Category: 2024 local government conference

14 years of the Tories – local government

Head of local government Mike Short on why councils and council workers are ‘in the depths of crisis’

The last 14 years have seen the local government sector hollowed out by a Conservative government that has no interest in local democracy or local services.

Local government has long struggled for proper recognition for the vital work that it does. Unless you need a social worker, library or a youth centre, you may not notice what’s happened to these services under the Tories.

But UNISON’s research and the experience of our members is clear. Since 2010, 1,243 youth centres have been closed in England and Wales, removing a vital source of support for young people. Social workers have been left over-worked and struggling to keep up with demand, leaving the most vulnerable members of local communities in real trouble. And 877 public libraries have disappeared, depriving people of an essential community hub for learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought home to many people how vital their councils actually are. It was council workers who stepped in to provide test and trace services, deliver food parcels to older people, and ensure we all have safe, open spaces.

But the government refuses to accept this and has continued to slash the funding available for councils.

The result has been the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in local government. And like in so many other public services, the staff are the service. Without housing workers, there’s no housing service, for example; without environmental health and trading standards officers, our localities and the products we buy aren’t safe.

There is wide acceptance that pay rates in local government are too low. Under the Tories, there’s been a race to the bottom – with the bottom rate of pay hovering around the legal minimum wage. Workers’ standard of living has plummeted, with the real value of local government pay falling by more than 25% since 2010.

Where has all this left us? In the depths of crisis. With our services in tatters, one council after another declaring itself effectively bankrupt, staff angry and demoralised – striving to provide high-quality services while struggling to make enough to provide for themselves and their families.

We’re at a a crossroads in the history of local government in the UK. The general election will determine whether or not we take the right path.

The article 14 years of the Tories – local government first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Local government education wins and woes

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Focus turned to education on Monday afternoon at local government conference with a series of motions on further education, the crisis in schools, and the school support staff negotiating body (SSSNB).

Mike Short national secretary for local government and education opened the session with a speech outlining the achievements over the last year and the challenges they will face in the years to come.

Moving a motion on further education (FE) pay Carl Greatbatch spoke of the “vital role” FE played in his life. crediting his ability to become a trade union officer to the vital support he was given by FE, adding that he was proud that FE had also enabled his daughter to follow in the same path.

The motion highlighted that the real value of pay in further education FE colleges has fallen dramatically by around 35% in recent years and called on the service group executive (SGE) to review UNISON’s strategy for FE pay and to develop a new one if it is no longer fit for purpose.

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Schools in crisis

A motion on the crisis in our schools noted that UNISON is the largest union for school support staff representing over 250,000 members but that real terms cuts to school funding has left the education sector in crisis.

Moving the motion, Cath Lewis (pictured above) from Leicester said: “There is a school support staff recruitment and retention crisis driven by low pay – 46% of staff are looking for better paid jobs.

“It’s time we fought back and demand more than just the crumbs off the bosses table.”

Jess Powell from Dorset branch said “When I started working in schools 32 years ago, my wages compared favourably with other jobs in the market place, saying after 14 years of Tory government, they no longer do.

“School support staff pay has been 24% cut and a recent study discovered half of school support staff are struggling with their workloads. Every day members tell me about how they are struggling to make ends meet.”

As an example of this, Tom Baker (pictured top), from Leicester branch who took part in the Ash Field strikes spoke to a rapturous reception from the conference floor.

In the Ash Field dispute members took a total of 43 days of strike action over 8 months. Their action won between 18 and 25% pay rises for classroom-based staff, a £2,000 one-off payment for all support workers and a commitment from the employer to follow the NJC pay settlements from now on.

The motion laid out a detailed action calling upon the SGE to take action on the issue.

School support staff negotiating body

Debate carried on with a motion recommitting UNISON’s support of and detailing priorities in negotiation around a school support staff negotiating body (SSSNB). It noted that the Labour party has pledged to introduce a distinct negotiating body for school support staff if elected to government.

Delegates spoke about the need for the body to truly and effectively represent everyone in the sector and spoke to the priorities set out in the motion.

Diana Leach moving the motion for the SGE said: “Around a third of our members in local government work in schools – with the general secretary recently reporting this has increased to 40% – they are covered by local government bargaining but this doesn’t work for many who work in schools.

“They are predominantly women, in low-paid, part-time jobs. Their job profiles are out of date, opportunities for professional development are poor, and the work they do goes unrecognised and unnoticed.

“The last Labour government started the process of bringing in the SSSNB but the Tories showed how little they valued support staff and got rid of it before it even started.”

The article Local government education wins and woes first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Local government education wins and woes

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Focus turned to education on Monday afternoon at local government conference with a series of motions on further education, the crisis in schools, and the school support staff negotiating body (SSSNB).

Mike Short national secretary for local government and education opened the session with a speech outlining the achievements over the last year and the challenges they will face in the years to come.

Moving a motion on further education (FE) pay Carl Greatbatch spoke of the “vital role” FE played in his life. crediting his ability to become a trade union officer to the vital support he was given by FE, adding that he was proud that FE had also enabled his daughter to follow in the same path.

The motion highlighted that the real value of pay in further education FE colleges has fallen dramatically by around 35% in recent years and called on the service group executive (SGE) to review UNISON’s strategy for FE pay and to develop a new one if it is no longer fit for purpose.

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Schools in crisis

A motion on the crisis in our schools noted that UNISON is the largest union for school support staff representing over 250,000 members but that real terms cuts to school funding has left the education sector in crisis.

Moving the motion, Cath Lewis (pictured above) from Leicester said: “There is a school support staff recruitment and retention crisis driven by low pay – 46% of staff are looking for better paid jobs.

“It’s time we fought back and demand more than just the crumbs off the bosses table.”

Jess Powell from Dorset branch said “When I started working in schools 32 years ago, my wages compared favourably with other jobs in the market place, saying after 14 years of Tory government, they no longer do.

“School support staff pay has been 24% cut and a recent study discovered half of school support staff are struggling with their workloads. Every day members tell me about how they are struggling to make ends meet.”

As an example of this, Tom Baker (pictured top), from Leicester branch who took part in the Ash Field strikes spoke to a rapturous reception from the conference floor.

In the Ash Field dispute members took a total of 43 days of strike action over 8 months. Their action won between 18 and 25% pay rises for classroom-based staff, a £2,000 one-off payment for all support workers and a commitment from the employer to follow the NJC pay settlements from now on.

The motion laid out a detailed action calling upon the SGE to take action on the issue.

School support staff negotiating body

Debate carried on with a motion recommitting UNISON’s support of and detailing priorities in negotiation around a school support staff negotiating body (SSSNB). It noted that the Labour party has pledged to introduce a distinct negotiating body for school support staff if elected to government.

Delegates spoke about the need for the body to truly and effectively represent everyone in the sector and spoke to the priorities set out in the motion.

Diana Leach moving the motion for the SGE said: “Around a third of our members in local government work in schools – with the general secretary recently reporting this has increased to 40% – they are covered by local government bargaining but this doesn’t work for many who work in schools.

“They are predominantly women, in low-paid, part-time jobs. Their job profiles are out of date, opportunities for professional development are poor, and the work they do goes unrecognised and unnoticed.

“The last Labour government started the process of bringing in the SSSNB but the Tories showed how little they valued support staff and got rid of it before it even started.”

The article Local government education wins and woes first appeared on the UNISON National site.

LG conference: Finance, funding and cuts

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

On Monday morning, local government (LG) conference in Brighton turned its attention to the perilous state of council finances, funding and cuts.

The context for the debates which followed was set by Paul Bell, UNISON national officer, who moved sections of the LG annual report dealing with finance and service delivery.

“This past year has presented us with the toughest financial challenges local government has faced since austerity began in 2010,” said Mr Bell. “Despite these difficulties, we have remained steadfast in our mission: to campaign tirelessly for increased local government funding and to combat the cuts that threaten our communities.

In September, UNISON unveiled research that showed a staggering funding shortfall. Councils across England, Wales and Scotland face a collective deficit exceeding £3.5 billion for the financial year 2024/25, rising to over £7 billion by 2025/26.

Off the back of those deficit figures, he said: “Reports from various organisations paint a bleak picture. The Local Government Information Unit warns that one in ten councils in England might declare bankruptcy within the next twelve months.”

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Funding and cuts

Conference then began business with a set of motions on funding, finance and cuts.

Chair of the service group executive Glen Williams (pictured above) moved a composite motion calling for an end to the collapse of local government and to renew the call for fair funding to the new government after July 4.

He lambasted the situation that local government funding and finance has been left in after 14 years of Conservative government. “Levelling up has actually meant cutting down. Imagine being told to have a financial plan for the next five years but only being told at the start of each single year how much money you will be getting.”

Linda Boyer from the north west region continued the debate saying: “Significant cuts and asset sales have become the norm, but still the books don’t balance and scores of town halls face the threat of effective bankruptcy.”

One of the councils forced to the brink of bankruptcy, which has now put in a section 114 notice, is Birmingham. Kamal Yusuf from the Birmingham local government branch spoke on the issue saying the council has had “a constant barrage over the last 14 years of cuts to funding.”

Mr Yusuf said: “In 2010 Birmingham employed over 24,000 non-teaching staff, it now has under 10,000.”

The plight of Birmingham council was a key topic at a fringe meeting at the conference titled ‘the funding crisis in local government’. There, Mandy Buckley, a care worker from Birmingham, spoke about the council’s section 114 notice, submitted in September, and the way it has responded to it.

“It’s shocking to see the cuts they really want to make in vulnerable services and all the staff, dedicated over the years, losing their jobs,” said Ms Buckley. “And once these services go, they will be deleted, they will vanish.”

Attendees heard that the authority wants to make a “staggering” £300m of cuts over two years and there is also intense pressure to make staff accept voluntary redundancies. “They are being pressured out,” said Ms Buckley.

Somewhere near 60 councils are expected to be in financial crisis in the next year.

Ruth Levin, senior national officer for local government speaks at the funding crisis fringe Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Pay and funding

A motion took the themes of chronic underfunding and explored their effects on the pay of local government staff. Kevin Treweeks moved the motion for the NJC committee.

He said that “better pay is what our members need,” but added that they also understand “councils are facing s114 notices.” He drew the direct link between funding and pay and argued that the local government sector needed three things: “An immediate increase to stop the bleeding, a longer-term settlement and a fairer funding settlement so the money goes where it is needed most.”

Sean Fox noted the Work Free Friday campaign which highlights that real terms pay has dropped over 20% and argued that LG staff now “effectively work one day for free per week and conference, we all know good pay leads to good services.”

The motion set out a range of actions to ensure that the sector is ready and able to deliver strike mandates. 

Cuts to domestic violence services

An example of vital services at risk from the funding crisis in local government is domestic violence services. It is not a statutory requirement, which means it is not protected from cuts.

Elizabeth Onabanjo from Brent said: “Prior to the pandemic, domestic violence services were already underfunded.”

But more recently, she added, “The government pledge of an additional £185m by 2024-25 is far short of the £409m needed annually. We must demand secure long term funding to ensure all women have access to necessary support.”

George Wheeler, a social worker from Lambeth branch said: “Underfunding leaves more and more cracks each year for children and women to fall through – we see every day the devastating effects of cuts to DV services.

“What that means in real terms is women trapped in dangerous and abusive relationships and children at risk of violence.”

The article LG conference: Finance, funding and cuts first appeared on the UNISON National site.

LG conference: Finance, funding and cuts

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

On Monday morning, local government (LG) conference in Brighton turned its attention to the perilous state of council finances, funding and cuts.

The context for the debates which followed was set by Paul Bell, UNISON national officer, who moved sections of the LG annual report dealing with finance and service delivery.

“This past year has presented us with the toughest financial challenges local government has faced since austerity began in 2010,” said Mr Bell. “Despite these difficulties, we have remained steadfast in our mission: to campaign tirelessly for increased local government funding and to combat the cuts that threaten our communities.

In September, UNISON unveiled research that showed a staggering funding shortfall. Councils across England, Wales and Scotland face a collective deficit exceeding £3.5 billion for the financial year 2024/25, rising to over £7 billion by 2025/26.

Off the back of those deficit figures, he said: “Reports from various organisations paint a bleak picture. The Local Government Information Unit warns that one in ten councils in England might declare bankruptcy within the next twelve months.”

Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Funding and cuts

Conference then began business with a set of motions on funding, finance and cuts.

Chair of the service group executive Glen Williams (pictured above) moved a composite motion calling for an end to the collapse of local government and to renew the call for fair funding to the new government after July 4.

He lambasted the situation that local government funding and finance has been left in after 14 years of Conservative government. “Levelling up has actually meant cutting down. Imagine being told to have a financial plan for the next five years but only being told at the start of each single year how much money you will be getting.”

Linda Boyer from the north west region continued the debate saying: “Significant cuts and asset sales have become the norm, but still the books don’t balance and scores of town halls face the threat of effective bankruptcy.”

One of the councils forced to the brink of bankruptcy, which has now put in a section 114 notice, is Birmingham. Kamal Yusuf from the Birmingham local government branch spoke on the issue saying the council has had “a constant barrage over the last 14 years of cuts to funding.”

Mr Yusuf said: “In 2010 Birmingham employed over 24,000 non-teaching staff, it now has under 10,000.”

The plight of Birmingham council was a key topic at a fringe meeting at the conference titled ‘the funding crisis in local government’. There, Mandy Buckley, a care worker from Birmingham, spoke about the council’s section 114 notice, submitted in September, and the way it has responded to it.

“It’s shocking to see the cuts they really want to make in vulnerable services and all the staff, dedicated over the years, losing their jobs,” said Ms Buckley. “And once these services go, they will be deleted, they will vanish.”

Attendees heard that the authority wants to make a “staggering” £300m of cuts over two years and there is also intense pressure to make staff accept voluntary redundancies. “They are being pressured out,” said Ms Buckley.

Somewhere near 60 councils are expected to be in financial crisis in the next year.

Ruth Levin, senior national officer for local government speaks at the funding crisis fringe Image: Steve Forrest/Workers’ photos

Pay and funding

A motion took the themes of chronic underfunding and explored their effects on the pay of local government staff. Kevin Treweeks moved the motion for the NJC committee.

He said that “better pay is what our members need,” but added that they also understand “councils are facing s114 notices.” He drew the direct link between funding and pay and argued that the local government sector needed three things: “An immediate increase to stop the bleeding, a longer-term settlement and a fairer funding settlement so the money goes where it is needed most.”

Sean Fox noted the Work Free Friday campaign which highlights that real terms pay has dropped over 20% and argued that LG staff now “effectively work one day for free per week and conference, we all know good pay leads to good services.”

The motion set out a range of actions to ensure that the sector is ready and able to deliver strike mandates. 

Cuts to domestic violence services

An example of vital services at risk from the funding crisis in local government is domestic violence services. It is not a statutory requirement, which means it is not protected from cuts.

Elizabeth Onabanjo from Brent said: “Prior to the pandemic, domestic violence services were already underfunded.”

But more recently, she added, “The government pledge of an additional £185m by 2024-25 is far short of the £409m needed annually. We must demand secure long term funding to ensure all women have access to necessary support.”

George Wheeler, a social worker from Lambeth branch said: “Underfunding leaves more and more cracks each year for children and women to fall through – we see every day the devastating effects of cuts to DV services.

“What that means in real terms is women trapped in dangerous and abusive relationships and children at risk of violence.”

The article LG conference: Finance, funding and cuts first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Building on the Year of LGBT+ Workers

Local government delegates in Brighton have been celebrating the successes of the union’s Year of LGBT+ Workers, while accepting that the fight to achieve LGBT+ equality and acceptance is far from over.

A composite motion noted that the year devoted to LGBT+ workers is providing an opportunity to promote UNISON as the union for LGBT+ workers in local government, raise awareness of LGBT+ rights, challenge discrimination, negotiate LGBT+ inclusive policies and recruit and activate LGBT+ members in the service group.

But while LGBT+ people have seen positive change in recent years, prejudice and discrimination continue to impact the lives of many.

Proposing the motion, Penny Smith of the national LGBT+ committee (pictured) told delegates: “The contribution that our LGBT+ members make in local government to improving employment conditions for LGBT+ workers and to campaigning more broadly on equality for LGBT+ people is amazing.

“We have much to celebrate this year. We are continuing the trans ally roll out, we are asking branches to fill in our LGBT+ policy checklist on LGBT+ equality, we are creating new training on plus identities. And many branch members have worked tirelessly to make this year successful and educative.

“This is all so positive. And yet I don’t always feel positive. Prejudice and discrimination continue to impact our lives. Anti-trans rhetoric and anti-LGBT+ sentiment is endemic in all forms of media. Many of us are not safe at work, not many of us can be ‘out’ at work.

“This is due to misconceptions deliberately perpetrated by anti-LGBT+ and anti-trans groups. We also do not receive the support we should get from some employers.”

Ed Whitby of the local government executive told delegates: “The last five years have shown how important this year is to us,” citing a 112 per cent rise in hate crime based on homophobia in that period, and a 186 per cent rise in hate crimes against trans people.

“We celebrate our long history,” he said, “but we double our commitments as activists to make the practical steps for change.”

Liz Wheatley of Camden branch said that “LGBT+ people have been at the sharp end of Tory attacks. Election year has been a race by the Tories to attack the most vulnerable in society, to divide us and make us blame each other and not the Tory criminals who are stealing our pay, our services, our homes, our schools and our hospitals.

“In particular, they want to scapegoat refugees and trans people, so it’s important that we stand and organise against this.”

The motion calls on the service group executive to work with the national LGBT+ members committee and others to:

  • Continue to promote the Year of LGBT+ Workers at every level of union activity
  • Continue to encourage branches, regions and sectors to negotiate on LGBT+ workers’ rights in collective bargaining
  • Promote and encourage participation in equality training, in particular the trans ally training
  • Work with local government employers to identify and share good practices which support the recruitment, retention, and progression of LGBT+ people in local government workplaces and careers
  • Encourage LGBT+ members to participate and stand for election in their respective branch, regional and national local government service group executives/committees and as workplace stewards and other representative roles.

Penny Smith concluded: “We need your help in making sure that our LGBT+ members can feel safe in their workplaces and that local government workplaces are free from hate and discrimination.

“And we need your help not just in 2024. We need the momentum we have created and are creating to carry forward. Branches completing the LGBT+ checklists can use that as a starting point for further work in 2025 and beyond.

“The work in advancing LGBT+ equality does not mean less equality for everyone else. It means better outcomes for all.”

The article Building on the Year of LGBT+ Workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.

‘Essential services are crumbling before our eyes’

                                                            Christina McAnea in Brighton. Image: Steve Forrest

UNISON’s local government conference opened in Brighton yesterday with an urgent call to a likely Labour government to rescue services that are suffering from “a disastrous funding crisis.”

General secretary Christina McAnea told delegates: “If Labour get elected, they will have to deal with the mess that is local government. They will have to deal with the fact that our essential services are crumbling before our eyes.”

Councils are facing a funding deficit of £6.2bn over the next two years, with an increasing number filing for bankruptcy. One in five council leaders think they will be bankrupt within 15 months.

On Saturday, UNISON released new research showing that huge cuts to youth services could create a “lost generation” of young people unable to access vital services at a critical time in their lives. Funding cuts have led to the closure of more than two thirds of council-run youth centres in England and Wales since 2010 – with the loss of so many facilities, and the specialist workers who run them, putting teenagers at risk.

And today, more research will be published that shows that more than a third (38%) of council-run children’s centres have been closed across England since 2010, with the situation only due to get worse as town halls struggle to avoid bankruptcy.

“Of course this has hit deprived areas and disadvantaged families the hardest,” Ms McAnea said. “We know that the Tory austerity plan – and it was a deliberate plan – has meant incredible hardship and a legacy from which some communities may never recover.”

The general secretary noted that while the government blames local mismanagement by Labour councils for their malaise, Tory authorities are also suffering, “because the reality is that the fault lies with 14 years of Tory mismanagement, 14 years of a Tory Government that has systematically and deliberately under-funded local councils.

“Our members are committed to the services they provide – supporting the most vulnerable, educating our children, keeping our local communities safe and healthy.

“It’s the Tory Government that has put all of this at risk – and it’s time for a change.”

L-R: Christina McAnea, Lisa Thomas, Alys Exley-Smith, Ramon Hutchingson, Glen Williams
Day one of conference saw the presentation of UNISON’s local service champions awards 2024. L-R: Christina McAnea, runner-up Lisa Thomas, winner Alys Exley-Smith, runner-up Ramon Hutchingson, Glen Williams

“If Labour wins the general election, one of their first big crises will be how to deal with local government funding. I know they can’t reverse all the cuts overnight. But we do need to see real investment in public services, in particular in local government. And a fairer funding system, moving on from the way the Tories have favoured areas where they’re strong, at the expense of more economically challenged Labour-run areas.

“Local government needs more certainty, with longer-term funding settlements, so councils can plan for the future.”

Ms McAnea assured delegates: “I make this case every single time I speak to the Labour Party. And I give you my word that I will not give up pushing this when Labour comes into government. To say they must – they absolutely must – deal with the crisis in local government.

“But conference, make no mistake – we have to get the Tories out. Our members cannot afford five more years of plummeting living standards. Our public services cannot sustain five more years of cuts. And our communities cannot afford five more years of decline and division.”

Glen Williams

Her views were mirrored by Glen Williams (above), chair of the local government service group executive, who was eager to ensure that Labour stick to its manifesto promises.

Presenting the local government annual report to conference, Mr Williams said that if Labour wins power, there can be “no dilution, no compromise” in the party’s proposed New Deal for Working People, with its many promises to boost workers’ pay and conditions.

Mr Williams spoke of the fact that local government pay has lost 30% of its real value under the Tories, observing that “Pay cut after pay cut after pay cut is like being burgled, every year for 14 years.”

The union is currently consulting local government members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on the latest NJC pay offer, with the executive recommending that they reject it.

Images: Steve Forrest

The article ‘Essential services are crumbling before our eyes’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.