Network Whispers - zero hours contracts, jargon-busting and the Mott MacDonald ferry link

HOLIDAY (DON’T) PAY Settings are reportedly being forced to employ staff on zero hours contracts because councils are refusing to pay for funded hours when a child is on holiday. Norfolk County Council, which is given the lowest (£4.30) rate from Government, is one such, while in South Shields, managers say they are allowed a maximum of two weeks of pay while a child is on holiday.

A manager from Dandelion Education in Norfolk said the policy was ‘crippling’. ‘Ratios are set and staff are paid on expected child attendance. Should we follow suit, avoid pensions and holiday pay, and default on our financial obligations? Or, will the DfE actually acknowledge the crisis that it has created?’

Norfolk said its policy ‘for actual attendance’ had been in place since 2009 and it will be surveying providers over funding this month.

MINIMAL UNDERSTANDING Following criticism of the DfE for using words such as ‘oracy’ and ‘synoptic assessment’ in its official documentation, councils now seem to be picking up on the anti-plain English act. A Brighton-based provider received a letter on his business rates balance (happily it was good news). He said, ‘In the two-sided letter they used the phrase “de minimis” no less than six times – without once explaining what it means. For the record, it means “trivial”, as in “trivial amounts” – so why didn’t they say that!?’

MOTTLEY CREW? Consultants Mott MacDonald, one of a consortium supporting delivery of the 30 hours contract, was also involved in carrying out due diligence on Seaborne Freight. The ‘start-up’ ferry firm had been awarded a £14m contract under no-deal Brexit planning, despite never having run a ferry service or having any boats, leading to much criticism of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling who assured MPs it had been ‘carefully vetted’. The deal has now been axed after its Irish backers pulled out.