Care for the Elderly

Given the increasing numbers of elderly people in the next 35 years who will need residentail and/or nursing care, Conference is dismayed at the apparent complacency of successive Governments to tackle this issue. Polls indicate that 82% support the concept that everyone should pay for this care through general taxation, a policy which UNISON supports. […]

Winter Fuel Allowance

Conference is very concerned that the Coalition Government’s Budget on 21 March 2012 did nothing to help pensioners who are unable to cope with high winter fuel bills. The Winter Fuel Allowance was reduced in March 2011 by £100 (down from £400 to £300) for the over 80’s households and by £50 (down from £250 […]

RETIRED MEMBERS: TECHNOLOGY

It is becoming increasingly apparent that some Unison retired members in Branches and Regions are experiencing difficulties in communicating with colleagues as they are not computer literate or able to afford computers, or their health makes it difficult to use. Therefore, this Unison National Retired Members Conference instructs the National Retired Members Committee and calls […]

Frozen Pensions

FROZEN PENSIONS Conference deplores the government’s “frozen pensions” policy whereby British pensioners who live abroad in certain countries only receive a pension at the rate it was in the year they left the UK. There are around 555,000 “frozen” pensioners around the world, almost half of whom live in Australia. One of the oldest is […]

Outsourcing, Low Pay and the Living Wage

This conference notes the devastating effects that the proposed outsourcing and privatisation processes being undertaken by West Midlands and Surrey Police forces will have on the Police Service and the communities that they serve. This conference believes that outsourcing will never be of benefit to our members, and that direct employment within the public sector […]

Police Professional Body

Conference is deeply concerned at the way in which proposals for a new Policing Professional Body are being put together. The governance structures of the new body, which replaces the training and development functions of the National Policing Improvement Agency and some aspects of the Association of Chief Police Officers, are set to become completely […]

Facility Time Campaign

Conference condemns the growing threat of attacks on elected trade union representatives, at both the local level and nationally in police, probation and the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS). Conference notes that on the same day that a million UNISON members took industrial action to defend their pensions, Prime Minister David Cameron […]

Revitalising Health and Safety

Health and Safety is vital for Police, Probation and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) Staff. Our direct interaction with the public will often put our members in difficult situations where their safety and well being may be jeopardised. It is therefore important that our employers have robust and effective Health […]

International ties

This conference notes the importance of maintaining contact with like minded trade unions outside of the UK. As the government seeks to utilise policing models from other cultures such as Police and Crime Commissioners, it is important to gain learning from international trade unionists who share our values and have experience in organising within these […]

Putting Equalities back on the agenda

Conference notes with disappointment that matters relating to equalities may have slipped down the agenda in recent years. We all understand the pressures that are placed on members, branches and employers because of the swinging cuts at the hands of the ConDem government and that our attentions have understandably been elsewhere. Equalities is the bedrock […]

Government’s New Pension Proposals

Conference notes that it remains the intention of the Government to introduce a new flat rate basic state pension, corresponding to a current figure of £140 per week, in 2016. Whilst the introduction of such a flat rate pension will alleviate the disparity between women’s and men’s pensions in the future, Conference notes that the […]

Police and Crime Commissioners

This Conference expresses its growing concern about government privatisation policies that will affect the terms and conditions of police and justice staff acting under the responsibility of police and crime commissioners. We welcome the anti privatisation campaign that was launched at UNISON’s national delegate conference 2012 partly in response to moves by the West Midlands […]

Changes in work place demographics

Conference believes that cuts to police budgets have disproportionately fallen on police staff. Swathes of police staff across the country have been made redundant, face redundancy or privatisation. Conference it could be argued that any progress made in the last decade in terms of equality and work life balance has been expunged by the changes […]

Retired Members’ Outrage at the Budget and Attacks on Pensions

This conference condemns the Coalition Government’s callous attacks on pensioners and the state pension framed in the March 2012 Budget which discriminate against the elderly and will lead to the increased financial insecurity and pensioner poverty. The basic state pension may be rising by 5.2%, a decision taken prior to the budget, but this is […]

Quality of Retired Life

UNISON Retired Members’ Conference reaffirms its commitment to the eradication of pensioner poverty in Britain. This can happen only if there are good quality final salary occupational pensions in both the private and public sectors and a basic state pension linked to earnings. The Coalition’s attack on pensions is driven by a political determination to […]