UNISON Scotland welcomes the announcement today of a fundamental independent review of adult social care, led by Derek Feeley, which will give consideration to a National Care Service. However the lack of trade union representation on the review group is regrettable.
Mike Kirby, UNISON Scottish Secretary, said: “We note the government is actively considering ways to reward the efforts of NHS staff during the pandemic as part of the 2021-22 pay deal and look forward to reaching agreement on this. The developments announced for supporting the mental health and wellbeing of NHS and social care staff are very positive.
“While a number of measures announced have implications for local services we are disappointed the Programme contains nothing which addresses the scale of the current crisis in local authority budgets or the urgency of maintaining essential local services.
“We await the announcement of a revised date for rolling out the expansion of early years education to 1,140 hours before the end of this year.”
Further information:
Stephen Low, Policy Officer 07956852822 s.low2@unison.co.uk
Trisha Hamilton, communications officer: 07943 507 307 t.hamilton@unison.co.uk