Well Andy. One of the routes this kind of discrepancy comes to light is via trade union representation. And one of the actions the union can take, always with the permission of the employee represented - never without, when a particular case has been resolved is to flag up the problem with the concerned bodies. I would say the union in that instance has a duty to report the problem to the commissioning body, whether the union would agree with that point of view is something I'm currently pursuing.
The other obvious course is via employees who are brave enough and have enough conscience to make their own concerns known (whistleblowing). All of these private commissioned companies should have a clear whistleblowing policy. But the difficulties here is employees' lack of knowledge about how they can be protected, and the law, The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, has too many getouts for employers.
In the early 1990s I worked (amongst others), alongside Karen Jennings, now the health lead for UNISON, to help set up the organisation Freedom to Care. Karen then was influential in building some recognition of this being a legitimate recognised and needed activity as was the then Manufacturing Science and Finance Union, and I wrote the Free Expression of Staff Concerns for the British Association of Social Workers - adopted as policy. But the Government of the time watered down the content of the legislation (the PID Act) which could have answered many questions. However, I raised this again a couple of years ago with the Committee on Standards in Public Life and they assured me they now had it on their (admittedly crowded) agenda and I understand there is some pressure in Parliament to revise the legislation.
I know this leaves us currently still in a poor position vis a vis the profit grabbing companies who are flooding in to take over public functions from our elected bodies and which our current Government is backing to the hilt and promoting, but we are in a much better position than we were 15 years ago and it is a case of consistently continuing to plug away on as many levels as we can.
The other obvious course is via employees who are brave enough and have enough conscience to make their own concerns known (whistleblowing). All of these private commissioned companies should have a clear whistleblowing policy. But the difficulties here is employees' lack of knowledge about how they can be protected, and the law, The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, has too many getouts for employers.
In the early 1990s I worked (amongst others), alongside Karen Jennings, now the health lead for UNISON, to help set up the organisation Freedom to Care. Karen then was influential in building some recognition of this being a legitimate recognised and needed activity as was the then Manufacturing Science and Finance Union, and I wrote the Free Expression of Staff Concerns for the British Association of Social Workers - adopted as policy. But the Government of the time watered down the content of the legislation (the PID Act) which could have answered many questions. However, I raised this again a couple of years ago with the Committee on Standards in Public Life and they assured me they now had it on their (admittedly crowded) agenda and I understand there is some pressure in Parliament to revise the legislation.
I know this leaves us currently still in a poor position vis a vis the profit grabbing companies who are flooding in to take over public functions from our elected bodies and which our current Government is backing to the hilt and promoting, but we are in a much better position than we were 15 years ago and it is a case of consistently continuing to plug away on as many levels as we can.
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