UKIP under the microscope

The resurgence of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) has been based on its anti-immigration and anti-EU stance. But there is more to UKIP than xenophobic nationalism. It has a range of right wing policies hostile to workers’ rights - including putting an end to most legislation concerning weekly working hours, holidays, overtime, redundancy and sick pay. In a recent feature Labour Research examined them in detail:
http://www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=LR&iss=1718&id=idm211216&fromopp=y

Community Budgets & public service transformation

Since October 2012, in four areas of England, ‘Community Budgets’ pilots have been underway which could radically transform the funding and structures of public services.
  With local/national cross party support and based on the New Labour concept of ‘total place’, the LGIU reports that ‘whole place community budgets have been lauded by the coalition government as a flagship policy to put major principles of localism, ‘customer first’ service integration, public services reform, and deficit reduction into practice.’ The LGIU has published an important briefing ‘Much ado about…whole place community budgets' reviewing progress made (or lack of it) on the four pilots:  http://www.lgiu.org.uk/briefing/much-ado-aboutwhole-place-community-budgets/ (subscribers only). For more on Community Budgets pilots read here:
http://unisonactive.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/4-community-budget-pilots-confirmed.html

Private sector unionisation at 'dangerously low levels'

An article in the April 2013 edition of Labour Research magazine highlights that the trade union presence in the UK private sector 'has hit dangerously low levels.' The decline in unionisation has been rapid in the manufacturing sector, where the proportion of workplaces with any union members fell from 24% in 2004 to just 15% in 2011. In private services, which is the sector of the economy where employment is fastest growing, union membership presence is 6% although in hotels and restaurants this falls to only 3% of workplaces. In construction - which accounts for 8% of overall employment - only 7% of workplaces include some union members. The LRD analysis is based on the 2011 Workplace Employment Research Study First Findings:
http://www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=LR&iss=1655 (subscribers only)