For our services
OUR KEY WORKERS DESERVE more
We can’t afford a return to under-valuing our public services and the people who provide them.
After 10 years of spending cuts and austerity, the damage to all the vital services that make our communities strong and resilient, including NHS, social care, schools, policing and local government, is plain to see in all parts of the UK.
The Prime Minister talks about ‘levelling up’ but during the pandemic, he and his ministers have handed vast amounts of cash over to mates or Conservative donors.
During the pandemic the Department for Health and Social Care issued 137 contracts worth a total of £1.9bn, none of which were subject to competition.
Meanwhile, quarter of a million jobs in the services we all rely on have been lost since 2010.
This includes Sure Start children’s centres, youth services, care for the vulnerable, parks, public spaces, leisure centres and libraries. The government say they want to level up, but the way they treat our communities shows the opposite.
Why we need more funding for our services:
The government pledged £12 billion extra for the NHS, but overall increased investment is still only half of what it was before the Tories first entered government. Staff shortages are now critical: There are now hundreds of thousands of vacancies across the NHS and social care sector.
Pay for key workers in public services has fallen in real terms by 16% since 2009, but the cost of living is going up all the time.
The Social care system is fragmented and struggling to cope, with private equity companies making a killing at the expense of elderly residents and those that care for them.
Local councils are facing a shortfall of £3bn for the 2022-23 financial year. This risks the loss of many vital jobs and services
Spending per pupil has fallen in every part of the UK since 2010. As a result , half of schools in England have cut the number of teaching assistants, leaving fewer staff to support the needs of pupils.
There are today 39,275 fewer police community support officers (PCSO), police staff and police officers working for forces in England and Wales than there were 10 years ago. Serious and violent crime has risen as a result.
We can’t return to under-valuing our public services and the people who provide them. We want the government to:
Rebuild all our public services: Long- term investment is needed to recruit and train the number of staff needed to ensure our services are there when we need them.
Ensure government departments, devolved nations and local authorities have the funding necessary to give public service workers a decent pay rise.
Create fairer and safer workplaces where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, including improved sick pay schemes and outlawing fire and rehire tactics by employers.
Build a more equal and sustainable post-COVID-19 society. This must include abandoning plans to bring the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit to an end.
“The most challenging part has been the fake support from our government; they may care about some aspects of health care, but not all.”
Donna, care worker
“Things were in many ways more challenging than usual - providing for children at home as well as potentially putting our safety at risk with those coming in - it was difficult and it took its toll on all the staff. It felt like we were right on the front line, and I suppose in many ways we were.”
Rich, teaching assistant
“At the height of it, you’re meeting and greeting so many people who, 5 days later, you’re taking down to the morgue. It can all get a bit too much.”
Shawn, hospital porter