by Fiona Montgomery

Scotland's district courts are to become part of the Scottish Court Service in a phased unification programme starting in Lothian and Borders.

UNISON is the recognised union and the only union which will negotiate on behalf of staff.

Courts in Lothian and Borders Sheriffdom will be the first in the process, starting in 2007-08, with Grampian Highland & Islands second. Further rollout details have not yet been announced.

A series of meetings has been held with the Scottish Court Service Court Unification team over the transfer of members working in district courts from local authority employers to the SCS.

There have also been two delegate meetings where members have been able to raise their concerns and receive updates on discussions with SCS. At the January 6 delegate meeting, Scottish Organiser Joe Di Paola reported that the following principles have been proposed by UNISON and are being considered by SCS:

• no compulsory transfer;
• no compulsory redundancies arising from the unification exercise;
• generally 50% of work content on court work and over is the benchmark for transfer
• a mechanism for dealing with individual cases, either based on circumstances or disputed work content
• the question of single status/job evaluation in local government be taken into account;
• issues around the local government and civil service pension schemes be explored and dealt with as far as possible;
• UNISON is properly represented on the Implementation Groups which would be set up in each of the Sheriffdoms.

It is hoped there will be increased attendance at the next delegate meeting. Full details will be circulated to branches.

The SCS has put some brief information up on its website at www.scotcourts.gov.uk/district/index.asp The background is explained in UNISON's briefing on Summary Justice Reform, available at www.unison-scotland.org.uk/briefings/smarterjustice.html

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