- Conference
- 2015 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 5 December 2014
- Decision
- Carried
Conference condemns the restructuring of Health Education England (HEE) announced in 2014, just over one after its establishment and linked to a £17million (20%) reduction in running costs.
Conference opposes the 20% reduction in running costs which through its implementation means less jobs, a reduction of bandings for some posts and is unnecessary as £17 million is less than 0.5% of the overall budget.
Whilst Conference oppose the reduction in running costs, it also notes that although Health Education England’s own Frequently Asked Questions refer to the Department of Health stating that reduction needed to be over three years that Health Education England decided to make the cuts within one year.
Conference believes that the restructuring is linked to a change of approach to a more centralised, performance management based organisation and will not improve the quality of the service that Health Education England delivers.
Conference believes it was mistaken for UNISON not to organise a proactive campaign against the cuts; not to organise a series of press releases with clear opposition to the proposals and not to agree to contact Andy Burnham and to ask him to raise the issue of the cuts (even despite Conference concerns about what a future Labour Government might do).
Conference calls on the Health Service Group Executive to:
1) review the strategy adopted by UNISON during the restructuring of HEE that commenced in 2014;
2) in the event of further threats to jobs and /or attacks on terms and conditions in Health Education England, to organise a proactive campaign led by lay members.