Campaigns
Available hereBring hospital services back in-house
(21/10/08) UK government should follow Scottish example, says unionUnion condemns school cherry picking
10/10/08) Self-governing schools breaching admissions code'Come home to Labour'
(24/09/08) Minister lays out 'positive' vision for housingPublic spending works
(23/09/08) 64p of every local government £1 reinvested in local economyNews list >
Positively Public
The issues:
PFI-PPP
Public private partnerships (PPPs) is a generic term which refers to different kinds of initiatives which bring the private sector into the provision of public services. The most common form of PPPs is private finance initiative (PFI) which is used to finance, build and operate new public buildings and facilities such as hospitals and schools. Under PFI or PPP, private companies design, build, finance, own and then operate halls of residence in return for a fee for the duration of a contract which is typically as long as 25-35 years.
There is a growing use of PFI or PPP to allow private companies to raise money for major public service projects. But it costs more for private companies to raise money than it would for the government or local government. The only way private companies will make their money back is to cut either services or staffing costs. That means public service workers and users pay the real costs.To find out more see our Private Finance Initiative (PDF) section.
Housing campaign
UNISON continues to campaign for direct investment in social housing to improve housing to a decent standard and to provide services which are responsive to housing needs and demand. Currently, there are very limited investment options to improve social housing. These involve privatisation or part privatisation of stock or the service through stock transfers, arms length management organisations or PFI. There is no option of direct housing investment. UNISON is opposed to investment options which lead to privatisation and is campaigning for tenants not to be financially penalised if they choose to stay with their council landlord.
For more information:
Housing Transfers: taking stock (PDF)
Hands off our housing - UNISON's campaign against large scale voluntary transfers of council housing stock
Health
The health service has undergone fundamental change in service provision over the years. There is now an increasing use of private health providers which threaten to undermine the viability of publicly provided health services. They include private sector diagnostic treatment centres, foundation hospital trusts and private finance initiatives. UNISON is opposed to privatisation in the health service which privatises staff, impacting on their pay and conditions of employment and creates a two-tier workforce .
More information from:
Carving up the NHS
Private sector diagnostic and treatment centres (PDF)
Foundation Hospitals and the NHS Plan (PDF)
Seven reasons why UNISON is opposed to Foundation Trusts (PDF)
What's good about the NHS and why it matters who provides the service (PDF)
The two-tier workforce
Over the past 15 years there have been dramatic changes in the way local councils and NHS hospitals deliver many of their services. Tens of thousands of staff have been transferred from local councils and the NHS to private contractors. Most of these will have conditions protected when they transfer, but newer staff taken on after transfer usually face worse pay and conditions. So what is UNISON doing about this? UNISON has led the campaign to end the two-tier workforce in public contracting services and is also campaigning for a fair wages clause to protect the pay and conditions of workers, regardless of who employs them. In 2003 UNISON secured an agreement to end the two-tier workforce in local government called the Best Value Code of Practice on workforce matters. Negotiations are ongoing to roll out the Code to all public services. In 2005 the Labour government agreed to roll out the Code to all public services and this is now being negotiated.For more information:
Fair Wages: How to end the two tier workforce in public services and achieve fair wages (PDF) - gives background the our campaign to end the two-tier workforce
Best Value Code of Practice on workforce matters
To read Acrobat PDF files you need Acrobat Reader software, which is available free of charge from the 
Adobe website in both PC and Mac format.
• The UNISON contact for the Positively Public campaign is Margie Jaffe.
Positively Public
1 Mabledon Place
London WC1H 9AJ
Email: positivelypublic@unison.co.uk
UNISON has welcomed the idea of the Constitution as a means of protecting the core values of the NHS. However, its submission puts forward a number of significant changes in key areas including safe staffing levels and the need to have a level playing field with all providers of NHS services covered by the same standards.
Acrobat PDF version
Refinancing: profiteering from public services
Lots of PFI contractors are 'refinancing' their loans - changing the terms of their borrowings to increase profits by as much as 80%. Most public bodies making PFI deals have allowed contractors to keep all these windfall profits. The National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee have condemned these arrangements and said the benefits of refinancing should be shared between contractor and client.
Acrobat PDF version
ISA - staff side principles
The following principles have been drawn up in partnership by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), GMB, Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Royal College of Nursing (RCN), National Union of Teachers (NUT), Society of Radiographers, UNISON and Unite. They relate to the introduction of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). All of the organisations support the principle of safe and effective public protection, and our principles seek to reflect this, but also identify areas of concern surrounding the approach and implementation of the ISA scheme.
Acrobat PDF version
The rise of the 'public services industry'
New UNISON report highlighting the economic reality of the marketisation of public services, which increases the government's financial exposure and the risk of personal catastrophe for vulnerable service users
Acrobat PDF version
Equal pay, privatisation and procurement
This timely publication from the Institute of Employment Rights explores the links between privatisation, the gender pay gap and the legal hurdles women face trying to manoeuvre between the complexities of equal pay and transfer laws.
Acrobat PDF version
© Copyright 2008
