At the weekly call we were discussing TUPE and here is the backdrop to why we need to consider it when thinking about whether or not to be in the supply chain for Help to Claim for CA (if they win the DWP bid for this contract)..

Info from Abi (Conway)

We anticipate H2C staffing to be reduced by 50% and there is no redundancy fund that is centrally held by CA

If TUPE applies then successful tenderers will be expected to receive those H2C advisers, have an assessment process and redundancy rounds – which will need to be paid for by the incoming LCA and for a 1 year contract this will need funding from reserves which will not be regained through the lifetime of the contract.

This level of risk is currently unquantified and therefore how can we make an informed bid without knowing what the financial implications are?

My note:

The additional element is that as most of the contracts with CA will not be geographically based, it is not clear how decisions will be made about which staff are transferred to which LCA.

It is confirmed that some of these staff may have continuous serviceif they went to HtC contracts from previous employment with the LCA and this could give them contractually enhanced redundancy pay for instance which the new LCA would need to pay.

Without clarity on which staff might pass to which LCA a financial model of risks associated cannot be drawn up – which ironically contravenes Leadership Self Assessment protocols.