RE: PROPOSED TUPE TRANSFER OF CHESHIRE SHARED SERVICES TO COSOCIUS LIMITED

26/11/2013

Chief Operating Officer	Westfields Middlewich Road Sandbach CW11 1HZ 01270 686013 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 01270 686013 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting peter.bates@cheshireeast.gov.uk
DATE 25 October 2013 OUR REF: PB/ls YOUR REF:
Please Contact: Mr Peter Bates

Dear [name]

RE: PROPOSED TUPE TRANSFER OF CHESHIRE SHARED SERVICES TO COSOCIUS LIMITED

As you will already be aware, a decision has been made by the Council’s Executive to transfer Cheshire Shared Services (ICT, HR and Finance) to a separate legal entity which is known as CoSocius Limited (the Company). We are sending you this letter to inform you that we believe that you in your job role will have the right to transfer into the new Company.

The Company will deliver a range of IT, HR and Finance services across both Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Council areas including:

Architecture Services

ICT Programme and Project Services

Application Services

Service Delivery

Business Information Development

Payments and Income

Sourcing Contracts and Pay

You have been sent this letter because according to our records, you work in one of these areas.

We anticipate that the proposed transfer will take place on 1^st April 2014, however this may be subject to change.

Your manager will be in contact with you shortly to arrange for you to attend a briefing session so that they can discuss the TUPE transfer further with you. There will also be an opportunity for you to attend an individual meeting with your manager and Human Resources to discuss any concerns that you may have about the transfer. Please can you ensure that you sign and return the attached sheet to confirm if you would or would not like an individual meeting to discuss the proposed transfer. You can bring along a trade union representative or work colleague with you to this meeting if you wish.

The transfer will mean that you will be employed by CoSocius Limited and no longer work directly for Cheshire East Council. However, CoSocius Limited will be wholly owned by both Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Councils and will provide the services on behalf of the Council. The Council will still therefore have significant influence on how the organisation is run and managed. There will be no immediate change to the way in which you are employed, however the Company may seek to change the way in which it works in the future. You will still continue to support the same customers in the same locations and have the same manager and If there are to be any changes then you will be fully consulted upon these by the Company

If you are still in Cheshire East Council’s employment immediately before the transfer, your contract of employment will automatically transfer to CoSocius Limited, who will take on responsibility for it, as it had been originally agreed between yourself and Cheshire East Council

If you are currently in the Local Government Pension Scheme your membership will continue. Your period of continuous service with Cheshire East Council will count as continuous employment with CoSocius Limited so any statutory employment rights will continue.

At this stage, it is not clear if the Company will be taking any measures in relation to the transfer of staff. As soon as any of these are identified then we will contact you again and provide further information to enable consultation with yourself and the relevant trade unions at an appropriate time. However, CoSocius Limited may need to seek to re-organise services in future which would be the subject of further consultation with staff and trade unions.

As part of the transfer to CoSocius Limited, we will be seeking to transfer your personal details to them. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, we need to seek your consent to transfer these details and therefore by signing the attached slip, you agree to these details being released.

You do have the right under TUPE to object to your transfer to the Company, however you would need to be aware that in doing this, your employment would automatically terminate by operation of the law with effect from the date of the transfer and there would be no entitlement to redundancy or any other compensation.

A copy of this letter has been sent to the recognised trade union officials. If you have any questions regarding the contents of this letter, please do not hesitate to contact your manager.

Yours sincerely

Peter Bates

Chief Operating Officer