There’s a lot at stake on 8 June – and here’s how you can get involved
The article General election – three things you can do right now first appeared on the UNISON National site.Read more…
The rail franchise needs more than just a reboot
The current system of rail franchising leaves much to be desired. Passenger satisfaction is very uneven, and the system is not well aligned with the needs of the economy. Today, Campaign for Better Transport (CfBT) published a report on the state of Rail Franchising in the UK. Since 1998 range of…Read more…
Too little too late on teacher retention
Yesterday saw the last minute publication of the government response to the inquiry into teacher recruitment and retention undertaken by the House of Commons education select committee earlier this year. The committee’s original report, published in February, highlighted a number of key issues,…Read more…
What we want from the Busses Bill wash up
The Bus Services Bill is due to complete its passage through parliament this week, because of the election it will be agreed through wash up. It was initially due to enter Ping Pong on April 26 following its third reading in the Commons. The snap election called last week means that the bill has…Read more…
Putting the foxes in charge of the migration hen house
The Financial Times has a story today (behind the paywall) suggesting that the government’s new visa system for EU migrants will have to be enforced not by the Home Office or the Borders Agency but by employers, landlords and universities, because of cuts to the civil service. That would,…Read more…
Six years on, Dilnot is still an improvement and still not enough
Yesterday I attended a lecture by the economist Andrew Dilnot, hosted by the Resolution Foundation. The lecture was called “A lasting solution to the social care crisis”; it was effectively a relaunch of the proposals of the Dilnot Review. The Dilnot Review published its proposals in June of 2011,…Read more…
Even the NHS pay review body condemns the cap
Today’s NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) report stands as a sharp rebuke to the government’s public sector pay policy. Though their recommendation is for pay to remain within the cap, their comments indicate dismay at the havoc the policy is wreaking on the health service. In 2011/12, the government…Read more…
Did #Budget2017 deliver for public services?
This blog takes a look at what this Budget delivered for social care, health and education. In our pre-Budget blog we looked at what the Budget needed to deliver for public services, creaking after almost a decade of austerity. Social Care Few could de…Read more…
Statutory sex and relationships education: About time
The announcement this week by Justine Greening that the teaching of sex and relationships education will soon be statutory in all schools across the UK is truly welcome, so I apologise if my first response was “About time.” This is something we have been campaigning for over decades and it is great…Read more…
All eyes on the metro mayors
UNISON wants to see public services at the top of the agenda during the metro mayor elections
The article All eyes on the metro mayors first appeared on the UNISON National site.Read more…
Can a workforce strategy solve the NHS’ staffing crisis?
Staff shortages in the NHS are nothing new. It has been a chronic issue affecting the NHS since cuts made to training budgets in 2010 and 2011; heightened by existing pay restraint, staff morale and workload issues. But recent events and detrimental go…Read more…
Budget blog – an economy that works for nurses?
Our economy should work for everyone, but if your pay has stagnated for several years in a row and fixed items of spending keep going up, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you Theresa May, Conservative Party conference, October 2016 Yesterday our budget blog set out our case for investment in…Read more…
Budget blogs – we need a budget for public services
In 2018/19, in real terms, NHS spending is going to go down – 10 years after Lehman brothers and austerity began Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, wasn’t pulling his punches at the Public Accounts Committee last month. “There are very clearly substantial pressures and it doesn’t…Read more…
European Parliament vote for CETA brings the battle for fair trade deals home
Today the European Parliament voted 458 in favour of the EU-Canada deal known as CETA with 254 votes against. This means that about 90% of the deal comes into force and paves the way for the deal to be sent to the UK parliament for approval. If the UK parliament agrees to CETA we will…
The…Read more…
David Gauke’s response to our NHS funding campaign just isn’t adding up – #FullyFundourNHS
Our petition calling on Philip Hammond to commit to a financial reset for the NHS in the Autumn Statement received 11,764 signatures. We delivered it to the HM Treasury – only to find NHS funding was completely missing in the Autumn Statement. We have a number of concerns over the response we…Read more…
Brexit must mean real investment in public services, jobs & living standards, says UNISON
Responding to Theresa May’s speech on Brexit, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “People know we’re leaving Europe, but are worried about what Brexit means. “The Prime Minister says she…Read more…
We won’t be misled on the #SouthernStrike
Further strike action on Southern Rail take place this week, and the disruption this will cause for passengers is regrettable. But we won’t be misled by the industry on why the strikes are taking place. The extension of driver only operations by Southern Rail is at the heart of the dispute between…Read more…
Three key messages from Sir Ivan Rogers’ resignation
The headlines yesterday and today focus on “muddled thinking” as the key phrase to stand out from the leaked resignation e-mail of the civil service’s top man in Brussels, Sir Ivan Rogers. But in fact, that’s only the third most important part of the story around the shock…Read more…
Privatising East Coast is a bad deal for passengers and taxpayers
Virgin Trains is set to increase rail fares by 4.9% overall in 2017, compared to the average 2.6% rise across the UK. In 2015, Virgin Trains won the East Coast Main Line franchise when the line was hurriedly re-privatised ahead of the General Election,…Read more…
Spinning the railways
UK passengers spend up to six times as much of their salary on rail fares than commuters using largely publicly owned railways in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We have the most expensive commuter fares in Europe – and it’s no coincidence that out of those countries listed, we’re the only one…Read more…