Blackpool Council’s Executive Committee will be considering proposals to slash £1m from children’s centre provisions in Blackpool on Monday evening, 8th July. These proposals are being sold to you, and the wider public, as the centres being “revolutionised”, when in reality these proposals are yet another example of central government's austerity and cuts agenda. If implemented this will be a further Labour led council doing the dirty work of a failing Tory government.

The proposed changes will negatively affect staff, including imposing many job losses. The proposals will also affect communities near to these centres, with vital services at several of them moving to “hubs”, preventing easy, nearby access. Many vulnerable children and their families will have to travel to continue to access these services. Incurring costs in both travel and time they can ill afford to make.

UNISON’s Blackpool Local Government Branch will be protesting outside Blackpool Town Hall at 5.30pm on Monday 8th July. Please come along and support us and all the affected staff, children and families. Your support will be very much appreciated.

Blackpool’s services for children and young people were rated as “inadequate” by the Ofsted inspectors following their visit late last year.
The commissioner returns next week to review progress so far, and we are pleased that trades unions look to be involved in the feedback process this time, and this is where you come in. It’s important that the feedback isn’t just from senior management, it needs to include views from all the stakeholders.

YOUR OPINION COUNTS!

• UNISON will be able to represent your views
• UNISON can make your voice heard
• UNISON will be able to report the opinions of members across childrens services but can also protect their anonymity

So, if you fall into any of these categories and you’re a UNISON member (and if not, whyever not?) please get in touch and tell us what you think.

There is an opportunity here to identify problems but also to be part of the solution. Above all else this is about protecting our members’ interests.
Tell us what you would like the commissioner to hear. Please e-mail the branch confidentially with your views at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

At our AGM on Friday 22nd February, we ratified our branch officers for 2019/20. We can now confirm that Rob Baldock was elected to the Assistant Branch Secretary role, and Neil Adams became our new Branch Secretary. Congratulations to them both.

Neil Adams Branch Secretary	Rob Baldock Assistant Branch Secretary

Our thanks go to Dave Dickinson for all his hard work and dedication during his time as Branch Secretary, and prior to that as Assistant Branch Secretary. His has led the branch into a stronger position and we hope this will continue going forward. We wish him the best of luck for the future.

Our 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Friday 22nd February 2019, 6.30pm, Stanley Park Golf Club, North Park Drive. It will be followed by a Northern Soul night and buffet.

At the AGM we will elect our Branch Officers, Representatives and ratify the election of Workplace Stewards for the forthcoming year.

The preliminary agenda is available here. If you wish to submit a motion, please send it to the Branch Office, with the name of the proposer and seconder by no later than Friday 28th December 2018.

A nomination form for Branch Officers, Representatives and Workplace Stewards has been posted to all our members, these are also be available to print off from here.  If you wish to stand for a position in the branch, please ensure that your nomination form is received at the Branch Office by no later than noon on Friday 21st December 2018.

All branch members are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting and can bring along their partners or a guest for the Northern Soul night and buffet that follows.

Dear Member

Please see the model letter for individual UNISON members to use when dealing with managers in relation to the withdrawal of personal vehicles for Council business.  This can be downloaded as Model ECU word document here, or in Model ECU letter pdf format here.

This follows information which has been brought to UNISON's attention this morning. An email from HR has been forwarded to managers who have then cascaded it to staff and is in relation to the Council's Expenses Policy.

It states that, in accordance with the Expenses Policy, staff should not be reimbursed from petty cash. This is a red herring. This only applies to expenses which have already been incurred.

The Council is putting pressure on UNISON members to provide their own money - in effect, their own petty cash - to pay for transport. We strongly urge people to be resolute and refuse to do this.

We are urging you NOT to use your own money to pay for alternative transport. You are under no contractual obligation to do so. If Council departments have not made arrangements for how they will deal with the refusal of staff to use their vehicles, then that is their responsibility.

They have had a significant period to prepare for this, so we ask people not to make the situation easier for the Council.

This action will only work if members refuse to use their cars en masse and also refuse to use their own money to pay for transport. It is the only way the Council will be forced to see that their policy to take approximately £1,000 off you per year is a mistake.

If staff use their car for Council business or pay up front for travel expenses, it will undermine our effectiveness.

We must remain united!

Regards

Dave Dickinson

BRANCH SECRETARY