DWP Appoints Martin Temple as the New Chair of HSE:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Further to LTB 246/16, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has appointed Martin Temple as Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Board, replacing Judith Hackitt as the outgoing Chair. In a bizarre game of ‘musical chairs’ Hackitt takes over Temple’s old job, replacing him as Chair of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation on 4 April. ‘EEF, the Manufacturers Organisation’ was formerly the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF) which rebranded itself in 2003.
Martin Temple CBE
Martin Temple CBE, served over 17 years as Director General and then Chairman of the EEF. He’s served on a number of boards in the public and charity sector before joining EEF, he held senior roles in the UK Steel industry as well as being Chairman of the 600 Group, the last surviving British-owned machine tool company. He is currently: Chairman of the Design Council, a non-executive director of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, Council member of the University of Warwick and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Warwick Business School. He has previously worked with HSE, having led an independent triennial review of the Health and Safety Executive in 2014. Martin Temple will take up the HSE role from 1 May 2016. A decision on the new board members is expected shortly.
Dame Judith Hackitt
Judith Hackitt stepped down at the end of March, after 8 years at the HSE and began her new post as Chair of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation on 4 April. George Brechin (former chief executive of NHS Fife) is serving as short-term interim chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following Judith Hackitt’s departure until Martin Temple takes up the post at the beginning of May. Judith Hackitt succeeded Sir Bill Callaghan as Chair of the HSE (HSC), on 1st October 2007, appointed by the Brown Labour Government for a period of five years and was re-appointed by the Cameron/Clegg Conservative/Lib.Dem Coalition Government in 2012 to serve for three and a half years. Both Bill Callaghan and Judith Hackitt have been guest speakers at CWU Conference Health and Safety Fringe Meetings.
HSE CEO, Chair and Board
The two key positions in the HSE are the Chief Executive and Chair. Dr Richard Judge was appointed HSE Chief Executive on 10 November 2014. He was previously Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service and has no background in Health and Safety. He is a Chartered Engineer and previously had a career in science and technology, the nuclear industry, rail and environmental sectors.
Along with the Chair and Chief Executive, HSE has seven board members: Nick Baldwin, Jonathan Baume, Isobel Garner, Martyn Thomas, Sir Paul Kenny, Frances Outram, and Sarah Pinch.
More HSE Cuts
The Tory government, through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced further cuts to the HSE’s annual budget over the next four years. The budget will be reduced by 12% by the year 2019-2020 bringing the total reduction in budget since 2009-2010 to 46%. In 2019/20, the HSE will receive £123.4 million. In 2009/10 it received £231 million.
With those sorts of figures, it seems perhaps appropriate that the government has appointed a CEO from the Insolvency Service where he dealt with bankruptcy.
HSE Role
HSE is the national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent death, injury and ill health in Great Britain’s workplaces.
It does so:
• through research

• by providing information and advice

• by promoting training

• by producing new or revised regulations and codes of practice

• by working with local authority partners 

• through inspection, investigation and law enforcement
Yours sincerely

  

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
Email Attachments – Click to download
· Attachment 1 – 16LTB262 DWP Appoints Martin Temple as the New Chair of HSE.docx

2016 CWU Conference Joint Health and Safety, Equality, and Youth Departments Fringe Meeting Report – “Time to Change”. “Mental health problems affect one in four people. It’s time to end the stigma and find solutions.”
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Over one hundred and seventy Communication Workers Union delegates and visitors packed the CWU Joint Equality, Health and Safety and CWU Youth Fringe Meeting at the CWU’s annual conference in Bournemouth on Monday 25th April 2016.
Linda Roy, CWU National Equality Officer, opened the meeting and welcomed the Guest Speaker – Sarah Restall, Employer Manager for Time to Change – a campaign to end the stigma and discrimination that people with mental health problems face in England.
Simon Sapper, CWU Youth Officer, spoke about stigma and discrimination of mental health and during his speech quoted Hubert H. Humphrey who said: “It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
Dave Joyce CWU National Health, Safety and Environment Officer, praised the collaborative approach of the three departments in the CWU on the first ever joint fringe meeting on the subject of work-related stress and mental health, which for Unions and their members is now a huge issue which the Health, Safety and Environment Department has been concentrating a lot of effort pursuing the strategy set out in Motion 37 (2015). Dave said that Stress, Anxiety and Work-related Mental ill-health is a growing problem. Huge increases in suicide and a similar huge increase in numbers on anti-depressant drugs make this a big issue for Trade Unions and the CWU is at the apex of the drive for action to tackle the problems of:-
stigma

lack of support for victims

awareness raising

Dave quoted the Royal College of Psychiatrists who report that:-
Anxiety will affect 10% of the population

Bipolar Disorder will affect 1 in 100

1 in 150 girls under 15 will be anorexic

20% of the population will become depressed

OCD will affect 2%

Personality Disorder will affect 1 in 10

Schizophrenia will affect 1 in 100

1 in 4 will experience mental health problems – moving towards 1 in 3

Dave reminded the delegates to refer to LTBs 58/16, 59/16, 64/16, 66/16 and in particular 166/16.
Dave Joyce concluded that the CWU has worked with leading Mental Health Charities ‘MIND’ and ‘Re-Think Mental Health’ who together launched “Time To Change” and confirmed the CWU’s support for “Time to Change.” He said the CWU has signed the “Time To Change” Pledge Charter with both Royal Mail and with BT and CWU has supported “Time To Talk” Day.
Linda Roy introduced Sarah Restall who explained that Time to Change is run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, with funding from the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund.
Sarah Restall said we all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. It exists on a spectrum and people can move up and down from good to poor for any number of reasons. And it’s important we take care of both to promote our overall wellbeing. We can all get mental health problems too. Actually, she said, they might be more common than you think. One in four of us will be affected by a mental health problem in any given year. They are as real as a broken arm, and they can have a greater effect on everyday life – even though there isn’t a sling or plaster cast to show for it. By 2020, depression will be the second most common cause of ill health worldwide. And yet it remains one of the biggest taboos in society today.
Sarah then went on to explain that 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year, 1 in 6 workers is dealing with anxiety, depression or stress and research shows that work tends to be the most stressful factor in people’s lives. 40% of employers view workers with mental health problems as a ‘significant risk’ – mental health is a concern.
Sarah went on to say that Mental health problems among workers cost the UK economy between £70–£100 billion per year, or 4.5 per cent of GDP, eight in ten employers have no mental health policy to help staff sustain good mental health and while stress has forced 1 in 5 workers to call in sick, 95% gave a different reason to their boss. Sarah said that managers want to do more to improve staff mental wellbeing but they need more training and guidance. She said that staff would feel more loyal and committed if their employer took action on staff wellbeing.
Sarah said that a major cause of stigma and prejudice is that people don’t talk about it. She said that 9 out of 10 people who experience mental health problems say they face stigma and discrimination as a result and that 60% of people said that stigma and discrimination are as damaging as or more damaging than the symptoms of their mental health problem. 35% of respondents said that stigma had made them give up on their ambitions, hopes and dreams for their life and 27% said stigma had made them want to give up on life.
Sarah said that 98 Employee Champions signed up to share their lived experiences and help support others in their workplace and said the organisation have worked with 60 Pledge Alumni to help them continue and develop their work including: Everton FC. Anglican water, Deloitte, Mars, Royal Mail, TFL, O2, L&G, Imperial College, Bank of England and Pepsi Cola.
A short Q and A session discussed the issues raised by the presentation and questions were answered by Sarah and Dave Joyce.
Linda Roy thanked everyone who attended the meeting particularly Sarah Restall for her excellent presentation.
Yours sincerely                            
                      
Dave Joyce Linda Roy

National Health, Simon Sapper National Equal

Safety & Environment Officer National Youth Officer Opportunities Officer
Email Attachments – Click to download
Attachment 1 – 16LTB267 2016 CWU Conference Joint Health and Safety, Equality, and Youth Departments Fringe Meeting Report.docx

Attachment 2 – CWU H&S YOUTH EQUALITY.pptx

POST OFFICE: EMERGENCY MOTION E3 – FUTURE VISION OF THE POST OFFICE
Dear Colleagues
Branches will be aware of the many serious issues facing our members working for the Post Office. These include the following:
Pensions – Post Office proposal to close the DB pension scheme

Crown Office Network – Post Office franchising/closure programme

Crown Office pay

Major challenges facing Supply Chain (refer to LTB 247 dated 19th April)

As a consequence of the above, an Emergency Motion was submitted by the Postal Executive to our Annual Conference to establish policy to create a vision for the future of the Post Office. Coupled with this was the key objective of negotiating an “Overarching Agreement” to cover these major issues.
Emergency Motion E3 was heard at our Postal Industry conference on Tuesday 26th April. A strong and emotive debate ensued and the motion was passed unanimously. I therefore wrote to Paula Vennells, Chief Executive, on Wednesday 27th April urging her to:
“authorise your senior team to enter into exploratory talks with the shared aim of reaching a holistic agreement covering all matters raised in the Emergency Motion”.
My letter to Paula Vennells, which contains Emergency Motion E3, is attached to this LTB for your information.
I trust Ms Vennells agrees it is in the interest of both parties to immediately begin negotiations to secure an agreement which incorporates a “Vision” for growth, whilst providing a long-term future for the Post Office and its hard working loyal employees. 
Crown Office Pay
Following the close of conference, correspondence was received from John Whitefoot, Head of Industrial Relations, offering dates to meet to discuss our Crown Office members’ pay claim. Contained within this letter was confirmation that Roger Gale, Crown General Manager “…is now in a position to table a formal pay offer…”.
Accordingly, I am pleased to report the first formal pay meeting will be held next Friday 6th May. It should be noted our pay claim, on behalf of the Postal Executive, was submitted on 6th January and it has taken the Post Office some four months to offer the first meeting date. It can only be hoped the Post office is now in a position to treat seriously our very modest pay claim that in essence is simply seeking parity with our Admin & Supply Chain members’ pay agreement which was 1.9% from April 2016.
Whilst it is our clear objective to reach an overarching agreement covering all the serious issues facing our members, this does not preclude us from concluding a pay agreement for our Crown members as a standalone issue. This of course assumes that sufficient and quick progress can be made arising from next week’s pay negotiations.
Following the pay negotiation on Friday 6th May, we will be providing an update to our statutory Postal Executive meeting on Tuesday 10th May and any developments arising from this meeting will be reported.
In closing, please can Branches as a matter of urgency bring our policy decisions (E3) and the associated development (pay meeting) to the attention of our members employed in the Post Office.
Yours sincerely
 
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
 
Email Attachments – Click to download
· LTB 264/16 Post Office: Emergency Motion E3 – Future Vision of The Post Office
· Attachment 1 to LTB264/16 – Letter to Paula Vennells

Mr Terry Pullinger – Deputy General Secretary (Postal) 
It is with regret that we have to inform colleagues that Terry suffered a heart attack on Monday afternoon. We can however confirm that he has successfully undergone surgery and is responding well to treatment.
Terry’s family are keeping the Union advised of his progress and it goes without saying that the Union will provide Terry and his family with all necessary support and assistance to aid his recovery.
Terry’s family have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time but we will ensure colleagues are kept updated on Terry’s progress.
We are sure that the thoughts of the whole of the Union including the staff at CWU Headquarters will be with Terry and his family at this time and send their best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.
Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary

POST OFFICE: CROWN OFFICE NETWORK – WHSMITH FRANCHISING & HOSTING UPDATE 

Dear Colleagues

 

Further to LTB 236/16 dated 14th April, which advised Branches that as part of the new ten year agreement with WHSmith, 61 Crowns would be either franchised to (privatised) or “hosted” by (remain as a Crown Office) WHSmith stores.

 

Two announcements have been made subsequently on 19th April and 3rd May impacting on the following Crowns:  

 

• Crowns to be Franchised – of the original 39 Crowns listed in LTB030/16, 6 Crowns have so far been announced for franchising; these are as follows:

 

Beckenham​Halifax

Beeston​Honiton

Bury St Edmunds​Paisley

 

The total number of CWU grades impacted by the franchising of the above 6 Crowns is 56 (plus 7 managers). TUPE regulations apply as this is a TUPE transfer, and the consultation process will last for a minimum of 90 days. The Post Office is working towards a transfer date to WHSmith of between 1st and 31st August for Beckenham, Beeston, Honiton and Paisley. For Halifax, the transfer date is between 1st and 30th September and Bury St Edmunds it is between 1st and 30th November.

 

• Crowns to be “Hosted” (“concessions”) – of the approximate 30 Crowns planned for “hosting”, 8 have been announced so far as follows:

 

Barnstaple​Harrow

Castle Mall (Norwich)​Maidstone

Chorley​Stevenage

Darley St (Bradford)​Wrexham

​

The total number of CWU grade jobs impacted by the move to a “hosted” Crown above is 87 (plus 19 managers and Mortgage Specialists) who will retain Post Office employment. The relocation date for Castle Mall, Chorley, Darley St, Maidstone and Wrexham is planned for August. For Barnstaple, Harrow and Stevenage, it is September.

 

With the relocations (“hostings”), there is also a local public consultation which will last for 6 weeks and this is carried out in accordance with the Code of Practice for changes to the network as agreed between the Post Office and Citizens Advice (the statutory Consumer Watchdog).

 

Current Position

 

We have now had two announcements for 14 out of the 61 Crowns due to be franchised / hosted to WHSmith. So there are another 47 Crowns which are in limbo waiting for news from the Post Office. Presumably as 14 Crowns have been announced via two separate announcements, the remainder will continue with this trend and be advised on a piecemeal basis.

 

Additionally, there are approximately 9 Crowns out of the 39 originally announced which are planned to be franchised to an alternative retail partner.

 

I am bound to say, the way the Post Office is drip feeding its changes to our members is without compassion as our members don’t know from one week to another whether they are going to be part of the “hosting” group or not. Also, our members are fearful of management arriving at the Team Talk on a Tuesday morning to deliver bad news. Clearly this is a tactical position to dilute opposition and any public outcry.  

 

Campaigning Against Franchising Continues

 

Branches are urged, if they have not already done so, to immediately instigate local community led campaigns in order to place as much pressure on the Post Office as possible so that we can do everything feasible to retain our Crown Offices. In addition to the campaigns previously reported in LTB236, there is a public meeting in Paisley on Friday 13th May which Mhairi Black MP from the SNP and myself will be addressing.

 

Further developments will be reported once the Post Office has advised us of further plans.

 

If you have any questions in relation to this LTB, please contact Lea Sheridan – lsheridan@cwu.org.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Andy Furey

Assistant Secretary