Memorandum submitted by Public & Commercial
Services Union (PCS) (RPA Sub 01)
1. In light of recent developments in RPA,
notably SPS delays and the removal of Chief Executive Johnston
McNeill, we felt it necessary to send a further submission. In
particular we wanted to respond to some of the inaccuracies given
by RPA during the hearing of 11 January.
2. You will recall that bullying in RPA
was a feature of the PCS's submission to the Committee. Having
now seen the Minutes of Evidence of the hearing we were alarmed
by the responses given by Mr McNeill. In response to Question
97 he stated that he had "no recollection" of a bullying
culture in RPA. This was not true since the matter was escalated
to the RPA National Whitley Committee meeting a month earlier.
Unfortunately, Mr McNeill who was the Chair of this Committee
at the time did not attend the meeting. Other RPA Directors were
present however so it is unlikely that he was not aware of a matter
so serious.
3. Since Mr McNeil's denial PCS has surveyed
its members in RPA on whether a culture of bullying and intimidation
existed in the organisation. The response rate was high and of
778 responses received (40% of PCS members in RPA) 567 (73% of
those responding) said they felt that there was such a culture
in RPA. Since the survey a number of important meetings were held
with Mr McNeill and his Directors which looked to address this
matter. The result being a PCS-sponsored paper to the RPA Executive
Board which sought a much more proactive look at bullying. The
recommendations contained with the paper have now been agreed
by RPA. Given existing pressures on RPA it remains to be seen
whether they are serious about this issue. Certainly as things
stand there has been little change from the environment that was
described to you when we met.
4. The response given by Mr McNeill is also
inaccurate for one other reason. In it he referred to his relationship
with the trade union as being "quite excellent". This
could not be further from the truth. Indeed we do have a seat
at RPA Executive Board meetings but this in itself does not constitute
an excellent working relationship. In August 2005 we wrote to
RPA's Deputy Chief Executive with our concerns about the current
state of industrial relations in RPA. In particular we were unhappy
with poor consultation and RPA's increasing disregard for laid
down Agreements and procedures. To date we have still not had
a response to this letter despite repeated calls. This is an indication
of how serious RPA has taken this matter.
5. Whilst we appreciate that things have
moved on considerably since the hearing we felt it important to
bring these matters to your attention. It is particularly important
that the issues affecting staff are not forgotten as RPA increasingly
finds itself under the spotlight.
April 2006
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