Police Staff Council Joint Advice

Conference notes with growing concern that policies developed by ACPO for police officers are continuously being put forward by Forces for implementation for police staff. Branches are frequently put under pressure to agree to their implementation or they are unilaterally enforced. Refusal to accept or to enter into discussions is putting unnecessary pressure on branches. […]

Volunteers

Conference deplores the use of volunteers in the police service and instructs the Service Group Executive to institute a campaign of non co-operation of their use.

Report Back on Conference Motions

This Conference understands the workload of the Service Group Executive is increasing year on year. Since the formation of the service group the motions brought to Conference have increased as we have developed. In addition the police service is a rapidly changing service driven by the Home Office, public pressure and the force itself. In […]

Police Staff Council (England and Wales)

Conference welcomes the renaming of the Police Support Staff Council as the Police Staff Council (England and Wales) and the enhanced role of the Council enshrined in the revised PSC Handbook. Conference also believes that Home Office admission to the Council will improve the status and effectiveness of the machinery. However, Conference is concerned that […]

Older Shift Workers

Conference notes with pleasure the work that is currently being done on ageism and, notes with some degree of caution, the occasional remarks from our Prime Minister and members of the cabinet about the opportunities for us to carry on working to age of 70 and beyond. Conference is also aware that within the Police […]

Police Communications and Control Rooms

Conference recalls a lengthy motion agreed at last year’s conference regarding Police Communications and Joint Control Rooms. It also recalls that the motion identified the many problems suffered by members within this area of work. With the role out of Airwaves the workload has increased without an increase in staffing. With sickness in these rooms […]

Integrated Competency Framework

Conference acknowledges the work of the Police Skills and Standards Organisation in designing the Integrated Competency Framework (ICF). The ICF combines the National Competency Framework and National Occupational Standards within the police service. It also links to the Home Office Performance Development Review (PDR) Scheme which is being implemented by police forces for police staff. […]

Removal of Intolerable Sickness Absence Sanctions

Conference condemns the introduction of intolerant and mandatory sickness absence sanctions such as the Bradford score, when used as part of managing attendance policies. The Bradford score can be set at any trigger point, whereby after a number of days off or a number of spells of absence a management action occurs. This crude approach […]

Winning the Organised College

This Conference notes that UNISON’s primary objective is recruitment and organisation. It also notes that membership in colleges is less than 30% of its potential. The campaign to achieve implementation of the two-year deal in further education presents an ideal organising opportunity. It also requires college-level negotiations on elements of the agreement, such as job […]

Work-Life Balance and Women

This Conference is concerned that women in predominately low paid jobs in Local Government are being denied access to work life balance/flexible working. Work/life balance is about introducing greater flexibility in the way people go about their work. Balancing work and family is one of the most important issues facing women in the 21st century. […]

The Future of Residential Care for Older People

This Conference: 1)Congratulates UNISON on the campaign against the two-tier workforce which culminated in the introduction of the Workforce Matters Code (March 2003) 2)Notes with alarm that companies who are attempting to take over residential care homes are looking at ways to avoid the code as they can only make profits by operating with a […]

Fragmentation of the Local Government Workforce

Local government in the last few years has witnessed some key changes in how services are being delivered. Best Value has forced local authorities to review each of their services. Many have remained in-house but many have used the opportunity to transfer services to different providers. Large scale transfers have been witnessed in Lincolnshire, Blackburn […]

Young Members in Energy

This Conference welcomes the young members recruitment figures for 2003 which saw 22,033 young members join UNISON. Recruitment and organising is one of UNISON’s priorities, and it is essential that UNISON involves young people at all levels of the union. In order to encourage more young members participation in Energy events, such as this conference […]

National Incentive Recruitment Campaign

This Conference regrets our very successful national incentive recruitment campaign has been replaced by Best Organised branch due to funding issues. Recruitment is a lay member activity and its success is crucial to the continuation of UNISON as an effective representative organisation. Conference therefore welcomes the NEC’s decision to make recruitment a national priority this […]

Devolved Government and Transport

Conference notes the statement by Alistair Darling, MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, which foresees the Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and Regional Assemblies in England taking more responsibility for transport. Conference welcomes this development which is an important step in delivering better and more integrated public transport services. Conference acknowledges, however, that this development […]