Government grant shifts scarce resources from north to south

A new study by UNISON, the UKs largest union, has revealed that the Governments New Homes Bonus Scheme is draining scarce resources away from the recession hit north, to wealthier parts of the country in the south.

Money for the new homes scheme is deducted from local council grants and then redistributed - not on the basis of need or population - but to areas where most new homes are built which largely depends on decisions made by private developers. Building firms meanwhile are unsurprisingly shying away from poorer areas that have been hit hardest by the recession and choosing to build in areas where the profit potential is greatest.

The union is demanding that the Government puts a stop to deprived areas being penalised in this way.

A table of individual councils across England shows the scale of the loss with more than 60 per cent of the money spread between London, the South East, East of England and South West. Among the top of the losers list are Oldham, Knowsley, Liverpool, Wirral. South Tyneside, Gateshead and Newcastle.

Oldham (loses £1 and gets back 0.11p) and Knowsley (loses £1 and gets back 15p), while the biggest winners are Uttlesford (gets back £19.34 for every £1 lost), Basingstoke and Deane (gets back £18.70 for every £1 lost) and Forest Heath (gets back £15.80 for every £1 lost).

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:

It is grossly unfair that the Government is using its New Homes Bonus scheme to shift scarce resources from the hard hit north to wealthier parts of the south. Over 60 per cent of money is spread between London, the South East, East of England and South West. It cannot be a coincidence that the Tory heartland is where most money is being directed.

To most people it is obvious that private developers will be slow to build new homes in areas where the recession is biting deepest. What is less obvious is that the money for New Homes Bonus is deducted from the money that councils are supposed to get from the Government. It is being top-sliced from the formula grant and redistributed via the New Homes Bonus. And because it is distributed differently - not on the basis of need or population - councils in the south are getting much more than their fair share.

Fuel poverty !!

UNISON is calling for action not words from politicians to address the rising fuel poverty crisis facing families across the UK, following a new report from the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee today (20 December).

While the government’s own fuel poverty advisory group is reporting that another 300,000 families have descended into fuel poverty since last Christmas, UNISON has called the fact that families will be facing the Dickensian dilemma of ‘heat or eat’ in modern Britain a ‘scandal’.

UNISON’s national officer for energy Matthew Lay said:

“As Christmas draws near, families are facing a desperate situation fuelled by the greed of energy companies and government inertia. It is a national disgrace that in modern Britain families should face the choice of ‘heat or eat’. “Sadly the reforms promised in the government’s recent Energy Bill will actually make matters worse. The costs of implementing the recommendations are to be passed down to the consumer, adding yet more to already sky-high household bills. It also ignores the simple fact that profits and dividends among all the energy companies are on the increase and many of them are on the must-buy list of stock-broking firms.”

“Words are not enough, it is time for action.”

The union is calling for radical government action involving using some of the money it gets from carbon taxes to help make homes super-energy efficient – with excellent insulation, renewable energy and modern boilers. This would reduce energy usage, reduce bills and importantly put people back to work providing decent employment opportunities. It could start straight away and turn around the fortunes for families across the UK.

UNISON has seen increased demands on its own charity ‘there for you’ for help this winter and is providing help and assistance to many this Christmas.

UNISON demands 'Fair Pay Now'

UNISON, the UK’s largest union is calling for “Fair Pay Now” for council workers, as a new survey reveals that hundreds and thousands of workers are suffering from a whole raft of extra cuts to their terms and conditions.

On top of a three year pay freeze, the survey, which covers 264 councils across England and Wales, shows car allowances, weekend enhancements, overtime and mileage rates, as well as redundancy pay are being hardest hit. But significant numbers reported cuts to contracted hours and pay, shift and call out payments, bank holiday rates and 23% reported school staff being moved onto less favourable “term-time only” contracts.

Heather Wakefield, UNISON Head of Local Government, said:

“Local Government workers and their families are really hurting. The three year pay freeze means that, since 2009, pay has fallen by a shocking 13%.

“Our survey shows that, to add insult to injury, council workers are also seeing their terms and conditions being slowly but surely chipped away. Many of those being hit hardest are the low paid working in home and residential care as well as sheltered housing and schools, where shift payments are a critical element of their incomes.

“We are asking for fair pay now to restore pay levels and bring them in line with inflation.”

"Get into real world" - vicious council cuts will hit more vital services

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is warning that the Government’s 1.7% cut to local authority spending power will have a devastating impact on council services and workers. The details announced by Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles of how much each council will be allocated out of government central funding, simply means more cuts, more redundancies and fewer local services for those who need them most.


Heather Wakefield, UNISON’s Head of Local Government, said:

“Local councils are already under the Government’s financial cosh and today’s cuts will push many more vital services over the edge. By 2013/14 the Spending Review will have cut grants to Councils by £4.3bn while handing companies £3.75bn in cuts to Corporation Tax, where is the fairness in that?

“Eric Pickles needs to get into the real world. Around the country Libraries, Day Centres, and Youth Clubs are closing, care is being rationed as eligibility criteria become ever tighter, and young people find careers advice has all but disappeared.

“The evidence of the damage on vital local services is now all around us and plain to see. The wrong choices are being made and the gap between Ministerial rhetoric and the reality of what is happening to public services simply gets wider. Ministers are out of touch with the lives of ordinary people and the day to day experience of those who rely on and deliver our public services.

“Using council reserves to pay for everyday services is bad financial management because once they are gone, that it is it – councils will have no financial safety net in case of emergency.”

The Spending Review in 2010 meant that for every £100 councils received in formula grant in 2010/11 they would get just £73.60 in 2013/14 and further cuts have been announced since then -that is before inflation is taken into account.

Notes for Editors

The Leader of the Local Government Association Sir Merrick Cockell says the cuts ‘are unsustainable’. The Leader of Kent County Council says ‘the tank is running on empty’ and Finance Directors call the cuts ‘appalling’

Government adds to fear in workplace

The announcement today that the Government is cutting the opportunity for consultation on large scale redundancies from 90 to 45 days, “Is a cruel blow for workers and their families” said Bronwyn McKenna, UNISON Assistant General Secretary. She went on to say:

“Cutting the opportunity for employers and unions to realistically explore alternatives and ways to avoid large scale redundancies is a retrograde step. It will mean the loss of more skilled and experienced workers to the dole. The recession has led to fear in the workplace and the Government is adding to those fears by cutting short the opportunity for meaningful talks to take place.

“Any worker facing redundancy needs time to plan, to mitigate the impact on them and their family finances. Making arrangements to cover mortgages or rent, sort out bills, re-train and apply for new jobs all takes time and this cut will leave families facing financial hardship.



“This process can also be used to cut pay and conditions through disreputable dismissal and re-engagement strategies. Halving the period for consultation gives greater license to rogue employers to attack wages.”

06/12/2012

A & E waiting times - UNISON response

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, today warned that a rise in A & E waiting times will not only worsen, but will spread across the health service as the effect of Tory cuts and mismanagement of the NHS hits hard.

A major survey of more than 46,000 patients by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found that a third spend more than 4 hours in A & E. In 2004 the figure was 23%. Waiting times to see a nurse or a doctor have also risen.

Only yesterday, the Chancellor was on his feet in the House of Commons claiming that the government was reducing expenditure on public services at the same time as delivering improvements. He cited waiting times in the NHS as an example of such improvements. This survey shows his claims need to be taken with a huge bucket of salt.

All ambulance trusts have to make around £500 million worth of cuts over the next five years. The NHS as a whole has to deliver £20 billion worth of efficiency savings in the lifetime of this parliament.

Christina McAnea, UNISON head of health, said:

“This survey shows that Tory claims that they are protecting our health service are worthless. Ask any nurse, healthcare assistant or midwife, they know what is standing in the way of delivering the best possible care to patients; Tory cuts.

“All across the country nurses and health workers are losing their jobs, wards are closing and now we know that A & E waiting times are rising – this is deeply worrying. It means that patients are suffering. Meanwhile, billions are being wasted on a chaotic and deeply unpopular top down re-organisation of our health service. This money should be spent on caring for patients.

“The government needs to start listening to the real health experts – health workers – and take action to protect the NHS before it is too late. This rise in A & E waiting times is just the tip of the iceberg.”

06/12/2012

Mutuals and co-ops report - UNISON response

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, today welcomed a House of Commons report* into mutuals and co-operatives which highlights a dangerous lack of evidence for the government’s drive to promote the use of them in the public sector.

The report identifies that there are still very few examples of mutuals and co-ops in the public sector, particularly in local government. This exposes the government’s many claims about the benefits of mutuals and co-ops as worryingly unproven.

UNISON has long been warning that there are dangers lurking in the plans, and sounding alarm bells about the lack of evidence for the benefits that it would bring for local people and essential services.

Greater employee and service user involvement is the way to provide services which meet the needs of communities, but that this can be done co-operatively in-house, without the need to set up a new entity, fragment services and put staff terms and conditions at risk, said the union.

Heather Wakefield, UNISON head of local government, said:

“The government has been pushing the mutual and co-ops agenda hard as a new way of delivering local services. The dangerous lack of evidence for the benefits is deeply worrying. Their claims about the benefits are little more than warm words.

“At a time of slashed budgets, local authorities are desperately searching for ways to continue to deliver quality services. But we believe the principles of co-operation can happen within existing services - setting up complex and untested new structures in the current climate is a playing a dangerous game with vital services which people rely on and our members’ jobs.

“The report makes a number of recommendations to Government and calls on them to ‘take action to provide support’ if it wants more mutuals and co-ops to develop. Without this, the report is clear that this will not happen.

“In this sense, the report is a test – if the Government believes in genuine co-ops and mutuals as a means of improving public services, it will act. If not, the rhetoric which has surrounded this agenda will be consigned to history, along with other failed policy fads such as the Big Society

NHS suppliers - UNISON response

Commenting on research exposing the differing costs of medical supplies, Sara Gorton, UNISON Deputy Head of Health, said:

“It is a disgrace that medical suppliers should exploit the NHS by charging as much as they can get away with. NHS logistics was created to help bring in economies of scale, but that has since been privatised and it seems clear that the NHS and its patients are the losers.

“The unwillingness of Trusts to share information is part and parcel of introducing more of the culture of private companies into the NHS. Sharing information is key to extending good practice and patient care as well as getting the best value for money. Sadly introducing competition undermines willingness to do just that.

“Frontline’ is not just about clinical staff - research like this shows the important role in stopping waste that can be played by properly run finance and procurement departments with access to good quality information on costs.

“The NHS is under severe financial pressure because of the Government’s demands for £20bn in efficiency savings. More transparency in the marketplace would help to save jobs and reduce cuts which would be good news for patients, staff and the taxpayer.

Energy companies should pay their way - UNISON

A windfall tax on the billion pound profits of energy companies would be a vital step in reducing the UK’s financial problems, UNISON said today.

As British Gas owner Centrica looks set to announce £1.4bn profits, while simultaneously increasing prices by 6%, the UK’s largest union said the government should be looking at the balance sheets of energy companies to find alternatives to counter the austerity agenda.

Mike Jeram, UNISON head of business and environment, said:

“The billion pound profits of energy companies, announced at the same time as massive price hikes for their customers, are an insult to the many families who are struggling to get by as winter takes hold. austerity, it is only right that we ask big companies to contribute more out of their profits.

“The amounts of money being talked about are astronomical, and a windfall tax is just one way the government could intervene to take the edge off the cuts agenda.

“If these companies are going to continue to wring hard-pressed families for every penny they have, just to keep warm, it is only right that their enormous profits contribute to the society that lines their shareholders’ pockets.”

Centrica is the latest in a line of energy companies who have announced massive profits while at the same time inflicting substantial price increases onto their customers.

The union has already condemned energy firm SSE’s decision to increase bills by 9% while announcing £400m half-year profits, urging the government to make good on its promise to keep energy prices down as Winter begins to take hold.

Turning point turn on hard-working staff

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, today hit out at plans by the charity Turning Point to sack its 2,600 staff and re-employ them on worse terms and conditions, calling it a “vicious and unnecessary kick in the teeth for hard-working staff”.

The charity has been growing over the last three years and making bigger profits each year rising to £302,000 in 2011/12.

Simon Watson, UNISON National Officer for Charities, went on to say:

“Turning Point is behaving disgracefully. It is through the efforts of its staff that the charity has grown and makes a profit and their reward is to drive down their pay and conditions.

“The timing could hardly be worse – right before Christmas when staff have more demands on their family budget. A race to the bottom is not the way to attract and retain decent staff and that means that the charity’s clients will suffer"

Don't waste your chance to save police services

The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections are the public's last chance to save policing services from privatisation, UNISON warned today.

As hundreds of UNISON members gathered for a demonstration outside Cardiff City Hall, where delegates from across the UK had gathered for the annual UNISON Police and Justice Conference, the message was clear - use your vote, or lose your public policing services.

Ben Priestley, UNISON national officer for police staff said:

"This is the public's last chance to keep policing services public. People need to use their vote in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections on 15 November to elect a candidate that is committed to keeping those services public.

"Privatisation of the policing and probation services will lead to fragmentation, a race-to-the-bottom in terms of service quality as well as undermining public trust in the service. Police staff are there to protect the public, not to line the pockets of shareholders.

"These elections mark an important turning point in our campaign against police privatisation; opinion polls show that the public do not want their policing services to be privatised, so they have to use their vote carefully if they want to keep their services public."

Peter Saville, Branch Secretary, Kent Police UNISON said:

"We're really concerned about the way this government is going down the road of wanting to hive off everything to private contractors. We will lose the ethos of policing, and the police staff behind the scenes."

John Green, a member of Kent Police UNISON branch said:

"We provide a really good public service, and we can't afford to let the Conservative government take us down the privatisation route. Its not going to be better for the public; it means some rich fat cat friends of David Cameron will get richer while the service goes down as a result."

The Police and Crime Commissioner elections are taking place on 15 November, and once elected, candidates will decide the future direction of police services in terms of privatisation and outsourcing.

A recent survey from the union revealed that more than 60% of the public do not want policing services to be privatised.

Facility time cuts make no sense warns UNISON

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, said today that cuts to civil service facility time, announced at the Tory party conference, make no sense for the taxpayer. The union is warning that the continual attacks on public service workers by Government, makes the need for fair and well-trained union representation for workers more vital than ever.

Independent research* in 2012 revealed that facility time saves the taxpayer money by providing a ready-made structure for meaningful consultation and negotiation. It also improves workplace relations and helps organisations to cope with change, such as the huge cuts, job losses and reorganisations that are currently hitting the public sector.

Research commissioned by the Department for Business in 2007 suggested that effective and engaged union representation saves the public purse between £170m and £400m a year by improving retention, training take-up, health and safety, and dispute resolution; and as much as £3.6bn a year through general productivity gains.

Karen Jennings, UNISON Assistant General Secretary, said:

“The government needs to look at the evidence instead of indulging in ideological attacks on unions. Cutting facility time does not make any sense for the public sector or for the taxpayer. Take this away and the government would have to pay for expensive consultants, and mediators – costing a fortune.

“It is staggering, that at a time when austerity has plunged the economy into double dip recession, Ministers are distracted by yet another attack on workplace representation”.

*A report by NatCen Social Research revealed that:

Facility time provides a ready-made structure for meaningful consultation and negotiation saving organisations money and providing reassurance to employees that their views are valued in decision-making.

It allows partnership working with trade unions that improves workplace relations and the reputation of an employer as ‘a good place to work’.

It allows earlier intervention into complaints, grievances and disciplinaries, preventing escalation into more serious problems. This saves organisations and taxpayers’ money by reducing the impact on staff time and possible legal costs.

It brings about better communication, helping to manage change during restructuring and redundancy processes; thereby improving understanding of decisions, minimising negative impacts and reducing the number of working days lost through industrial action.

The report concludes that “Where reps were released or seconded from their substantive posts the quality of representation and availability of reps was further improved because reps were able to focus further on their duties, prepare better for discussions with managers and build up relationships of respect trust with managers over time.”

The full report can be found here: http://www.unison.org.uk/file/Value%20of%20Union%20Facility%20Time%20-%20FULL%20REPORT%20_FINAL_.pdf

Crisis of failing homecare services an outrage - UNISON

The current system of homecare is failing the people who receive it and the people who provide it, UNISON said today.

A new report from the UK's largest union has revealed widespread concern from homecare workers that short visit times and changing client lists are severely impeding their ability to provide quality and continuity of care.

Many workers have reported 'topping up' care, by providing additional unpaid care in their own time, to the detriment of their own personal lives.

The union described the treatment of those receiving care and workers - who are among the most poorly paid in the country - as an outrage.

Key findings include:

. 79.1% of respondents reported that their work schedule is arranged in such a way that they either have to rush their work or leave a client early to get to their next visit on time.

. 57.8% of respondents were not paid for their travelling time between visits, which results in many being paid below the national minimum wage.

. 41.1% are not given specialist training to deal with their clients' specific medical needs, such as dementia and stroke related conditions.

. Only 43.7% of respondents see fellow homecare workers on a daily basis at work. This isolation is not good for morale and impacts on the ability to learn and develop in the role.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said:

"This report has highlighted the very real crisis of our current homecare system, which is failing both the people receiving care, and the people providing it.

"Short visiting times, and ever-changing client lists are severely limiting the ability of homecare workers to provide quality and continuity of care. But they are speaking out, and they are rightly appalled.

"It is an outrage that homecare workers, who provide care to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, remain so poorly treated and badly paid. Homecare workers show their real commitment and passion for this valuable public service on a daily basis but it is not right that are propping up a failing system by providing care in the own time, to their own personal cost.

"The value of their work, and the contribution they make to the communities they serve must be recognised.

"This report sadly shines a light on the reality for many people who rely on homecare - a production line mentality which limits the ability of staff to carry out their duties, and puts the dignity of those receiving care second to meeting arbitrary targets.

"It is time for the councils who commission or provide these services to take responsibility for the welfare of those who receive, and provide them."

Homecare workers report that the sheer volume of clients, and the pressures of under-staffing, have lead to 'call cramming' - where visits must be cut short to fit them all in. The consequences, as the testimonials reveal, can be harrowing. (See notes).

UNISON has put together an Ethical Care Charter to assist councils who provide or commission home care to help ensure this care is of the best possible quality.

Key points include:

. Workers to have the freedom to provide appropriate care and being given time to talk to their clients

. Clients will be allocated the same homecare worker(s) wherever possible

. The time allocated to visits will match the needs of the clients. In general, 15-minute visits will not be used as they undermine the dignity of the clients

. Homecare workers will be paid for their travel time, their travel costs and other necessary expenses such as mobile phones

. Visits will be scheduled so that homecare workers are not forced to rush their time with clients or leave their clients early to get to the next one on time

ENDS

Below are some examples of on-the-job experiences of homecare workers who responded to our survey:

" A client was not answering her door so I rang the office so they could phone the client. There was no answer and I was told to abort the call but I refused, as I was sure the client was in. She was and had had a fall. She was hospitalised and later died."

"I left a client with a burst water pipe. Was told to leave even though she was 93 years old and could not pick up a bowl and bucket of water."

"An elderly lady was being sick; I called the doctor but couldn't wait for him to arrive as I had to go to my next visit."

" Have had to leave a client with open sores as was not able to contact family to get them to apply dressing. Have had to leave pills out for a client with dementia as she was failing to take them."

Ed Miliband speech

“This was the day Ed Miliband showed that he was Prime Minister material. He delivered a truly inspirational vision of a fairer united Britain under the next Labour Government.

“He offered a vision and hope to the young, to the vulnerable, to the sick and to the elderly based on decency and fairness. And he set out a new way forward for our nation.

“He has shown that he is not afraid to take on the banks or big business to make them operate in the interests of the nation to at last begin to redress the gross inequalities in our society

“But he offered little hope to the millions of low-paid public service workers teaching assistants, dinner ladies, care workers who are going through massive pay cuts, their jobs threatened and their services privatised. Until he can offer them hope, it will be difficult for them to vote Labour again. One Britain should include these workers”.

01/10/2012

Time for Labour to show it stands for what is right - UNISON

In his speech to Labour party conference UNISON general secretary, Dave Prentis, called on the party to stand up for what is right, to show its support for a future that works, and to campaign for an alternative to the coalition’s brutal austerity agenda.

He said that people wanted hope – not economic lectures – from their leaders, and called on the party to prove while in opposition that it understands the terrible impact the government’s cuts agenda is having on the lives of so many families.

Urging the party to show its support on 20 October, he said it was time for the party to do on a national level what UNISON is doing locally – building a movement that will sweep the ‘wretched coalition’ from office, and put Labour back in government

The full speech can be found below:

“Our economy is in crisis: the worst recession in 70 years; families are plunged into poverty; kids going without hot meals and winter clothes; and prices rocketing, while pay is plummeting.

“The indignity of food banks – this is Tory Britain.

“Inequality in Britain not seen since Victorian times, with loan sharks pushing pay day loans to desperate families who are sinking in a sea of debt.

“Our people suffering the longest period of falling wages since the 1920s while the wealth of the richest soars. A divided Britain of rich and poor; where inflation and a vicious pay freeze is wrecking lives.

“A new class of working poor, our people hit hardest as they look to Labour – our party – for hope.

“Conference, our fight for fair pay is with no one in this room. No one in this room is the enemy and no one in the leadership of our party gains by undermining our efforts to defend our members and their families.

“Our fight is with the Tories – that self serving elite who have never believed in fair pay – never believed in public service

“And to those who believe that driving down further the pay of public service workers will save jobs, I say you are wrong. Wrong morally and wrong economically.

“The reality is that our people have already had a 10% pay cut as wages have been frozen and the cost of food, petrol, housing has soared. And we’re still losing jobs – 700,000 of them!

“In the real world where our members - overwhelmingly low paid women – are struggling, looking for hope.

“They look to Labour in opposition to understand what they are going through. More than anything, they want hope from our leaders ¬– not economic lectures, which simply justify a Tory agenda.

“They want Labour in opposition to be in touch, to show that they are on the side of those harmed by the coalition.

“They want Labour, in opposition, to fashion an economic alternative that does not leave ordinary people in any doubt that Labour speaks and acts for them.

“Our fight with the Tories isn’t just about pay or jobs. It’s about the kind of society we leave to our children. It’s about protecting and defending the rights our grandparents fought for: our NHS, our welfare state.

“Challenging the broken ideology that says markets know best. We need our leaders to stand with us, not sit on the sidelines or piano stool.

“Times are tough; so many struggling – care workers, teaching assistants, dinner ladies – fighting to make ends meet, ordinary working people who had nothing to do with this financial crisis but who are now paying the price.

“If our members – the people we rely on to provide our public services ¬– if they decide to fight this pay freeze then both they and their union expect our political party to stand with them and support them.

“Conference, it’s time for our great party to show that it will fight for a future that works, to be there with us on 20 October in London, in Glasgow, in Belfast. To be a presence in our communities; to reject Tory Britain; to stand up for what is right; and to give hope to our people, fighting for fair pay, and against the market madness destroying our public services; to do in parliament what we are doing in towns and cities everywhere: building a movement that will sweep this wretched coalition from office and put Labour back in power once more.”

CBI report 'fundamentally flawed' warns UNISON

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, said today that a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report, claiming that billions could be saved by privatising public services, is ‘fundamentally flawed’.

The report is based on an assumption that savings of 11% can be made through outsourcing or privatisation – a figure that has been ‘plucked out of the air’ by the CBI. This assumption is then extrapolated and applied to more than £200bn of public spending.

The 11% savings calculation does not take into account the often huge knock-on costs associated with privatisation including procurement, tendering and contract management. It also omits to mention the huge cost to the taxpayer and local people when the private sector fails, or that some public bodies have brought public services back in-house after contracts have failed.

The report also flies in the face of public attitudes to privatisation. Recent polling by ComRes for UNISON* reveals a lack of public trust in private companies providing public services. The polling reveals a widespread awareness amongst the public that private companies fail to deliver on their contractual obligations and that privatisation leads to lower quality services.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“This report is fundamentally flawed. Where is the proof that 11% savings can be achieved by privatising public services? The CBI has plucked this figure from the air. All the evidence shows that privatisation is a costly failure that the taxpayer can ill afford. Only last week MPs felt it necessary to call for a blacklist of firms that have failed to deliver on their contracts.

“Privatisation failures carry heavy human costs – just ask an elderly resident of an ex-Southern Cross home. And, as the G4S Olympic fiasco clearly shows, when the private sector fails, the public sector has to pick up the pieces – including the cost.

“Turkey’s don’t vote for Christmas, and the CBI is hardly going to call for less businesses involvement in public services. But recent polling has revealed that privatisation is deeply unpopular with the public. If the government pushes through with the CBI’s vision it would face the wrath of voters at the ballot box.”

UNISON is calling for an urgent inquiry into privatisation and outsourcing, including the companies that provide public services, their employment practices, the quality of services they provide, as well as the profits they make at taxpayers’ expense.

*Recent ComRes polling for UNISON* shows that

62% do not trust private companies to run public services.

Only one in five (20%) believe that privatisation has led to better quality services to the public, nearly three times as many (55%) believe that public services are of worse quality under privatisation.

81% believe that private companies either frequently or sometimes fail to meet their contractual obligations.

Privatisation failures

The CBI report features case studies including the company May Gurney that provides recycling services in North Somerset, which it holds up as a success story. However, after more than 7000 public complaints about the service, the company was recently fined more than £61,000. The company is also reportedly facing severe financial difficulties, with a recent 41% drop in its share price – leaving these vital public services in jeopardy.

Only last week it was reported that Serco, a private company running out of hours GP services in Cornwall, had given false data to the NHS on 252 occasions. This followed an inquiry, after fears were raised that the service was so understaffed, it was unsafe – concerns about the service and the effect on the public remain.

Six patients at Lister Hospital suffered irreversible sight loss after they received poor aftercare when they were treated by a private company owned by construction firm Carillion.

Despite failing to deliver on its Olympics contract, G4S boss Nick Buckles has admitted that he expects to be paid its £57 million management fee in full, despite the public sector – the army – stepping in to keep the Olympics safe.

Care home company Southern Cross collapsed in June 2011, leaving the company’s 31,000 vulnerable residents facing huge uncertainty. The company had been operated by a private equity firm that made money from a complicated sale and leaseback arrangement with its buildings.

In August this year, some workers at private care home Winterbourne View received a prison sentenced after they were caught on camera abusing vulnerable patients. The home has since been closed down.

UNISON takes fairness fight to European Court

UNISON, the UK’s leading public sector trade union, today (20 September) took its fight for fairness in the long-running Alemo-Herron & Ors v Parkwood Leisure Ltd case, to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

UNISON is arguing that 24 members transferred from the London Borough of Lewisham to Parkwood Leisure have the right to continue to benefit from nationally agreed pay and terms set by the local government pay negotiations.

The Advocate-General's opinion in this 7-year long case is expected on 31 January 2013.

UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis, said:

“We are taking our fight for fairness all the way to Luxembourg because we believe that we have a strong case. Under TUPE regulations, Parkwood employees transferred from the London Borough of Lewisham should be entitled to nationally agreed pay rises.

“This is an important case that will have implications for the thousands of workers that have been transferred out of the public sector or are set to be transferred. This is especially important in the current climate.”

Beecroft lite

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, today warned that the ‘Beecroft lite’ proposals to slash employment rights will only fuel insecurity, making the UK’s unemployment levels higher and the recession worse.

These plans will cut unfair dismissal awards, deter people from taking claims against rogue employers, and put pressure on people to sign settlement agreements, under which people sign away their right to taking an unfair dismissal case at a later date. Coupled with new fees for Employment Tribunals due next year they represent a ‘lite’ proposal of those originally proposed by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft in his report to Government.

Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary, said:

“These ‘Beecroft lite’ proposals are still a blatant attack on workers’ rights. The UK already has some of the weakest labour laws in Europe. Weighing the scales heavily in favour of bosses - who can hire and fire at will - will only fuel insecurity, lengthening the dole queues and making the UK’s damaging recession worse.

“UNISON will also be campaigning hard against plans to amend the TUPE rules that protect workers’ rights when they are transferred from one employer to another. We suspect that in the name of simplification the Coalition really want to make it easier transfer public services to the private sector, and spark a race to the bottom on pay, terms and conditions.”

Notes to editors:

UNISON is backing a campaign against these measures asking MPs to vote against Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill – within which many of these rules will be legislated:http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/under-attack

UNISON’s evidence to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill consultation can be found here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmpublic/enterprise/memo/err48.htm

31/08/2012

House price rise - UNISON response

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is today calling on the government to start an urgent programme of building affordable homes. A survey by the Nationwide Building Society out today reveals that UK house prices have bucked the recession to rise by 1.3%.

Increasing the UK’s housing stock would not only ease pressure in the housing market, but would help turn the corner on the economic downturn. Five million people – 2 million households – in the UK are currently on housing waiting lists.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“The government needs to be bold to help our country recover from the recession. Initiating a programme of building affordable housing would stimulate growth and give thousands of low paid families the chance of a decent home.

“But when the UK urgently needs affordable housing, the government has cut funding for social housing by more than £4 billion. What it could and should be doing is making capital funding available to housing associations and local authorities so more homes can be built as a matter of urgency.

Audit Commission report peddling dangerous myth - UNISON

A report from the Audit Commission that suggests councils can save money on care assessments by replacing qualified social workers with non-qualified staff is peddling a dangerous myth which will damage care standards and lead to longer term costs, UNISON warned today.

The report, which also promotes ‘reviewing’ of pay levels as a method of cutting council costs, says that the biggest cost in providing social care assessments is paying professionally qualified staff. UNISON says that reducing the use of these professionals is tantamount to providing essential social care on the cheap.

Using non-professional staff to carry out work for which they are not trained places inappropriate pressure on them, and places the vulnerable people they care for at inexcusable risk. The complexity of adult care needs is ever increasing – dementia, drug addiction, mental health conditions, vulnerability to abuse and knock-on effects on children and families – and all these need the highest possible levels of skills and qualifications to get assessments and care plans right first time.

Helga Pile, UNISON national officer for social care said:

“This is something we’ve been long concerned about in adult social work – providing social care on the cheap – and the Audit Commission’s report is yet more evidence of a flippant approach to care standards when it comes to vulnerable adults.

“The Government has said it values the professionalism of social workers in adult care –so we hope they will move quickly to challenge these dangerous myths.

“The recommendations in this report are too simplistic. They diminish the work of both the professionally-qualified social workers – of which there are already a shortage – and the support workers and social care assistants, who play a vital role in the care of vulnerable people and don’t want to be ‘social workers on the cheap’.

“UNISON cannot support recommendations that put pressure on staff to do a job for which they may not be properly trained, for no extra pay, and place the vulnerable people being cared for at risk. Social workers need to be leading this work alongside support workers but it is dangerous to think you can just replace them. The long-term consequences would be more unmet need at greater cost to crisis services and hospital admissions.”

In 2011 UNISON conducted a survey into the exploitation of social work assistants and support workers being used as social workers in an attempt to reduce costs. It found that two thirds of respondents were regularly given work with vulnerable children and adults that they don't feel qualified or experienced enough to do, only 25% said there were clear boundaries between their roles and that of social workers and 75% of support staff normally worked over and above their contracted week.
The 2011 survey can be found here: http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/stepping_into_the_breach_report.pdf