It’s no great shock that at a time when the NHS continues to face huge financial pressures, it has been looking at creative ways to manage the service and reduce costs.  One idea that several NHS trusts have embraced is the concept of creating ‘wholly owned subsidiaries’ (WOS) to deliver some of their services, including facilities and estate management.  The key benefits are publicised as increased staff flexibility and cost savings. This concept has been ‘trending’ over the past year or so with the trusts claiming that creating i... Continue reading

We had another twist in the case of outsourced workers versus client organisation on 7 August 2018, when the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) was granted a judicial review against a decision that had been made against them by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). Flashback to November 2017 when the IWGB launched a legal challenge over the rights of 75 outsourced workers based at the University of London.  The receptionists, security officers, post-room staff and porters all worked for facilities management company, Cordant... Continue reading

2018 has seen many high-profile businesses in the UK making very public statements on their efforts to encourage greater diversity in their recruitment and selection process, particularly for senior and board level roles. Most recently, the BBC announced that it will require at least one candidate from a black or ethnic minority background on all vacancy shortlists above a certain paygrade. The BBC isn’t the only organisation to place ‘quotas’ on recruitment – in 2018, we’ve seen similar moves from the Football Association, and a ban ... Continue reading

Brexit continues to cause uncertainty across the UK political, economic and social landscape, and domestic health and safety law is no exception. With much of the UK’s health and safety legislation being derived from EU policy, extricating UK health and safety law from the EU is an intimidating prospect for legislators. Many people who voted to leave the European Union see Brexit as an opportunity to dispense with ‘red tape’ and regain greater control over the legislative direction of the country. However, whether this is realistic or not... Continue reading

I was talking to a fellow Mum in the school playground earlier this week, when she casually mentioned that her flame haired daughter, who is currently in her first year at secondary school, had been the subject of nasty comments due to her being ‘a ginger’. The Mum went on to say that on one occasion, she had been with her daughter when some older kids at the school had made derogatory comments, seemingly not bothered that an adult was also present.  Needless to say, the Mum was shocked at what she was witnessing.  It transpired that her... Continue reading