Vexatious Complaints

Conference notes with concern that a number of complaints relating to our members that could be considered as vexatious (purely to cause annoyance to the subject). We have seen examples within the workplace and from members of the public who have used the police complaints procedure to damage members, particularly where there is a relationship […]

Happy Birthday PCSOs

Conference wishes to thank all those pioneers that made up the PCSO workforce 20 years ago. Their dedication and commitment embedded the role into modern policing and made the role of PCSO an integral role in the service and to the public we serve. Our PCSOs deal with many more issues today than was envisaged […]

Vetting Following a Misconduct Outcome

This conference understands that members may find themselves in a situation that warrants a disciplinary sanction and as a consequence this sanction may be a written or final written warning. Under these circumstances vetting may be withdrawn, thus having the effect of rendering them unable to continue in their role. This for all intents and […]

Funding Cuts and Ethnicity Pay Gap (EPG) in Police and Justice

Conference, funding cuts and the government’s long-delayed plans to address social inequalities is one of the major causes of in-work poverty experienced by Black Workers and the cause of severe inter-generational inequality in Black communities. Recent funding increases have not undone £15bn of cuts in central government grants to public services between 2010 and 2020, […]

HEAT OR EAT?

Conference notes that in 2022 energy giants Shell and BP made a combined profit of £40 billion while at the same time around 1 million older households were experiencing fuel poverty. It is estimated that rising fuel prices will push an extra 150,000 older households into fuel poverty by the coming winter. Conference further notes […]

WIDESPREAD DISRUPTION OF HEALTHCARE DURING THE PANDEMIC

Conference notes that data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing shows that many of the over-50 population were unable to access health care services during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. A sixth of older people reported having hospital treatment cancelled, with an additional one in ten unable to visit or […]

THREAT TO FREE PRESCRIPTIONS

Conference notes that the Government is still considering raising the age of free prescriptions in England from 60 to 66, in line with the increasing State Pension age. The changes would mean that as many as 2.4 million people aged 60 to 65 would have to start paying for antibiotics, illness treatments and more at […]

THE UK STATE PENSION

Pensioners are people who have served the country as employees, parents, volunteers and carers throughout their working lives and many continue to do so in retirement. Most do not have an organised way to press for justice in retirement although some are fortunate to be retired members of organisations such as Unison. On retirement they […]

The Bus Pass in England

In England the Bus Pass is available to those at or over state pension age or with some severe health conditions. It gives its holders free travel throughout England on what are defined as “Local bus services”, as a minimum between 09.30 and 23.00 on weekdays and at all times at weekends and Bank Holidays. […]

OUR NHS. PRIVATISATION BY STEALTH

The number of people who can remember what health provision was like for ordinary working people before Aneurin Bevan created the National Health Service diminishes year by year. His vision of free medical treatment for everyone “from the cradle to the grave” is as powerful now as it was in 1948. Obviously as time has […]

Violence at Work – It’s Not Part of the Job!

Conference is deeply concerned at the violence, including threats and physical violence, that is shown towards those working in local government. The latest Health & Safety Executive statistics show that around 307,000 adults of working age in employment experienced violence at work, with an estimated 688,000 individual incidents of violence. According to the Labour Force […]

Pay for Members Employed by Private Contractors Delivering Local Government Services.

Conference notes with concern that cuts to local authority budgets and the costs of Covid are impacting disproportionately on the salaries of our members in employed by private contractors who deliver local government outsourced services – including social care, school meals and refuse collection. Many employers delivering outsourced services are engaging in a race to […]

Pay – Campaigning & Balloting

Recent pay campaigns across the UK have demonstrated that we need to do much more in order to build the confidence of our members in challenging bad practice by their employers. We know that pay matters to members, who have suffered years of austerity, pay cuts/freezes and threats to jobs/services, but they often do not […]

Organising in Multi Academy Trusts

The school system has continued to fragment away from local authorities with the expansion of academies and large Multi Academy Trusts (MATs). Conference notes that Local Authorities have been consistently undermined by the government to drive maintained schools to convert. Strategies have ranged from temporary MAT membership for schools that are ‘nervous’ about joining Trusts, […]

Beyond Covid – Building a Better Future

In March 2020 thousands of workers across the UK adapted to a new way of working by taking into their own homes the employers’ equipment in order for services to continue. Our frontline workers such as social care and care at home staff have continued to provide vital and lifesaving care to their clients, whilst […]