Category Archives: Public Services

Northern Ireland SEN cuts threatened due to costs

Unite will ballot workers at the Education authority in response to plans to cut the terms and conditions of school support workers. In a further development, cost-cutting proposals have been made for a wider review of the system of SEN … Continue reading

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Northern Ireland ambulance service response times more than twice target

Lack of recruitment leaves no possibility of filling the NIAS staffing gap in next five years Unite has challenged the ongoing failure of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) to meet its response time targets and called for a new … Continue reading

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Northern Ireland Executive must ringfence public sector apprenticeship funding

Skills shortages looming as Translink fails to confirm restoration of suspended apprenticeship scheme because of funding squeeze Unite which represents frontline workers across the public sector in Northern Ireland has called on the executive to ring-fence funding in the budget … Continue reading

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Time for Stormont to end exclusion of public sector from apprenticeship funding

To mark the beginning of Northern Ireland Apprenticeship Week 2026 (today, Monday 2 February), Unite has released a report highlighting the current exclusion of public bodies from funding for apprenticeships. Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK which … Continue reading

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Concerns for child safety in Northern Ireland with hundreds of education posts filled without safety checks

Minister must act to end widespread abuse of temporary engagement forms to avoid formal recruitment processes Unite has expressed deeps concerns for child safety in Northern Ireland after a freedom of information (FOI) response confirmed that 353 staff positions had … Continue reading

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