Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Conference welcomes the progress made on the introduction of a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights(CEHR). However Conference is very concerned that there are still no plans to introduce legislation relating to the CEHR’s powers, constitution, terms of reference and details of the various strands and their link to each other. Conference is also […]

Prescription Charges and Exemptions

Conference congratulates the Welsh Assembly in agreeing to eliminate the charges that the people of Wales pay for prescription charges. Already reduced to £4 per prescription item, and in the lifetime of the current Welsh Assembly there is commitment to having free prescriptions in Wales by the end of 2006. Conference notes that there are […]

Participation in Campaigning Activities

Conference recognises the right of every member to take part in the union’s campaigning activities, including attendance at marches and rallies. It is therefore important that, as with all other areas of the union’s work, steps are taken to ensure such events are fully accessible to disabled members. We therefore call upon the National Disabled […]

False Allegations of Sexual Harassment

Amendment to Motion 30 (Carried and incorporated into M 30) Add after fifth paragraph “That a member who is accused of a serious sexual allegation of a service user or member of staff can lead to the arrest or even charge of the member. The result of a false allegation can lead to the arrest […]

Equal Pay and Single Status

Conference deplores the fact that almost 30 years after the Equal Pay Act there continues to be a gap between full-time men and part-time women’s pay in local government of 42% and an overall gender pay gap of 19%. 80% of councils across the UK still need to implement new pay structures and deliver equal […]

Efficiency Reviews and Regional Democracy

Conference notes with alarm plans announced by the Government and devolved UK administrations to achieve so-called “efficiency savings” in the public sector by increasing productivity and procurement. Conference affirms its commitment to high quality, responsive public services, but believes that the efficiency reviews are cost driven and not likely to improve services. Each efficiency announcement […]

Workforce Training and Development

Conference notes that the Government’s emphasis on high quality, improved local government services continues but believes that this cannot be achieved without a highly skilled and fairly rewarded workforce. However this contrasts with a continuing skills deficit in Local Government, in areas such as environmental protection, social services and trading standards and the additional pressures […]

School Remodelling Agreement

Conference believes the National Agreement on school remodelling offered the opportunity to develop a career structure for school support staff, a long held aim of UNISON. Today many authorities have agreed new pay and grading structures, but not all. New training opportunities have been developed and many schools, for the first time, are including support […]

Police Federation Membership Expansion

Conference notes with extreme concern, the announcement at Police Federation Conference 2005 that the Federation has set up a working party to examine pros and cons of taking police staff, with police powers into membership. This could potentially lead to the Federation seeking to recruit PCSOs, detention officers investigating officers and other police staff accredited […]

Budget Cuts

Conference notes there has been a political decision that there shall not be any reduction in Police Officer numbers. Consequently, under the force wide efficiency and budget savings exercise, Forces are redeploying Police Officers into Police Staff posts to avoid any reduction in Police Officer numbers. This means that Police Staff are carrying the brunt […]

Public Holidays at Weekends

Conference notes that this year Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Sunday. On such occasions when any part of the Christmas and New Year holidays fall on a weekend Police Officers working shifts receive paid compensation additional to the Sunday, i.e. Tuesday 27th December and Monday 2nd January are effectively Bank and […]

PCSOs

Conference welcomes the Government’s announcement that the Service will employ 25,000 Police Community Support Officers by 2008. In so doing, Conference acknowledges that this major increase in the Police Staff establishment will present both opportunities and challenges for the Police Staff Service Group. The opportunities include the potential for a massive increase in membership and […]

Disability Awareness within UNISON Courses

Conference is concerned that South East Region has unfortunately discovered that disability and equality awareness is not consistent within all UNISON regional education and training courses. Conference instructs National Disabled Members’ Committee to liaise with the regional education committees to ensure that appropriate disability awareness training is included on all UNISON education and training programmes […]

Pensions

Conference restates our complete opposition to any detrimental changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme which would reduce our members’ security when facing retirement, redundancy or ill-health. The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is not a costly and unaffordable scheme – it provides a modest income in old age for workers who have served the […]

The Funding Crisis in Further Education

The Government promised financial stability in FE in its “Success for All” reforms in 2002. It recognised that annual funding allocations lead to short-term planning, restricting the ability to take strategic decisions because of uncertainty about future income flows. A three-year funding strategy, with an extra £1 billion was promised. Additional funding has been consumed […]