- Conference
- 2013 Police & Justice Conference
- Date
- 11 June 2013
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
The North West Region are concerned that the current Police and Justice guidance on the use of volunteers is outdated. The Regional Service Group Committee believes that the Service Group Executive needs to review and produce firm guidance to all sectors with reference to the use of volunteers within our workplaces, especially in light of the recent emphasis placed on ‘Citizens in Policing’ which this region believes will shortly be in the Justice sector? Volunteers and their use is particularly relevant in the current economic climate where the Government constantly refers to the third sector (voluntary) involvement in the provision of services to public sector bodies. This inevitably is being seen as a threat to the job security of individual salaried members as we begin to see volunteers brought in where jobs have gone under these swinging cuts and this is undermining of the current structures of the Public Sector. UNISON must oppose the indiscriminate use of volunteers to cut costs.
The North West Regional Service Group Committee therefore instructs the Police and Justice Service Group Executive to:
1)Consult with branches on this matter.
2)Produce updated guidance on the use of volunteers.
3)Make the views of the Service Group known to those implementing the Citizens in Policing agenda.