Received from: CSP
Merged into composite 11
Government has a crucial opportunity to rebuild high-quality public services, and to renew their purpose.
Health inequity is soaring. People in the most deprived communities can expect to enjoy considerably fewer years in good health than the most affluent – and trends are set to widen.
All public organisations should be empowered to act – tasked with eliminating inequalities through their services, and from their workforce.
However, public services will not be able to play this enhanced role in their current threadbare condition; the impact of austerity remains with us.
Election analysis from the Nuffield Trust found both main parties’ election manifestos would – if realised – result in the tightest spending growth in the NHS’ history. The public sector needs a long-term funding settlement. One that as an immediate priority:
i. delivers timely, fair pay for all workers
ii. establishes genuine involvement of unions in pay setting mechanisms
iii. prioritises delivery of a long-term workforce strategy.
This would help settle the recruitment and retention crisis across the sector, empowering services to act; and materially benefit public sector workers, who have seen decades of real term pay cuts.
Congress calls on the TUC to work with the new government to pursue an ambitious partnership agenda for public services rejuvenation and pay recovery.
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy