Cuts to local police fund London force

 WIGAN’S police force has been hit by a shock £6.4m policing cut – partly to fund security in London’s banking district.

Greater Manchester Police chiefs have expressed fury at the “outrageous” figure, which is enough to pay for 145 officers.
Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy has warned it will spark more job losses and called for the Home Secretary to think again.
And police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd said GMP was losing out to government “pet projects”.
More than £100,000 of the figure will go straight to City of London police who are said to need more money to deal with events of major national interest in the capital’s financial district, including Old Bailey court trials.

Continue reading here...
http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/cuts-to-local-police-fund-london-force-1-6342157

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Christmas Raffle - are you a winner?

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TUC Domestic Violence Survey

PCS is supporting the TUC survey on domestic violence.  The survey closes on the 1 February 2014. Please encourage as many fellow members as possible to click on  
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/domesticviolenceTUC

Domestic violence has far reaching consequences and a terrible impact on the lives of those living with an abusive partner.

The TUC is conducting a survey to find out more about how domestic violence affects working life and the role that employers, colleagues, and union reps can play in supporting those experiencing domestic abuse. 

TUC would like to hear from anyone who has either experienced domestic violence themselves or has a friend or colleague who has experienced domestic violence.

The survey is entirely anonymous. You will not be asked for your name, contact details or any information which could be used to identify you or your employer.

Please ask fellow members to take a few minutes to complete the survey.

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Pickets' petition to be delivered

Campaigners trying to overturn 40-year-old convictions against 24 pickets will today deliver a 100,000-signature petition to the Government under moves to raise the issue in Parliament.

The Shrewsbury 24 Campaign reverted to a paper petition after claiming that its e-petition was failing to register everyone signing it.

The e-petition attracted 37,000 names, while the paper version has now been signed by 70,000 people in towns and cities across the country as well as at union and other conferences.

The petition will be handed in to 10 Downing Street by union leaders and Royle Family actor Ricky Tomlinson, one of the 24.

The pickets were arrested five months after the 1972 building workers' strike and charged under the 1875 Conspiracy Act, with six sent to prison, including Tomlinson.

The campaign group wants all documents relating to the case to be released, claiming they would prove that a "massive miscarriage of justice" was handed out.

Eileen Turnbull, the group's researcher, said: "We are delighted with the progress we are making and we are convinced that the unjust convictions will be overturned."

Steve Murphy, general secretary of construction union Ucatt, said: "The Shrewsbury campaign's achievement in collecting 100,000 signatures is outstanding. It demonstrates the determination of the pickets to win justice and also the public's support for their cause.

"Parliament now has a moral duty to debate the case and the Government must come clean and publish all the papers relating to the pickets' case."

Rail Maritime and Transport union leader Bob Crow said: "It is clear that there was a conspiracy at the highest level in 1972 to blacklist and fit up trade union activists and it is time for all the papers to be released and for those that were wrongly imprisoned to be given justice at last.

"RMT is proud to be supporting the campaign for justice for the Shrewsbury pickets and with more than 100,000 signed up to the petition it is time for David Cameron and his government to take this shocking miscarriage of justice seriously and to make amends to all those denied their liberty and whose lives have been blighted in the following decades."

Unlimited Calls, Texts & Data* for only £14.99 a month

Members can get a great deal on mobile phone contracts and support our campaigns thanks to a new partnership with The People's Operator.

From today our members are being offered special discounts on mobile tariff plans on the TPO network. At no cost to them 10% of all spend by our members on the network will be returned to the union by TPO to help fund our campaigns.

Our members and their families can choose from TPO’s full range of pay monthly and pay as you go packages. They can also receive one month free on the TPO unlimited £14.99 monthly deal, including unlimited standard UK mobile and landline calls, UK text messages and mobile internet browsing, subject to a fair usage policy. It's easy to switch and you can even bring your existing number with you.

We will use the extra funding we receive from TPO to support campaigns for members, such as: the campaigns for decent pay increases and a living wage, against the government’s plans to raise pension contributions and retirement age, and against cuts and privatisation. 

Find out more or sign up here

* FAIR USAGE POLICY APPLIES - see here

A fair use allowance of 3000 text messages per month for Unlimited SMS tariffs, 3000 minutes per month for Unlimited Minute tariffs and of 3000 Mb (2.9Gb) per month for Unlimited Data tariffs

Inclusive minutes: Are for calls to UK landlines which start with the prefix 01,02, 03, and UK mobile networks. Your inclusive minutes include listening to voicemail in the UK and dialling our customer services department using our short code "500".

Inclusive texts: Are for texts to UK mobile networks. They do not include short-code texts to other services. Your inclusive texts are for person to person texts and do not include text message delivery notifications.

Inclusive mobile internet browsing: Your allowance is subject to the price plan that you choose. Mobile internet browsing applies within the UK only. You are only entitled to use our Pay Monthly (SIM only) services for personal, non-commercial use. We reserve the right to impose network protection controls, limit the speed of, suspend or block your access to services, or disconnect you if your usage is excessive and/or not in keeping with that reasonably expected of a private individual. We may also do any of these things if in our reasonable opinion you are abusing the services in any way. We will notify you by text message before we take any of these steps.

Membership survey on conditionality and sanctions

The Group Executive Committee (GEC) has agreed to survey members on conditionality and sanctions in order to quantify the anecdotal feedback the union receives in this area.

Already the GEC has received evidence of widespread use of Performance Improvement Plans and other tools used to pressurise members into making more referrals. It is union policy to expose and oppose this pressure to and to expose the social consequence of sanctioning.
You are being asked to complete this to help us with our campaigning work and to provide that we can raise directly with DWP management. We will use the information to help form our response to the ‘Independent Review of Sanctions’ recently announced.

All your answers are confidential; no individual will be identified through completing this survey.
We have asked that you provide your PCS membership number so that we can be verify that all respondents are union members. Your membership number usual appears on the front of the plastic envelope the union magazine arrives, you can ask your local PCS rep or check with the membership department on 020 7801 2670/2680

Please return questionnaires to leeds@pcs.org.uk or post by hardcopy to DWP Group, PCS, 3rd Floor Town Centre House, Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8LY by 6th January 2014.

158 Membership survey on conditionality and sanctions

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Voluntary Exit Scheme - Problems with the Closing Date

PCS is aware of several problems that members have regarding the ongoing voluntary exit scheme. 

The closing date for members to accept or reject the offer is today 6th December. However PCS is aware of some members who have yet to receive a quote and other members who have been disputing their quotes with MyCSP and have not been able to resolve their query.
PCS has raised these issues as a matter of urgency with DWP management.

No Quote received

Everyone who has applied to this exit scheme should have received a quote for MyCSP on 25th November. Members then had 12 days until 6th December to decide to accept or reject the offer.
It has become clear that MYCSP has been unable to cope with the volume of quotes that it has been asked to supply. This has resulted in some members receiving their quote much later than 25th November. There are even some members who have still not received their quote even though today (6th December) is the last day that they are expected to make their decision to accept or reject it.
Clearly this is an intolerable position and no member should be expected to make such vital life changing decisions with inadequate information. PCS has raised this with DWP management who have now agreed that anyone who receives their quote late will be given 10 working days to consider that quote, even where the quote is received after the closing date of 6th December.

Disputes over quotes

Some members have been disputing their quote with MyCSP, either because the quote is significantly lower or in some cases higher than they had expected it to be. In many cases their disputes have been resolved by MYCSP allowing the members to make their decision in advance of the closing day. However PCS is aware that there are some members who have not been able to resolve their dispute over their quote in advance of the 6th December 2013.
PCS has also raised this with DWP management. They have agreed that anyone who finds themselves in this position should ask to have their case referred to DWP Strategic Resourcing who will consider, on a case by case basis, whether to allow an extension to the 6th December closing date. Contact details of how to refer such cases to DWP Strategic Resourcing should have been circulated to members with outstanding queries. Where this has not happened members should contact line managers as soon as possible.
PCS has also secured from management an assurance that they will look sympathetically at any case where a member has signed to accept their initial MyCSP quote, but who then receives a significantly lower final quote from MyCSP. Such cases should be very rare but this management assurance does provide some safeguard for members who find themselves in this position.
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MPs set to receive 11% pay rise

MPs are set to receive an 11% pay rise when a parliamentary watchdog publishes its final recommendations on salaries this week.

The rise is due after the 2015 general election and will take pay to £74,000.

Read more...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25287108

Sign to get parliament to debate food bank use...#jackspetition

On Christmas Day 2011, I sat on my sofa by myself in a freezing cold flat, with no television, no presents, no food in the fridge that had been turned off at the mains. I had no tree, no decorations, nothing to mark the day as any different from any other.

I was unemployed, broke, and broken. I hadn't bought a single present for my one-year-old son, and instead let him go to his father's for the day, knowing I could not give him a Christmas myself.

This year, I'm lucky that things are different for me. But I am outraged that for 60,000 other people are facing the same situation. How can it be that in 2013, 20,000 children face Christmas with empty cupboards and no presents? And why is that figure three times the number that faced a hungry Christmas last year?

Read more at...

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/parliament-debate-uk-hunger-and-rise-in-foodbank-use-jackspetition

government is planning to bring forward the date when people need to be 68 to draw the state pension?

The government is planning to bring forward the date when people need to be 68 to draw the state pension, Chancellor George Osborne will announce in his Autumn Statement later.

The change, currently set for 2046, may now happen in the mid-2030s, affecting people now in their forties and below.

Mr Osborne is due to deliver his statement to the House of Commons at 11:15 GMT. Among the measures announced so far are:

• Another £1bn of cuts from Whitehall budgets for each of the next three years

Register your details and you could win an iPad - PCS National

We are making a concerted effort to collect personal email addresses and mobile telephone numbers.
As we continue to campaign to defend pay, jobs, pensions, terms and conditions, it is essential that we are in a position to be able to contact members and activists quickly, directly and reliably using facilities and communication channels which do not rely on the goodwill of the employer.
All members who register their personal contact information by 31 December 2013, or join the union and register their personal information, will automatically be entered into a prize draw.

December activity 

A number of things will be happening throughout December to prioritise this work:

• Our staff are being assigned a specific branch to help with the work of collecting information from members from 2-13 December.
• About 100 branches will have the additional assistance of two full-time PCS staff who will be able to help with the work of collecting personal contact information directly from members.
• All members for whom we have either a mobile number or a personal email address or both by 31 December will be eligible and entered into a prize draw to win an iPad.

You can give us your personal contact information in the following ways: 

• Talk to your union rep and ask them for a form to fill out.
• Download and complete the data collection form.  
• Visit pcs.org.uk/getthemessage and register your personal contact information.
• Call 0800 317 464 (or 020 7801 2670 if using a mobile) and speak to a member of staff who will record your details.
• Join the union pcs.org.uk/join and include your personal contact information.

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