A warning to the trade unions and biased GLA staff

This letter is going to the head of the GLA who is responsible for GLA staff ;


From ; Richard Barnbrook
BNP Assembly Member

Re ; GLA staff duties

4th May 2008

CC ; Boris Johnson

Head of GLA staff

Sir,

It appears from the newspaper article below here that GLA Staff are going to try and breach their contractual duties ;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/boris_johnson/1924867/BNP-man-to-be-shunned-in-assembly.html

“ Each assembly member is entitled to two staff to perform research and secretarial duties. Traditionally, these are non-political civil servants recruited from an internal pool.

But Richard Barnes, the Conservative leader on the 25-member assembly, said: "The BNP will have problems finding secretaries and getting support from the staff here, and I will totally support people's right to say they don't want to serve them.

"They may have a foot in the door but they won't get anywhere near the levers of power."

This statement is evidence that members and staff of the GLA may attempt to incite or assist GLA staff in committing breaches of their duties as defined under the Code of Conduct for GLA staff.

Please be aware that if any GLA staff refuse to work with myself then they are in breach of the following requirements of the Code of Conduct and I will insist that they are put before a disciplinary process for Gross Misconduct.

I am an elected member of the GLA and the GLA staff are employed to follow the Code of Conduct, if they cannot do that in a way that is both lawful and impartial then they should be dismissed from working for a public body.

I hereby seek assurances from yourself and the relevant authorities that any GLA staff that refuse to work with me, who refuse to abide by their contractual duties, who breach the Code of Conduct and who in any way are biased, impartial or who act in a way that contravenes the Code of Conduct will be investigated and if found guilty be punished.

I was elected to represent the interests of the 130,714 Londoners who voted for me and the interests of all Londoners that seek my assistance, and I fully intend to do this.

Please be aware that I will also take legal action any against Trade Union, officials of trade unions or members of trade unions who also breach the Code of Conduct for GLA members.

Failure to work with myself are breaches of the following areas of the Code of Conduct ;




CODE OF ETHICS AND STANDARDS FOR STAFF



1.2. This Code presents the standards of conduct that will apply throughout the Authority. These may be developed further by the Mayor and the Assembly or on advice by the Standards Committee. It incorporates the disciplinary procedure, required under employment law.

1.3. Any breach of this code may lead to formal disciplinary action.

2. CONDUCT OF THE AUTHORITY’S BUSINESS

2.1. The role of the Authority’s staff is to assist the Mayor and the Assembly, whatever their political complexion, in formulating their policies, carrying out decisions and administering the Authority’s public responsibilities. This role needs to be undertaken with integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity.


2.2. Standards and Responsibilities

2.2.1. Staff of the Authority have the following duties and responsibilities:


2.3. Proper advice and support

To give the Mayor, the Assembly and the public as full information as possible about the policies, decisions and actions of the Authority, and not to deceive or knowingly mislead them;

To uphold the political impartiality of the Authority’s staff, not to use public resources for political purposes and not to act in any way which would conflict with this Code;

To give the Mayor, the Assembly and the public fair, considered and impartial advice;



To comply with the law, including international law and treaty obligations, and to uphold the administration of justice;

To conduct themselves with integrity, impartiality and honesty, avoiding any kind of impropriety;

To give honest and impartial advice to the Mayor and Assembly without fear or favour, and make all information relevant to a decision available to them, whilst upholding the confidentiality of any advice given in private to the Mayor by any employee of the Authority.

To deal with the affairs of the public sympathetically, efficiently, promptly and without bias or maladministration.

To ensure the proper, effective and efficient use of public money.



2.7. Standards in the workplace


A ) Staff have a duty to behave in a way that reflects well on the Authority. This requires treating employees of other organisations and members of the public with courtesy, respect, efficiency and helpfulness at all times whether on the phone, in a letter or face to face, and following the Authority’s guidelines on telephone and letter answering and response to complaints as detailed in the Making Contacts section of the Guide to the GLA Filofax binder issued to all staff.


E) Everyone is entitled to be treated fairly and not to be discriminated against. Staff must never harass, bully or discriminate against people they meet in the course of their work, particularly on the grounds of race, gender, religious or political beliefs, disability, sexuality, marital status, trade union membership, carer responsibility, age, work performance or criminal conviction. Harassment may take a number of forms including verbal, physical or the use of offensive material. It may be an isolated incident or repeated action but whatever form it takes, it will be uninvited, unwanted, un-reciprocated, unreasonable and offensive to the recipient.


2.9 Working relationships with the Mayor and Assembly Members

(a) Staff (unless their job descriptions indicate otherwise) serve the Mayor and all Assembly Members, and should avoid any action or behaviour which breaches, or could be construed as breaching, the principle of political neutrality. The Mayor has executive powers and has control over staff through the Mayor’s office staff and the Senior Management Team. The Assembly also has control over staff through the Senior Management Team. The Assembly has powers of appointment over staff (except those staff appointed by the Mayor under S.67(1) of the GLA Act). The staff appointed by the Assembly to discharge the functions of the Mayor must be managed in a way that enables the staff to properly carry out the Mayor’s functions.

(b) Dealings between officers and the Mayor and Assembly Members should be both polite and efficient. Mutual respect between officers and the Mayor and Assembly Members is important. Where there is a close personal relationship, the professional standards of the GLA require that:

Confidentiality is maintained at work and outside of work on confidential matters

Probity is maintained, for example it would not be appropriate for a manager to be signing off significant items of expenditure for somebody with whom they have a close personal relationship.

Professional conduct of staff is required at all times


5.7. Gross misconduct

5.7.1. Conduct constituting Gross Misconduct may lead to instant dismissal and will normally be considered to include, for example, such things as:

theft of Authority property or from an employee of the Authority

wilful damage to Authority property

physical assault upon a fellow employee, contractor, work colleague or member of the public in the course of employment

serious acts of discrimination, victimisation, bullying or harassment or verbal abuse amongst employees, contractors, people on secondment to the Authority or members of the public on grounds of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or religious beliefs. (NOTE - this also now includes discrimination on the grounds of political belief as under the section 33 Equality Act 2006)

criminal acts in the course of employment

bringing into disrepute public confidence in the Authority

breach of the Authority’s standing orders or financial regulations

serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of staff of the Authority within this Code of Ethics and Standards.






I look forward to your assurances that you will insist that GLA staff abide by their contractual duties and their responsibilities under the Code of Conduct,

Yours,

Richard Barnbrook



British National Party GLA Assembly Member