On 1 February, 70 per cent of the probation service was handed to the private sector, yet only last week, the government’s own statistics revealed that the probation service was working relatively well prior to the government’s disastrous reforms in 2014. These recent MoJ figures…Read more…
‘Stop dumping on waste management staff’ says UNISON Scotland
Fri 23 Jan 2015
UNISON Scotland conducted surveys amongst staff working in waste management across Scotland’s local authorities. The results revealed a workforce under pressure facing increasing targets and declining budgets.
In a report Dumped On – Working in Scotland’s Waste Management Servicesthe union details the experience and expectations of a workforce trying do their job in an aRead more…
Growing funding crisis in local government threatens public services
A growing funding crisis in local government is threatening the future of local public services in England. According to new analysis published today in Austerity Uncovered significant cuts have already been made to statutory adult social care and children’s services – with more cuts to come….Read more…
Scrap plans for new women’s prison, urges UNISON Scotland
Tuesday 13 January 2015
UNISON Scotland, the public services union with many members working in Criminal Justice services has urged the Scottish Government to scrap their plans to build a new Women’s prison.
The union has written to Justice Secretary Michael Matheson saying that a tendering exercise for the construction of a new jail near Greenock should be halted.
The plans go against expertRead more…
Cameron’s NHS “crisis, what crisis?” moment
In response to the growing and widely reported crisis in A&E across the NHS in England, David Cameron dismissed trade union “scaremongering” and referred to the issue as “short-term pressure”. Let’s recap the issues that David Cameron describes as “short-term pressure”: A financial situation…Read more…
NHS porter’s workloads and stress go up as their wages go down, claims UNISON report
Wed 17 Dec 2014
NHS Porters are under pressure and their workloads are going up while the value of their wages are going down. The report also concludes that their training is patchy and there are reports of lack of equipment to allow them to do their job properly.
These are the conclusions of a study UNISON has conducted among NHS porters. This report also suggests a growth in zero hourRead more…
Mind the gap – has George Osborne got a plan for funding the NHS?
One of the big ticket items coming out of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement was additional funding for the NHS. £2bn extra for 2015/16 and a new £300m a year fund for kick-starting GP innovation, derived from fines imposed on the banks’ shady foreign exchange dealings. There was plenty of…Read more…
A cooperative approach to public services
Hat tip Co-operative Councillors newsletter. “This short animation outlines a vision for a new approach to engaging with communities and delivering services to meet their needs and aspirations. It calls attention to the limitations of top-down, Whit…Read more…
New evidence private firms are taking over more and more of our NHS
The British Medical Journal today published new evidence to show how privatisation of NHS services is continuing to intensify under this government. Using Freedom of Information requests to Clinical Commissioning Groups, they found that of 3,494 contra…Read more…
UNISON Scotland statement on First Minister’s programme for Government
Wed 26 Nov 2014
Mike Kirby, Scottish secretary of UNISON, said ‘UNISON is Scotland’s largest trade union and we welcome the First Minister’s programme for government. There was much in Nicola Sturgeon’s statement to commend.
We welcome her commitment to protect public services and to increase NHS funding; her commitment to the living wage and to mitigate the problems of welfare reform; andRead more…
MPs vote to #BackTheBill for our NHS
Great news from Parliament today, where Clive Efford’s private members’ bill passed on a significant vote.Read more…
Under pressure – UNISON survey shows Scotland’s occupational therapists struggling to maintain service
Tue 11 Nov 2014
A report out today (Tuesday 11 Nov 2014) by UNISON shows that Scotland’s occupational therapists are struggling to maintain the level of service their patients need in light of budget cuts and staffing shortages.
Those surveyed in the report – Under Pressure: Scotland’s occupational therapists speak out – said they had huge concerns about the impact cuts are having on theRead more…
‘Cuts cost lives’ says UNISON – campaigners lobby Glasgow City Council over savage cuts to mental health charity
Tue 11 Nov 2014
Staff, service users, community groups and members of the public will gather in George Square tomorrow (Wednesday 12 November) to lobby Glasgow City Council over its plans to cut a charity’s funding by 40%.
The scale of these savage cuts are likely to force Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH) – which receives nearly all of its funding from the council – to close,Read more…