Border Force Update

JLA

You are having a 0.81% reduction in your AHW. Whilst this was not fully explained why, I did ask about your burn rates for changes and stated that historically you have always been on band b (25-50 changes). Management stated that only 1 person exceeded their changes, and the rest of the staff were ok, so they are leaving it at band a for now.

E-Gates. The renovation of JLA will be conducted in 2 phases, with phase 1 due to begin in February and phase 2 to be Q4 sometime next year.

I also asked about staff facilities and a tearoom refurbishment. There is still a leak in the back tearoom that needs to be fixed so they are holding off buying new equipment for that room just now. Furthermore, phase 2 should bring new and improved facilities to BF and that’s something management said they are actively going to be fighting for. However, I asked in the interim period whether we can get new equipment for your main office, such as a new fridge, kettle, chairs, desks etc. Management have stated this is doable and will work on getting new equipment. You will also be getting 2 new lazy boys as well! Should be good for the night shift 

Your roster proposals should be out any day now and the working group is Richard M, Simon L, David B and Ray. If you have any queries or suggestions you should direct it to them.

Lastly, you have approximately 50-52 FTE with authorisation for 5 more staff to be recruited bringing you to nearly 60 staff.

HEYSHAM

Your AHW is also changing and you have undergone quite the transformation in the last 12 months. You currently have 8 FTE and have been changed to 1 team.

We asked what the medium / long term plan is for Heysham but management are waiting for the Windsor framework to kick in and to assess the situation then.

We asked given the severe reduction in the number of staff if staff AL is still being facilitated and it is. If you have any problems with that please let us know.

You also have 8 FTE with no plans yet to recruit any more.

S2

There was a major incident at PoL last week were a series of alarms triggered and we had to close the port for nearly an hour to inbound and outbound traffic. There is a meeting scheduled between BF and the various stakeholders to discuss the issues with the portals and what actions all stakeholders will do if this was to occur again.

Teams will be decided once the roster has been finalised.

Roster. We spoke at length about rosters and the AHW building blocks. At the star chamber last year an AHW proposal had to be submitted along with a roster. I have been assured that the goal post has now moved and there is some degree of leeway with regards to shift length (not 12 hours). The roster working group is Chris K, Harry G and Nat F. If you have any suggestions or queries you should direct it to them.

We asked, with regards to equality impact assessment (EIA), that the proposed changes may have an impact on sex, as women are more likely than not going to be the primary carers. It states that if you will be affected to submit an FWA request. I asked if that means management will be more amenable to FWA requests now and management stated they will look at all requests individually in line with policy.

With regards to FWA, it also states in the EIA that if you have an FWA and it will be affected to discuss this with your line manager and you will have to resubmit a new request. We’ve had this clarified and if you are on a formal request, i.e. a change of contract, then your FWA will be honoured, if you are on an informal request, i.e. between you and your line manager, your request will have to be resubmitted.

Management also answered a series of your questions that got submitted. A lot of them were similar so they just answered the most common questions. (Number is the question, a. is their response and i. is our response).

1. Reason for 10-hour shifts being preferred by management?

a. This was decided by the SLT sometime last year and all ports across North must abide by that unless there’s a critical business need.

                                          i.    We quizzed them some more on this with regards to why the decision had been made and who exactly made it and they just reiterated it has come from the regional SLT.

2. Has Christina (or whomever is opposed to 12 hours shifts) provided any evidence as to why 10-hour shifts are their preferred working pattern?

a. It was just the decision that was made.

                                          i.    We asked why this was their preferred shift length and no real answer was given. So we will be redirecting this question towards the DD and RD for an answer

3. Why are other ports able to do 12-hour shifts?

a. The only 2 ports in North still doing 12-hour shifts are Heysham, as they only have 8 FTE and Holyhead, as they have ~40 FTE and to bring them up to 10 hour shifts would require 56 staff. A critical business need was also referred to.

                                          i.    We asked for a definition of what exactly a business-critical need is and this wasn’t properly defined. They gave the examples of Heysham and Holyhead but that was really it.

4. What considerations have been given to staff work-life balance, given the reduction in AHW and the increase in the number of days in work

a. Full consideration has been given. AHW is a yearly contractual allowance and is always subject to change. Management also stated that they always consider work-life balance.

                                          i.    We asked how a work-life balance consideration has been given, considering we are going to be in work more which means increased costs in fuel, tunnel (for those on the Wirral), lunches etc and more days in work. Management asked me to define work-life balance as it is different for everyone, and I stated, “we can all agree that the more days you spend at home the better your work-life balance is”. They agreed but still stated work-life balance is subjective and different for everyone.

5. Why was Chris K roster rejected?

a. Because it is a 12-hour roster and doesn’t meet the regions parameters of shift lengths

                                          i.    Again, we asked if it meets the AHW requirement what is the issue, and their response again was it is the directive from SLT.

6. Why are we working an identical number of night shifts despite taking a hit on the AHW?

a. This roster will change, and the working group is working on it.

                                          i.    I asked if it was possible to have a member of staff from each team to be on the working group so all teams were represented, and management stated that Chris K, Harry H and Nat F work on the same team, so it’s easier, and the roster working group will take any and all suggestions and queries etc. from staff so to contact them.

7. Why are there an increased number of weekend hours when our AHW has gone down?

a. This is the way the building blocks are calculated on Metis.

                                          i.    The response is the same as Q6.

8. Both nights and weekends are less productive than weekday working so why are they pushing these unsociable hours?

a. The roster will change, and the working group are working on a new roster that meets the parameters set by the SLT.

                                          i.    I did query this and gave data that showed that we can be just as productive at nights as we can be on weekdays, and weekends typically across all 3 disciplines are less productive for various reasons, and therefore if we could increase the RSA to 20% and lower the weekend hours therefore remaining on 12-hour shifts. This was turned down.

9. Is the 3-hour nightshift allowed?

a. This was a mistake on the roster and the roster will change.

10. Are there any legal requirements as to how many weekends in a row a person can do?

a. No, but there is policy, which states one weekend off a month.

11. Why was there no consultation before introducing this roster?

a. This was because of the star chamber process and needing to submit a roster that goes with the AHW. The formal consultation has now started which is why we are engaging with staff and LTUS.

12. Are split weekends necessary?

a. Again, roster will change.

13. Is assisting Manchester going to happen this summer, and is it practical given the shift pattern we are going to be working?

a. Christina has stated she does not want PoL assisting MAN this year and she wants Manchester to be self-sufficient.

                                          i.    We did query this some more but the response was MAN are building in resilience so we shouldn’t be required.

14. Are management concerned about experienced staff leaving?

a. They would never stop someone’s career development and it would be a shame to lose them.

I know the above isn’t the best news but we are working in the background to try and make positive change that the members want. If you have any concerns please email Simon Porter, Andy Mabbs or the PCS inbox.