UNISON response to Scottish Government council tax announcement today (2 March)

2 March 2016

Dave Watson, UNISON head of policy and public affairs said,

‘UNISON welcomes any progress on the council tax freeze. However after 8 years we had expected more than tinkering with the present system. This will not ensure that local government is properly funded, nor will it ensure a fair funding for local government. Scotland needs a fundamental review local tax funding for local services and a fairer local tax for Scotland.

UNISON welcomes the end to council tax freeze next year. However we are totally opposed to the 3% cap. Scotland’s councils need to be given back democratic control of their local services.They are democratically accountable to local people and know the needs of people living in their local areas.

Delaying the end of the council tax freeze to next year ensures that the 1000s of job losses and £500m cuts will go ahead this year meaning further damage to our local services and economyt.

The 8 year council tax freeze has meant £3.15bn has been cut from local services and 40,000 jobs have been cut from local government. This has had a devastating effect on local services and our economy.’

END

Notes
UNISON is the biggest union in local government

UNISON contacts
Dave Watson 07958 122 409
Danny Phillips 07944 664110

UNISON lobbying Scottish Parliament for fair funding for local services

Scotland’s largest trade union will lobby the Scottish Parliament on budget day (1pm, Wednesday 24 February 2016) to call for a fair funding settlement for local services.

Local government has taken the brunt of cuts in Scotland. Scottish Government funding is down by 0.8%. Yet funding for local government is down by 4.5%. This is a £500m cut from local services this year. 
The cumulative cost of the council tax freeze is £3.15bn out of local services. Of the 50,000 job cuts in Scotland, 40,000 have been in local government. This budget will mean a further 15,000 job cuts for Scottish council workers. 

UNISON believes these cuts are simply unsustainable.

Mark Ferguson chair of UNISON local government committee said, 

‘It is no secret that UNISON members have been taken aback by the level of cuts forced on to Scottish councils. Our local council services simply cannot sustain this level of cuts. We are already seeing cuts to services for disabled people, older people, education, youth services, school support, libraries, road repairs and much more. 

'We need to look at expanding the funds available and agree a fairer funding settlement for local government. Another £500m cuts and 15,000 more jobs cuts will have a drastic effect on both our local services and economy. It's why we are calling on the Scottish parliament to look at this budget again.’

END

Notes

• UNISON is the public services union. We are the biggest union in local government, and the biggest union in Scotland
• UNISON is joining other public sector trade unions and the STUC in a lobby of the Scottish Parliament on budget day.
• The lobby will be at 1pm outside Scottish Parliament, Wednesday, 24 February 2016. UNISON spokespeople will be available for comment

UNISON Contacts

• Mark Ferguson, chair of local government committee, 07773342570
• Danny Phillips, communications officer, 07944 664 110

Trade unions and Falkirk Council fail to agree on new terms and conditions package

Date: Wednesday 10 February 2016 Talks between Falkirk Council and Joint Trade Unions broke down today (9 February) after trade unions could not accept the new package of terms and conditions being proposed by Falkirk Council. Talks broke down after the Joint Trade Union informed Falkirk Council that following a ballot they felt they could not agree the package put forward. Falkirk Council informed the Joint Trade Union that they will be writing to all employees tomorrow (10 February 2016) to inform them of the position. Gray Allan, spokesperson for the Joint Trade Union, said, ‘The trade unions are working hard to get the best agreement for all members. Local government workers are taking the brunt of austerity with job losses, pay freezes and reductions in terms and conditions. This proposal to change member’s terms and conditions aims to make it easier for Falkirk Council to administer more cuts. Council workers are trying to be as helpful as possible but we have to do what can to protect local services, jobs and our member’s terms and conditions’ Gray Allan also said, ‘We will report back to our members, in person, as soon as we can. In the meantime we thought it was important to speak to the Falkirk Herald to keep our members informed. We are disappointed that Falkirk Council could not give us more time to explain personally to our members. In the meantime we encourage union members to seek further clarification from their trade union reps so we can all work towards a collective agreement.’ END The Joint Trade Union represents all union members collectively. Unions included in Joint Trade Union are UNISON, GMB, UNITE, UCATT, and EIS

Cutting libraries will increase poverty and inequality, says UNISON Scotland

Date: Saturday 6 February 2016

On National Libraries Day (6 February 2016), UNISON is warning that more local government cuts will have a drastic impact on libraries across Scotland, decreasing opportunities for all, and increasing poverty and inequality.  

Library services have been undergoing massive change, yet staff numbers have been going down, buildings are closing, opening hours are reducing and services are being cut. 

UNISON recent report, ‘Read it and weep’  raised the concerns of library staff across Scotland  who are simultaneously being expected to expand services while coping with front line cuts.  The report is based on qualitative research from UNISON members working across Scotland’s libraries, highlighting the impact of the cuts.

UNISON also recently highlighted cuts to school libraries, in a submission to the Scottish parliament petitions committee.  UNISON uncovered evidence of a consistent pattern of school library services being a soft target to meet budget cuts. School libraries are vital for young people’s learning and have a central role in equipping our younger people from disadvantaged backgrounds for the digital age; recent research has shown that  children struggle to discriminate between facts, fiction and paid for product placement online. Libraries are especially useful to children with no access to internet at home.

Gray Allan, UNISON Scotland libraries spokesperson said, 

‘Cutting library budgets is another way of entrenching inequalities. Libraries are a way that poorer families get access to the same breadth of reading materials as everyone else. And libraries are so much more than books. They provide information services for people of all backgrounds, they organise kids clubs and hubs for older people, computer terminals for those with no access to the internet can use to find job vacancies. And the support of skilled librarians to help you find the information you need.

'Fully resourced libraries support education, the economy and play an important role in bringing equality.  Despite knowing this we have allowed community and school libraries to be run down to skeleton services across Scotland. They are seen as a soft touch and we need to stand up for libraries and the work they do to tackle poverty and inequality.’

END

Notes: 
- UNISON is the biggest trade union in Scotland, and represents librarians in the community, schools, further education and higher education and in the NHS

- UNISON has made a submission in support of School Libraries Petition PE 1581 to the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee Dec 2015 : 
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/response/
ScotParlPetitionPE1581SchoolLibraries_UNISONEvidence_Dec2015.pdf

- UNISON report 'Read it and Weep' Sept 2015: 
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks/
ReadItandWeep_LibrariesStaffSurvey_Sep2015.pdf

Cuts in school libraries include North and South Lanarkshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Glasgow, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife and Shetland.

• South Lanarkshire proposals include reducing school library staffing by 15%
• North Lanarkshire is now proposing to review the school librarian service for a second time with the reduction of 2 FTE School Library Resource Manager posts. The last review saw all schools with pupil roll under 700 reduce librarian numbers to 0.7 FTE librarian. All new staff now are only employed term time. The Council has also removed the need for library staff to have professional library qualifications.
• East Renfrewshire Council is proposing moving from 1 fully qualified librarian from each of its high schools (7) to the FTE of 3.5. The original plans to use senior pupils to staff the library appear to have been dropped due to public opposition.
• Glasgow has reduced the school librarian service to 0.5 posts per school.
• Renfrewshire now has only 7 librarians across 11 schools.
• East Ayrshire has replaced 3 librarians with 3 library assistants. Means 9 secondary schools are now covered by 5 librarians and 4 library assistants.
• South Ayrshire has, l replaced a number of librarians with library assistants.
• In Dumfries and Galloway when the librarian retired from Dumfries Academy responsibility for the library was given to the Head of English. Lockerbie Academy also currently without a librarian and Annan Academy have reduced the hours to 20 per week
• Fife  - school librarians who have retired have been replaced with library assistants
• Shetland, where the school library service has always been integrated with the public library service, there have been cuts to school library book budgets of 20-30% over the last four years. While staff numbers have remained the same the working hours of staff have been cut from 8 FTE to 5.93 FTE.

Further cuts to local services not sustainable, says UNISON Scotland

Date: Tuesday 2 February 2016

UNISON Scotland is calling for the Scottish Parliament to use its powers to put more money into local services. By 2020 expenditure on public services will be 12.5% lower in real terms. That is on top of the £2.5bn cuts since 2010.

This next round of cuts will mean at least another 15,000 job cuts for local councils. Of the 50,000 jobs that have been lost in devolved public services, 40,000 have been in councils. 

The need for council services has not disappeared, remaining staff have to take on extra work, and do the best they can to deliver what they can. UNISON has the evidence to show our local services are in crisis and further cuts are simply not sustainable.

Mark Ferguson, chair of the UNISON  local government committee said, "Local government services are vital. They deliver health, education, clean and safe streets, child protection and much more. 

"In short they create a good society and the Scottish government should use every power they have to mitigate the worst effects of UK government austerity. 

"The Scottish Parliament has tax raising powers - they can end the council tax freeze, they can work with councils to refinance PFI schemes or invest pension funds in public works, or do more to follow the recommendations of the Christie Commission and invest in preventative spending as a way of making sustainable savings. 

"The bottom line is they have the powers to protect Scots from the worst of austerity. The need for local services has not gone away, so why should our local services?"

END  
UNISON Contacts 
Dave Watson 07958 122 409
Danny Phillips 07944 664 110

New financial powers could save Scottish councils £50m, says UNISON

Wed 27 Jan 2016 Public services union UNISON has today (Wed 27 January 2016) urged the Scottish Government to push ahead with proposed new financial powers for Scottish councils to relax the rules for borrowing, lending and the repayment of loans.  These proposed changes to Scottish councils' financial powers should now be used for greater flexibility to deal with the funding crisis in Scottish councils. If used effectively it could save Scottish councils upwards of £50million, or save over 1000 jobs.  UNISON called for these ‘long overdue’ changes in their report Combating Austerity (Sept 2015). The report called for a relaxing of the repayment of loans fund regulations, arguing that councils need greater flexibility to mitigate austerity.  The Combating Austerity report explores all options and argues that making full use of flexibility in new borrowing or refinancing, and restructuring existing borrowing could potentially free up significant sums of money, at a time of severe austerity cuts.  Dave Watson, head of UNISON Scotland policy and public affairs said,  ‘These limited changes are very welcome we have been urging the Scottish Government to introduce them for some time. Scottish councils are in real crisis, cutting local services and shedding 1000s of jobs. Giving councils this flexibility could save upwards of £50m and over 1000 jobs. This is not going to solve the problem but is an example of how we need to start thinking to mitigate the worst of austerity and council tax freeze.'  UNISON is now urging the Scottish Government to go further and include new proposals to enable councils to borrow to either make grants to third parties where these grants fund capital expenditure, or for the authority to incur expenditure directly on third party tangible assets; and a new provision for a local authority to be able to borrow to lend to any of its subsidiary bodies where the loan is to be used to finance capital expenditure of the subsidiary. Dave Watson said, ‘Further changes beyond what is now being proposed, could make a real difference and mitigate some of the worst of austerity. Councils could use new types of borrowing to support, for example buyouts of expensive Privtae Finance Intitiative (PFI) contracts or, perhaps, to finance new conventional spending, they could offer health boards an alternative to expensive hub Public Private Partnerships (PPP), PFI, or Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) schemes. We think they could be doing this now. However the Scottish Government should make it explicit in the rules for Scottish councils, so we can encourage innovation and more efficient use of public funds. And vitally, use these rules to save our public services and thousands of local jobs. END Notes for editors  • UNISON is the biggest trade union in Scotland and the biggest union in local government.  • UNISON report Combating Austerity: signposting the ways Scotland could limit some of the damage from Austerity (PDF). Combating Austerity Press release 23 September 2015 here: http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/news/2015/sepoct/0923.htm • UNISON summary briefing here:  http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/briefings/ e-briefing_RelaxingBorrowingRules4Councils_Jan2016.pdf • The new draft Local Authority (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Scotland) Regulations 2016 and on Loans Fund Accounting are set to come into effect, with any changes following the consultation, from 1 April 2016 and statutory guidance can be read here:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2016/9780111031063 • These regulations cover changes to the statutory arrangements for local authority borrowing, lending and the statutory loans fund. They were the subject of a short consultation at the end of 2015.  • UNISON Consultation response to The new draft Local Authority (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Scotland) Regulations 2016 Here: http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/response/ LocalAuthorityCapitalFinanceRegs_UNISONResponsetoScotGov_Jan2016.pdf

UNISON hails historic pay deal for further education support staff in Scotland

Date: Friday 22 January 2016 UNISON hails historic pay deal for further education support staff in Scotland UNISON has led negotiations to achieve the first ever national pay rise for over four thousand support staff in Scotland‘s Further Education Colleges. Support staff deliver a range of vital student services and are key to the running of the 25 new colleges in Scotland. The deal was agreed at the new National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) in Edinburgh. (Orkney, Shetland and SRUC are not in scope of the new machinery). It is the first agreement since the recent college mergers. UNITE and GMB unions are also party to the national negotiations UNISON members will receive between 1-2% pay rise. Those on lower salaries will receive a higher percent rise because of the agreement to pay the living wage and £300 flat rate increase  Key features are consolidation of the real Living Wage rate of £7.85 per hour from 1 April 2015; a flat rate of £300 for all those earning under £30k per year; a standard 35 hour week across the sector; and a minimum 27 days annual leave across the sector; and 2 days extra leave for all.  Employers and trade unions have also committed to negotiate a new single pay structure and new single set of conditions of service for all staff; as well as attainment of official Living Wage accreditation of all Colleges by the end of 2016. Chris Greenshields, Chair of UNISON Scotland’s further education sector said: “UNISON is pleased to have achieved the first ever national settlement for further education support staff in Scotland. UNISON is the union for college support staff and there is something for all our members in this negotiated package. I want to congratulate UNISON members for helping to ensure all low paid workers in Scotland's Colleges are now guaranteed the Living Wage plus £300. We will continue the work hard for more gains in the 2016, in particular an equal flat rate settlement for all workers in the sector which is much fairer than a percentage increase.“ John Gallacher, Scottish organiser and UNISON lead for FE said: “This sets up the NJNC for a wider programme of negotiations. Scottish Government (post May 2016) must provide investment for a root and branch rationalisation and harmonisation of pay rates and conditions across the sector in an acceptable timescale. The disparities currently are still extreme after many years of college level bargaining” Shirley Sephton, Vice Chair, said: “UNISON members voted to accept this offer across Scotland in the knowledge that this was the best deal we could get for 2015 through negotiation. They wish to work with management to help establish National Bargaining and in return will expect all Scottish Boards to honour the national agreement and put the increase into pay as soon as possible.” ENDS  Notes for editors The full support staff deal is for: A consolidated 1% uplift for all employees (or) £300 pro rata for employees earning below £30k (whichever is the greater) The sector will pay the living wage for its directly employed staff. Commitments from the management:  The Management Side is committed to securing living wage accreditation for all colleges, the management side and the trade unions will work to achieve this by December 2016. Standardisation of the working week to 35 hours, with no detriment to earnings, the Management Side will work to achieve this standardisation by April 2016. To provide on a pro rata basis an additional unconsolidated two days annual leave entitlement for all support staff for 2015/16. To provide a minimum of 27 days leave pro rata, with no impact on the maximum entitlement from April 2015. Address as a priority leave entitlements across the sector by 31 March 2016  Will commit to look at a flat cash settlement from 2016 If there is any change to the % increase or flat cash settlement to lecturers, the support staff  will receive this To establish a short life working group, to develop an agreed timetable inclusive of a route map of key priorities and key deliverables, by 31 March 2016. The Management Side believe this offers the best prospect of introducing a workforce modernisation programme inclusive of standardisation and harmonisation across the sector. The management side envisage such a route map addressing: A national job evaluation scheme A national pay and grading scale National Conditions of service National Pay Protection Pay award will be effective from April 2015.

Stand up for school librarians, says UNISON Scotland

Date: Monday 21 December 2015

UNISON Scotland has called on councils and Scottish Government to do more to protect school librarians. UNISON says the evidence is that local councils are seeing school library services as a soft target to meet budget cuts and are cutting school library services across Scotland.

UNISON has made a submission in support of School Libraries Petition PE 1581 to the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee.

UNISON has evidence of cuts in North and South Lanarkshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Glasgow, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife and Shetland.

UNISON spokesperson, Simon Macfarlane, said:
'There is a consistent pattern of the school libraries service being a soft target to meet budget cuts. School libraries are not class rooms with books. They are vital for young people’s learning. School librarians have a central role in equipping our young people for the digital age; recent research has shown that children face struggle to discriminate between facts, fiction and paid for product placement online. School librarians are ideally placed to support young people to be more discerning in their use of the internet for research. We shoudl be investing more not less in school librarians. It’s unacceptable that Scottish councils are taking the brunt of the austerity cuts. But we also canot let services like school libraries disappear’

END



NOTES
UNISON is the biggest trade union in local government. We represent education staff including librarians and school librarians

The picture across Scotland varies but there is a consistent pattern of local authorities using the school libraries service as a soft target to meet budget cuts.

LOCAL CUTS INCLUDE: North and South Lanarkshire, East Renfreshire, Renfrewshire, Glasgow, East and South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife and Shetland

South Lanarkshire proposals include reducing school library staffing by 15%

North Lanarkshire is now proposing to review the school librarian service for a second time with the reduction of 2 FTE School Library Resource Manager posts. The last review saw all schools with pupil roll under 700 reduce librarian numbers to 0.7 FTE librarian. All new staff now are only employed term time. The Council has also removed the need for library staff to have professional library qualifications.

East Renfrewshire Council is proposing moving from 1 fully qualified librarian from each of its high schools (7) to the FTE of 3.5. The original plans to use senior pupils to staff the library appear to have been dropped due to public opposition.

Glasgow has reduced the school librarian service to 0.5 posts per school.

Renfrewshire now has only 7 librarians across 11 schools.

East Ayrshire has replaced 3 librarians with 3 library assistants. Means 9 secondary schools are now covered by 5 librarians and 4 library assistants.

South Ayrshire has, l replaced a number of librarians with library assistants.

In Dumfries and Galloway when the librarian retired from Dumfries Academy responsibility for the library was given to the Head of English. Lockerbie Academy also currently without a librarian and Annan Academy have reduced the hours to 20 per week

Fife - school librarians who have retired have been replaced with library assistants

Shetland, where the school library service has always been integrated with the public library service, there have been cuts to school library book budgets of 20-30% over the last four years. While staff numbers have remained the same the working hours of staff have been cut from 8 FTE to 5.93 FTE.

Simple Minds called to campaign for world cup workers in Qatar

Date: Friday 18 December 2015 UNISON, Scotland’s biggest trade union, has written to the Scottish band Simple Minds asking they speak out for migrant workers rights in Qatar. UNISON supports the TUC Fair Play for Qatar campaign which is highlighting the poor working conditions of migrant workers who are building football stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. Simple Minds are booked to play a gig in Qatar on 29 January Simon Macfarlane, UNISON international committee spokesperson, said “Workers are being drafted in mainly from India, Nepal and Bangladesh and forced to live in squalid conditions, paid as little as 45 pence an hour and work in a very dangerous environment. Almost 1000 workers have died in Qatar building infrastructure for the world cup and if nothing changes the death toll could be as much as 4000 by the time the World Cup starts in 2022. Simple Minds have an excellent record in supporting Human Rights across the world. They were leading campaigners against South African apartheid. And songs like Belfast Child and Mandela Day are loved for their message as much as anything else. It would be great if they highlighted the plight of migrant workers in Qatar”  END Notes TUC Fair Play Qatar campaign https://www.tuc.org.uk/international-issues/countries/qatar Letter from UNISON Scotland international committee to Simple Minds is online here:http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/international/

UNISON calls for Robert Gordon University to remove Donald Trump's honorary degree

Date: Wednesday 9 December 2015

UNISON members working at Robert Gordon University have written to the Principal, Professor Prondzynski, calling on him to remove Donald Trump's honorary degree because he is reported to have called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States"  

UNISON believes this to be unacceptable.  

Colin Jones, Robert Gordon UNISON steward said: 

“Robert Gordon University has a strong international reputation and UNISON believes that our University's association with Donald Trump can only undermine all the hard work we have put into building this worldwide reputation.  

"We believe that the University must distance itself from such views and make it as clear as possible that such statements are both unacceptable and irresponsible. They are divisive and put Muslim friends, family and colleagues in danger of discrimination and reprisals, and will make international relations worse not better.  

END  

Notes:
UNISON is the largest trade union in Scotland. It is the public services union and it is the recognised union for professional and support staff at Robert Gordon University.

The Principal of Robert Gordon University is Professor Ferdinand Von Prondzynski. Robert Gordon University awarded Donald Trump his honorary degree in 2010.

ICT should focus on providing better services not cuts, says UNISON report

Date: Monday 30 November 2015

A UNISON Scotland report Disconnected, published today, 30 November 2015, claims that ICT services should focus on better services. The report highlights that ICT systems are all too often seen as a way of providing cheaper rather than improved public services.

This UNISON report is qualitative research of ICT staff across Scotland working across a range of public services. In local government, NHS, housing associations, universities, the police and elsewhere.

It finds that ICT systems are central to all our public services, ICT departments are feeling the brunt of cuts, and many ICT experts are leaving public sector either through redundancies or to find work elsewhere and they not being replaced.

ICT staff say they are not listened to. That morale is low. When they give warnings of problems coming down the line they are ignored. They see big opportunities to improve public services wasted in favour of short term savings to budgets. They feel ICT is too often seen as a way of delivering cuts rather than improving delivery of public services for us all. There is a lack of awareness of the potential of ICT

In common with other public services ICT staff say they are stressed by too much work and not enough people to deliver it. Staff talk of a ‘circle of decline’

Dave Watson, head of UNISON bargaining and campaigns said, ‘ICT is often thought of in terms of the hardware however its success is reliant on ICT staff and their understanding of public services and how we interact with technology. Public services must meet complex needs and ICT has a central role to play in that, it simply needs harnessed properly.’

Dave continued, ‘Public services ICT workers could make a real contribution to improving our public services, if we invested in them to develop their ideas. However employers tend to adapt private sector solutions with big promises to save budgets instead. In fact we are seeing big cuts in ICT staff and their departments, so it is no wonder we see big ICT projects going over budget or failing altogether.’

END

Notes

• Full UNISON report Disconnected:
  http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks/
  Disconnected_ICTStaffSurvey_Nov2015.pdf
• UNISON Scotland is the public services union and the biggest union in Scotland. We represent ICT workers in public and community based services across Scotland

Tax credits u-turn will bring huge relief to working families - UNISON

Wed 25 Nov 2015

Nearly three million working families countrywide have breathed a collective sigh of relief, says UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.

Commenting on the announcement today (Wednesday) that the Chancellor is to reverse his planned cuts to tax credits, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said:

“Nearly three million working families countrywide have breathed a collective sigh of relief. Since the cuts were announced in the summer, parents have faced increasing anxiety over losing the tax credits they rely upon so heavily.

“We’re pleased that the Chancellor has made good use of the thinking time last month’s Lords vote gave the government.

“But the real credit for today’s decision goes to the many brave parents who talked publicly about their already stretched finances, and the distress and hardship the cuts would cause. Their stories convinced the government this unfair tax credits grab was wrong.

“The government must now do more to encourage employers to pay staff more – at least the real living wage of £8.25 an hour. This would make a difference to the many low-income families still struggling to make ends meet.

“In 2018 new claims for tax credits will stop, and the families receiving them will start to be switched on to Universal Credit. The Chancellor must not use this change as a way to revive his original plans and leave working families worse off in 2020 than today.”

UNISON UK press release:
https://www.unison.org.uk/news/press-release/2015/11/tax-credits-u-turn-will-bring-huge-relief-to-nearly-three-million-working-families-says-unison/

UNISON calls on Police Scotland to implement all recommendations in HMICS Call Handling Final Report

Tue 10 November 2015

UNISON has welcomed the HMICS Independent Assurance Review: Police Scotland – Call Handling Final Report published today (10 Nov) and calls on Police Scotland to implement all its recommendations.  

HMICS has taken into account the high level of pressure that UNISON police staff members work under in the Contact, Command and Control (C3) division of Police Scotland. We hope this report shapes the C3 direction with greater accountability and assurances for the public.

UNISON did all it could to assist with this report. We note the report states, ‘UNISON provided us with details of key areas of concern and supporting evidence. These concerns reflect both Scottish Police Federation and Association of Scottish Police Superintendants views’. 
UNISON will work with the new police chief constable to ensure all recommendations are implemented.

Gerry Crawley, UNISON Regional Organiser for police staff said, "UNISON Police staff members have been highlighting problems inherent in the Contact, Command and Control strategic direction. We are pleased that our concerns have been listened to and have been reflected in this report. The report recommendations are vital to ensure our members wellbeing in this high pressure environment that has been under such scrutiny recently. We call on Police Scotland to implement the recommendations"

George McIrvine, Branch Secretary of UNISON Police Staff Scotland branch said,
"I welcome this report not least because it confirms the hard work that UNISON members do. The vast majority of all 999 emergency calls are answered within 10 seconds and handled properly.

"I look forward to working with the new chief constable to ensure these recommendations are implemented in full. It is crucial that he commits to work with key stakeholders, such as UNISON, so we can work together to ensure the public get the high quality service UNISON members are determined to provide."

END

UNISON represents staff working in Contact, Command and Control Centres

UNISON calls for halt to Police Scotland control centre closures

Date: Saturday 31 October 2015

UNISON Scotland has pledged full support for a resolution at the Scottish Labour conference today (Saturday 31 October) which demands a halt to the continued closures of local Control Room / Service Centres across Scotland. 

The resolution, tabled by Aberdeen Central Labour Party at the conference in Perth, highlights the ongoing crisis in Police Scotland's Control Rooms /Service Centres. We expect the Scottish Government's HMICS report to be published in the near future.

In todays debate, George McIrvine, Secretary of UNISON Police Staff Scotland branch, will call for a halt to the 'strategic direction' of Police Scotland closing local services. At the labour conference George McIrvine will say:

"Police Scotland need to step back from their blinkered centralisation plans of control rooms and service centres closures. They must consider a different path involving those who know the job best, the workforce.

The Police Scotland proposal to the Scottish Police Authority two years ago, proposed a staged approach for closing police control rooms. There was no detail on the rationale other than cost savings. And there is little proof that these changes have provided a better service to the public.

This has resulted in a workforce who are under continued pressure with an increased workload and - as the recent staff survey showed - morale at its lowest ever.

Problems have arisen, and the tragic loss of life in the widely reported M9 incident, led to the Scottish Government call for HMICS to review the changes and allocate another £1.4 million to iron out the problems.

Even with a damning interim report by HMICS, Police Scotland and the Authority are continuing with the imminent closure of service centres in Dundee and Aberdeen as well as the Control Room in Aberdeen and Inverness. UNISON Police Staff Scotland continues to oppose this direction. We welcome the debate today and that we are not alone in our opposition to the plan to close and centralise services."

UNISON fully supports the call for Scottish Labour to commit to develop and sustain an effective local network of emergency control room services across Scotland and in the community's in which they should serve. In the meantime UNISON will continue to support all its members who are subect to these changes.

ends

UNISON wins £ multi-million compensation for 1400 women in Fife Council

Date: Wednesday 28 October 2015

UNISON has reached a multi million pound settlement with Fife Council for over 1400, mainly low paid women UNISON members, for their equal pay claims.

UNISON members will now be properly recompensed for historic discriminatory pay practices within Fife Council. It is a deal worth £millions and will include compensation for members back pay in some cases to 2006.

UNISON has been at the forefront of the legal campaign to fight for equal pay for women workers and to ensure they receive the back pay to which they are entitled.

Dougie Black, UNISON regional organiser for Fife local government said, ‘This has been a long time coming, many claims stretch back to 2006, we can only thank UNISON members for their hard work and patience. We will now discuss individual claims with the employer to ensure each claim is calculated properly. This a good day for low paid women workers and UNISON is proud to have been a part of it.’

Suzanne Craig, UNISON’s legal officer said, ‘UNISON will be seeking early payment from the employers. Regrettably it took the threat of proceeding to an Employment Tribunal to focus the employer’s minds to settle, but it is great news for everyone that we have agreed.  This settlement also agrees the legal principles for moving forward to ensure wherever possible that job evaluation and pay practices remain free from discrimination in the future. Members will receive individual letters, in due course, outlining their settlement figures. I want to thank everyone for their patience.’
 

UNISON continues to fight for equal pay particularly for low paid women across Scotland

END

Notes

• UNISON is the public services union and the largest union in Scotland, and the largest union in local government across UK.
• UNISON is negotiating equal pay claims in councils across Scotland. It has been running equal pay claims in Fife since 2006
• UNISON has agreed the principles of the settlement and how we calculate each settlement. We now need to agree each individual settlement a process which we will complete as soon as possible

United Nations takes issue with UK government on human rights, says UNISON

Friday 23 October 2015

UNISON media release, with Human Rights Consortium Scotland (HRCS)

The Westminster Government faces a series of awkward human rights questions following action by the United Nations. The UN has directed the Government to address a 'list of issues' ranging from welfare cuts and reliance on food banks to blacklisting and the erosion of trade union rights.

Members of the Human Rights Consortium Scotland (HRCS), which includes representation from UNISON Scotland, gave evidence at the UN earlier this month and those concerns will now be the subject of formal dialogue between Geneva and London.  

These developments coincide with the UN celebrating its 70th anniversary on 24th October 2015 and promoting minimum human rights standards that people across the world should enjoy.   The 'list of issues' which the UK needs to answer includes how the UK will enshrine all the rights contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

HRCS spokesperson, Carole Ewart said 
"The UK has agreed with the UN that we would enjoy a minimum set of economic, social and cultural rights.  As so many people know from everyday life, there is a huge gap between the rhetoric and the reality so we highlighted the increase in poverty resulting from the government's austerity measures and welfare reform, the demonistaion of human rights by politicians and the UK undermining international human rights standards by abolishing The Human Rights Act 1998.  Our government has promised the UN that it will progressively realise economic and social rights to the maximum extent of available resources but has failed to do so and the poorest are suffering."

Peter Hunter, UNISON Regional Manager  and HRCS member said
"The Trade Union Bill is a direct attack on trade unions and the services we provide to members. Scottish industrial relations are particularly harmonious and CoSLA and the Scottish Government are standing shoulder to shoulder with us against this union-bashing law. Trade unions are key human rights defenders and there is widespread criticism of the Bill on Human Rights grounds so the UN intervention couldn't come at a better time" 

Notes

The Human Rights Consortium Scotland is a network of over 150 civil society organisations and individuals in Scotland.

UNISON Scotland is the public services union and the largest union in Scotland

The delegation to the UN in Geneva on 14th October included UNISON Scotland, Unite the union, Close the Gap, Engender and Nourish Scotland.

The UN list of issues can be found athttp://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/
Download.aspx?symbolno=E%2fC.12%2fGBR%2fQ%2f6&Lang=en

Details of the UN 70th Anniversary http://www.un.org/un70/en

Big increase in assaults on public service workers, says UNISON

Friday 23 October 2015

UNISON Scotland is publishing today Violence at Work: A Survey of UNISON employers and Staff in Scotland 2015. It shows an increase of 1,227 assaults compared with 2014.

The total recorded assaults on public sector workers in Scotland in 2015 was 38,279. This compares to 20,000 in 2006.

UNISON report included a survey, to ask what staff had suffered, how they had felt about it, and what action their managers had taken to try to make sure they were safer in the future. Nine out of ten people who responded to this survey were women, and well over half were age between 45 – 60 years old.

UNISON Members told us

• “patient was verbally abusive and looming over me ” 
• “Bitten, being threatened with 'weapons', head butted, kicked, things been thrown at me, verbal abuse, pushed and shoved, cornered with threatening behaviour”
• “Grabbed, attempted strangle, punched, slapped, glasses broken”
• “an irate male jumped onto myself while I was seated at a computer”
• “Screamed and swore at. Items thrown at me. Kicked punched bitten scratched nipped. Hair pulled. Strangled. Pushed, walking sticked wacked across me."
• “Too many incidents to describe.”

UNISON members also told us they felt undervalued, frightened, afraid, disrespected and sick. One summed it up as being “really upset and in tears most nights after work.”                                 

Worryingly many members accepted it as “Fine. It's my job”. Other said they were “mostly sad for the people that  have resorted to violence not great obviously but its my job and sometimes these things happen, we just have to deal with it”

Scott Donohoe chair of UNISON health and safety committee said, “The abuse of staff is intollerable and no one should have to experience it as part of their work.  This level of violence is simply unacceptable. There is no doubt the recording continues to improve, however the problem is clearly growing, rather than decreasing. 

Public service workers have a right to carry out their duties free from fear of attack. Whatever the difficulties faced by some of those who are assaulting staff we need to ensure special measures such as extra training, additional staffing or sanctions should be introduced by managers. We would urge employers to follow guidelines like the ones set out in the Centre for Healthy Working Lives Managing occupational violence in the workplace”.  

ENDS


Notes

• Report http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/safety/
  ViolentAssaultsonPublicServiceStaff_
  UNISONScotlandFollowUpSurvey_Oct2015.pdf
• UNISON is the biggest trade union in Scotland. We are the UK public services union
• Since 2006, UNISON Scotland has carried out an annual survey of assaults to public sector workers by issuing a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to all employers of UNISON members in the public sector.  This year we included a qualitative survey of members this 2015 survey was carried out from August to October 2015
• For the qualitative data we received responses from health service workers, council staff, education and social work, community and voluntary sector,  librarians and parking attendants. 88% of our respondents were female,  over 60% were aged between 45 and 65; 39% had experienced physical violence, 43% had been threatened with violence, 65% had been verbally assaulted.

UNISON response to North Lanarkshire Council job cuts announcement

Thursday 22 October 2015

John Young, UNISON North Lanarkshire Council steward said,
“This is devastating for everyone living in North Lanarkshire and once again it is the low paid and vulnerable, including children, elderly and disabled people who will be the worst affected.  North Lanarkshire Council are proposing to cut 10% of the workforce which will cause chaos in our vital public services; £26m will be cut from the local economy; and at least 600 jobs are under threat of privatisation which we will oppose.

UNISON will work with the council to fight every job loss. The Scottish Government has promised no compulsory redundancies and at very least we will expect them to stick to that, so far we have not had any guarantees.

We understand it’s a difficult time and Scottish councils are being hit by the UK Government austerity and the Scottish Government’s council tax freeze. However they can do more to mitigate the impact of these cuts like borrow at record low interest rates, refinance, use reserves, reform taxation, and make better use of pension funds. 

UNISON will campaign to end austerity and increase funding from the Scottish Government and fight for all our members who are affected. We will be consulting our members in the next week or so and taking the campaign into communities to discuss the consequences of these cuts on people living in North Lanarkshire.’

Community led public services can transform inequalities, says report

Thursday 22 October 2015

UNISON Labour Link Media Release - Launch of Commission on Health Inequalities report will take place at 22 October, 9.00am UNISON Scotland, 14 West Campbell St., Glasgow

The report of the Commission on Health Inequalities for the Scottish Labour Party calls for national leadership and community hubs to tackle health inequalities.

The Commission for Health Inequalities set up by Labour’s then shadow health minister, Neil Findlay MSP, has published its report today (22 October 2015) calling on the Labour Party to adopt radical policies to tackle Scotland’s enduring policy failure of health inequalities. The commission report calls on Labour Party to adopt a transformative agenda if it wants to change political priorities of the Scottish Parliament on this issue.

The report aims to prioritise this agenda across government. It proposes a breadth of policies to tackle health inequalities in Scotland.

Key policy recommendations include building of community hubs, with local multi disciplinary teams that join up services in real localities and which would also serve as community meeting places, where communities are free to set their own agenda. They would include various public services based under the same roof including social work, housing, health and leisure services such as community cafes. With advice shops that offer amongst other things debt, welfare and income maximisation advice. (Para 3.6 of report). These are the type of services envisaged by Christie, who recommended services designed from the bottom up with citizens at their heart, with a high degree of professional autonomy for front line teams.

It recommends the adoption of a progressive universalism approach whereby important basic universal services are targetted and tailored in proportion to community needs.

And it recommends the introduction of health inequality impact assessments for every policy devised by public bodies in Scotland. In other words anything that the Government and every other body do must always take cognisance of its impact on health inequalities. This would ensure that the Scottish Government would take a cross portfolio approach. (para 3.3 in report)

Other policy recommendations include free childcare, an end to the council tax freeze, using the Scottish Parliament new welfare powers and using procurement to end low pay and poor employment practices
Dr David Conway, Chair of the Health Inequalities Commission said, “Health inequalities are the manifestation of inequalities in income, wealth, and power. They result in upto 30 years difference in life expectancy between those born in the richest and poorest neighbourhoods.

There have been many reports on Scottish health inequalities over the years. This commission report is different because it is firmly focussed on what we can and must do in Scotland to tackle this enduring problem. It is a national shame that we have some of the worst health inequalities in the developed world.  We need to debunk the myth that there are no devolved powers available to take on this huge challenge and get on and do something about it. The commission recommendations come from a wide consultation with experts working in communities, the health service, local government, and trade unions; as well as from community engagement events.

The testimonies we heard from people working heroically in their communities painted a graphic picture of the miserable reality of poverty and inequality and the inadequate policy and resources we put into tackling health inequalities in Scotland.

If we are ever going to solve this issue we are going to have to fundamentally change our political priorities and choices taken in the Scottish Parliament”

A full list of the policy recommendations are in the report, some are repeated in the notes below.

ENDS


Notes 
Commission on Health Inequalities Report  for the Labour Party in Scotland was commissioned by Neil Findlay MSP when he was shadow minister for health. It is supported by Socialist Health Association.
The document also calls for a range of policies to tackle low pay and poor working conditions including:

• Agency workers given parity with full-time employees.
• To use procurement to ensure better pay and conditions protection for workers including paying the workforce at least the living wage,  to incorporate the value of lost tax credits in peoples low pay, and to end zero hours contracts and blacklisting trade unionists.
•  Ensure the ‘Scottish Real Living Wage’ is paid in the Social Care sector.
•  Encourage collective bargaining processes.
• Ensure all Fair Work Convention recommendations are implemented.
• Establish a Scottish Health & Safety Executive.
• Raise the levels of Social Security payments to a level conducive to the minimum income for healthy living.
• Abolish the cruel sanctions regime.
• Review all employment and welfare policies devolved in the Scotland Bill and ensure that they are used to maximum potential to reduce health inequalities.

It also calls for Scottish Parliament to:

• Lift the council tax freeze. Reform the regressive Council Tax and consider options for fairer local taxation.
• Build a minimum of 10,000 new social houses each year. Transform the quality and quantity of social housing across Scotland.
• Introduce better regulation of private rented sector including effective rent controls and consider extending the Housing Quality Standards to the Private Sector.
• Provide free childcare at the point of use and extend breakfast clubs and free healthy meals to nursery schools.
• Ensure schools strive to develop social, emotional, health and wellbeing agendas as a foundation for learning.
• Reverse Cuts and boost spending at Further Education colleges.
• Tackle the Mental Health Crisis in Scotland - We strongly recommend that mental health services are prioritised and invested in as a matter of urgency
• Create national targets for reducing health inequalities.
• Create a Cross-portfolio Cabinet Secretary for Health Equity.

Scottish public bodies must mitigate austerity, says UNISON

Date: Wednesday 23 September 2015

UNISON Scotland is launching a campaign today (23 September 2015) calling on the Scottish Government, local authorities and public bodies to do all they can to mitigate UK government austerity.

The public services trade union is calling for a range of financial and industrial policies to create investment in Scottish infrastructure, green energy production and jobs.

With interest rates at an all time low, it is cheaper to buy out or refinance PPP / PFI contracts saving up to £12bn; pension funds could be a source of badly needed investment for infrastructure, we need a political consensus on reform of local taxation; and councils should collaborate in using bonds as a means of financing borrowing rather than routinely using the Public Works Loan Board.

Dave Watson, head of UNISON Scotland bargaining and campaigns, said ‘We are expecting a further £2bn of cuts to local public services across Scotland. We could save £2bn by refinancing PFI / PPP projects. Every sensible measure that government and public authorities take will reduce damage to vital public services and protects jobs. And some councils are already using pension funds to invest in affordable housing, but we need to do this on a national scale.'

Dave Watson continued: 
‘Scottish local government has already seen over 40,000 job losses and many more jobs have been lost in the NHS, police, community and voluntary sector. Of course UNISON is joining with the STUC and others to campaign against austerity, however we are ready to work with Scottish Government and public authorities to do all we can to mitigate against the worst effects of these cuts’

The report is launched today

END

Notes

• UNISON is Scotland’s public services union, and it is the biggest trade union in Scotland
• The full report can be read here:http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks/CombatingAusterity_Sep2015.pdf