Two of our School Support Staff members attended the Unison National School Support Staff Seminar in Cardiff May 2015. Their information on conference speakers and an interesting presentation on TUPE is below: School Support Staff Seminar Report Cardiff May 2015 … Continue reading →Read more…
Market competition is stifling vital innovation in our NHS
It is increasingly clear that any government coming into power after the next election will be faced with unprecedented challenges across the NHS. The legacy of five years of government-imposed austerity and top down restructuring is a growing financia…Read more…
Privatised cancer care – what could it mean for the NHS?
A leaked document exposed today by openDemocracy shows the potential impact that privatisation could have on cancer care services in Staffordshire. Four CCGs have combined to put a massive contract, worth £700m over ten years, out to tender. What makes this particularly concerning is the use of a…Read more…
Joined up public services – how do we unscramble marketisation?
Progressive, people centred reforms of public services by an incoming Labour Government will require more than good intentions writes Eunice Goes on the LSE blog. Decades of funding cuts,…Read more…
What impact does outsourcing have on public services?
It has been a mantra of successive governments that the public do not care who provides their public services, only what works in practice. But surveys and opinion polls are pretty consistent in demonstrating public unease and scepticism about the role…Read more…
Public Contracts Regulations: Government getting it badly wrong on public procurement
With around £230bn spent by the government on goods and services and with outsourcing increasing across the public sector, getting the commissioning and procurement framework right is of vital importance in shaping the future of our public services. So it is concerning to see the way the government…Read more…
Outsourcing fails service users and workers
The outsourcing of public services provision to private providers has a detrimental impact on the workforce and a knock-on effect on the quality of care, says a new TUC report published today. The…Read more…
Health & Social Care mergers – Knowledge is Power
My article on the issues and problems that potentially lie ahead for activists and campaigners trying to extract information from the new merged structures providing health and social care in…Read more…
Organising strategy – mobilise or organise?
On 8th November I attended four fascinating meetings at the Historical Materialism conference with people from the USA and Canada discussing the plight of the labour movement and ideas for turning it round.
I found the debates really useful and there …Read more…