The Conservative Party have pledged to freeze regulated rail fares for the next five years. What this announcement obscures is that even if capped at the level of inflation (what is meant by the term ‘freeze’), fares will still rise at wage-busting prices. At the same time our heavily…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…
Key questions in The Public Services Election
In the third of a series of articles, UNISON Scottish Secretary Mike Kirby lays out UNISON’s plan to get our members’ issues at the centre of the election debates.
"This is the Public Services Election. The outcome will have a huge impact upon UNISON members, their families, communities and the public services in which we work, to protect the disadvantaged and provide a better quality of lifeRead more…
Campaign success: Lift media gag on civil servants
Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to sign the FDA’s petition to lift restrictions on civil servants’ contact with the media. We really appreciate your support in helping to…Read more…
Help protest media gag on civil servants
Please help FDA members tell Francis Maude that government need to think again.Read more…
Unsustainable budget cuts leading to self-service policing
By imposing swingeing cuts to the budgets of police forces across the UK, the government has put policing in crisis and placed neighbourhoods and communities at risk. The growing, and increasingly public furor over the impact of spending cuts to police…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…
UNISON Scotland launches Childcare Charter
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Five ways the government is failing NHS patients
In its damning report last month, the King’s Fund health think tank criticised the government’s reforms as “damaging and distracting” for introducing even more markets to the NHS, for making it too complex to govern properly and lacking effective leadership. The man behind these NHS reforms, former…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…
UNISON’s response to the Scottish Government’s Sustainability and Seven Day Services Interim Taskforce Report
Friday 6 March 2015
UNISON welcomes interim report from the Scottish Government’s Taskforce for Sustainability and Seven Day Services. This taskforce is considering how we provide round the clock care for patients who need it the most, with a genuinely seven day service for acutely ill patients.
The taskforce met for the first time in April 2014 and this interim report (released today) providesRead more…
Public ownership of rail is not only necessary; it is the only realistic option
A recent article in BBC News Magazine asks the question Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways? Using as a premise the recent passing of the East Coast main line from public to private hands, the article provides an interesting insight int…Read more…
ISS: End poverty pay at QE Hospital, Woolwich
GMB are calling on private contractor ISS to end the two tier workforce at the hospital.Read more…
The East Coast Mainline: Why was the government so quiet about one of its great successes?
Organisations generally want to celebrate their successes. A bit of boasting burnishes an organisation’s public image, as well as boosting the reputations of its staff, management, and promoters. Some organisations even celebrate their failures. The Royal Bank of Scotland, majority owned by the UK…Read more…
Action to Save Care Now
Building on their petition for better enforcement of the minimum wage for care workers, care union UNISON have launched a new campaign. Save Care Now is pressing for change on the many problems in…Read more…
Valuing our care workforce: Fair pay and respect for the job
Two stories this month have told us everything we need to know about the terrible social imbalances in the UK. On the one hand we had the revelation that some of the wealthiest people in our society had been advised by HSBC about how to avoid paying tax. The consequences are a £34 billion tax ‘gap’…Read more…
Austerity job losses – bad for all but worse for some
In order to divert attention from the public sector jobs carnage caused by its austerity policies, the Conservative Party claims that ‘there are now two million more private sector jobs than there…Read more…
Speak up for Justice – Not the Global Law Summit
The Speak up for Justice campaign calls for an integrated, publicly owned, accessible and accountable justice system that protects our right to justice. We also campaign against cuts to jobs and services and for a properly funded justice system. The ca…Read more…
Adding insult to injury – public service workers exempt from Tory call for pay rises
‘It’s time Britain had a pay rise’ the Tory Prime Minister told the British Chambers of Commerce on Tuesday. But Tory Ministers were quick to point out that Cameron’s Damascene conversion to fairness…Read more…