MEPs voted yesterday on an important report concerning the TTIP EU-US trade deal.Read more…
New MoJ figures reveal assault on access to justice, as spending cuts caused huge drop in legal aid work
The implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) has resulted in “large reductions in legal help workload and expenditure”, reveal new Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics. The statistics reveal that government reforms and spending cuts have led directly…Read more…
Why freezing the BBC is a really stupid idea
Just a few of the reasons we think freezing the Beeb for a decade is a staggeringly bad idea.Read more…
Love it or lose it: Save the BBC!
The Tory manifesto pledge to freeze the BBC licence fee for another 5 years will bring it to its knees.Read more…
Public sector jobs – the regional dimension
Earlier today the Office for National Statistics published the quarterly Public Sector Employment figures. I suppose the headline was the fact that the number working in public sector jobs has fallen another 43,000 over the past year, but I was just as…Read more…
Public Services are trapped in an EU market straitjacket
A much neglected aspect of the ‘European debate’ is the extent to which the EU is a driving force for the liberalisation and privatisation of public services. Judith Clifton writing for the LSE’s…Read more…
UNISON demands Stirling and Clacks councils release elusive report
Date: Wednesday 10 June
2015
UNISON has called for the immediate release of all
Ernst & Young documentation relating to the future of social care
and education in Clackmannanshire and Stirling Councils.
In particular, UNISON demand the release of a report –
by accountants Ernst and Young, commissioned by Stirling andRead more…
Delivering leisure is no fun, says UNISON
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<!–[if gte mso 9]>Read more…
#TTIP could be years away yet, but MEPs can strike a crucial early blow this Wednesday
The controversial TTIP trade deal between the USA and the European Union is being debated in the European Parliament on Wednesday.Read more…
New ORR figures reveal stealth fare increases amid soaring costs of privatisation
New figures released by the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) last week revealed that since privatisation took effect, ticket prices have skyrocketed, with much of the rise happening in unregulated fares – so-called ‘stealth increases’. Between 1995 and 2015 fares rose across all…Read more…
Scottish children cannot wait another 15 years for high quality childcare, says UNISON
Monday 1 June 2015
Responding to another Independent Review of the Scottish Early Learning and Childcare Workforce, UNISON has called time on the Scottish Government, demanding they now act to deliver improved childcare and early years education in Scotland.
The report, which has been published today (1 June 2015), was commissioned by the Scottish Government.
Carol Ball, chair ofRead more…
How will your MEP vote on TTIP?
The European Parliament votes soon on a resolution on the controversial TTIP trade agreement.Read more…
UNISON warning over public services in Stirling and Clacks
Friday 22 May 2015
Council staff have grave concerns about the future of public services in Stirling and Clackmannanshire, says UNISON.
UNISON will present a report to senior managers in both Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils today which raise grave concerns about plans to run Clackmannanshire’s education services from Stirling, and Stirling’s social care services from ClackmannanshireRead more…
Lawyers consider further action against unjust legal aid cuts
Lawyers fear that further cuts to criminal legal aid under the new Conservative government will lead to a dramatic decline in the quality of legal representation as well as to miscarriages of justice. The Guardian reported last week that the Criminal B…Read more…
Counting the cost of austerity for councils and communities
The Austerity Audit, published today by UNISON details the damage caused by the unprecedented squeeze on funding that has had such a dramatic impact on local council services in England and the people that provide them. The government has already cut the funding to local councils by £12.5bn or 37%…Read more…
Civil society groups demand ethical public procurement
UNISON Scotland is involved in launching the new #10Asks on procurement today. Here’s the press release:<!–[endif]–>
Civil society groups demand ethical public procurement
New public procurement rules in Scotland should help tackle
tax dodging, blacklisting and climate change, according to a coalition of civil
society coalitions.
International development charities,Read more…
New evidence nails the “no NHS privatisation” lie
The government habitually dismiss accusations of NHS privatisation. However a new analysis of NHS contracts produced by the NHS Support Federation shows how they will have to confront reality. Ministers say that very little NHS money goes to private co…Read more…
Evidence shows legal aid reforms led to huge rise in self-representation and increased costs to the taxpayer
“The available evidence indicates that the proportion of litigants appearing before the civil and family courts without legal representation…has increased since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) took many civil and private law children and family…Read more…
#respect4managers – Debunking the myths about NHS managers
In the leadership debate two weeks ago, David Cameron described NHS managers as ‘bureaucrats with clipboards’. He boasted that he’d got rid of 20,000 such managers in England and that somehow this had created more jobs for doctors and nurses. Well yes, they got rid of the managers, in the most…Read more…
Justice Committee Inquiry finds government reforms have reduced safety and performance of prisons
The Justice Committee recently concluded their first major inquiry on prisons planning and policies in this last parliament, focusing on measures the Ministry of Justice has used to reduce the ‘operational costs’ of the system. The inquiry report reveals the huge strain that the system is under, as…Read more…