UNISON warns of risks from planning and regulation cuts

12 June 2013

 

Severe cuts in council planning departments are leading to potential safety risks for the public, reducing the quality of the service delivered and worsening inequalities, a survey of UNISON members has revealed today.

And the union argues that the essential protections needed to “protect the public from unscrupulous and dangerous practices” - and to ensure that Scotland is a safe place to live and work - will be weakened in the Scottish government’s new Regulation Bill.

Quango reorganisation fails to simplify pay negotiations - UNISON

Date: Thurs 7 Jan 2010


The Scottish Government's Public Services Reform Bill will do little to reform Scotland's quangos and fails to address the bureaucratic and tortuous process of pay bargaining, said Scotland's largest public service union UNISON.

In a briefing to MSPs in advance of today's Stage One debate in the Scottish Parliament, UNISON calls for an amendment to enable streamlined pay bargaining arrangements to be introduced covering the different Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and Public Corporations, who all currently have their own structures.

Dave Watson, UNISON's Scottish Organiser (Policy) said "Although this bill's aim is to streamline Scotland's quangos and improve their efficiency, it has missed the opportunity to streamline their lengthy and costly bargaining process. A process which has resulted in many disputes in recent years, undermined staff confidence and damaged public service."

The union has been campaigning for some time to improve the current confused state of pay negotiations in this sector, and backed the recommendations of the Parliament's Finance Committee inquiry into public sector pay.

Peter Ritchie, Chair of UNISON's NDPB staff sector group said "Sadly little has been done to implement these recommendations. We need to address the mess that has been created in this sector's pay negotiations by the variety of bodies, the range of different negotiating machinery, and the often unhelpful interference of the Government Finance Department."

UNISON is suggesting the creation of two negotiating bodies - one covering Executive Agencies (with staff closely tied to Civil Service pay and conditions) and one covering NDPBs and possibly Public Corporations, which employ staff drawn from a variety of other backgrounds. But the union recognises that the detail of this is not appropriate for primary legislation and is seeking an enabling amendment to be introduced at Stage Two.


ENDS

Note for Editors:- UNISON is Scotland's largest public service union, representing well over 160,000 workers working in Scotland's public services.

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UNISON calls for action following public sector agency pay report

Date: Mon 22 June 2009


UNISON Scotland has strongly welcomed proposals by the Scottish Parliament Finance Committee to tackle unfairness, delay and low pay in the wage bargaining system for public sector agency staff.

UNISON - the largest public sector union - is calling on Cabinet Secretary John Swinney to engage directly with unions and employers to implement the recommendations of the Finance Committee's Report on Public Sector Pay.

Dave Watson, Scottish Organiser for UNISON, said:
"We welcome the recommendations from this report, and strongly urge the Scottish Government to act on them as soon as possible. The committee has clearly listened to the evidence led by UNISON and others about the delays, bureaucracy and complexities that bedevil the current system for paying public sector agency staff."

The Report on Public Sector Pay by the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee published today includes recommmendations to: ensure that low pay is addressed properly; review pay systems and the costs of addressing discrimination; and review controversial senior staff bonuses.

The Finance Committee states that the process used to determine pay for workers in public sector agencies has "further room for improvement". The report is critical of delays in wage awards, and stresses the need for formal bargaining machinery, relevant benchmarks, and local flexibility.

Dave Watson said:
"It is clearly also unfair that the senior agency staff - like those running the Government's new Scottish Futures Trust - can attract huge salaries and substantial bonuses, even topping the chief executives of our largest councils, while lower-paid staff experience substantial delays to get less than the rate of inflation, with little or no opportunity for negotiation or flexibility."


ends


Notes for Editors:

1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest public sector trade union representing 165,000 members across public services. UNISON members work to deliver vital services not just in Scotland’s NHS and local government, but in a significant number of Non Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) such as Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA); Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA); Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (SCRC); Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park (LLTNPA); and Careers Scotland/Skills Development Scotland.

2. The UNISON Scotland submission on Public Sector Pay to the Scottish Parliament Finance Committee in December 2008 can be found on our website http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/response/publicsectorpay08.html

3. The Report on Public Sector Pay by the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/finance/reports-09/fir09-04.htm


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