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ATP Campaign Update 1

This update contains news on:

Ballot results
An Alternative Vision for Land Registry
Online petition
Political campaign
PCS Land Registry in the media
PCS working with Land Registry customers
Business case comments
Membership levels

Indicative ballot results

Endorsement of the negotiating position of no closures, no compulsory redundancies and no outsourcing could only be described as overwhelming. Members signified their virtually unanimous condemnation of the ATP proposals in a record turnout of 71%. This is a significant turnout to achieve in any ballot, starkly indicating how deep the strength of feeling to overturn these proposals runs in PCS members.

Results

Yes - 93.5%
No - 5.9%
Spoilt - 0.6%

An Alternative vision for Land Registry

In a practical demonstration of how PCS are addressing the needs of staff by developing sound public services based arguments PCS has developed “An Alternative Vision for Land Registry”. The Alternative Vision will be presented to the PCS Parliamentary Group and other MPs who have signified support of our campaign before Christmas. A full MPs launch is being arranged for 20 January. PCS will also be working with several other external organisations in a collaborative campaign in support of the Alternative Vision. On the 23rd of November a presentation of the document was made to Minister for Land Registry, Michael Wills by Professors Roger Seifert and Mike Ironside, co-authors of the Alternative Vision.

An abbreviated version of the full 49-page document will soon be published to members. Individual printed copies can be made available on request.

  Land Registry Alternative Vision

Online petition

In just over two weeks, the Downing Street Petition has reached over 2,000 signatures - more than the number of jobs at risk under the first round of cuts under the ATP proposals. There is still a long way to go yet. The petition is online until early February, so there is plenty of opportunity to get as many signatures as you can to make the biggest possible impact. I have spoken to several members who have forwarded the link to the petition to all of their friends. Following the “Spamming” of all of my friends on Facebook, I have had at least forty of my friends and relatives sign up to the petition. This shows that it is definitely worth taking the time to forward the link to your contacts.

How you can help:

  • Make sure that your name is on the petition 
  • Encourage all your colleagues, friends and family to sign, even if they aren’t a PCS member

Political campaign

PCS has met with Michael Wills, Minister for Land Registry regarding the ATP proposals. MEP Richard Howitt also attended the Peterborough and Stevenage Land Registries to show his support of our campaign. There is growing political support for our campaign to defend our terms and conditions.

Now that a new parliamentary session has begun, our Early Day Motion will be resubmitted so that it forms part of the processes for the new parliamentary session. We will be meeting with representatives of the PCS Parliamentary Group to discuss further Early Day Motions and to explore what other political maneuvers will benefit our campaign. As soon as details of the new EDM are known, this information will be communicated to members to include in any correspondence with their MPs.

All branches have written to MPs in members’ constituencies MPs and appointments are being arranged with these in all branches; several branches have already met with local MPs.

How you can help:

  • Write to, email or fax your MP. Template letters are available on the PCS website. 
  • Consider visiting your MP in their local surgery

PCS in the media

PCS Land Registry President, Michael Kavanagh recently spoke out against the closure of the Stevenage and Peterborough Land Registries on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. The PCS campaign against closures is also receiving coverage in several local papers.

Links to news articles

Euro MP joins fight to save Stevenage Land Registry from closure

March in protest at plan to axe 300 Land Registry jobs

Land Registry customers

Several other Land Registry customers have been in contact with PCS representatives expressing their grave concern over the proposals, many welcoming the development of a viable alternative that will seek to maintain the good service Land Registry provides and support the staff. This concern appears to be mirrored in the results of the result Pulse surveys which indicate that 54% of staff either agree or strongly agree that the proposed changes will damage the way we serve our customers while another 69.7% of staff either disagree or strongly disagree that they have the confidence in the LR Board to run the Land Registry. We will shortly be making the results of these surveys known to Land Registry customers along with a detailed critique of the business case and in order to encourage them to get behind our campaign of opposition to the proposals.

Please see the following websites that have been built by a Land Registry customer:

Twitter: savetheLR (do not access from LR computers)

Save the Land Registry

Business case

Members from every branch continue to send criticisms of the ATP business case to our negotiating team. Many members who have taken the time to look into the business case have been genuinely surprised by much of the content and have been encouraging their colleagues to look in greater detail at the ATP Business Case. Correspondence with several Land Registry customers and MPs has shown that it is not only PCS members who consider the plans to be short sighted. Some comments on the business case can be found on the PCS Land Registry Website.

Please follow these links to the business case and consultation document:

Business case (large pdf)

Consultation Document (large pdf)

How you can help:

  • Please send comments on the business case to Dave Lunn and Anne Hawkins or to your local reps to forward on your behalf.

Membership levels

Membership levels continue to rise across the agency, with new members joining in every branch. Recruitment events will be held in every branch over the duration of the campaign, with recruitment events being held in several branches between the 30th November and the 8th December. Further recruitment events will be happening in all branches over the next couple of months.

How you can help

  • Speak to your local reps about getting recruitment forms so that you can encourage any potential members to join up to PCS

When reps hand out membership forms to potential members, encourage them to join PCS.

Chris Carrée
Group Organiser
PCS Land Registry
(01792) 355087