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Most businesses lose staff time due to problems with public services, TUC poll shows

NEARLY six in 10 business leaders say that staff have had to take time off in the last year due to problems accessing public services, new TUC polling published today reveals.

Waiting for hospital treatment accounted for 35 per cent of the staff absences, the survey of more than 500 businesses showed.

One in five cited caring for a relative who lacked adequate provision of adult social care.

Waiting for mental healthcare and inability to access suitable childcare made up 17 per cent each.

Looking after a child with special educational needs was cited by 16 per cent, followed by 13 per cent who said waiting for a work visa to be processed had lost them staff time.

The TUC is calling for further action from the Labour government to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the public sector, including through an investment budget to repair public services and upgrade public infrastructure.

The union federation also wants action to improve public services through a public-sector workforce commission, which would advise the government on achieving improvements and delivering services as effectively as possible. 

The TUC is also asking for fair pay setting in the public sector and fairer taxes to ensure that those who make their incomes from wealth rather than work make a fair contribution to funding improvements to public services.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Our polling shows that more than half of businesses report losing staff time because they have problems accessing vital public services.

“This is having a massive impact on working people, companies, and the economy.

“The Chancellor knows already how desperate people are for an end to NHS waiting lists, and access to affordable childcare and decent schools. She clearly has the green light from businesses to prioritise public services too.”

Commenting on the poll, public ownership campaign We Own It director Cat Hobbs said: “The new Labour government must reverse 14 years of austerity and invest at serious scale in public services to get these services back and make sure they work for people, not profit.

“Our NHS was world-beating in 2012; we need it back up and working for patients, not profit, so people can rely on it.

“We need well-funded education with schools that aren’t falling down, high-quality public transport networks, clean rivers and seas.

“None of this is optional.”

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