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The TUC yesterday (Monday) called on the Chancellor to “stay the course” with the government’s strategy of funding investment and decent public services to fix the foundations of the UK economy.   

• NEW POLL: 65% of UK adults would ‘have more trust in politicians’ if government improved public services; and 71% believe the wealthy should pay more tax to fund public services
• The links between austerity, trust in politics and populism are “a warning the government cannot afford to ignore” says TUC

The union body is publishing its Spending Review submission to the Treasury, which backs the government’s ambitions to break the UK’s cycle of low growth, weak productivity and stagnant wages established under 14 years of Conservative government.

New poll shows link between political trust and public services 

New polling of UK adults by Focaldata for the TUC and Hope Not Hate finds that the deterioration in the quality of public services may be linked to declining trust in politicians.

The poll finds that:

• 65% agree that ‘I would have more trust in politicians if the government delivered better quality public services’
• Only 35% agree that ‘My trust in politicians would remain the same even if the government delivered better quality public services’

The TUC says that the restoration of our public services is not only important to the health of our economy, but also to the health of our democracy and preventing a slide towards populism and extremism.

The polling also finds that the public support fair taxes to fund decent public services:

• 71% agree that ‘the wealthy should pay more tax to fund decent public services’
• Only 29% agree that ‘the wealthy already pay their fair share’

The union body encourages the government to follow through on the Prime Minister’s commitment that ‘those with broadest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden’ and to hold firm on fixing public services and investing in growth. 

TUC spending review submission

The TUC supports the ambitions set out in the government’s Plan for Change to create economic stability and to ‘grow the economy to put more money in working people’s pockets’.

The TUC says that as well as making work pay, the government’s growth plans rest on the strength and resilience of public services.

To fix public services, the TUC’s Spending Review submission calls for action to:

• Engage the public sector workforce to deliver improvement: ministers should actively engage public sector workers and their unions, leveraging their expertise to deliver a long-term strategy that enables effective reform.
• Fund fair pay: pay improvements are essential to ending the recruitment and retention crisis that has damaged the quality of services and left staff suffering burnout.
• Deliver insourcing to boost productivity: this will end the waste of private companies extracting profits from public services and will improve the poor productivity rates associated with outsourcing.
• Provide sustainable local government funding: to deliver the national growth mission.

To support Make Work Pay plans, the TUC calls for action to:

• Support employers and unions implementing Make Work Pay: this should include greater funding for the Central Arbitration Committee and for Acas to ensure employers and workers can access impartial advice on the new workplace rights.
• Improve funding for regulators and enforcement: this should include the new Fair Work Agency, Health and Safety Executive and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. This will help to make sure that the majority of decent employers are protected from being undercut by the minority of lawbreakers.

To support the government’s industrial strategy, the TUC calls for action to:

• Make the UK’s industrial electricity prices competitive: the government should publish a plan for delivering industrial electricity prices that are competitive with our peers in Europe, with immediate actions to lower prices for electro-intensive manufacturers within the year.
• Invest directly in the industries of the future: the government should maintain and expand its commitment to the National Wealth Fund to revive UK manufacturing and safeguard jobs.
• Invest in key infrastructure: the government should accelerate national infrastructure decisions that the Conservatives deferred. This should include upgrading rail networks throughout the UK, expanding electric vehicle chargers, a long-term commitment to funding the Warm Homes Plan, and a final investment decision on Sizewell C.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: 

“A successful economy needs high-quality public services. That’s because businesses and working families depend on things like good health, high-quality education, and affordable childcare.

“But the Tories left our public services in disarray. After more than a decade of cuts, services across the public sector are short-staffed, cash-strapped and overwhelmed. Funding them properly is essential to bringing Britain out of decline.

“The Labour government has committed to doing things differently. With the global economy becoming more challenging, it’s even more important for the Chancellor to stay the course. Fixing the foundations will make the UK more resilient and enable stronger growth. This will deliver higher living standards and stable public finances.”

On trust in politics and public services, Paul added:

“People trust politicians more when public services are working well. But after 14 years of Tory cuts, everyone is saying the same thing – ‘nothing seems to work anymore’.

“Austerity damaged more than services like schools and hospitals. It damaged faith in politics too. And this has created opportunities for populists and extremists to exploit.

“This is a warning the government cannot afford to ignore. But voters have a clear idea of how to protect public services and avoid more austerity. It’s the same as Keir Starmer said when he took office – ‘those with broadest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden’.”

Editors note

• TUC Spending Review submission to the Treasury: See the download link at the end of this page.
• Focaldata poll: Focaldata conducted a poll of 7,001 UK adults from 19 Dec to 6 Jan 2025, designed to be representative of the national population according to demographics.
• Prime Minster’s quote on ‘those with the broadest shoulders’: The quote is taken from the Prime Minster’s speech on ‘fixing the foundations of our country’, delivered in the Downing Street garden on 27 August 2024. The full text is here: www.gov.uk/government/speeches/keir-starmers-speech-on-fixing-the-foundations-of-our-country-27-august-2024