Apprenticeships and new employers/new models of public service delivery

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Conference
2017 Local Government Service Group Conference
Date
22 February 2017
Decision
Carried as Amended

This conference notes that a range of new employers and models of service delivery are emerging in local government e.g. combined authorities, local authority trading companies, public authority mutuals, ‘Devo Manc’ etc.

This conference also notes that these changes have profound implications for the local government service group bargaining and organising agenda on staffing, pay, and terms and conditions as they are affected by changes in resourcing.

This conference further notes that the new government target for public service authorities provision of apprenticeships requires public sector organisations – with some limited exceptions – with more than 250 (headcount) employees to deliver an average of 2.3% of employees being apprenticeship starts between 2017 and 2021.

This conference agrees that it is vital the local government service group develops an effective bargaining and organising response to these changes, and apprenticeships must be recognised as an important part of that work. This must include protecting or advancing resources, quality, and pay for apprentices, and also preventing their use as cheap labour, especially as funding for local government is further squeezed.

This conference calls on the local government service group executive to:

1) Pursue working towards an effective bargaining and organising strategy to address these new models of service delivery and new employers;

2) Provide appropriate bargaining advice and recruitment/organising resources are provided to branches on securing the best possible apprenticeship conditions;

3) Hold a fringe meeting at next year’s local government service group conference on recruiting and organising apprentices.