Latest news with #PublicandCommercialServicesUnion
The National
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Civil servants union PCS 'silenced' debate on trans rights
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) took legal advice and banned motions which related to the landmark ruling which found that sex is defined by biology in the Equality Act. Delegates had submitted motions for debate at the union's annual conference in Brighton, but these were binned by PCS high command after lawyers from Thompsons Solicitors said they put the union at risk. A delegate said: 'It feels like the legal advice and the rule that allows the complete rejection of motions under legal advice has been used to completely silence us.' (Image: Lucy North/PA Wire) One motion, which the delegate said had become a 'lightning rod' for attendees seeking a debate on trans rights after other pro-trans motions were knocked back, put the PCS at risk of being sued, lawyers argued. The motion, A57, called on the union's national executive committee (NEC), its ruling body, to 'oppose exclusionary ideologies' such as gender-critical beliefs. Lawyers said these beliefs were protected in law and coming out against them opened the union up to claims of discrimination and harassment. Another motion called on the NEC to 'ensure that trans women are not excluded from women's spaces within the union'. READ MORE: Scottish Labour MP in 'secretive' meeting with private healthcare lobbyists Lawyers warned that doing so could lay the PCS open to claims of 'harassment' if trans women were using spaces reserved for biological women. The letter said: 'This is on the basis that it encourages [trans women] to access biological women's spaces, which is unwanted, related to the protected characteristic of sex and violates her dignity and creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.' A delegate told The National: 'There's no logic to the legal advice because we hear motions on Palestine, Ukraine, racism, basic employment law and a lot of it is rejection of the law or disagreement with the law but, seemingly in this particular instance, the legal advice is that we're not even allowed to say that or even think it, or even discuss it.' (Image: Gordon Terris) The final standing orders of the conference allowed two motions pertaining to trans rights to be debated. One responded to the Supreme Court ruling and criticised the PCS's delay in responding to the judgment. It called on the union to create a process for faster communications to members to respond to 'emergent situations' balanced with 'the need not to expose the PCS to any legal liability'. The second called on the union to reject the findings of the Sullivan Review, which urged the Government to require people to give their sex and gender on official forms like their health records. The PCS union declined to comment.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Workers strike over proposed office closures
Civil servants in Devon and Cornwall have taken to picket lines as they strike over the planned closure of offices. Staff from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are taking part in a strike opposing new attendance policies, recruitment strategies and the closure of six offices across the UK, including those in Exeter and Truro. Workers from the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) are taking part in strikes across nine days. Staff in Newcastle are striking between 22 April and 2 May, while workers in Exeter, Birmingham, Sheffield and Warrington are out between 22 and 25 April. PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: "It's high time the government and the ministry began to listen to their staff and put an end to these reckless, regressive decisions to close local offices while rigidly enforcing mandatory office attendance. "They should start thinking strategically, considering the vital projects that local offices deliver for our communities, and enhancing flexibility to allow staff to choose how and where they perform their jobs in a manner that benefits both them and the communities we serve." A spokesperson for the MHCLG said: "We have engaged with unions and staff about a number of proposals – including plans to expand five offices outside of London and close six offices over the next two years, as leases come to an end. "The department will continue to have offices in every English region as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and all staff affected will be able to continue in their roles." Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ Public and Commercial Services Union
Gulf Today
24-03-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
Britain's Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves to cut 10,000 civil service jobs
Rachel Reeves is preparing to cut 10,000 civil service jobs as part of a sweeping £2bn Whitehall savings drive, ahead of a spring statement she has warned will involve 'hard' choices. The Labour chancellor has ordered mandarins to slash 15 per cent from departmental administrative budgets by 2029–30 – saving an estimated £2.2bn a year – and pledged the money will be redirected to 'frontline' services. But the plans triggered an immediate backlash from unions, who said public services would suffer after years of underfunding. 'People want to know we're getting value for money,' Ms Reeves said. Unions warned of 'chaos', with the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, Fran Heathcote, accusing ministers of setting 'an arbitrary figure for cuts plucked out of the air'. She predicted a backlash from the public 'who will be affected by cuts in the services they receive'. She added: 'After 15 years of underfunding, any cuts will have an impact on frontline services. We've heard this before under Gordon Brown when cuts were made to backroom staff – and the consequence of that was chaos.' Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, warned ministers against 'an arbitrary civil service headcount reduction' and said there must be 'a realistic assessment of what the civil service doesn't do in future as a result of these cuts'. A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: 'Of course we want to see a more efficient civil service ... but saying it won't make it happen. We now need to see concrete proposals on how they will achieve this. This also isn't going to help the government grow the economy – we need a proper plan for growth including scrapping the jobs tax and fixing our trading relationship with the EU.' The job cuts come amid signs Reeves will need billions more in savings to meet her own fiscal rules, as sluggish economic growth and higher-than-expected borrowing limit her options. She has ruled out tax rises this week, meaning spending cuts are the only route to balance the books. In an interview with the BBC, Reeves rejected suggestions that Labour would 'tax and spend our way to higher living standards and better public services'. She said: 'That's not available in the world we live in today.' She also hinted Labour could scrap the £1bn-a-year digital services tax – which targets large US tech firms – in a bid to head off the threat of punitive trade tariffs from Donald Trump. But she was forced to deny Labour's policies were to blame for the UK's stagnating growth, and insisted that upcoming tax rises on employers, introduced last year, were necessary. She said: 'Imagine if I'd have swept the problems under the carpet (last year) and said everything was fine, then today, when we face the aggression from Russia, we wouldn't have the additional money to spend on defence. We would be in a situation where NHS waiting lists would continue.' Pressed on warnings from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that living standards will fall before the next election, she rejected the idea the average family would be £1,400 worse off by 2030. Reeves insisted her cuts would not amount to austerity and defended her decision to take £5bn from welfare payments, despite criticism from within Labour, saying the bill was going 'through the roof'. She added: 'I do not believe that one in eight young people are incapable of working.' She told Sky News she was dissatisfied with the economic outlook: 'We do need to do more. Growth is the number one mission of this government. We're turning things around, but it takes hard work and there are no shortcuts to get there.' Britain's first female chancellor has insisted the current path is the only responsible one – but faced accusations from her opponents of lacking ambition. Former Tory cabinet minister Sir Robert Buckland accused Reeves of an 'absence of a plan' and called for 'bold action'. The Independent
