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WEEKLY INFORMATION FROM THE COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION
SUMMARY

Attachments or LTB's can be emailed or downloaded from the National Site

Volume 9 Issue 50 Paragraphs 807 - 820 24 December 2004

SUMMARY
GENERAL
807 Liaison Meetings with CWU Group
808 Reminder - Union Skills I Course
809 Reminder - Health & Safety at Work Stage II
810 Gold Badge Award Regulations
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
No items this week
HEALTH AND SAFETY
811 Low Level Letter Boxes - Risk Assessment & Safe System of Work - Buildings Regulations, - European (EN) Standard
812 Low Level Letter Boxes - Buildings Regulations, European (EN) Standard EN 13724
813 Royal Mail Group Plc - Notification of Accidents to Safety Representatives and The Provision of Accident Report Form Copies
TELECOMS
814 Accenture HR Services - Case Worker Accreditation
815 Accenture HR Services - Learning Services and Training Standards
816 Accenture HR Services - Personal Incidental Expenses
817 BTExact - NHS Neem Taskforce - Update
818 Ofcom Publishes Final Local Loop Unbundling Charges
819 Progress Update on Local Loop Unbundling
FINANCIAL SERVICES
No items this week
POSTAL
820 Interim Productivity Scheme - Progress Report - Week 36
LETTERS TO BRANCHES
589 16.12.04 Special Door to Door Posting - Bob Gibson
590 16.12.04 Client Logic Pay Review 2005 - Final Officer - Sally Bridge
591 16.12.04 BT Global Services Asian Service Centre - Pune in India - Simon Sapper
592 16.12.04 POL Cash in Transit Christmas Arrangements - Andy Furey
593 16.12.04 POL Christmas Eve Working Arrangement - Industrial Action - Andy Furey
594 17.12.04 Ballots for UNI World Women's Conference: Europa Postal Conference, Europa Telecom Conference - Steve Baguley
595 17.12.04 Monday to Friday Only Attendance Patterns - Bob Gibson
596 17.12.04 CWU YAC: National Event 2005 - Simon Sapper
597 17.12.04 Ballot Timetable for Client Logic Pay 2005 - Sally Bridge
598 17.12.04 Boris Lidvoski: National Appeal - General Secretary
599 17.12.04 Pay & Major Change Joint Statement - Bob Gibson
600 17.12.04 Christmas/New Year Pay Arrangements: Manpower & Hays - BT Contract - Sally Bridge
601 17.12.04 LGV Drivers Bonus Scheme - Payment Timescale - Terry Pullinger
602 17.12.04 Election of Regional Secretaries for Midland and N.Ireland - Steve Baguley
603 21.12.04 Industrial Action POL Christmas Eve - Andy Furey
604 21.12.04 Low Level Letter Boxes Building Regulations European Standards - Dave Joyce
605 21.12.04 Wales TUC - Steve Baguley
606 21.12.04 Sunday Network Changes - Martin Collins
607 22.12.04 Licensing for Security Personnel - Simon Sapper
608 22.12.04 Door to Door Special Posting - Bob Gibson
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GENERAL
807
Liaison Meetings with CWU Group MPs
Meetings with CWU supported MPs have now been arranged for 2005 and, for your information, I list below the dates of the meetings and those nominated to attend:
18 January
John Holmes, Dave Warren,
Manny Blake, Karen Rose and a
South East Region representative.
15 February
John Holmes, Chris Murphy,
Maria Exall, Graham Colk and a Midlands Region representative.
15 March
John Holmes, Joe Malone, Andy Kerr, Karen Rose and a South West Region representative.
19 April
John Holmes, Steve Fishwick,
Manny Blake, Graham Colk and a North West Region representative.
Billy Hayes
General Secretary

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808
Reminder - Union Skills I Course
The Communication Workers Union has organised a Union Skills I course, to be held at the Union's Education & Training Centre at Alvescot Lodge. All courses held at Alvescot Lodge are accredited with the National Open College Network. This is a fully integrated course.
The course will be held from 14 - 18 February 2005
Please submit an application form ASAP
The Linked Education Programme is designed to encourage members to become more active in the union. It is open to all members of the CWU, but is particularly aimed at Branch Committee Members. We particularly encourage branches to nominate women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and young members who are often under-represented on the CWU Education and Training Programme. All members of the union who wish to have a working knowledge of the wider Trade Union and Labour Movement would benefit from attending the Linked Education Programme. The courses are called 'Linked Education' because the programme comprises three distinct but connected courses, each of one week duration. It begins with the Union Skills I, followed by the Union Skills II and concludes with Union Skills Ill. The three parts of the course are completely self-contained, but there are real educational benefits in completing all three parts of the programme in a year or eighteen months. Union Skills courses attract special leave with pay.
All courses at Alvescot are residential. The cost of tuition, food and accommodation will be met from the General Fund. Ex-NCU Branches are required to meet the cost of travelling and subsistence payments. Branches requiring financial assistance from the General Fund to enable them to send students to the course must submit the request with the nomination, to enable the Trustees to consider the request in time.
The Education Centre can offer child-minding facilities for a maximum of three under school age children at any one time. If any applicant from your branch would like child-minding facilities, can you please advise the age and sex of the child on the application form. Further information on the child-minding arrangements will then be sent to successful applicants.
Those nominees who are Committee Members, Branch Representatives or Branch Officers are entitled to leave with pay. Please indicate whether the applicant is employed in BT, Posts or Girobank. Nominations should be made on the form for Education Courses, and returned to Alvescot Lodge by the closing date shown. If you nominate more than one member (a maximum of two please), indicate the order of preference if necessary and please apply for only one course at a time. If a member is refused a place, due to oversubscription, then indicate this on a subsequent application for another date.
Application forms should be addressed to: Trish Lavelle, Head of Education & Training, CWU Education & Training Centre, Alvescot Lodge, Alvescot, Bampton, Oxon OX18 2PY. Telephone: 01993 843373; Fax: 01993 840960; email mtodd@cwu.org

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809
Reminder - Health & Safety at Work Stage II
A Health and Safety at Work Course Stage II has been organised to be held at the Elstead Hotel, Bournemouth. This course is accredited with the National Open College Network. This is a fully integrated course.
The course will be held from 14 - 18 February 2005
Applicants for this course will have already attended the Union's Health & Safety Stage I course.
Application forms should be addressed to: Trish Lavelle, Head of Education & Training, CWU Education & Training Centre, Alvescot Lodge, Alvescot, Bampton, Oxon OX18 2PY. Telephone: 01993 843373; Fax: 01993 840960; email: mtodd@cwu.org

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810
Gold Badge Award Regulations
The National Executive Council agreed the following revised guidelines for awarding the Union's national gold badge at its meeting held on 16 December.

1. That the Gold Badge in general should be awarded to national, regional and field officials.
2. The preferable length of service with the union would be a minimum of 20 years.
3. The Recruitment and Organisation committee should take into account any outstanding achievements within either the Trade Union or the Labour movement by the nominee.

These guidelines do not affect members who have already been awarded the Gold Badge. Branches are also reminded that the award of the National Gold Badge does not entitle the beneficiary to free membership.
Application forms for the National Gold Badge will be sent to Branches upon request from the National Organising Department, Branches are however asked to take into account the newly agreed guidelines when deciding whether or not to nominate members from their Branch for the National Gold Badge award.
Branches are also reminded that there is a branch honorary membership award for those activists who have rendered distinguished service at a branch level. The decision on whether to award Branch Honorary Membership is a matter for the branch and is governed by the terms of rule 3.1.
Any enquiries regarding this paragraph should be addressed to Steve Baguley, National Organising Secretary.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY
811
Low Level Letter Boxes - Risk Assessment & Safe System of Work - Buildings Regulations, European (EN) Standard
(Also issued as LTB No. 604/04)
Further to the recent media highlighted case of Norwich DO Postman, who complained about delivering mail to a ground level Letter Boxes, the health and safety risks presented by this issue have once again come to the fore. The scurrilous reporting of the incident by the local press, subsequently picked up nationally by the BBC distorted the facts and misrepresented the problems presented by Low Level Letter Boxes to Delivery members. The individual member is now facing possible Conduct Code action and is being represented by his Branch with the support of CWU HQ Health & Safety and Outdoor Departments.
The matter of Low Level Letter Boxes has been raised with Royal Mail Group's Head of Safety, seeking a concerted effort to better identify and control those risks, using the tools we have available within the organisation. We have pointed out to Royal Mail that lessons must be learnt from the Norwich DO case we have requested that management ensure that the following is carried out in Delivery Offices:

o Delivery Staff must be given Information, Instruction and training on how to deal with low level letter boxes.
o Delivery Staff must be shown the "Deliveries and Collections" Safe Systems of Work on Low Level Letter Boxes.
o Up to date WPQ 1 Risk Assessment Questionnaires must be completed for all Delivery rounds, covering low level letter boxes.
o The subject should be covered in Work Time Listening & Learning Sessions at the DOs.

Management have a legal obligation to do these things and as is common knowledge one of the key safety issues in Royal Mail is Manual Handling risk control. Staff have got to be able and encouraged to look after their back and Management have a duty of care to reduce the risk of injury. So we need some clear thinking about how the generic problem is tackled.
Low Level Letter boxes was subject to debate back in 2001 when the Irish Government changed their Building Regulations, outlawing the so called "mousetrap-type" letter boxes at the bottom of doors, banning them in all new homes. This followed an Irish High Court Case in which a Dublin Postman was awarded Civil Damages against the Irish Post Office for back injuries caused on his walk which had a high number of ground level letter boxes.
Following that case the subject was raised with the then Royal Mail National Safety Manager and the HSE. A lot of creditable work and campaigning for change was undertaken at the time in which the Union, Royal Mail and the HSE ran up against a solid "brick-wall" in trying to get government support for Building Regulatory changes similar to that in Ireland.
It was therefore agreed that this issue would be taken in to account on Delivery Walk Risk Assessments and built into the "Deliveries and Collections" Safe Systems of Work issued nationally to Delivery Offices at the time.
Whilst the Union accepts that UK building regulations requirements and technical standards regarding the height, positioning and design of "letter boxes" is a matter for government, the requirement to ensure that the safe delivery of Mail can be made without the risk of injury remains a legal duty of care for Royal Mail.
Obviously if delivery staff are forced to stoop to ground level to deliver mail via low level letter boxes at the base of a house/business front door whilst carrying a 16 Kg satchel of mail, they risk serious back strain. We have suggested a joint campaign on this issue, giving fresh instructions to Delivery Office Managers in respect of undertaking risk assessments, deploying the safe system of work, giving information and instructions to staff on how to deal with this hazard and how to report problems to DOMs and their Area Safety Representative.
The current "Deliveries and Collections" Safe Systems of Work, Page 9 which has a paragraph on Low Level Letter Boxes gives the following instructions to follow:
Low Level Letter Boxes

o Review weight of pouch if the walk has a number of low level letter boxes - or if possible make sure low level letter boxes are at the end of the delivery when the pouch is at its lightest.
o Consider using delivery trolleys on walks with a lot of low letter boxes.
o When delivering to a low level letter box:
o Remove pouch from your shoulder and place it on the ground before bending to deliver the letter or if carrying the pouch "bandolier" style, hold it close to the side of your body when bending to avoid the pouch swinging forward and putting unnecessary strain on your back.
o Use your legs to bend whilst keeping your back in a comfortable position.

You may be surprised to learn that in fact as far back as 1958 the Council of Industrial Design and British Standards Institute issued a British Standard specifying letter box/letter plate aperture size, maximum flap spring tension and a recommended height position for the letter plate in the door of between 2 ft 6 inches and 4 ft 9 inches from the ground with an ideal height being 3 ft 6 inches.
In 2002 an updated European Standard was introduced EN 13724 entitled "Postal Services - Apertures of Private Letter Boxes and Letter Plates - Requirements and Test Methods" was issued. This covers similar dimensions and specifications as the previous BSI standard and specifies that for "ergonomic and safety reasons" the centre line of the Letter Box aperture should be at a height between 700 mm (2 ft 3.5 inches) and 1700 mm (5 ft 7inches).
However these standards are not compulsory in Law and I am therefore re-launching the Union's campaign (previously run in the 50s and again in the 60s), calling for Building/Planning regulations to be amended by the Government. The Union obviously can't afford to go out with a campaign demanding householders and businesses change their doors overnight but we can attempt to start influencing change and minimising the risk or injury to our delivery staff members.
I have therefore once again raised the matter with government via a letter to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister asking as to whether the government would be prepared to introduce changes to the appropriate UK Buildings Regulations similar to those in Ireland in order to reduce the risk of injury to British Postal delivery workers. Bearing in mind that Manual Handling injuries along with Slips, Trips and Falls remain key safety issues for Royal Mail staff and this is one change where government could contribute to a reduction in injury risks. I am also seeking Royal Mail's support in raising the matter with government again.
Finally, I am requesting that Branches, Political Officers, Safety Representatives and Regional Secretaries along with our supported MPs and CWU members serving as Councillors and local Political Activists give their support to the campaign by raising the matter with the 400 plus UK local authorities and other development bodies, asking that they invoke the European Standard EN 13724 when granting planning permission or organising refurbishment programmes. In the past there have been a number of successes where either Royal Mail or the CWU has raised the matter locally in respect of City housing estates being built or refurbished and the idea is to maximise pressure where ever possible to take the campaign forward and reduce the safety hazards and risk of injury and ill health caused by Low Level Letter Boxes.
Any comments and feedback from Branches on problems being experience would be welcomed and will be fed into this debate and can be forwarded to Dave Joyce, National Health, Safety & Environment Officer quoting reference No. MS1(L).
Attachment 1 Attachment 2

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812
Low Level Letter Boxes - Buildings Regulations, European (EN) Standard EN 13724
The following letter has been sent to John Prescott MP Deputy Prime Minister and is self explanatory:
"Dear John
I am writing in respect of the apparent absence of any legal requirement in the UK to follow the current European Standard EN 13724 entitled "Postal Services - "Apertures of Private Letter Boxes and Letter Plates - Requirements and Test Methods" specifically regarding the height, positioning and design of "letter boxes" or "letter plates" in order that the safe delivery of Mail can be made without the risk of injury.
Building Regulations deal mainly with health and safety matters in the interest of the people who will use the building and are concerned with how a building is constructed. However the absence of a legal requirement to meet the specifications set out in EN 13724 which states that for "ergonomic and safety reasons the centreline of the Letter Box aperture should be at a height between 700 mm (2 ft 3.5 inches) and 1700 mm (5 ft 7 inches) means that UK Postal Workers are more at risk of back injury and ill health than their counterparts in Ireland for example where there is such a legal requirement and where ground level letter boxes have been banned in new properties since January 2001.
There are currently around 3000 back injuries to Royal Mail Postmen and Women each year in Royal Mail and delivering to low level letter boxes at the base of a house front door, forces Postal Staff to stoop to ground level, whilst carrying a satchel of mail weighing up to 16Kg and thereby risk serious back strain.
The Irish Government changed their Building Regulations in 2001 outlawing the so called "mousetrap-type" letter boxes at the bottom of doors, banning them in all new homes. I am interested in whether you would be prepared to introduce similar legal changes to the appropriate UK Buildings Regulations in order to reduce the risk of injury to British Postal delivery workers. Manual Handling injuries along with Slips, Trips and Falls remain key safety issues for Royal Mail staff and this is one change which could contribute to a reduction in injury risks. A similar request was made to Government back in 2001 following the Irish legislative changes."
All enquiries should be addressed to Dave Joyce, National Health, Safety & Environment Officer quoting reference No. MS1(L).

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813
Royal Mail Group Plc - Notification of Accidents to Safety Representatives and The Provision of Accident Report Form Copies
Reports have been received from individual Area Safety Representatives, Branches and at Regional Safety Forums that the national agreement struck with Royal Mail and circulated attached to LTB No. 42/04 on 6 February 2004 (copy Attached) regarding the above is not being complied with in various Offices and Areas of the country. Further to this problem, the matter has been raised again with the Royal Mail Group Head of Safety Allan St John Holt. A copy of my most recent letter to Mr St John Holt is below for your information and is self explanatory.
Allan St John Holt has requested that detailed information of accidents not being correctly notified to ASRs and where report forms have not been provided to be sent directly to him along with the names of the local managers involved.
Would all ASRs who have contacted the HS&E Department on this matter accept this as a reply and would you please provide as much information to Allan St John Holt at the following address (copying correspondence to CWU/HQ HS&E Dept):
Allan St John Holt
RMG Head of Safety
Corporate Social Responsibility
Royal Mail
Unit 6, Ancells Court
Rye Close
Fleet
Hants GU51 2UY
"LTB/42/04
Further to BOB 34 Paragraph 487 dated 5 September 2003, BOB No. 37 paragraph 533 dated 26 September 2003, BOB No. 41 paragraph 603 dated 24 October 2003 and BOB No. 2 paragraph 30 dated 16 January 2004, I write to inform Branches and Safety Representatives that this issue has been satisfactorily resolved via a negotiated National Agreement.
Following further discussions involving the Royal Mail Group Head of Safety, the HSE Deputy Director General and the CWU National Health, Safety & Environment Officer Agreement was reached that the Notification of Accidents to Area Safety Representatives will recommence with Managers instructed to provide copies of Accident Book Report forms.
The HSE have agreed that Royal Mail should pro-actively involve, consult and inform Safety Representatives in good time.
Royal Mail have given a firm commitment to work in partnership with the CWU and provide full details of the accidents to Safety Representatives.
A copy of the full Agreement is below for your information and reference. The contents are self explanatory.
Agreement - Royal Mail Group Plc - Notification of Accidents to Safety Representatives and The Provision of Accident Report Form Copies
Following further discussions involving Royal Mail Group, CWU and HSE the following position has been agreed.

1. The Safety Committees and Safety Representatives Regulations (SRSCR) makes clear that employers should provide such facilities and assistance as trade union safety representatives require when carrying out their functions, for example, when they investigate and examine the cause of accidents in the workplace.
2. This includes the provision of information such as notification of accidents and the provision of Accident Book Report form copies. The disclosure of such information is in accordance with the SRSCR and the National Health and Safety Representation Agreement between CWU and RMG businesses and is not prohibited by the Data Protection Act 1998.
3. The HSE agrees with the above and further is of the view that employers should "Pro-actively" involve, consult and inform safety representatives in good time.
4. Royal Mail Group's firm intention is to work in partnership with the CWU and to provide full details of accidents to safety representatives. Both sides agree that this will provide a vital component in jointly addressing the causes of accidents and finding joint solutions to reduce accident numbers.
5. Both Royal Mail Group and the CWU in consultation with the HSE respect the need to ensure the individual's rights to personal privacy and confidentiality and to ensure that individuals are aware of the disclosure of accident report forms. This will be achieved by the following:

a) Managers will inform their staff via work time learning sessions that accident report form copies will be disclosed to safety representatives unless individuals specifically object.
b) The Royal Mail Group website will make it clear that it is the intention of the business to disclose this information to safety representatives.
c) It is the present intention that when current accident report form book stocks are exhausted they will be re-printed making it clear to staff completing the forms that a copy will be provided to the safety representative.
6. As from 6 February 2004 managers will be instructed to promptly notify Area Safety Representatives of all accidents and to provide and send them a copy of all Accident Report forms. Managers will photocopy the A3 form onto two A4 pages, ensure it is legible and send it promptly to the Area Safety Representative on an ongoing basis.
7. Area Safety Representatives may request copies of accident report forms completed prior to this agreement and local managers will provide copies on request.
8. This process will be introduced across the UK between 6 February and 27 February by which time implementation will be completed.
9. In the event of an individual objecting to disclosure the report form copy will be sent to the Safety Representative with personal details "anonymised".

Allan St John Holt
Royal Mail Group
Dave Joyce
Communication Workers Union
Head of Safety, National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
Date: 28 January 2004
Any enquiries should be addressed to Dave Joyce, National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

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TELECOMS
814
Accenture HR Services - Case Worker Accreditation
Nationally the Union has been aware that BT, the main contract customer for Case Worker Support has made remarks that have been both of a critical and positive nature with regard to Case Workers.
It would appear that as part of the BT Contract renewal discussions, BT is seeking confirmation of the status or competence levels of Case Workers. Currently there does not exist any capacity for accreditation of Case Workers.
The company has advised that it may meet these requirements by a form of internal accreditation and overtime - if and when a suitable standard has been shaped - in conjunction with an external body possibly Lloyds or an external college, a more formal accreditation may be awarded.
As the contractual arrangements become clearer and signed off, the Union will be having further discussions with the company.
Brian Healy
Assistant Secretary

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815
Accenture HR Services - Learning Services and Training Standards
In the recent past, BT came under substantial criticism externally from Government departments with regard to the quality of the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme.
As a consequence this is one of the reasons that Accenture HR Services is now more directly involved in the delivery of the scheme. One of the developments is that with regard to the quality of classroom training delivery, there will be visits from the Adult Learning Directorate. The intent being to see if the training is fit for purpose and if not, it is envisaged, may lead to training content revision or additional training for trainers. It is not clear at this stage how this will work however, it is understood that all individuals who deliver training will at some point over the next 12 to 18 months be observed by the Adult Learning Directorate.
The Union will be seeking further information from management and when available will be issued to Branches.
Brian Healy
Assistant Secretary

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816
Accenture HR Services - Personal Incidental Expenses
Branches with members in Accenture HR Services, particularly those with members in training functions will be aware that the Company had taken unilateral action with regard to the criteria to be applied for when claiming Personal Incidental Expenses (PIEs).
The company had removed the ability to claim PIEs; after initial representation this was reinstated but only for periods of 4 days or more. By and large this placed CWU represented grades at a disadvantage as they were more likely to do less than 4 days and to have more frequent occasions.
After further case representation the following has been agreed and is AHRS policy.

o Where an employee is required to say away from home for 4 nights of more in a single trip, or 10 nights or more in a calendar month, an unreceipted PIE claim of £5.00 per day may be made as an alternative to claiming incurred receipted expenses.
o For overnight stays outside the UK for 4 nights or more in a single trip, or 10 nights or more in a calendar month, an unreceipted PIE claim of £10 per day may be made as an alternative to claiming incurred receipted expenses.
o This is payment for all incidentals excluding in-room entertainment and mini-bar, which may not be claimed. If unreceipted PIEs are claimed whilst staying at accommodation other than Yarnfield Park or Kents Hill, only room and meal can be claimed in respect of the stay.
o Telephone calls home - where possible the cheapest form of telephony is encouraged. As a guide using the telephones in Yarnfield Park or Kents Hill is likely to be the cheapest option whereas if staying in an external hotel your mobile phone is probably the least cost method.

The Union will review this policy in light of experience of the new policy being applied.
Brian Healy
Assistant Secretary

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817
BTExact - NHS Neem Taskforce - Update
As progress is being made to deliver the NHS ICT contract that had been won by the BT/Accenture consortium, BT is now in a position to accept the request from Accenture for a phased handover.
Attached for the information of Branches is a copy of an internal briefing from BTExact making that announcement and the intended target date of March 2005 for completion.
Brian Healy
Assistant Secretary
Attachment

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818
Ofcom Publishes Final Local Loop Unbundling Charges
At the Network Briefing Forum held on 15 December 2004 I reported on developments - current and impending. I can report that there has been further and formal developments as follows.
Ofcom has announced final connection and rental charges for Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) services. The charge reductions follow previous consultations on 13 May 2004 and 26 August 2004 and will come into effect from 1 January 2005 .
Ofcom has now completed its Review of the Wholesale Local Access market which started in May this year, when Ofcom outlined its proposals to increase effective and sustainable competition in broadband.
LLU enables operators to connect to the consumer via BT's copper local loops. Ofcom believes that development of the LLU market, to allow operators to target infrastructure investment and to develop scale in the creation of high-speed data services, will be critical in ensuring a fully competitive and innovative telecoms market for the long term.
Ofcom's decisions
Ofcom has decided to reduce connection charges for fully unbundled lines further than was proposed in August. The adjustments reflect more recent cost data and minor changes to Ofcom's approach.
Compared with charges as they were in May 2004, the final charges for fully unbundled connections will deliver:

o Reductions of 60% for transfer of an existing line;
o Reductions of 36% for providing a new line.

For shared access the connection and rental charges will be reduced by 70%.
A fully unbundled line gives operators the exclusive use of the copper line. A shared access line only gives operators the use of the broadband channel and will also be used by the customer's fixed-line voice provider.
Ofcom is not determining the fully unbundled rental charge ceiling at this stage. A high proportion of the costs for this service are determined by the cost of laying and maintaining the copper loop between the Local Exchange and the home or business premises. The Union has continued to make submissions that any operator and in particular BT should make a fair return on investment in this area.
Ofcom is currently consulting on the appropriate way to value BT's copper access network, which will continue until 11 February 2005.
Ofcom's final proposals on copper costs will be published in spring 2005. Ofcom will subsequently determine the rental price ceiling for fully unbundled local loops. In the meantime, BT's voluntary price reduction to £105 p.a. rental for such loops remains the applicable price.
Since Ofcom announced its LLU price proposals in August 2004, the number of unbundled lines has risen to over 26,000. In May 2004 there were 12,000 unbundled lines. The independent Telecoms Adjudicator has targeted 1 million unbundled lines by summer 2006. The detail of this will be the subject of a separate report to Branches in a future Branch Officials Bulletin.
Branches will see from this report the significant impact that the Regulator has on BT Group and its revenues; this will inevitably feed through to and impact on its members in BT.
Brian Healy
Assistant Secretary

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819
Progress Update on Local Loop Unbundling
The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator has been in debate with the Telecom Service Providers industry, on BT and access and barriers to Local Loop Unbundling. The intervention of Ofcom and the Office of Telecommunications Adjudicator, has led to LLU activity beginning to grow. Order levels are climbing for co-location and customer lines and both are following the curves predicted. Significant operational problems remain and the interested parties have come to an agreement on the way forward.
BT and the LLUOs have agreed to build the operational capability that will deliver in excess of one million unbundled lines by the last quarter of 2006, with a quality of service as good as comparable products in the market place. BT has accepted the need to build a fit-for-purpose LLU product based on a SOR defined by industry and to industralise the processes for large volume production. The current situation as understood by the Union is:

1. A plan which addressed a large part of the SOR. Notably however the SORs Backhaul requirements were not addressed as BT wished to discuss them first with Ofcom. Also BT needed more time to respond to the Care Level requirements.
2. BT has subsequently delivered a move forward on Backhaul; discussions are still underway with BT and LLUOs.
3. Operational Quality Improvement; Reviews have started with the Adjudicator in attendance. The objective is to get at the root causes of failure between BT and the LLUOs and permanently fix the problems so that they can climb the quality curve as well as the order/delivery curve.

The programme for delivery by volume and quality of service is detailed below:
Throughput capability for Orders
50K lines unbundled by January 2005
250K lines unbundled by June 2005
400K lines unbundled by September 2005
550K lines unbundled by January 2006
1M lines unbundled by June 2006
Right First Time Delivery of Service
Right first time August 50% Today 65%
Right first time 75% by November 2004
Right first time 85% by January 2005
Right first time 95% by March 2005
Right first time 98% by June 2005
Right first time 99.8% by January 2006 (Aspirational)
Such activity will have a resourcing impact with large levels of activity with minimum revenue at basic cost to BT and the consequential fall in revenues to the BT Group.
Brian Healy
Assistant Secretary

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POSTAL
820
Interim Productivity Scheme - Progress Report - Week 36
We are monitoring the introduction of the new productivity schemes nationally and within that process we have requested progress reports. Please find attached the latest progress report I have received on the deployment of the Mail Centre/Distribution schemes for your information.
It should be noted that all of the Business' planned headcount reduction figures are subject to agreements being concluded locally on how the financial savings should be achieved. In addition, actual headcount reductions stated include members who have resigned, etc.
All enquiries regarding the content of this paragraph should be addressed to Martin Collins, Assistant Secretary Indoor Department, quoting reference number L.300.42(a).
Att: PE65

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