Conference notes the final offer on the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales was published on 9 March 2012. UNISON members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are currently being balloted on the offer with full information on what it will mean for them and the consequences of rejection. Conference deplores the decision of […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that on 3 January 2012, Stephen Lawrence and his parents finally received some justice, when Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of his racist murder. Stephen Lawrence born on 13 September 1974, murdered by 5 white youths on 22 April 1993 just because he was Black – young and gifted. For […]
Three in five people of faith in Britain support equal marriage! Stonewall’s five yearly polling of public attitudes shows that more that 80% of British adults under fifty now support the proposal. Civil partnerships are not enough, and as such treat us differently from everyone else. This is discrimination. You should not have to tick […]
Conference reaffirms its complete opposition to the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill. Conference believes that the Bill is the biggest threat to the English NHS in its 64 year history. Despite minor changes made by the so-called “listening exercise”, the fundamental dangers of privatisation, fragmentation, instability and inequity remain. The Bill will turn the […]
UNISON Health conference expresses serious concern about employers’ attempts to dilute skill mix and staffing levels as part of cost-cutting within the NHS and the impact which this can have on patient safety. We note a huge amount of variability in workforce planning, together with scientific evidence demonstrating the value of appropriate skill mixes to […]
Conference notes the acute challenges our members face in the current climate of radical structural reforms (in England), budgetary constraints and efficiency savings targets, all of which are taking a serious toll on the NHS workforce. Employers under pressure to reduce costs are looking at every conceivable way to save money. Increasing numbers are tampering […]
Conference notes that the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) has had a turbulent integration within the NHS. There have been widespread variations regarding the success of the KSF across NHS employers. Conference remains committed to the belief that KSF is an in invaluable tool in the NHS and used properly it is a method of […]
Conference commends the work of the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) committee with regards to raising awareness across this union of issues affecting LGBT members. It is now the norm for UNISON regional groups to have a high profile at the many Pride events up and down the country with many of our […]
This Conference believes that providing a sufficient stock of affordable decent-quality social housing is essential to help address the housing crisis in the United Kingdom, and especially the extreme difficulties that young people are experiencing in securing and retaining a home of their own. Conference recalls with heavy heart the claims by George Osborne in […]
Conference notes the advances in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality over recent years that have given LGBT people more options and choice of becoming a parent, whether it be as a single LGBT person or as a same sex couple. However there are still many LGBT people who are already parents or who […]
Conference is concerned at reports that some NHS Trusts are undertaking mass downbanding of staff to save costs, often under the pretext of skill mix reviews or other service redesign. While it is understandable that from time to time service redesign will be appropriate, this should only be driven by quality improvement and not solely […]
Conference notes the Tory led attack on public services and the NHS across the UK. In Northern Ireland the £4.3 billion cut to the block grant to Northern Ireland has had a hugely detrimental impact on public service delivery. Conference is very aware of the significant drain on our Health and Social Care service budgets. […]
Despite successfully fighting privatisation in the majority of the health service, UNISON in Northern Ireland, like other regions, is battling the continued outsourcing of domiciliary care services to the private sector. There is also a continued push for shared services across the health service. Our members are deeply worried about compulsory relocation and redundancies. Conference […]
This Conference believes that the Health and Social Care Bill as drafted will make the National Health Service a soft target for thieves and fraudsters. Conference notes with concern that the Bill does not make statutory provision for the prevention, detection or investigation of fraud and theft from the National Health Service and has left […]
Drawing a pension is an important part of financial independence in older age. For disabled workers low pay, periods of unemployment, the additional costs associated with being disabled and rising living costs may make it seem too expensive to join – or to stay in – an occupational pension scheme. Government attacks on our pensions […]