This Conference notes with alarm in the recent run up to the General Election, the Conservative proposal for lump sum payments towards future care requirements. This is again an insurance policy aimed at those who can afford such payments – £8000 was mentioned. This sum is equal and sometimes in excess of UNISON retired members’ […]
Conference motions
This Conference recognises the tremendous value concessionary bus passes have been to older people. Not only has the facility enabled them to continue to make journeys to doctors, dentists, shops etc without the worry of how to afford it, it has also provided health and social benefits for people to interact outside their own family […]
This Conference notes that older people in receipt of state pension as their sole income are entitled to benefits such as Pension Credit. However, we deplore the fact that older people with a state pension and a small occupational pension which takes them above the cut-off point for means-tested benefits deprives them of such benefits […]
Conference will be aware that in a White Paper in March 2010, the former Labour government announced plans to establish a national care service free at the point of need, but delayed decisions on how to fund it until after the election. Conference notes that the new Coalition Government has scrapped this White Paper and […]
Conference recalls Motion 5 at Retired Members’ Conference 2007 on Council Tax which was remitted on the understanding that the Retired Members’ Committee would refer the matter to the UNISON Council Tax Working Group for consideration. It seems from the report that this was done and the concerns raised were fed into discussions on the […]
Conference notes that many pensioners encounter varying levels of mobility problems as they get older. On occasions pensioners will find themselves incapacitated for limited periods of time which are temporary but which cause a serious lack of mobility for the duration of the incapacity. At such time access to a blue badge would make a […]
Conference notes that UNISON rule D6 provides only for the retired members of a branch to elect a Branch Retired Members’ Secretary who also serves as their representative on the Branch Committee. Unlike the self-organised groups, retired members have no right to form a Branch Retired Members’ Group, rather the Code of Good Branch Practice […]
This Conference believes that elderly people deserve the best possible care in their latter years. However, it’s totally wrong that people who have worked hard all their life lose everything they’ve strived for, their houses, savings etc in order to pay for their care when they get old or ill. Recent government proposals for a […]
Conference notes that in 2008 the Government called a national debate on the future of social care which resulted in the publication in July 2009 of a Green Paper “Shaping the Future of Care Together”. The paper sets out options for the future development and funding of social care provision based on the creation of […]
Following the introduction of the Green Paper on Care/Attendance Allowance, Conference calls upon the National Retired Members’ Committee and the National Executive Council to oppose the proposed changes to the way that Attendance Allowance will be paid if the bill is passed. Currently the allowance is a national agreement but the proposals are that the […]
Conference recognises that the personalisation in social care agenda is a major challenge for UNISON. Local authorities are focusing on the roll-out of various forms of ‘cash for care’: direct payments, individual budgets and personal budgets. This shift in the way care is organised and paid for will have huge implications for older people, including […]
Conference notes that an estimated 9 million of the UK’s 11 million pensioners rely on some form of income from savings as an integral part of their income, and that the value of this income has dropped significantly in value amid the economic downturn. Such savings – put aside from income when employed – were […]
Conference regrets that in his March 2009 budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, again failed to increase the basic state pension to at least poverty level. He pledged to raise the basic state pension in 2010 by 2.5%, even if the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the RPI is less. This […]
This Conference notes the publication of the Government’s Green Paper on Care and Support on 14th July 2009. Conference further notes that responses are required by 13th November 2009. Conference instructs the National Retired Members’ Committee to ensure that the response of UNISON includes the requirement to make the provision of care both free and […]
Insert new Standing Order 9 entitled ‘Withdrawals of Motions and Amendments’ 9.1 A motion or amendment which appears on the Final Agenda may not be withdrawn without the consent of the Standing Orders Committee, whose decision shall be reported to Conference. 9.2 If a motion be withdrawn with the consent of the Standing Orders Committee, […]