Latest UNISON Scotland Briefings from the Bargaining and Campaigns Team. UNISON Scotland Briefings include Bargaining and Policy Briefings for branches on a wide range of policy and employment issues, e-briefings and Legal Updates and briefings for MSPs and MPs and others to represent UNISON policy where decisions are being made.
Briefing 181: Cost of living September 2026
Statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on Household Cost Indices (HCI) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) underline what members know – costs of basic essentials are climbing ... Read More
Briefing 180 Universities in crisis
Universities are anchors of communities and economies. They educate the future workforce and train the key workers needed to maintain public services, like nurses, social workers, and paramedics. Education is also a ... Read More
eBrief – Public sector reform: our response
UNISON has serious concerns about the government’s chosen approach to public sector reform. These are set out in this briefing. Further detail can be found in our submission to parliament's ... Read More
Briefing 179 – Implementing the Care Reform (Scotland) Act
The Care Reform (Scotland) Act was passed in June 2025. It introduces new powers and requirements for Scottish ministers in relation to fair work, ethical commissioning and procurement and sectoral ... Read More
Local government pension scheme reform – a single fund is a driver for growth
The Scottish government’s public sector reform agenda is a cuts agenda. Instead of pursuing a jobs and service reduction model the Scottish government should be looking for reforms that bring ... Read More
MSP briefing – urgent questions needing answers about public sector reform
The government has announced major structural reform of the public sector, the largest since devolution, but with very few details. Even the 'what?' and 'how?' of the proposals are currently ... Read More
Post-school education and skills reform: Audit Scotland report
UNISON members work in a wide variety of roles within the college and post-school education system, and in roles supporting the tertiary education sector, including in Skills Development Scotland. The ... Read More
Artificial intelligence in public service reform
The Scottish government has published its programme for government which puts into practice its public service reform strategy. This is a programme of workforce reduction, cuts and automation, which artificial ... Read More
Public service reform in non-departmental public bodies
The public sector reform (PSR) strategy is a cuts agenda. PSR is dressed in the language of prevention, empowerment and improvement, but there is no doubt that it is a ... Read More
Public service reform in health
The public service reform (PSR) strategy has a cuts agenda. Driven by cost cutting, a huge transformation in how public services are governed and delivered is planned. What this means ... Read More
