What the change in Westminster Government means for members in Scotland
By Jaki Lambert, Director, RCM Scotland on 19 July 2024
What, if anything, does the change in Westminster government mean to our members in Scotland? Does the fact that there is now a Labour government in Westminster and that the fifty-seven Scottish seats in Westminster have become a Labour majority with thirty-seven seats and Scottish National Party (SNP) reduced to 9 change anything for us?
Firstly, the RCM is not aligned to any political party which means we lobby all parties in Scotland and work with all to advocate for our members. However, we are very much active within that political space both from a professional and trade union perspective.
The Scottish government in Holyrood remains an SNP government. Health is devolved, so you could assume that nothing should change for us in Scotland. All decisions about the NHS, Maternity and professional policy, the number of future midwives we educate and the ability for our maternity support workers to continue to develop and sit firmly with the devolved government. We already represent our members across much of this work through the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce (NMT), meetings with ministers and through the Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF), Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC) and Scottish Workforce and Governance Committee (SWGC).
It is important to us though, on two counts:
This is where we start increase lobbying as we work working towards the next elections in Scotland in 2026. Nothing is a given which means that we lobby equally with all parties to highlight what is needed for our members and maternity services in Scotland so that they can deliver the best quality evidenced based care that families want and deserve to receive. That, across the best terms and conditions of employment that can be achieved for our members. We will continue to make sure they know how important to Scotland the impact you have on the current and future health of Scotland, but also that midwives and the whole maternity services team are key to keeping communities strong and resilient across Scotland.
The other part is whether the money coming back into Scotland from the UK government will change. If there is more public spending from UK government will that increase the allocation returned into Scotland which is so needed now. Realistically that is the only concrete change that can impact on resources available to the Scottish government for spending on the NHS in Scotland.
These are things that Emma Currer as the RCM’s National Officer on the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC) will be considering in the pending NHS Agenda for Change (AFC) pay negotiations, it is already 5 months since STAC set out their pay claim to Scottish Government and insisted on a start to negotiations relating to 2024/25 pay. The longer this takes the further it erodes the morale of our hardworking members in Scotland and that’s what we’ve told the Scottish Government. We are working hard on your behalf to ensure that money you deserve is in your pocket.
Finally, there can be some changes at Westminster that impact directly on Scotland, at least theoretically. We welcome, for example, the commitment in this week’s King’s Speech to repeal the law on ‘minimum service levels’, which the RCM opposed, and which enabled employers in vital sectors such as healthcare to force union members into work even after a legal strike ballot. But the Scottish Government had always said that it would refuse to use these powers. But at least future Scottish ministers of whatever political leaning will shortly not have these excessive and draconian powers. The RCM will continue to work at both Westminster and Holyrood to protect the rights of its members.