UNISON welcomes West Sussex jobs move

Council brings safeguarding jobs back in house, citing fears that children are at risk because privatised contract delivers too few assessments

Raising the State Pension Age

The government announced on 19 July that they are planning to increase the State Pension Age from 67 to 68 for people between the ages of 39 and 46. This is likely to have a direct negative impact on the Local Government Pension Scheme and all other public service schemes. Members in this age group, […]

Cuts forcing social workers to ‘brink of burnout’, says UNISON

Social workers are struggling with heavy caseloads, working longer hours and going without lunch breaks, according to a survey by UNISON and Community Care magazine. Nearly half (48%) of respondents said the volume of cases they were responsible for left them feeling ‘over the limit,’ and more than half (56%) blamed staff shortages for their heavy workload. […]

Give all councils greater share of business rates to fund social care, says UNISON

All local authorities in England should be allowed to keep a greater share than they do currently of business rates so they can afford to fund social care properly, says UNISON today (Wednesday). The union is urging the government to grant councils better terms along similar lines to a deal agreed earlier this month with […]

How to improve homecare – a story from Reading

A short video on how UNISON is improving home care in Reading.

Agreement reached with MMD Shipping

Strike action was averted and an agreement reached with MMD Shipping Ltd after ongoing negotiations between UNISON and the employer resulted in a much-improved offer to members. For the last year, UNISON has been in discussion with MMD management to find changes in working practices that would improve MMD’s financial stability. The initial proposal by MMD […]

UNISON calls for apology from council leader

UNISON the union representing staff at Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council have called for an apology to all council workers from the Leader of the Council, Cllr Simon Dudley following inappropriate comments made at a recent Employment Panel Hearing. Councillors were debating the latest results of anonymous exit surveys carried out by the council which […]

Use unallocated business rates to ease the social care funding crisis

    The government could ease the social care crisis by handing back to councils in the South East millions in surplus cash raised from business rates, according to new figures published today (Wednesday) by UNISON. If local authorities in the South East were given back their share of business rates that have been collected […]