As the UK government probably planned when they appointed a safe, if boring, pair of hands in John Cridland, his review of the State Pension Age (SPA) lacks imagination.
He recommends:• State Pension…Read more…
Let’s splash the Scottish Plan for Action on Safety and Health
The UK has one of the best safety records in the world, but far too many people are injured and die at work, and much more needs to be done about ill health at work.
I was at the Health and Safety…Read more…
Tory health policy with a difference
When a new Scottish Conservative health policy lands on my desk, I flick through it expecting to see the usual marketisation, ignoring health inequalities and blaming the poor for their…Read more…
Batten down the hatches – it’s Indyref2
There is a certain irony in the Tories arguing that demands for another independence referendum will create ‘uncertainty and division’ – when to resolve internal party squabbling they started this…Read more…
UK Budget 2017 – still no coherent economic plan
The UK Budget does little for hard pressed households in the short-term, and even less for the long-term health of the economy.
Let’s look at the issues that matter to UNISON members.
Austerity is…Read more…
Apprenticeship levy – keeping it local
With an ageing public sector workforce, we should be encouraging apprenticeships by passing the funding from the Apprenticeship Levy onto those public service employers who deliver quality…Read more…
A better energy system is possible
Let’s imagine a different energy system. One that not only delivers clean decarbonised energy, but is increasingly local and run democratically in the interests of the people not big corporations.
I…Read more…
Scotland needs economic as well as political power
While political structures are important, what really matters is the distribution of wealth and power.
The Scottish Labour Party conference tomorrow will debate a motion on federalism that takes…Read more…
Increasing the state retirement age is the wrong solution
We are generally living longer at that means the cost of the state pension is rising. Does that mean the State Pension Age (SPA) should go up and up – or is there another way?
That’s the question…Read more…
Why the robot workplace damages workers and their organisations
Obsessive and unnecessary recording and reporting at work increases costs and places undue stress on staff. Coupled with new monitoring systems, workers are being turned into robots, before they are…Read more…
We should all be pension geeks now
All of a sudden, pensions are rarely out of the news. From changes to the state pension, through to transparency of investment charges and outright fraud. Largely as a result of auto-enrolment,…Read more…
Council budget cuts – cutting through the spin
This year’s local government budget allocation has been subjected to even more political spin than usual. So here is my attempt at a bit of clarity.
The war of words in the Scottish Parliament…Read more…
Draft Scottish energy strategy
The Scottish Government has set a 50% renewable energy target in its new draft energy strategy.
The consultation paper highlights the huge huge shifts in electricity generation in recent years,…Read more…
Ethical care: good for workers and those they care for
Raising social care standards is good for workers and the people they care for.
Today, I was at North Ayrshire Council, the latest employer in Scotland to sign up to UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter….Read more…
Getting it right in schools
Reorganising education governance is simply a distraction from the real issues facing our schools as highlighted in UNISON Scotland’s survey of school staffs. That’s also the conclusion of a wide…Read more…
A new approach to public service reform
Since the publication of the Christie Commission report five years ago, public sector reform has been largely piecemeal and driven by austerity cuts. The debate can also drift into a contest between…Read more…
Happy New Year – looking forward to a better 2017
Happy New Year! If 2016 was another ‘anno horriblis’, lets hope 2017 is an ‘anno magnus’. As I demonstrate how I scraped through law school without properly learning Latin!
I don’t do predictions,…Read more…
Draft Scottish Budget – read with care!
If you are struggling with the different interpretations of the Scottish Government’s draft budget, don’t panic, it is confusing!
My briefing for UNISON branches attempts to cut through the spin and…Read more…
Time to tackle expensive PPP borrowing
The Scottish Government’s spending plans for 2017/18 is unlikely to be a cheery read when it’s published on Thursday. However, when budgets are being cut, it is all the more important that government…Read more…
Cutting Air Passenger Duty is the wrong budget priority
The scale and destination of the cuts to the Scottish Budget will become apparent with the publication of the Scottish government’s spending plans on Thursday. This is not the time to cut taxes such…Read more…