Public and Commercial Services Union

J Cameron, Liberal Democrat councillor for Burnage ward, Manchester council

PCS is campaigning for fair pay for its members, meaning that their pay should increase in line with inflation and be negotiated nationally instead of 200 separate sets of negotiations. Do you support PCS's campaign for fair pay for public servants?

Public sector pay should not fall behind inflation. Whether the Civil Service should negotiate nationally or regionally is a  matter for the Civil Service and the Public and Commercial Services Union.

There have been recent moves by one Department towards developing a regional pay system which has seen the vast majority of the North West region being rated at the bottom of these regional pay bandings. This means that those Civil Servants will be paid at different rates (for undertaking identical work) simply because of their geographical location. Where do you stand on public service pay being calculated in this way?

There are clear examples of disparity. I support the unions in
challenging differences over pay where the work is virtually identical
unless there are significant anomalies i.e. cost of living in London.

The government has proposed to cut over 100,000 civil and public service jobs. They claim these cuts will not impact service delivery to the public, however every day our members are seeing how less staff means a poorer service to the public. Where do you stand on cutting civil and public service jobs?

I am concerned about the impact of the government's policy on front line services. The priority should be getting the right services to the people who need them, efficiently and effectively. I am against cutting public sector jobs when this affects services.

PCS is concerned that privatisation of the civil service has continued since 1997. We believe this is costly and unnecessary and jeopardises services being delivered to the public, often the most vulnerable in society. Where do you stand on privatising public services?

The private sector can, in some instances, have a role in delivering best
value. However, the private sector should not be given advantages over the public sector. I am opposed to the private sector taking any larger role in the Health Service.

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S Newman, Labour councillor for Chorlton ward, Manchester council

PCS is campaigning for fair pay for its members, meaning that their pay should increase in line with inflation and be negotiated nationally instead of 200 separate sets of negotiations. Do you support PCS's campaign for fair pay for public servants?

Yes I support the campaign for fair pay for public servants. 

There have been recent moves by one Department towards developing a regional pay system which has seen the vast majority of the North West region being rated at the bottom of these regional pay bandings. This means that those Civil Servants will be paid at different rates (for undertaking identical work) simply because of their geographical location. Where do you stand on public service pay being calculated in this way?

I am opposed to regional rates of pay and support national rates of pay.

The government has proposed to cut over 100,000 civil and public service jobs. They claim these cuts will not impact service delivery to the public, however every day our members are seeing how less staff means a poorer service to the public. Where do you stand on cutting civil and public service jobs?

I am against the proposed cut of over 100,000 civil servant jobs as I believe it will inevitably lead to a reduced service.

PCS is concerned that privatisation of the civil service has continued since 1997. We believe this is costly and unnecessary and jeopardises services being delivered to the public, often the most vulnerable in society. Where do you stand on privatising public services?

I am opposed to the privatisation of civil service jobs as it jeopardises services to the public.

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M Eakins, Liberal democrat councillor for Northenden ward, Manchester council

PCS is campaigning for fair pay for its members, meaning that their pay should increase in line with inflation and be negotiated nationally instead of 200 separate sets of negotiations. Do you support PCS's campaign for fair pay for public servants?

The Manchester Liberal Democrat Group has long fought for fair pay for  public sector workers. Personally, I moved a motion to Council when there  was a Tory government arguing for a minimum wage, and moved a similar one  arguing for a higher minimum wage than Labour introduced when they came to  power.

The Lib Dems are at heart a devolving party. I think it is up to workers to  decide whether they want local or national negotiations. However, I would  not want to be stopped from giving workers more or different rights than  they have nationally because of a centralised structure.

There have been recent moves by one Department towards developing a regional pay system which has seen the vast majority of the North West region being rated at the bottom of these regional pay bandings. This means that those Civil Servants will be paid at different rates (for undertaking identical work) simply because of their geographical location. Where do you stand on public service pay being calculated in this way?

The Manchester Liberal Democrats want to get good value for money for Council Tax payers. However, we don't accept you can cut 100,000 jobs
without it affecting services.

The government has proposed to cut over 100,000 civil and public service jobs. They claim these cuts will not impact service delivery to the public, however every day our members are seeing how less staff means a poorer service to the public. Where do you stand on cutting civil and public service jobs?

The Manchester Liberal Democrats have a Manifesto commitment to cut the number of consultants used by Manchester City Council.

PCS is concerned that privatisation of the civil service has continued since 1997. We believe this is costly and unnecessary and jeopardises services being delivered to the public, often the most vulnerable in society. Where do you stand on privatising public services?

The Manchester Liberal Democrats think that it should be up to
Manchester Council to decide to what extent we use the private sector, not have a structure imposed from Central Government that forces us down that route.

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P Shannon, Liberal democrat councillor for Rusholme ward, Manchester council

PCS is campaigning for fair pay for its members, meaning that their pay should increase in line with inflation and be negotiated nationally instead of 200 separate sets of negotiations. Do you support PCS's campaign for fair pay for public servants?

I am a Chair of School Governors & my partner is an NHS nurse. From my experience I believe that public sector staff work hard and are therefore entitled to fair remuneration, increased annually to match inflation, with final salary pension rights.

There have been recent moves by one Department towards developing a regional pay system which has seen the vast majority of the North West region being rated at the bottom of these regional pay bandings. This means that those Civil Servants will be paid at different rates (for undertaking identical work) simply because of their geographical location. Where do you stand on public service pay being calculated in this way?

Generally speaking I cannot see why civil servants doing the same work shouldn't be paid the same rates, with the same annual increase, although I do accept that London weighting can allow public sector workers to live nearer their place of work in one of the world's most expensive cities. I oppose local Manchester or North West workers being paid less than staff in other regions.

The government has proposed to cut over 100,000 civil and public service jobs. They claim these cuts will not impact service delivery to the public, however every day our members are seeing how less staff means a poorer service to the public. Where do you stand on cutting civil and public service jobs?

I support "Best Value" and believe that taxpayers are keen to see their
taxes being spent wisely. Therefore I accept that public sector headcounts  should be kept under review to ensure value for money and high-quality  services are delivered.

But trimming 100,000 public posts will obviously harm crucial public
services. I do not support cutting jobs if services are cut in consequence.

PCS is concerned that privatisation of the civil service has continued since 1997. We believe this is costly and unnecessary and jeopardises services being delivered to the public, often the most vulnerable in society. Where do you stand on privatising public services?

I have no ideological objection to the private sector helping to improve
vital public services. In fact I believe that both sectors can learn from
each other. But there must be a level playing field - the private sector
cannot be allowed to "undercut" the public sector by paying less than a
living wage, whilst I also strongly object to the way in which business
cases are often unfairly biased towards PFI proposals instead of standard public sector procurement.