Our Programme

Introduction

The Broad Left Network is the Socialist Group inside PCS. Our immediate concerns are the employment and workplace issues that directly affect members. However, the challenges we face go far beyond the workplace and so must our union’s concerns and campaigning activities.

The left alliance of the Broad Left Network, Independent Left, other groups and individuals secured a 19:16 majority in the NEC 2024 elections, ending the over 20 years of control by Left Unity. The BLN played a major role in bringing together this alliance and in securing the nominations and votes needed to win.

Our success in winning an NEC majority did not give the “alliance” the control of the union it needed to implement its programme. LU retained the presidency and working with general secretary Fran Heathcote, also a LU member, prevented the NEC taking decisions on crucial issues. Including pursuit of conference demands on pay, a relaunch of the national campaign and a review of the levy with an immediate much reduced rate for lower paid members.

Attempts by the NEC majority and branches to call a Special Delegate Conference to break the deadlock caused by the abuse of these positions met with the same contemptuous obstruction from them.

The new left majority took up office at the same time as the Labour government was formed. The 5% pay remit was not enough and was underfunded- meaning departments will be forced to make cuts. Immediately following this came a Spending Review announcement of 10,000 job cuts and heavy hints that the pay remit for 2025 is likely to be under 3%.

Clearly this change of government will not end the attacks on PCS members and “austerity” has not gone away. This has been confirmed by such measures as withdrawing winter fuel payments, reneging on the commitment to WASPI campaigners and halving the “green” investment.

It is vital for members’ jobs and pay that we win a fighting PCS union leadership in the upcoming elections – one that doesn’t cover up for an austerity government but fights for members.

In the 2025 union elections our aim is to continue with the election alliance, again win a clear NEC majority, win the position of president and implement the programme set out below.

The National Campaign

The previous Left Unity led leadership of the union threw away opportunities to make gains on pay, jobs and pensions with their hopelessly weak implementation of the 2022/3 statutory strike ballot mandates. The President and General Secretary, both LU members have more recently combined to sabotage attempts by the new left majority leadership to relaunch the national campaign to challenge and improve on Labour’s underfunded 5/% pay limit and prepare to fight job cuts.

The Broad Left Network believes it is vital to build a serious campaign, capable of winning, linking together members across the union around demands including:

A 10% pay rise as, agreed by PCS Conference, to meet current needs and to take account of the pay cut experienced by the civil service and related areas in the last decade. Civil service wide pay and bargaining arrangements.
A pay minimum of £15 per hour (retention of London Weighting/differential where it exists) and automatic uplifts built in, to safeguard members against rising inflation. Priority given to tackling low pay, especially those (AA/AOs across the UK civil service and low paid staff in privatised areas) who continually find themselves returned to no more than the minimum wage. For equality-proof pay systems, to eliminate all forms of discrimination including members with protected characteristics.
For improvements to terms and conditions, reductions in the working week, increased access to flexible working and the reversal of cuts made by CS Reform Terms.
For members to have access to the pension scheme of most benefit to them, with reduced contributions, reduced retirement age and increased value for members. Oppose threats to attack pensions.
No detrimental changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme; for intervention by the Cabinet Office to strengthen redundancy safeguards on all private sector contracts. as a partial step towards
Return of all privatised (outsourced) work to the public sector.
lmprove staffing levels, fight Labour’s 10,000 job cuts and fight office closures.
A safe working environment to protect the health of members and the health of those who use public services.

With job cuts resulting from the underfunding of the 2024/25 pay remit, 10,000 cuts announced as part of the Spending Review, further cuts signalled as part of the new Government Estates strategy and the 2025/26 pay remit certain to be less than required to meet our pay demands we must prepare for a further statutory strike ballot in 2025. We need to build up the strike fund. A review of the levy is urgently required with an immediate introduction of a reduced payment for lower paid members as agreed by the NEC in July 2024.

Oppose Office Closures – save jobs and keep services local!

The Civil Service has suffered staff cuts across most government departments for over a decade. This began when Gordon Brown was Chancellor and accelerated with the global recession in 2008.

Attacks on jobs meant reduced staff numbers. The Government moved to an office closures policy which has been the driver behind the Government Estates Strategy. This strategy has actively sought to close smaller, community-based offices in favour of fewer and larger multi-agency offices and hubs.

The BLN recognises that office closures affect multiple employers and believes there must be a national union response to oppose this to include:

a campaign to build confidence of members including a plan which sets out how we can win.
producing materials on a PCS alternative vision for the civil service based on keeping services local and linking up with local pressure groups, campaigns and service users
meetings in affected offices to discuss and agree proposals for campaigning as part of a national strategy
highlighting previous victories on keeping offices open and sharing the lessons from those successes.

The centralisation of civil servants into a smaller number of large offices adversely impacts on jobs, members lives and the communities we serve.

Insourcing privatised work

Strike action by workers on outsourced contracts with G4S, ISS and OCS have taken place across government departments, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Cabinet Office, the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The poor conditions our outsourced members are working under are appalling, often on minimum wage, without sick pay from day one, and poor conditions. Labour’s election manifesto pledged to in-source facilities management services with government departments and agencies. Labour have now tabled the Employment Rights Bill which proposes increased protections for transferring workers in outsourcing contracts.

But this does not go far enough. The Labour government needs to in-source privatised work and bring jobs back into the public sector rather than handing out contracts to profiteering companies.

The BLN believes that PCS should:

coordinate the approach across all the contracted-out areas and produces demands on how facilities – particularly security – should be delivered. This needs to include union recognition.
highlight the huge waste of Civil Service resources being diverted to the profits of private companies rather than delivering a quality service in the public sector.
write to the Cabinet Secretary demanding a meeting to discuss:
bring all contracted-out staff in house, on civil service contracts, terms and conditions.
£15ph minimum wage with additional money to sustain London weighting,
Full resourcing and training for all members in facilities services and opposition to cuts in staffing levels. Highlighting that the cuts to guard numbers in offices have already placed PCS members and the public seriously at risk

Meanwhile the union should give members on outsourced contracts full support in fighting for better conditions

Home-working – with trade union agreement

The Tory government launched an attack on homeworking with an arbitrary instruction that all civil servants will be required “…to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the workplace Labour has now confirmed they are retaining this Tory policy announced by the Cabinet Office on 24/10/24.

The BLN opposes these attempts to unilaterally impose arbitrary restrictions on homeworking and stands for:

A collective agreement setting out the conditions under which homeworking is acceptable
All homeworking to be voluntary and an extension to current agreements on flexible working.
Oppose “efficiency” savings e.g. office closures, pay cuts, worse terms and conditions.
Maximum flexibility for staff. No homeworker to be disadvantaged.

The Broad Left Network supports maximum flexibility: working from home or from the office, balanced with a local service for the local community and keeping offices open. A collective agreement is vital to ensure the interests of all members are safeguarded and that any new working arrangements protect members from office closures and reductions in pay and conditions.

Equality

No to racism

With right wing populist movements gaining an echo internationally, trade unions must resist divisions that are being fostered in society and build unity, based on a programme to benefit us all.

The BLN condemns the violent protests called by far-right and fascist groups who sought to exploit the horrific incident in Southport. We support those who have stood up to the far-right, including the many who joined counter-protests which were key in forcing back the racists and fascists. We also salute those who have organised against the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

PCS must actively support a movement that fights for the policies that can transform the lives of working-class people, including on jobs, pay, housing, the NHS and education, after decades of neoliberal policies of successive governments. This is vital to undercut the racist propaganda of the far right. Motion 44 passed at TUC Congress in 2018 launched a “Jobs, Homes, Not Racism campaign to unite the wider trade union movement and to campaign effectively against the far right.” PCS must take the lead in calling for the TUC and the unions to organise behind the demand: ‘Workers’ unity not division – jobs and homes not racism’

The Black Lives Matter movement brought into sharp focus the victimisation, harassment and violence suffered by black and ethnic minority members. Racist behaviour has no place in our union. As workers we share the same interests. It is only through united action that we can fight attacks on our jobs, our pay and conditions and our services.

No to transphobia

Since the Tory government blocked the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill from gaining Royal Assent, the situation for trans and non-binary people has only worsened. Vicious anti-trans rhetoric and moral panic has been whipped up by the media and establishment politicians alike, and used as a smokescreen for worsening austerity.

Similarly, Labour’s record on trans rights is dire. Scottish and UK Labour have both adopted a stance accepting gender critical ideology as “legitimate concerns” and opposing reforming the Gender Recognition Act to allow self-determination. Newly appointed Health Minister and right-winger Wes Streeting oversaw the “indefinite” ban on puberty blockers for trans children and young people. This vital healthcare, which despite the ban will still be provided to cisgender children (children who are not transgender) who suffer from precocious puberty, is widely regarded by healthcare professionals as life-saving treatment for trans children.

The BLN believes:

PCS must continue to demand reform of the Gender Recognition Act to provide trans and non-binary people the right to achieve legal gender recognition on the basis of self-determination, in line with union policy.
PCS has clear policy condemning biological essentialist views of sex and gender – this is the pseudoscientific notion that what constitutes being a woman or a man is wholly reliant on a person’s chromosomes, or “biology.”
The far right has found willing bedfellows in the gender critical movement, and is using it as a vehicle to harm trans and non-binary people, as well as to further its wider anti-worker, anti-woman agenda.
There must be an end to the practice within PCS (originated under the former leadership) of mandating delegates to TUC (including STUC & WTUC) conferences to abstain on or give only qualified support to motions regarding gender critical links to the far right and opposing biological essentialism, on the basis that “we don’t have policy on that”.
PCS must respond to consultation on any and all Civil Service guidance on trans and non-binary issues. Responses must give full support for trans rights, validate trans and non-binary gender identities, and oppose any biological essentialist definitions of woman- or manhood.
PCS must demand and fight for a fully funded health service for all workers, with sufficient resource to provide timely gender affirming care to trans and non-binary people, based on medical necessity rather than moral panic. We must oppose false divisions of the working class, and the narrative of having to fight each other over scraps rather than laying blame on the capitalist system.
There is a natural coalition between cisgender women and trans & non-binary people in tackling the issue of gender-based violence. We are allies in the endeavour to eradicate sexism, as should be all workers.

The BLN further believes that PCS must act urgently to undo the harm done to our trans and non-binary members through years of the previous Left Unity leadership disgracefully allowing gender critical ideologies to influence our union’s policies and practices. The vast majority of PCS members are clear in their unwavering support for trans and non-binary people. This can be seen in the repeated censures of the former NEC majority and support of progressive, socialist motions to ADC to further our fight for trans and non-binary rights. PCS at all levels must reaffirm both in words and action our dedication to protect and empower trans and non-binary people.

No to discrimination of any kind

PCS has a key role to promote an accessible and inclusive approach which recognises that we are strongest when we use our collective strength to fight for all our members.

The Broad Left Network stands for:

Equality and accessibility to be a fully integrated part of all PCS organising, bargaining, and campaigning. Austerity has hurt all workers, but it has hit women, Black, LGBTQ+ and disabled workers even more. Uniting all workers gives us a better chance of winning for everyone including those disproportionately impacted.
Fighting all cuts to public services and proposals to privatise. To build an alternative vision – fully funded local services with well-paid, highly trained public sector workers.
No discrimination in the workplace. Employers have done too little for too long and all policies must be subject to trade union review and scrutiny to root out unequal practices
A campaign for paid time to attend union meetings and take part in union activities. Many members are unable to attend meetings outside of working hours due to other commitments. This is especially true for members with caring responsibilities.

PCS demands must include an agreed and rigorous system of Equality Impact assessment, affordable childcare provision, increased parental, carers and disability leave, expanded reasonable adjustments for staff and zero tolerance of discrimination, bullying and harassment.

The lack of Equal Pay continues both in the civil service and private sector. PCS should pursue legal avenues, but this approach must be underpinned with a readiness to take industrial action. Additionally, an independent study into the causes of harassment and bullying must be commissioned – this should include failings of private sector employers on government contracts.

PCS must develop a strategy that encourages more women to be involved and represented at all levels in the union. There have been reserved seats since the creation of PCS. However, BLN does not believe a further extension of reserved seats solves the issue of a lack of representation and involvement of women in the union. This will only be addressed by implementing a programme of action to overcome and defeat the barriers to involvement, whether it be in the Union, the workplace and/or wider society. Resources are vital to support branches in this work.

Far too many members are still being dismissed because of ill health. Sick pay for new and newly promoted staff has been cut which has introduced an active barrier for career development and promotion for those with ongoing conditions which is unacceptable.

The mental health and wellbeing of members must be a central demand in the work of PCS. It links directly to the need for better training and support, reasonable workloads and proper help and support as required, and the full implementation of reasonable adjustments. PCS must campaign for increased support for those who are forced to be absent due to mental health issues. The BLN stands for the removal of sickness related trigger points for attendance management purposes and a fully supportive process which includes the required proper and full implementation of reasonable adjustments from the outset.

BLN stands for a campaign to win improvements to the training and support delivered to our members who have line management responsibilities to ensure they are fully equipped to support staff with mental health issues. We oppose micro-management and numerical targets which only serve to increase stress levels and anxiety.

Mental Health and Wellbeing – central to all bargaining demands

It is essential that employers provide full support to members working from home. Supportive contact with the members working from home should include time to see how they are, and team meetings should include time for colleagues to chat and keep in touch. Members must be able to clearly indicate when they are working or not to avoid pressure. Everyone must have the same rights including breaks and flexi both when at working at home or in the workplace. No-one should feel pressurised into “presentee-ism” and members must feel able to take sick leave when they need to and not put under pressure to attend the workplace when they have viral infections.

The BLN believes that PCS must campaign to ensure full union consultation to enable reps to collectively address issues affecting wellbeing and mental health including workloads, pressure and staff shortages.

Scrapping the Winter Fuel Payments for 10m pensioners not on the means tested Pension credit and causing massive backlogs as pensioners try to claim Pension Credit
Refusal to compensate WASPI women and accept the findings of the ombudsman of major failings of DWP
Refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap which pushes an extra 1.6m children into poverty

Rachel Reeves has clearly indicated that this is just the start announcing in the budget that there will be “difficult decisions on welfare spending”

Early indications are that this includes –

Continuing the Tory plans to attack people on disability benefits to snatch £3b out of the pockets of nearly half million claimants by cutting benefits, increasing conditionality and scrapping the separate assessments for the PIP and UC.
Putting pressure on 2.8m long term sick claimants to get back into work including interventions when people are receiving health treatment.
Continuing the Tory plans to hit speculative cost saving targets by reviewing of Universal credit claims

Labour have been quick to attack the “outdated jobcentre system” but done nothing to address the Tory regime which has damaged our members ability to deliver services to the public when they could have immediately scrapped the pointless 10-minute appointments and empowered work coaches to individualise support based on claimants’ needs.

BLN members will continue to press for our union to robustly challenge attacks on the services our members in DWP are delivering and expose the hesitancy of Left Unity in tackling the new Labour government despite the continuing attacks.

BLN will continue to demand that major campaigning work is needed by PCS to update and relaunch the alternative for a supportive social security system. To ensure work to publicise the alternative is done in conjunction with claimant organisations and other unions. But also, to recognise the wider context of the TUC Welfare Charter that the focus needs to be on improving workers’ rights, tackling low-paying, discriminatory employers, improving access to affordable, quality housing and quality public services and not pressure on claimants.

Artificial Intelligence – A union issue

Recent developments in the availability and use of artificial intelligence (Al) have contributed to greater awareness and prompted questions about the use of this technology. The issues it raises range from the impact on services and jobs through to fears about a future where the machines take over. Many questions associated with the development of machines capable without supervision of thinking and doing things like human beings require political action in the form of regulation etc and PCS needs to be involved in these discussions through the TUC, STUC and WTUC.

However, as the screen writers and screen performers disputes in America have shown AI is a trade union issue in the same way that pay, and conditions of service are. These disputes were on pay but workers sought and secured protections on the use of AI in their employment situations.

AI can have enormous benefits but who controls its development and in whose interest is of critical importance. The struggle over the impact of new technologies such as AI is a class struggle. The owners of offices and factories, the patents and infrastructure will seek to maximise profits. Workers will need to fight to defend jobs and pay

In a socialist society the resources and knowledge of society would be owned and directed democratically by workers to benefit society as a whole and technology would be freed from the narrow interests of the capitalist class.

The BLN believes PCS needs to be actively engaged in identifying how AI can/will impact on jobs and the services. A collective agreement must be progressed to protect jobs and services. The NEC should provide a report to the 2026 ADC on AI and associated technologies detailing current and planned use, together with progress towards achieving a civil service wide agreement on the introduction and use of AI and protections for our members and public services.

Union Democracy – for democratic structures and practices

The Broad Left Network believes our union belongs to and is accountable to its membership. It’s not enough to give lip service to the idea of the union being “membership led”, we need democratic structures and practices. These should include:

Full time officers elected by PCS members – starting with those at the higher levels. The pay of elected full-time officers to be brought into line with the union’s membership.
Full accountability to lay structures and elected lay representatives including the National and Group Executive Committees and through the PCS Regional/Nation Office structures to Regional/Nation Committees and Scottish and Welsh Executive Committees
No further centralisation of power in the hands of unelected full-time officers rather than the lay structures. Discussions about how the union works must build on the union’s democratic tradition, not curtail, or weaken it.
Branches, groups and regions/nations must have access to members email and mobile records via PCS IT to communicate directly with their own members and reps. and easy access to print facilities to aid communication and campaigns
All major decisions to be taken by the unions democratically elected lay representatives. We have annual elections and an annual conference – the policy making body of this union. Branches have Annual General Meetings to elect their reps and influence policy at all levels of the union. But lay oversight must be developed and maintained throughout the year.
Conference is the sovereign body of the union – this is where members ensure democratic accountability, agree policy, and set priorities for the period ahead. These rights are fundamental to the democracy of the union.
The existing right to vote out the entire NEC in any one year is an essential element of democratic accountability and must be retained

Our Union democracy and the health of our Union is critically dependent on the active involvement of elected reps at all levels. We need to give full support to reps facing attacks from the employer. The disgraceful victimisations at Benton Park View by HMRC management underlines the need to strengthen protections and the need for full and unqualified support for all our reps

The behaviour of Martin Cavanagh (President) and Fran Heathcote (General Secretary) – two Left Unity members – acting together to undermine the new left majority Executive – elected in May 2024 is a challenge to our union’s democracy. The BLN believes it is necessary to review the PCS constitution and propose amendments to ensure that the position of an NEC majority is reinforced and reduce the scope for rule by presidential decree and general secretary obstruction is removed.

In recent years there has been a huge increase in remote working and virtual meetings. These developments can have significant advantages; however, they also pose the risk of increased control by the bureaucracy. Social media platforms give massive power to those in control of it. We support extended use of technology to complement more traditional face to face decision-making structures but remain opposed to the use of this technology as the only alternative and democratic safeguards are needed.

Political Strategy – support politicians who support us!

The election of Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party, undeniably moved Labour significantly to the right. This was apparent when Labour was in opposition, but even clearer now Labour is in Government. Measures introduced by Labour are a continuation of austerity.

For our members pay increases barely covering inflation, doing nothing to restore the more than 20% real pay losses since 2010 and the threat of thousands of job cuts are an articulation of this.

The scrapping of the winter fuel payment, continued freeze on tax thresholds and the decision to renege on the pre-election pledge to WASPI campaigners stands in contrast to Labour’s refusal to finance much needed public expenditure by a wealth tax on the rich.

The Broad Left Network believes it is important for the union to have a strong political voice. We support a PCS political strategy to endorse candidates in elections who agree with PCS policies – especially on anti-austerity. We stand for a political strategy which will supplement and strengthen our capability to take industrial action and defend the interests of PCS members: –

– A union political strategy that does not give a blanket endorsement to any political party.

– A programme to improve and strengthen the PCS Parliamentary Group activity including in the devolved nations.

– Placing demands on Labour to consult on key issues such as:

Reversal of pay austerity since 2010.
A comprehensive deal on pensions which restores legacy retirement ages, reduces employee contributions, which improves the final defined benefit, to undo the impact of the Con-Dem coalition’s attacks on public sector pensions.
Restoration of national pay bargaining and a collective agreement that establishes an agreed bargaining architecture across the civil service and makes this contractual for all civil servants, to prevent it being undone. To take account of devolution.
A Government Estates Strategy that protects jobs and local services while also committing to the upgrading of dilapidated and unfit workplaces.
Improved staffing and workload safeguards across the civil service and to bring in-house the out-sourced support service contracts.
Restoration of and improvement upon the Jobs Protocols undermined by the Coalition government, including a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for the duration of a Labour government.

PCS must also secure commitments from Labour to immediately repeal all the anti-union legislation, including, but not only, the 2016 Trade Union Act and minimum services anti-strike law and to take into public ownership public utilities such as energy, water, post and rail.

The Broad Left Network believes that the needs of the working class are not sufficiently served by any of the mainstream political parties. Whilst we recognise the need to place demands on Labour, we affirm our commitment to the creation of a socialist alternative to capitalism and recognise that the creation of a political party in which fighting, democratic trade unions play a fundamental role is important in that struggle. We recognise the election of Jeremy Corbyn and others as independent MPs shows the widespread anger against the mainstream parties. We note the support of the RMT for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and welcome this as a positive step towards an independent political voice for the working class.

Climate Change

The Broad Left Network believes climate change is a crucial trade union issue. PCS and other trade unions in the UK must use their collective power to win support for the decisive action needed to protect our planet.

The International Energy Agency (IPEA) states that to stay within 1.5 degree increase in temperature as agreed at 2015 Paris COP21, the use of fossil fuels must reduce by 25 per cent this decade, without developing new fossil fuel projects. A rise in temperature in global terms of 3.1 degrees threatens human survival. The current prediction is that this level will be reached by the end of the century unless urgent action is taken. Against this backdrop COP29 cannot be judged a success. Agreement was reached that the developing world should receive at least $1.3tn (£1tn) a year in funds to help them shift to a low-carbon economy and cope with the impacts of extreme weather, by 2035. But most of this will come from private investors and a range of potential new sources of money which have yet to be agreed. The agreement reached at COP29 will not cut greenhouse emissions in the timescale required nor keep the increase in the earth’s temperature to within 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. This issue is crucial to working people including PCS members.

BLN stands for:

Building the network of Green Reps in PCS and improve and coordinate negotiations and embed activity through branches, regions, groups, devolved areas and the NEC in line with conference policy.
Statutory rights for Green workplace reps; Trade Union led environmental risk assessments in every workplace.
Placing concrete demands on the governments to coordinate what is needed to effectively deliver environmental policies as part of a National Climate Service.
Tax Justice to fund the investment in renewables, clean transport, energy efficiency measures and training programmes that can help create millions of new, skilled, unionised jobs while cutting greenhouse emissions.
Build on the Lucas Plan, One Million Climate Jobs, Just Transition: A civil service perspective and many other initiatives across the world, to set out plans for a Just Transition that places the interests of workers and trade unionists at its centre.
To campaign for the public ownership and democratic control of energy from community, municipal to government and international level.
Strengthen the links between the trade union and environmental movement in UK and globally through joint campaigns, protests, peaceful civil disobedience and strikes to mobilise support for the system change needed.

We are engaged in a race against time to avert climate disaster. The evidence is now compelling that global warming and extreme weather events are linked to climate change. Since the first earth summit in Rio in 1992, the emission of greenhouse gases has increased.

It is capitalism itself that has been shown to be the obstacle to the scale and pace of change needed to end our reliance upon the burning of fossil fuels and move to a zero-carbon economy by 2050. Capitalist governments have shown themselves incapable of the decisive and radical action needed.

A consequence of the failure to actively pursue a just transition programme in the UK and elsewhere is the opportunity it gives to far-right populist movements to oppose climate control measures and build a base amongst workers in the fossil fuel industries. A Guardian editorial summed this up- “It is the job of Labour and others who take the just transition seriously to increase both the money and urgency behind it. Otherwise, local unemployment will produce local devastation and widespread resentment that can be mobilised by the most reactionary forces. It is an indictment of the Labour government that one of its first actions was to cut in half its £28b green investment pledge!

Trade unions need to heed the call for action raised by the inspirational acts of civil disobedience by Extinction Rebellion and many other protests by largely young climate activists. But also give a clear lead in mobilising workers and putting demands that resonate with working class people and bring the full weight of our movement in the climate change campaigning. We need to challenge and demand the repeal of the Tory laws restricting the rights to protest, which has seen an arrest rate in the UK of climate activists three times greater than elsewhere.

More than 40,000 people died from Covid in care homes during the pandemic – sending untested older people into care homes which was avoidable- is an indictment of the overwhelmingly privatised system that puts profit before safety. The top three owners of care homes in the UK are private equity companies, solely operating to accumulate profit. 84% of care home beds are in the private sector ,13% run by the voluntary sector and just 3% by local councils.

500,000 people wait for social care amongst them 300,000 elderly and vulnerable people. An already chronically underfunded and overstretched NHS has an even greater shortage of beds because social care places are not available to discharge people into. 13000 to 14000 patients stranded in hospital at any given day. With 1.6 million sixty-fives and over having unmet needs for care and support. The Health Secretary stated that “By 2050, there will be four million more people over the age of 65 in England than there are now ……….”

Average pay for care workers is barely the minimum wage with many illegal contracts paying less than this. One in four are on zero-hour contracts which make up a huge 24% of such posts. Many of the hundreds of food bank queues in Britain include some of the 1.5 million low paid care workers – it is not surprising that there is a shortage of 170,000 care workers and that many are moving to better paid jobs. Those workers need a minimum wage of at least £15 per hour. Proper sick pay remains elusive for 1000s of Care Workers alongside the exploitation of the migrant workforce.

The financial implications of going into care are severe. The previous Government fix was a proposed cap of £86,000 on the amount anyone in England would have to spend on their personal care over their lifetime – designed to benefit the rich while fleecing working class people. Both the Tories and now Labour refused to carry out this policy; with Labour stating it is unaffordable.

Labour’s policy for care in England addresses three key areas. A Home First approach, A National Care Service, and a Fair Pay Agreement. More recently they have sponsored a Commission on Care for England, but this will not be concluded until 2028 which will then make recommendations for the longer term. This decision to authorise a Commission has been criticised by the National Care Association as kicking the social care crisis into the long grass. Without extra resources and urgent action, they will struggle to implement.

Wes Streeting then Shadow Health Secretary admitted that social care reform would be a longer-term project over ten years with no quick fix. Hence his latest plan for name and shame league tables. Since 2011 government cuts have reduced social care budgets in England by 31% with 41% of cuts coming from front line services. Local councils including those Labour led have been cut to the bone, including the investment needed for adult social care. Sir Andrew Dilnot, the original author of the care plan in 2011 stated “we have failed another generation of families.” Adult social care is in a vicious cycle where needs escalate into more severe problems and urgent action is now needed.

The Broad Left Network supports full resourcing of both the NHS and for social care, but not at the expense of low paid workers paying more. Working people have been hard hit by food and energy prices going up and are facing attacks on their jobs, wages, and conditions.

The Covid pandemic showed that money can be found, especially when it comes to giving contracts worth billions to their big business friends in the private sector. It is the wealthy who should be funding the NHS and social care, not low-paid workers. Social care needs to be taken out of the hands of the private sector and brought back into public ownership to be run democratically by workers and service users.

The Trades Union Congress has calculated that if capital gains tax – the tax on profits from assets like stocks and property – was paid at the same level as income tax, that will alone generate £17 billion a year for funding health and social care. Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, has called for a 1% Wealth Tax on the net assets of the rich which alone would raise £25 billion a year.

The Broad Left Network believes these issues are important for PCS members irrespective of age and we must:

Challenge Labour’s failure to adequately fund social care in England and demand urgent action is taken to resolve the care crisis and not to delay any further -with consultation with the Health Unions and service users on ways forward. Pressure also needs to continue to be exerted on the devolved assemblies to urgently move forward on social care reform.
Campaign for a 15% pay rise and decent working conditions for Health and Social Care workers.
Tax the rich and big business to fund health and social care.
Social care to be brought into public ownership as part of a national integrated health and social care service free at the point of use.