1.2 Workforce Issues

Since the deregulation of the 1980's the UK has had weak workplace protections and relies on the European Acquired Rights Directive (ARD) to protect staff transferred to private companies. However, the ARD does not protect new staff taken on to contracts and the UK experience has been that the pay and conditions of these staff has been dramatically cut, and above all they have no occupational pensions. Thus two people can be working alongside each other, doing identical jobs for the same employer but receiving radically different pay and conditions, depending on whether they have been transferred or taken on directly . This has become a focus of union opposition and is known as the Two Tier Workforce. As public services are labour intensive, these cuts have been a rich source of profit for the companies.

In 2003 the government introduced statutory protections against the two tier workforce in local government. The government is committed to ending the two tier workforce and similar protections are currently being negotiated with trade unions across the public sector.

Strategic Service Delivery Partnerships have been pioneered in local government and some models are being suggested for other sectors. Strategic Partnerships usually include a broad range of services, often requiring significant investments to effect a fundamental change and often involve transfers of large numbers of staff for contracts of 10 - 15 years. They have a significant impact on public authorities whose role shifts from service delivery to commissioning authority.