2022 PCS Home Office Group Annual Report

The PCS Home Office group 2021 Annual Report has now been issued. This gives details of the work the GEC has undertaken on members behalf throughout the year.

The full annual report is available here.

Reproduced below is the foreword to the annual report by James Cox, Group President:

1. As we complete another year the PCS Home Office Group Annual Report provides an opportunity to look back and review the year. I know that the members of your Group Executive have worked hard during the year and hopefully this gives a reminder of that work, and the challenges we have ahead.
   
   

2. Once again Covid has dominated the year for members. Across the department we continue to have 40-50% of members regularly coming in to the office due to the nature of their work. Although there was talk of a return to work in July and then September, the rise of the omicron variant put paid to this. However, as we move in to 2022 it looks like the return to the office will be more widespread, and your negotiators have been working on the hybrid working policy which will accompany this.
   
   

3. Although this hybrid working will facilitate the return from Covid this is a much bigger policy and will be about how we work in the future. Many of us remember two years ago when it would be virtually impossible to be able to work from home for even one day. Now members are potentially going to be able to work from home for 60% of their time. This brings many opportunities and challenges for members and also our union in how it organises.
   
   

4. This year we launched a new organising strategy. Organising isn’t just about how we are set up, it’s about an approach to building a union with high participation and democracy. It’s about ensuring we can take on the employer when needed and we have strong structures in place to win for members.
   
   

5. Our strategy took a hard look at our current situation. We have some fantastic reps and branches in the Home Office. Our reps continue to represent members personally through cases right up to the Employment Tribunal. Our negotiators have also secured significant concessions and won on policy changes for members.
   
   

6. However, we also have other areas of weakness. Our rep base is diminishing, and some branches are struggling with the basics due to lack of resources. Our membership plateaued this year after successive years of growth, with recruitment no doubt hampered with many reps out of the office. And on diversity, our rep base continues to age as we struggle to recruit young members and we simply do not have enough female or reps from under-represented ethnicities.
   
   

7. So, all in all, a massive task. And one I hope that members recognise when engaging with reps. We are all volunteers and do this because we believe in our aims and want to help members. But this is certainly not a time to be negative about the future. I think the pandemic period demonstrated the best of trade unionism and the value of it. Although there are challenges there are considerable opportunities to build, grow and win in 2022.
   
   

8. At this time of year union branches will be holding their annual general meetings. This is another good opportunity to get new people involved in our union. It’s also a good time to put motions up for discussion. This is an important part of our internal democracy, and your GEC focussed over the previous year on delivering against these motions. The progress is listed in the annexes of this report.
   
   

9. But we have also seen progress against some motions passed in previous years but still on our radar, such as the scrapping of the AIO pathway in Enforcement, changes to the Flexible Working policy making contractual changes permanent, and also the start of negotiations around HMPO allowances and weekend working.
   
   

10. A big piece of work to flag moving into the new year will be a review of the attendance management policy. This has such a massive impact on all of us as members, and its safe to say that it is not a policy which members are happy with in its current form.
    
    

11. But of course, the biggest issue affecting us is Pay in the face of the biggest squeeze in living standards for a generation. We are balloting members between 14 February and 21 March. This is of huge importance. We have seen year after year of below inflation pay offers, and this year we must take a stand. Please, take part in the online ballot, it’s essential that as many members take part as possible. I believe that together we are stronger, that together we can make a difference and that together we can win.
    
    

In Solidarity.

James Cox (Group President)