50 thousand NHS staff to go by 2015

More than 50,000 doctors, nurses and other NHS staff are set to lose their jobs over the next four years, according to the largest survey undertaken since the coalition government came to power.  The study is based on a series of Freedom of Information requests asking for “confirmed, proposed or potential” job losses over the […]

Unions criticise NHS revamp plans

The coalition government is to publish its “high risk” NHS Bill to revamp the health service later today amid warnings that Primary Care Trusts are already starting to implode as staff leave “in droves”.  The Health and Social Care Bill, which will be laid before Parliament this afternoon, paves the way for GPs to seize […]

Healthcare unions hit out at two year pay freeze proposals

Health service unions have rejected “divisive” proposals to introduce a two-year freeze on increments for all staff in England from April in return for an “extremely limited” guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.  The British Medical Association joined The Royal College of Nursing and Unison in throwing out suggestions made by the NHS Employers body that […]

BBC Tribunal has lessons for whole industry

The entire broadcasting industry needs to look at its diversity practices in the wake of presenter Miriam O’Reilly winning her age discrimination case against the BBC, the corporation has said.  O’Reilly, who is aged 53, took the broadcaster to an employment tribunal for age and sex discrimination when she, along with three other female presenters […]

BA and tube strikes threaten to cast cloud over Royal wedding

BA cabin crews and London Underground drivers are threatening to bring the capital to a halt with industrial action on the day of the Royal Wedding, the UK’s tourist highlight of the year. One official of the Unite union told The Sun newspaper that cabin crews’ next wave of strikes is set to include 29 April […]

Employment tribunals cost BBC £600k in 2010

The BBC paid out more than £600,000 to deal with employment tribunal claims last year, nearly £400,000 of which went on settlements to aggrieved staff.  According to information obtained via a Freedom of Information request, some 33 employees brought cases against the broadcaster in 2010, of which 22 were settled, five withdrawn or dismissed and […]

CIPD: HR must be at the centre of public service change

The coalition government’s plans to reform public services are at risk of failing to deliver any lasting benefits unless HR is placed at the heart of the change process, according to a study.  A joint report entitled ‘Boosting HR performance in the public sector’ published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and […]

Uncertainty despite private sector coming up with jobs

Although private sector job creation will offset public sector job cuts in the last quarter of this year, widespread uncertainty as to the future means that employers remain cautious about prospects for the year ahead.  According to the Labour Market Outlook survey undertaken by researchers Ipsos-Mori, some two out of five public sector bodies currently […]

Public sector job cuts likely to hit three quarters of a million

Public sector job cuts are likely to hit three quarters of a million rather than the implied 490,000 over the next few years as the coalition government looks to completely restructure service provision in the UK, an HR body has warned. The chancellor in his Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) announcement said that planned real cuts in […]

Supporting employees out of the public sector

Reducing staff numbers is never easy, and is a problem most public sector organisations will face. The NHS has implemented an idea for employees to help lighten the load. The recent introduction of the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS), which has since been adopted by a number of NHS organisations, shows how the NHS is […]

610,000 jobs will be axed in the public sector by 2016

Some 610,000 jobs will be axed in the public sector by 2016 as a result of coalition government budget cuts of more than 50% in some departments, according to draft copies of today’s Comprehensive Spending Review document. The plans were unwittingly revealed yesterday by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, when he fell foul of […]

Public sector workers not suitable for private sector jobs

Although 85% of the 600,000 public sector workers facing redundancy would consider working in the private sector, more than 90% of commercial employers believe that their background and experience is irrelevant. The situation is not helped by the fact that 87% of private sector bosses believe that public sector candidates need to better identify and communicate […]

Public sector workers say striking worth the public perception risk

Although just under three in five public sector workers understand that they risk losing public sympathy if they cause disruption through strike action, 49% believe that they must do what is necessary to protect their jobs. But according to a survey of 2,000 UK private and public sector workers undertaken by the Chartered Institute of […]

Mission possible: Employee engagement in the public sector

In May of this year, David Cameron and Nick Clegg joined forces to form a coalition government charged with the unenviable task of taking the reins of a country in crisis. At possibly the lowest ebb of a global recession which had gained momentum since the latter half of 2007, the United Kingdom faced high […]

Not enough jobs to offset public sector cuts

Industry watchers have expressed concern over the fragile state of the labour market following the publication of government statistics yesterday, amid fears that private sector job creation will be unable to offset heavy public sector job cuts.  The figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed a mixed picture for the three months to […]

Tube strikes after ACAS talks break down

The London Underground network is set to be crippled by a wave of 24-hour rolling strikes from today after talks at the conciliation service Acas to avert industrial action collapsed last week.  Some 10,000 members of London Underground’s two biggest unions, the RMT and TSSA, began preparations for strike action from 5pm on 6 September […]

2/3 public sector ‘would take pay cut’

With unemployment predicted to breach 10% outside of London and the South of England, nearly two thirds of public sector workers would now be prepared to take pay cuts to save their jobs.  According to a survey of 1,600 public sector jobseekers by recruitment web site Totaljobs.com, a quarter said they would stomach a salary […]

NHS needs funding to ‘even out’ training

Sufficient funding must be put in place if the NHS is to redress current imbalances in the number of specialist medical trainees working in different areas of England, according to the Royal College of Physicians.  Dr Andrew Goddard, director of the Medical Workforce Unit at the Royal College broadly welcomed the findings of a new […]

BBC HR exec quits over move north

The head of HR at BBC North who was hired to sell the case to 1,500 staff about relocating from London to Manchester has quit his job because he did not wish to live there himself.  Paul Gaskin took on his £190,000 a year post with the broadcaster less than two months ago after leaving […]

NHS to roll out ‘competency passport’ scheme

The NHS is set to roll out a national ‘Skills Passport for Health’ scheme in order to improve talent management and reduce admin costs, following the success of a year-long pilot project.   The proof-of-concept trial was undertaken among nursing staff at seven English NHS Trusts during the financial year 2009-2010. Workers created a verified […]