�

Staffing: As of November 2018 there was 581 FTE staff in post with an overall complement of 630 FTE� There were 74 vacancies to fill,

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including 6 new permanent Inspector Group 4 posts, which would be backfilled via a service wide promotion competition from Inspector Group 2 to Inspector Group 4 and also a promo-tion competition from Inspector Group 1 to Inspector Group 2� An external recruitment competition for Inspector Group 1 was also planned� Management received clearance to create another Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer post, which was filled from the existing Promo-tion Board� Management advised that after these posts were filled VSAHG will have a head-count of pre VES numbers�

Northern Ireland Food Animal Information System (NIFAIS): NIFAIS was procured to replace the current system which is now considered “out of date”� Testing of the new system was prob-lematic with many delays impacting, however Ear tag supplier/new herd-keeper registrations functionality met the Contract Performance Point (CPP) Milestone, which was certified on 10/07/2018� Cattle Ear Tag Number approval was mastered in NIFAIS and Herd Keeper Regis-tration data in Party Hub�

Work on user acceptance testing (UAT) for disease control, tracing/valuations, payments/AFIB and milk commenced on 7 August 2018 and progressed slowly� UAT focused on ensuring the functionality was fit-for-purpose and of accept-able quality to users�

Demonstrations on the various systems were delivered to relevant staff� Trade Union Side enquired if there was any disallowance to the contract due to the late delivery of some aspects, Management Side confirmed that this was being considered as part of contractual considerations�

Target Operating Model working Group (VTOM): Management advised that all project strands were either complete or handed back to businesses areas� The VTOM’s focus was to develop clear structures that would provide sufficient flexibility to meet future demands�

Trade Transition Project: Management advised that on 14 March 2018 this new project was approved by the Project Board� The project was made up of 5 work streams with work stream 2 concerned with designing and implementing a new delivery system for export certification� This

was likely to have an impact on staff currently involved in this area of work� Following Trade Union Side concerns management gave assur-ances that while staff would be working differ-ently no staff surpluses would result�

Meat Inspector Recruit To Train: Trade Union Side highlighted, the need for progression planning in meat inspection, due to the high age profile of current meat inspectors and the inability to attain the necessary qualifications to be a Meat Inspector in Northern Ireland� Following several recruitment campaigns which had limited success, management agreed to consider recruiting Trainee Meat Inspectors and train them in house�

A recruitment initiative is anticipated for early 2019, with 15 Trainee Meat Inspectors employed by the Department, and they would receive class room instruction at Loughry Campus and prac-tical experience at meat plants across Northern Ireland� Trainee Inspectors will be graded at Trainee (EOII) level but progress to Meat Inspector (EOI level) upon satisfactory comple-tion of the course� This helped maintain the current grading of Meat Inspectors, also helped ensure that Meat Inspection stays within the Public Sector�

Veterinary Inspector Recruitment: In February 2018 VSAHG Management wrote to Trade Union Side proposing to introduce a new Veterinarian recruitment grade analogous to Deputy Prin-ciple� In submitting this proposal to Trade Union Side, Management Side gave the following undertakings:

❚ Although the current Veterinary Officers (VOs), Grade 7 will ultimately be phased out, all existing VOs, will remain at their current Grade;

❚ Existing VOs will undertake a mentoring role to new Veterinarian DP entrants as required;

❚ All existing Divisional Veterinary Officers will retain their status as per the 2009 arrangements;

❚ As existing Supervisory Veterinary Officer posts come up for renewal, these will be advertised across VSAHG with the successful candidate then appointed on a permanent basis;

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❚ Payment of the supervisory Allowance will continue to be paid in accordance with the NIC HR Handbook�

After lengthy Branch deliberations Trade Union Side accepted this proposal on a without prej-udice basis, on the assumption that manage-ment honour the five points above, agree to engage and consult fully with Trade Union Side, through the VTOM on future staff relations, career progression staff engagement and part time flexible place working�

B3.2 Department for Communities (DfC)Workforce Planning: Throughout the year, Trade Union Side continued to press manage-ment on the issue of workforce planning, due to the apparent lack of strategic thinking or joined up vision between groups within the depart-ment� Trade Union Side met with the HR busi-ness partners and directors in each of the areas to try and resolve the problems around lack of information being provided to Trade Union Side and the impact the disjointed approach was having on members�

Trade Union Side agreed a redeployment plan, based on the DfC Redeployment principles which were agreed in 2016, within Work and Inclusion Group, which built upon the handbook provisions and provided members in the area greater protection during the large scale rede-ployments which took place as part of welfare reform�

Several meetings took place throughout the year between Trade Union Side and management in Work and Inclusion Group to manage ongoing and revised oversupply and surpluses within the group, mainly as a result of the roll-out of Universal Credit� Areas with particular pressures and shortages, such as Employment Support Allowance and the Belfast Benefits Centre, were identified and the department had agreed to try and fill posts within these areas as a priority from promotion lists and

On the wider workforce plan, management shared the balanced scorecard and people plan with Trade Union Side for comment and Trade Union Side had arranged further meetings to discuss some of the detail from the plan�

Universal Credit (UC): Throughout the year, Universal Credit continued to roll out across the network, with the final offices going live in December� Trade Union Side continued to meet with management on issues with the selection and training of staff for the UC offices and service centres as the final offices rolled out�

Trade Union Side met with management with regards to health and safety in the offices and specifically over the package of Protective and Preventative Measures (PPMs) which was due for review and updating the guidance on Unac-ceptable Customer Behaviour� After a delay in sharing with Trade Union Side, discussions had commenced over how to take this forward and to monitor health and safety in UC offices�

The issue of the managerial staff ratio was raised, with concerns about this not being adequate to allow the managers to carry out their work prop-erly� Trade Union Side met with management over the course of several meetings and finally secured agreement that the ratio would increase from 1-8 to 1-5 for EO1s from November 2018�

Concerns were raised in year about the staffing levels being in place and appropriate for the various sections within the UC Front Offices, Service Centres (SC) and the Operational Control Centre (OCC)� Trade Union Side also continued to raise issues with the levels of stress and sick-ness absence in these UC work areas and the impact that the change to working practices and areas was having on members�

Welfare Reform: Trade Union Side continued to oppose the introduction of Welfare reform and to scrutinise the work being done in rela-tion to Bedroom Tax, UC, Personal Independ-ence Payments (PIP) and all the other negative aspects of the austerity measures�

Questions in particular were asked in year as to what management proposed to do to imple-ment the measures outlined in the Rader Review into PIP operations and what response would be made from UC/DfC following the extremely negative United Nations Rapporteurs report into welfare reform and Trade Union Side continued to seek assurances from management about how they would take these forward�

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DWP Work: The NIPSA DWP sub-committee continued to meet through the year on issues common to DWP work areas in the depart-ment� Issues continued to arise in relation to the operation of the 8 to 6 working model and the tightening of access to flexi-time and adaption of alternative working patterns and these were being addressed on both a local level and with DWP NI senior management�

In year, it was announced that the DWP PIP work, carried out in Armagh, would transfer to Lisahally� The plan was that the Lisahally posts would be filled initially with agency staff, to allow for the transition of PIP work to 8 to 8 working, which was outside the NICS terms of employment� It was also agreed that no staff in Armagh would have to be redeployed and that work would be brought into Armagh from Fraud and Error Reduction Division to absorb the surplus staff�

Fraud/Error Reduction: The regrading exercise for Fraud Investigators in Fraud and Error Reduc-tion Division concluding in year, with the Field Investigator role being regraded from EO2 to EO1 and the Organised Fraud Investigator role being regraded from EO2 to SO�

The branch had sought to get the merit prin-cipal set aside so members could be uplifted in post but this was not agreed and the branch continued to meet with management about how to progress filling these new posts, with recruitment expected to take place in early 2019�

The division was also creating over 150 addi-tional posts and Trade Union Side met with management and sought agreement that these would be filled in the first instance with staff who were surplus in the regions, to try and minimise disruption and retain jobs across the network� Work on this was expected to continue into the middle of 2019�

Finance Support: Trade Union Side continued to engage with Finance Support management, and the newly appointed Grade 7 in charge of this work area, around staffing issues and working practices within the Discretionary support units and the wider Finance Support command�

During the year, Trade Union Side were consulted on the introduction of Real Time Officers, to monitor caller traffic and help manage the daily

working of the service, and on the introduction of rotas for cover through business hours and this was currently being monitored by the local Trade Union Sides�

Project Updates

a. Legal Aid project: During the year, Manage-ment advised that progress on the transfer of Legal Aid to the Department for Justice could not be made due to the lack of a minister and the issue of recent high-profile civil service decisions� While the final move was stalled, it was agreed to continue on with planning and the transfer was planned to take place at the end of the financial year�

b. Bereavement Support Project (BSP)/Retirement Provision: The Bereavement Support Project scope was extended to include the relocation of Social Fund Funeral Payments (SFFP) from Lisburn Jobs and Benefits Office to Carlisle House� SFFP work successfully re-located as scheduled on 5 November, with no major issues encountered� It was agreed that BSP Claims Manager, the IT processing system developed by DWP would be introduced in Carlisle House in November to help reduce the amount of clerical work required�

c. Tell Us About a Death (TUAD): The Tell Us about a Death Project was put on hold for the foreseeable future while DWP focus on stabilising the existing Tell Us Once (TUO) service in GB� DWP were asked to be mindful of any developments to the TUO service which might be of interest to the depart-ment� The Project continued to deliver on its objective to increase the frequency of file transfer information about deaths from the General Register Office (GRO) to DWP and Trade Union Side continued to be consulted throughout this process�

d. Apply and maintain Carers Allowance (AMCA): In early October, Management consulted with Trade Union Side on the set up of the project and shared the Outline Business Case, which sought to move appli-cations for Carers Allowance onto a new computer system, currently in use in DWP� Trade Union Side continued to engage with

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management on the issue and to monitor any possible impact on members in the area�

e. Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI): The Support for Mortgage Interest project team met with Trade Union Side throughout the year as the project began to roll–out to different business areas� Difficulties with the amount of staff required to apply the new scheme and the complexity of the change from a benefit to a loan meant that the deadline for the winding up of the project was extended until early 2019, as the project continued to support the individual business areas�

f. Customer Insight/Continuous Improve-ment Project (CICI): It was reported that the project, which had been set up to try and improve the experience of claimants for various benefits across the department, had been stalled following Trade Union Side making arguments about the need to review the progress so far before proceeding� Management agreed to review the lessons learned and get NICSHR on board in order to better focus on the customer experience and understand the potential impact on staff�

Lanyon Plaza: During the year, it was announced that DfC would not be renewing the leases on James House and the Lighthouse building and that the NICS had acquired Lanyon Plaza and would be using this space to accommodate DfC staff� A Trade Union Side sub-committee was established, from members in the affected branches, to look at the move, which was due to take place in early 2019� Early issues were identified around the physical environment in a large open plan space, access for members with reasonable adjustments in place, car parking facilities, access to dedicated Trade Union offices and a range of other issues�

Registered Disagreements On Trawls: During the year, Trade Union Side raised a number of registered disagreements in relation to filling posts in more senior roles� The issue related to the use of trawls, when Trade Union Side felt a general service expression of interest was more justified for use, and when posts were being advertised as being for external competition, when Trade Union Side believed this was unnec-essary�

The issues had been raised through the internal, departmental process but was also raised as a Central Whitley matter�

Public Records Office NI (PRONI): During the year, Trade Union Side consulted on the need for specific degree qualifications for Curatorial posts within PRONI and this led to disagreement over the filing of vacancies in this area� Trade Union Side also engaged with management on the extension and next phase of a volunteering pilot within the area, which allowed members of the public to assist with maintaining Public Records�

Historical Environment Division (HED): Trade Union Side were consulted about issues concerning the grading and allowances for different disciplines with HED� Trade Union Side continued to work with local representatives and members to try and progress this issue�

Appeals: Management commenced consulta-tion with Trade Union Side on an Appeals Trans-formation Project, in line with arrangements between PCS and DWP, which seeks to reform the access to information for appeals and the sharing of information between the various appeals teams and the Courts Service, and to improve online access to lodging and tracking of claims for appellants� An initial Trade Union Side was set up to mirror the management’s Dispute Resolution Teams and the first meeting about the project was due to meet towards the end of the year�

Housing, Urban Regeneration and Local Government (HURLG): Trade Union Side were engaged with management during the year on issues relating to the provision of centralised payments for Urban Regeneration projects and had also been dealing with issues surrounding the resourcing implications within Housing Division�

Trade Union Side were consulted on a new proce-dure for applications for Temporary Promotions across the group and had raised this issue as potentially having wider implications across the department�

Employability, Health And Benefits Policy (EHBP): During the year, Trade Union Side continued to engage with management from EHBP as the branch expanded� The area estab-lished 2 new Grade 7 commands, and Trade

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Union Side engaged with management as to how this would happen and the range of work which was being carried out�

Late in the year, Trade Union Side was consulted on a comprehensive “housekeeping review” within the branch, which was set up to look at the changing roles within the department and to ensure job descriptions were reflective of the work being done and if needs be, to carry forward grading and loading reviews� This was expected to last until late autumn, 2019 and with a commit-ment that Trade Union Side would be consulted throughout the process�

Mental Health Pilot: During the year, Trade Union Side consulted with management in NICSHR and WIG on the development of a Mental Health pilot, which was looking at tack-ling in work stress and also seeing what inter-ventions could be put in place to tackle those off with work related stress�

Management had developed a toolkit to help managers to provide support to staff who had went off sick and were reporting stress as the cause� Following consultation with Trade Union Side, it was agreed that targeted interventions could be used but that contact needed to be agreed with the individual� The “in work” project strand had sought to clarify the support avail-able to help managers support members who were reporting or displaying signs of being stressed at work� The approach was then being tested across WIG areas�

As part of the project, the role of “mental health first aiders was raised” and it was reported that this was paid for in some DWP areas but the role was to signpost only and was supported by the local branch�

Further meetings were being arranged to continue the consultation on the pilot, which Management side had sought to extend to gather better data and allow a clearer evaluation of the project� Trade Union Side had expressed the view that any extension should take in areas outside of WIG and the consultation was ongoing�

IR Training: During the year, Trade Union Side worked with DfC NICS HR management on the design and delivery of an EO2 induction package

which included a half day training on Industrial Relations� This training took place throughout the autumn, on a pilot basis, and the hope was that training could then be rolled out to all EO2 staff and potentially across all management grades�

Late in the year, Trade Union Side met with management about how this could be rolled out for senior grades, at G5, G6 and G7 and this was expected to commence in early 2019�

Managing Attendance: During the year, Trade Union Side received copies of the managing attendance figures for the department, which show the numbers of warnings issued, and the number of dismissals, under managing attend-ance�

The figures showed the continuing trend of members within the department being subjected to a more harsh application of the managing attendance policy, with staff in DfC getting warnings in more than 50% of cases where a review point was reached, which was between 2 and 10 times more than in other departments� The number of dismissals on sick-ness grounds had also risen in year�

Trade Union Side raised the issue with manage-ment and agreed to raise the issue centrally with NICS HR�

Departmental Committee Constitutions and Structures: During the year, following a series of meetings where all DfC branches were invited to give their views on the NIPSA draft Depart-mental Constitutions and the one drafted by the subcommittee established previously, a draft Departmental Constitution, based on the need for a departmental conference, was agreed� This constitution also outlined a desire for a 35 person committee, to allow for each branch to represented�

Following the constitution being sent to the Civil Service Group Executive (CSGE) for approval, the CSGE rejected the move away from a 25 person committee and insisted on the inclusion of seconded officers in line with NIPSA’s other consti-tutions, along with some other minor changes� This was relayed back to the Departmental Trade Union Side for further consideration about how to proceed�

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B3.3 Department for Economy (DfE)Whitley Arrangements: The Whitley constitu-tion and Industrial Relations Guide were revised to reflect the Registered Disagreement process and the constitution was signed off by the NIPSA Headquarters Official and the Permanent Secretary at the Departmental Whitley Annual General Meeting (AGM) in December 2018� The AGM was a very productive meeting with both sides affirming their commitment to continuing good industrial relations in the Department�

Departmental Budget: Management reported they were operating in a challenging environ-ment as a result of budget constraints within the NI block and with the absence of an Assembly to make budget decisions� Departments continued to work within one year budgets which presents challenges in progressing long term strategic objectives particularly for capital projects�

For 2018-19 the Department was allocated a non-ring-fenced Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit of £762�1 million, subse-quently increased to £768�5 million� The ring-fenced Resource budget stands at £161�7 million with the Capital budget at £53�3 million� The 2018-19 Resource Budget for the Department is effectively a flat lined position from 2017-18� Additional staffing budgets are being utilised for BREXIT preparation work and Trade Union Side

Organisational Review: Following the restruc-turing of NICS departments, an Organisational Review of the Department was commissioned by the Permanent Secretary�

Centralisation of ICT Staff: Trade Union Side met with the Permanent Secretary to express concerns about the impact on the Department of the centralisation of ICT services within the Department of Finance� Trade Union Side cited concerns regarding the lack of a clear business rationale, as well as fears that there would be a negative impact on the members concerned in terms of future priorities and resources to deal with all the work� Trade Union Side reported that NIPSA would be raising these concerns centrally and that we would continue to monitor the impact of the change on the Department�

Accommodation: Trade Union Side was consulted on a number of accommodation issues which included;

a. Canteen in Netherleigh: Trade Union Side was apprised of the possibility that the canteen would close but after some discus-sion it emerged that it would remain open with staff reduction and a reduced service�

b. Adelaide House: Trade Union Side were consulted about the accommodation pres-sures in Adelaide House, as a result of the increase in staffing required for EU Exit� After consulting with the members affected, Trade Union Side agreed that a staff break-out area could be used to temporarily house staff but that a longer term solution must be consid-ered and discussed with Trade Union Side�

c. Other Areas: Trade Union Side were consulted on the movement of Careers Service staff to Academy House in Ballymena and the proposed move of Careers staff from Richmond Chambers to Orchard House�

Recruitment: Trade Union Side met with the Permanent Secretary to raise concerns regarding the placement of SIB staff within the areas of telecoms and energy� Trade Union Side raised some broad concerns about the role of the SIB in the NICS� Trade Union Side questioned the recruitment process, including the merit prin-ciple, and raised concerns about accountability of SIB staff who were not NICS staff and about their interface with NIPSA members in their day to day work� Management responded that the requisite project management experience and technical expertise did not exist in the depart-ment and assured TUS that NICS staff would remain accountable and that SIB staff would not be directly managing NICS staff�

Staffing: It was a very intensive year particu-larly with the increase in staffing needs in the areas of EU Exit and RHI which has necessitated structural changes impacting across the Depart-ment� At 1 November 2018, the Department’s headcount stood at 1051 – there were 133 vacancies, of which 49 posts are EU Exit-related� The Department prioritised vacancies in the EU business areas and closely monitored and managed the resourcing needs in conjunction

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with NICS HR� The Department was allocated 3 staff from the Fast Stream Grade 7 competi-tion to address vacancy pressures� The increase in vacancies, and lack of immediate supply in some instances impacted on the number of temporary promotions across the Department which at year-end was 115� Trade Union Side continued to raise concerns about the high level of temporary promotions and the use of Agency staff although acknowledged that the year-end figure of 14 for the latter was small� Management gave assurances that the temporary promotions would substantially reduce after the permanent competitions and it was agreed that Trade Union Side would work with the HR Business Partner on plans to introduce a quarterly review of tempo-rary promotions�

Consultation: Trade Union Side met with the new HR Business Partner and the Corporate Services G7 to agree more detailed discussions around HR matters and to help aid consulta-tion and understanding� One of the key issues addressed was in relation to the provision of HR management information to Trade Union Side with the emphasis on a range of data that is rele-vant and timely�

Careers Service: At the Careers Whitley on the 11th October 2018, the Local Whitley Consti-tution was agreed and signed off by the chair-persons for Management Side and Trade Union Side� The constitution included reference to the process for handling Registered Disagreements�

The year began with two Registered Disagree-ments in place� Trade Union Side agreed to lift the registered disagreement in relation to the Digital Hub after receiving assurances from Management Side that a formal process would be put in place to provide adequate support and cover for client facing staff during leave and other busy periods and that Management Side would work on a filter mechanism for webchat and discuss this with Trade Union Side�

The long running Registered Disagreement in relation to the use of laptops was not lifted as Trade Union Side had ongoing health and safety concerns regarding the size of monitors� Trade Union Side also had ongoing concerns regarding the impact of the use of laptops on the Adminis-trative Officer grade�

Following a recruitment exercise management filled vacancies for 2 Careers Managers and are in the process of filling the existing 7 vacancies for Careers Advisors�

The Review of Administrative Support which was due to report in November 2018 was delayed until early 2019� Trade Union Side remained alert to the possibility that the review may recommend a reduction in support staff but are encouraged by the assurances from Manage-ment Side that there will be no compulsory redeployment of staff engaged in that work�

Trade Union Side were consulted on and provided responses to a wide range of docu-ments including, inter alia;

❚ The Careers Service Quality Assurance Framework;

❚ Careers Service Guidelines;

❚ Careers Guidance On-Line Application process for schools ;

❚ Careers Service Vacancy Management process;

❚ Careers Audit;

❚ Careers Business Plan�

Office of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunals: There was a change in the Management Side in OITFET� Trade Union Side met the new acting G7� It was a very productive meeting and both sides expressed a commitment to developing good industrial rela-tions and to work together through the Local Whitley Committee�

Insolvency Service: Industrial relations continued to be difficult within the branch� The Trade Union Side dealt with a number of transfer requests from Staff Officer Accountant members who did not feel they were in Accountancy posts� The issues were discussed with the Management Side but agreement on the nature of the posts could not be reached�

Trade Union Side was disappointed to learn that the Candidate Information Booklet for EO2 Trainee Examiner Posts was unilaterally changed by NICSHR before issue without consultation� NICSHR had removed the reference to Straight-Through Grading to EOI which had been the

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subject of agreement between local Manage-ment and Trade Union Sides� Trade Union Side continued to raise concerns on the issue and was working to finalise an agreed process�

Departmental Secretary: Following a compe-tition the post was offered to and accepted by Carmel Gates who commenced work in the Trade Union Side office on Monday 2 July 2018� The Departmental Committee thanked Frank Cammock, the previous Departmental Secretary for his excellent work in the post�

Health and Safety: Throughout 2018 NIPSA and DfE Management Side worked together to develop a cohesive Departmental Health and Safety policy� The joint approach resulted in a heightened awareness of Health and Safety throughout the Department, the development of a Safe Working Practices guidance for use primarily in the Careers Service business area, the carrying out of risk assessments across the Department and the joint development of an online Display Screen Equipment assessment process which it is intended to roll out across the NICS � As a result of the joint endeavours to set up the DSE assessment process the Depart-mental Trade Union Side Health and Safety lead Paul Turner, the Departmental Health and Safety adviser Allison Glass and IT specialist Peter Toal were nominated for a NICS collaboration award� Two business areas in the Department have taken the positive step of exploring the Management Standards as a means to attempt to reduce work related stress� Trade Union Side Health and Safety representatives played a proactive part in steering the exercises in both areas and were hopeful that other areas would see the benefits of engaging the Management Standards and working with Trade Union Side to improve the health of their staff and colleagues and reduce incidences of work related stress� Thankfully there have been no major incidents or accidents during this reporting period� Trade Union Side looked forward to continued working with DfE management on the development and delivery of the DfE Health and Safety Strategy 2017-2020�

B3.4 Department of Education (DE)Resourcing: The Department of Education (DE) was allocated a 2018-19 Resource DEL budget of £1,939�4m which was effectively flat cash when compared to the 2017-18 closing budget on a like for like basis� The allocation included “Confidence and Supply” funding of £16�5m to meet existing severe deprivation pressures and a further £20m to address other educa-tion pressures during 2018-19� The 2018-19 opening budget for Departmental staffing and general Departmental expenditure was £30m� The budget position for DE was likely to remain extremely challenging due to significant unavoidable cost pressures facing education�

Accommodation (Rathgael House): Accom-modation was highlighted as a priority in the DE People Plan and Management Side confirmed that they were engaging with Properties Division with a view to moving all staff who remained working in the tower block to other locations within the complex� It had been hoped that work would commence prior to the end of the financial year at which point there would be a need to utilise the Balloo annex and G4 for the decanted staff�

Transformation Programme: Management Side held a number of informal meetings with Trade Union Side during 2018 regarding the Transformation Programme which were mainly communicative rather than consultative� Trade Union Side had noted that wider engagement was needed involving Department for the Economy (DfE), the Education Authority (EA) and Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) due to the fact that the programme encom-passed these organisations as well�

Trade Union Side was also concerned about a lack of consistency around the filling of posts that were required to deliver the Transformation programme although Management Side did not agree with their assessment, advising that the vacancy management process was followed when filling vacancies� A set of resourcing prin-ciples was agreed in this regard�

Trade Union Side is concerned with regards union engagement given the multi-union nature of the education authority and the likely

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impact of transformation work on the teaching and support staff in this area� Management have committed to good industrial relations and ensuring that unions were consulted on matters that affect them�

Teachers Payroll/Pensions Project (Waterside House): In May 2018, the Department of Finance (DoF) Supply approved an Outline Business Case (OBC) for the Teachers Payroll/Pensions Project, based in Waterside House, and CPD published the Project Information Memorandum (PIM) and Selection Questionnaire (SQ) which had a closing date of 20 June 2018� Following eval-uation of the three received bids, the competi-tive dialogue sessions with the three potential suppliers began in September 2018� The Oper-ational Requirement/system specification was completed with the Project Team keeping Trade Union Side and staff updated with develop-ments as the project progressed� Updates in the form of bulletins were e-mailed directly to each member of TPPT staff in Waterside House, before being published on DE’s intranet site� The PID was shared with Trade Union Side, although the OBC was not, as they were advised it contained commercially sensitive information�

The proposed solution for the project was a managed/hosted solution, similar to the present arrangements, whereby TPPT staff would continue to administer the NI Teachers’ Pension Scheme and Trade Union Side’s concerns were allayed as they were assured there would be no impact on the current staffing numbers in Waterside House�

Education And Training Inspectorate (ETI): Trade Union Side continued to experience severe difficulties in regard to industrial relations with the senior management of ETI which neces-sitated the involvement of NICS HR and which continued to place considerable work pressures on both the Departmental Secretary and all the NIPSA representatives in that area�

Due to ongoing industrial relations difficulties, NIPSA proposed using the services of the Labour Relations Agency to facilitate a resolution to the impasse� Following significant efforts, a Terms of Reference was agreed and dates organised to meet in October 2018� However manage-ment cancelled these meetings at the last

minute, frustrating progress� A further date was agreed for December 2018 but management then sought to introduce conditions before any meeting could take place, conditions that were unacceptable to NIPSA�

Concerns regarding industrial relations were then raised again with the Permanent Secretary who has agreed to consider the points raised by NIPSA in an effort to move matters forward�

Temporary Promotion (TP) Process: Although Management Side was working towards normal-ising the DE staffing structure via a programme of assessing the funding and headcount posi-tion, filling vacant priority posts and thereby unravelling temporary promotions, Trade Union Side continued to raise concerns regarding the ongoing number of TPs and agency staff being used and, whilst they understood the need in the case of specialised posts, they additionally had concerns with how these were being done and the length of some of the TPs�

Departmental Whitley Council (DWC): The DE DWC met twice in 2018, in March and September, taking it in turn to hold meetings in Rathgael House and Waterside House in order to facilitate those attending who work across both sites and beyond�

A LWC Constitution for Branch 22 (Education and Training Inspectorate) had been drafted but due to local difficulties had yet to be signed off�

Equal Opportunities:

a. Work Life Balance:

i� Term Time Working (TTW): A total of 32 DE staff (19 full time and 13 reduced hours) were operating under TTW con-tracts which commenced in April 2018 and were due to finish in March 2019�

b. Partial Retirement: A total of 20 DE staff were working under partial retirement arrangements – 14 in Rathgael House and 6 in Waterside House�

c. Part-time Working/Job Sharing/Partial Retirement: A total of 91 DE staff were working reduced hours – 76 in Rathgael House and 15 in Waterside House� In each case, information was sought in regard to

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the number of applications made but not granted but Trade Union Side were advised this was not available as it was not collated�

d. Career Breaks: A total of 13 DE staff were currently on career breaks�

Health and Safety: A range of Health and Safety policies and procedures have been updated on the DE Intranet throughout the year�

a. Health and Safety Training: All DE staff were invited to complete following online courses via the new LInKS platform in 2018:

❚ Fire Safety Awareness (JUN 2018);

❚ Display Screen Equipment Awareness (SEPT 2018)�

Fire Warden training was also deliver to 15 members of Rathgael House� This was trainer led and delivered by colleagues in DoF - Fire Safety Section�

Ten members of staff in Rathgael House and Waterside House availed of First Aid at Work training� This course led by Health Matters that have the NICS contract Health and Safety training contract�

Accidents: DE has had five minor accidents this year� None of the accidents were reportable under RIDDOR�

Committees: The Department’s Health and Safety Officer continued to attend the Central Government Fire Safety Committee and the Inter-Departmental Health and Safety Forum�

Representatives from across all NICS Depart-ments with specific responsibility for, or an interest in, the health and safety of staff and others affected by their activities by sharing knowledge and experience to help improve health, safety and welfare conditions in the NICS�

B3.5 Department Of Finance (DoF)Departmental Whitley: The well-established Whitley machinery continued with regular updates and information sharing on the budg-etary pressures and staffing issues including promotion competitions finally filling the many vacant posts across the Department and reducing reliance on Temporary Promotions� There were discussions held on the Equalisation

arrangements for the Department in comparison with the rest of NICS� Centralisation continued with the consolidation of NICSHR within DoF and being joined by Finance functions and Internal Audit�

Accommodation: The demise of the Lanyon Plaza optimisation project was finally confirmed after much speculation however it was quickly replaced by a Goodwood House optimisation alternative for NICSHR staff that will be expected to further advance hot desking proposals of 8 desks per 10 staff�

Health and Safety: This area continues to strengthen with more interest being shown by reps� In addition to the inspection schedule for DoF buildings established last year progress has been shown in the establishment of Health and Safety Committees in almost all work areas� Training is ongoing with a steady stream of reps progressing through the various stages of qual-ification�

NIPSA Recruitment: NIPSA held a number of Adult Information Days (AID) in Waterside House, L’Derry, Lanyon Plaza and other venues nation-wide� These events were learning/information days which informed staff of the opportunities and provided information on local services avail-able to them� Information on services accessible to NIPSA members are also available with NIPSA Service providers from various fields including Legal, Financial and Health in attendance� NIPSA reps were in attendance at these events to inform and advise staff interested in joining NIPSA� Feedback and footfall at these events have been very positive and it is planned to run many more of these events in 2019 across all areas�

CPD: An amalgamation of some Properties staff with CPD took place in 2018� Around 100 staff moved into Clare House from Properties Division which resulted in 2 Trade Union Side Branches (Branch 1 – CPD) and (Branch 12 – Properties) being based in Clare House� It was agreed with Management that initially a Shared Whitley process would take place with eventually the two branches merging into one branch – Branch 1� This merger is planned to be completed in 2019�

Trade Union Side will continue to consult with Management on proposed changes to the Help-desk and the new Framework Document�

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SSD members were balloted on a proposal to have procurement officers recognised as a professional discipline within NICS� The members rejected the proposal, the results were as follows;

❚ The ballot was sent out to the 33 NIPSA members within SSD

❚ 21 responses returned

❚ 20 members - against procurement officers being recognised as a profession within the NICS

❚ 1 member - for procurement officers being recognised as a profession within the NICS�

Pensions Branch: The new Pensions Admin-istration System (FSDP) was still not fully func-tional and staff were still required to carry out manual work-arounds� This continued to cause a pressurised and stressful working environment�

CSP HR services transferred from NICSHR to ESS� LTUS raised concerns about the rationale for this move which was carried out with no real consultation but have received assurances from Management that this was not a precursor to privatisation�

Annual Benefit Statements for all pension Schemes were able to be produced in the last 12 months which was welcomed as Pensions had encountered difficulties in producing State-ments for Classic and Premium Scheme cases previously�

DSO/CSO: Legal Admin Branch (Branch 4) which was inactive for the past few years has been reconstituted and a Committee in place� Admin staff were keen to have a Trade Union presence in place for both DSO and CSO in light of signifi-cant changes taking place around restructuring�

The results of the long awaited Review of Legal Grades was published and had as expected a significant impact on G6 roles in particular� The Report resulted in a surplus being declared at G6 and plans for a major restructuring exercise in DSO and CSO going forward� Management and Trade Union Side continued to consult closely on any proposed changes�

Trade Union Side reluctantly agreed to a G6 Voluntary Exit Scheme being run in order to address the G6 surplus situation arising from the

outworkings of the Review but felt that due to the relatively small numbers involved and the age profile of the affected staff, that this was the best option in the circumstances�

Trade Union Side registered a Formal Disagree-ment with DSO Management over the decision to hold a G5 Promotion Board as an External competition� Trade Union Side argued that there were sufficient numbers within the organ-isation in the candidate pool to warrant an internal competition and potentially mitigate against the G6 surplus figure but Management disagreed and decided to proceed arguing there was a gender imbalance�

Eventually, Trade Union Side withdrew our Disa-greement on the basis that it would adversely affect the interests of members who were consid-ering the G6 VES by delaying the G5 promotion competition further�

Land and Property Services (LPS )

a. Land Registry: Assurances regarding the effect of the NOVA transformation projects were secured that any staff efficiencies would be channelled back into LPS� The underground basement storage facility was fitted with air conditioning to allow staff to work in acceptable working conditions� The transfer/scanning of paper archive continued with the aim of electronically storing all Registry documents� The reliance on recruit-ment agency staff continued in the short to medium term alongside substantial over-time until AO supply improves and Whitley continues to discuss a staffing structure for future needs�

b. Ordnance Survey: MCO permanent recruit-ment delivered over 50 new starts and a second competition commenced to ensure supply was maintained� A new Field replace-ment system was introduced and staff worked through its implementation with a welcome return to Field survey� The staff structure was improved and broadened over the year and Trade Union Side began a conversation around the increased ICT specialist nature of many Mapping and Charting posts� Some projects such as LIPIS (DAERA) continue with Agency staff and NIPSA pressed for these

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staff to receive 2017/18 pay increases and back pay to be paid�

c. LPS Rating: Agreement was reached early in the year on a flexi working electronic solu-tion which averted a possible breakdown of industrial relations� The year ended with staff experiencing non release to interest circular posts� This was as a result of the success of staff on EO2 promotion competitions and the lack of supply of replacement AO staff� LPS were expressing a need for front-line AO staff but will have to progress that centrally� Staff continued to suffer the worst of Lanyon Plaza’s extremes of heat, cold and dry humidity while Health and Safety reps endeavoured to seek effective action from the Department�

d. Valuation LPS: Trade Union Side continued to liaise with Management over staffing levels and expressed concerns about the proposed staffing levels identified for Review in 2019� Trade Union Side continued to discuss with Management proposed methods of filling vacancies in the Valuation Directorate and the preference was that internal competi-tions should be run as opposed to external competitions�

Account NI: Following the introduction of e-in-voicing efficiencies have been made which resulted in a downturn in workload� As a result of this issues regarding micro management in particular work areas has eased� Temporary Promotions (TP’s) continued to be used to fill posts on a long-term basis without any view by management to fill the posts substantively� The local Branch continues to engage with manage-ment for a resolution of this issue�

NICSHR: Following the establishment of the local Branch and the Whitley, work continues in this area in building on already established positive industrial relations� A NIPSA restructure within DoF has seen this Branch become solely HR staff with a new Branch being established for the other work areas�

NISRA: The Branch was rebuilding structures however representations on behalf of members in this area is being managed by the Depart-mental Office� Meetings have taken place with

management to re-establish Whitley and a new Branch committee� Recruitment is ongoing in this work area at various grades� However issues with the testing process for the G7 posts have been raised�

DSS: Recruitment was ongoing to fill vacan-cies at ICT 2 and ICT 3 grades in IT Assist� An external competition to fill vacancies at ICT3 in Digital Development was held� The Branch continued to work closely with the ICT Consul-tative Committee on a range of issues including the Transformation of NICS ICT Services and the review of NICS Allowances�

Ongoing issue regarding the grading of Graphic Designers in the Branch whereby this discipline is graded differently to other areas of the NICS� It is hoped that a resolution can be reached with HR on this�

B3.6 Department of Health (DOH)Industrial Relations: There had been signif-icant industrial relations problems between NIPSA and the Permanent Secretary for some time� Trade Union Side raised concerns again at Departmental Whitley Council (DWC) and the importance of having a DWC Annual General Meeting (AGM) with the Permanent Secretary in attendance�

Following both formal and informal engage-ment with senior management and the Perma-nent Secretary, the DWC AGM took place on 15 November 2018 with the Permanent Secretary in attendance� At this meeting, NIPSA chal-lenged the Permanent Secretary on his commit-ment to industrial relations guide and engaging managers at all levels on the importance of good industrial relations and engagement with NIPSA� NIPSA also raised concerns they had not been formally invited to participate in a ‘Deliver Together’ event meeting with Grade 5’s despite the fact they had fully participated in a similar event the previous year� The Permanent Secre-tary confirmed his commitment to good indus-trial relations and committed to review and implement a new guide�

Finance: The budget was slightly lower than the previous year due to staff transferring to NICS HR and the centralisation of the Internal Audit

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function� The budget (£21�971m) was under-spent by £1�1m with all group heads declaring an under spend� An additional £0�77m was also under spent within the GAE budget� The GAE under-spend had been for a variety of reasons but mainly due to lower than expected prem-ises costs easements in ministerial and informa-tion/publicity costs and additional underspends relating to legal and compensation costs� Further the Department received an additional £100m (with a promise of a further £100 next financial year) from the confidence and supply agreement which was ring-fenced for health service transformation�

While this supported the creation of around 40 new posts, NIPSA raised concerns regards the future sustainability of these posts if and when funding from confidence and supply agreement ends�

People Survey: NIPSA have engaged with Management on the outcomes of the people survey and the need to not only provide effec-tive communication but evidence of outcomes to ensure engagement from staff in any future survey� Concerns have been raised regarding the team code on the 2018 survey and reassur-ance was provided that no staff would be identi-fied from completing the survey�

Staffing Issues: NIPSA continued to receive information from Management Side on a quar-terly basis with regards resource and vacancy levels� In February 2018 NIPSA agreed to a local ‘resourcing guidance’ which placed emphasis on both local consultation and the funding element of filling vacancies� Ongoing reviews of temporary promotions instigated by NIPSA were also encouraged in an attempt to fill vacan-cies as quickly as possible and all DOH tempo-rary promotions beyond 12 months are being reviewed automatically� Management Side confirmed on 1st October 2018 that there were 425 staff in post - down around 30 from last year� It was also advised that no staff were currently declared as surplus within the Department�

Overtime: NIPSA were consulted prior to over-time exercises being offered to staff which is in line with CSC37/74� Total overtime worked from 1 Jan 2018 to 30 November 2018 was £28,381�00� This allowed NIPSA to monitor areas within the

Department with possible resource issues and also considered any cost pressures associated with overtime�

B3.7 Department for Infrastructure (DfI)Departmental Running Costs: Following the publication of the Briefing on Northern Ireland Budgetary Outlook document by Department of Finance, Trade Union Side met with Senior Managers to discuss the implications for the Department� All of the scenarios outlined in the document would have had serious implications for services provided to the public� Trade Union Side agreed to assist in highlighting these impli-cations to politicians and the general public� The Department were allocated additional money in the budget which allowed services to remain at the previous level for the year however there will be a threat to budgets in the coming years and Trade Union Side will continue to engage with the Department on the implications for staff and services�

Digital Services Branch: Trade Union Side engaged with Management in the Unit throughout the year on a monthly basis on the ICT shared services project� Trade Union Side highlighted concerns with senior management regarding the project and the likely impact on the provision of ICT services in the Department� Trade Union Side requested that departmental staff are not transferred to the new shared service until such times as the Department is satisfied that the same level of service will be maintained�

Whitley Arrangements: As the revised Depart-mental Whitley constitution had not been signed off centrally, Trade Union Side and Management Side agreed to conduct business on the basis of the draft constitution in the interim� Both sides affirmed their commitment to continuing good industrial relations in the Department�

Provision of Information for Whitley: Trade Union Side raised concerns that since the estab-lishment of NICS HR the information provided for the Departmental Whitley was insufficient for Trade Union Side purposes particularly in the areas of managing attendance and dignity at work� Management Side agreed to raise this issue with NICS HR� Trade Union Side raised this issue centrally and concerns raised into the

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relevant workstream as part of the Standardisa-tion of ER processes project�

Dignity at Work: Trade Union Side raised concerns about the length of time taken for Dignity at Work complaints to be completed as some cases were live for more than 2 years� Management Side agreed to raise concerns with NICS HR to see if there was anything could be done to speed up the process� Trade Unions Side will continued to monitor the situation�

Managing Attendance: Trade Union Side raised concerns that the number of absences due to work related stress had risen in the Department and asked that Management Side do an analysis to see if there was an underlying cause particu-larly as staff numbers had decreased in recent years and a number of new systems of work have been introduced� Trade Union Side reiterated its view that VES and Budget Cuts had increased workloads and created a more stressful environ-ment�

Review of Public Transport Division: Manage-ment Side consulted on the terms of reference for a review of the Public Transport Division� The purpose of the review was to assess staffing needs and if necessary form the basis of a bid for additional staff� Trade Union Side engaged with the Branch and continued to engage throughout the review�

Workforce Planning: Trade Union Side reit-erated concerns with regard to vacancies and temporary promotions, given that there was a supply across most grades� Trade Union Side asked that Management Side considered substantially filling posts� Management Side confirmed that DfI and NICS HR would work together to assess staffing needs, bearing in mind the resource budget position and would fill posts on a permanent basis from promotion lists where possible� Management Side also confirmed that the Departmental Board moni-tored temporary promotion figures closely�

BREXIT: Trade Union Side engaged with Management Side to discuss the possible impli-cations of Brexit on the Department� A number of new posts were created to take forward Brexit related work and Management Side provided regular briefings to Trade Union Side on Brexit

work being done in the Department� Trade Union Side continued to monitor the situation to ensure that adequate resources were in place�

Catering: Following the retendering of the cleaning contract, catering services were with-drawn from Clarence Court, County Hall Cole-raine and County Hall Ballymena� Trade Union Side engaged with members who worked in these canteens to ensure they were aware of their rights and that they got representation in any discussion with their management� Trade Union Side also engaged with Management Side and asked for alternate catering provision to be provided in these buildings� Trade Union Side welcomed the new catering facility in County Hall Coleraine and continued to engage with Management Side on provisions for the other buildings�

Driver Vehicle Agency: Transformation Project: Management Side advised that the new Hyde-bank Test Centre, part of the Transformation Project would be completed and open to the public by early 2021� This would be the first of the replacement test centres in Northern Ireland� The site had all asbestos removed and demolition of the remainder of the site was due to commence by the end of the year� This was an essential part of the project given the demographic changes in Northern Ireland since the original build 35-40 years ago� With significant increase in vehicle usage in the Belfast vicinity it was essential that capacity for testing also increased�

The new driver licensing online applications were to be fully operational by early 2019, with only the ID Assurance to be completed� The public would be able to renew and replace their driving licence completely online�

This gave rise to some office reorganisation which was ongoing� Trade Union Side advised management that they would need to be fully consulted on the staff accommodation plan and on any changes to work patterns or other issues�

As a result of the changes and pressures placed on staff, the number of stress cases had risen considerably� The Trade Union Departmental Office was working closely with Management Side and NICS HR to find solutions to all prob-lems in order to create a stress free environment�

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Trade Union Side and staff were given access to videos of the new centre design both from a staff and customer perspective� It was antic-ipated the new specifications would result in a healthier environment for all, with less cramped conditions and a more modern approach to vehicle testing and customer comfort�

As part of the ICT transformation most driving tests had been completed using a tablet type device� This proved popular with both examiners and the public� On completion of the test results are emailed directly to the candidates and Driver Licensing who automatically issue a full licence�

Holiday Pay: NIPSA have now lodged tribunal cases on behalf of all DVA staff in relation to the Holiday Pay and Allowances case� Meetings had taken place with members across all of the centres to advise on the issues and establish if there were potential claims�

CCTV: Trade Union Side had raised the issue of staff safety arising from alleged assaults on staff from the public� As a result of negotia-tions a CCTV system was agreed and was imple-mented as a trial in one centre� Arising from the trial it was agreed by Trade Union Side who had consulted members and Management Side that it would be implemented across the service in new MOT centres� The strictest Data Protection measures had been put in place� This has proved successful by reducing the problems previously experienced by members� Trade Union Side are keen to ensure it becomes an integral part of our new builds�

TG1: The TG1 JEGS exercise arising from equal pay was ongoing�

Enforcement Section: iPads were introduced for operational staff in an attempt to eliminate staff having to do handwritten paperwork� Enforce-ment was the lead group to use this technology whilst out on duty across Northern Ireland� The system was well received by members who felt it assisted in their day to day work�

Roads Holiday Pay Case: Presentations took place across the roads branches advising members of what the case was about and how members to lodge cases over the summer months�

A considerable number of roads staff worked overtime on a regular basis and others had allowances� A significant number of cases were lodged�

Succession Planning: The impact of the Volun-tary Exit Scheme was still impacting on roads staffing� There remained a large considerable number of vacancies at the PTO grade despite the best efforts of the Trade Union Side to have them filled�

An external PTO competition to partly address the issue was to be released in early December 2018 with interviews taking place in January/Feb 2019� Confirmation of an external TG1 board and internal RSD PTO and TG1 boards were awaited�

Trade Union Side agreed a new SPTO board in 2018 and that competition was expected to be completed with a list issued before the end of the year� No delays were anticipated�

Roads and River’s Development Programme: The Roads and Rivers Development Programme’s aim was to refine its business model whilst trying to maintain its level of service to the public with reducing resources� It was hoped that savings could be found with the removal of duplication across roads and rivers structures�

This programme saw a review of every business function in both areas of work and was ongoing� The Trade Union Side met the senior coordi-nating team for updates on the various work streams throughout the year and was expected to continue in 2019�

Lands Work Stream: The Terms of Reference were developed and shared with Trade Union Side as part of the Roads and Rivers Develop-ment programme� However it was decided that this work stream would be parked, until such times as the vacancies in that structure were filled and the new staff be given appropriate time to be trained� The Management Side indi-cated that this would be taken forward in the latter part of 2018 and would run into 2019�

Section Office Structure: This is a significant piece of work and it will impact on the staff in the section offices as well as the public using those local facilities�

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Trade Union Side took receipt of the proposal document in June, and consulted with Road’s Branches� The Trade Union Side held a meeting with the Management Side to discuss initial concerns with the document and its findings� These concerns were then followed up in writing�

The main concerns raised by Trade Union Side, were the amount of PTO vacancies in the section offices� Whilst it was noted that some of the proposed system changes and the introduction of new technologies could reduce the section office work load in the medium to long term, it did not however address the immediate staffing concerns or settling in period required� A further meeting was to be scheduled to take place�

Claims Unit Review: The Claims Unit review was ongoing throughout 2018 with some delay due to the high volume of claims since January� The go live date with a payment interface was put on hold as there were some issues that need to be resolved�

Depots and Warehouse Stream: The Terms of Reference had been agreed at the end of 2017 with work ongoing during 2018� Full imple-mentation was expected by April 2019� This involved a detailed survey of all depots and warehouse sites�

Store Options Evaluation: An evaluation was carried out and a range of options considered� The preferred option was to amalgamate the Roads and River store structure, with a reduction of 8, replaced by 3 strategically placed stores across Northern Ireland�

The South and East store would be based at Carn, the North store would be based at North-brook Depot in Coleraine and the West store would be based in Arvalee Depot in Omagh� Some grading issues were still to be resolved�

Procurement: The options paper was shared with Trade Union Side with the preferred option to create a single Roads and River’s centralised procurement section with a dedicated staffing structure serving both areas� The proposal required an additional staff officer in the struc-ture which Management Side advised could be afforded with the savings that they have made elsewhere� This new section was to be based within the Operational and Maintenance (O&M) management pyramid�

Fleet and Plant Management: The Roads and River’s Development Board approved the crea-tion of shared fleet business unit which would serve the needs of both Roads and Rivers direct labour workforces� The exact time scales had to be finalised� This project team continued to develop access to future direct labour delivery models�

Internal Consultant: The project board agreed a draft Terms of Reference (TOR) in August 2018 and Trade Union Side awaited an options paper� The Trade Union Side understood that the paper would look at longer terms options of the Consultancy Services business model and consider how best to deliver it with reducing resourcing�

The Client/Consultancy interface would be reviewed to see if efficiencies could be achieved through different working methods� It would also look at the interface with the Roads Consul-tancy Strategic partner� This report would then be shared with the Roads Group�

A further Roads and Rivers development program meeting was expected to take place by the end of the year�

Administrative Officer (AO) Promotions with Roads: A number of people were promoted to the AO grade within Roads and were awaiting placement by NICHR� Whilst this was very much welcomed by the Roads branches, it was recognised that this would cause other difficulties in Roads as they didn’t have any AO vacancies, thereby a vast amount of experience would be leaving the department which would be difficult to replace and could also impact on service delivery� It was also likely to impact and/or delay on the Roads and Rivers development programme�

RiversBriefing on Northern Ireland Budgetary Outlook: In late December 2017, the Depart-ment of Finance issued for consultation, a Briefing Document on the NI Budget for 2018/19 and 2019/20� This identified the pressures on service delivery faced by DfI under the various budget reduction scenarios outlined� The Department confirmed that it started the year with insufficient funding to deliver all services,

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but received some £24m additional Resource and £41m additional Capital funding through in-year monitoring rounds� The Department determined to overspend its budget in the confi-dence of further in-year transfers to maintain its vital services�

Duty Engineers Allowance Scheme: February 2018, Trade Union Side submitted a claim for the application of the Duty Engineers Allowance Scheme, to the Area Engineers in Rivers� The Scheme was introduced on 1 November 1981, for Roads Service staff and was carried over with the Roads functions to the Department for Regional Development and latterly the Depart-ment for Infrastructure�

The conditions for payment of the allowance under the scheme included; being available to deal with an emergency situation, planned or unforeseen, attendance at local Council meet-ings or other meetings outside normal condi-tioned hours and dealing with complaints at home if available�

The matter progressed through the Roads and Rivers Management Board� In October an offer was made to Trade Union Side to incorporate the Area Engineers and Duty Officers into the scheme, under the existing conditions, together with a harmonisation of other allowances which had applied to Rivers staff on the separate rota for Emergency Flood Duty prior to joining DfI� As these allowances were at higher rates than those applied to Roads staff, this package was being considered by local Trade Union Side examining its overall value and the extent of the rostered duties required�

Flood Risk Management: The Roads and Rivers Group within the Department as the statutory drainage authority for Northern Ireland, under the terms of the Drainage (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, with responsibility amongst other things, for constructing and maintaining water-courses and sea defences� It is also responsible for the assessment and management of flood risk under the terms of the Water Environment (Floods Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009�

In this regard, Local Trade Union Side expressed concern that vital skills and experience had been

lost following the VES scheme, the move to a new Headquarters building at Loughry and the use of promotion lists from P&T competitions held originally in Roads Service, to subsequently fill posts in Rivers� Noting that in recent years Rivers had assumed new responsibilities such as Lead Government Department for Flooding, Emergency Planning, Community Resilience and the Homeowner Protection Scheme, Local Trade Union Side felt there were inadequate resources to provide an acceptable level of service and a lack of resilience as a consequence� They were particularly concerned at the impact on the Mapping and Modelling Unit, which issues crit-ical expert advice on planning consultations in areas at risk of flood�

This issue of resilience was be considered on an ongoing basis through the local Rivers Whitley�

TG Review Outworking:

Proposal for Trawls: Trade Union Side raised issue with the memorandum from NICSHR Vacancy Management indicating the intention to organise trawl competitions for those posts “identified as Higher TG”, following the TG review and its outworking�

In the letter, it was noted that the NIPSA Deputy General Secretary had previously indicated to Management Side that this memorandum to departments, was not consistent with previous assurances that “departments would be enabled” to take the decision on the appropriate meas-ures for the posts, ranging from a paper sift to a trawl for vacant posts�

It was also explained that although noted as being on ‘Temporary Promotion’ terms with effect from September 2009, the existing post-holders in Rivers had continued to carry out their duties, as many had done for some years prior to the JEGS exercise in 2009� None of the posts were thrown open as ‘opportunities for depu-tising’ on a rotational basis amongst colleagues and no instruction was given from CHR to this effect� In addition, there was a requirement in the Candidate Information Booklet for the District Foremen posts affected, that the successful candidate for each of the districts identified, must live within 25 miles travelling distance by road from the geographical centre and that

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“a successful candidate, who does not live within the prescribed limit referred to (above), must permanently relocate at his/her own expense within 6 months of taking up appointment.”

The Director of Rivers referred the Trade Union Side concerns to Management Side in DoF together with Traded Union Side insistence that no action be taken by the Department to initiate the trawl process until there had been proper consultation with CWC� Trade Union Side awaited a response�

During the year, the Civil Service Executive, in accordance with the particulars outlined, committed to supporting the filing of the posts identified in Rivers through a paper sift�

Introduction of Performance Management for Industrial Staff: In March, Management Side informed Trade Union Side that a perfor-mance management process was being intro-duced for the 2018/2019 reporting year for industrial staff in Roads and Rivers, as part of the outworkings of the NICS Industrial Pay and Grading Review� However, DfI Roads industrial staff were part of the PU bonus scheme would not fall under the new performance manage-ment system� The relevant line managers of industrial staff (TG grade) were required to undertake mandatory training in their role of Reporting Officer in the performance manage-ment process�

B3.8 Department Of Justice (DOJ) NICS People Strategy: Key themes of the NICS People Strategy included improving leadership, staff engagement, development and wellbeing as well as diversity and inclusion� DoJ staff sessions were held in March and a people plan was developed� Trade Union Side continues to monitor progress with further meetings with Management in the New Year�

The Appeal Service (TAS): The transfer of the Tribunal and Appeal Service/Rent Assessment Panels from Department for Communities to Department of Justice was delayed� This was to be a functional transfer and there would be no impact on terms and conditions�

Youth Justice Agency:

a. Review of Secure Care Report: Discussions were ongoing between DOF and DoH� Work continued to progress on those elements that had previously been endorsed at Ministerial level – such as the repurposing of Woodlands (via the Scoping Study)� A dedicated imple-mentation team, funded via a successful bid from the Transformation Programme, was being assembled to take forward the plan-ning and design stage of the programme�

b. Early Intervention: An application had been submitted to avail of Assets Recovery Funding to roll out an Early Intervention programme�

NIPS – Prisons 2020:

a. Prisons 2020 was a three year plan, however due to budget uncertainty a one year action plan was developed� Management had advised the LEAD programme would be rolled out to General Service grades but the priority was operational staff� NIPS continued to work with the Department on developing training for non- operational staff�

b. Allowance: NIPSA successfully argued that an allowance, currently only paid to Prison Officers, would now to be paid to General Service grades who came into contact with contaminated waste�

Legal Service Agency – Transformation Programme: Management presented the proposed staffing structure for the Agency following the introduction of the Legal Aid Management System in April 2019 and other Projects that together would deliver the Trans-formation Programme� Staff were asked to indicate if they wished to stay in the Agency or transfer to another area� Following this exercise, staff who wanted to remain were matched to posts� Trade Union Side continued to work with Human Resources on identifying posts for those who wished to leave the Agency�

Equal Pay: NIPSA continued to campaign for the full Equal Pay settlement to be paid to staff in DOJ, PSNI and PPSNI� NIPSA set up a strategy to take forward the issue at the beginning of 2019� Meetings took place with the Permanent Secre-taries of DOJ and DOF to put forward the case�

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Further meetings were to be arranged with the Permanent Secretaries in the New Year to discuss further�

B3.9 The Executive Office (TEO)The DoF NIPSA office continued to provide support and representation while TEO declined to provide any seconded support� Consulta-tion on staff reviews were positive with Brexit and Vouching and Verification sections seeing acceptable structures established� Clarity around competitions and opportunities continue to be sought but a better relationship with TEO led to the sharing of much improved Staffing informa-tion�

B3.10 Agri-Food and Bio Sciences Institute (AFBI)

Industrial Relations: Because of difficulties experienced by two NIPSA branch representa-tives during 2018, meetings of the JNCC were suspended� Trade Union Side engaged manage-ment on these matters but one significant diffi-culty remained with facility time being refused to the Branch Chairperson� NIPSA proposed a reso-lution to senior management and a response was awaited�

Budget Allocation: Trade Union Side has raised concerns regarding a reduced budget alloca-tion for 2018/19 and plans to continue to reduce the budget in 2019/20� AFBI has focused on external funding sources, such as GB Govern-ment Departments, Republic of Ireland Govern-ment, EU funding and private sector sources� While this has resulted in a number of new posts, Trade Union Side has raised concerns that these are only temporary due to the nature of short-term funding provided�

Review of AFBI: The Department of Agricul-ture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) completed its review of AFBI setting out a series of recommendations on issues such as commis-sioned services, estate management and its core-funding relationship with the department� It was noted that this review was subsumed by a DAERA led Science Transformation programme and Trade Union Side are engaging with NIPSA colleagues in DAERA on this issue�

Promotion and Recruitment: Trade Union Side remained concerned that management continue to use external recruitment as a means to fill existing and new posts within AFBI� Internal promotion was limited to a narrow range of specialised trawls� Trade Union Side met with the Chief Executive on the issue of selection and development and while it was agreed that further work would take place on this, the Chief Executive would not agree to withdraw as management indicated that they may move to external recruitment for all vacant posts�

B3.11 AramarkNICS Catering Contract: NICS Central Procure-ment Directorate advertised the tender for cleaning services in a number of NICS sites but removed catering from this contract leading to the closure of catering services in a number of sites including Great Northern Tower, Clar-ence Court and in Ballymena� NIPSA met with Management and members affected and sought to mitigate the impact by seeking employment in other locations as an alternative to redun-dancy where appropriate�

Catering facilities remained at Castle Buildings, Dundonald House, Netherleigh and CCEA but closed at Rathgael House and Stormont Castle�

Failure to Consult: Following the completion of a retendering of the PSNI cleaning contract, staff transferred from Aramark to Mount Charles� However significant cuts to working hours occurred shortly after the TUPE transfer and NIPSA lodged 51 tribunal applications for members for failure to consult�

B3.12 Armagh Planetarium and Observatory Terms and Condition Review: At a meeting in March 2018 variations in terms and conditions of employment between Observatory and Plan-etarium staff were discussed and AOP’s Head of Corporate Services suggested options going forward�

Trade Union Side submitted a written response to the suggested options paper� Trade Union Side had sought;

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a. A reduction of the working week from 37�5 to 37 hours;

b. The removal of 5 years requirement to gain 30 days annual leave;

c. For the sickness scheme to remain as is;

d. Flexible working to be maintained;

e. Overtime payments to be in line with NICS�

Negotiations concluded in September resulting in Trade Union Side getting everything as outlined above� Consultation with members in October resulted in them voting to accept the revised terms and conditions of service�

Policies: The following policies were subject to consultation/negotiation during 2018;

❚ Equal opportunity;

❚ Grievance;

❚ Disciplinary;

❚ Recognition agreement;

❚ Dignity at work;

❚ Code of conduct�

B3.13 Arts Council Northern IrelandRedundancy Policy: Trade Union Side continued to campaign for the introduction of the NICS terms and conditions relating to redundancy payments� Trade Union Side efforts continued to be frustrated by the Department for Communities position that this issue is dealt with as part of the Arm’s Length Body review� NIPSA continued to lobby a number of MLAs seeking their assistances in changing DFCs’ posi-tion�

Pension Allowance: In the 2016 pay remit the Department of Finance advised that they were aware that a number of public bodies have arrangements in place to ensure that their staff are not disadvantaged as a result of paying what were historically higher employee contributions to the NILGOSC pension scheme than other public sector employees who are members of the PCSPS(NI)� They argued that this adjustment can no longer be assumed to be a fixed amount and that ACNI must ensure that they review the position for each individual member of staff on an annual basis to ensure that any adjustment

to their salary maintains the principle that staff who are on terms analogous to those of the NICS are no better off, and no worse off, as a result of the pension scheme to which they contribute� Trade Union Side received confirmation at Octo-ber’s JNCC meeting that the issue had now been settled and that staff would continue to receive the allowance�

Arts Council’s Chair: Trade Union Side held a number of meetings with members regarding the ACNI Chairs’ refusal to give an assurance to the Department for Communities regarding equality of funding allocations� In response members and staff agreed to submit a letter of protest� The staff letter sent to Arts Council Chief Executive Roisin McDonough, on September 24 on behalf of 80% of staff, stated that they had been “moved by extraordinary events to write to you and strongly refute the comments made by John Edmund, Chair, to Ian Snowden, Deputy Secretary of DfC, in his letter to Mr Snowden of 20 August 2018”�

At October’s meeting of the JNCC NIPSA formally called for the Chair to resign�

Policies: The following policies were subject to consultation/negotiation this year;

❚ Recruitment and selection;

❚ Use of electronic communication;

❚ Information and IT security�

B3.14 Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI)

Finance: CCNI received a 4% cut to the 2017/18 budget allocation but managed this without a need for cuts to staffing� A further £239K was allocated following June monitoring� £60k was allocated for a new ICT strategy while £250k was set aside for a two-year transformation programme�

Staffing: CCNI was able to keep its full staff complement but reductions to temporary and secondment staff was impacting on service delivery� Trade Union Side raised concerns about significant staff turnover with a higher number of recruitment competitions needed to fill vacancies where permanent staff left post�

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Accommodation: As result of a serious health and safety issue against a staff member, Management Side sought to close the Lurgan office and transfer staff to Belfast� Trade Union Side opposed this proposal and engaged the CCNI Board and Department for Communities (DfC) Permanent Secretary� Trade Union Side argued that as a Minister had decided to locate CCNI in Lurgan, any decision to move to Belfast also required Ministerial approval� Trade Union Side also engaged local MLAs and local press in a campaign to keep the office in Lurgan� Trade Union Side received confirmation from DfC Permanent Secretary that an alternative loca-tion in the Craigavon area would be sought� This was agreed by members and a project group involving members of the Board, SMT, staff and Trade Union Side was set up to consider the transfer of staff to a new location�

Policies: NIPSA was consulted and agreed upon a wide range of policies including Maternity, Whistleblowing, Code of Conduct and Informa-tion Security�

B3.15 Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)

Pay: Following release of the NICS pay remit, a 1% increase in salaries was paid in March 2018 salaries� Following the imposition of NICS 2017/18 pay, NIPSA raised the need to review allowances as there had been increased by 1% and for staff to receive any arrears due� Manage-ment proposed to move the pay date from April to September to align with their financial year and while this was not agreed, it remains an option to be considered at a later date�

Staff Welfare:

a. Lone Worker Training: NIPSA requested specific training for those staff who visit sites outside the office alone and this took place in May� It was also agreed to review the risk assessment process�

b. Mates in Mind: While Inspire services are available to staff, Management have used information from Mates in Mind service to support staff in dealing with mental health awareness�

Staff Attitude Survey: NIPSA raised concerns with significant delays arising from the staff attitude survey and implementation of work needed to deal with issues raised� NIPSA proposed and Management agreed a working group to consider various options to deal with outcomes from the survey� However this work fed into work on Investors in People causing further delays� NIPSA indicated that there was a lack of confidence in Management regards acting on the survey outcomes and that credi-bility had been lost� NIPSA still awaits an imple-mentation plan on this from Management�

Mobile Training Unit (MTU): Management indicated a pre-engagement exercise and then a full review of how the service for the MTU would be met, including purchase of a new lorry� As the driver had been retired on health grounds, Management proposed enhancing the duties to include training and development� This post is currently out for recruitment�

B3.16 Cross Border BodiesPensions: NIPSA continued to lead unions with regards the North/South pension scheme� Concerns were raised in relation to the in-ser-vice re-evaluation rate for Northern members� Changes to the compensation scheme and the review of the State Pension Age in the UK� Concerns were raised relating to GDPR and Brexit on the cross-border scheme�

Loughs Agency: Management Side confirmed they remain under significant financial pressure� Further requests for additional funding have not been agreed with the Department of Finance (DoF) unwilling to match funding provided by Southern Departments� Brexit continues to be a concern with Management Side preparing for various options� Trade Union Side raised concerns about pension salary uplift arrange-ments that were withdrawn when the North/South pension scheme was introduced with legal action a likely outcome� Trade Union Side continued to push for a proper workforce plan to deal with under-resourcing of staff in critical areas� Concerns regarding the suspension of the Boat Allowance, vehicle trackers and overtime were also raised�

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Tourism Ireland: Trade Union Side pushed Management Side to fill posts and recruitment increased filling many vacant posts� Online NI Equality and Diversity training was provided to all staff located in Coleraine with GDPR training provided to all staff worldwide� Policies were agreed during the year including child safe-guarding, retirement and code of conduct� Brexit remained a serious risk with Management Side considering all scenarios and options�

Waterways Ireland: Trade Union Side engaged in a consultant-led review of Business Support Directorate with a series of meetings with both Management Side and members� Recommen-dations saw posts lost and new posts created but no jobs were lost and career development opportunities arose for a small number of members� Finance continued to be a risk with contributions to the pension scheme adversely impacting on overall budgets� These pressures caused a delay in a comprehensive workforce planning strategy phase 2� The tragic death of a staff member on the canals led to a series of Health and Safety reviews, new updated policies on Health and Safety and lone working policies�

B3.17 Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI)

Finance: EONI continued to operate on a reduced budget reducing from £2�7m in 2010 to around £1�8m by 2020� These reductions required changes to work processes and a work-force reduced by around one third�

Online Registration: In June 2018 Manage-ment Side introduced the long-planned ‘on-line’ registration service� While some facility was made for hard copy registration, on-line services became the optimal route for all services going forward�

Future Delivery of Electoral Services: The NIO launched a public consultation in 2016 and the outcomes of the consultation were announced by the Minister in June 2018� The main outcomes affecting NIPSA members were:

❚ digital registration would be implemented in June 2018;

❚ review service delivery and the EONI estate in light of digital registration: and

❚ engage Councils on the transfer of elections�

Trade Union Side opposed these plans and engaged in a high level campaign with a polit-ical parties, meeting all parties and a number of party leaders� Trade Union Side also raised concerns that Equality screening had not been completed�

In November 2018, the Chief Electoral Officer provided Trade Union Side with a consultation paper setting out the proposed transforma-tion of EONI structures and processes� These included:

❚ the closure of the remaining 4 regional offices with centralisation to Belfast office;

❚ job losses for those staff in Omagh and Derry/Londonderry offices;

❚ transfer of staff in Banbridge and Newtownabbey offices to Belfast; and

❚ changes to organisational structure and work processes at Belfast�

Trade Union Side held a series of meetings with Management Side and members with a small number of staff in Banbridge and Newtownabbey receiving Voluntary Redundancy agreements� Trade Union Side has been provided with a new organisational structure with middle and service graded posts being lost but recruitment at lower grades� Banbridge and Newtownabbey offices will close and centralise to Belfast in January 2019 with Omagh and Derry/Londonderry offices closing in June 2019�

B3.18 Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland

Out of Hours Service: Management Side’s proposal to introduce out of hours service as a contractual obligation had been robustly challenged by Trade Union Side during the year� At a meeting in early March Manage-ment Side advised that they had accepted Trade Union Side’s arguments and therefore the option of participation would remain on a voluntary basis only� Trade Union Side was also able to negotiate improvements to NICS Terms and Conditions that would be normally applicable to out of hours/on-call services� A revised proposal was circulated to both Trade Union Side and staff in August for consultation�

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In October members voted to accept and partic-ipate in the revised out of hours service policy/rota�

B3.19 Invest NIGrading: Given members ongoing concerns regarding staff within the organisation feeling pressured to take on additional duties with little acknowledgement or remuneration, a survey was circulated to members to ascertain how many members within the organisation were affected� The survey was anonymous and results expected in the New Year� Concerns had been raised with Management Side on numerous occasions, however Trade Union Side felt it was important to measure the volume�

Managing Attendance Policy: Long term absences continue to be a main concern within Invest NI� Negotiations with Management Side were positive� The revised Managing Attendance Policy took effect from 8 October 2018, changes included:

❚ no Cause for Concern, this will be carried out by Line Managers during Return to Work interviews;

❚ new triggers were negotiated� The new policy triggers are 4 occasions or 12 days whereas previously it was 3 occasions and 8 days; and

❚ 5 days Special Leave with pay was granted following bereavement of a close relative� Sickness absence will be recorded but will not trip the trigger for formal action however if absence is extended it will be managed as long term sick�

Following intervention from Trade Union Side with Management Side, recognition increased for those members who are on long term sick absence and fall under the Disability Discrim-ination Act, this has resulted in a reduction in trigger points for members�

Staff Movement Policy: Concerns had been raised regarding the reintroduction of the Transfer policy however Transfers had taken place within Invest NI for a couple of years� Following negotiations with Management Side the Staff Movement Policy replaced the Transfer Policy offering staff opportunities to move at the grade each time a generic recruitment or

promotion competition takes place� This new policy increased opportunities to move and release staff to take up posts more quickly�

Recruitment: Trade Union Side raised concerns and negotiated with Management Side in rela-tion to part time staff being encouraged to apply for full time posts ie job share and other alterna-tives, to ensure that part time workers are not discriminated against� The issue was ongoing�

Flexible Working: Concerns raised by members relating to flexible working applications being unsuccessful� Were taken forward by Trade Union Side� Interventions were made on indi-vidual cases and applications approved�

Redeployments: Concerns raised regarding the process for redeployments taking place within Invest NI� Trade Union Side consultations with Management Side were ongoing�

Emergency Lighting: Management failed to consult with Trade Union side on a matter relating to Emergency Lighting� This matter was a serious Health and Safety issue� Trade Union Side raised concerns and advised that it was unacceptable that no timely consultation had taken place� Arising from the negotiations measures were being put in place�

B3.20 National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI)

Public Service Transformation Fund: At the beginning of 2018 National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) was allocated a substantial amount of finance to examine better ways of conducting business� A potential Voluntary Exit style scheme was discussed with initial roll out in September/October 2018� The first phase was open to staff from with the Education section of the Public Engagement Directorate� Due in part to the perceived bull-headed and non-engaging approach to the process from Management, the uptake of applications to the scheme was remarkably high� With most if not all exits likely to be accepted, where this leaves Education within NMNI is something NIPSA are consistently querying� Phase 2 of this process is due to commence in January 2019�

Staff Structure: May 2018, formal NIPSA consultation began on the proposed changes to

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the structure of Education and Learning Depart-ment� The relevant Job Descriptions were circu-lated and comments correlated� Much confusion remained amongst the relevant staff over the rationale for the proposals, which became all the more clouded with the Director of Public Engagement, who proposed the changes, exited the organisation in October 2018� Voluntary Exits within the Department, due in January 2019, put the project on indefinite hold�

Policies and Procedures: A reworked Dignity at Work Policy was agreed in November 2018� A completely revamped Performance Manage-ment Policy was subject to significant consulta-tion�

Recruitment: An Audience Development Manager and Visitor Experience Manager were appointed in February 2018, as well as an Academic Research post� These posts were not signed off by NIPSA, as much consterna-tion was expressed at the need for such roles� A training programme for Science Curators was internally trawled, but no appointments were made� NMNI filled the roles via external recruitment� Several Project orientated posts were trawled throughout July and August 2018� These included technicians, object handlers and a project Co-ordinator� A Conservation Project Technician was recruited for a fixed term in November 2018, as well as a fixed term Project Supervisor� The vacant Visitor Services Manager position at the Ulster Museum was appointed in October 2018� External trawls were carried out for a Retail Officer and a Pensions and Payroll Officer� Despite the blatant need for additional resources within Visitor Services across the NMNI sites, no movement occurred� NIPSA continued to press for urgent action within that particular arena�

NMNI Communication: To better improve internal communications the Chief Oper-ating Officer (COO) created a site sponsorship programme, allowing employees from different departments, grades and roles to form teams to improve how communication matters were dealt with and disseminated across the sites� The site sponsorship meetings commenced in October 2018, and were positively received by the attendees� In November 2018, the Section

Secretary was invited to participate to provide a NIPSA specific voice� The Section Secretary and several NIPSA site representatives met with the Chief Executive the Chief Operating Officer and the Head of Human Resources to discuss the cancelling of various events within NMNI and the potential ramifications for doing so� This was part of a wider discussion on staff morale and communications, and visitor figures released late in 2018 appeared to support the NIPSA posi-tion�

Organisational Development Committees: Three new working Committees were proposed to help advance the mission, vision and values of NMNI� � These were:

a. Leadership;

b. Communications and Engagement;

c. Performance and Learning�

These committees met intermittently between January and March 2018� To work through the outcomes, an oversight and implementation committee was convened in October 2018, including the Section Secretary to provide NIPSA guidance to implementation of the out work-ings of the findings of the committees

Pay Award 2017: Despite NMNI having submitted their pay remit documentation in relatively timely fashion (although that is still an issue) no progress had been made in imple-menting the pay award� It was expected to be January 2019 at the earliest�

Annual General Meeting (AGM): Both NMNI Branches conducted their AGM’s in November 2018�

External Contractors: NIPSA raised concerns voiced by various members regarding the use of external contractors in areas where pre-existing skills and knowledge were patently available�

Casual Contracts: NIPSA and HR agreed to examine the impact of zero hour contracts within NMNI and to deal with concerns, tech-nical issues and individual difficulties by the early part of 2019�

Mental Health: NMNI embedded mental health and wellbeing into the fabric of the ‘new’ ethos of the museums, known as ‘Here for Good’�

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As part of this, seminars conducted by Inspire were held at Cultra� Absence Management was a major part of these discussions, suggesting a rethink was necessary in policy�

Overpayments: At the October 2017 JNCC it was agreed that the matter would be dealt with by December 2017, and while it was discussed the matter was not formally resolved� A member decided to seek legal advice through the NIPSA solicitor’s to resolve the issue�

Grading: The 2017senior level structural review brought few potential grading anomalies and role definitions into the spotlight� Various meeting between the Head of Human Resources (HR) and the NIPSA Section Secretary were held to delve further into these matters, and in February 2018 the first of these was examined in detail by HR� Other areas were examined during the year, with some work yet to be done in the 2019 reporting timeframe�

Overtime/Annual Leave Issue: The Section Secretary and the Headquarters Official met with those staff potentially impacted upon by the Tribunal cases being taken on matters relating to overtime and annual leave pay� A collective grievance was issued in February 2018 and the issue continued to be monitored�

Budget: NMNI received another cut to the oper-ating budget, meaning that over the past few years the overall cut to organisational budgets sat at around 50%� Discussions between the Chief Operating Officer and the Section Secre-tary on potential difficult decisions and solu-tions continued throughout April, May and June 2018� NMNI was granted a significant amount of Capital Investment, allowing various projects to move ahead� This included some recruitment to achieve planned outcomes, as alluded to in the Recruitment section of this report�

Local Authorities and Partnerships: With the forecast for significant future growth every Council area is focused on developing its tourism offering and attracting more visitors� Over July and August 2018 senior NMNI staff members met and continued conversations with Lisburn City and Castlereagh, Belfast City, Ards and North Down and Derry City and Strabane Councils to explore opportunities for greater collaboration

and partnerships around NMNI collections and sites� The potential for recruitment, career development and investment was obvious and NIPSA have been included in discussions on the various plans for the future�

B3.21 NOONAN TUPE/Reduction in Hours: In early March Trade Union Side was advised by G4S that they had lost the NICS cleaning, catering and ancillary services contract to NOONAN�

As a result of this transfer Trade Union Side had been contacted by a number of members regarding meetings that managers from NOONAN had held or were planning to hold with them�

At these meetings members were advised that NOONAN had proposals to significantly cut their working hours under this new contract and asked them to sign documents/new contracts�

In response Trade Union Side:

a. Advised members not to sign these docu-ments;

b. Sought detailed information from Manage-ment Side i�e� BICs report, building cleaning specifications etc;

c. Held meetings with NOONAN at which they were advised of their failure to adequately consult under TUPE regulations by failing to properly inform and consult on any changes to contracts that would occur post transfer;

d. Advised NOONAN that Terms and Conditions of employment are protected by TUPE;

e. Wrote to members in mid-May requesting their permission to lodge industrial tribunals for failure to consult;

f. Engaged in recruitment and organising activity�

Trade Union Side continued challenge to these the cuts resulted in a number of sites being removed from the ‘affected’ list�

Trade Union Side is pursuing a TUPE failure to consult case against G4S/NOONAN via the Industrial Tribunal� This is likely to progress to Tribunal in early part of 2019�

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B3.22 Northern Ireland AssemblyPay: Negotiations commenced in December 2018 following the submission of a pay claim earlier in the year for a 14% consolidated pay increase for all staff based on a pay recovery approach, introduction of Assembly Allowance, the payment of all increments due, a reduction in spinal column points, increase in annual leave entitlement, and an increase in the overtime hourly rate cap� A final offer was received for a consolidated 2�7% pay increase with a reduc-tion to 2 spinal points across all grades, increase in the overtime hourly rate cap plus a compre-hensive job evaluation, pay and grading exer-cise which will hopefully rebalance the deficit of below inflationary pay increases experienced by Assembly staff since 2010�

Political Situation/Redeployment: The ongoing political crisis continued to see a non-fully operating Assembly� As a result, there remained over 130 staff redeployed, volun-tarily, to other public sector organisations� Trade Union Side, through its negotiation framework with Management Side, continued to ensure there was minimal negative impact on Assembly staff placements and any potential detriment�

Recruitment: In 2017 the Assembly conducted external recruitment competitions despite the objections raised by Trade Union Side� As a result, merit lists were created and in 2018 Management Side have extended all merit lists for a further 6 months, against representations from Trade Union Side, breaching the Assembly Commission policy on Merit Lists� Trade Union Side believed that these lists would expire before any successful candidate can be placed in a post and all competitions will have to be re-run�

Trade Union Side Seconded Position: The Trade Union Side Seconded Position is reviewed annually for funding� Management Side continued to acknowledge the value of this post and the position continues to be filled especially during this period of political uncertainty and for the upcoming comprehensive job evalua-tion, pay and grading review�

Employee Relations Group (ERG): The Employee Relations Group, which consists of Director of Corporate Services, Head of HR,

Deputy Head of HR, Senior HR Managers and Trade Union Side, met bi-monthly throughout the year�

The main focus of these meetings was the impact of the current political impasse and its impact on Assembly staff including staff morale, health and wellbeing, meaningful work, job security and redeployments�

ERG negotiated with Management Side on various staff handbook policies throughout the year, including the introduction of a Domestic Violence Policy, Mental Health Policy and Carer’s Policy� TUS negotiated changes to the Security Clearance Policy, Capability Policy, Dignity at Work, Uniform Policy, Mental Health Policy and HR Records Policy�

Policy Development: Non-Financial Reward and Recognition; Transgender Policy; Standards of Conduct Policy; Whistleblowing Policy; and Sexual Violence Policy�

Performance Management: The Assembly has introduced a new simplified performance management process following negotiations with Trade Union Side� This less bureaucratic process removed performance ratings and complicated objective setting� Annual goal setting, in-year and end-year reviews have been removed and replaced with continuous feed-back performance conversations including coaching, training and development needs and mentoring� This will be rolled out in 2019�

Assembly Skills and Behaviours: Following negotiations with Trade Union Side, The Assembly replaced the Assembly Competence Framework with an Assembly Skills and Behav-iours Framework� This framework outlines the skills and behaviours that are deemed essential to overall effective performance in the Assembly Secretariat� The framework was used for Perfor-mance Management and Recruitment�

Success Profiles: The Assembly replaced competency based recruitment with Success Profiles, similar to that which has been rolled out across the Civil Service in GB by the Cabinet Office�

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B3.23 Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO)Workforce Strategy: Throughout the year Trade Union Side continued to push Management Side for extensive consultation on the various strands of this important strategy including issues such as covers skills, retention, development, succes-sion, talent management and professional development�

Policies: The following policies/procedures were subject to consultation/negotiation this year;

❚ JNCC Agreement;

❚ Facilities Agreement;

❚ A guide to Managing Industrial Relations in the NIAO;

❚ Temporary Promotion procedure;

❚ Health and Wellbeing Policy ;

❚ Shared Parental Leave Policy;

❚ Travel, Subsistence and Travel Time;

❚ Grievance policy – issue of it failing to cover the C&AG�

Pay: As part of the 2018/19 pay negotiations Trade Union Side had been seeking a properly thought out long term pay deal that offered an opportunity for structural reform of pay possibly up to 2020-21 with significant scale shortening to bring about a 3 point pay scale with the aim of moving to a single pay point for everyone within each grade� Negotiations concluded in December resulting in the following final pay offer:

with effect from 1 April 2018:

a. 2�5% revalorisation to all pay scales excluding Auditors and GTAs and the removal of point one (minimum point on scale) for each pay scale;

b. 4% revalorisation for Auditor grade and removal of the minimum point in the pay scale;

c. Increase in training package exam allow-ances for Graduate Trainee Accountant;

d. Increase for Sandwich Students to the ‘Living wage’ of £9 per hour;

e. A non-consolidated payment of 2�5% for those members of staff who are above the max of their pay scales�

also with effect from 1st April 2019:

f. 2�5% revalorisation to all pay scales excluding Auditors and GTAs;

g. 4% revalorisation for Auditor grade ;

h. Review of training package exam allowances for Graduate Trainee Accountant in line with CAI recommendations and removal of the minimum point in the pay scale;

i. Increase for Sandwich Students in line with ‘Living Wage’;

j. A non-consolidated payment of 2�5% for those members of staff who are above the max of�

Members voted to accept the offer�

B3.24 Northern Ireland Court Service (NICTS)

CCTV: Trade Union Side met with the DOJ Chief Information Officer on this issue� It was explained that CCTV can be used by police as part of a criminal investigation into a member of staff� It was explained that the contested line in the data entry register regarding the moni-toring of work activities of staff was put in place due to POA reps successfully arguing in discipli-nary meetings that the CCTV footage of prison officers could not be used as the data entry register did not contain this entry� The issue was raised centrally and it was agreed it was a matter for each department�

Fine Enforcement and Collect Service: Work commenced in June with staff in post from April� Secondary legislation was progressed through the department, agreed and signed off by the Permanent Secretary allowing the branch to operate� Comprehensive training was provided to all staff and the branch was located in Lagan-side House�

Review of Court Operations: Trade Union Side received a copy of the draft report and met with management to discuss the recommen-dations of the report� Trade Union Side were

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content with the proposed implementation of the recommendations after the meeting� It was agreed to have a further meetings when imple-mentation proposals were drafted�

Bishop Street Courthouse: The air quality in the court areas was found to be poor and a report by air quality technicians was ordered to be under-taken in the building� The report compiled by the air quality technical experts showed prob-lems with airflow in certain rooms, court offices and various rooms within the courthouse�

Works were carried out over the summer months to avoid disruption to court business� The Customer Service Team moved temporarily to Orchard House at the end of June due to their area not being able to be used for staff� They are content with their new offices� A form of words is with the branch committee to be agreed to be placed on peoples file to reflect their time spent in the environment of the courthouse�

Court Improvement Portfolio: Trade Union Side are awaiting the mandate for this project which will look at a number of NICTS aspects�

Review of Official Solicitors Office (OSO) and Office of Care and Protection (OCP) IT Processes: Trade Union Side met with Manage-ment in June for a preliminary meeting to discuss the forthcoming review of IT processes� Terms of Reference were forwarded to Trade Union Side which were agreed� A further meeting to update Trade Union Side was scheduled�

Staff Engagement Action Plan 2017-2019: A short survey on aspects of the staff engagement plan was planned and a draft survey was sent to Trade Union Side for comment� A final draft had been agreed for the survey� A further meeting was planned to discuss the results of the survey� There was a commitment from management side to formally review the action plan at the halfway stage�

B3.25 Northern Ireland Water (NIW)2017/18 Pay: After a significant delay while Management Side awaited a pay remit from its sponsor Department, negotiation for the 2017/18 pay settlement commenced in March� A series of meetings were held until Management Side put forward its proposed pay settlement

terms on 12 September 2018� The offer was as follows:

a. All Level 4 to 7 employees whose perfor-mance rating is Exceptional Achiever will receive a 3-step increase up to a maximum of 110%; employees at the 110% point will not receive a performance uplift�

b. All level 7 employees whose performance rating is Consistent Achiever will receive a 2-step increase up to a maximum of 105%; the performance increase ceiling of 105% will be applied� Employees on the 105% or above and whose performance is rated as Consistent Achiever will not receive a perfor-mance uplift�

c. All Level 4 to 7 employees whose perfor-mance rating is Partial Achiever will receive a 1-step increase up to a maximum of 95%; employees currently on the 94% point will progress up to 95% whilst employees at the 95% point or above will not receive a perfor-mance uplift�

d. Employees whose performance rating is Unsatisfactory will receive no progress to the next pay point of their respective scale�

e. Each pay point on the current Level 4 to 7 pay scales (effective from 1 August 2017) will be revalorised by 1%� The 90% point of the Level 7 pay scale will be removed with effect from 1 April 2018 and the value of the 92% point will increase to £17,100 in line with the implementation of the National Living Wage rate for employees aged 25 and over� This rate will be paid to all Level 7 employees, regardless of age�

f. In addition, a 1% increase in the rates of On-Call allowance (contractual and non-con-tractual) and Duty Officer Allowance will be applied with effect from 1 August 2017�

It was agreed to consult members on the offer and following an email ballot, 187 members responded, 117 accepting the offer and 70 rejecting the offer�

Trade Union Side wrote to Management Side to accept the offer but set out clearly expectations on 2018/19 pay and the need to avoid action by reaching a significantly increased pay settle-ment�

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2018/19 Pay: Taking into account the pay claim lodged by Trade Union Side in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), Trade Union Side lodged the following pay claim with NIW on 30 October:

a. A 7% increase on all pay points including the maximum;

b. A 7% increase on allowances;

c. A review of low pay within NI Water; and

d. Removal of the Capped Overtime rate�

Trade Union Side sought an early meeting to begin discussions but Management Side were awaiting a remit from their Sponsor Department before commencing negotiations�

Partial Retirement: Trade Union Side sought the introduction of a partial retirement option for members and has had a series of meetings during the year on this� Management Side view this as a lead in to retirement and wish to limit the partial retirement period to only 18 months� Given the extension of retirement age and the physical nature of many jobs within NIW, Trade Union Side considered the period should be longer� Negotiations were ongoing�

Telephone Allowance: Following a series of meetings and correspondence, Management Side put forward a final offer of up to £325 as compensation for their decision to cease payment of the Telephone Allowance, which was worth £100 per annum�

Following receipt of the final offer, Trade Union Side balloted the members affected� 51% of those affected responded with 89% of those accepting the offer�

Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES): Management Side again offered a VES on the line of the NICS scheme� Funding for up to 20 VES offers had been made available but it was likely between 9-11 offers of VES would be made� 28 staff applied for the VES with 8 applications accepted and a number under appeal�

Equality: Trade Union Side raised concerns regarding the gender split within industrial and non-industrial staff within NIW and requested an equality statement for roles where women are under-represented� Management Side agreed to

produce a diversity strategy to include options, such as ‘Women in Engineering days’� Meet-ings have taken place with Stonewall, Rainbow Project as well as other gender, LGB&T and Disa-bility groups� Trade Union Side await the draft diversity strategy�

B3.26 NSL – Traffic EnforcementCovert Monitoring: As a result of a number of disciplinary cases, NIPSA raised concerns about managers covertly monitoring staff� Manage-ment stated this was provided for in the contract but NIPSA lodged a complaint with the Informa-tion Commissioner’s Office�

Run Rate and Capability: NIPSA raised concerns that Management are applying the capability policy through the blunt tool of the rate of parking tickets issued by staff� Management provided a detailed response on this to NIPSA but we continued to engage management to remove the run rate as a method to engage the capability policy�

Health and Safety: NIPSA raised concerns regarding application, or lack of, the adverse weather policy throughout the year, especially regarding high winds� Management continue to seek staff are deployed as often as possible and NIPSA has sought changes to the policy� Following an assault on a staff member on the Falls Road, Belfast, scooter team staff were removed from bus lanes� NIPSA worked with Management and staff were returned to this work�

B3.27 Police Service Northern IrelandFinance: The PSNI received a 1�5% budget cut which equated to £10m for 2018/19� The Department of Justice gave PSNI £7m at the start of the financial year to assist with legacy related investigations� Through June Monitoring and October Monitoring PSNI secured additional funding from the DOJ amounting to £8�6m to help offset in year pressures� The PSNI projected a break even position at year end� There was no indication on the 2019/20 budget settlement�

Revised Environmental Allowance: Trade Union Side raised a claim for an increased Revised Environmental Allowance to bring it

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into line with the NI Transitional Allowance paid to Police Officers� Following the Trade Union Side notice of Failure to Agree the Deputy Chief Constable and the Head of Human Resources agreed to review the issue� This was ongoing� Trade Union Side produced a report looking at the financial impact on the allowance not being uplifted from 2004� Negotiations were ongoing�

Holiday Pay Cases: The Tribunal was heard in September/October 2018 with judgment released in November� The judgment upheld the PSNI Claimants case� The appellant has lodged an appeal� The issue was ongoing�

2017 Pay Award: NIPSA Made representa-tions regarding the delay in PSNI staff members receiving their 2017 Pay Rise� Issues raised included the fact the NICS staff are submitting the new pay claim before the PSNI staff have received the previous years� Management Side advised they had done everything they could to speed the process up� NIPSA had the issue raised through Central Whitley� Staff were finally paid over the period November December 2018 starting with those with the lowest pay�

VES: By the end of the year no tangible results came out of the Priority Based Resource Review (PBR)� This is an ongoing resource and finance issue which TUS continue to keep under review�

Policies: The PSNI continued a review of all poli-cies and procedures� Trade Union Side represent-atives attended meetings and working groups to ensure that Support Staff issues were addressed� It was agreed proposed policies emanating from the meetings would go to the JNC for approval prior to being signed off�

Information Communication Service On-Call: Arising from the C6 on call payment issue, members in the Information Communication Service, who manage the PSNIs interdepend-ency of IT systems with Keeping People Safe raised a similar issue� Management submitted a business case to Department of Justice prior to any consultation with NIPSA� Trade Union Side strenuously objected to this and had an urgent meeting with Management who agreed to advise Department of Justice that it was a draft business case and still required negotiation�

Trade Union Side raised a number of concerns in particular the impact of the business case in relation to member’s terms and conditions of employment� The business case as written would have members required to be available 24/7� Trade Union Side advised this was not acceptable� Management Side amended the business case which was with DoF for approval�

ASOs: Management had requested that a number of ASO’s carryout typing duties� Trade Union Side argued that the typing and skills allowance should be paid which management resisted� The issue was ongoing�

Stress: Trade Union Side raised an issue related to the provision of counselling services for those staff who dealt with traumatic situations� Management agreed to look at the issue as a priority and the various services from Occupa-tional Health and Care Call are now widely sign-posted to staff in such situations� OHW was conducting research into the provision of post incident debriefs and support mechanisms for staff dealing with traumatic situations and this was also being taken forward by the Employ-ment Engagement and Wellbeing Group

Compensatory Rest: Trade Union Side raised an issue with management’s interpretation that compensatory rest was only in proportion to the time on call out� Trade Union Side had advised that the interpretation in their view was flawed and provided evidence of other constabularies that advised the full 11 hours was required unin-terrupted� Management agreed to relook at the issue� Trade union side advised this was also a Health and Safety issue� This issue was ongoing�

B3.28 Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI)

Security Assessment: Management Side informed Trade Union Side in September 2017 the PSNI had increased the security threat from low/medium to substantial� Trade Union Side conducted a series of meetings through 2018 with PBNI, SMT and PBNI Board to have work with Terrorist and Politically Motivated Offenders (TPMO) removed from PBNI� No members would work with TPMOs�

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In September, Management Side indicated they had received legal opinion stating that a refusal to work with loyalist TPMOs would not be defensible if challenged and they proposed re-engaging loyalist TPMOs� Trade Union Side opposed this and lodged a formal disagree-ment� Trade Union Side met with the Chief Exec-utive and it was agreed to put a temporary fix in place while Management Side worked with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and PSNI to resolve the matter�

Pensions: Trade Union Side continued to challenge a management decision regarding a contractual entitlement of members to be compensated for the difference between the NILGOSC and PCSPS (NI) pension rates� Despite a resolution with other Arms-Length Bodies� PBNI continues to refuse re-instatement of the entitlement and legal options are being consid-ered�

NNC Terms and Conditions: NIPSA members in professional probationary posts are employed on NNC terms and conditions� However, the privatisation of community service in England has led to the collapse of the NNC negotiating framework� Trade Union Side has engaged Management Side across three main areas:-

a. 2017/18 Pay - a business case has been submitted to DoJ for approval�

b. 2018/19 Pay - what new negotiating machinery is needed?

c. Terms and Conditions – what impact on terms and conditions from any new negoti-ating machinery?

Travel and Subsistence: In July Management Side introduced a new mileage section on instruction from DoF to have any home-to-of-fice mileage automatically deducted from any claim� This was provided to Management Side� Management Side have sought advice from DoF before they will respond�

B3.29 Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPSNI)

Review of Casework Function: After lengthy consultation and written representations, Trade Union Side’s many concerns were accepted by

Management and a decision of the Business Improvement Team’s proposed cut of 3�5 posts was taken�

Review of Victim and Witness Care Unit (VWCU): The Business Improvement Team (BIT) carried out a review of VWCU and a report was submitted to Trade Union Side in September 2017� The contents and recommendations of the report were disputed by Trade Union Side and lengthy consultation and written representa-tions, a decision to implement a cut of 3 posts was taken� There were 6 vacancies in the Unit at the time and Trade Union Side managed to ensure that the other 3 vacancies were filled upon conclusion of negotiations� Significant concerns regarding the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for VWCU were also issued to Management Side by Trade Union Side�

Legal Grading Review (LGR): Lengthy and complex consultations took place during the Legal Grading Review process and continued for a significant period of time after its conclusion� The legal nature of the PPS and the possibility of a negative report being delivered, meant that job security and morale suffered heavily as this review was carried out� Whilst morale did suffer regarding the Reviews delivery of the PPS grading structure, job security concerns were removed� Surplus lists were produced in other departments; the impact of LGR on PPS was that all staff in post received the welcome news that their posts were safe – and a small number of additional posts were created� Trade Union Side presented concerns to Management Side along with other issues regarding the similarity of roles at Public Prosecutor (DP’s) and Senior Public Prosecutor (G6 and G7) level that Trade Union Side argued, was not representative in the body of the review� A number of appeals were lodged by lawyers in PPS against JESP and JEGS but the Appeals were unsuccessful�

Temporary Promotions: Since Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES), obvious gaps had appeared in the service and the PPS had adopted widespread use of Temporary Promotions, backfilled by agency workers� Many issues developed around the lack of rotation, the eligibility pool, the criteria and selection process which were challenged at length by Trade Union Side� After much

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consultation, suitable arrangements were put in place to ensure compliance with equality legisla-tion and NICS policy, eliminating the possibility of discrimination against certain pools of staff� PPS continued to utilise the list of civil servants returning from career breaks and those coming off promotion lists to fill posts with substantive staff, rather than recruiting Agency workers� There was an on-going problem at Administra-tive Assistant (AA) level� Trade Union Side met with management on a number of occasions to express concern regarding the recruitment of agency workers at this grade�

Electronic Case File (ECF): The department rolled out this system to all regions which dimin-ished the use of paper files� Constructive consul-tation took place with PPS Management and the IT Branch which outlined proposed efficiencies and the method of implementation�

Significant issues were raised by Trade Union Side which involved consultation with the Infor-mation Commissioners Office (ICO) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSENI)� A successful pilot scheme and evaluation process identi-fied and remedied the systems inefficiencies� Trade Union Side raised concern regarding the threat to posts for those whose primary role was printing files and documents� This however was alleviated with the introduction of additional work that Electronic Case File had created in IT, Casework Support and Court Support branches�

Holiday Pay Cases: Following on from the Bear Scotland case and the Patterson v Castlereagh Borough Council cases NIPSA lodged griev-ances on behalf of all of its members in PPS in relation to holiday pay which had not been paid for overtime worked� Members had been sent packs with detailed advice on lodging ET1 forms with the Tribunals office� A number of additional cases were lodged by members in PPS since the recent judgement in the PSNI case�

Travel and Subsistence: Issues arose when some members in PPS were refused travel and subsistence allowances whilst travelling to temporary work stations (court buildings)� After approximately 4 weeks of dialogue; NIPSA, through negotiation with PPS senior manage-ment and at Central Whitley, were able to ensure that the status quo prevailed�

All allowances were reinstated and backdated for the period in dispute back in 2017� The issue flared up on a number of occasions throughout 2018 and whilst NICSHR did not issue written guidance on the matter, Trade Union Side successfully resolved the issues at departmental level�

Accommodation Issues (Health and Safety): Issues regarding DSE, ventilation, humidity and temperature had been reported� The issue was prevalent in Belfast Chambers since the department restructured and closed offices in Lisburn and Ballymena (April 2016), with the Omagh office operating on a partial basis only� The majority of staff were relocated to Belfast Chambers which was refurbished into an open plan site� The compliment of staff at that site doubled to over 300 and Trade Union Side concerns increased as working conditions dete-riorated� Reports compiled by Trade Union Side and forwarded via the Departmental Health and Safety Committee mechanism to address the issues met with mixed results and were on-going�

Trade Union Side outlined Management Sides legislative obligations under the Managing Health and Safety at Work Regulations (NI) 2000 for a dining area to be provided for staff in Belfast Chambers which was complied with in March 2018 with the opening of a large-scale dining area that included considerably more than the essential facilities required by Health and Safety legislation�

Trade Union Office: Trade Union Side success-fully negotiated (via departmental Whitley) an agreement for accommodation to be provided for Trade Union duties and an office in Belfast Chambers, the facilities were later withdrawn to accommodate refurbishments to the accompa-nying IT suite� However an additional office was identified to accommodate the Trade Union Side Secretary�

Work-related Stress: The poor performance of PPS reflected in the report carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in 2014, “Imple-mentation of Management Standards for Work Related Stress in PPS” was highlighted� Whilst the PPS action plan to eliminate previous short comings was welcome at the time, it had not had the desired effect as members continued

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to suffer an unacceptable rate of work-related stress� This further increased after VES and with constant BIT reviews of administrative grades� The negative impact on members were repeat-edly highlighted through the Health and Safety Committee, Investors in People Committee and the Local Whitley Council to encouraging PPS management to tackle and significantly reduce work-related stress to an acceptable level�

Trade Union Side engaged successfully with PPS Management to begin the process of rolling out Trauma Resilience Training in an effort to reduce work-related stress and potential Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to the issues high-lighted and the nature of work carried out in the department�

B3.30 Sport Northern IrelandPension Allowance: In the 2016 pay remit the Department of Finance advised that they were aware that a number of public bodies have arrangements in place to ensure that their staff are not disadvantaged as a result of paying what were historically higher employee contributions to the NILGOSC pension scheme than other public sector employees who are members of the PCSPS(NI)� They argued that this adjust-ment can no longer be assumed to be a fixed amount and that Sport NI must ensure that they review the position for each individual member of staff on an annual basis to ensure that any adjustment to their salary maintains the prin-ciple that staff who are on terms analogous to those of the NICS are no better off, and no worse off, as a result of the pension scheme to which they contribute� NIPSA received confirmation at October’s JNCC meeting that the issue had now been settled and that staff would continue to receive the allowance�

Sport Institute Northern Ireland Staff Regrading: NIPSA continued throughout the year to engage with Management Side regarding the re-grading exercise for those staff based at the Sports Institute� Staff based there are on pay scales which do not correspond to the NICS� NIPSA continued to challenge the misapplication of JEGS guidance via a number of appeals submitted on behalf of ours members�

NIPSA continued to support members through the appeals process�

Restructuring: Throughout the year NIPSA continued to engage in consultation meet-ings with Management Side on the future staff restructuring of SPORT NI� The following issues continued to be discussed:

❚ JEGS contractor;

❚ Job descriptions;

❚ New structure - bench marking exercise;

❚ Allocating role profiles;

❚ Assimilation guidance;

❚ Vacancy preference guidance;

❚ Alternative employment procedure;

❚ Engagement Channels;

❚ Reshaping proposals�

Policies: The following policies were subject to consultation/negotiation this year:

❚ Dignity at work;

❚ Inefficiency Sickness;

❚ Redundancy;

❚ Uniform appeals�

B3.31 Tourism NI (TNI)Pay: The Department of Finance (DoF) had not approved a pay award for TNI staff from 2014 as a result of their problems with a salary uplift to compensate members for the difference between the NILGOSC and PCSPS (NI) pension contribution rates� Following intensive nego-tiations, a business case was approved and the salary uplift was retained� Approval was given for pay awards to be implemented from 2014 and members received all arrears in September�

Travel and Subsistence Policy: Management Side imposed a new policy whereby all home-to-office mileage would be deducted from all mileage claims� This was opposed by Trade Union Side and a number of meetings have taken place� Trade Union Side recently provided a detailed position paper on the issue and TNI have raised our concerns with their Sponsor Department�

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Recruitment and Selection Policy: Trade Union Side raised concerns regarding changes to the policy that provided for extensive recruitment for all posts� Following a series of meetings it was agreed permanent recruitment at Staff Officer grade and above would be recruited externally while other grades would be an internal devel-opment opportunity�

B3.32 Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland (UREGNI)

Pay: Following negotiations, Management Side made a pay offer of a three year deal, 1% reval-orisation each year, incremental progression subject to performance each year� Trade Union Side consulted members on the offer which was accepted�

Restructuring: Management Side proposed a new organisational structure for Networks Direc-torate that included two new Head of Functions posts to sit directly under the Director post� Trade Union Side raised concerns with both the rationale and the specifics of the proposals� Following consultation, it was agreed to imple-ment Stage 1 – recruit for Head of Function posts – but delay Stage 2 until further work was completed�

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1 April 2018

1 April 2019

C1 National Joint Council

SCP per annum per hour*6 £16,394 £8�507 £16,495 £8�558 £16,626 £8�629 £16,755 £8�6810 £16,863 £8�7411 £17,007 £8�8212 £17,173 £8�9013 £17,391 £9�0114 £17,681 £9�1615 £17,972 £9�3216 £18,319 £9�5017 £18,672 £9�6818 £18,870 £9�7819 £19,446 £10�0820 £19,819 £10�27

Appendix 1C1.1 National Joint Council (NJC) PayAs reported in Section C1�1 of the 2017 Annual Report the final pay offer resulted in a 2 year deal� NIPSA ensured that members received their 2018 pay increase in the various sectors as quickly as possible� However it quickly became clear that the Year 2 implementation due from 1 April 2019 would require significant negoti-ations across all sectors as the National Joint Council issued guidance for the implementa-tion of Year 2 which had various options identi-fied which were not straightforward� NIPSA was involved across all Sectors in negotiating the best outcome for members�

The 2018 and 2019 NJC pay scales are appended at Appendix 1 (see across)�

C1.2 Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS/Northern Ireland Local Government Officers Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC)

NILGOSC Committee: In December the Depart-ment of Communities advised that they would terminate the extensions of two of the Trade Union Members Bumper Graham and Joe Donaghy plus one Employer Representative and the Chairman as their 18 month extension had come to an end� This left the Committee with unequal numbers which was in contravention of both the Public Service Pension Act (NI) 2014 and the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (NI) 2014� Under the auspices of the CCWG, ICTU wrote to the Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities challenging her decision�

LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) (NI): The Scheme Advisory Board met on a number of occasions during the year� The main work of the SAB was to work with the Government Actuaries (GAD) to address the breach of the floor cap� Towards the end of the year a consultation was launched on how to address the floor breach which proposed increasing the accrual rate for all scheme members�

New SCP £ per annum £ per Hour* Old SCP(s)1 £17,364 £9�00 6-72 £17,711 £9�18 8-93 £18,065 £9�36 10-114 £18,426 £9�55 12-135 £18,795 £9�74 14-156 £19,171 £9�94 16-177 £19,554 £10�14 188 £19,945 £10�34 199 £20,344 £10�54 2010 £20,751 £10�75 11 £21,166 £10�97 2112 £21,589 £11�19 2213 £22,021 £11�41 14 £22,462 £11�64 2315 £22,911 £11�88 24

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*Hourly rate calculated by dividing annual salary by 52.143 weeks (which is 365 days divided by 7) and then divided by 37 hours (the standard working week in the National Agreement ‘Green Book’.

SCP per annum per hour*21 £20,541 £10�6522 £21,074 £10�9223 £21,693 £11�2424 £22,401 £11�6126 £23,866 £12�3727 £24,657 £12�7828 £25,463 £13�2029 £26,470 £13�7230 £27,358 £14�1831 £28,221 £14�6332 £29,055 £15�0633 £29,909 £15�5034 £30,756 £15�9535 £31,401 £16�2836 £32,233 £16�71

SCP per annum per hour*37 £33,136 £17�1838 £34,106 £17�6839 £35,229 £18�2640 £36,153 £18�7441 £37,107 £19�2342 £38,052 £19�7243 £39,002 £20�2244 £39,961 £20�7145 £40,858 £21�1846 £41,846 £21�6947 £42,806 £22�1948 £43,757 £22�68

New SCP £ per annum £ per Hour* Old SCP(s)16 £23,369 £12�11 17 £23,836 £12�35 2518 £24,313 £12�60 19 £24,799 £12�85 2620 £25,295 £13�11 2721 £25,801 £13�37 22 £26,317 £13�64 2823 £26,999 £13�99 2924 £27,905 £14�46 3025 £28,785 £14�92 3126 £29,636 £15�36 3227 £30,507 £15�81 3328 £31,371 £16�26 3429 £32,029 £16�60 3530 £32,878 £17�04 36

New SCP £ per annum £ per Hour* Old SCP(s)31 £33,799 £17�52 3732 £34,788 £18�03 3833 £35,934 £18�63 3934 £36,876 £19�11 4035 £37,849 £19�62 4136 £38,813 £20�12 4237 £39,782 £20�62 4338 £40,760 £21�13 4439 £41,675 £21�60 4540 £42,683 £22�12 4641 £43,662 £22�63 4742 £44,632 £23�13 4843 £45,591 £23�63 49

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C2 Education & Further/Higher EducationC2.1 Children and Young Peoples ServicesClassroom Assistants Working Group: A Classroom Assistant Working Group was formed following issues raised in relation to the variation of contracts being applied to members resulting in a blending of roles between General Assistant and Classroom Assistant� Trade Union Side were consulted on and agreed the Terms of Reference for the Review� Work continued during the latter part of the year to seek to address the abuse of member’s contracts with a view to providing clear protocols going forward�

New Funding Scheme Consultation for Regional and Local Voluntary Youth Organisa-tions: Trade Union Side were briefed in relation to the formal consultation which was launched in relation to a new funding scheme for Regional and Local Voluntary Organisations� This was under consideration by Trade Union Side�

Children and Youth People Protection Services: NIPSA objected to the implementa-tion of the Child Protection Regional Service and the potential impact on working relationships and contracts of employment arising from a universal approach from 9 to 5 across the region� Management acknowledged the previous local arrangements that were in place and indicated it was not envisaged that these arrangements would have an adverse impact at the current time� Management further agreed to engage with NIPSA and members to clarify the position on an ongoing basis�

C2.2 Education DirectorateSchool Development Service 4th and 5th Tier Structure Proposals: Consultation took place with members in relation to the proposed 4th and 5th Tier Structures and reinforced members concerns at the restructuring arrangements which were again identified as promotion rather than identified for slotting-in� NIPSA also raised concerns arising from posts being offered under the new structure as subject to NJC rather than Soulbury terms and conditions� Management Side argued that this was to accommodate a career path for non-teacher qualified staff� NIPSA raised concerns regarding potential detriment in relation to terms and conditions that could

arise and Management� Management clarified that they had carried out a terms and conditions audit inclusive of SPA points and in their view no detriments were identified�

C2.3 Human Resources/Pay Terms and Conditions and HR Policy Central Forum

NIPSA challenged Management in respect of their proposal on pay protection� NIPSA argued that staff had legacy protection arrangements under the GLWC Scheme which supported the argument for Life Time Protection on a ‘personal to holder’ basis� NIPSA also referred manage-ment to the current JNC circular regarding restructuring which highlighted the option of uploading posts for those staff who found them-selves in a protective position� NIPSA also sought further details be provided across directorates�

Attendance Management: Consultation was underway in relation to a Managing Attendance Policy�

Restructuring and Slotting-In Procedures: Throughout the year NIPSA represented the concerns of members on the ongoing processes of restructuring across the Education Authority where members felt that there was a misappli-cation of procedures to facilitate the appearance of promotional posts and external recruitment rather than a consistent approach to imple-menting slotting-in procedures� Management agreed to meet further on the issues and review the protocols�

C2.4 Finance and ICT DirectorateE-payslips Roll Out: Trade Union Side south clarification and assurances as follows:

❚ No detriment to current staff carrying out these roles� It was agreed staff would be provided with alternative work of equal or higher value;

❚ Staff would have the option to opt out on request;

❚ Staff would be provided with information and access to a guide and demonstration;

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❚ An enquiry line for queries would be identified; and

❚ A phased roll-out with HQ staff first, followed by school based staff�

C2.5 Operations and Estates DirectorateConsultation took place in respect of 4th and 5th Tier structures proposals for Facilities Manage-ment, Pupil Services and Procurement and Trans-port� NIPSA raised concerns with Management in respect of the unreasonable timescales and volume of consultations being sought which would breach the principles required to ensure ‘meaningful’ consultation and negotiation�

Cleaning and Grounds Review: NIPSA consulted member on a review of cleaning and grounds being undertaken by APSE� NIPSA concerns were to ensure that any benchmarking or analysis is appropriate and relevant to the services under review and requested ongoing information and negotiation as the matter progress� This was agreed to�

C2.6 Job EvaluationConcerns continued to be raised regarding the proposed pilot scheme and potential implica-tions arising from a scheme which uses conven-tions that were not agreed with Trade Union Side� Management Side agreed proposals required further negotiation and clarification with legal advice if required�

C2.7 Education Authority: Belfast Region (EA BR)

NIPSA continued to represent members at all stages of the redundancy process within the Education Authority (Belfast Region)� As a result of the Area Based Plans, meetings have taken place across the EA Belfast Region in relation to school closures, mergers and amalgamations�

NIPSA engaged with Management in relation to the contracts of staff who are employed in the Oakwood Autism ASD Outreach Service based in the Fortwilliam Resource Centre to allow for their contracts to be signed� NIPSA are at an early stage of engagement with Management where we are entering into further negotiations

in relation to these members Job Title, Descrip-tion and duties which they are doing that are similar to a higher grade of staff in the same service�

NIPSA Branch 516 has held very successful clinics for members to book in a time slot to meet with or discuss any issues that they have� The uptake on this has been great and the clinics have been well received by members�

C2.8 Education Authority: North Eastern Region (EA NER)

Redundancies: A number of issues arose in St Johns Primary school Coleraine� Most alarming were the threats made by the principal to NIPSA branch committee members working in the school� It became clear that members were facing discrimination on a mass scale NIPSA raised formal grievances and have had some success in a number of key points however this matter still requires further work in the New Year�

Terms and Conditions: An issue arose in rela-tion to on-call allowances for senior drivers� It was brought to our attention that despite members being required to be available out of hours Management would not recognise this as “on call” and were only prepared to pay over-time as and when they were called out� NIPSA raised this through the various internal stages of the grievance process and were preparing for the final stage at Labour Relations Agency (LRA) early in the New Year�

Music Tutors: Music tutors raised a number of grievances regarding their terms and condi-tions� These included the retrospective payment of accrued holiday pay, non-payment of sick pay, parity of terms and conditions with other Educa-tion Authority (EA) regions and requests for permanent contracts� NIPSA successfully won all elements of this case, the members in question secured permanent contracts in line with their full time colleagues� This resulted in members receiving the correct pay scales with immediate effect resulting in a substantial pay increase with retrospective payment dating back to 2010� Members also secured retrospective payments in terms of holiday pay, sick pay etc�

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C2 Education & Further/Higher EducationThis was a long drawn out process but one that will have benefits for many members in the music service� As all part time music tutors are to receive equal treatment as described (pending business case)� This is a significant victory for NIPSA as it has implications across the music service for all part time music tutors� The potential costs to EA and benefits to members are likely to be within hundreds of thousands�

C2.9 Education Authority: South Eastern Region (EA SER)

Youth Service Restructuring: Members raised concerns in respect of the restructuring of the Youth Service and the potential job losses at Youth Officer Grade� In addition concerns were brought forward regarding the introduction of job descriptions that appear to discriminate against some staff� Former Youth Council NI members felt aggrieved that their TUPE agree-ments were not being honoured� Job descrip-tions were written that had limitations on them resulting in Youth members, especially within the former YCNI group more at risk� Members were facing the possibility of being downgraded when jobs exist that would negate this option� As a result grievances were raised�

Audit Service Restructuring: Members raised concerns a number of concerns regarding the proposed restructuring of the Audit Service� These included grades of staff slotting in process equal pay and the impact of the proposed structure� NIPSA senior officials took part in consultations with Management regarding the restructuring of the audit service� Following what appeared to be an agreed way forward Management in the form of the assistant director, proceeded to do a complete 180 and made direct threats to the job security and terms and condi-tions of our members� These threats included job security if his way forward was not agreed� The removal of allowances such as travel if they did not adhere to his will and travel across the EA regions, but most alarming, was the threat that action would be taken if our members sought and followed the advice of NIPSA�

The HEO for the area responded to each and every one of these threats with counter threats of legal redress and reported the issue to senior

human resources Management� As a result of this correspondence, NIPSA gathered the auditors from all legacy boards, obtained the mandate and met with senior HR and the assis-tant director in question, where during a frank and robust meeting, NIPSA have obtained a number of assurances, retractions of all threats and more importantly an apology from the assis-tant director� Left unchallenged members were vulnerable to Management attacks and NIPSA thwarted Management advances�

NIPSA have secured some positive results to date but many issues remain outstanding�

School Improvement Restructuring: As was common with countless restructuring processes throughout the EA during the year Management reneged on assurances given and agreements made� NIPSA were assured that no competitions would be required until all present employees had secured a position within the structure of the new organisation�

However, Management were carrying out piece-meal processes in that some staff were being slotted into posts while others had to apply for posts� As a result the issue was raised with Management to ensure they were slotted in� The action taken resulted in all our members securing positions and receiving no financial detriment�

Classroom Assistants: Members within the South Eastern and other regions have raised concerns regarding the issue of separate contracts being awarded for to the same child but having different rates of pay� For example Child A has a statement of special needs and is assigned a CA with the respective pay associated for special needs� However, during lunchtime, Management have decided to pay lunchtime supervisory rates to that CA as apparently the special needs for the child do not exist at lunch-time� This is regardless of whether the special needs the child has are of a physical nature or any other nature� NIPSA has raised this with the director of HR and have members willing to be test cases� This remains a significant issue for not only our members within this region, but for classroom assistants throughout EA�


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Finance Service: Members brought concerns to the Branch regarding the new financial system and the people concerned in the negotiations on behalf of Management� NIPSA had been informed the main negotiator of the contract for Fujitsu was employed by Fujitsu and is not an employee of EA� Members were concerned at the conflict of interest and the impact�

It came to NIPSA's attention that nine consult-ants had been employed within finance depart-ment and NIPSA sought clarification if this was an appropriate use of public funding especially when members were capable of carrying out this functionality� This matter continues to be a priority for NIPSA at central negotiations�

C2.10 Education Authority: Southern Region (EA SR)

NIPSA continued to represent members at all stages of the redundancy process within the Education Authority (Southern Region)� As a result of the Area Based Plans, meetings have taken place across the EA Southern Region in relation to school closures, mergers and amalga-mations�

NIPSA dealt with some TUPE issues in the Educa-tion Authority Southern Region�

One TUPE issue was in relation to the transfer-ring of the Catering Services in Dungannon Integrated College� The catering was currently provided by a Service Level Agreement with the Education Authority and was not being renewed� Catering staff who were currently employed by the Education Authority along with all unions including NIPSA had been involved in discus-sions with management to have all their terms and conditions protected through the TUPE transfer� These discussions completed and staff transferred to the College at the end of March�

Another TUPE transfer was in relation to the closure of St Columban’s College (a CCMS School) and the expansion of St Louis Grammar School (a Voluntary Grammar School) to facilitate this closure� This proposal was consulted on and negotiations between the Education Authority, CCMS and the Management of St Louis Grammar School began with all unions including NIPSA involved� The date for the TUPE transfer was 1 September�

NIPSA were also involved in the amalgamation of 3 primary schools namely Moneydarragh Primary – Annalong, St Joseph’s Primary - Bally-martin, St Mary’s Primary – Glasdrumman who became one school in September 2018 called St Columban’s Primary School that was housed on the grounds of St Columban’s College that recently closed�

Negotiations and consultation took place and members received representation at both a local level by the branch and with the HQ Official with responsibility for this Region�

NIPSA were made aware that a notice of redun-dancies in Newbridge Integrated College had been issued to members� NIPSA reminded the Bursar of the need to consult fully with NIPSA as agreed previously about consulting on other issues�

Towards the summer, NIPSA was made aware of an issue in relation to the allocation for the summer schemes of special needs classroom assistants’ staff who were on a 52 week contract� NIPSA wrote to management to voice their concerns that this may be a unilateral change to their contract of employment and to challenge this point� Management responded to inform Trade Union Side that the ‘status quo’ would remain�

NIPSA had been consulted on a new contract of employment and grievance policy for St Patrick’s Grammar School in Armagh� NIPSA met with the Principal and Bursar to discuss these proposals and following discussions that these contracts should remain in line with NJC terms and condi-tions we have been issued� Amended copies have been issued for consideration�

NIPSA Branch 521 held very successful clinics for members to book in a time slot to meet with or discuss any issues that they have� The uptake on this has been significant and the clinics have been well received by members�

C2.11 Education Authority: Western Region (EA WR)

Education Welfare Officers – Relocation: A meeting took place with relevant Officers in the Operations and Estates Directorate, and Human Resources (HR), to consult with NIPSA regarding

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C2 Education & Further/Higher Educationthe relocation of Education Welfare Officers (EWOs) in Limavady to the North West Teachers’ Centre, Strathfoyle (NWTC)� The discussion outlined the rationale for the temporary move, and the way forward in relation to dealing with caseloads and associated issues�

Erne Integrated College, Enniskillen: NIPSA raised the issue of changes to contracts with Children and Young Peoples’ Services (CYPS) in EA� However, CYPS referred to the discussions with the working group set up through the Joint Negotiating Council, (JNC) to discuss issues pertaining to Classroom Assistants’ contracts�

Holy Cross College, Strabane: NIPSA met with members in Holy Cross College in Strabane regarding a number of issues, including job eval-uation of posts and provided advice regarding other matters of concern to the members�

Human Resources: NIPSA contacted the Assistant Director in HR, regarding a number of concerns which members in the HR Omagh Office had about the next phase of restructuring HR� These included a lack of meaningful consul-tation about the HR structure, and associated job descriptions and grades� In response the Assis-tant Director indicated that a proposal regarding the next tranche of restructuring in HR would be provided to Trade Union Side in November for consultation� It was intended that the structure would be finalised by March 2019�

Internal Audit: A proposed revised structure for Internal Audit was provided to members who subsequently raised a number of issues with NIPSA, including lack of consultation regarding job titles, grades and training� The concerns raised by this group of members were incorporated into the overall response to the consultation exercise with all NIPSA members in Internal Audit�

Maintenance Department: NIPSA met with members in the Maintenance Department, regarding proposals for restructuring Facilities Management at Tiers 4 and 5� Members had a number of concerns regarding the proposals, which included the lack of transparency and openness in relation to filling posts so far� The comments were included in NIPSA’s overall response to the consultation exercise�

Procurement: A meeting took place between

NIPSA and members who work in Procurement, to discuss the proposed structure� Comments were provided for inclusion in the overall response from NIPSA� These included requests for clarification regarding the proposed posts of Category Manager, and administration in Procurement�

NIPSA subsequently met with members in the Procurement Department, regarding further proposals for restructuring Procurement at Tiers 4 and 5� Members sought clarity regarding the qualifications required, and the comments were included in the overall NIPSA response to the consultation exercise�

St Joseph’s College, Derry: NIPSA had a series of consultation meetings with members in St Joseph’s College regarding a redundancy proposal� NIPSA raised strong objections with the Board of Governors (BOG) regarding any rationale or need for a redundancy� The BOG decided to amalgamate the posts of Library Assistant and ICT Technician, and a restricted recruitment exercise subsequently took place in the School�

Consultation meetings continued for several months in accordance with the Policy and Procedure for Handling Redundancies for non-teaching staff in Education�

St Patrick's Primary School, Pennyburn: A meeting took place between NIPSA and members in St Patrick's PS, Pennyburn regarding proposed redundancies, which were due to budgetary cuts� The redundancies were due to take place amongst Special Educational Needs (SEN) Classroom Assistants, and Supervisory Assistants� The redundancies took place on a voluntary basis�

St Peter’s and St Paul’s Primary School, Dungiven: NIPSA met with members in St Peter’s and St Paul’s Primary School, Dungiven regarding a proposed Special Educational Needs redundancy� NIPSA argued for the option of transferring the member to another school to avoid a compulsory redundancy�

Termoncanice Primary School, Limavady: NIPSA met with members in Termoncanice PS, regarding queries about Classroom Assistant


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Contracts, and the Review of Classroom Assis-tants, which was underway�

Transport: NIPSA met with members in the Transport Department, regarding the proposals for restructuring Transport at Tiers 4 and 5, and provided a number of comments for inclusion into the overall NIPSA response to the consulta-tion exercise� These included, inaccurate infor-mation in the proposals regarding the current structure, the fact that Job Evaluation was never addressed for those who had requested it many years ago, and the potential impact of that on those members when the structure was being populated�

C2.12 Belfast Metropolitan College (BMC)In October a communication was issued from Management on behalf of all the Further Educa-tion Colleges to NIPSA relating to another round of the Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES)� It highlighted that Belfast Metropolitan College was not one of the participating Colleges in the scheme as they had already a sustainable structure in place�

BMC Management had informed NIPSA on a transfer of the Catering and Vending Services� This was subject to a tender process and the successful Company that was awarded the contract was the OCS Group� NIPSA were fully involved in the TUPE transfer of the BMC staff to this new company and represented members at the one to one meetings�

C2.13 Northern Regional College (NRC)In October a communication was issued by Management sent on behalf of all the Further Education Colleges to NIPSA relating to another round of the Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES)� Northern Regional College was one of the partic-ipating Colleges in the scheme this time around�

In October only NIPSA was sent correspondence from Human Resources to advise that following an independent review of the College Business Development Function that there were three areas that there could be potential redundan-cies as a result: Business Development (potential restructure in December), Community Education and Exams� NIPSA and the other Unions met the deputising Principal in November about how

this independent review and how this consulta-tion was carried out and to remind Management of their failure to consult properly with all the unions involved in the College� Some members in these areas did put their names forward for the VES and were successful�

C2.14 South Eastern Regional College (SERC)

Issues arose in relation to Training Support Officers (TSOs), regarding the misapplication of the flexi policy for the service� Management had threatened to withdraw the scheme from staff due to their interpretation that members are abusing the scheme� NIPSA successfully defended the members’ actions and retained the status quo� The TSOs also had a long running job evaluation application�

C2.15 Southern Regional College (SRC)Policies: NIPSA raised concerns with senior management that there is an inequality within their Disciplinary policies, for teaching and non-teaching staff� Teaching staff have access to an appeal stage that involves access to an inde-pendent panel at LRA where non-teaching staff do not� This issue remained ongoing�

C2.16 South West College (SWC)Whole College Review: At a meeting in June between NIPSA and the Director and HR Manager of SWC, it was reported that the College was undertaking a ‘Whole College Review’� NIPSA requested the terms of reference (TOR) and copy of the proposals,

Value for Money (VFM) Review: It was also reported that the Department has commis-sioned ‘Tribal’ for a VFM Review, and the report into this was expected at the end of June� NIPSA requested a copy of the report�

Shared Services: The Director advised that the initial plans around ‘shared services’ and outsourcing had changed, and that the Colleges were working on a collaboration action plan for keeping services in-house� NIPSA welcomed the news that there would be no outsourcing, however, stated that there was a need to consult

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C2 Education & Further/Higher Educationwith the Union regarding any planned changes to how services are delivered, where these were likely to impact on members�

A meeting with Senior Management had been arranged for December, and NIPSA was expecting an update regarding shared services at the meeting�

Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES): The College trawled for expressions of interest in the VES Scheme in August, and NIPSA understood that a maximum of 10 staff were allowed to leave under the Scheme� NIPSA again requested assurances about back-filling posts, and was advised that the criteria for deciding who could leave under VES included identifying areas of overstaffing or areas in decline, restructuring, qualifications and experience of staff least meeting the needs of the College and those working in IT or HR, because of Public Sector Shared Services�

C2.17 Queens University Belfast (QUB)Discretionary Awards: Members asked NIPSA to address their concerns regarding the QUB discretionary awards pay system� The issue involved QUB advertising a post, they gave the impression of a normal pay scale that includes the usual several points� In reality the final 2 points of any pay-scale within QUB, can only be achieved through a discretionary awards system that is at the sole discretion of a line manager� In addition to that the award scheme is not even applied on a regular basis and is continually suspended for various reasons�

NIPSA took this matter forward via the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) and were successful in getting the scheme amended� NIPSA continued to try and abolish this scheme and promote automatic progression through pay scales on an annual incremental basis�

C2.18 Stranmillis University CollegeInequalities were identified in the Leads and Allowances Policy relating to various groups of staff, namely security and gate-keeper staff� NIPSA highlighted the inequalities and sought for the Green Book Allowances to their terms and conditions should be applied evenly to all staff to avoid any further detriment� Following a

consultative review of the service, proposals that included the merging of the two roles� Members accepted new job description, terms and condi-tions and rates of pay resulting in significant pay rises for all concerned�

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C3 Health and Social CareC3.1 BREXIT – HSC ImplicationsBREXIT was a standing item on the Human Resource Directors Forum (HRDF) and a sub-group was established to consider issues such as labour market implications, recruitment and retention of staff and the effects on frontier workers� The Department of Health (DOH) indi-cated it was their wish for both employers and the trade unions to rely on each other to share information regarding staff numbers, staff issues and concerns of staff which would help with any future planning assumptions� Some Trusts reported they had undertaken scoping exercises and workshops had taken place to discuss work-force planning and service issues�

Representations were made by NIPSA to the European Commission Office in Belfast, in rela-tion to an issue about the recognition and compatibility of professional qualifications (including social work and social care and other qualifications) post exiting the European Union�

There was some ambiguity in relation to the advice given by the European Commission and clarification was sought from both the DOH and employers�

The DOH agreed to pick up this issue along with many other points of clarification that were required from the UK Home Office and it was their intention to issue a newsletter addressing this and a number of other queries and concerns that had been raised with them�

C3.2 Health and Social Care (HSC) Conference 2018

A rearranged HSC Annual Delegate Conference was held on Friday 26 October 2018� The Confer-ence was held at Harkin House for the first time� It was well attended and had a guest speaker from the Department of Health� The Conference dealt with motions in relation to HSC pay, HSC reform, Agenda for Change, staffing, terms and conditions of service, bullying, health and safety and there was an emergency motion regarding recent allegations of abuse of some patients in Muckamore Abbey Hospital and instructed NIPSA to establish the facts surrounding the obvious shortfalls in patient care�

C3.3 Plans Submitted for £100 Million New Health Care Centre on Kings Hall Site

Following action taken by NIPSA, by way of a petition, a protest and a rally at Belfast City Hall it was successful in getting Belfast City Council-lors to review a decision to sign off on the first phase of a £100 million health care facility at the Kings Hall site�

Inter alia, NIPSA had argued that the planned redevelopment of the Kings Hall site would cause further damage to an already struggling health service� It had called on Belfast City Council to “ask serious questions” about the use of the private sector to deliver health care facili-ties on the site and it also raised concerns about a private development company operating under charitable status running a care home at the proposed complex avoiding substantial rates, which would therefore result in the tax payer picking up such costs�

NIPSA subsequently wrote to MPs, MLAs and Belfast City Councillors asking them to defer their decision until objections to the planning application had been fully considered, including the representations made by them and others, including residents�

Belfast City Council however instructed it’s offi-cials to carry out further detailed reports and facilitate a site visit to the proposed develop-ment by Councillors before the next scheduled planning meeting in December 2018�

At a Council meeting held on 11 December 2018 NIPSA again lobbied against the proposal and had speaking rights in opposition to the devel-opment�

The planning application was subsequently approved by the Council by a narrow margin and NIPSA and other opponents to the development remain committed to challenging any extension of private healthcare provision on this site�

C3.4 Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) Closure and Restructuring

As previously reported the closure of the HSCB was confirmed as a key priority by the then Minister in October 2016 when launching Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together�

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The restructuring was to be taken forward by the HSC Restructuring Programme Board who noted that it had become a necessity to transform how they work and manage their systems and their approach should be characterised by a focus on innovation and improvement, collaborative working, trust and inclusivity�

The Board produced a paper entitled “Proposed Operating Model for Future PHA”� The document was circulated to the HSC trade unions and it was looking at areas such as proposed primary roles of future Public Health Agency (PHA), proposed key functions of the future PHA, proposed Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) functions to transfer to PHA, possible non-core activity to the future of PHA functions and overall organisa-tional development�

A number of joint meetings were held to consider this operating model and associated staffing issues�

The Department of Health (DOH) subsequently conducted a public consultation on the way forward and views were taken from a broad range of stakeholders, including those organisa-tions impacted by the change� Those perspec-tives were fully considered in developing a future operating model and on 24 January 2018 at a Transformation Implementation Group (TIG) meeting, they agreed the direction of travel�

It is proposed that when the HSCB closes, respon-sibility for the majority of functions would move to the Department, but importantly, this would be established through a host organisation arrangement with the Business Services Organ-isation (BSO), enabling the associated staff to retain HSC terms and conditions� The functions and staff of the Social Care and Children Care Directorate would transfer to the Public Health Agency (PHA)�

Following meetings between DOH and HSC trade unions new governance and projects structures were agreed� Both parties were also keen to embed a strong staff/union involvement in future processes�

Having taken a lead role in all of these discus-sions, NIPSA subsequently received the following assurances regarding staff:

❚ no compulsory redundancies

❚ no relocation of staff

❚ no loss of any terms and conditions of service

A commitment was given to staff that they would be kept informed and engaged during the process and updates would be provided as information became available�

Another element that was under consideration was the question of new reporting arrange-ments, NIPSA and the other HSC trade unions were also determined to explore with the Department as to whether all HSCB staff would become permanent employees of the Business Services Organisation�

C3.5 Health and Social Care Joint Negotiating Forum (JNF)

The Regional Joint Negotiating Forum (JNF) continued to meet quarterly to deal with pay, pensions and a wide range of terms and condi-tions of service issues including the following specific matters�

Agenda For Change - Pay 2017/18a. Pay arrangements 2017/18: A pay circular

was finally agreed between HSC trade unions and HSC employers for the 2017/18 pay arrangements for staff covered by Agenda for Change (AfC) terms and conditions of service� The delay was due to the fact the Department of Health (DOH) was unable to get a public sector pay policy agreed until late December 2017� DOH subsequently accepted the NHS Pay Review’s Body recommendations of a 1% increase to all AfC pay points from 1 April 2017 and to an adjustment, of pay point 1 so that it was above the 2017/18 level of the National Minimum Wage�

b. Pay arrangements effective from 1 April 2017: For HSC staff in Northern Ireland this would be a 1% consolidated pay uplift effec-tive from 1 April 2017� The provisions for incremental pay progression continued to apply�

c. HSC On-call Availability Allowance - 1% uplift from 1 April 2017: HSC staff in Northern Ireland, on AfC terms and


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conditions of service who provide on-call cover and who satisfy the conditions for the availability allowance, would receive a 1% uplift on the current allowance which would increase from £23�46 to £23�69 from 1 April 2017�

d. HSC On-call Sleeping-in Allowance – 1% uplift from 1 April 2017: HSC staff in Northern Ireland, on AfC terms and condi-tions of service who provide on-call cover and who satisfy the conditions for the sleep-ing-in allowance would receive a 1% uplift on the current allowance which would increase from £30�60 to £30�91 from 1 April 2017�

e. Pay Arrangements Effective from 1 April 2018: From 1 April 2018 the hourly National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and above would increase to £7�83� Agenda for Change points 1 and 2 of Bands 1 and 2 would be uplifted to £15,310 in line with the 2018 NLW rate for staff aged 25 years and above with effect from 1 April 2018�

f. Pay Increase v Pension Contributions: An issue arose for a number of AfC staff as a conse-quence of the 1% pay award for 2017/18� The salary uplifts, once implemented by HSC payroll, would place some staff into a new pension contribution tier� In some cases the requirement to pay higher pension contribu-tions for 2017/18 would not be offset by the 1% additional pay received� Those at the top of Band 8A, for example, would be required to pay an additional sum of around £1,000 in pension contributions for 2017/18�

In an attempt to address these detrimental developments NIPSA met with the Pensions Branch, wrote to the DOH Permanent Secre-tary and tabled the item for discussion at the Regional Joint Negotiating Forum, the Pension Scheme Advisory Board and with the Trustees of the Pension Scheme�

Subsequently, the DOH put in place arrange-ments to ensure that staff who were most heavily impacted by moving into a new contribution tier, were not expected to fund the 2017/18 contributions from a single month’s salary in March 2018� The employer communication further explained that the

underpayment would be collected over 12 months, starting from April 2018�

Commitments were given by both the DOH and employers that they would not wish to see a repetition of this occurring in any future pay award arrangements�

g. Agenda For Change (AfC) – Pay 2018/19 and Beyond: On 21 March 2018 the NHS Staff Council issued a document entitled “Working in Partnership – Framework Agree-ment on the proposed reform of Agenda for Change”�

The Framework Agreement was conditional on government clearance and on agreement through the NHS Staff Council� It was subject to consultation and agreement with constit-uent parties�

If the Framework Agreement was endorsed and implemented in England, partners in Scotland, Cymru-Wales and Northern Ireland would be able to hold discussions about whether, and how, the content of this agree-ment would be implemented in light of the funding available in accordance with the Barnett Formula�

The value of the top pay points for grades 2-8C would increase each year as follows:

❚ 3% in 2018/19

❚ 1�7% in 2019/20

❚ 1�67% in 2020/21

The Agreement had other aspects linked to productivity and some changes to terms and conditions if the overall package was accepted�

In England, the trade unions and staff side organisations subsequently accepted the 3 year deal in June 2018�

Following the adoption of the Working in Partnership/Framework Agreement on the proposed reform of Agenda for Change for England, the Department of Health (DoH) commenced a structured ongoing engagement with Trade Union Side and HSC employers, in preparation for potential future discussions on Agenda for Change issues, including pay and reform for Northern Ireland�


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In the absence of a Minister and an Executive pay policy for 2018/19, the DOH were unable to enter into formal negotiations� However, they believed an engagement process would allow for employers and trade union colleagues to gain a detailed understanding of the positions on all the issues; provide for exchange of information; and keep an ongoing line of communication open as they moved forward�

In response to these developments and to consider NIPSA’s position in a Northern Ireland context, it’s HSC Central Panel appointed a pay sub-group to analyse the Framework Agreement in detail and to arrive at a policy position�

In August 2018, NIPSA issued a HSC pay update / bulletin on the Agenda for Change refresh Framework Agreement – inclusive of payscale restructuring for HSC Northern Ireland setting out NIPSA’s policy position on pay for 2018/19 and beyond�

Although there was a series of meetings with DOH, DOF and employers including several meetings with the DOH Permanent Secre-tary and the DOF Permanent Secretary, the Health Service trade unions and staff side organisations subsequently advised that they had reached a deadlock on 2018/19 pay for Health Service staff in Northern Ireland and as a consequence they would be conducting a consultative ballot to canvass their member’s views for a formal ballot for industrial action in 2019�

The HSC Unions subsequently reported responses ranging from 92-97% in support of being balloted for Industrial Action in 2019, if there was failure to reach agreement on pay�

Such action came following a refusal by the Management Side to accept proposals from Trade Union Side for a 3% pay award as an interim payment for staff for the year 2018/19 which would have allowed more time for negotiations on the refresh of the Agenda for Change terms and conditions that were agreed, accepted and funded by Treasury for Scotland, Wales and England�

Consequently, on 22 November 2018 the DoH made a formal offer on Agenda For Change pay for 2018/19�

In this letter the DoH advised that the DoF had now set the Northern Ireland Public Sector Pay Policy for 2018/19� This had cleared the way for the DoH to make a formal offer to Northern Ireland Agenda For Change NI (employees)� Any agreed or final offer would be subject to further clearance by the DoF as part of the pay remit process�

Notwithstanding the commencement of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018, constraints remain in respect of the scope and extensive decisions that can be taken by civil servants� Therefore, we have had to carefully balance how we have modelled the proposed pay offer for 2018/19, and this offer was based on applying the 2018/19 English pay settlement to current Northern Ireland pay values� This would cost £60�45m which is available for the purpose� This would represent an additional £2�97m to the overall HSC pay bill�

The main points of the pay offer were as follows:

❚ Award backdated to 1 April 2018

❚ A new minimum rate for staff on Band 1 and the first 6 points of Band 2 of £16,943 – an increase of up to 15�5% for some staff, equating to an hourly rate of £8�67�

❚ Increase to bottom points of other bands by between 3�8% and 6�4% as a result of increasing to the value of the next point up�

❚ Entry point for Band 5 would increase by 4% to £22,795�

❚ Increase to top points in Bands 2 – 8C of 3%, 2�49% to Band 8D and to 2�07% to Band 9�

❚ All other pay points would increase by 1�5%�

❚ Staff would receive incremental progre-ssion also, where eligible�

Despite a series of meetings running into December 2018 and counter proposals


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from the Trade Union Side, the final meeting held on 17 December 2018, concerning the 2018/19 pay discussions ended without agreement� The HSC Trade Unions argued that the Department of Health had unilater-ally sought a budget for pay “insufficient, in their view to meet the Agenda for Change uplift as per the other 3 countries” and had arrived at a situation where they had no alternative but to impose their proposal of 22 November 2018 in order to meet the payroll deadline for full payment of arrears in February 2019 salaries�

The DoH remained adamant that only a Minister can authorise pay realignment and or set a new public sector pay policy that would allow for full funding of the Agenda for Change refresh agreement as per the other 3 countries�

The HSC Trade Unions advised that they remain committed to achieve pay parity with England, Wales and Scotland and would engage in further negotiations and discus-sions early in 2019 with the view to achieving the same�

C3.6 Senior Executive PayWithin Trusts and other HSC Bodies a significant number of Senior Executives invoked internal grievances and appeals as a consequence of not receiving any pay uplifts for the last 8 years�

NIPSA supported its members in these grades arguing that employers had committed a breech of contract and its members had suffered a loss of entitlement by way of cost of living increases and incremental progression for an 8 year period�

Whilst NIPSA prosecuted a number of these griev-ances and appeals with respective employers it became evident that the issue was more convo-luted and complex and NIPSA took the dispute to the Department of Health (DoH) through the Regional Joint Negotiating Forum (JNF) on the basis that the outcomes from the grievance and appeal hearings indicated that the problem lay squarely with the Department of Health and not employers because it was the Department of Health who set the pay policy for Senior Exec-utives and these pay disputes were intrinsically

linked to the implementation and interpretation of that policy by the Department of Health�

In response the DoH advised that they had met with the Department of Finance (DoF) and had received legal advice and were prepared to draft new payscales for Senior Executive Pay, following consideration by the DoH Permanent Secretary�

They further indicated that the process would require them to cost these proposals and to consult further with employers and Trade Union Side representatives� Once formalised and the departmental starting position agreed, the DoH were happy to discuss further with employers and Trade Union Side�

The Department subsequently indicated that they were in a position to discuss their proposals but the matter was deferred as intense discus-sions were taking place between the DoH employers and Trade Union Side on the 2018/19 HSC Pay Remit for all other HSC staff�

It was agreed to examine this matter once that process had been completed�

C3.7 HSC Working Time Regulations Tribunal Cases and Rotas

Tribunal Cases (Sleep-ins): Over 600 NIPSA tribunal applications relating to the Working Time Directive (WTD) and unlawful deduc-tion of wages cases were registered with the Office of Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employ-ment Tribunal (OITFET) in June 2016� On foot of the NIPSA applications another HSC trade union, Unison, lodged 280 cases on behalf of it’s members� NIPSA and Unison subsequently agreed to co-fund these cases� In terms of the HSC multiple cases, these were progressing towards a hearing� The HSC Trusts would not agree to a lead case from 1 Trust and consequently addi-tional lead cases were being progressed against each of the 5 Trusts�

A timetable was set by OITFET to address the identification of lead and reserve lead cases and diary the exchange of documentation and replies to questions by either side� NIPSA’s legal advisors subsequently identified 8 lead claims that were representative of the total group of claimants across the five Trusts� The legal


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process has been elongated and matters were not helped by another working time related case whereby a decision was taken by OITFET that the current sleep-in cases should be stayed following a Court of Appeal judgement (Unison v Mencap case) as there was a potential read-across� In light of this the indications were that cases would not be heard until early 2019�

Rotas/Sleep-In Arrangements Within Commu-nity Services: NIPSA continued to raise aware-ness of the stress and strain it’s members were enduring from not having Working Time Direc-tive (WTD) compliant rotas in the workplace in all community residential settings and the resulting impact that this was having on their health� NIPSA held a meeting in December 2017 with Trust Directors of Social Work and Human Resource Directors on some emerging thinking around possible future Service Delivery models in the areas which have traditionally had sleep-in arrangements in place� NIPSA was advised that the Trusts and the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) were currently costing a proposed model for a possible future delivery model but this business case would need to be approved by DOH� NIPSA continued to highlight the need for ongoing consultation and practical solutions to resolve this critical issue� Following further pres-sure it subsequently transpired that there was now no current model being costed by HSCB on behalf of Trusts but NIPSA was advised that some “Transformation” money had been available from DOH and it was now the intention to put this additional money into community services by way of additional posts� There was no detail of the quantum of this “Transformation” money and NIPSA subsequently requested an urgent meeting with the Director of Social Work in HSCB along with HR representatives from the Trusts to consider the potential impact of such proposals�

C3.8 HSC Transformation SeminarThe NIPSA HSC Central Panel held a one day event on 12 October 2018 in relation to the HSC Trans-formation Process� The seminar was open to all other NIPSA branches and although it looked at the Bengoa Report and other policy develop-ments within the HSC sector, the purpose of the seminar was to consider the potential impact

that these type of developments would have for other sectors� NIPSA also gave consideration to the consequences of such policies feeding into the wider Programme for Government (PfG)strategy which would equally impact in other parts of the public service� The seminar was well attended and the HSC Central Panel agreed they would take forward the proposals and strategy that emerged from the seminar�

C3.9 Zero ToleranceThe Joint Negotiating Forum, Policy Sub-Group reviewed this particular policy�

As a consequence, the Department of Health (DOH) advised that the Zero Tolerance Working Group had received submissions from every Trust in relation to the policies they have in place and their priorities for zero tolerance going forward�

The working group agreed to meet further to review the next steps and identify actions that could be progressed�

The DOH advised that further training for staff was coming through as a priority and that the group would be considering the regional training strategy�

The DOH further confirmed that the group had discussed the view held by some across the system that “Zero Tolerance” as a title for their policy was unrealistic and not achievable� The alternative view was that “Zero Tolerance” repre-sented a powerful and effective statement from both the department and HSC employers�

This aspect along with others would be picked up as part of the ongoing review�

C3.10 Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT)

Financial Position: The Northern Health and Social Care Trust expected to ‘break-even’ for the 2017/2018 financial year� The ‘savings’ target for 2018/2019 had not been established but based on the current budget deficit for health the Trust was estimating their portion of the ‘savings’ was likely to be at least £18m�

Management of Change/Service Changes: NIPSA continued to be engaged in the


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consultation processes and continued to support members through any outcomes of those processes� The Trust was engaged in a number of Management of Change programmes including:

a. Restructuring of Patient Access and Theatre Administration: NIPSA along with trade union colleagues reached agreement with management on a number of matters and it was agreed that the recruitment and selection process could commence in rela-tion to a number of vacant posts i�e� 1 x Band 8a and 1 x Band 5� Different views arose between management side and trade union side in relation to the defined ‘pool’ of staff affected by the process i�e� which of the Band 4s was/was not affect remains outstanding and this matter was resolved� The restruc-turing process was completed but subse-quent issues arose in relation to workloads of the remaining lower Band staff i�e� Band 3 as a result of the changes and NIPSA supported those members in resolving these matters�

b. Restructuring of the Health and Well-being Promotion Team: NIPSA supported members in the implementation process� NIPSA and other trade union colleagues objected to the proposal which was to move away from a specialist model to a locality team based model but the Trust continued to proceed with rolling out the proposed model� NIPSA received further details including draft job descriptions and supported members in the formulation of a formal response to the additional information received� A wait and see approach in terms of addressing the queries/concerns of members in the Management of Change process was being taken by management and the revised struc-ture was scheduled to ‘go live’ in late 2018� NIPSA continued to support members in the transition/bedding in process�

c. Pharmacy Weekend Enhanced Working: NIPSA supported members in the consul-tation process� NIPSA opposed both the extension to the current weekend working hours in the Antrim Area Hospital (AAH) from 9am–5am to 9am–9pm and the intro-duction of weekend working hours in the

Causeway Hospital (initially a Saturday and after 12 months being extended to Sundays)� This opposition was based on the lack of any evidence that substantiated the need for either the extension of the weekend working hours in AAH or the introduction of weekend working hours in the Causeway Hospital� NIPSA identified that the current weekend working model needed to be examined and significant work needed to be undertaken to current practices and procedures e�g� the need to ensure discharges are undertaken at the earliest point of time in the day to facil-itate scripts being prepared and patients discharged at a reasonable time of date as opposed to after 5 p�m� etc� NIPSA also iden-tified that the current staffing levels within both locations do not support the proposed enhanced weekend working� Manage-ment drew up draft rotas and engaged in workshops with all affected staff and NIPSA supported members in those workshops and in responding to the draft proposed rotas� Regular joint management/trade union side meetings have taken place in relation to this matter since June 2018� Trade unions requested that the commencement of weekend working in the Causeway Hospital (Saturday only in the first instance) would be delayed until January 2019 but manage-ment chose to roll this out from Saturday 24 November 2018� NIPSA and Trade Union colleagues continued to express concerns about the staffing levels particularly in terms of ensuring safe practices both during the week and at weekends and have identified other concerns relating to part-time staff and the need for weekend working to be pro rata which was not being addressed appropri-ately by management� In relation to Antrim Area Hospital management are continuing to ‘stay’ the current proposal to extend current weekend working hours pending an optimi-sation process of the current working hours�

d. The Introduction of 7/7 Working within Diagnostic and Clinical Services in Antrim Hospital: NIPSA supported members in the consultation process� NIPSA opposed the universal introduction of 7/7 working within the service, highlighting the need to review


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the workforce required for outside 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday working� Concerns were also raised in relation to the poten-tial adverse effects of ‘stretching’ poten-tially inadequate staffing levels across a 7/7 working pattern�

e. Restructuring of Administrative Staff: Nursing and User Experience staff located at the Whiteabbey Hospital: NIPSA supported members in the implementation process i�e� one-to-one meetings and the Expression of Interest Process etc�

f. Revision of Acute Occupational Therapy Out of Hours Service: NIPSA supported members in the consultation process arising from revised proposals for the Acute Occupa-tional Therapy Out of Hours Service� NIPSA members within the Causeway Hospital raised concerns relating to the frequency of weekends they would be required to undertake, the undertaking of work during the week when staff are rostered to work at the weekend and the inclusion of Sunday working as part of the proposal�

Policies: The Northern Health and Social Care Trust has been reviewing the Managing Attendance Protocol and Procedures� NIPSA submitted comments in relation to the changes being proposed� NIPSA welcomed changes that required management to act more proac-tively in terms of addressing staff member’s health concerns at the earliest point in time, the emphasis the need for the Trust to take steps to support a staff member in remained in work and also those that required management to proac-tively seek to support staff returning to work at the earliest opportunity but these measures are counteracted by the draconian and puni-tive measures also being proposed especially in relation to the trust seeking to withhold staff members sick pay in circumstances in which NIPSA view as being inappropriate to do so and also the formalisation of the Trust seeking to terminate a staff member who is facing rede-ployment for health reasons if an alternative post is not located within an unacceptably short time period i�e� 8 weeks of the search begin-ning is unduly harsh� A joint Trade Union side submission which NIPSA fully contributed to

was submitted to management side in relation to the changes being proposed clearly high-lighting and emphasis a collective Trade Union rejection of the draconian and inappropriate amendments�

C3.11 Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS)

Financial Position: The Northern Ireland Ambu-lance Service was expected to ‘break-even’ for the financial year 2017/2018� The Trust was not able to provide any details of the required ‘savings’ for 2018/2019�

Restructuring: The Northern Ireland Ambu-lance Service undertook a Review of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Control and Communica-tions Service (Emergency Ambulance Control)� The proposals did not involve a reduction in the overall number of staff who could be employed in the Control Services but there were implica-tions for some members in terms of posts and banding� A working group was established to work through the various elements including implementation etc which NIPSA participated in� The working group agreed the terms of refer-ence/work plans but delays to the job descrip-tions for the new roles created being evaluated delayed the progress in terms of the manage-ment of change process involving the staff affected�

Rest Period Proposal: The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service put forward the following proposal:

a. There would be one 45 minute break per 12hr shift:

i� To be allocated between 11�30 – 15�30hrs and 23�30 – 03�30hrs

ii� The break may be allocated at a NIAS Station, Deployment point, HSC facility or, if agreed with EAC, another location�

iii� A £5 subsistence claim may be made for a break taken away from base

iv� The break will only be interrupted for Purple calls and some higher acuity red calls (Note 1)�


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b. If a break is interrupted one spoiled meal allowance per shift may be claimed

i� If a break is disturbed within the first 15 minutes then a second break of 45 minutes will be allocated�

ii� If a break is disturbed after the first 15 minutes then a second break consisting of the remaining minutes will be allo-cated�

c. If no break is allocated within the given times, a break will be allocated at the first opportu-nity thereafter and be uninterrupted for the first 30 minutes�

Management have also stated that to support the implementation the Medical Director had reviewed the classification of calls, resulting in a reduction of approx� 10,000 calls (per annum) that would interrupt breaks� Initially additional daytime cover was provided in Belfast and South East Divisions as part of Winter Planning between 11�00 – 17�00 hrs� NIPSA supported members in the consultation process�

C3.12 Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT)

After a long campaign and diligent work from the Branch that Domiciliary Care Workers have been re-banded from a Band 2 to a Band 3� This was fantastic news for those low paid workers who delivered an invaluable service to the commu-nity� The task of securing back pay for these members for as far back as possible commenced�

The finalised job description/job specification for Ward Clerks in Craigavon Area Hospital, Daisy Hill Hospital, South Tyrone Hospital, Lurgan and Armagh were submitted for evaluation� These members were upgraded�

NIPSA began the work with medical records staff throughout the trust to look at having their banding reviewed� NIPSA liaised with colleagues in the Northern Trust�

NIPSA issued a bulletin on the HSC pay update/AFC refresh� The branch then held meetings across the Trust over a number of weeks� Serious questions were raised on the deal in England� As there was little no progress in negotiations the NIPSA moved to a consultative ballot�

NIPSA were fully engaged in consultations on changes proposed to school nursing structures� Meetings were held with members to respond to their issues�

NIPSA engaged with members in children’s Gateway Single Point Entry team in a consulta-tion exercise on changes to the team�

Significant input by NIPSA health and safety representatives into Trusts health and wellbeing strategy� NIPSA representatives are at the centre of this important strategy and were bringing all their experience and expertise to ensure members are protected�

NIPSA took the lead in a service improvement/stress risk assessment for over 100 staff in phar-macy departments throughout the Trust� This addressed how staff are managed, included and treated in their workplace� The main focus was to improve the working lives of staff�

NIPSA was involved in ongoing service improve-ment work with GP Out of Hours staff throughout the Trust� This led to increased contracts, Working Time Directive compliance and career opportunities for staff� NIPSA also successfully argued back pay for these members around annual leave entitlement while working regular overtime�

NIPSA continued to be involved in work on the Daisy Hill pathfinder group�

A working group was set up in Older Peoples Primary Care to look at the role and function of admin staff in the ICT (integrated care team) service� The main aim was to ensure that the relevant staff were carrying out the tasks appro-priate to them in order that the service is as effective as possible� Branch members have represented NIPSA members on this working group� This piece of work resulted in more admin posts being created within ICT teams�

NIPSA successfully overturned many Work Life Balance decisions at appeal hearings�

NIPSA been successful in overturning decisions at attendance management panels to issue sanctions to staff who have breached the policy triggers�

NIPSA took part in the roll out of training to managers in the implementation of policies�


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This followed months of representation by the branch to HR on issues around the implementa-tion of these same policies� Many managers who are NIPSA members have welcomed the training which would benefit them and their staff�

NIPSA recently supported staff in children’s Family Intervention Team through a whistle blowing case� This resulted in workshops being held for all teams and an oversight group being set up to, among other things, improve the working lives of members�

NIPSA continue to meet regularly with domicil-iary care managers to work through issues which arise for this large staff group�

NIPSA joined a number of working groups in the Trust which will look at violence and aggres-sion towards staff groups� This work will help to inform ongoing regional work�

C3.13 Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT)

Primary Care and Older People (PCOP): Progress was slow in appointing the new Band 7 Senior Practitioners to teams� This was further exacerbated by a stalled recruitment exercise for Band 6 social workers which has delayed successful Band 7s from taking up their posts� NIPSA continued to have regular meetings with management to ensure that the timelines did not drift further�

In Eeach/Testing Change: A pilot project was developed to help ensure consistency for clients who are admitted to hospital� NIPSA was in regular contact with members involved in the pilot who reported high levels of stress and worry about increases to workloads� NIPSA sought further meetings with the manager leading the project and arranged a joint meeting with staff to identify the pressure points in the delivery of this new initiative�

E-rostering: NIPSA received numerous calls from members in Residential Social Work who were advised that a number of payments and allowances are not compatible with the new system and will not be paid� NIPSA raised this with the Head of Service who committed to urgently review the plans to roll this out to

residential staff�

Car Parking: NIPSA continued to raise the unfairness of car parking charges across the WHSCT estate� NIPSA members were regu-larly late for work searching for free spaces at peak times, were at risk of clamping or fines for contravening parking rules and were subject to extortionate car parking charges when they are forced into the Trust’s paid car parking facilities� NIPSA conducted a survey of members to deter-mine the range of issues with a view to develop a campaign on this issue�

Finance: NIPSA raised concerns with the Trust’s finance director concerning the Trust’s budget allocation for 2018/19� The response received advised that the Trust were concerned about their ability to deliver savings but anticipated that they would be required to undertake reduc-tions in low impact areas�

Scroggy Road Children’s Home: The Trust consulted on restructuring support provided to one young person resident in the home; a package of care was provided on a 2:1 basis involving a team of 6 Residential Social Workers� The Trust’s proposal would reduce this team change to 2 RSW and 4 Band 4 support workers� NIPSA is opposed these plans and successfully delayed their implementation

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C4 Libraries NIC4.1 Budget 2018/19The Department for Communities (DfC) imposed a 4% cut in the budget of Libraries NI for 2018/19� Although this reflected the same level of cuts imposed the previous year there was very little additional funding received in year, compared to £1�4m additional resources provided mid year in 2017� The impact on Libraries NI included a significant reduction in their ability to update and upgrade their stock, which is crucial to maintaining memberships in each library� Libraries NI made clear to the Department that should there be similar cuts in 2019, then the viability of a number of local libraries was something which the Board would have to consider� Libraries NI also indicated that they would review the number of Agency staff employed, which resulted in the recruitment of 20 new Library Assistants�

C4.2 Summer Opening HoursFor the second year running, Libraries NI intro-duced different opening hours for a significant number of libraries over the summer months, as a means to deal with the budget cuts� Following complaints from NIPSA in 2017 about how this was handled that year, there was early engage-ment with Trade Union Side and all issues were resolved satisfactorily for members who were individually affected�

C4.3 Christmas Opening HoursNIPSA carried out an all member consultation on proposals received to close some libraries over Christmas� The vast majority of members, 90%+, were supportive of the proposals, with NIPSA successfully negotiating an agreement that staff would have up to 31 March 2019 to make up hours lost� NIPSA also made it clear to Manage-ment that this should not be seen as setting a precedent for either any other year or any other holiday period�

C4.4 Branch Library Managers (BLM) Job Evaluation Review

This issue remained unresolved during the year and as a result a ballot for industrial action was issued in the Spring, with action short of strike commencing at the end of May� Members were disgusted by how the employer dealt with this matter and continued with the action throughout the rest of the year� At one point in the Autumn, Management had threatened to deduct wages from staff� Following a heated meeting this threat was eventually lifted� The intervention of the Labour Relations Agency was sought towards the end of 2018 in an attempt to reach agreement on an independent expert to consider the material presented and make a judgement on whether a job evaluation review was justified or not�

C4.5 Review of Libraries NI NIPSA Constitution

This matter was still under review by year end�

C4.6 Capability ReviewA new Capability Review Policy was introduced at the end of 2017 following protracted consul-tation with NIPSA� The vast majority of changes proposed by Trade Union Side were accepted by the employer and NIPSA noted the final document� There were no major issues raised by NIPSA members during 2018 following the introduction of this new policy�

C4.7 Open LibrariesFive rural libraries were refurbished to accom-modate facilitation of this new arrangement, which was funded by DAERA as a means, primarily, of providing broadband accessi-bility for rural communities� NIPSA undertook a site visit to Whitehead Library to view the arrangements and speak directly with the Area Manager and Local Manager� Assurances were provided to NIPSA that this initiative would not be used to undermine existing service provi-sion or opening hours in any library involved� However, given developments in the Republic of Ireland in respect of a similar arrangement in

C4 Libraries NI

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some libraries there, NIPSA remained concerned about the future potential impact� By year end a site visit to libraries in the Republic of Ireland had yet to be organised�

C4.8 Universal CreditThere was limited update on the service offered by Libraries NI to claimants for Universal Credit to avail of IT provision in local libraries� As this was one of the activities included in the action short of strike action by BLMs, there remained extremely limited take up�

C4.9 Policy ReviewsNIPSA engaged with Libraries NI on a range of policy reviews throughout 2018, including Adop-tion, Maternity, Staff Appraisal and Managing Unacceptable Behaviour by Library users� The vast majority of comments provided by NIPSA were fully accepted by the employer�

C4.10 Calculation of Holiday PayThis issue only affected two staff in Libraries NI who were not NIPSA members so NIPSA noted the process of calculations introduced by Management�

C4.11 NJC Pay Award Year 2NIPSA had a number of meetings with Libraries NI to negotiate agreement on the assimilation terms for Year 2 of the 2 year NJC pay award� A number of proposals were presented by Trade Union Side which Management agreed to consider in advance of a further meeting�

C4.12 Structural ReviewThe new Chief Executive initiated an overall Structural Review of Libraries NI to take account of the changes which occurred over the last number of years� Discussions on the Terms of Reference were held with the Chief Execu-tive and Chairman of the Board� NIPSA made it clear at that meeting that whilst NIPSA was content to engage positively with the organisa-tion throughout this review process, it could not be considered as an alternative to resolving the BLM regrading dispute� Although an initial draft

of the key outcomes of the review was expected by early November nothing had been received for consideration by NIPSA by year end�

C4.13 Voluntary Redundancy SituationA proposal was received by NIPSA which sought to reduce the compliment in Libraries NI Payroll Section, using information collated during Libraries NI engagement with the Public Sector Shared Services Programme, which highlighted the reduction in transactions over the previous 9 years since Libraries NI was established� A meeting was arranged to discuss the ramifica-tions of the review and arrangements for any voluntary redundancy which arose as a conse-quence�

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C5 Local AuthoritiesC5.1 Review of Public Administration (RPA)A number of issues remained outstanding which were directly related to the RPA changes imple-mented in 2015 when the eleven new Councils were established�

a. Industrial Relations: Talks continued in 2018 with eight of the eleven Councils, the Labour Relations Agency (LRA), the Local Government Staff Commission (LGSC) and the four recognised trade unions for Local Government� The discussions focused on developing a collective bargaining frame-work for Industrial Relations covering the eight participating Councils� A draft frame-work was drawn up, including the range of topics to be covered by the interim arrange-ments� These included: job evaluation; TUPE protections; government reform initi-atives; and policy development� However, on the day the framework was to be agreed one of the unions indicated it had internal concerns which had to be addressed� Efforts continued in the latter part of 2018 to resolve these concerns, with meetings sought with UNITE and GMB to clarify the issues� Contact was maintained with the LRA, LGSC and employers so that discussions could recom-mence promptly�

b. Local Government Staff Commission (LGSC): The Local Government Staff Commission remained in place throughout 2018 pending the re-establishment of the Assembly Executive and appointment of a Minister to formally wind down the Commis-sion� The Chief Executive and a small number of operational staff continued in post, as did the LGSC Board throughout this period�

c. Planners: A number of issues remained unresolved for planning staff who trans-ferred to Councils in April 2015, mainly linked to TUPE related matters which had not been clarified prior to the transfer� Issues included pay awards, professional fees, job descrip-tions and job evaluations� In the absence of a joint industrial relations forum these issues had to be dealt with individually in each local Council�

d. NJC Pay Award Year 2: Given the lack of a central negotiating framework and structure discussions were held in each Council on the requirements contained in the 2 year NJC Pay Agreement for Year 2� NIPSA was at the fore-front of establishing a joint approach with the other unions in an effort to have a common understanding and negotiating position� Discussions were arranged for early 2019 to brief Committee and Panel representatives and all Officials on the issues to be covered during individual Council negotiations�

e. Holiday Pay Calculations: A number of Councils had already agreed how to deal with this issue in advance of the PSNI Tribunal outcome in late autumn 2018� For those Councils yet to agree a way forward with Trade Union Side, approaches were made to meet early in 2019 to discuss formal proposals�

f. Local Government Panel Constitution: Approval was obtained from the Public Officers’ Group Executive Committee to revise the Local Government Panel Consti-tution to ensure a quorum at each meeting, enabling formal decisions to be made� The changes were introduced and were benefi-cial to the smooth operation of the business of the Panel�

C5.2 Water Quality Inspectorsa. Personal Safety Devices: Although this

issue had been presented by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as a critical one which required urgent attention, no further proposals were received by Trade Union Side during 2018� Staff continued to operate as they had done before attempts were made to introduce stricter monitoring arrange-ments� No adverse impacts were reported as a result of the status quo being maintained�

b. On Call Arrangements/TOIL/Grade/Status: Staff employed across five Council areas remained aggrieved by the different treat-ment and terms and conditions applicable despite the fact that all staff were seconded to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)� The issues were raised in each Local

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Council in the absence of a central bargaining arrangement although it was reported that the potential TUPE transfer of staff to the NIEA was being considered again� No formal approaches to Trade Union Side were made by year end�

C5.3 Councilsa. Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough

Council (ANBC)

i� Review of Services: The review of Leisure Services was completed in 2018� Early fears about the potential privatisation of Leisure Services proved unfounded when the Council confirmed, following pres-sure from the unions, that the provision of leisure services would remain in-house� Following the internal review, changes were introduced with union agreement�

ii� Waste Management: A successfully cam-paign against the further privatisation of Waste Management in ANBC concluded in early 2018, resulting in an internal review of the terms and conditions of staff across the legacy Councils� This resulted in pro-posals presented to Trade Union Side on buy out terms for staff in Newtownabbey to bring all staff on to the same terms and conditions� Despite repeated attempted by Trade Union Side to secure additional changes to the proposals agreement had not been reached by year end, although only a few outstanding matters remained�

iii� Job Evaluation: All outstanding job eval-uation and job matching issues were dealt with successfully during the year�

iv� Trade Union Consultation: Trade Union Side continued to experience difficulties throughout 2018 in respect of how the Council consulted with Trade Union Side� The three recognised unions worked to-gether presenting a united front to estab-lish a proper consultation arrangement for issues affecting members locally�

v� Policies: Trade Union Side engaged with ANBC throughout the year on a range of policies for the new Council�

vi� Annual Leave: There were no movement on the issue of inequalities between the legacy Councils on annual leave provi-sion� The Council had committed itself to examine the issue, taking into account the cost of any proposed changes� At year end no formal proposals had been received by Trade Union Side�

vii� Removal of Allowances: A number of challenges were lodged regarding the removal of allowances from some staff fol-lowing job matching� Appeals were heard and proposals made by Trade Union Side to consider a buy out as a means to resolve the matter� Proposals were awaited�

viii� NJC Pay Year 2: Following an initial meeting in December 2018, further meetings were agreed for early in 2019 to negotiate Year 2 of the 2 year NJC Pay Award� Trade Union Side made clear to the Council that they expect full negoti-ation and agreement between both sides which reflect the arrangements outlined in the NJC pay deal�

ix� Calculation of Holiday Pay: Discussions were held during the year on a number of occasions with the Council in an attempt to reach agreement� At a further meeting in December, Trade Union Side made it clear that if formal realistic proposals were not received in advance of the meeting scheduled for January, formal grievances and Industrial Tribunal complaints would be lodged�

b. Ards and North Down Borough Council (A&ND)

i� Restructuring: Following on from section C5b(i) of the 2017 Annual Report, JTUS continued to pursue issues regarding equity of treatment for those whose posts were regraded upward below Tier 4 level as those at Heads of Service had been� The Council produced a paper in Febru-ary which it stated had been agreed in 2014 but which JTUS objected to on the grounds that the paper was in draft form and therefore never agreed at LCNF level�


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HR responded by stating that any retro-spective payment for upgrading would require Council approval as the restruc-turing for Tier 4 and above had been ap-proved as Phase 1 of the process� Discus-sions continued at the LCNF meetings throughout the year and at year end, the Council was considering its position�

ii� Scale 4 Administrative posts: In early 2018, the Council sought NIPSA’s agree-ment to remove all Scale 4 Administrative posts from the “at risk” category�

NIPSA initially reserved its position and remained cautious throughout discus-sions given the issues which had previ-ously arisen over the lack of consultation on the questionable process used to create the generic Scale 4 Administrative job description to which members had been matched�

JTUS therefore sought clarification of the rationale for this request� In response, HR agreed to formulate a paper setting out its proposal for further consideration at the March LCNF�

Following further intervention by the union, NIPSA welcomed the Council’s withdrawal of the proposal to remove all Scale 4 Administrative posts from the “at risk” category and agreement was reached to proceed to recruit vacancies using the agreed vacancy control procedure by the Autumn�

The overriding objective of NIPSA to ensure that those posts, which required vacancy control protection to mitigate against members becoming at material risk of redundancy and given every oppor-tunity for suitable alternative employment was achieved�

iii� Planners’ TUPE protection issues: Issues over TUPE protection of policies and pro-cedures for transferred Planning staff continued to be a source of disagree-ment during the first half of 2018 when HR attempted to implement the Coun-cil’s Attendance Management Procedure

without agreement or discussion with the union�

By October 2018, negotiations with HR succeeded with acceptance by the Council that the NICS Absence Manage-ment processes would be operated rather than imposing the Council’s procedure�

NIPSA pressed for full training on NICS procedures for line managers and HR to ensure best practice implementation, which was being finalised at year end�

TUS welcomed further assurances that there was no current plan to review or reorganise the Planning function which had transferred from the NICS under RPA in April 2015�

iv� Leisure, Community Centre and Recy-cling Centre Transformations: As pre-viously reported in Section C5b(iv) of the 2017 Annual Report, NIPSA continued to pursue issues pertaining to the transfor-mation of the Leisure Services across the Ards District throughout the year�

These included conversion to permanence of temporary contracts and removal of zero hours contracts� NIPSA welcomed headline information regarding the deci-sion to keep this leisure service in-house was received in mid-May�

A number of Joint Working Groups were established, the JTUS being led by NIPSA, to take forward industrial relation issues resulting from each discretely sepa-rate review� An initial meeting with the Director, Managers and HR took place in early May at which NIPSA raised serious concerns over lack of meaningful consul-tation to date and called for genuine commitment to JTUS involvement prior to decisions being taken going forward�

The Council maintained that the in-house bid for leisure had included the potential outsourcing of cafeteria in the new Ards Leisure Centre, which the JTUS formally objected to, calling for evidence of why the café should not remain in house� This issue was further complicated when,


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at a meeting with affected members, it became clear that café staff currently employed by the Council were seeking voluntary redundancy� The Council clar-ified that an initial tender exercise had already commenced to seek expressions of interest from third parties willing to run the new cafeteria however a final decision would not be reached until late 2018 and committed to fully engage with the trade unions from this point�

The Joint Working Groups met on a bi-weekly basis to input into each review process and ensure the interests of union members were fully protected� Additional reviews commenced which included a detailed evaluation of the Visitor Informa-tion Centre based in Newtownards which could potentially impact negatively on a number of members’ posts, their working patterns, location and duties which may require members to be retrained�

Serious concerns over lack of meaningful consultation to date and our call for genuine commitment to JTUS involve-ment prior to decisions being taken were exacerbated when staff from the Crafts section of the Visitor Information Centre in Newtownards were approached directly by HR in November in advance of any review issues being discussed with the local NIPSA representatives� It was decided that the issue of inadequate consultation would be added to the agenda for the January LCNF meeting�

NIPSA received the terms of reference for the Community Centre Review and nego-tiations continued on the review of the Regeneration and Tourism section with central concerns of funding for changes and grading of new posts the subject of much discussion at year end� Also in December, negotiations commenced on Council proposals to introduce revised working patterns for members employed in Recycling Centres� Initially, HR was demanding to invite non-union employees into the negotiating meetings which was unanimously rejected by all

three trade unions NIPSA, GMB and Unite� Eventually, Management capitulated and an initial meeting was held with the JTUS in early December, at which proposals were tabled� It was anticipated that nego-tiations would continue into the New Year�

v� Policy Development: Negotiation on a plethora of draft policies and proce-dures for all Council staff continued apace throughout 2018�

The JTUS formally proposed that a joint working group be established to review new and revised draft policies and proce-dures in agreed tranches with a view to reaching final draft stage which could then be put forward for LCNF final consid-eration�

As reported in Section C5b(iii) of last year’s Annual Report and following the withdrawal by Management of the Driver’s Handbook due to significant concerns being raised by the JTUS over the implementation of a Council based penalty points system, in the absence of any consultation whatsoever, HR tabled an overarching draft Policy which enshrined the same unacceptable provi-sions, seeking to reintroduce the penalty points system into the Driver’s Hand-book� Following detailed discussions at JTUS level, NIPSA submitted a scathing written submission on behalf of all unions in early February� A further revised draft was also rejected by the unions in October due to Management’s insistence upon the necessity to implement this Council based penalty points system to penalise Drivers who did not comply with the Handbook requirements, the ultimate sanction being dismissal�

Further negotiations were required before the new policy could be agreed and implemented� HR responses to a number of JTUS submissions tabled throughout 2018 remained outstanding at year end including:

❚ Draft Information Access Policy,

❚ Learning and Development Strategy;


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❚ Performance and Improvement Plan;

❚ Data Protection;

❚ Honorarium and Acting up Allowances; and

❚ Organisation and Development Plan�

Upon receiving what the Council asserted was an up to date policy development table in October, NIPSA became increas-ingly concerned that a number of funda-mental Policies and Procedures had been approved by the Council as far back as 2014 and implemented prior to final agreement and sign off at LCNF level�

The list of Policies provided to HR which required status clarity included:

❚ Absence Management;

❚ Honorarium/Acting up;

❚ Learning and Development Strategy;

❚ Pride in Performance Scheme;

❚ Data Protection;

❚ and Performance Improvement Plan�

HR was expected to address these queries at the next LCNF scheduled for mid-Jan-uary 2019�

NIPSA reached agreed in principle on a further revised LCNF Terms of Reference to improve Industrial Relations but stressed that final agreement could not be reached until the interface between the LCNF and the staff consultative committee was agreed and cross referencing included in both terms of reference�

HR agreed that this could be done once consultation on the revised terms of refer-ence for the SCC had completed, which was anticipated early in the New Year�

NIPSA also provided HR with best practice guidelines for introducing breast feeding facilities in the workplace in May which was to be incorporated into a family friendly suite of revised policies� HR also tabled new draft policies covering Drugs and Alcohol and Whistleblowing to which scathing JTUS responses were prepared

and submitted by NIPSA on behalf of the JTUS� These responses were under HR consideration at year end�

A draft Mental Health Charter action plan was tabled by HR in November 2018 which appeared to closely mirror the guidance provided by ECNI on Mental Health and was welcomed in principle by the unions� This was also under NIPSA consideration with a view to providing a written response on behalf of JTUS prior to Christmas�

vi� Holiday Pay: NIPSA wrote to the Council in early March to pursue holiday pay on behalf of members whose regular remu-neration was enhanced in any way, includ-ing overtime payments�

This important collective issue was pursued with HR at LCNF level and a formal proposal was anticipated early in 2019�

However, following the successful Indus-trial Tribunal decision in early November, NIPSA wrote formally to the Council again outlining the key legal facts estab-lished which must be taken into account in any proposal, including the inclusion of all allowances as well as overtime, the calculation criteria, a suggested reference period for calculation purposes and the requirement for considerable retrospec-tion� At year end, this was under Council consideration�

vii� NJC Year 2 Pay Assimilation negoti-ations: In December, NIPSA wrote on behalf of the JTUS seeking urgent pay ne-gotiations in respect of how the Council proposed to implement Year 2 of the NJC Pay Agreement�

Information was formally requested as an essential pre-requisite to negotiations commencing which included clarification of grading boundaries on the NJC pay spine and pay distribution information of staff by pay spine (SCP) point and by gender� A response from the Council was awaited at year end�


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viii� Union Learning: Following the com-pletion by a NIPSA representative of the Stage 1 Union learning course in Autumn of 2018, the NIPSA Union Learning Repre-sentative instigated detailed discussions with GMB and UNITE colleagues with a view to pursuing a formal joint union learning agreement and action plan with the Council�

A number of successful meetings were held throughout the latter part of the year which culminated in a formally agreed Joint Union Learning Agreement in November which it was envisaged would benefit members and the Council in many ways�

A Union Learning Forum was also recently established with a varied agenda, including action plans to provide essen-tial skills training opportunities for staff, which would include free training in English, Mathematics and ICT up to GCSE level�

A site visit plan was agreed to facilitate ULRs raise the profile of the essential skills training programme and to offer support to those members with specific educa-tional requirements assistance� As a direct result, one member agreed to allow their story to become a case study for future NIPSA, ICTU and ULR Conferences�

ix� Serco Leisure Limited: As reported in Section C5b(vii) of the 2017 NIPSA Annual Report, SERCO’s position on NIPSA’s re-sponse to draft 1 of the revised Collective Engagement Framework remained out-standing from December 2017�

NIPSA’s key objectives included:

❚ a joint commitment to early information sharing and detailed negotiation from the earliest stage;

❚ extensions to the role of the local trade union representatives; an increase in the number of elected NIPSA representatives;

❚ a role for the LRA in dispute situations and Appeals; and

❚ reasonable timeframes for policy development and consultation/negotiation�

At the JNCC meeting held in mid-August, attended by NIPSA and Unite, the NIPSA Official, as lead JTUS Secretary, heavily crit-icised Management for failing to progress a number of matters since 2016�

These included:

❚ suggested amendments to the 2012 Collective Engagement Framework which were sent to HR on 18 May 2017,

❚ comments to a draconian draft Drugs and Alcohol Policy sent by the NIPSA HQ official on 8 May 2017 and earlier

❚ responses sent to Management as far back as 22 September 2016 on a number of other draft policies and procedures including Disciplinary, Grievance and Sickness Absence Management�

In each response, NIPSA strenuously emphasised its position that TUPE style protection existed for those staff who transferred from North Down Council and must be honoured�

The JTUS also called for all future JNCC meetings to have a pre-agreed agenda, be minuted and the draft minutes ratified at the next meeting, which was agreed�

Other actions agreed included:

❚ Serco to provide JTUS with a reviewed Drug and Alcohol Policy draft which included a new section on random testing;

❚ JTUS previous comments on all other draft procedures would be resent for detailed consideration by Serco Leisure;

❚ Management to consider all previously forwarded comments on the CEF�

A date for the next JNCC was secured, with HR to respond to each issue prior to the next meeting�

Health and Safety concerns over safety harness use and the need for staff training on child protection and first aid were


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also pursued and Management agreed to address these important concerns in a timely fashion�

The JTUS criticised line management for not addressing these matters when first reported by local representatives� Some progress was made at the November JNCC with the Project Manager and the NIPSA Official reaching agreement on all of the JTUS required revisions to the Collective Engagement Framework Constitution which expanded upon and clarified the necessity for timely, meaningful negotia-tion and consultation on all industrial rela-tions matters and provided an external Appeal mechanism to the LRA should matters reach dispute level�

NIPSA also broadly welcomed Manage-ment Side’s confirmation that the stren-uous objections put forward by the trade union over Random Testing had been fully considered and resulted in Serco Leisure agreeing to remove the proposal to imple-ment random testing completely�

Further discussions were anticipated on other elements relating to the draft Drugs and Alcohol Policy into the new year� The

JTUS also raised concerns over recent secondment type selections which did not appear to reflect best practice guide-lines for Recruitment and Selection� Serco agreed to re-evaluate how it communi-cated career development opportunities to staff and to ensure that all staff who were, for any reason, out of the workplace would be kept informed of recruitment and development opportunities in future�

x� Bangor Sportsplex: It was brought to NIPSA’s attention in mid-February that the commitments made by the Manager of the leisure contract over 18 months ago to ensure appropriate staffing levels at Bangor Sportsplex, (which were actioned to resolve the plethora of serious health and safety concerns pursued by NIPSA in 2016), were being undermined by a redis-tribution of line management resources to other sites for 3 days per week and action a redundancy at another site to cut costs�

NIPSA supported affected members to ensure that their health and safety at work would not be compromised by seeking and obtaining written assurances from Serco that adequate staffing would be in place for all key events� The situation was being actively monitored by the trade union�

c. Armagh City, Craigavon and Banbridge Council (ABC)

i� Restructuring: NIPSA challenged the ap-proach to restructuring being taken by the Council and articulated strong ob-jections to how representatives felt that the job descriptions for new and revised posts were being manipulated to benefit certain individual staff members, in total contravention of the equity of treatment principle enshrined throughout the PSC Guiding Principles, LGRJF statutory rec-ommendations and local restructuring agreements reached at local level�

It was clear that there were differing interpretations being applied by HR to the application of the agreed Matching Protocol and a special Working Group meeting to deal with this issue was held at which a dossier of issues compiled by the JTUS formed the basis for robust testing of the processes agreed in principle�

Direct assimilation of groups of staff was also pursued� NIPSA continued to press the Council for upward harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment for all staff, although it was recognised that a considerable amount of detailed work was still required to produce an agreed suite of terms and conditions�

ii� New recruitment and selection process: NIPSA criticised the implementation of a new recruitment and selection process absent of discussion and agreement with the trade unions or the necessary training for all staff prior to roll-out and expressed grave concerns that the process directly disadvantaged legacy Craigavon staff�

The change in process was legally chal-lenged via collective grievances and


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Industrial Tribunal proceedings on the grounds of discrimination of two NIPSA workplace representatives for their trade union activities and ongoing discrimina-tion and victimisation�

The case was scheduled to be heard in mid-January 2018� Attempts to resolve these serious concerns had been thwarted despite the commitment of the CEO and Head of HR from early 2018 to proactively manage the situation and protect the Claimants against further detriment�

A further grievance on the grounds of trade union victimisation, lodged in September, was acknowledged� Signals were received in October that the Respondent’s legal team wished to explore potential settle-ment terms for all five conjoined claims�

Discussions were ongoing at year end with exchanges of discovery and further particulars completed in preparation for the hearing of the conjoined collective cases should settlement not be achieved�

iii� Substantive Contracts: NIPSA continued to push for casual workers to be provided with substantive contracts and reached agreement with HR that the Council shared the JTUS objective of creating per-manent stable employment and a reduc-tion of reliance upon agency and other short term contracts which would come to fruition during restructuring of the lower tiers with the aim to complete the entire restructuring process within this fi-nancial year�

iv� NJC Year 2 Pay Assimilation Negoti-ations: In November, NIPSA wrote on behalf of the JTUS seeking urgent pay ne-gotiations in respect of how the Council proposed to implement Year 2 of the NJC Pay Agreement�

Information was formally requested as an essential pre-requisite to negotiations commencing which included clarification of grading boundaries on the NJC pay spine and pay distribution information of staff by pay spine (SCP) point and by gender�

Negotiations commenced in early December when the JTUS received all the pay distribution information requested together with a formal proposal at a meeting with HR and Finance represent-atives�

NIPSA counteracted the proposal suggesting an alternative assimilation of bespoke lower scales 1a, 1b and 1c onto new Scale points 1 and 2 which Manage-ment Side agreed to consider, cost and report back to the JTUS with their response which was awaited at year end�

NIPSA also reinforced the requirement for an agreed assimilation process which would meet the necessity for grading scales to be no more than 6 pay points in length with at least 2% differen-tial between each pay scale point and which would narrow the gender pay gap, insisting upon a full EQIA on any draft agreed terms prior to implementation and additional action to address any resultant adverse impacts and called for an equal pay audit of the Council post pay award implementation�

v� Objections to potential outsourcing of Planning and maintenance functions: In January, NIPSA sought and received as-surances that the Council did not have the intention to privatise elements of the Plan-ning function transferred to the Council from the NICS under RPA in 2015� This was despite Capita making an approach to the Chief Executive offering to provide such contracted out services�

NIPSA queried why the Council had been discussing a potential maintenance contract with Carillion particularly given the private sector company’s stark profit warnings and subsequent collapse�

The CEO provided total assurances that maintenance work would continue to be conducted in-house save any exceptional reactive specialist works which would be subject to public sector tender rules where the necessary expertise was not available in-house�


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It was confirmed that the Council had not contracted any public sector work to Caril-lion prior to its collapse�

vi� Holiday Pay: Following pressure from the JTUS at JCNF level, the Council tabled a first draft proposal which set out its sug-gested approach to settle the ongoing holiday pay issue for those staff whose re-muneration included additional elements such as overtime, shift allowance or other enhancements�

This included two years’ retrospective application as the Council claimed this was when the matter had first been raised by the unions� However, the JTUS estab-lished that the issue had in fact originally been raised at least five years ago and maintained that the Council should apply retrospection accordingly�

At the JCNF in June, the Council agreed to consider the matter further� Following the successful Industrial Tribunal decision in early November, NIPSA wrote formally to the Council again outlining the key legal facts established which must be taken into account in any draft settlement proposal, including the inclusion of all allowances as well as overtime, the calculation criteria, a suggested reference period for calcu-lation purposes and the requirement for considerable retrospection�

vii� Potential Privatisation of new Armagh and South Lakes Leisure Centres: Dis-cussions over the future delivery models of the new leisure services across the Council remained constructive through-out the year with two options remaining under consideration

❚ the union preference for an in-house model; and

❚ second arms-length body option�

NIPSA argued strenuously at JCNF and working group level that any financial benefit that the arms-length model may have provided had been neutralised by the European case law which removed the tax incentive for any sort of outsourcing�

NIPSA remained fully engaged with the Council Senior Management Team in order to build as convincing and comprehen-sive a business case as possible in support of an in-house service delivery model�

It was confirmed at the JCNF in June that the Council was leaning towards an in-house model as first preference which was welcomed by NIPSA� Further discus-sions over the future delivery model of the new leisure services across the Council were successful when the CEO’s confirmed at the October JCNF that an in-house model was the recommended option which would be tabled at the November Council meeting for ratification�

NIPSA representatives attended a meeting with the Consultants undertaking the review of leisure and welcomed the agreement reached as above� However, at the Leisure Committee’s meeting in early November at which the three potential models were presented by the Director, the DUP insisted that leisure services should be privatised, causing extreme concern for the SMT and trade unions�

NIPSA immediately further engaged with the CEO and Director of Leisure to cement our shared goal and to agree actions required to clarify the reason for unexpected confusion at the Committee meeting and to alert the political parties to the dangers of privatisation prior to the December Council meeting�

NIPSA also engaged with the party leads and the Trades Council and community groups to ensure that the public were aware of the parties’ positions�

A successful Joint Trade Union and community demonstration was held outside the full ABC Council meeting in November which linked in with the ongoing “Save our City Lakes” Campaign to highlight this latest political threat to public services which gave NIPSA an ideal opportunity to lobby Councillors directly against privatisation of any kind�


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A further meeting between the CEO, Director and NIPSA campaign team was held in early December at which it was confirmed that no final decision would be made this year� Reassurances were given to NIPSA by the CEO and Director that full scale privatisation would definitely not be approved� However, the potential to create a “wholly owned leisure company” based upon a social enterprise model with a separate Board appointed by the Council was highlighted and discussed in detail leaving NIPSA fearing that this may be the preferred model going forward given the SMT belief that it could cut bureaucratic red tape and allow for operational change to be implemented more flexibly, cheaply and quickly than the in-house model�

NIPSA challenged this assumption on the basis that it would undoubtedly cause major industrial relations issues, nega-tively impact upon staff morale and poten-tially erode the NJC terms and conditions of members who would be required to TUPE transfer into this new leisure company and in the end would cost more money rather than less� NIPSA vocifer-ously expressed concerns at the dangers this would invite and reiterated the trade union rationale for working together to gain approval for a transformed in-house model to be implemented�

Detailed discussions on what specific changes would be required to achieve the Council’s leisure objectives via an in house service delivery model continued at year end�

viii� Impact of Brexit: In response to corre-spondence from NIPSA seeking confir-mation of anticipated impact of Brexit on Council services and posts, assurances were received from the Chief Executive that due diligence was applied with a de-tailed review of funding sources and legis-lation that would require amendment�

It was agreed that this was an important issue for detailed discussion at JCNF level going forward, particularly as this Council held the largest Agri-food area in Northern

Ireland, making the potential impact upon small local businesses of great concern to Councillors�

Close working with the Food Standards Agency for Northern Ireland would form an integral part of contingency plan-ning going forward, with the Council committed to full engagement with the unions�

ix� Future Management of Gosford Forest Park: At the JCNF held in early June, the Council confirmed that it was its inten-tion to take over all responsibilities for the management and future development of Gosford Park and its public amenities from the NICS Forestry Service in 2019�

NIPSA had continued to press for commit-ments that all public amenities including the grounds maintenance of the site would remain in-house, given huge concerns over potential privatisation of similar facilities across Newry, Mourne and Down Council�

It was confirmed at Director level that Council staff were already being utilised for grounds maintenance and that the two NICS staff affected did not wish to transfer to the Council� It was anticipated that going forward, the staffing level will be increased to four posts, which was welcomed by NIPSA�

At the JCNF held in October, the Council confirmed its intention to further develop the tourist and leisure facilities at Gosford in 2019 however the responsibility for the forest itself would remain with the Forestry Service in a partnership approach�

NIPSA welcomed the repeated assurances of early, full and meaningful consultation by the Council prior to any future plans being finalised and implemented�

d. Belfast City Council (BCC)

i� Industrial Relations: A formal complaint was made to the Chief Executive about the approach taken by Senior Manage-ment when engaging with Trade Union Side on a range of important issues�


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A meeting was subsequently held with the Chief Executive, at which Trade Union Side outlined those concerns in detail, including voicing its dissatisfaction about the performance and approach of the HR Manager who was present at the meeting�

The Chief Executive agreed to instruct Council Officials to carry out an urgent review of Industrial Relations, in conjunc-tion with the recognised trade unions�

A formal Terms of Reference was agreed with Trade Union Side and an outside consultant appointed to undertake the Review� This process continued throughout 2018�

ii� Planners: Detailed discussions were held between Senior Management in Planning, HR and NIPSA over a protracted period�

This proved to be a difficult process due to intransigence on behalf of the employer to initially even contemplate a pay offer for staff who had not received any cost of living pay awards since 2016�

A series of meetings were held with NIPSA until eventually the Council agreed that they would offer an equivalent of the NJC pay award dating back to 2016�

The Council insisted however that they would only agree to this if staff agreed to move away from the TUPE protected NICS terms and conditions onto NJC provisions�

A detailed comparison exercise was under-taken to enable staff to consider the differ-ences in the various terms and conditions� As a result of these protracted negotia-tions, a package was eventually presented to all staff� This included all staff receiving an equivalent pay award, reflecting the NJC Pay Agreements from 2016, some staff receiving one-off payments to reflect the top of the scale ceiling, other staff being offered buy out for Civil Service allowances and further staff being offered a buy out in respect of the disparity in annual leave provisions�

Several meetings were held with members throughout these negotiations to ensure

that NIPSA reflected the concerns of all affected staff� NIPSA proposed further changes to the final offer made by Management, particularly in respect of maternity provision, however this was rejected by the employer�

At year end the vast majority of staff had agreed to move across onto NJC terms and conditions, with the resultant pay equivalency awards and buy out terms� However some staff decided not to accept the terms on offer� Meetings were sched-uled for January 2019 to discuss the way forward for these individuals�

iii� Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL): A number of meetings were held with the local Branch Committee on the issues af-fecting members in Branch 526 who were employed by GLL�

As a result a formal ballot was arranged for NIPSA members in GLL seeking their views on whether they wished to remain part of the Belfast City Council Branch or form their own Branch�

Following further consultation with Branch 526, a formal proposal was presented to NIPSA’s General Purposes Committee (GPC) to agree the change� The GPC agreed and arrangements were sought to hold a special meeting of GLL members to elect a new Branch Committee�

iv� NJC Pay Award 2: A formal meeting on this issue was sought at year end to discuss how to take forward these negotiations�

v� Calculation of Holiday Pay: A formal pro-posal from the employer was awaited at the end of December, which would reflect the judgement in the PSNI Tribunal case�

vi� Recruitment Arrangements: Discus-sions were held with Belfast City Council in respect of proposals presented to deal with how any vacancies would be filled up to March 2020� Further information was awaited to enable discussions to continue�


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e. Causeway Coast and Glens

i� Review of Leisure Services: Trade Union side was furious with management because they invited Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) to survey Roe Valley Leisure Centre in Limavady without discussing this with the trade unions, assurances were sought and commitments given that this will never happen again�

A draft structure was circulated at the November action group meeting which covered the entire Leisure Management team�

ii� Task and Finish: Council decided to bring to an end the operation of task and finish from the refuse collection teams� This came into focus following a fatal accident in the Limavady area in November, al-though matters were still under investiga-tion the employer wished to move forward with the removal as they believed it was counter-intuitive with good health and safety practice� NIPSA was fully engaged in discussions on this issue�

iii� Mileage: NIPSA was frustrated by the lack of progress on this issue and discussed what action may need to be taken in 2019 to ensure matters were addressed�

iv� Policies: NIPSA conducted a number of consultation meetings across the legacy council sites to seek the input from members on a number of policies which were under consideration�

These included:

❚ Dignity and Respect at Work;

❚ Disciplinary Policy; and

❚ Flexible Hours Scheme�

NIPSA members who transferred from NICS planning service rejected the proposals for the Flexible Hours Scheme�

f. Derry City and Strabane Council

i� Policies: NIPSA consulted with members on council’s new Special Leave policy� It was ratified in November�

A further consultation took place on the Council’s proposals to change their Emblems in the Workplace policy�

ii� City of Derry Airport: NIPSA wrote to management to commence pay negotia-tions for 2018/19, meeting were planned for early 2019 and will focus on raising minimum levels of pay, historic low pay and increase employer’s contributions to the CODA Stakeholder Pension Scheme�

iii� Attacks on Staff: In November a Council Dog Warden’s vehicle was destroyed outside his family home in an attack de-scribed by the Police as arson� NIPSA con-demned the attack and met with Council Officers to ensure the staff member was fully supported�

iv� City of Derry Airport Ltd: NIPSA was alerted to a Council report on the future of the airport following a report by BBC News into a leaked document� NIPSA raised concerns with Council and Airport management that this matter had been handled badly and that issues of such importance should be brought to our immediate attention� The Council report advised that if funding was not secured for the Derry to London route then the viabili-ty of the airport would be undermined as early as May 2019� NIPSA received assur-ances from Council that they remain fully committed to the airport� NIPSA issued a press release highlighting concerns from members about the negative publicity and the detrimental impact it was having on staff morale�

g. Fermanagh and Omagh Council (FODC)

Accommodation Reviewi� Omagh: The Director of Finance in FODC

provided NIPSA with an update regard-ing the accommodation review� It was proposed that the Economic Develop-ment Department would move to the same building as the Building Control and Planning Departments� NIPSA was advised that the accommodation which was vacated in The Grange had been


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reconfigured to accommodate meeting rooms for the elected members’ political parties� A considerable number of staff were retained in The Grange in Omagh�

ii� Enniskillen: NIPSA was advised that the Registration function would be moved from the Townhall Building in Enniskillen to County Buildings� It was further pro-posed that the Intec Building would be relocated, along with the Economic De-velopment Department, Police and Com-munity Safety Partnership Department and PEACE IV� NIPSA emphasised the need for consultation with all members regarding all changes to accommodation�

iii� Customer Adviser Posts: A number of consultation meetings took place between NIPSA and FODC in relation to the creation of new Customer Adviser posts in the new Connect Centre� The Council proposed 2 Centres in Omagh and Enniskillen� NIPSA raised members’ concerns regarding the new proposed opening hours, of 8:30 to 18:00 which were piloted for a six month period, as this meant members agreeing to a variation of their contracts� NIPSA also raised the concern that there was no clarity regarding potential redeployment opportunities for members following the pilot� The Council subsequently issued an internal trawl for expressions of inter-est from existing staff in the Council who wanted to work to 18:00�

iv� Environment & Property Managers and Supervisors – On Call Rota: Members were balloted for industrial action re-garding payment for on-call, and issues regarding the rota� All members voted in favour of industrial action, and as a direct result of this, the Council withdrew the on-call rota and stated that this would be reviewed in the 2018 year, if required, and would include formal consultation with NIPSA� NIPSA requested a review of the ‘on-call’ payment to reflect a more realis-tic amount than that previously offered by FODC� Revised proposals were subse-quently tabled with NIPSA for consultation

with members� The proposals included a much enhanced payment for on-call, and the proviso that participation in the rota would be on a voluntary basis� NIPSA members were consulted regarding the revised changes�

v� Job Evaluation: NIPSA pressed for a Job Evaluation (JE) Policy within FODC, to enable members who had taken on addi-tional duties of a higher level to request a re-evaluation of their post� Following extensive discussions at the Local Nego-tiating Forum and Policy Working Group, FODC tabled a ‘pro-forma’ for Job Eval-uation requests, and this was issued to the wider membership for consultation� However, members rejected the propos-als as the Council refused to include the right to appeal� NIPSA awaited a formal response from FODC�

vi� Policy Working Group: Consultation between Management Side and Trade Union Side continued in relation to a number of policies, which were issued for consultation to the wider membership� NIPSA members in the Planning Service, who transferred in from the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) exercised their right under TUPE to retain the NICS Poli-cies which they transferred into Council with� NIPSA negotiated a Flexible Working and Family Friendly suite of Policies with FODC, which were issued for consultation amongst the wider membership�

h. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC)

i� Job Evaluations: NIPSA continued to rep-resent members in outstanding job evalu-ation appeals in 2018, maintaining a high success rate for members�

ii� Lisburn Museum Review: There was no further movement regarding an Inde-pendent Review of Lisburn Museum� As-surances were received that a copy of the review report would be provided to NIPSA in advance of any discussions, although nothing further was reported during the year�


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iii� Planning Staff: Further meetings were awaited on the proposed integration of planning staff within the Council�

iv� Calculation of Holiday Pay: No further details were received in respect of the Council proposals to deal with this issue� A separate discussion was planned for early 2019 to deal with the matter�

v� NJC Pay Award Year 2: A separate meeting was scheduled for early 2019 to negotiate the terms of settlement for Year 2 of the NJC Pay Award�

vi� Trade Union Co-ordinators Post: Dis-cussions were held during the year on the potential for a Trade Union Co-ordi-nator post to be shared among the recog-nised unions� Discussions on this matter continued�

vii� Policies: Meetings were held through-out 2018 on a range of proposed policy reviews including Whistleblowing, Uni-forms, Data Protection and On-Call�

i. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council

i� Policies: Management tabled a new absence management policy which ap-peared to be a knee-jerk reaction to the Council’s position in the ‘league table’ of local authorities� The proposals were completely unacceptable to NIPSA and included draconian steps and punitive measures designed to create fear and intimidate staff who are absent due to illness� NIPSA held a number of meetings to ensure the worst aspect of the policy were withdrawn/amended�

ii� Marriage Leave: NIPSA raised concerns about the Council’s plan to deny Marriage Leave to all new employees, following NIPSA’s intervention Council rescinded this decision�

j. Mid-Ulster Council (MUDC)

i� Restructuring of Business Support: NIPSA raised the issue of lack of progress in relation to Business Support reorgani-sation, with the Director of HR� A propos-al regarding reorganisation in Business

Support was provided to NIPSA for con-sultation purposes, at the end of June� The proposals identified 3 teams within Business Support, namely the Business Support Team, Customer Service Team, and Facilities Service Team� It was the in-tention of the Council to match current postholders within administration, recep-tion and facilities to 3 generic Job Descrip-tions (JDs)�

NIPSA issued the proposals for consul-tation amongst the relevant members and subsequently met with a number of members who raised queries regarding the generic Job Descriptions�

NIPSA was involved in a matching panel, at the end of September, which resulted in the assimilation of members in each of the teams, into the new posts� The exer-cise resulted in an increase of at least one grade for most members involved�

A further query was raised regarding the proviso that members would potentially have to change base�

The Council gave an assurance that the only potential change of base required would be to the nearest Office, and no-one from Dungannon was expected to move to Magherafelt or vice-versa�

ii� Holiday Pay Calculations: NIPSA re-ceived worked examples in relation to the proposals regarding the payment of holiday pay for those who worked over-time on a regular basis�

NIPSA members were paid any arrears in relation to Holiday Pay�

iii� Leisure Services Review: The Review of Leisure Services commenced and meet-ings took place on a monthly basis�

Discussion took place regarding swim-ming coaching, and a proposed draft Job Description for Swimming Coaches was to be provided to Trade Union Side in June� However, MUDC decided to trawl the Job Description for Swimming Coaches, without overall agreement by Trade Union Side� NIPSA threatened to withdraw from


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the review, unless there was a commit-ment by Management Side to engage in meaningful consultation with Trade Union Side� After a lengthy discussion it was decided that the process would be slowed down, to allow for more discussion with Trade Union Side, and no decisions such as that taken in relation to the Swimming Coaches’ Job Description would be taken without the agreement of Trade Union Side�

NIPSA also highlighted the need to review the terms and conditions of those who had transferred in from Greenvale Leisure Centre to MUDC� It was anticipated that new Job Descriptions would be provided for consultation by the end of 2018�

iv� Out of Hours On-Call Arrangements for Dog Control: Following consulta-tion between NIPSA and Senior Manage-ment in the Council, the proposed revised amount for payment for on-call was agreed with members, as were the pro-posed out of hours arrangements�

v� Policy Working Group: Further consulta-tion took place amongst the NIPSA mem-bership in the Branch regarding Griev-ance, Disciplinary and ICT related Policies� Members responded in detail to the con-sultation, and negotiations regarding these policies were continuing at the Policy Working Group� Policies also under consideration by the Working Group were the Travel and Subsistence Policy, Over-time and Conflict of Interest Policy�

Management Side indicated that they would bring a formal proposal to Trade Union Side to obtain agreement that the new suite of Policies would replace legacy Policies of the former Councils�

NIPSA emphasised the need to retain the TUPE transferred rights of those who transferred in from Legacy Councils, and would give consideration to consultation about the proposal amongst the NIPSA membership in the Council, once received�

It was proposed that those who trans-ferred in from the Northern Ireland Civil

Service (NICS) would retain their NICS Policies� NIPSA also proposed that MUDC considered the introduction of a Term-Time Policy and increasing the overall annual leave entitlement for all those who transferred in from the Legacy Councils, to 30 days� The Council was giving consider-ation to both these proposals�

k. Newry Mourne and Down District Council (NMD)

i� Industrial Relations Dispute: As previ-ously reported in Section C5j(i) of the 2017 Annual Report, a response from the CEO of the Council to correspondence sent by NIPSA HQ on behalf of the Joint Trade Union Side prior to Christmas remained outstanding�

Disappointingly, the CEO had not attended any LCNF meetings since April 2017 which was again queried by the unions at the LCNF held in early May, to which a Director responded that the CEO had delegated this duty to the Director of Corporate Services�

Unfortunately, that was also the second meeting that the Director with dele-gated authority had not attended� JTUS expressed disappointment at this and sought confirmation that the Director would chase up responses to two sets of correspondence sent to the CEO on the major concerns highlighted below to which Council responses were long overdue� These concerns included:

❚ failure by HR to honour agreements; inadequate facilities for the unions;

❚ failure by Management to resolve local IR issues;

❚ the role of the Joint Secretaries and those representatives on full time release;

❚ incomplete provision of structures for Tier 5 level and below;

❚ failure of the Council to protect employment;

❚ costs of restructuring to date; career progression;


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❚ inappropriate use of VER/early severance;

❚ changes to terms and conditions of employment without negotiated agreement;

❚ lack of upward harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment; inadequate use of EQIAs;

❚ lack of assimilation for those not affected by restructuring;

❚ inappropriate use of Agency and temporary contracts;

❚ detrimental implementation of amended/new policies and procedures prior to agreement at LCNF level�

As a result of the SMT’s draconian approach to restructuring and the resultant esca-lating devastating impact upon members, NIPSA health and safety representatives called for a staff stress audit which was completed by March, although the report outcome was unacceptably withheld from the unions for several months despite TUS calls for its release�

At the LCNF meeting in early May, whilst HR maintained that the Senior Manage-ment Team had not as yet had sight of the outcomes report as this was being managed by the Council’s Health and Safety Committee, NIPSA was alarmed to learn that of 6 HSENI managing stress standards, 5 results achieved a red factor and 1 an amber, clearly demon-strating the significant pressures being felt by members caused by the approach adopted to restructuring to date by the Council’s Senior Management Team�

NIPSA called for a joint action plan to be agreed to address the negative impacts of restructuring on the staff and implored the SMT to closely monitor developments at LCNF level� This was ignored, raising tensions still further with the trade unions� The Health and Safety Joint Working Group devised an action plan which the JTUS viewed as weak and insufficient to effectively resolve the work related issues

which continued to exacerbate already high staff stress levels and critically improve morale and wellbeing�

The issues outlined above remained unad-dressed by HR and the Senior Manage-ment Team of the Council by mid-2018 which caused the withdrawal in June of the JTUS representatives elected to under-take job matching on behalf of members and a vote of no confidence in HR being taken by the Joint Trade Union Side� The JTUS drew these serious industrial rela-tions matters to the attention of the Chief Executive of the Council as well as writing to the Chief Executive of the Local Govern-ment Staff Commission to complain that the Public Service Commission’s RPA protection guidelines for existing staff, which were enshrined in the LGRJF’s statu-tory recommendations and indeed within the Council’s own Protocol for filling posts in the new Council structure, were being clearly unacceptably and repeatedly breached by senior HR Council represent-atives�

A response from the CEO of the LGSC confirmed that he placed a strong emphasis on the need for meaningful and regular engagement with trade unions and committed to engaging with the CEO to ensure he met with the JTUS to consider all IR complaints� A meeting was scheduled to take place in early August with the JTUS, the CEO and the Director of Corporate Services� A few days prior to the anticipated meeting, the CEO wrote to the JTUS officials to announce the forced implementation by the Council from 1 September 2018 of a draconian managing attendance policy which could result in dismissal after 4 separate days’ sick absence and contained absolutely no opportunity to exercise discretion which had hitherto been enshrined in both legacy Councils’ procedures� It also treated some staff on compressed hours shift patterns less favourably than others, increasing inequality of treatment rather than improving it�


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When the JTUS reiterated its previously expressed vociferous objections to the intended changes and this imposed attack on a fundamental term and condition of employment, which had been rejected outright at several previous LCNF meet-ings, the Director of Corporate Services advised the JTUS that neither herself nor the CEO would attend the meeting the next day due to the JTUS’ insistence that key elected workplace representatives would be in attendance� The JTUS met the following morning and agreed to hold an urgent joint trade union members’ meeting the following week in Newry� The JTUS Secretary prepared and circu-lated a joint union statement to all union members of NIPSA, SIPTU, Unite and GMB across the Council which listed a number of critical IR issues and called all members to a meeting on the evening of 8 August in Newry to ensure they could input into the campaign to protect their interests and mandate the JTUS to take further appropriate action�

A meeting was also conducted at very short notice with the Chairman of the Council on the afternoon of the all members’ meeting, at which detailed examples of detriment to members were discussed and a commitment given by the Chairman to pursue the JTUS concerns directly with the CEO� During the members’ meeting that evening, members were provided with a detailed update of developments on a number of issues including:

❚ the late refusal of the CEO and Director of Corporate Services to meet local JTUS representatives; the positive meeting with the Council Chairman that afternoon;

❚ the Council’s ongoing failure to address serious concerns over HR’s approach to restructuring and job matching;

❚ erosion by stealth of TUPE protected terms and conditions of employment;

❚ increasing failure by the Council to meaningfully engage with the JTUS on

major issues negatively impacting upon members;

❚ growing concerns over the terms of reference and objectives of the Administrative Review and the resultant JTUS vote of no confidence already taken by the JTUS�

The meeting, was an outstanding success with over a quarter of the entire work-force of 1,000 attending and making their support for JTUS evident throughout the meeting�

Angry, highly stressed and disheartened members unanimously called for the JTUS to immediately engage with all political parties to ensure that Councillors were fully cognisant of the issues in dispute and the necessary action required by the Council to avoid further escalation which could lead to industrial action� Other actions which were overwhelmingly carried by the attendees included:

❚ a joint trade union vote of no confidence in the CEO due to his lack of engagement since April 2017;

❚ unanimous support for the vote of no confidence in HR already taken by the JTUS;

❚ a mandate for the JTUS to proceed with a consultative ballot of all members on potential industrial action should the Council continue to fail to engage meaningfully to address the core issues in dispute;

❚ unanimous members ‘commitment to hold a protest at the next full Council meeting scheduled for 3 September in Downpatrick should meaningful progress not be made in the interim;

❚ the setting up of a joint union/councillor committee so they could no longer be so far removed from Industrial Relations matters and an invitation to Councillors to attend the next LCNF to witness for themselves the deliberately obstructive and discourteous behaviour of key Management side representatives during negotiating meetings�


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The meeting received wide interest from the media which continued with the JTUS Secretary providing regular updates to media contacts, NIPSA News arti-cles and updates for the NIPSA website� The dispute gained momentum with front page coverage in the local press over several weeks� When the Council refuted that there was any evidence to substantiate the unions’ complaint that terms and conditions of employment had been attacked, the unions exercised their right to reply by listing a swathe of recent changes which were detrimental to staff across the Council in various ways, rejecting the Council’s position as false and deliberately misleading and pointing out that the Council continued to fail to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of its members by lack of action on the recommendations contained within the staff stress audit at a time when work related stress absences had been cited as the cause of the highest number of work absences in the history of the two legacy Councils combined since their inception�

The JTUS also wrote once again to the CEO of the Council calling for the planned imposition of the draconian managing absence procedure to be withdrawn to allow for LRA conciliation and immediate talks to restore JTUS faith and confidence in Industrial Relations�

NIPSA arranged a series of meetings with political parties to explain in detail the issues causing the industrial dispute and these proved very beneficial in getting the CEO and Senior Management Team back to the collective bargaining table�

Local media coverage continued on a weekly basis� NIPSA continued to prepare and circulate a number of JTUS all member updates to members and wrote in detail to both the LRA conciliators and to the Council setting out terms of reference principles for a series of negotiating meet-ings, reiterating the action required by the Council to end the dispute�

The JTUS joint consultative ballot over-whelmingly supported a further ballot on both industrial action (with 77% of union members voting yes) and action short of strike action (with 83% voting yes) should talks prove unsuccessful�

An initial constructive dispute resolution meeting, chaired by two LRA representa-tives was held in late September at which the CEO confirmed that it was suspending its proposed imposition of a draconian Attendance Management Procedure to facilitate further negotiations�

A further meeting was scheduled for mid-November to allow time to agree terms of reference for a schedule of nego-tiations, the ambition of which was to agree a new set of terms and conditions for members by the end of the financial year�

The JTUS tabled draft terms of reference well in advance of the November meeting which were shared with the LRA represent-atives however the LRA did not respond until two days before the meeting and merely forwarded totally unacceptable draft terms of reference drawn up by HR of the Council� These were robustly chal-lenged together with an unacceptable additional full facility-time release draft terms paper which fettered completely the role of the local representatives and gave all control to the Council� Neither of the documents were agreed and the JTUS met again in early December to discuss the lack of progression to date, the role of the LRA which had proven unhelpful to date and the next JTUS steps required to protect the best interests of members, which may include a formal ballot for industrial action in the New Year should the Council remain intransigent�

In mid-December, the JTUS Secretary wrote to the LRA and the CEO of the Council again outlining in detail the changes required to the draft Terms of Reference to facilitate agreement and establishment of the Working Group and challenging the need to have a formal


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terms of reference at all for the release of the two trade union co-ordinators when their release had been operational for well over a year already� At time of writing this report, revised Terms of Reference were expected from Management Side prior to the next scheduled LCNF meeting later in December�

ii� Restructuring and Job Matching: As previously highlighted in Section C5j (ii) of the 2017 Annual Report, NIPSA continued to pursue concerns over the failure by HR to appropriately monitor and update the “at risk” category, HR’s failure to honour the agreed vacancy controls to protect those most at material risk of redundancy due to the over creation of new posts, inap-propriate use of VER, detrimental changes to terms and conditions by stealth and the escalating costs of restructuring to date�

Concerns arising from the SMT’s ques-tionable approach to restructuring were strenuously pursued at the LCNF meeting in early May� JTUS agreed to submit an amendments paper to HR on the existing Matching Protocol due to the Council’s refusal to consider the amended docu-ment as tabled by JTUS however when this was submitted as agreed, the SMT refused to accept it and stated that the starting point had to be the agreed Staff Protocol, which was unhelpful and obstructive to improving the processes and resolving the JTUS concerns�

HR agreed to review the insistence by an Assistant Director to inappropriately exclude existing posts impacted by the creation of yet another new post from job matching, which was entirely contrary to decisions made to date in similar situa-tions in other functional areas and asked for written clarification of the JTUS objec-tions� This was provided to HR by mid-May�

However, the Assistant Director signalled his intention to proceed despite the JTUS objections which caused the JTUS repre-sentative to express heightened concern that HR was not being given time to review and resolve the matters of concern�

NIPSA therefore refused to participate in any further job matching pending resolu-tion of the above issue�

iii� Directorates: Whilst good progress was achieved in the Leisure Directorate due to the Senior Managers sharing draft structures below Tier 4 level and working actively with the trade unions to resolve any queries and concerns, progress in other Directorates was being hampered by piecemeal provision of draft structures throughout the year and the proliferation of new posts being created which impact-ed upon the existing functions of more than one Directorate� When NIPSA sought a rationale for restructuring decisions, it became clear that the Directors were working in silo with limited thought being given to the detrimental wider impact due to key decision makers not engaging with each other� This issue was highlight-ed repeatedly by NIPSA and due to the in-transigence and interference of HR in ne-gotiations with Departmental Managers, JTUS formally withdrew from the match-ing process in August which was the first action taken as part of the major Industrial dispute reported above�

iv� Future Delivery of Forest Parks and Leisure Facilities: In November 2017 as previously reported in the 2017 NIPSA Annual Report, the NIPSA Official had written again to the Director with respon-sibility over the review of forest parks and amenities seeking detailed responses to the concerns previously raised and hith-erto ignored or side lined by the Council�

Whilst the Director had noted the JTUS frustrations voiced at the final LCNF meeting in 2017 and agreed to consider further her initial responses as well as arrange for the JTUS to meet with the Consultants engaged on the review project in early 2018, and despite reminders from the unions, both Council actions remained outstanding, further fuelling the concerns that the Council planned to outsource the development of the leisure amenities

C6 Northern Ireland Housing Executive

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such as caravanning and camping across its Forest Parks�

This issue was further pursued at the LCNF meeting held at the start of May, to which the Director claimed that all concerns had been responded to� HR stated that there had been confusion on the part of the Council over which NIPSA corre-spondence the matter was pertinent to so to clarify, NIPSA wrote again enclosing the previous letter, stressing that the outstanding concerns were clearly identi-fied in the correspondence�

An August date for the JTUS to meet with the Consultants engaged by the Council to determine the method of service delivery going forward had to be rescheduled due to the non-availability of key JTUS repre-sentatives during the summer period�

The continued lack of response to the JTUS concerns over potential privatisation was also criticised at the joint trade union members’ meeting on 8 August by NIPSA, SIPTU, Unite and GMB�

This issue remained a priority for NIPSA throughout the year and was further pursued at the special dispute resolu-tion meeting in late September, at which the HQ Official criticised the Director for her lack of response to serious concerns over potential privatisation, and sought a response from the CEO for this unaccept-able failure to engage�

A written response was received in October from the Director which, whilst not directly responding to each concern, did provide some reassurance that mean-ingful consultation would take place and inviting the JTUS to attend a meeting with The Council and the Consultants under-taking the review who were also tasked with making recommendations for future delivery models�

A date for the meeting was being arranged for early in the New Year�

v� Holiday Pay: At the LCNF in May, JTUS criticised the Council for tabling a position paper on how it intended to implement

holiday pay and refusing to discuss alter-native resolutions with the unions�

The position was rejected by the JTUS and grievances were lodged with a view to legal action being taken if unresolved�

It was confirmed that it was likely to be July at the earliest before payments would be actioned� It was also confirmed by NMD Council that members from legacy Newry Council have already been receiving holiday pay due to a previous successful collective grievance and there-fore the position paper was only pertinent to legacy Down staff�

Following the successful Industrial Tribunal decision in early November, NIPSA wrote formally to the Council’s Director of Corporate Services on behalf of JTUS outlining the key legal facts estab-lished which must be taken into account to resolve the ongoing claim including the inclusion of all allowances as well as over-time, the calculation criteria, a suggested reference period for calculation purposes and the requirement for considerable retrospection�

It was made clear by NIPSA that the claim was extended to include staff from legacy Newry Council due to the inclusion of allowances� At year end, a response from Management Side was awaited�

vi� NJC Year 2 Pay Assimilation Negoti-ations: In December, NIPSA wrote on behalf of the JTUS seeking urgent pay ne-gotiations in respect of how the Council proposed to implement Year 2 of the NJC Pay Agreement� Information was formally requested as an essential pre-requisite to negotiations commencing which includ-ed clarification of grading boundaries on the NJC pay spine and pay distribution information of staff by pay spine (SCP) point and by gender� A response from the Council was awaited at year end�

vii� Policy Development: NIPSA continued throughout the year to pursue issues re-lating to the implementation by stealth of new policies and procedures across the


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Council which had not been agreed at LCNF level and which could erode the pro-tection provided by TUPE and detriment the terms and conditions of members, exacerbating an already complex 6 tier terms and conditions workforce within the new Council�

Examples included:

❚ an amended travel and expenses policy;

❚ an attendance management system with fewer trigger points than existed in one legacy Council before action was required;

❚ a Parental Leave Policy�

Concerns were also raised by JTUS over inadequate facility time being granted to Policy Working Group JTUS representa-tives, which was also notified to the LRA representative who was facilitating the joint working group meetings�

NIPSA continued to lead the JTUS of the working group until JTUS lodged notifica-tion of the Industrial dispute as reported above by August 2018�

viii� Stress Audit: The JTUS stressed the im-portance of devising a jointly agreed action plan derived from the Stress Audit results which could have a positive impact upon increasing long-term sick absence caused by work related stress�

ix� GDPR : NIPSA also queried what prepara-tion the Council was undertaking to fully comply with the new GDPR prior to the legislation becoming law on 25 May 2018� It was confirmed that a number of actions were progressed including extensive training of staff, audits, database checks, CCTV reviews which was overseen by the Compliance section of the Council�

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C6 Northern Ireland Housing ExecutiveC6.1 Social Housing Reform Programme

(SHRP)The proposals by civil servants in the Depart-ment for Communities (DfC) in respect of the Social Housing Reform Programme were not adopted in the absence of a government Minister� However in the latter part of the 2018 it became clear, by their use of the media to make a number of public statements, that Senior Offi-cials, including the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, were intent in driving forward this agenda� In response NIPSA initiated contact with all political parties in order to ensure that NIPSA’s views on these matters continued to be heard� In addition, NIPSA sought the support of political parties in respect of a number of key objectives including the retention of the NIHE as the stand alone publicly accountable housing authority�

C6.2 Re-engagement of Stewart Smyth, Sheffield University

Following the very successful publications in 2013 and 2017 of two documents by Stewart Smyth of Sheffield University, NIPSA again engaged his services to undertake a further piece of work to assist its campaign in respect of public housing� It was agreed that the latest commissioned work would focus on providing solid arguments for NIPSA on the retention of the Housing Executive and challenge some of the myths created about alternative models for housing including mutual housing or other supposed not for profit models� It was antic-ipated that this further publication would be published in Spring 2019� It was expected that this work would compliment the existing publi-cations and reinforce the argument for a publicly accountable NIHE, tackle the “right to borrow” issue, highlight the ineptitude of government in tackling the growing homeless crisis and rein-force the argument that the historical context for the establishment of the NIHE in a divided society was as relevant today as it was 45 years ago when the Housing Executive was estab-lished�

C6.3 Stock TransferDespite the absence of the government Minister, throughout 2018 Officials in DfC continued with their agenda of attempting to obtain residents’ agreement for the stock transfer of their homes to Housing Associations� Having been humili-ated by the size of rejection by residents in The Grange estate in Ballyclare in the summer of 2017 when residents voted by 93% to reject the transfer proposal, the Department embarked on a comprehensive review of that process to “learn lessons” from that failed venture� Although the Department refused to publish their Review, NIPSA was made aware that DfC attempted in the Review to blame the union in large part for the decision of residents to vote No in the ballot� Whilst NIPSA was content to accept the credit for being at least partially responsible for the resounding No vote by residents, it was clear that residents, once provided with the facts, were able to fully appreciate that they were better off remaining with the NIHE�

The Department moved to the Ballee estate in Ballymena in the Spring of 2018, initiating a charm offensive with residents and Triangle Housing, the preferred bidder� The consultation process was twice as long as in The Grange the previous year and increased one to one engage-ments with residents were arranged� Once again NIPSA, with the Assistant Trade Union Side Secretary in the NIHE Trade Union Side Office, along with the HQ Official embarked on its own campaign of engagement with residents� This involved actively engaging with residents, the two Residents Associations, distributing leaf-lets and posters and the erection of two massive banners at the entrance of the estate on behalf of NIPSA and the Residents Association urging resi-dents to vote No� In addition, NIPSA published a comprehensive paragraph by paragraph chal-lenge to Triangle’s transfer proposals document, which was delivered to every home in the area�

A public meeting was held in the summer, as a last ditch attempt by DfC and Triangle to convince residents to vote in favour of transferring their homes� NIPSA sought the right to speak at the event and challenged a number of key issues presented by Triangle and highlighted some of the issues contained in its detailed response�

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NIPSA also brought along a few of the residents from The Grange in Ballyclare to voice their support for residents in Ballee� It was clear in the meeting that the Department and Triangle were under considerable pressure� A further attempt was made by Triangle following the meeting with residents to challenge NIPSA’s position in further meetings with residents’ individually�

Despite the Department’s significant efforts resi-dents once again rejected the proposals, with 88% voting No� This second rejection in just 13 months was a significant victory for NIPSA and the community� Stock transfer of homes to housing associations had been a common feature of government policy in Britain for over a decade, with only a handful of rejections ever recorded during that entire period�

NIPSA wrote to the Permanent Secretary in DfC calling for the Stock Transfer Programme to be halted immediately� Whilst not agreeing that the programme would be scrapped, the Depart-ment confirmed that it would be suspended indefinitely pending a review� NIPSA made it clear that should it raise its head again in the near future, the union would be ready to work with residents in any location to defeat the proposal again�

C6.4 Reclassification of Housing Associations

There was no movement on this issue during 2018 in the absence of a government Minister� However the changes proposed in the consulta-tion document emphasised the continued move away from public accountability and Depart-mental scrutiny of Housing Associations� NIPSA highlighted this issue in discussions with politi-cians to reinforce the point that any changes to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive along these lines would have a profound impact on the issue of public accountability, particularly in the context of a divided society�

C6.5 Review of Private Rental SectorThere was no movement in respect of this review during the year in the absence of a Minister, however the issues contained in the review remained a worrying development if

implemented� NIPSA continued to highlight concerns about:

a. lack of clarity around policing or enforcing compliance of any new regulations by the existing 55,000 private landlords;

b. the increased vulnerability of Universal Credit claimants who would increasingly be pushed towards an unregulated and unaccountable private rental sector;

c. the lack of rent certainty or security of tenure and how this did nothing for those in dire need of decent public housing;

d. the meagre change from 4 weeks to 2 months notice to quit by landlords demonstrated the unwillingness of government to seriously tackle the housing crisis in a structured and strategic manner;

e. for many elderly people and those relying on benefits or on low income, the potential for fuel and/or food poverty had been ignored by the refusal to cap rents in the private rental market; and

f. there was nothing contained in the review which tackled at all the increased likelihood of evictions and the resultant increased vulnerability of families and young people becoming homeless�

C6.6 Fundamental Review of Social Housing Allocations

NIPSA made a detailed submission to the public consultation in respect of this review, high-lighting among other things, that the review did not in any way address the lack of social housing nor did it address the fact that the private rental sector remained an unregulated, unaccountable sector providing no rent certainty or security of tenure with no mechanism to police 55,000 private landlords� NIPSA’s response also high-lighted the proposed move towards viewing the private rental sector as a means to mask the growing housing crisis� In the response NIPSA also challenged the proposals which would fundamentally change the way to deal with tenants who have been intimidated, including those people, predominantly women, who have had to leave their home due to domestic

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violence� In the absence of a government Minister throughout 2018, this review was not taken forward� However, NIPSA remained vigi-lant in case there was any move by the Depart-ment to move on these proposals�

C6.7 Housing BenefitNIPSA continued to engage constructively with Senior Management in the NIHE on the protec-tions required for staff working in Housing Benefit� There were positive developments during the year� From a position a few years ago whereby hundreds of Housing Benefit staff were due to be made redundant or rely on a half promise of transferring to the Northern Ireland Civil Service, which was itself contracting in terms of overall headcount, a number of changes were discussed with Trade Union Side� NIPSA had previously raised concerns with the Finance Minister, the DfC Assembly Committee and political parties about the waste of public money associated with transferring the Housing Benefit functions to Land and Property Services (LPS) following the introduction of Universal Credit� Trade Union Side also threatened to go directly to the Public Accounts Committee on the matter� Following engagement with the NIHE and the DfC it became clear that an alternative approach was under consideration, which included looking at what functions could continue to be undertaken by Housing Execu-tive staff and what new work could be carried out by experienced staff there�

As a result of the ongoing discussions it was agreed that a series of trawls would be issued which provided promotion opportunities for many staff� Some staff were also able to express an interest in voluntary severance� Work also continued with DfC and LPS on the potential for the work to be diverted to Housing Benefit� By year end it was confirmed that by the end of the Universal Credit migration process, no further interventions would be required� In addition, should the Assembly be re-established it was also agreed that the legislation could be consid-ered again, which stipulated how Housing Benefit should be assessed�

C6.8 HR PoliciesNIPSA engaged throughout 2018 with HR in the NIHE on a number of proposed policy reviews� A new proposed Performance Management System was not implemented during the year as agreement could not be reached with NIPSA on the various elements of the proposed new policy� A much revised Disciplinary Policy was under consideration at year end� A redraft of the Harassment Policy (Dignity at Work) was still awaited�

C6.9 Job Evaluation SchemeProgress on this issue remained extremely slow during 2018� Although at face value the Housing Executive indicated that it was posi-tive about introducing a job evaluation scheme, there was little movement, with a significant stumbling block centering around agreeing an appeal mechanism for staff who are dissatisfied with an outcome of a job evaluation, as well as a transparent method of seeking a review of an existing post�

C6.10 Membership and RecruitmentFollowing the range of Structural Reviews which took place in the last few years across the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Central Panel agreed to undertake a review of all Branches to ensure they properly reflected membership in each area� This work was further complicated by the decision to relocate the Belfast Offices into two sites over the summer months� The Central Panel agreed to carry out further work with individual Branches to ensure that the final proposals deal with all changes introduced�

C6.11 Local Office Opening TimesThis became a major issue for some Branches during 2018 when Management forced through changes to opening hours in a number of Local Offices without proper consultation with local Trade Union Side or the Trade Union Side Office� Following meetings with the Director of Housing, it was agreed to establish a proper forum for consultation including a review of the changes already introduced�

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C6.12 Calculation of Holiday PayA number of meetings were held during the year in an attempt to reach agreement with the NIHE on how to calculate holiday pay, including a back dating arrangement� A further meeting was held with the employer in December 2018 following the outcome of the PSNI Tribunal Case, at which NIPSA made clear that if a suitable real-istic proposal was not presented for discussion at a meeting arranged for January 2019, then individual grievances and Tribunal Complaints would be lodged�

C6.13 NJC Pay Award – Year IIA number of meetings were held with Manage-ment on the application of the two year pay award for 2019/20 with a further meeting arranged for early 2019 to negotiate an accept-able assimilation outcome for members�

C6.14 Review of Pay Scales and Incremental Progression

Alongside discussions in respect of the NJC Pay Award, NIPSA also engaged with the NIHE to tackle a number of longstanding disparities within the pay scales� These included length of pay scales, overlapping between grades, pay on promotion/appointment and other disparities between technical grades and other staff�

C6.15 Review of Industrial RelationsFollowing concerns raised by NIPSA in rela-tion to how Industrial Relations had developed in recent years, a joint Review of the Industrial Relations arrangements were undertaken in 2018� This resulted in the introduction of a new agreed framework, which included the require-ment for each Directorate to have meaningful consultation and engagement with NIPSA and UNITE throughout the year�

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C7 Other BodiesC7.1 Council for Homeless,

Northern Ireland (CHNI)Financial Position: The organisation core funding from Northern Ireland Housing Execu-tive is potentially at risk of not being awarded for 2019/2020 which would place core staff at risk of a redundancy situation� NIPSA is supporting members in this matter�

C7.2 Controlled Schools’ Support Council (CSSC)

NIPSA continued to deal with the issue of all staffs’ terms and conditions� Staffs’ terms and conditions were to be NJC in line with their sector comparator organisations like Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG) and the Education Authority (EA)� NIPSA had 14 members in the organisation equating to 88% union density� The terms and conditions of staff were to be NJC in line with the other organisa-tions; however an Industrial Tribunal claim had to be lodged to resolve the issue� Negotiations resulted and all staff being put onto the NJC pay scales and NJC Terms and Conditions� NIPSA wrote to the Board seeking formal recognition�

C7.3 Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS)

NIPSA continued throughout the year to meet with CCMS Management in relation to the Organisational Review that emanated out of the KPMG Report dated July 2015 that was commis-sioned by the Department of Education (DE)�

The Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) was offered to in line with other Public Sector schemes enabled CCMS to see what staff were available who could be deployed to the new structure� The new struc-ture was implemented with new Job Descriptions and work commenced on populating the new staffing structure� During the year the closure of the Diocesan office in Omagh took place with staff were redeployed to their headquarters in Lisburn, and others being allowed the flexibility for working from home was introduced� NIPSA sought clarity on this policy and its application�

C7.4 Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)

Policies: Work was on-going throughout the year in reviewing a number of policies�

Job Evaluation: A number of female NIPSA members sought redress on the evaluation of their posts due to equality issues� As there was no mechanism to evaluate roles other than a process based on HRs opinion�

NIPSA had to take the step of lodging grievances� As a result Management agreed to use the GLPC scheme to evaluate posts however they did not agree to a complete evaluation exercise for the whole organisation� NIPSA informed Manage-ment that this was unacceptable as members posts had not been evaluated in over 15 years and quite a significant amount of changes had occurred in that time� NIPSA lodged a number of grievances regarding equal pay�

C7.5 EXTERNBranch Committee: The inaugural Annual General Meeting for EXTERN as a standalone Branch took place in mid-January� A number of Branch Officer roles were appointed to i�e� Branch Secretary, Branch Chairperson and Equality Officer and the Branch Committee continued to seek to co-opt local reps into the remaining vacant Branch Officer roles�

Pay Award 2018/2019: NIPSA submitted a pay award request for 2018/2019 to EXTERN for 2�9% consolidated payment� Management took some considerable time to respond and stated that based on financial constraints they proposed a counter pay award offer of 0�8% non-consol-idated one off lump sum payment� (This offer initially incorporated a one off additional annual leave day i�e� Christmas Eve but this was separated from the pay award proposal as recognition of EXTERN’s 40th Birthday)� NIPSA consulted with members in relation to the offer and members rejected the offer� NIPSA subsequently met with management and were provided with further details/information in relation to the organisa-tions financial position and a consultation ballot was underway at year end�

Redundancies: EXTERN instigated a redun-dancy process in a number of areas:

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a. Reach Out Project: The Reach Out project was funded by the Department of Communi-ties� The funding streams was scheduled to end on 31 March and without clarity on the budget position at Stormont and no commit-ment of further funding the staff were issued with 30 days redundancy notice� There were a number of staff members affected and NIPSA supported members in the redun-dancy process� Funding was secured in late March and all staff members affected were retained in employment for a further 12 months�

b. Ormeau Centre: EXTERN undertook a review of a number of roles and working patterns within the Centre and a number of staff members’ posts were affected� These staff were issued with 30 days redundancy notice and NIPSA supported members in the redun-dancy process� The organisation was able to avoid compulsory redundancies�

c. Hub: EXTERN instigated a redundancy process in relation to The ‘Hub’ in July� NIPSA supported members in the process and compulsory redundancies were avoided�

TUPE: Extern were not awarded the Strength to Strength contract in Ballymena, this contract has been awarded to Barnardo’s� There were a number of temporary extensions to the contract and the contract transferred to Barnardo’s with effect from 1 January 2019� NIPSA supported members in the TUPE process�

C7.6 General Teaching Council For Northern Ireland (GTCNI)

In May NIPSA and Management of the General Teaching Council signed the Recognition and Facilities Agreement� The GTCNI also commis-sioned a review on policies� These policies included:

❚ Family Friendly Including Parental Leave;

❚ Dignity At Work;

❚ Disciplinary Procedure;

❚ Retirement;

❚ Grievance Procedure;

❚ Career Break;

❚ Attendance;

❚ Staff Welfare;

❚ Flexible Working;

❚ Work Life Balance;

❚ Anti-Fraud & Bribery;

❚ Whistleblowing;

❚ Eye Test�

A new Registrar, commenced employment in August and now will form part of the Manage-ment negotiation team�

C7.7 Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS)

a. Departmental Reviews: As reported previ-ously in Section C7�12(a) of the 2017 NIPSA Annual Report, NIFRS were undertaking a service wide restructuring programme by department which continued throughout the year�

NIPSA was intensively engaged with Manage-ment Side from Director level covering reviews in the areas of Finance, Procurement, Training and Development and ICT�

The reviews resulted in the creation of new posts and a job matching exercise was conducted in each area which was the subject of detailed discussions with TUS� NIPSA also supported a significant number of members with changes to their existing job descriptions and job evaluations of the new posts being used for job matching�

These reviews were being conducted against the backdrop of an organisational change policy which NIPSA had previously submitted a scathing response to, largely due to dubious job evaluation techniques being employed� A revised draft Organisational Review Policy was tabled by HR in February which was reviewed and responded to by NIPSA in March�

Disappointingly, only a few of the previous TUS suggested amendments had been made� At the April JNCC, NIPSA criticised the NIFRS for not fully considering its consultation response and it was agreed that the Head of

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HR would meet with the HQ Official and the Branch Chairperson to jointly review the TUS comments and agree a way forward� This meeting occurred towards the end of April and culminated in a revised Policy which incorporated the majority of NIPSA’s points being sent through by NIFRS for considera-tion in early May�

Negotiations on the overarching Organi-sational Change Policy concluded with HR agreeing to a number of TUS amendments to the Policy which improved transparency and fairness of the process, built in more robust consultation and challenge oppor-tunities and gave NIPSA a more meaningful role in the review process, including job matching� TUS also wished to jointly review the NIFRS Job Evaluation Policy based upon those processes agreed across Councils to maximise job protection and transparent, fair processes to ensure equity of treatment for all staff affected by organisational review�

At the JNCC held in late November, it was agreed that the HQ Official and Branch Chair-person would meet in January to conclude these negotiations�

b. Other Departmental Reviews: These were ongoing throughout 2018 with NIPSA involvement included:

❚ Stores;

❚ Communications Technicians;

❚ Central Management Team;

❚ Area and District and Operations Directorate�

It was confirmed at the April JNCC that 4 staff would be leaving NIFRS on voluntary redun-dancy terms at the end of June, which was regrettable�

c. Transfer of ICT Infrastructure to BSO: NIPSA supported one to one and group consultations with all affected members who remained within the NIFRS structure to ensure each member’s updated job descrip-tion and grading issues could be fully consid-ered and resolved on an individual as well as collective basis�

As reported previously in Section C7�12(d) of last year’s Annual Report, NIPSA continued to raise grave concerns at JNCC level over the increasing cost of partial transfer of ICT to BSO, which had considerably surpassed the NIFRS budget expectations to date, together with highlighting the difficulties already being experienced by the NIFRS in ongoing provision of support from BSO�

The Director of Corporate Services assured TUS that these issues would be investi-gated further and raised with BSO to ensure improved service continuity� Growing concerns that the agreement reached prior to transfer that the job descriptions for those members in ICT who remained within NIFRS would be updated to take into account transferred out functions and re-evaluated if significant changes were required was not being honoured were raised in writing and pursued at each JNCC held throughout the year� The Director and HR representative met separately with the members and NIPSA representatives to establish what amend-ments were required and how this would be managed�

NIPSA sought retrospection of any upward regrading to the transfer date of 1 April 201� At year end, these discussions were ongoing�

d. Transfer of Procurement to BSO: The orig-inal Management Side plan arising from a review of the Procurement Team was that up to two FTE staff would transfer to BSO at the end of March with the remainder of the Department transferring in the medium term�

However NIPSA successfully challenged the direction of travel of the NIFRS and posed a number of questions and concerns to Management which contributed to the deci-sion not to proceed with the first Phase of transfer as planned� Issues raised included:

❚ the cost of the transfer and associated service level agreement;

❚ the impact on the internal Procurement service;

❚ the loss of expertise by the potential transfer of specialist posts;

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❚ the improvements already made by the Procurement Team since the review report was written and lessons learnt from the process of transfer of the ICT infrastructure team�

NIPSA also tabled the potential secondment of staff rather than TUPE style transfer for a determined period until NIFRS managed the COPE risk which appeared to be the overarching rationale for transfer to BSO� It was agreed that the current COPE with BSO would be extended for up to a year to allow for further consideration of the issues raised�

NIPSA maintained its position that the Procurement Function should remain in-house� It was accepted by HR that the orig-inal report was flawed in part and agreed that inaccuracies highlighted by NIPSA would not be used to inform any review outcomes�

Early in 2018, the Director of Corporate Services confirmed that following detailed job analysis and matching, only 1 post may transfer to BSO, although the timescale for that transfer was uncertain� However, at the JNCC in April, the Director of Corporate Services confirmed that whilst the intention to transfer procurement risk remained, there would be no transfer of staff, which was warmly welcomed by NIPSA�

e. Operational Support Review: At the JNCC held in December 2017, Management confirmed that the intended move of the NIFRS Training Centre to Desertcreat in Co� Tyrone was scheduled to commence in May 2018 with job matching and assimilation meetings taking place from January onwards, although NIPSA members were unlikely to be affected by the initial phase of relocation�

It was anticipated that relocation would be completed by 2020� NIPSA requested a seat on the Review User Group which was agreed at the JNCC� The newly elected Branch Chair-person agreed to sit on the Review User Group as a NIPSA representative�

f. NJC Year 2 Pay Assimilation Negotiations: At the JNCC AGM held in late November, NIPSA raised the requirement for NIFRS to enter into pay assimilation negotiations with

TUS with a view to reaching agreement, as stipulated within Year 2 of the NJC Pay Agree-ment�

This was followed up by correspondence from the HQ Official to the HR Manager in early December, which sought urgent pay negotiations and formally requesting the provision of pay distribution information of staff by pay spine (SCP) point and by gender and clarification of grading boundaries on the NJC pay spine as an essential pre-req-uisite to negotiations commencing in early 2019� At year end, a response from HR was awaited to include proposed dates to meet to discuss further�

g. Holiday Pay: NIPSA wrote to NIFRS in early March to pursue holiday pay on behalf of members whose regular remuneration was enhanced in any way, including overtime payments� A holding response acknowl-edging the matter required consideration was received in April and NIPSA pursued the matter further at each JNCC held throughout the year� HR agreed to share its position upon receipt of legal advice�

Following the outcome of the test case taken against the PSNI on behalf of civilian workers, NIPSA vigorously pursued issues at the late November JNCC meeting, and subse-quently in early December wrote formally to the Council again outlining the key legal facts established which must be taken into account in any draft settlement proposal, including the inclusion of all allowances as well as overtime, the calculation criteria, a suggested reference period for calculation purposes and the requirement for consid-erable retrospection� At year end, this was under NIFRS consideration�

h. Policy Development: As a result of consistent pressure from NIPSA, HR tabled an organic Policy Development Timetable in February which was agreed with NIPSA and ensured that policy development could be under-taken in a managed fashion throughout the remainder of the year�

A number of new and revised draft Policies were reviewed and responded to by TUS throughout the year, these included:

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❚ Acting up and Honorarium;

❚ Recruitment and Selection;

❚ Disciplinary;

❚ Employee Engagement Strategy and Stress Policy�

Regular working group meetings were held with the Head of HR throughout the year to progress the points raised in each TUS submission which resulted in more favour-able policies and procedures being imple-mented across NIFRS to the benefit of all staff�

i. Use of CAPITA Contracts: NIPSA Offi-cial wrote to the NIFRS in February seeking confirmation that the organisation did not hold any contracts with CAPITA�

Concerns were heightened following the announcement that CAPITA was undergoing a fundamental restructuring due to profit warnings and the recent collapse of Carillion� TUS sought a response from the NIFRS at the April JNCC which the Head of HR committed to provide�

Correspondence was received by NIPSA in July which confirmed that whilst NIFRS held a service contract with CAPITA, contingency plans had been agreed to ensure continuity of service should CAPITA collapse�

NIPSA reinforced its strong opposition to outsourcing and maintained its position that all services must be returned to in house provision immediately�

j. Premia Payments for Part-Time Workers: In November, NIPSA became aware of an issue over how the NIFRS was treating part-time employees less favourably than full time employees whilst working on Saturdays and/or Sundays�

NIPSA raised this as a collective concern at the JNCC AGM in November, explaining that by refusing to pay part time workers enhanced hourly weekend rates which were appli-cable to their fellow full time employees, the organisation was leaving itself vulnerable to discrimination claims on the ground of less favourable treatment of part time workers�

The applicable sections of the NJC Green Book appeared to be open to interpretation� However, NIPSA convinced the Director of Corporate Services that the pay enhance-ment was a separate issue from overtime worked on a week day by a part time worker, for which only plain time would apply until full time equivalent hours had been worked�

At year end, NIPSA awaited the final decision of NIFRS who had committed to reviewing their policies on this matter to ensure that part time employees would be treated equi-tably and fairly�

C7.8 NILGOSCa. Branch Organisation: In the absence of any

NIPSA representatives in NILGOSC following the retirement of the single representative in early 2018, the HQ Official liaised with HR to arrange a Branch meeting on site to address members�

In early April, a Branch meeting was held in NILGOSC premises which was attended and led by the HQ official and a member of the Recruitment and organisation unit, the key objectives included to improve Branch organisation and prepare members for an AGM to elect a Branch Committee, to update members on key issues affecting NIPSA currently and to invite non-members to hear about the objects of NIPSA and why they should become an active part of the union�

The session was warmly welcomed by members, non-members and the HR manager who facilitated the meeting� As a direct result, new members were recruited and three new acting representatives were elected by the Branch at the meeting, pending the AGM to be held later in the year�

The acting Branch representatives continued to grow in confidence with the ongoing support of NIPSA� The Branch AGM was held in late September and resulted in five Branch representatives being formally elected onto the new Branch Committee� These new Committee members quickly enrolled on the NIPSA Training Programme and continued to be actively supported by NIPSA HQ at year end�

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b. Policy Development: As previously reported in Section C7�13 of the 2017 NIPSA Annual Report, HR had tabled two revised draft poli-cies with a closing date for written submis-sions of early December 2017�

The draft revised Disciplinary and Capability Policies and associated Procedures were reviewed in detail and by early December 2017, correspondence was sent to NILGOSC from the NIPSA Official clearly stipulating that the trade union could and would not agree either of the suggested drafts due to the ease with which the policies would permit NILGOSC to summarily dismiss employees and, despite the HR claim that the policies were based upon LRA codes of practice, NIPSA believed that the bear legal minimum of entitlements was being offered�

A plethora of changes and comments were forwarded to NILGOSC, the majority of which were accepted by HR and revised draft poli-cies were under consideration at year end�

c. NJC Year 2 Pay Assimilation Negotiations: In December, NIPSA wrote to the HR Manager seeking urgent pay negotiations in respect of how the Council proposed to implement Year 2 of the NJC Pay Agreement� Informa-tion was formally requested as an essential pre-requisite to negotiations commencing which included the clarification of grading boundaries on the NJC pay spine and pay distribution information of staff by pay spine (SCP) point and by gender� A response from NILGOSC was awaited at year end�

d. Holiday Pay: NIPSA wrote to NILGOSC in early March to pursue holiday pay on behalf of all members whose regular remuneration was enhanced in any way, including over-time payments�

A written response was received in early May stating that overtime was not guaranteed, compulsory or paid to any member of staff more than on a one or two month basis and that this could not therefore constitute a regular feature of pay and was therefore not being taken into account for the purposes of calculating holiday pay�

The organisation committed to monitoring the frequency of overtime payments and evolving case law and reviewing its decision accordingly�

Following the outcome of the recent test case taken against the PSNI on behalf of civilian workers, NIPSA again formally wrote to NILGOSC in early December outlining the key legal facts established which must be taken into account in any draft settlement proposal, including the inclusion of all allow-ances as well as overtime, the calculation criteria, a suggested reference period for calculation purposes and the requirement for considerable retrospection� At year end, this was under NILGOSC consideration�

e. Private Sector Contracts: Following corre-spondence from NIPSA in early February enquiring as to whether NILGSOC held any service contracts with Capita, the Manage-ment response received by return that no such contracts were in place or planned was broadly welcomed by NIPSA�

f. GDPR: Negotiations continued throughout the year on the NIPSA tabled GDPR agree-ment which had been sent to NILGOSC in March� The Employer’s position was that both parties held the position of joint data controller/processor and legal advice was being obtained to ensure that any agree-ment provided NIPSA with full compliance of the new data protection legislation, which was awaited at year end�

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Civil Service GroupBranch

Employing Authority

Branch Location Branch SecretaryMembers & Votes

CS Group Delegates

NIPSA Delegates

1 DOF CPD Brendan Fegan 152 2 2

2 DOF CS Pensions & Recruitment Martin Bradley 69 1 1

3 DOF Enterprise Shared Services Brian White 90 2 2

4 DOF Legal Admin Vacant 61 1 1

5 DOF Legal Service Joanne Devine 65 1 1

6 DOF LPS Land Registration Colleen Bonner 74 1 1

7 DOF LPS Ordnance Survey Enda McAtamney 179 2 2

8 DOF LPS Rating Kate McKeating 318 3 3

9 DOF LPS Valuation Kathryn Johnston 141 2 2

10 DOF NICS HR Amanda Allaway 173 2 2

11 DOF NISRA Vacant 145 2 2

12 DOF Properties Division John Monaghan 108 2 2

13 DOF Province wide Noel Gunn 208 3 3

14 TEO Stormont Philip Devine 103 2 2

15 DOF Province wide Edith Toppon 143 2 2

22 DE Inspectorate Rathgael Jill Garland 38 1 1

23 DE Rathgael House Mitch Morgan 139 2 2

24 DE Waterside House, Derry Marie Stewart 88 2 2

26 DOH Policy Tony Starrs 202 3 3

31 DFE Adelaide House Damien McErlean 225 3 3

32 DFE Careers Service Dominic McGranahan 129 2 2

33 DFE Insolvency/OITFET Fiona Carr 103 2 2

34 DFE Netherleigh Elizabeth Cameron 91 2 2

35 DFE Trading Standards Kevin McNamara 34 1 1

45 DOJ Core Sean Brown 215 3 3

46 DOJ Legal Services Agency Alan Henry 98 2 2

47 DOJ NICTS Lorna Glass 428 4 4

48 DOJ NIPS Stephen Hayes 165 2 2

49 DOJ YJA Rowan Webb 113 2 2

50 NIPB Policing Board Vacant 21 1 1

Branches

125

BranchEmploying Authority


CS Group Delegates

NIPSA Delegates

51 PBNI Probation Board Wendy Thompson 203 3 3

52 PONI Police Ombudsman Andrew Crowe 68 1 1

53 PPSNI Public Prosecution Service James Murphy 209 3 3

70 DFI Clarence Court Michael Dobbin 212 3 3

71 DFI Driver Vehicle Agency Brian Truesdale 601 6 6

72 DFI Planning Vacant 42 1 1

73 DFI Rivers Agency Lauren Henry 96 2 2

74 DFI TNI Ballymena Richard Ayton 63 1 1

75 DFI TNI Belfast Conor Boyd 125 2 2

76 DFI TNI Coleraine James Morrison 51 1 1

77 DFI TNI Craigavon Val Russell 85 2 2

78 DFI TNI Downpatrick Catherine Gorman 79 1 1

79 DFI TNI HQ Marlene Hazelhurst 67 1 1

80 DFI TNI Omagh Peadar Graham 184 2 2

91 DAERA Central Belfast Michael McAnallen 134 2 2

92 DAERA Dundonald House Jan Davidson 211 3 3

93 DAERA Forest Service Brendan Mulholland 55 1 1

94 DAERA Inspectorate Gerard Higgins 502 5 5

96 DAERA Province wide John Doherty 511 5 5

97 DAERA Veterinary Officers Giovanni Borla 102 2 2

110 DFC Andersonstown Ricardo McGreevy 135 2 2

111 DFC Antrim & Magherafelt Francis Doole 135 2 2

112 DFC Appeals Service Tommy Kelly 66 1 1

113 DFC Armagh, Banbridge, Lurgan & Portadown Sean Conway 162 2 2

114 DFC Ballymena, Carrickfergus & Larne Soibhan Boyd 126 2 2

115 DFC Ballymoney, Coleraine & Limavady William Brooks 145 2 2

116 DFC Ballynahinch, Bangor, Downpatrick, Kilkeel & Newcastle Amanda Burns 77 1 1

117 DFC Belfast Benefit Centre Mark Gibson 353 3 3

118 DFC Castle Court Disability Benefits Martie McKee 650 6 6

119 DFC Child Maintenance Service Brendan O'Reilly 593 5 5

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CS Group Delegates

NIPSA Delegates

120 DFC Communications Jim Smith 40 1 1

121 DFC Community Cohesion Mairead Rooney 119 2 2

122 DFC Cookstown Vacant 25 1 1

123 DFC CRS Pensions Martin Rouse 65 1 1

124 DFC Design Centre Eamon Doherty 221 3 3

125 DFC Dungannon Nicola Beggs 79 1 1

126 DFC Enniskillen & Omagh Patricia Toal/James Carey 135 2 2

127 DFC ESA James House Liz Skelcher 287 3 3

128 DFC Falls Road, Newtownabbey, North Belfast, Royal Avenue & Shankill Gerard McLaughlin 194 2 2

129 DFC Foyle Ann Coyle 165 2 2

130 DFC Holywood Road Clare Skelcher 121 2 2

131 DFC Improving Benefits Uptake Unit Michael Gribben 48 1 1

132 DFC Knockbreda, Newtownards & Shaftesbury Square Carl Gilmore 86 2 2

133 DFC Legislation Sean Garland 31 1 1

134 DFC Lesley Exchange Jenna Stanley 172 2 2

135 DFC Lisahally Martin Neeson 127 2 2

136 DFC Lisburn Alex Millar 75 1 1

137 DFC Lisnagelvin & Strabane Simon Foley 102 2 2

138 DFC Local Ops Direct Andrew Boal 31 1 1

139 DFC Newry Dianne Waddel 130 2 2

140 DFC Pension Centre, Carlisle House Denise Conway 173 2 2

141 DFC Public Record Office Richard Leckey 55 1 1

142 DFC Regeneration Jason McAnulty 173 2 2

143 DFC Strategic Policy & Resources Branch Brendan Callan 103 2 2

144 DFC Training Sean Robinson 19 1 1

145 DFC Universal Credit Tony McLeish 75 1 1

146 DFC Engaged Communities Vacant 70 1 1

170 ACNI/NIS/PLTUM Arts Council, NI Screen, Armagh Planetarium Beverley Coomber 45 1 1

171 AFBI AFBI & Departmental CS Scientific Officers James McKervey 538 5 5

Civil Service Group

Branches

127



CS Group Delegates

NIPSA Delegates

172

AMK/EUREST/G4S/MCG/NOONAN/SERCO

Cleaning & Catering Contractors Vacant 267 3 3

173

CC/COPNI/CVSNI/EC/GCCNI/NICCY/VSS

Charity Commission, Commissioner for Older People, Commission for Victims & Survivors, Equality Commission, General Consumer Council, Commission for Children & Young People, Victims & Survivors Service

Pamela Keenan/Graham Smith 140 2 2

174 CITB Construction Industry Training Board Joyce Savage 12 1 1

175EONI/NIAUR/NIHRC/NIPSO

Electoral Office, Utility Regulator, Human Rights Commission, Public Service Ombudsman

John Quinn/Martin Fox/Barbara Smith/Karen Gault/Paula Cunningham

90 2 2

176 HSE Health & Safety Executive Gareth McCrory 69 1 1

177 INI Invest NI Stephen McCann 231 3 3

178 IR Inland Revenue Vacant 2 1 1

179ITI/LA/SEUPB/TIL/USA/WI

Cross Border Bodies Andrew King/Shane Browne/Gillian Simpson 92 2 2

180 LRA Labour Relations Agency Fionnuala Davy 56 1 1

181 NIAS NI Assembly Harry Clarke 183 2 2

182 NIWL NI Water Tracey Mitchell 382 3 3

183 NMNI Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Alison Noble 99 2 2

184 NMNI Ulster Museum Vacant 103 2 2

185 NSL NSL Alwyn Owen 184 2 2

186 PSNI Belfast City Joyce McCready 453 4 4

187 PSNI Districts B,C,D,E Nicola Curry 118 2 2

188 PSNI Districts F,G,H Barbara Speer/Scott Warren/Kimberley Hill 123 2 2

189 PSNI Districts J,K,L Lorraine Palmer 122 2 2

190 PSNI ICS Vacant 92 2 2

191 PSNI Scientific Support Michael Hannigan 108 2 2

200 SPNI Sport NI Vacant 57 1 1

201 TAO The Audit Office Colette Connolly 67 1 1

202 TNI Tourism NI Patrick Townsend 63 1 1

203 UDF United Dairy Farmers Vacant 24 1 1

Annual Report 2018

128



PO Group Delegates

NIPSA Delegates

501 NIHE Belfast Region Sean McMahon 367 3 3

503 NIHE Belfast HQ Richard Begley 418 4 4

506 NIHE Carrickfergus, Larne, Newtownabbey Ian Craig 33 1 1

508 NIHE Armagh, Craigavon, Lurgan, Portadown Simon Richards 130 2 2

509 NIHE Derry, Strabane Paul Devine 183 2 2

510 NIHE Antrim, Ballycastle, Ballymena, Ballymoney Alice McAteer 130 2 2

511 NIHE Banbridge, Kilkeel, Newry Sharon Moore 45 1 1

512 NIHE Cookstown, Dungannon, Omagh Gary Hemphill 92 2 2

513 NIHE Bangor, Castlereagh, Downpatrick, Lisburn, Newtownards Vacant 178 2 2

514 NIHE Enniskillen William Loane 23 1 1

515 NIHE Coleraine, Limavady, Magherafelt Eamonn McLaughlin 48 1 1

516 Education Authority Belfast Region Jane Scott 1121 11 11

517 Education Authority South Eastern Region Frances O'Neill 1742 17 17

519 Education Authority North Eastern Region Eamonn Lavery 969 9 9

521 Education Authority Southern Region Helena McSherry 2109 21 21

522 Education Authority Western (Derry Area) Region Michael Cunningham 351 3 3

523 Education Authority Western (Omagh Area) Region Vacant 697 6 6

524 Queen’s University Belfast Angela McMenamy 305 3 3

526 City Council Belfast Alanagh Rea 629 6 6

527 Borough Council Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon David Mayers 527 5 5

528 Borough Council Mid and East Antrim Nigel Devine 252 3 3

529 Borough Council Antrim and Newtownabbey Colin Fleming 231 3 3

530 Borough Council Ards and North DownCharles Andrew/Lorraine Ringland/Joy Lyness/Philip Bailie

244 3 3

531 District Council Newry, Mourne and Down Teresa McAvoy 391 3 3

532 District Council Derry City and Strabane Kay McIvor 377 3 3

533 District Council Fermanagh and Omagh Sarah Boyle 235 3 3

534 City Council Lisburn and Castlereagh Jullie Casson/Brenda Brewster 298 3 3

535 Borough Council Causeway Coast and Glens Sharon McQuillan 209 3 3

536 GLL Greenwich Leisure Ltd Vacant 104 2 2

540 District Council Mid-Ulster Phelim Marrion/Aaron Hoey 260 3 3

545 NILGOS/LGSC Belfast Julian Coffey 35 1 1

546 NICCEA Belfast Julie McGovern Peolpes 158 2 2

Public Officers' Group

Branches

129



PO Group Delegates

NIPSA Delegates

547 NI Fire and Rescue Service Province wide Catherine Bloomfield 102 2 2

548 Voluntary Housing Associations Province wide Vacant 142 2 2

549 Fold Housing Association Province wide Caroline Lavery 282 3 3

551 FE Colleges Belfast Metropolitan College Vacant 147 2 2

552 FE Colleges South Eastern Regional College Vacant 115 2 2

553 FE Colleges Northern Regional College Vacant 76 1 1

554 FE Colleges Southern Regional College Karen Cosgrove 133 2 2

555 FE Colleges South West College Vacant 65 1 1

556 FE Colleges North West Regional College Alan Mitchell 70 1 1

560 Libraries NI Province wide John McKeegan 439 4 4

701 Business Services Organisation Province wide Cathy Tregaskis/Patricia Quinn 734 7 7

703 Business Services Organisation IT Brian Crawford 102 2 2

704 NI Ambulance Service Province wide Vacant 19 1 1

725 Voluntary Sector Province wide Adam Murray 385 3 3

726 Extern Province wide Sean Conlon 115 2 2

727 Disability Action Province wide Anthony Carmichael 69 1 1

728 Credit Unions Province wide Vacant 7 1 1

730 HSC Trust Belfast Damien Magurie 2429 24 24

731 HSC Trust Northern Lucille O'Hagan/Majella Murphy 1902 19 19

732 HSC Trust South-Eastern Geraldine Mullan 1048 10 10

733 HSC Trust Southern Gerardette McVeigh/Janelle McAteer/Brian Smyth 1876 18 18

734 HSC Trust Western Janice Walsh/John Harvord 1403 14 14

735 Charities Province wide Vacant 74 2 2

Annu

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Annual Report 2018Follow us on

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