Funding for health and social care integration

This conference recognises that buried under the jargon of Sustainability and Transformation Plans, Local Care Organisations, Place-Based Plans and Geographic Footprints there may be potential opportunities for improvements in services by removing artificial barriers between health services provided by the NHS and social care services provided by local government. However, as is all too common […]

Crisis in social care – call for a special conference

This local government service group conference calls upon the NEC to organise a special one-day delegate conference on the crisis in social care as a major step towards developing a union-wide organising and publicity campaign in defence of publicly owned and democratically controlled, good quality social care and social work services. This conference believes that […]

Bus services in crisis

Conference is concerned at the continued depletion of our bus services and welcomes UNISON’s support for the Campaign for Better Transport and applauds the support from the General Political Fund for research into defending and improving our bus services. Conference notes that although buses are the most flexible form of public transport, they receive far […]

UNISON and the WASPI campaign

Conference is aware that in recent years governments have increased the state pension for all women born on or after 6 April 1951. The Conservative government’s Pension Act (1995) included the provision to raise the pension age of women from 60 to 65, in line with men’s retirement age. The subsequent Pension Act (2011) implemented […]

Facility time

This Conference notes that motions on cuts to facility time have been debated and passed at Local Government Conference in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. This Conference notes that the motion passed in 2013 called for the development of “…practical and immediate support measures for branches facing cuts to facility time”. This Conference notes that […]

Child marriage is child labour

Conference notes that in September 2016 the International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the Alliance 8.7, an initiative which will bring together all interested parties to join forces in achieving UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development target 8.7, aiming at a world without forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour. Conference welcomes the initiative, […]

Schools Funding and Facility Time Arrangements

Conference recognises the importance of recruiting and organising support staff in schools as part of our campaign against the government’s 8% cuts to school funding by 2020 (as predicted by the National Audit Office) . These cuts are already hitting a wide range of staff particularly in academy schools and will also hit the quality […]

NJC pay claim and campaign 2018 onwards

Conference welcomes the National Joint Council (NJC) committee’s decision to lodge the 2018 pay claim early so our pay aspirations are clear to the Local Government Association (LGA) during the negotiations on the review of the NJC/GLPC pay spines. Conference condemns the UK government’s continuing refusal to give public service workers, and particularly local government […]

Race Inequality in the Workplace

Conference notes that despite efforts to bring further equality into society, evidence shows that Black workers are still being held back in the job market. The amount of Black members holding senior posts in the Water, Environment and Transport (WET) employers still remains low, unemployment amongst Black people remains high – particularly amongst young Black […]

Immigration and the effects of the EU Referendum and the Brexit Vote

The EU Referendum on 23 June 2016 and the decision of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union sent shock waves through communities with the immigration debate becoming ever more toxic. The campaign itself resulted in unacceptable language and propaganda being used about immigration generating fear, division and a ‘them and us’ rhetoric. […]

Canal and River Trust – Sink or Swim

Conference welcomes and commends the work done by the Service Group Executive and UNISON members over recent years to support the transition of the organisation formally known as British Waterways into the Canal and River Trust. Conference notes that the Canal and River Trust is now a charity trust and in order to support the […]

Recruiting and organising Black members in the fragmented workforce

It is important that Black workers and members are equipped for the challenges within the changing and evolving landscape of the UK today, especially in delivering public services and local government sectors. Conference recognises that Black workers left, behind after the cuts, are now more likely to be working, in more isolated workplaces, under increased […]

Closing the gender pay gap in local government

Conference notes that new government legislation on gender pay gap reporting, whilst a welcome initiative, will not, on its own, make a significant difference to the occupational gender imbalance in local government. Women continue to be excluded from senior posts within the sector, with as few as 1/3 of all management/director/senior officer posts being held […]

The Water Framework Directive and UNISON members

This Conference notes that the EU Water Framework Directive was adopted by the EU on 23 October 2000 and came into force in December 2000. The Directive established a framework for the protection of inland surface waters (rivers and lakes), transitional waters (estuaries), coastal waters and groundwater. It sought to ensure that all aquatic ecosystems […]

Invisible or Non-Apparent Disabilities

Conference believes that disabled people and young disabled people in particular are being subjected to discrimination because of disabilities that are not immediately apparent or a diagnosis has not yet been made. The impact of such disabilities can lead to people being wrongly labelled as “lazy”, or worse, and feeding the stereotype of those with […]