---

BBC News Devon 

BBC Radio Devon

BBC Devon - Road Traffic

BBC Devon - Car Parks

---

Trades Union News - from ....

Want the the weather forecast for Devon & Cornwall?

---

Want to know who your MP is? - or their e-mail address? (external link, opens in a new window)

---

UNISON have a dedicated web site for members working for Private Contractors and another for members in the Community & Voluntary sector
(both open in new windows)

 

UNISON OPPOSES

RACISM!

Please visit the

"HOPE not hate"

website

www.hopenothate.org.uk

 

ACAS awards 2.75% pay rise to local government workers

Posted 5 March 2009

From UNISON website:

(03/03/09) Unions representing 1.3 million local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, have welcomed an ACAS award of an additional 0.3% pay rise, bringing the 2008-9 pay increase to 2.75% on all pay points. An extra £100 had already been agreed for the lowest paid.

UNISON, UNITE and GMB had been involved in a long-standing dispute over pay, including strike action, last year. They had rejected previous offers and referred the dispute to binding arbitration. The award is backdated to 1 April 2008.

In a joint statement, UNISON, Unite and GMB, said: “We welcome the fact that ACAS has accepted our arguments that members should receive a higher pay increase. “ACAS stated that the award is ‘justified and affordable in the context of the claim for the year 2008/2009’.

“ACAS also recognised that local government workers are among the lowest paid in the public sector and they have been affected significantly by the worsening economic climate. “We have always argued that local government workers have become the poor relations of the public sector,” added the statement. “They have contributed enormously to improving local services and meeting council efficiency targets and they deserve a better deal. “

Cleaners, refuse staff, school meals workers, librarians, admin and clerical workers, teaching assistants, home care and social workers are among those covered by the award.

Joint Response to Boundary Committee from the

Devon Local Government UNISON Branches

Posted 10 October 2008

UNISON RESPONSE TO THE STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION ON A UNITARY COUNCIL FOR DEVON

 

UNISON has over thirty-thousand members who are key stakeholders both as residents and workers providing local government services in Devon.  We have been meeting jointly since early 2007 and have drawn up a number of points on the proposals for unitary Devon.  These meetings have been attended by representatives from several Branches in the County and in the Districts Councils, who employ most of our Union Membership in Devon.  UNISON and our members strongly support the development and maintenance of high quality public services. 

This response focuses on:

What we believe to be priority issues to address

How we respond to the five decision making criteria adopted by the DCLG

 

PRIORITY ISSUES FOR UNISON

UNISON is in favour of local government structures that:

 

• offer a fair deal for staff.
• enhance local democracy,
• provide quality services

 

If the structure of Local Government is to change, the change needs to demonstrate genuine improvements and not just a cost saving exercise which will damage the local economy through the lost of jobs and services; as well as a potential increase in local Council Tax.

Concern has been expressed about the implications of such fundamental changes as implied by the draft proposal for a unitary Devon and the relationship between an “Exeter-Exmouth” and “Rural Devon”.

We are aware that considerable levels of expenditure have been assigned by a number of Councils to justify their stance in relation to Local Government reform and some cases show propaganda and misinformation issued to the public.  UNISON wishes to distance itself from such bias as we feel this is unhelpful to the public understanding and to the services where our members work

The timescale for implementation of change is also a concern to us.  Transitional arrangements could be extremely difficult to implement without unduly impacting on both services and local democracy with staff transferring from current Council to Unitary.  We firmly believe that all staff regardless of their current Council employer should be treated with full equality.

1.           Affordability

 

UNISON can only judge the draft proposals as a concept because we have a lack of financial information.  The figures are general and do not take account of non-financial costs.

Each of the bids anticipates considerable savings.  We cannot envisage how these savings would be achieved without having a serious detrimental impact both during the transition and afterwards.  UNISON asks the Boundary Committee to reflect on previous reorganisations and the anticipation of savings that failed to materialise e.g. Torbay.

UNISON is concerned that the true costs are not clarified and that the hidden costs to the community are not being calculated as well as the general costs, for example, non-financial costs, such as confusion in the community; general population not knowing vital information such as who their landlord is.  As their Landlord would be changing, consultation with tenants would also have a cost that needs to be considered, as this is a statutory requirement.

The costs to new authorities for Single Status, which has already cost Councils 5-7% of their overall staffing costs will have to repeated to ensure equality of pay and conditions.  This again could increase the costs and may not have been taken into account.  Each Council across Devon has implemented or is in the process of implementing Job Evaluation, using different schemes, pay scales and pay lines.  Immediately the new authorities are established and staff transfer they may be open to Equal Pay Claims, which will have a cost impact.  Already a number of employees are due back pay, or have lodged Equal Pay Claims the cost of this has to be taken into account as well.

With the uncertainty amongst staff regarding this process, staff turnover has already increased in the Districts.  This trend is likely to continue.  A significant number of experienced staff have been and will be lost in the future through “natural wastage”.  This "natural wastage" will include substantial numbers of redundancies and also normal retirements, early retirements, as well as staff choosing to leave for more security.  It is worth noting that in Devon County Council a significant proportion of staff will be reaching retirement age in the next five years.  All of this will have an impact on services and a cost to the new authorities as well as the pension schemes.

The cost of additional resources required to empower the Community through Community Boards, Parish Councils, and Town Councils should not be underestimated.

UNISON is concerned that full Equality Impact Assessments on the proposal for a Unitary Devon have not been completed.  As this is a statutory duty we would expect them to be carried out and the costs accounted for.  We are also not aware of a Sustainability Impact Assessment being carried out and understand this is also a statutory duty.  Again, this will have a significant financial impact.

2.           Supported by a Broad cross-section of partners and stakeholders

UNISON is concerned that the Boundary Committee proposals have not been properly debated in all sections of the community.  We believe that the views of the public receiving local government services and staff providing these services should have been obtained, through informed presentations and engagement across the whole of the County.  Without this proper debate and consultation how can a broad cross section of support be demonstrated?

It is clear that Exeter City Council have a preferred option and so too do Devon County Council.

Our members have diverse opinions on this subject.  However, our members are concerned about the negative impact any proposal may have on jobs, provision of services and democracy.

3.           Provide strong, effective and accountable strategic leadership

Concern is expressed that the current divisions between the County and Districts will impact directly on the provision of leadership in Devon.  At the present time there are 399 Councillors covering all the County and Districts, the draft proposals drastically reduce this number.  Whatever the outcome there must be enough Councillors to ensure regular contact with the community.

Elected members undertake their role voluntarily; given the extended role of Councillors envisaged under the proposals, it will be a difficult role for individuals without private means to undertake, as it is likely to be a full time commitment.

Concerned is expressed that this role is placing unrealistic demands on the individual Councillors, leaving them inadequate opportunity to provide strong, effective and accountable leadership.

The rules in place re the nomination and election of Councillors will stop employees of the potential new authority(s) from standing as you cannot be elected onto a Council where you are employed.  Again this will be a loss of quality and experience from the community as the largest employer in Devon will be the new Unitary(s).

There is considerable concern that “City” Councillors may be making decisions for “Rural” areas and vice versa which are fundamentally different and need a different view.  The issues for each are diverse and will cause conflict.

A further concern is the appointment and accountability of the proposed “Community Boards”.  As these boards are not accountable they cannot be strategic and in some respect reverts to the two tier structure deleted in 1973-74.

4.           Deliver Opportunities for neighbourhood flexibility and empowerment

The bid seeks to improve engagement at a local level by the establishment of Community Boards.  However at present several Parish Council seats are vacant as no candidates present themselves for elections and a large number of Town Council seats are filled by uncontested candidates.  Given therefore that it is already difficult to attract candidates, we are concerned that with the extension of this role it will become even more problematic to attract candidates.  In the event of a problem attracting candidates to the appointments we would have concerns of equality and the democracy of the boards.

With the removal of District Councils; local identity will be lost; the Unitary Council will have to work hard to ensure all of the population of Devon identify with a council centrally managed.

The proposals talk about empowerment, but there are no strategies in place to ensure that the community is empowered.  With the continued privatisation of services, contracts are such that service users cannot have an impact on the services once privatised.  Privatisation will have a weakening effect on neighbourhood participation.  Privatised Services do not have the same transparency and democratic accountability.

5.           Value for money and equity on public services

We recognise that a large element of the Draft Unitary proposal focuses on removing duplication and achieving economies of scale.  We also recognise that local government is under ever-increasing pressure to make ‘efficiency savings’ whilst at the same time maintain and improve public services.

Whilst this proposal appears to demonstrate value for money, we are concerned about how this will impact on the provision of services in Devon, particularly in economically deprived rural and urban areas.

We would fundamentally oppose proposals to extend the involvement of the private sector to achieve savings.

UNISON will expect that any new authority for Devon will be committed to deliver services provided directly by the Council, where services are rationalised that this will be achieved through a directly employed workforce in partnership and consultation with the recognised Trades Unions, and where services have previously been outsourced that a first consideration will be to bring those services back under direct control.

We would seek a commitment that any efficiency savings are used to improve service delivery directly to service users and local communities.   We would wish to work in partnership with the council to develop new services and ways of working.

We see the training and development of staff and investment in staff as an essential element in modernising and improving public services and delivering value for money outcomes.   A well trained, properly paid and well motivated workforce is the key to providing high quality public services.

UNISON will seek firm commitment from any new authority to staff development, high quality training, the integration of clear personal development plans for all employees (regardless of grade and gender) which are non- discriminatory, and career structures to nurture and promote talent internally within Devon.  This must also be based on a common pay and grading structure, which is equality-proof and gives equal opportunities for all staff within the employment of any new council. 

In theory a single provider of Local Government Services should provide equity.  However, will the quality of services be maintained; or will the quality be levelled up and down to a consistent service provision, creating bias.

Conclusion

 

UNISON seeks equality of service standards in all services across the county, but determined by local needs and aspirations.  Sufficient resources need to be made available for this.

Our members expect their jobs to be adequately protected to provide the services.  Terms and conditions of employment should be enhanced by levelling up to achieve equality across the County.

However, UNISON believes that the current draft proposals do not demonstrate that they meet the five criteria set out by the Secretary of State.

Claim Strike Pay!

Posted 23 July 2008

If you are a member of the Devon County Branch of UNISON and you ACTIVELY* participated in industrial action on the 16th and 17th of July you are entitled to claim the deductions from your pay for the days you participated from the branch.

To make your claim you will need to submit the Strike Pay Claim form (download here) and a copy of your pay advice slip for both the month showing the deductions and the preceding month.  (If you are not paid on salary or their are other extenuating circumstances further evidence of loss of earnings may be required)

To claim you must be registered by a Picket Organiser on a picket, or a Rally Steward. We will only pay for lost earnings for days of participation. If you worked on a day you were not otherwise scheduled to work you will not lose income and therefore will be ineligible.  If you only ACTIVELY* participated on one day then you will only be able to claim for that one days loss of earnings.

 

* Actively Participating is defined as "Having participated on a picket line (as a picketer or official support), attended an official rally, or any other duty as defined by the strike committee.

Local Government Workers Are On Strike!

Posted 16 July 2008

 

Local Government Workers across England and Wales are on strike disputing the insulting 2.45% pay offer.

UNISON Members outside Devon County Hall

UNISON - Devon County Branch was pleased to Sponsor RESPECT 2008!

Posted 27 June 2008

Updated 13 July 2008

Exeter Respect (held 12 July 2008) is the city's annual celebration of diversity using the full range of performing and creative arts to promote multi-cultural understanding and say no to racism and all forms of prejudice. The festival has grown year-on-year in scale, scope and quality - and this year's celebration features a wider range of events than ever.

 

Roger Spackman (Branch Secretary), Mark Kelly (Steward), Darienne Flemington (International Officer) & Alison Buck (LGBT Officer) at the UNISON Stall at RESPECT 2008!

To go to the Respect 2008 site click here

Regional Women's Conference - 29 Sep 07

A report back from our Women's Officer