With twice as many people working past the State Pension Age, we need to give proper attention to the health and safety implications of the changing workforce.
I have highlighted before our research…
Barclay review of non-domestic tax rates: ministerial response – gov.scot
https://beta.gov.scot/publications/barclay-review-report-ministerial-response/
Dave Watson
Scottish Organiser
UNISON Scotland
14 West Campbell Street
Glasgow
G2 6RX
Government programme and a chinese meal
While the Scottish Government’s programme for 2017-18 has some very welcome elements, it also feels a bit like a chinese meal. Satisfying as it goes down, but leaves you wanting more later.
The most…
Oh joy, another Labour leadership contest
Scottish politics may be many things, but boring it isn’t. Just when you think we are in for a settled period, the Scottish Labour Leader, Kez Dugdale, resigns.
With hindsight, it was perhaps not a…
Business rates review – tame but sensible reforms
The long awaited Barclay review of business rates hasn’t exactly set the heather alight, but its recommendations are, in the main, pretty sensible.
The reviews main recommendations are set out in…
Household debt, pay and the magic money tree
Low wages and rising household debt is not a sound basis for any economy. Today’s news that spending on credit and debit cards is rising five times faster than wages, should set off the…
No ‘certainty’ for EU workers in Brexit plan
The claimed ‘certainty’ in the UK government’s ‘cut and paste’ job on EU law clearly doesn’t apply to EU nationals working in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Last month the UK government…
Action on energy prices is another damp squib
As widely predicted, UK government action on energy bills has turned out to be another damp squib. Ministers passed the buck yet again to Ofgem who have published plans for a ‘fairer and more…
Taylor Report consolidates a race to the bottom in employment standards
The Taylor report into ‘Employment Practices in the Modern Economy’ does little to help workers being exploited in the workplace.
The appointment of Matthew Taylor was always likely to be a…
Regulation is not ‘Red Tape’
If the Grenfell tragedy teaches us anything, it must be that regulation is not ‘Red Tape’, it is an essential safeguard for a civilised society. Scotland has escaped some of the worst examples of…
Public sector pay back on the agenda
Public sector pay is at least back on the political agenda. Now we need to turn the rhetoric into action.
The decision of Jeremy Corbyn to put ending the public sector pay cap as a key element of…
Tackling the causes of poverty
The shocking news that a homeless person dies every three weeks in Edinburgh highlights the extreme consequences of poverty and neglect in our society. Millions more are struggling in poverty every…
How do you like your council coalition?
As the dust settles on coalition and other arrangements across Scotland’s 32 hung (or balanced if you prefer) councils, now is good time to look at how councils will operate in this…
Education reform – getting the balance right
The Scottish Government’s education reforms are an attempt to balance their centralising tendencies with local democracy and give headteachers’ greater responsibility for their schools, without…
A very different election
Well that was different! From landslide victory to hung parliament breaks the received wisdom that the short election campaign can only marginally shift voting intention. I have been fighting…
Election 2017 – Labour’s ownership plans are the radical shift in energy policy
Not for the first time, energy policy has received very little attention in this election campaign. In Scotland, key elements are reserved so you might expect a bit more attention to be paid to it,…
Election 2017 – what side are you on?
Election slogans are generally meaningless, but in this election they clearly differentiate the offer. Comrades, left and right, should focus on that.
Today’s Scottish Labour manifesto will set out…
Freedom of Information – from ambition to action
Freedom of Information is an essential part of a thriving and effective democracy. Scotland needs to move from the ambition of support for open government, to putting the legislative and practical…
Councils should defend local services and those who deliver them
Musical chairs around the council chamber won’t alter the challenges facing local government in Scotland.
The voters have had their say and there are a lot of new councillors taking responsibility…
Scotland is NOT our local
Three days to go to polling day for the council elections – just in case anyone noticed. Even before the general election was dumped on us, national issues dominated the debate.
If the parties want…