WHEN the July edition of Vogue magazine was posted through my door by my lovely key-worker postman, there wasn’t the usual cover star of model or actor. Rather staring out under the headline of The New Front Line was Anisa Omar, a supermarket assistant.

Vogue published three different covers for July, the other two covers featured Rachael Miller, a midwife, and Narguis Horsford, a train driver.

At the beginning of this year key worker was not a term used much in the media, certainly not in Vogue. However, that was from a time before the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March by the World Health Organisation.

I work in local government and across Scotland we have 32 local authorities and 32 different definitions of the term key worker. How so? Well the Scottish government has had difficulty in defining the term key worker for local government.

They have been quoted as saying “the definition of key workers was drawn deliberately broadly to allow local authorities to have flexibility to enhance it to suit local circumstances.”

The services provided across local government are vast, ranging from education, social work, waste collection, planning, income generation and collection, libraries, leisure centres, housing and so on. Services which have suffered the brunt of cuts under austerity.

Unison members in local government know only too well the impact that these services have in our communities to aid health and wellbeing. They help to provide a safety net for so many people, never more so than during this pandemic. We are all key workers.

The care workers in nursing homes and out in the community delivering the very best of care, helping to wash and dress our residents, ensuring they are fed and medical needs addressed. All services provided with cheery banter to provide much needed social interaction to help maintain good mental health.

Helplines started up by local authorities so people can access advice and the services they need.

School hubs set up so that children of key workers can still attend school.

School meals being delivered to those children most in need.

Food distribution centres established quickly providing food parcels and deliveries of medicine out to people in the community who have no-one else to turn to.

Workers volunteering to be redeployed to help out.

Finance workers processing Covid-19 grants to businesses.

All part of the services delivered within local government – but these services cost money. Money is the one thing which local authorities do not have spare after over a decade of disproportionate cuts to their funding. They couldn’t possibly have thought in a million years they would face this challenge on top of what was already a very difficult financial time.

We were always told by the Tories there was no “magic money tree.” Yet there appears to be a forest of them now.

Scottish government to date has not passed onto local authorities the £155 million arising from the Barnett consequentials. In fact, two authorities have reported to have spent £108 million to date, which if they were to be reimbursed would leave a pot of £47 million to divide between the other 30 authorities. So clearly even when that money is passed on it will not be enough.  

The issue of the funding for services now and in the future must be addressed. When we come out of lockdown our communities will need even more support than ever before.

The likelihood of another recession bringing with it all the social ills that follow, will see our services even further stretched. Those in need cannot be left behind and as a nation we have become more compassionate during this crisis. But compassion alone is not enough.

Unison have launched a new campaign Fighting Together Today for a Better Future Tomorrow. Two of the campaign strands centre on funding.

Firstly, to secure the long-term financial stability of local government, in doing so this investment will not only fund better services but protect jobs.

Secondly, to shape the future of local government – and this will be key. We already have highlighted, long before the pandemic, that there needs to be a review of care at home service to reflect the SSSC qualification requirement which comes into force in September. Jobs in this sector will need to be re-evaluated.

There are so many roles within local government that have changed and will have to be reviewed.

How will we redefine and shape the future? By strong negotiation with our employers, increased political lobbying and getting our members mobilised.

Unison is of course not alone in seeing an increased level of new members during this pandemic. That strength across our movement brings with it a positive force for change.

Our society has changed in so many ways over the past few months. We need to look positively with renewed focus and energy to bring about long lasting change for our communities for future generations to come.   

Brenda Aitchison is a Unison local government committee member.