- Conference
- 2021 Virtual Special Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 25 March 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the increasing reliance on agency workers in Further Education colleges in the UK and calls for this situation to be reversed as a matter of urgency.
A Freedom of Information request conducted by UNISON in 2018 revealed the extent to which some colleges are relying on expensive agency workers. Of the 163 colleges which provided data in response to the FOI, 24 had spent over �1 million on agency staff, 7 had spent over �2 million and the worst offender declared a spend of �3.6 million.
Based on staffing numbers each college reports 48 colleges spent over �1000 per staff member (excluding casuals) on agency staff. 12 of these colleges spent over �3000 per staff member and at the most extreme, two colleges were spending over �7000 per staff member on agency staff.
All this at a time when support staff have been targeted for redundancies as colleges seek to reduce costs across the sector. We now see the issue arising of colleges contemplating a more permanent move to online learning to save more costs in the sector.
The further education sector had seen funding cut by over 30% in the past decade and staffing numbers have been slashed as a result. It is neither desirable nor sustainable for the sector to be spending vast sums on hiring workers through agencies.
A permanent employment contract has many benefits for the individual. They will have certainty of employment and income and access to career progression. Staff want to feel part of a team and a permanent contract of employment, as opposed to insecure agency working, will help to improve the mental health of college workers.
Never have these issues been brought into such sharp regard relief as during the Covid-19 pandemic. Agency workers have faced real hardships, with a loss of income as campuses closed to all but the most vulnerable and little recourse to government employment support schemes.
This conference wants to see any temporary employees given a permanent contract of employment after no more than two years, in line with the legal entitlement to terms and conditions that any worker receives after two years with the same employer.
This conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1)Conduct a nationwide Freedom of Information request to find out the current extent of agency spend in colleges in the UK;
2)Publicise the results of the FOI through media outlets and campaign work;
3)Develop an organising campaign for agency workers in FE;
4)Work with external stakeholders and other unions to promote the reduction in the use of agency staff;
5)Work with the National Union of Students to campaign on raising awareness of the strong relationships that learners develop with support staff.