For fairness and democracy: keep it local Launched at UNISON Scottish council on Saturday 1 April 2017 this is the UNISON Scotland manifesto for the local government elections on 4 May 2017. Our manifesto calls for sustainable funding for local government, so it can take meaningful accountable decisions which can make a real difference to local […]
UNISON launches its manifesto for the local government elections in Scotland today, ‘For fairness and democracy: keep it local’ (1 April 2017). Its is launched with polling from Survation showing that public services are the top priority for voters (70%); followed by the economy (51%); and job security and availability (44%). According to Survation polling […]
This is a large scale survey of support staff working in schools across Scotland. It is a wide ranging report giving a clear overview of what is going on in Scottish schools. Its main finding is that support staff have lack of time, lack of resources and heavy workloads which mean they are struggling to […]
Scotland needs a quality home care service to meet the growing demand and also ensures that patients who shouldn’t be in hospital are cared for at home. While there is a welcome commitment to address this, the service at present is struggling. See more on the Public Works blog. This is reinforced in a report […]
#ulgc16 Local Government Conference slammed the Tory Government’s ideological austerity policies which are having such a devastating effect on local democracy and public services. It pledged to continue the fight to oppose these attacks. Scotland’s motion was included in a wide-ranging composite which set out a comprehensive strategy for combating cuts, and was moved by […]
This survey is part of UNISON Scotland’s Damage series: a set of surveys looking at the impact of the ‘Age of Austerity’ on services and those who deliver them. The Conservative Government’s Austerity programme will result in a further £2billion of cuts to Scotland’s public services. Sadly the cuts that services have already endured, since […]
North Lanarkshire Council has announced that it will not privatise hundreds of home support workers jobs. The announcement comes after UNISON North Lanarkshire members mobilised a huge campaign to oppose privatisation of vital council services. Marie Quigley, Branch Secretary for UNISON’s North Lanarkshire Branch said: “UNISON are pleased to hear that proposals are now off […]
This year’s Scottish Government budget allocation to councils has been cut by £500 million in real terms (£349 million in cash). The Scottish Government’s budget was cut by 0.8% yet they decided to cut council budgets by 4.5%. 74% of Scottish voters in a Survation poll agreed that local services will get worse as a […]
Since the establishment of Police Scotland police staff have borne the brunt of a process of centralisation, budget cuts and politically driven targets. This process has been bad for policing, bad for communities and bad for staff. UNISON Scotland calls for policing in Scotland to be properly resourced with a balanced workforce responsive to locally […]
UNISON’s Western Isles local government branch has issued a counter-warning over jobs and service cuts following an Audit Scotland alert that staff sickness rates were becoming an area of ‘concern’. Branch chair Flora Somerville said: “The Audit Scotland report noted that ‘the Comhairle (Council) is not clear what the underlying cause is for the increase […]