A discussion document for UNISON members

This document is about the future. The future of how we will live and work in the next decade. Our aim is to open a debate about the challenges facing Scotland and how together we can meet them. Scotland 2010 is an initiative launched by UNISON Labour Link Scotland. It is an opportunity to have your say. Tell us what you think the best way forward for Scotland will be in the next decade.

Here we explain the Scottish Labour Party's process for drafting its 2007 election manifesto and how members can use this initiative to make a contribution. It then poses a number of questions of relevance to UNISON members, designed to stimulate discussion. Members should not be restricted to these questions. Contributions on any devolved Scottish Parliament issue will be welcome.

We want stewards and members to use this paper to hold small group discussions in branches and workplaces. Branch Labour Link Officers and staff will be available to assist.

Partnership in Power

Partnership in Power is the Scottish Labour Party's policy development process. The Scottish Labour Party Policy Forum (SPF) includes members from all sections of the party. It leads the process by producing consultation papers and encouraging contributions. In the first year a series of very broad questions are posed encouraging responses from the general public as well as within the party. In the second year the SPF begins to firm up ideas and engages in a second round of consultation within the party in Scotland. Reports are presented to Scottish Labour Party Conference each year for debate. Conference approves the final reports in March 2006. These will form the basis of the manifesto for the 2007 elections.

This year four key theme documents will be published. Growing Scotland's Economy; Delivering Excellent Public Services; Supporting Stronger Safer Communities and Building a Confident Democratic Scotland. Copies of these documents will be available on the Scottish Labour Party website http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk.

The Partnership in Power process has been the subject of criticism from all sections of the party in Scotland. Whilst it has encouraged greater involvement it has lacked transparency. There is also no measure of the support for any particular idea. UNISON is supporting sensible reforms to revitalise the process. Encouraging the SPF to address these concerns and if necessary through constitutional change to the party rules.

Scotland 2010 -

the challenge

Since the Labour led coalition came into power in 1999 the Scottish Parliament has made significant progress towards the goal of social justice - but we can't rest. The quickening pace of change makes Labour's case for bolder reform even stronger — the vision of a future in which all, not just a few, citizens have opportunity. Realising that vision means facing up to new challenges.

…the Big Questions

These questions are designed to stimulate discussion on the issues relevance to UNISON members. But they are not prescriptive. If other issues are raised in discussion add them to the response.

1 Labour and UNISON are committed to continued economic stability, helped by low inflation, low interest rates and low unemployment. A strong public sector also plays an important role in stimulating the Scottish economy. Sustainable growth is essential to resource our public services.

What more can government do to grow the economy for all?

2 Improving skills and increasing knowledge are essential to build a strong economy. UNISON has trained 220 Lifelong Learning advisers in Scotland, encouraging and supporting members into learning in every local authority and NHS employer in Scotland as well as many in the voluntary and private sectors.

What more should the government be doing to encourage employers (regardless of the size of the organisation) to support their staff in lifelong learning? How can universities and colleges contribute more to developing a high skill economy?

3 If Scotland is going to be at the forefront of the global economy, our infrastructure needs further investment. We need transport, energy, water and sewage and communications fit to service Scotland.

What can be done to ensure that we have the correct infrastructure?

4 The government has set ambitious targets for generating energy from renewables. But even if these targets are met Scotland will need other forms of energy including coal and nuclear if we are not to become reliant on insecure overseas gas supplies.

What should be the key elements of a distinct Scottish energy strategy?

5 The poorest members of our society have the worst health and the lowest educational attainment. The health of the nation remains one of the worst in Western Europe. Scots have less healthy diets, take less exercise, consume more alcohol and as a consequence die earlier of diseases such as stroke and cancer.

What public health measures do we need to make a step difference in addressing these issues?

6 The Scottish government has abolished NHS trusts and created a new health service structure based on co-operation not competition. Responsive services where patients are treated as partners in care rather than mere consumers.

How can we develop these new structures to ensure patients and communities have a real involvement in developing local services?

7 Many public services struggle to recruit and retain quality staff. Low pay remains a major problem. What further measures should the government take to strengthen the public sector workforce?

8 Scotland has a declining and ageing population. The First Minister's Fresh Talent initiative is one imaginative method of addressing the consequences of population change.

What else can we do to sustain people in work and meet the social, economic and medical needs of those unable to work?

9 State education in Scotland has been successful and Labour is committed to a modern comprehensive ideal. Engaging parents in supporting their child's learning helps to improve their attainment.

How can we engage better with parents and all staff in the delivery of services?

10 Early years education is vital.

How do we extend under-five provision, support parents and ensure that all children reaching the age of five are ready to learn? How can we fund this fairly?

11 The government has introduced prudential borrowing for local authorities allowing greater opportunity for the use of efficient public borrowing. However, they have generally only provided subsidies for authorities using private finance - a discriminatory approach criticised by Audit Scotland.

How can we ensure a level playing field between different forms of finance and extend prudential borrowing to all public bodies?

12 There is recognition that a property tax is an important element in a fair ‘basket' of taxation.

How can we retain the Council Tax yet make it more closely related to people's income? How can local authorities raise more of their income locally?

13 Labour is committed to tackling sectarianism and racism. If Scotland is to thrive as an outward looking internationalist country then the blight of sectarianism and racism must be lifted from our society.

What measures can be introduced by the Scottish Executive to eradicate this from our society?

14 New powers have been introduced to tackle anti-social behaviour, anti-social neighbours and legislation to prosecute those who attack emergency service workers, but not public service workers generally.

Has the government got the balance right between tackling crime and the causes of crime? What further measures should they introduce? How can more police officers be released for operational duties?

15 People living in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more likely to be disadvantaged than those living in other areas. There remains a persistent gap between the richest and poorest in society.

What more can government do to regenerate the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods? What further steps can be taken to end child poverty?

16 Much has been done to improve housing standards and tackle fuel poverty. However, again the government has discriminated against efficient public borrowing by only subsidising housing stock transfer.

What more can be done to improve the availability of affordable housing, improve housing standards and tackle fuel poverty?

17 Protecting our environment should be a concern for government across all its activities.

What action should we take to ensure high environmental standards compatible with sustainable development?

18 Many of our public services are run by quangos with limited democratic accountability. The government is proposing take further powers from local authorities with new quangos covering criminal justice and transport.

How can we extend democracy to these bodies and provide meaningful public involvement in the services they deliver?

19 Electoral apathy could undermine our commitment to democratic accountability.

What other measures such as weekend elections, text and e-mail voting and all-postal voting could help to increase voter participation? Could we lower the age for voting to 16 in local government elections?

20 The European Union has a direct influence on most legislation considered by the Scottish Parliament.

How can Scotland's links to Europe be strengthened?

Revitalise our Public Services

The improvement of public services will be a key issue in the debate over the 2007 manifesto. There are those who argue that Scotland is somehow falling behind the ‘radical' reform agenda in England with its emphasis on competition and choice. Labour went into the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections with a vision of quality, responsive and efficient public services. UNISON argues that this is the real radical agenda. Replacing competition with co-operation, involving communities in the delivery of public services, designing services that respond to real needs — not the profits of private companies.

In practice different policy approaches in Scotland are driven less by ideology than by practical realities. Scotland's geography makes choice between services impractical and our smaller population means we can't sustain the additional capacity needed to make competitive structures work. This is after all what devolution is all about. Scottish solutions to Scottish problems.

This is not to make the case merely for the status quo. UNISON Scotland believes that we must take our radical agenda forward to another stage. Our contribution to the debate is based on five principles we believe are essential for the revitalisation of Scotland's public services.

n Extending democratic accountability to the quango state and the unelected regulators through real participation and involvement of service users and staff.

• Building capacity that allows innovation to flourish.
  
  
• Recruiting and retaining high quality staff through fair pay and conditions.
  
  
• High performance — assessed by systems appropriate to complex public service provision.
  
  
• Cross boundary collaboration through public service networks. Promoting co-operation, not fragmentation and competition.

The key to this approach is recognition that the public wants to be treated as partners who have a real say in shaping their public services. As citizens, not simply customers to be exploited for private profit.

How to contribute to Scotland 2010

Make a note of your group's discussion in the following format:

Branch/workplace:

Date of discussion:

Key points from the discussion:

Contact name and address:

And send it to: Dave Watson, UNISON LabourLink Scotland, UNISON House, 14 West Campbell Street, Glasgow G2 6RX or e.mail d.watson@unison.co.uk

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