Skills Enhancement and Grading in Openreach

Thank you for your letter, dated 23 August, on the above subject. I also received a letter from you, dated 22 August, raising the subject of Network Assessor – Grading. I am writing to respond to both of these subjects.

Your letter, requesting a thorough review of the B2 grade, is timely as it has brought focus to a debate, which had already begun to formulate within Openreach on grading. As such I agree that a thorough pan- Openreach review of grading, starting with B2, should take place. This thorough review will pull together the variety of discussions on grading of specific roles which have been taking place elsewhere between Openreach and the CWU.

I welcome your recognition and acceptance of the pace of change within Openreach, being driven by the commercial and regulatory framework within which we must operate effectively. I also accept your view that Openreach’s success depends on having a multi-faceted, multi-skilled workforce proficient in a range of tasks and analytical ability However, Openreach’s success also depends on us being price competitive and profitable, therefore enabling us to continue to invest in the network.. As such any review of grading must take full cognisance of the impact that the market will have on the evolution of the Openreach structure. This is a vital element of any arrangement which we may put in place to support the structure, ensuring we remain flexible and responsive to market change, which has been an inherent deficiency in some of the previous grading structures: The key elements will be:

·         Market/Relativity forces impact on structure

·         The scope of this impact to ensure relevant market comparison

·         The data we expect to share when evolving the structure against the market

Whilst Openreach will continue to track the external market, it is not our intention that this information should be used in isolation. We see the external market information as one of the elements we must take into account, along with the internal worth dimension that was and still is part of the NewGRID agreement.

I note your view that the banding of the B2 field engineer should increase. I also note your view that not all B2 roles have changed at the same pace. At this stage I would not wish to prejudge the outcome of the review of the B2 roles using the procedures and protocols set out within the NewGRID agreement.

Under NewGRID, the start point for this review will be a set of job descriptions for all the current B2 roles within Openreach. These will fully detail the skill requirements and role responsibilities. They will then be considered against the SkillBand Descriptors, then the Job Dimensions and the grading determined. These job descriptions will also provide the solid platform on which any future changes be built. We would then plan to complete this exercise for all team member roles across the Openreach organisation and the specific issue you have raised around the grading of the Network Assessor will form part of this.

This is a piece of work we are just starting and would welcome an early meeting with the CWU. I would particularly welcome your expanding on the points raised around the changes to B2 roles so that we have a clearer understanding of the CWU views, which can then be fed into the development of the job descriptions.  I would appreciate your nominating 2 or 3 dates for the meeting and I will then confirm.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Towers

ALAN TOWERS

Employee Relations

Openreach