- Conference
- 2009 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 12 February 2009
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the continued marketisation of services across the public sector, primarily in England, which has already created a market for services worth more than £80 billion each year. This market is often driven by the pressure to make efficiency savings and cut costs which will be made worse as the effects of the credit crunch bite and authorities face real cuts in their budgets. UNISON members know that marketisation and privatisation create a downwards pressure on jobs, terms and conditions which in turn reduces service quality.
The UK government’s comissioning and procurement agenda is causing fragmentation in the delivery of public services and could see the transfer of thousands more jobs to private companies and the voluntary and community sector. It could lead to the break-up of UK and devolved bargaining frameworks and potentially undermine the terms and conditions of many UNISON members, including their pension benefits. Whilst this is less prevalent in the devolved administrations there are similar procurement challenges.
Conference recognises that these developments are bringing fresh challenges to our members as the process of marketisation becomes ever more technical and difficult to engage with. Conference welcomes UNISON’s new guide to campaigning and negotiating around procurement and training “From Commissioning to Contract Evaluation” and the training programmes and web page that have been put together around it. This approach need to fully recognise the different approaches to procurement in the nations of the UK where procurement is a devolved issue and public policy and structures are different from England.
Conference recognises that UNISON is committed to campaigning against privatisation and for the direct delivery of public services. At the same time conference acknowledges that UNISON must support our branches as they face the prospect of the commissioning process. The guide emphasises the need for early intervention in the procurement process to maximise the chances of keeping services in-house.
Conference notes that the scope for protecting equalities and employment once procurement has commenced is much greater than is often recognised by procurement officers and public authorities. Conference welcomes UNISON’s campaigns at UK and in the devolved administrations to get justice for contracted workers by ending the two tier workforce and taking the equality duties into the private and voluntary sectors.
Conference calls on branches and regions to:
1)Get involved in the commissioning and procurement process, to shape future service provision;
2)Co-ordinate their responses to privatisation initiatives, especially large-scale outsourcing that affects large numbers of members, or extends beyond individual branches or regions;
3)Make the best use of UNISON’s procurement guidance and training to challenge commissioning and keep services in-house;
4)To get the best possible deal for members working for contractors where privatisation takes place.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to campaign at all levels in the UK and at the European Union for:
a)Stronger protections for contracted workers through the use of social clauses;
b)A level playing field where private contractors are required to match the employment and equality obligations of the public sector.