Employment - Aberdeen Voice

Trump – As Menie Bookings As Boasted?

Aberdeenshire, Featured, Sport 28 Responses »

May 312013

In the Financial Times on 24 May, Sarah Malone, Executive Vice-President of Trump International Golf Links, said, “10000 people played the course in its short first season last year and 11000 have already booked rounds in 2013, out of a total capacity of up to 25000”. Julian Baker looks behind these claims.

Aberdeenshire’s local authority and the Scottish Government have taken a big gamble in risking the wellbeing of an SSSI on the promise of new jobs from the Trump Organisation and a knock-on increase in tourism.

I have been following closely the volume of business this golf course is generating, by monitoring the online booking portal each evening.

This allows me to understand how many rounds have been booked for the following day.

So far this season, the course has been struggling to fill a third of its capacity. And this level of business isn’t necessarily earning the minimum green fee of £156 per person, since the word on the street is that quite a few bookings are for complimentary rounds via local businesses and for winners of raffles and competitions.

Looking ahead to the end of this season, I’ve logged the number of bookings showing on the online tool, and calculated that there’s a maximum of 7500 golfers booked in so far. That errs on the generous side. For example, that figure includes an assumption that the course is booked to its absolute capacity during the two midsummer weeks – 28 July to 11 August – where the booking tool is not in operation. I’d expect that to be more like 6500.

So 11000 booked in already for this year? I don’t think so. And I doubt that it will rise to that level by the end of the year either, because the course appears to rely on golf tours which are generally arranged some time in advance of the event.

How many Aberdeenshire folk can afford £172 for a round of golf at the weekend? Run out of fingers to count on yet?

This calls into question the figure of 10000 bookings in last year’s inaugural season. Unless that figure also includes everyone who has used the driving range and bought meals and drinks, golf balls, and Trump-branded ball markers. Or waved when they drove past the entrance.

So how confident can we be that there will be 6000 new jobs arising from this golf development? Don’t hold your breath.

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Fitness To Work – Do They Give ATOS?

Aberdeen City, Featured, Information No Responses »

Apr 222013

By Suzanne Kelly.

Evidence continues to mount against the French giant ATOS, brought in to assess the fitness of UK citizens to work or otherwise, yet the current UK Government does nothing.

Sensationally, Dr Stephen Bick MP claimed to have uncovered a quota system through which ATOS planned to allow only one in every eight people it assessed to be considered permanently unable to work, irrespective of the medical facts.

Scores of people have had their own physicians’ opinions overturned. Bick has called for a National Audit Office report. And still ATOS carries on, at great expense to the taxpayer, with its ritualistic, insensitive, arcane investigations and operations.

Sometimes they cause upset and damage before the client even sees a doctor – take David Brazendale’s case.

In his words, here is his Aberdeen ATOS experience.

“I had an appointment set to take place at the ATOS Medicals, Aberdeen centre today at 11.20. It never happened as I was told when I got there at 11.10, the required 10 min early, that there was a 2 hour wait. Well, the air nearly turned blue with steam coming from my ears. This is a copy of the e-mail I have just sent them.”

“Dear Sirs

I am writing to you today to make an official complaint about your Aberdeen Medical Centre. I had an appointment today scheduled to take place at 11.20 at the Aberdeen medical centre, I struggled to make the appointment after a 45 min journey to get there the required 10 min early for the appointment.

When I got there I was informed that there was a long wait for my appointment well you can imagine my shock to find out that is was at least a 2 Hour wait, at the time I was there was only one other person sitting in the waiting room. I find this totally unacceptable as I had an appointment for a set time , also I have not received any communication before I got there today.

I said that I would come back in 2 hours as I could not sit and wait for 2 hours, anyway how many disabled people do you know who could sit and wait for 2 hours?

I was then told that I could not come back in 2 hours as it might upset the afternoon appointment so I was sent away and was told that I would get another appointment for a different day, it’s bad enough that I have to go there in the first place, never mind the fact that I was only released from Hospital yesterday the 11th April after having a hernia repair operation and I was in severe pain on top of the chronic back pain that I have anyway.

I have contacted my local Job Centre Plus about this, who told me I had to make a complaint to ATOS myself.

Yours Disgusted

David John Brazendale.”

At David’s invitation I contacted ATOS on Monday 15 April, asking questions relating to both his bad experience and ATOS’s treatment of Justin Smith. David now has a letter from ATOS regarding his e-mail and it has launched an investigation into his complaint which should take four weeks or less to complete.

ATOS was asked to explain its lack of communication with David. Its own charter reads,

“We aim to keep to your appointment time, and if not, we will update you about any waiting times”

Other issues put to ATOS include:-

Please confirm whether or not everything is running in Aberdeen as it should,
Please confirm what should be done when an appointment is running late – do you call the patient or not?
Is it policy to read a patient’s existing notes in advance? If not, why not?
Are patients allowed to reschedule if they have newly come from hospital or have some other issue?
Do you tell people in advance that when you ask them to, for instance, move a box from place to place you are not making a medical diagnosis, but determining if they can do moving work?
Does ATOS believe that anyone on chemotherapy or radiotherapy should be working?
Why would someone be forced to wait in your waiting rooms if there was a two hour wait?

In a spokesperson’s response on Thursday 18 April, I was given contact details for anyone wishing to make a formal complaint.

ESA/WCA Customer Service: Telephone 0800 2888 777. E-mail: customer-relations@atoshealthcare.com

Anyone with a complaint should register it, but judging by the evidence of those who have gone down the complaint route, I would not expect a particularly sympathetic, helpful, quick decision.

The spokesperson continued,

“Our doctors, nurses and physiotherapists work hard to provide a compassionate and professional service for all those asked to an assessment, at what we know can be a difficult and emotional time. Last year we conducted over one million assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

“If there is any aspect of our service that people are not satisfied with, we would urge them to make a complaint to us directly so that we can thoroughly investigate and make changes if necessary.”

To my cancer-related questions, they had this to say:

“On your cancer question, please may I refer you to a recent announcement made by the DWP on cancer regulations for the WCA? You will be aware that DWP own the policy surrounding the WCA not ATOS Healthcare.”

It seems that following orders is the order of the day at ATOS. If it wishes to disavow responsibility for part of the work it carries out as a medical practitioner, could this put ATOS medical ethics in a poor light? I recommend reading the full transcript of Dame Anne Begg MP’s recent contribution to the debate from which this is an extract,

“It is not enough for Government to say that the genuine claimant has nothing to fear. In too many cases, genuine claimants are not scoring any points in their initial assessment. There is something fundamentally wrong with the system and the contract that ATOS is delivering.

“When the British Medical Association votes at its conference to say that the work capability assessment is not fit for purpose there is something wrong with the system. When GPs are reporting an increased workload, not just as a result of providing reports but as a result of treating patients whose condition has worsened as a result of their WCA experience, there is something wrong with the system.”

Sources/further reading:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/steven-bick-doctor-claims-government-1172457
http://annebegg.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/ATOS-debate-speech-transcript/
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-improvements-to-the-work-capability-assessment-will-help-people-with-cancer

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Benefits Cheat? Ask ATOS

Aberdeen City, Articles, Featured, Information 3 Responses »

Apr 182013

By Justin Smith.

3 years ago, I was a successful IT systems Engineer earning in excess of thirty thousand pounds a year and had been in continuous employment since leaving university.

On 15^th Aug 2010 I was in a road traffic accident that turned my world upside down. I was left in Critical condition in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary as a result.

According to RoSPA, 80,000 people a year are seriously injured on the road. So it could happen to anyone!

I had 3 major surgeries in ARI and 2 further surgeries including a total hip replacement up to December 2011. On the 9^th of May 2012 I was assessed by ATOS to be fit to work.

This was despite the fact I was on crutches and due to have my 6^th surgery in August 2012, on a leg I am fortunate still to have.

I had that surgery in August and there was absolutely no chance I would have been fit to work for several months even if everything went well. As it was, I spent most of September in ARI due to an existing infection in my leg. I needed 4 more surgeries as a result.

I was in no way physically fit to work for many months afterwards.

My consultant had said as much in a letter I had requested and that was presented at my tribunal.

In addition to my physical injuries, ATOS took no account of the effects of my head injury believing that my spending an hour at a time on FB was sufficient evidence that I could return to work!

Maybe if I worked for ATOS?

The WCA takes no account of my fatigue and the anger issues resulting from head injuries. I have since had my Tribunal – March 2013- and although they gave me 6 points, I was still judged to have been fit to work last may, at least according to the limited criteria of the WCA.

How anybody can reach the decision that I was fit to work in May 2012 and how the tribunal can confirm that decision, based on any form of reason is beyond me.

They said I was fit to work when they knew I had upcoming surgery that I obviously needed. Subsequent to that surgery I was in hospital for a month for 4 more surgeries, with a further 6 weeks of hospital visits to attend to open wounds.

Those wounds did not close until the week before Christmas 2012. That was 5 months and I was still recovering. In what way would I have been fit to work over that period?

I am currently on the Momentum pathways program for head injuries to prepare me for a return to work this summer. It has helped a great deal and I wouldn’t have been fit to return to work without it.

I plan to go back to work part time in May and build up my hours from there.

It was always a primary objective in my recovery to get back to work! If I, as a hard working productive member of society am treated like this when I need the help most, what is the welfare system for?

I am one of the lucky ones in having the support of my family and being able to get back to work. Other people aren’t so lucky and are dying or left destitute due to the actions of this government.

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Old Susannah No. 116 – Black April

Opinion, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Apr 052013

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

Spring has sprung; all is well; everything is vibrant and dynamic in the Deen and elsewhere. (If you don’t have any benefits or are on a low income – then welcome to what the media has dubbed ‘Black April’. Maybe this means we’re all going to be in the black soon?)

First of all, I had the most wonderful weekend in years – if not ever – down in Chichester. Willows Animal Sanctuary and Mount Noddy animal centre were charity beneficiaries of a benefit concert featuring four bands. If we had things like this here, we’d be the undisputed chief city of culture.

The opening act, Basis, was very impressive: not least because they were aged 12 – 15. They were all fantastic, but the leading vocalist was great, and the girl on bass was quirky, talented and had serious stage presence for someone so young.

If people their age are writing rock music like this, then rock lives. They were followed by a jazzy duo called Acoustic who were again highly talented.

I didn’t know what to think in advance of the next act up, Deborah Bonham.

I always disappoint myself for expecting impossibly high standards from some performers. By the time her set was finished, I felt as if I’d been emotionally clobbered, totally uplifted, enlightened, made tearful and joyful on a wild roller coaster ride at warp speed.

She is undoubtedly the sister of the late, great, unequalled John Bonham. Deborah Bonham is also undisputedly a performer with a spirit and strength completely of her own making. There is a new album out, Spirit. Buy it. And whatever you do, go see her live. She should be in Kinross on 5 May. Expect a proper album review from me shortly.

Then there was a set from Paul Rodgers.

I’d seen him in Bad Company in the 70s, in a few mega concerts in Madison Square Garden in the 80s and 90s with the Firm (Jimmy Page, Tony Franklin and Chris Slade). The voice is still note perfect, and I genuinely think he was having a great deal of fun.

The audience was wild. The entire place was singing ‘All Right Now’ – the final encore. Rodgers’ duet with Bonham was astounding. Money was raised; awareness was raised.

The real backbone and driving force behind the night was undoubtedly Cynthia Kereluk, Paul’s wife. I’m reasonably certain she was in two places or more at any given time – on stage doing the main auction; running the silent auction; taking payments for items won, socialising and making sure things ran smoothly. It should be noted that a main reason that Paul and Cynthia are involved is none other than local girl Sandi Thom, who grew up near Willows, and is a long-term supporter of this great charity.

these people are all committed animal lovers who gave up their time, money and possessions happily

Let’s just say Old Susannah had the time of her life while helping in some small way to help Willows and Mount Noddy. Believe it or not, it is possible to throw a great musical event without backing dancers, 27 costume changes or artists flying around the space on wires. You just need talent.

You may well wonder why a concert for Willows was taking place at the opposite end of mainland Britain; fair question. The answer lies with Willows patrons, Paul Rodgers and his wife Cynthia Kereluk. The Chichester concert is a yearly event, but now with the new Willows patrons on board, the artists involved graciously decided to raise funds for them as well.

Many of the auction items were the artists’ own treasured personal mementos; these people are all committed animal lovers who gave up their time, money and possessions happily. Again, this old cynic was moved.

A lovely lady named Hazel knitted a legion of beautiful scarves and gifts; her husband ensured everyone (including me) had transport to wherever they needed to be. The audience were treated to a fantastic evening, and responded with great generosity and enthusiasm.

I am still overloaded with positive feelings; it is only the behaviour of Iain Duncan Smith and the ConDems and the plight of Blaikiewell’s horse sanctuary that can bring out any satirical writing in me this week.

Blaikiewell horse sanctuary may be turfed out without a new home or suitable financial help to aid the construction of the AWPR. More on this unacceptable development to follow. Thanks to those politicians and others who are starting to look into the solution: I am confident one will be found.

Time for a few definitions stemming from this week’s current events.

Black April: (modern Eng. compound noun) term given to welfare benefit cuts to be rolled out in the UK.

I hope you’ve not all got too comfortable and cosy with your high living standards, because things are going to change around here (well, for most of us anyway). The ConDems have decided that simply put, there isn’t enough money to go around.

First, there are the bankers we’ve had to bail out over sub-prime mortgage and LIBOR rate fixing scandals (A National Audit Report indicates bankers still owe us now, after repayments, fees and interest a mere £456.33bn, per http://www.guardian.co.uk/credit-crunch ).

Then there is Trident and other completely essential military defence expenses (around £39 billion per year, according to a recent BBC piece – http://www.bbc.co.uk/21271670 ). Old Susannah admits we need to spend lots on defence. At present, we only have the capacity to blow the planet up a few times over, and we need to defend all of these spare bedrooms that invading armies will covet.

Then there are those deserving multi-millionaire individuals and companies which are having a hard time sheltering money from the tax man abroad (Vodaphone apparently avoided paying £700 million in tax (best to read Private Eye for more on that story); the amount of money Ian Wood is thought to avoid in tax by moving some employees’ payroll offshore is about £15 million per year).

Then of course, there are the people who are on benefits; this costs around £207 billion pa (according to the bbc article above). This last group is of course the largest group and the most impoverished. Of all the above groups, someone’s going to have to start paying their fair share. Well, it wasn’t going to be the bankers, the military or the rich, was it?

If we don’t protect the Wood Group, Vodaphone, Trident and so on, things might get bad for the economy, as opposed to how great things are now. Here’s how the ConDems are going to solve our problems.

Bedroom Tax: (modern Eng. compound noun) – a newly-implemented tax whereby benefit claimants in the UK will pay extra tax for having more bedrooms than they ‘need’.

Is there a housing shortage? This seems likely – many wealthy people can’t have more than a few houses in the countryside and a few pads in big cities because of the demand for housing. Are you one of the selfish scroungers stopping the rich from owning more homes? Well, your hour is at hand.

A mere £14 pounds per week as a penalty for this waste of space will come out of your benefits to penalise you for your luxurious extra bedroom. Too right. I was speaking to the friend of an elderly woman on a bus this week; she had been assigned a council flat with two bedrooms (and in luxurious Tillydrone as well).

At the time she was told to take this great flat or go to the bottom of the waiting list. She foolishly took the flat, not anticipating this logical, fair tax would come in. Finally, we’re getting her and people like her to pay up. The country should be back in the black in no time.

Of course there are some factors to consider: are you sharing custody of a child who will stay with you sometimes? Are you recovering from illness and need a sick room and extra facilities? Maybe you are disabled and have a spare bedroom used for equipment/rest/carer needs? Well – who cares? You’ll all be stumping up the extra tax.

Old Susannah thinks this logic should be extended. Why have separate bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms at all? Should older or smaller people have any big spaces at all? Couldn’t children just be kept in hallways, or perhaps we could all go back to sleeping, eating and living all together in one big (but not too big) room? Horses can stand sleeping up; perhaps we could build some human stabling. The Japanese have very trendy sleeping pods for commuters; I’m sure we could do something like that here.

I think there are more savings to be made, and I’m sure as soon as Iain Duncan Smith gets his vintage car parked at his mansion, he’ll have time to think of more great money savers. But you have to admire his greatest concept of all…

The £7 per day budget: (modern political compound noun). The idea floated by Iain Duncan Smith that it is possible to live on £7 per day – if you have to. Why wouldn’t we take budget information from a government which spends about £46 billion a year on interest payments? Read on…

Are you tired of trying fad diets that don’t work? Well, the government does want us all to avoid obesity and avoid smoking and alcohol. All they’re really doing is making it easier for us to live healthier lives; I can’t see what’s wrong with asking some people on benefits to live on £7 a day. All you’ll need to do is get a bit imaginative, and that also is a good thing.

It’s important to remember that almost everyone on benefits is some kind of a cheat, wastrel or scrounger. Sure there are some retired people who have had to spend their life savings on care/medical treatment; there are people who have been disabled from birth or from accidents. Still, it’s best just to treat everyone equally in today’s society, and it looks like Iain Duncan Smith (IDS to his friends, if any) wants to treat all on benefits equally. Seems reasonable.

I also know of a person who lost a limb. At a recent ATOS assessment, and despite their doctor previously spelling out the situation completely, they were made to undress to prove that they weren’t hiding an extra limb.

Obviously doctors can get things like that wrong, and the guy could have grown his limb back and therefore be fit for work and just shirking. Can’t be too careful at these assessment centres, and if such assessments are just a little bit degrading or humiliating, or if they deem people fit for work who really aren’t, well I guess no system is perfect.

Anyway, here are some helpful suggestions; you’ll never go back to spending as much as £7 a day again. IDS says he’s already had to do just that, and that he could do it again. Of course he could.

If you have a pet, best to just abandon it somewhere

Work out a budget. £7 a day is a massive £0.29 to spend each hour. If you don’t mind sleeping say 16 hours a day, you’ll wind up with £0.87 per hour.

Eat healthy. Water is free; make the most of it. Water is a great drink and makes a great soup. Add dandelions and other plants from the roadside. Don’t boil the water though; that will cost you. If you have a pet, best to just abandon it somewhere. They won’t wind up injured, dead, starved, or run over, and you’ll have a delicious selection of their leftover food to eat.

Avoid the bedroom tax – get someone to take a sledgehammer to your interior walls so you just have a studio flat.

Go to shopping malls. You’ll be warm, you’ll get to look at the latest fashions. You can try the goods in the mobile phone and computer shops so you’ll be up on the latest technology. Watch televisions in electrical goods shops – saves on energy at home. You’ll save on heating as you stay in the mall moving from bench to bench. You’ll be able to forage for food leftovers, too.

So, you’ll have food, somewhere warm to be, and entertainment. Bus fare could be a problem though, so best walk anywhere you need to go.

Ensure that your clothes don’t need replacing; stop using personal grooming products to save more money, and remember – newspaper makes great insulation under your clothes.

Supplement your income – do you have any extra gold or silver to sell? Tooth fillings perhaps? Get to a pawnbroker and get rid of any family heirlooms. Organ sale might not be legal here, but you can still get money for participating in medical experiments.

Better yet, or if you are IDS: fill up the Morgan classic car before you have to go a week on £7 per day. Get one of the staff to lend you some money. Go stay with a rich friend. Go on a trip representing the ConDems and get all your expenses paid. Submit expense claims for your parliamentary work.

You see? It’s really going to be easier than you think.

Next week: How to either live on £7 a day, or instead demand your elected officials show a spark of human compassion towards those in need, close tax loopholes, and stop participating in a pointless arms race.

Modern Apprenticeships In Media Offered

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Mar 282013

With thanks to Kirsty Young.

Creative Scotland, in partnership with Young Scot, Creative & Cultural Skills Scotland and Creative Skillset, is offering an exciting new package of Modern Apprenticeships within the arts and culture sector.

Aimed at 16-20 year olds, the young people taking part in the Modern Apprenticeships will study for vocational qualifications while gaining professional experience working for an arts organisation. (Apprenticeship Qualification offered: Diploma in Creative and Digital Media Competence.)

This position is shared between Peacock Visual Arts and Station House Media Unit.

At Peacock he or she would be encouraged to progress their learning by using the available equipment to gain hands-on experience by shooting, editing and producing films for both web and DVD. The experience would cover all aspects of digital media and, working with PVA’s Communications Manager, of web-based promotion.

At shmu there will be a programme of involvement in shmuTV (live youth TV project producing a weekly live show) shmuSOUND – recording studio, shmuFM and shmuDESIGN with the opportunity to get involved in the design of the community magazines (Creative Suite) and the development of new websites using Drupal.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is Friday 12 April 2013

Full information and application details are available on this link :
http://www.peacockvisualarts.com/archive/389/modern-apprentice-vacancy

Crisis In Care for the Elderly

Aberdeen City, Opinion 2 Responses »

Feb 142013

This article by Jonathan Russell is dedicated to Bill Knight, relentless campaigner and founder and Chair of Grampian Senior Citizens Forum, a great example to us all. Bill Knight died on February 7th aged 92.

The crisis in care for the elderly is a national one, both at UK and Scottish levels.
Aberdeen has a particularly worrying situation due to high employment and a high cost of living which means that there is a shortage of the low paid staff who do this outstanding and highly undervalued work.

We have an increasing ageing population. Policies like free personal care – though good in themselves – have led to an increased deficiency in other resources to support the elderly.

Aberdeen used to have a home care service which was second to none but what has happened here, as in all parts of the UK, is that the majority of services have been outsourced to private companies who pay less and often provide poor support to their workers.

To have 13 companies providing care is also highly inefficient in covering a city the size of Aberdeen. We have a situation where all these companies are trying to provide services across the city. This is madness. The culture has changed from one of providing services to rushing round to find services of any kind.

The introduction of individual budgets, again aimed at cost cutting, will further complicate this process. We have to ask ourselves: do we value the elderly in our society and the staff who care for them ? Are we willing to increase taxation to pay for services that provide good value not only in terms of money but in terms of care?

We need to create a management culture and direct service culture which is about service and services that are localised rather than spread out around the city. More localised services allow greater flexibility in terms of need and less time would be wasted in the form of travel.

The problem is primarily a national one and has been avoided for much too long. Aberdeen has extra challenges and no doubt local politicians and staff do their best but without increased money and a change in the way we are providing services we are heading for an ever increasing problem with disasters on the way.

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A Tale Of Two Cities In The Youth Job Market

Information, News 3 Responses »

Feb 082013

By David Innes.

The Office of National Statistics report of 23 January shows that unemployment in Scotland among those aged 16 to 24, reduced by 23000 (4.8%) from September to November 2012. 19.9% of our young people remain unemployed. The UK rate is 21%.

John Swinney, Finance Secretary was delighted:-

“These figures show that unemployment in Scotland has continued to fall for the second monthly release. The strong performance in youth unemployment over the year is particularly welcome. This month’s release sees the largest annual drop in the youth unemployment rate since the data series began in 2006.”

Angela Constance, Youth Employment Minister agreed:-

“Youth unemployment in Scotland is at its lowest level since March to May 2011. Our actions to improve youth employment rates have included a guarantee of a place in education or training for every 16-19 year old through Opportunities for All, funding 25000 Modern Apprenticeships in each year of the current parliament and £8.5m to create 1400 jobs in the third sector through Community Jobs Scotland.”

An Employer Recruitment Incentive will be launched to support small companies willing to give young people jobs, backed by £15m of Holyrood funding and by £10m of European Structural funding.

Reinforcing the views he expressed in a Voice interview earlier this year, Anderson Construction Managing Director, Kenny Anderson, commented:-

“We are lucky that the self -financed Construction Industry Training Board screens potential apprentices for interview and recruitment thereafter, but demand for places outstrips supply even in Aberdeen.

“As a small company we do our bit, but it’s harder for the larger companies who used to recruit substantial numbers of apprentices annually, as they are now competing with management contractors who generally do not recruit site staff but use agencies and sub-contractors to provide the labour.”

Yet, whilst the youth unemployment rate sits at 20% and the overall rate is nearly 8%, one boss of a growing national company is frustrated at his business’s inability to fill vacancies in Aberdeen.

Jeremy Miles, Edinburgh-based Managing Director of the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative declared:-

“The big problem we have is in recruiting mechanics. It seems the oil and gas industry hoovers up anyone who has all their fingers in place.

“At present we have a couple of co-ordinator roles for senior shop floor staff and in sales. We’re desperate to recruit staff for our workshop and will soon be looking to bump up our head count for summer, but filling the current vacancies is already proving difficult.”

It was Norman Tebbit who made the notorious comment about the need for the unemployed to get on their bikes and look for work during the austerity years of the 1980s. Maybe in Aberdeen, which remains largely prosperous there’s are opportunities to take the Chingford Skinhead’s advice and kill two birds with one stone.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/01/lmsjan230113
www.andersonconstruction.co.uk
www.edinburghbicycle.com/comms/site_about/job-vacancies.htm

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Playing Poker With Billionaires

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Jan 242013

Following a comment made on a Facebook debate about the difficulty local construction companies can experience in winning building contracts, Voice invited Kenny Anderson to explain further the issues which can leave small local companies at a disadvantage.

First of all, I’m not having a go at the current local administration or the last one either – I believe problems are caused by the zealous behaviour of officials and civil servants.

For example, in straightforward financial terms we came second for a contract a couple of weeks ago.
We have no problem with that, since all six tenderers were perfectly capable of doing the job.

Some you win, some you lose. The problem is with the weighting applied to the decision-making.

The lowest tender in this instance was submitted at £315,000. Ours came in at £321,000, but the clear-cut arithmetic price only carried a 40% weighting, whilst the entirely subjective Total Quality Assessment (TQA) element carried a 60% weighting.

The end result was that a tender for £399,000 was accepted, thus costing the customer and tax payers an additional £84,000!

This is repeated in award after award in some areas of the public sector. Under TQA guidelines, each tender applicant has to submit a Lever Arch file’s worth of job specific programmes, method statements, personnel CVs and other project-specific information with each tender, meaning that the system is loaded in favour of large companies with planning departments.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) like ourselves can’t justify having senior managers spend four or five hours doing this for each of the ten to fifteen jobs we bid for every week.

It’s not that we object to providing such level of detail as a condition of acceptance, prior to acceptance and site start. If we failed to do so, we’d expect the contract to be awarded to the next contractor.

Meanwhile, we subscribe to Constructionline, a self-financed scheme run by the UK government for all government agencies, including local authorities and housing associations. It checks our finances, insurance arrangements, capabilities and so on, providing this information free of charge to government agencies.

Some agencies, however, still choose to sift through this vast array of information for each tenderer themselves, which is incredibly wasteful.

The old system worked on the basis that if you were suitably qualified to do the work, the lowest tender was appointed, and if you screwed up, you were removed from the approved list until you could prove that you’d addressed concerns, whereupon you’d be given a second chance.

it’s common for SMEs to be screwed, by not being paid, by being paid late or by having deductions made

New companies built up gradually from undertaking smaller jobs and out of town contractors who had a track record and wanted to trade here got their chance too. It was simple, transparent and fair. Brutal at times, believe me, but fair!

Now frameworks, hub agreements and suchlike exist nationwide and clearly discriminate against SMEs.

The government argues that SMEs can sub-contract work to big contractors. How likely do you think that is? And when this happens it’s common for SMEs to be screwed, by not being paid, by being paid late or by having deductions made. You’re effectively playing poker with billionaires, so the legal system is too slow for worthwhile recourse.

Value for money? I don’t think so, and there are numerous tricks the big companies could potentially employ to rip off the public sector.

All the while, it is SMEs who maintain local offices paying full business rates, take on staff on traditional contracts and recruit apprentices and young administrative staff trainees.

One large nationwide company operating in Aberdeen ‘uses’ sub-contractors, has most of its managers on fixed-term contracts and doesn’t take on apprentices. Several huge, high profile local contracts are being undertaken by similar contractors who operate this way. One locally-based big company used to take on 40 apprentices every year but they’ve been undercut by large management contractors and cannot now recruit the volume of apprentices they once did. This is a travesty.

I have to stress that I’m not against outside contractors coming in, I just think they should have to establish a base, employ people appropriately and recruit trainees and apprentices as we do.

If every construction company in the UK had the same proportion of trainees and apprentices in its workforce as us, youth unemployment figures would be dramatically lower!

I’m giving evidence to the Scottish Government Procurement Inquiry although I’m very concerned my comments will fall on deaf ears. I hope I’m wrong, but I suspect I’m right.

Kenny is MD of Anderson Construction, based in Northfield, Aberdeen and is former Chairman and elected Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Scotland.

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Unpaid Carers: Secure Benefits While You Can

Aberdeen City, News No Responses »

Nov 302012

With thanks to Claire McBain.

To mark Carers’ Rights Day today (Friday 30 November), when an estimated two million people will have become unpaid carers, supporting someone who is ill, frail or disabled, since 30 November 2011, local charity VSA’s Carers’ Service is determined to educate as many local carers as they can about their rights, before it’s too late.

An estimated £5.3billion has been wiped from the economy in lost earnings due to people who have dropped out of the workforce to take on unpaid caring responsibilities.

Could more knowledge about carers’ options and benefits prevent informal, unpaid carers having to choose between staying in paid employment and being at home to care?
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/healthandsocialcare/2012/04/25/dr-linda-pickard-public-expenditure-costs-of-carers-leaving-employment/

Chris Sojka, a carer support worker at VSA, said:

“Living costs are rising, and the UK faces salary freezes and job losses, but for families affected by illness and disability, the situation can be a lot worse. Their struggle can be harder, faced with added costs of caring and lost earnings, as well as the risk of cuts to essential services and benefits. Carers make a huge contribution to society. It’s about time society gave them something back.”

“On Carers’ Rights Day we want to educate as many local carers as possible about how to get help in tough times. We can point them in the direction of financial help, boost confidence when asking for a helping hand and educate carers on getting the most from technological sources.”

“Earlier this year, we revealed that there are at least 25,000 unpaid carers in Aberdeen city and shire. There are lots more unidentified, who take their role in their stride and don’t realise they’re entitled to support. We want to make life as easy and financially stress-free as possible.”

Carers UK recently revealed the extra costs of ill-health and disability. These families commonly face higher household bills, particularly food and heating. The rise in VAT hits carers hard, often spending more on VAT-rated products such as cleaning materials, detergents, bed clothes and bandages. In addition, Carer’s Allowance is the lowest benefit of its kind and has lost value according to earnings since its creation in the 1970s.

There are nearly six million carers in the country. The Scottish Household Survey, conducted by The Scottish Government in 2010 reported 657,300 carers north of the border, more than 25,000 of which live in Aberdeen City. Within this, there are an estimated 2240 Young Carers in Aberdeen and far more ‘hidden carers’, both adult and child.

Earlier this year, Aberdeen Lord Provost George Adam spoke at a Carers Week lunch. He said:

“We, as a city, can’t hold carers in a high enough regard. It’s vitally important that we raise awareness of the work they do and highlight the support and representation that is out there for them.”

Aberdeen City Council, VSA Carers’ Service and NHS Grampian will reach out to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire carers at an information point at Aberdeen Indoor Market on Friday 30 November between 11am-3pm, offering information and advice about carers’ rights.

VSA will also host an information session at Horizons Rehabilitation Centre, 2 Eday Walk, Summerhill, Aberdeen about Telecare, how it can help carers and the people they care for. To find out more about equipment available, such as fall, heat and flood detectors, bed and chair sensors, book a place by calling 01224 212021 or e-mail carers.info@vsa.org.uk

For more information about VSA Carers Services, visit our headquarters at 38 Castle Street, call 01224 212021, visit our website at www.vsa.org.uk/carers or e-mail carers.info@vsa.org.uk

VSA Recruiting To Stem Support Drought

Aberdeen City, News No Responses »

Nov 302012

With thanks to Claire McBain.

This week, Voluntary Services Aberdeen (VSA), the UK’s largest city social care charity, took positive steps to combat a predicted downward recruitment trend by extending opportunities to a new generation of care workers.

VSA’s month-long effort culminating in a recruitment day on 29 November, to attract new blood into employment in older peoples’ services, mental health services and Linn Moor School.

The service, which employs around 500 people, both full and part-time, hosted recruitment stands and mini-interviews at Union Square and VSA’s Castle Street headquarters.

Earlier this week Marjory Moran, VSA Director of Services for Older People , told Aberdeen Voice:

“We’ve looked to the future of Aberdeen’s recruitment market and predict a serious lack of care workers. Qualified support staff are aging and it’s difficult to get more due to Aberdeen’s economic bubble. A huge pool of resources goes into oil and gas. Saying that, we’re obviously very grateful for this energy bubble, as many oil and gas giants support their communities through VSA.

“We want to increase the pool of staff for VSA and the industry as a whole by pioneering the idea that anyone can do it. Whatever your skills, there’s a place for you. Obviously we love hearing from qualified support workers but regardless of job history, if you have the life skills, we’ll provide the training and qualifications. Who else will provide the next set of qualified care staff if we don’t get them on the career ladder?”

Jacqui Sharp (pictured), a senior support worker at VSA’s Westerton Crescent, emphasised the care worker time bomb:

“I should have retired four years ago. But I love my job. I’m forcing myself to retire next year though.”

Marjory continued:

“You don’t need a care-related qualification to apply to VSA. There are major career progression opportunities here. We want to hear from naturally compassionate people who can leverage their personal caring experience, like bringing up children, caring for a disabled relative or looking after an ill friend, to get into social care.

“VSA looks after more than 2500 people in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. Over the years, it’s branched out to provide support it couldn’t before. We need to secure staff now to make sure we can keep this up in future. It’s all about caring for the community you live in.”

Ex-hairdresser Sarah Taylor, support worker at VSA’s Arrdeir House, is part of a new generation of support workers:

“I’d always wanted to care for people but assumed you needed a qualification. I didn’t think companies would give you a chance and train you But seven years later, after studying and working in hairdressing, I found VSA and started work with absolutely no training in care. I’m doing my SVQ and studying other modules to progress my career. It’s the best move I ever made. I should have done it years ago.’

“I was used to building relationships with clients so took my social skills with me. But I was surprised to realise that my hair and beauty abilities have been useful too. I’ve started hosting therapeutic nights for the service users. It makes them feel pampered without travelling far or spending money. And for me, it’s a good, different way of having one-to-one time with them.”

VSA has created city-wide vacancies after completing a two-year plan to improve its service.

For more information or to apply for a position:

www.vsa.org.uk/jobs
e-mail: HR@vsa.org.uk
Tel: 01224 358589

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