LTB 174/18 – Independent Review of Unionline
No: 174/18
26 March 2018
TO: ALL BRANCHES
Dear Colleague
INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF UNIONLINE
The purpose of this LTB is to update Branches on the independent review of Unionline which was notified in LTB 468/17.
As previously explained, given the overall financial position of the union, the impact of the Lord Justice Jackson legal reforms and the reported accounts of Unionline to date, the NEC agreed it was appropriate to ensure the review was undertaken independently. Therefore, to carry out this important work we engaged a business model consultant who has previously undertaken excellent work for the union.
The Terms of Reference for the independent review were agreed by the NEC and shared with our sister union and Unionline partner, the GMB. The Terms of Reference were comprehensive and designed to examine all aspects of the performance of Unionline, the basis upon which it was set up and its prospects for the future.
The current position is that work is continuing and the aim is to conclude the review in the near future with a report being presented to the NEC and a subsequent report being published to Branches. If the review is not concluded by General conference 2018, we will ensure there is an opportunity to provide a comprehensive update on Unionline as part of the redesign session scheduled for Monday 23rd April.
In undertaking the review it was explained that we would also be seeking the views of Branches on the accessibility, quality and range of services provided by Unionline. Therefore, to facilitate this a short survey is attached. We would ask that Branches complete this and return it to the GS Department gsoffice@cwu.org no later than 17th April 2018.
We can also advise that in conjunction with the GMB, we will be working towards a suitable survey of individual members who have either contacted and / or used Unionline services.
Finally, Branches will be aware of a previous Unionline LTB 89/18 sent out recently by the Head of Legal Services in response to a Conference Motion. It is important that LTB 89/18 is now seen within the context of the wider Unionline review. When the independent review was agreed by the NEC it was explained that the work required to respond to the Conference Motion would still go ahead and that this would need to be carried out in a complementary way to the wider review.
However, given that LTB 89/18 was published separately, we would emphasise and ask Branches to note that the outcome of the independent review takes precedence in terms of its scope, content and its relevance to how we take Unionline forward in the future.
Further information will be sent out in due course.
Any enquiries on the content of this the General Secretary on gsoffice@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary