Both
carers and users
Women make up 52% of the population of Scotland.
As employees and service users of our public
services, they represent the majority. Under a
Scottish Parliament, the development and improvement
of our public services will benefit women in many
ways. Scotland's public services must work for
women, be accountable to them, and listen to what
women have to say.
Giving women a say in
their services
Women should have an involvement in running the
services that affect them. Women are under represented
on many decision-making bodies, particularly at
higher levels.
Control of services must be devolved to the most
appropriate level, where services can be strategically
planned but also where women can have a real,
practical say.
Greater consultation
The new Parliament should support the Women in
Scotland Consultative Forum, and also use new
ways to access women's opinions.
Consultation processes should pay due regard
to accessibility, including issues such as travel,
caring responsibilities, physical access and the
provision of information in a range of formats.
Women in Scotland would benefit from community
planning across a whole range of services. Decisions
on public services that affect women should be
determined and shaped by women at a local level.
Local authorities are best placed to adopt a
strategic overview, allowing them to co-ordinate
and integrate as well as deliver the services
women want, when and where they want them.
Proportional deficit
Parliament must increase the number of women,
including young and old women, black and minority
ethnic women, disabled women, lesbian women, and
women from both rural and urban communities, participating
in the democratic processes. We should work towards
at least 50:50 representation in terms of the
general balance on all decision-making bodies
including local government, the health service
and other public bodies.
Importance of equality
issues
We welcome the recommendation that the Scottish
Parliament should have an equality unit and equal
opportunities committee, with training provided
to all MSPs and officers. There should also be
a Minister with responsibility for equalities
who should be a member of the Scottish Executive.
Equality proofing is needed for all potential
legislation, and policy and statistics should
be disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. We believe
the Scottish Parliament and the bodies it is responsible
for, should draw up plans for equality of access
for all, both physically and in access to information
and policy making.
Choosing quality services
It is vital that the views of women, as the main
users of, and workers in, the public services
are taken into account when choosing quality services.
In order to provide quality services, public
services should be publicly provided and run,
and not subject to Private Finance Initiatives
which will be less accountable and prove expensive
for future generations.
Family friendly policies
There is a need for fully-funded family-friendly
policies for consumers of public services, as
well as in workplaces. In particular; we want
to see widespread childcare and nursery provision
together with comprehensive policies for carers
with other dependants.
Women still accept the main responsibility for
childcare. Provision is not only in short supply,
but is often inaccessible on a financial or geographical
basis.
Pre-school provision brings significant benefits
to children. Good quality, affordable, flexible
and accessible pre-school and after-school childcare
should be a priority for the Scottish Parliament.
Health
Women in Scotland need a modern health service
that is responsive to their needs. With one of
the highest rates in Europe for breast cancer
and heart disease, a preventative and educative
approach is required, as well as a service that
takes account of their clinical needs. A strategic
approach to women 5 health will have long-term
benefits.
We place a high value on one-stop clinics and
integrated services for health, local government
and voluntary sector services and welcome initiatives
such as the William Street Clinic and the Cranhill
group in Glasgow and hope these can be used as
models.
Housing
Bad housing has a serious effect on women's health
and their self-esteem. Many women on low incomes
have limited, if any, choice, when it comes to
affordable and quality housing. A properly regulated
house building programme would improve the quality
of women's lives in Scotland.
Consultation with women in local communities
about the type of housing they require would go
a long way to alleviating their frustrations and
improving the quality of their lives.
Violence against women
Even after increased publicity and successive
zero tolerance campaigns, violence against women
is still unacceptably high.
The Scottish Parliament must act seriously on
this issue to ensure that the shelter; advice
and support that many women need, are made available.
Leaving it to the criminal justice system is not
enough.
Other services
These are just some examples of what properly
funded public services can do to improve women's
lives.
There are many other issues that need to be addressed
such as low pay, access to services and the decision
making process, and vastly improved equality initiatives
for employees and service users alike.
Choosing teamwork
Women play a major role in the provision of public
services but too often they are the forgotten
members of the team.
If the team are all employed by the organisation
providing the services, they have a real commitment
to the services they provide, be the team player
a man or a woman. This means the auxiliary as
well as the doctor; the school meals staff as
well as the teacher; the home help as well as
the social worker. From the cleaner to the chief
executive. Women still make up the majority of
those in low paid jobs and remain noticeably absent
in the higher paid professions, in all sectors
of the Scottish economy.
The public services team must be re-assembled
to provide an integrated, flexible and accountable
service with staff treated fairly and equally
and given the respect they deserve.
Continued use of private provision via the Private
Finance Initiative, arms-length trusts, market
testing and other means, is particularly damaging
to women as employees in public services. The
caring, domestic and support services that these
proposals sell off are predominantly delivered
by women.
Highly trained, quality
staff
The provision of quality accessible training
at the workplace is crucial for women if the aim
of life long learning for the whole team is to
mean anything. Women need conditions that recognise
the positive contribution they make as part of
a directly employed team, rather than a variety
of private sec-tot employers with different aims,
objectives and vested interests.
Women, in both urban and rural areas, want the
Parliament to invest in flexible and integrated
education and training.
Lifelong learning for all is an important step
towards the support and back up needed to improve
women's lives. By its very nature, this must be
responsive to people's needs across the generations.
To this end, links between pre-school education,
schools, further and higher education, and community
education should be reintroduced, and be able
to be democratically controlled.
Local government - setting
standards
Local councils are major employers of women,
who comprise between 50-70% of the workforce of
mos local authorities. Local government staff,
currently debarred from standing in local elections,
should have this restriction removed. Equality
issues should be at the forefront of local authorities
agendas and should be monitored by dedicated equality
departments. Policy making, too, should be measured
against high standards of equality. The idea of
a small 'cabinet' or elected provost taking decisions
and excluding most councillors is not appropriate.
Voluntary sector recognition
Women form the majority of paid staff and volunteers
in the voluntary sector. The role of the voluntary
and related sector must be recognised as a distinctive
and significant public service provider and resourced
accordingly. Financial uncertainty and cutbacks
affect women as direct users of voluntary services,
as employees and as carets who must cover the
shortfall in provision.
Being listened to
Having their contribution valued and being listened
to Working for employers who respect their staff,
providing family friendly employment policies
and promoting equal opportunities for all, are
the aims of this minifesto for women When these
principles are adopted, we can truly say that
we are;
This minifesto and a full copy of Serving Scotland,
A manifesto For Scotland's Public Services, is
on UNlSONScotland's Website at http://www.unison-scotland
org. uk.
It is also available in different languages and
formats from UNISONScotland, 14, West Campbell
Street, Glasgow G2 6RX. tel 0141-332 0006, fax
0141 342 2835, e-mail c.bartter@unison.co.uk.
Photos by Alan Wylie, ex three nurses by Douglas
Robertson, and the gardener by Murdo McLeod.
Published by UNISONScotland as part of its Serving
Scotland campaign, UNISON House, 14 West
Campbell Street, Glasgow G2 6RX. Tel 0141 332
0006.
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