Post Incident Procedures

Conference notes that the Service Group arranged, last year, a workshop facilitated by Thompson’s Solicitors at Conference at Brighton to discuss Post Incident Procedures (PIP). This recognised the significant impact and increasing number of instances where Police Staff are involved and/or affected by these procedures in the immediate aftermath of a serious incident and in […]

Transfer of Police Staff from Wiltshire Police to Wiltshire Council and other Strategic Partners.

At conference in 2013 you will recall a motion was passed highlighting a situation that was developing in Wiltshire Police regarding the transfer of Police Staff to Wiltshire Council. Conference will remember that the proposal was to transfer staff from the following departments of Wiltshire Police; Project Management, Information Services & Technology, Estates, Finance, Legal […]

Privatisation of Police & Probation Services

This Government and likely future Governments agendas for shrinking the State and privatising Police and Probation services is resulting in our members being employed by private companies. The effect of this is the fragmentation of UNISON branches in the Police & Justice sector which will make it increasingly difficult to organise, support, recruit and retain […]

Privatisation of Probation Services

Conference expresses concern at the actions of the Secretary of State for Justice, in the preparation of the probation service for sale under the mantra of Public is Bad, Private is Good. This has: 1)Seen around 50% of a public service being transferred to a CRC (Community Rehabilitation Company) and ultimately the private sector which […]

Police Performance and Statistics

The ‘Peelian principles’ describe the philosophy that Sir Robert Peel developed to define an ethical police force. This philosophy is commonly known as policing by consent. In the British model of policing, police officers are citizens in uniform. They exercise their powers to police their fellow citizens with the implicit consent of their fellow citizens. […]

Police Reform and Force Mergers

Conference notes with massive concern the continued savage cuts of public expenditure to Scottish policing as a result of the Scottish Government’s dogmatic pursuit of its artificial manifesto pledge of an additional 1000 Police Officers as well as the brutal unachievable savings they trumpet will be made of £1.5 billion in 15 years. This political […]

Volunteer Community Support Officers

Conference is extremely concerned that Lincolnshire Police have introduced the first Volunteer Police Community Support Officers (VPCSOs) in the country. This is despite Lincolnshire Police losing 4.7% of their paid Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) during the period 2010 to 2013. Conference notes that Volunteers are not accountable to the public in the way paid […]

Mental Health in Children and Young People

Mental health problems affect about one in ten children and young people. Mental illness come in may forms including depression, anxiety and conduct disorder, and are often a direct response to what is happening in their lives at home and at school, college or university. It can lead to self harm and suicide – particularly […]

Challenging Discriminatory Practices, Defending Public Services

Conference as well as forming a significant part of the public sector workforce Black people are also primary users of public services. Cuts to funding are closing services while putting significant pressure on those remaining staff, as well as community and voluntary organisations supporting Black people and other vulnerable communities at a time when they […]

Fighting the Cuts, Protecting LGBT Local Government Workers and Services

Conference welcomes the groundbreaking report into the effects of austerity on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers and service users, including local government workers, commissioned by UNISON’s National LGBT Committee and funded by the General Political Fund (GPF). The research, carried out by the well respected independent social research organisation NatCen, includes evidence of […]

Improved and More Effective Health and Social Care Regulation

Conference welcomes the move from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to invest more resources into the regulation of health and social care services. It also welcomes the return to a specialist form of inspections which UNISON has long called for. Although this change in inspection methodology is welcome it is vital that regulation of hospitals […]

Rewiring Public Services and the Local Government Workforce

Conference believes UNISON must have a vision for the future of local government services as well as pay and conditions and that achieving workforce involvement and buy in to the development of that vision will be crucial. Conference is concerned that there is no real mention of the workforce in the Local Government Association (LGA) […]

Union Learning Representatives

Conference recognises the important work that Union Learning Representatives (ULR’s) do throughout the UK in both in promoting learning at work, signposting members towards further education, advising on basic skills and working with employers to increase the skills of the workforce. The main role is helping individuals to overcome barriers which may prevent them getting […]

Campaigning to Save Sure Start and Early Years Services

Conference notes the continued threat to Sure Start through imposed budget reductions nationally. There has been more than 500 Sure Start Children’s Centres closed, most during the first two years of this Coalition Government. While the Coalition Government’s continued austerity cuts are the catalyst for local councils to review the future of Sure Start Children’s […]

The Gender Agenda

Conference notes with dismay that cuts to pay and terms and conditions in local government are hitting women hardest across the UK. Local government is a highly gendered workforce – seventy-six per cent of National Joint Committee (NJC) workers are women, over half of all jobs are part-time and women carry out 90% of those […]