Regional Convenor's Report

The year has been a difficult one for all those involved in the public services. The government is determined to go ahead with its attacks on the provision of public services. At the time of writing the headlines proclaim, 'Council tax to rise and services to be cut.' Yet at the same time as the government is saying that the public finances are tight, it can 'loan' 25 billion pounds to bail out Northern Rock, which one commentator put it is 'Public risk but private profit'

Those of us, who expected better things once Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, and I was not one of them, must be sadly disappointed. For me two events illustrate how far the Labour Party and Government have strayed from their historic mission, the new Prime Minister invited Lady Thatcher to tea at number 10 and has appointed Digby Jones to the government. Harold Wilson would have trouble serving in this Labour Government, he would be too left wing.

UNISON members are doubtless feeling battered and dazed after what had been almost thirty years of constant change. While those of us in the public service must always remain responsive to changes in demand, technology and society, we do not need to completely change the system every couple of years to make that response. Since the arrival of the Tory government in 1979 to the current day government ministers have been determined to change rather than administer. In the process, structures and procedures which took years and millions of pounds to introduce are thrown out after a couple of years and replaced by a new set of ideas, which quickly go the way of the previous system. The result is that unless you are a public service profession you have no idea how the system works or how you can influence it. Even then your knowledge is likely to be limited to your area of expertise. Someone who knows their way around the Health Service is likely to be lost in the maze of Local Government and the other way about. In my own employer there was a time when you could tell what each department did from its name, Housing or Education for instance. God knows what the public think the Department of the Urban Environment does. I am sure my employer is not alone in this.

The result is that the public are becoming increasingly alienated from the political process; turn out at elections falls and the BNP, UKIP and the like move in with their poison to exploit the disenchantment of the electorate.

The year has seen the membership in the region increase till we are the best recruiting region in the union. Sadly this is not a cause for self congratulation as our potential far exceeds our achievement. Above all we must address our failure to engage young members, not because, as is often said, they are the future of the movement but because they are its present. How can we expect to run successful campaigns and industrial action when we are failing to interest such a large part of the workforce? Unfortunately deals like the one agreed on Local Government pensions are not likely to prove our relevance to them.

I am glad to see that our website is now multi lingual. With increasing numbers of workers coming from outside of the UK be it the new EU countries or elsewhere we need to give more attention to recruiting and helping this group of workers, many of whom are vulnerable to rogue employers. As an organisation we may be the only body with their best interests at heart and the ability to help them.

I am afraid that once again I have to warn about the dangerously low levels of lay member activity at regional level. UNISON's great weakness is that it presumes that there are lots of activists who are falling over themselves to get involved in its work. Work loads at branch level continue to exist. It is not surprising that given the choice between dealing with an urgent branch problem or attending a meeting in Livery Street, most activists choose the former. Many of our meetings struggle to be quorate. Although there are some new faces and they are very welcome, we need many more. If the situation continues we will have to face the truth and admit that we cannot have a committee for every function. We may have another option forced on us, such as a 'cabinet system'

I am sure that I speak for everyone when I say how glad I am to see that Valerie is back after her period of illness. Together with Chris Rogers and Edna Hall her absence has been noticed. I wish both Chris and Edna a speedy recovery. I would like to thank all those staff who took on extra duties during these periods of illness. It was much appreciated.

I would like to thank Valerie and the staff for all their help during the year. I would also like to thank Pat, Tracy, Rebecca and Malcolm for their invaluable contribution. I wish Malcolm a quick return to health. Pat Heatherton and Rebecca Dalton have moved over to the staff. Although they are both a great loss to the lay activity of the Union and will be hard to replace, their move does give the region an opportunity to refresh the lay leadership. I would like to place on record my thanks to both Pat and Becky for all their support and health not only in the past year but for many years.

Finally I must thank my Branch and in particular by fellow Branch secretary, Graham Moore, without whose support and forbearance I would have been unable to function as Regional Convenor.

Steve Beardsmore

Regional Convenor