Fran spoke for the PCS at the huge Palestine solidarity demonstration in London today.

Dear PCS Left Unity member

The elections for PCS General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary open this Thursday 9^th November.

PCS Left Unity are urging support for LU candidates, Fran Heathcote for General Secretary and Paul O’Connor for Assistant General Secretary.

All Left Unity members should be planning their campaign activity NOW

Fran and Paul have set up a website to support this campaign – click here

Join the ElectFran&Paul WhatsApp to to stay up to date – click here

On Wednesday night, 8th November, at 7pm, there will be an online launch rally to hear from Fran and Paul with special guest speakers. Click here to register

There is lots of material to support you in campaigning for Fran and Paul. A bulk supply of leaflets have been mailed to area convenors. Contact them today to find out how you can get a supply to hand out to members.

A branch recommendation leaflet is available here to email to members – click here

A further Left Unity leaflet is available to download – click here

This can also be provided in bulk to hand out. Contact pcsleftunity@gmail.com to place your order.

The next 6 weeks will decide the future of PCS, Let’s pull out all of the stops to elect a leadership that campaigns and works for members, not factional gain.

It is too important to leave to chance, we must campaign for the leadership that our members need and deserve.

Together, if we all play our part, we will win

During ADC 2023, the president of PCS, Fran Heathcote, in her capacity as Left Unity Organiser, sent a message to a closed WhatsApp group encouraging speakers to come in on the organising strategy motion to avoid getting to motion A50.

This message was screenshot and leaked to the political opponents of Left Unity, who then raised a point of order the following day at the conference. Concerns have been raised about this issue, and until now, Left Unity members have played by the ‘Queensberry rules’, maintaining their silence, whilst our opponents have used the issue to try to impact the current General Secretary election process.

The Left Unity National Committee want to pay credit to those Left Unity members, including Fran, who have kept their silence and their integrity regarding the rule 10 process, in the face of sustained attack from individuals who have sought to gain political advantage from it.

Most Left Unity members would reasonably expect that private WhatsApp chat groups between trusted individuals should be a safe space for those members to share concerns and discussion about specific issues, without fear of them being shared in the public domain, to be used by those who want to damage Left Unity.

Following the recent article on the subject by our opponents, and subsequent video, Left Unity now feels we have little option but to respond, to set the record straight.

What was A50 about?

A50 was a motion which related to who the NEC decides to send to represent PCS at the TUC LGBT+ Committee.

What was A50 not about?

Despite postings and videos to the contrary, A50 was not about the regeneration of Proud.

The first instruction tells the NEC to:

Immediately write to the TUC withdrawing its nomination for the TUC LGBT+ committee

Submit the PCS Proud nomination for the TUC LGBT+ committee to be co-opted into the vacant seat in the General category (A)

Why was the NEC opposed?

There are two reasons:

The core issue raised in motion A50, related directly to a Rule 10 (PCS disciplinary process) investigation under the rules of the union.

Both the moving and seconding branch had members within them who knew about the Rule 10 investigation. Discussion of the motion would have the meant that there was a strong possibility that issues relating to an ongoing rule 10 investigation could have been revealed very publicly at ADC.

Rule 10 investigations are treated in strict confidence. When the NEC discuss a rule 10 investigation, all full-time staff, except the SFTOs are told to leave the meeting. Strict confidence is maintained because, by its very nature, a rule 10 investigation is dealing with the behaviours and conduct of a PCS member/ members, and the employer could use this information (were it made public) to take action against, or even dismiss that member. Everyone should be aware of the term “bringing the Civil Service into disrepute”.

Even the National Standing Orders Committee (who deal with the appropriateness of motions for the ADC agenda) could not be made aware of the detail behind motion A50, as this would have been a breach of confidence of the Rule 10 disciplinary process. This meant they were unaware that they may have to subject the motion for legal advice, which would have caused the motion to be removed from the conference agenda.

The president was obviously aware of all of this. Her concern was that by debating the motion, someone could have, inadvertently or intentionally, identified people who had a right to anonymity.

This could have damaged the individual, or PCS. Left Unity members of the NEC follow the rules scrupulously to ensure that there is no breach of confidentiality.

The second reason is that it was clear to the NEC that, if carried, the motion could not be implemented.

The motion instructed the NEC to immediately write to the TUC withdrawing its nomination to the TUC LGBT+ Committee, something the NEC did immediately following the carriage of the motion, but it also instructs the NEC to submit the Proud nomination to be co-opted into the vacant seat.

The General Secretary had raised this issue with the TUC, prior to the conference, to see if, in the event of the motion being carried, this would be possible.

The TUC had responded, making clear that in the event of PCS withdrawing the NEC nomination, the position would remain vacant. They would not be calling out to co-opt. PCS now has no representation on this committee as a result of the carriage of A50, and the NEC agreed candidate, a lesbian member of PCS Proud, has been blocked from taking up post by those who claim to wish to defend LGBT+ rights.

The president and general secretary raised A50 with the Standing Orders Committee (NSOC), not once, but three times, prior to ADC, in an attempt to prevent the motion being debated, knowing that the instructions could not be implemented. Obviously, when meeting the NSOC, what they could not do was refer to any details of the rule 10 complaint, which meant that the NSOC were not persuaded to withdraw the motion.

Fran’s ‘crime’ was to try to protect all PCS members’ rights to confidentiality under the rule 10 process and to ensure that the rules of the union could not be breached.

Fran’s proud record on equality

Fran has a proud record on issues of equality, speaking at the TUC in 2022 and 2023, to make clear PCS policy on the issue of trans rights.

Both speeches have been praised across the movement for making clear the challenges around the issue, but also the progress that PCS is making.

She has been working with the various equality strands to develop pan-equality structures, chairing our first pan-equality seminar in January and encouraging more diversity amongst our reps to increase the grassroots strength of PCS.

She has been fighting discrimination and injustice, industrially, through collective bargaining, and striving for greater participation in the union’s democratic structures by members of all under-represented groups.

Has the issue been weaponised?

Yes. Both the moving and seconding branches have members who were clearly aware of the ongoing rule 10, the need for confidentiality and the NEC’s inability to reveal the detailed reasons for their position.

A further motion by the same branch was withdrawn by the NSOC after taking legal advice, stating that the carriage of such a motion could be in breach of a number of legal rights, leaving PCS open to legal challenge.

It is clear that during the nomination period for the General Secretary election, this issue has been once again highlighted, in particular by our opponents’ supporters in the HMRC group, in an effort to damage Fran’s candidacy.

It appears lost on those who seek to weaponise the issue, that not only have they prevented another PCS Proud member sitting on the TUC LGBT+ committee, but that it was only Fran’s waving of speakers in the guillotine section at conference, that enabled the motion to be debated at all.

The speed with which the message, sent to a closed WhatsApp group, was screenshot and shared, leaves little doubt of the intention.

The vast majority of Left Unity members, but clearly not all, have seen this for what it is.

We hope that this sheds further light on, and brings closure to, what has been a difficult, and much-misrepresented issue, and that any fair-minded assessment would conclude that Fran acted to try to protect the position of the affected individuals, and the union.

PCS LUNC

Fran’s speech in full

PCS supports the motion.

We think it’s very good motion which sets out positive action for supporting our trans and non-binary members.

The government’s blocking of the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill was outrageous.

And it has to be said that Keir Starmer’s instruction to Labour MPs to abstain on the Tory government’s use of the Scotland Act, allowed it to pass.

Reform of gender recognition processes is essential to remove barriers to our trans and non-binary comrades. The current restrictions on acquiring legal recognition cause unnecessary harm and suffering to trans and non-binary people, emotionally, physically and financially, and removing these barriers must be a priority.

The lengthy and invasive process of acquiring medical evidence to support a change in legal identity must be streamlined and simplified, and non-binary people must be given legal recognition.

The Tories present their actions to voters as prioritising women’s rights.

The idea that the Tories are defenders of women’s interests would be laughable if it wasn’t so shameful.

86 per cent of the impact of the UK Government’s austerity policies since 2010 have fallen on women; from the scandal of poverty pay in female-dominated sectors such as nursing and social care, to the drastic cuts in vital local services.

British women at work endure the highest childcare costs in Europe, while our pensions are among the lowest.

It’s true that sex and gender have become contentious issues. But we mustn’t let Tory politicians provoke more angry online discourse. We mustn’t allow them to prevent constructive conversations on trans rights.

At last years’ Congress I argued that to resolve tensions amongst our members and activists it’s essential that there is discussion and debate.

Women members of PCS are raising legitimate concerns over some issues. Others are raising concerns from an opposite, polarised position. The discussion of ideas, allowing people to explore their concerns and find ways of uniting, is a vital part of building wider support for trans rights.

I’m pleased to say this year that in PCS we are building that unity and discussion, making people feel safe to express themselves.

The next stage in our work will be to discuss and consult on a civil service gender identity policy and any changes to the Equality Act, so that we can build unity in our ranks on a campaign against the Tories’ exploitation of the issues.

They are the real enemy.

PCS supports the motion.

It has been a really busy few months for Left Unity members in HMRC group and the R&C Left Unity Steering Committee would like to start by thanking all our members for all the hard work that they have been doing across our branches and regions.

Unacceptable Pay Offer Rejected
Over the summer we were faced with a dismal pay offer from HMRC.

Whilst the offer was clearly constrained by Government’s central pay remit and did not meet our central demands of an inflation proofed increase, the way in which HMRC decided to distribute the money has made things even less equitable.

* HMRC’s distribution of the 4.5/5% fails to give all staff a fully consolidated and pensionable increase in pay of a minimum of the 4.5% by placing a cap of 2% on the max of our pay grades.

* There was no solution offered to progressing staff on the min through the pay scales for band O and above.

* The offer fails to ensure that our lowest paid members at AA and AO grades will be lifted to a salary point that will keep them above the expected increase in the National Living Wage past April 2024.

This is clearly unacceptable.

Left Unity members on the GEC have argued throughout that there are serious systemic issues with the HMRC pay system and that the only way that these can be fixed is through significant investment from central government of both money and resources in the department. The Left Unity led HMRC GEC voted unanimously to reject the offer and to launch a series of consultation meetings with members and branches to inform of why the GEC has rejected the offer and to gather members views on the way forward to the next stage of our campaign.

Consultation with HMRC members

Those meetings with members have been running over the last weeks and have not only been really well attended, engaging thousands of members, but the feedback from these meetings has been really positive.

What is clear from the feedback collated so far is that across our branches, members within the group agree that the offer was unacceptable. There is a very tangible anger amongst ordinary members and in our branches around the way that we are being treated and members are ready to get stuck into the next phase of the National Campaign.

Members have been clear at these meetings that they are ready and eager for further action and have been feeding up large numbers of suggestions around what sort of action will be effective and what areas they believe can be targeted.

There has also been feedback around the Non – Consolidated Cost of Living payment that has already been collated and submitted to HMRC, Cabinet Office and the NEC. This exposes a disturbing and shocking picture of the desperate levels of poverty that some of our members have faced as a result of the way that HMRC decided to implement this payment. Left Unity are clear that the battle on this is far from over and we are doing everything that we can to keep this issue live.

National Consultative Ballot

Another clear piece of feedback that has been raised in every meeting is around the National consultative ballot.

We are really pleased that the group did have above average engagement in the ballot with a group turnout of 54% of our members participating. Over 90% of those that did participate voted to continue the campaign. Getting above 50% in a consultative ballot that was run over the summer holiday period is no easy task and we believe that this again shows the lever of anger within our group as well as the high levels of engagement that have been achieved through the consistently hard work that LU members have put into organising and agitating on the ground.

There has been a lot of feedback that members found the ballot questions confusing that we must recognise, and we will of course be including that message in the submissions that we make to the NEC, however it is still a fact that over 90% of those that voted, voted yes.

It is true as has been raised during the meetings, that we do not know why the 10% of members who voted no did so. It could be that they did not agree with the pause in action and felt we should press on with the re-ballots required in groups, or it could indeed be that some of these voters did not agree that we should be continuing with any campaign at all, we simply do not know. What we do know for certain is that the out turn of the ballot does mirror the overwhelming view that has been expressed during the recent pay meetings, that members are angry and eager to continue the fight.

Our strategy as R&C Left Unity must now be to focus on continuing to build and organise in our branches to be ready for the next phase of the fight.


Ballot for Industrial Action in the Inland Pre Clearance-Hub

There are of course other areas outside of the National Pay Campaign that Left Unity members within our group have been working hard on. There are ongoing battles with HMRC in various areas from cross cutting issues such as HMRC’s approach to Hybrid Working through to more localised business area disputes.

One key local dispute is within the Inland Pre Clearance-Hub (IPC) in Milton Keynes where disagreement over working practices and remuneration is now coming to a head. The GEC team that has been leading this area of work, comprised of AGS John Smith and GEC member Megan Hamblin who have negotiating responsibility for the business area alongside AGS Marianne Owens and Lorna Merry from the Pay Negotiating Team have been working closely together to seek a resolution from HMRC in this dispute however it is now felt that in order to achieve an equitable and fair settlement for IPC members we must now move to ballot.

The ballot for industrial action in this area is due to begin in the coming week. We ask that all left unity members show their solidarity and support with this ballot by publicising the issue within their branches.

General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary Elections

As we are sure all Left Unity members are aware the Gen Sec & Assistant Gen Sec election period is now well underway and one immediate task in front of us as Left Unity is to ensure that all branches are arranging and holding Extraordinary General Meetings in good time to meet the nominations timeline.

Nominations close at 5pm on 16th October which means that to notify members of your branch’s EGM, notice will need to go out from branches by Friday 29th September.

We are asking all Left Unity Members to make sure this week that your branch has organised an EGM and that Left Unity members are nominating the Left Unity candidates, Fran Heathcote for Gen Sec and Paul O’Connor for Assistant Gen Sec.

We do believe that a Socialist Left Unity led union is the best vehicle to further the interests of PCS members, we face continued attacks from a vicious government and in order to protect our members we must be united, therefore it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that Left Unity are successful in these elections.

Recent Resignation from Left Unity

As the R&C Group Steering Committee we are saddened that there have been recent resignations from Left Unity by R&C members. We are led to believe that these have been caused by perceived issues within the wider LU sphere.

As a group we are regretful that these issues have not been resolved internally within LU or discussed with us as the Steering Committee. Our objective has always been to be democratic and open, encouraging debate and inspiring unity amongst our members and of course upholding socialist principles within the group.

While we may not agree with the reasons given for these resignations, as there are some serious inaccuracies in the detailed reasoning given in statements issued online by those who have resigned, we accept that individuals are free to make decisions based on their own perceptions. We would have welcomed discussion and debate to try to resolve these issues without getting to this stage and we are still of course, as always, open to any discussions in the future. We as the Steering Committee wish our ex- colleagues all the best moving forward in the future.

We will continue with our main objective of building a strong socialist Left Unity presence across R&C group, and the wider union. We believe that this is the best way to defend, protect and make advances for PCS members.

We would encourage any Left Unity members who have any concerns to speak to any member of the Steering Committee so that we can address any issues that our members may have.

The outcome of the members’ consultative ballot on the national campaign is a massive vote of confidence in the strategy set out by Left Unity members of the National Executive Committee (NEC). In a very decent 47% turnout, PCS members voted by 90.3% to 9.7% in favour of a YES vote to continue the campaign.



The concessions won from the government so far, as a result of members’ action, are significant, and put welcome money in members’ pockets, but they are not enough and the campaign continues. The ballot asked members to agree to a strategy including a pause in industrial action, entering pay talks in individual departments and with the government, and then assessing whether more action is needed when the talks conclude.



The NEC will meet this week and agree on the next stage of the campaign. At the start of the members’ consultative ballot, Fran and Paul issued a personal statement explaining why they were asking members to back their strategy. With a ringing endorsement from the membership, the union can now go into further negotiations with the government from a position of strength. Left Unity will not hesitate to organise more strike action if talks do not get results.



The call for nominations for the PCS General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary election has now been issued in branch briefing BB/75/23. Branches have until Monday 16 October to nominate.



Left Unity calls on all reps and branches to nominate Fran Heathcote for General Secretary and Paul O’Connor for Assistant General Secretary. If your branch has not already arranged an all members meeting to agree a nomination, you should call for one to be arranged. At that meeting we urge you to nominate Fran and Paul. A speaker’s brief is available that you can use to explain why Fran and Paul are the best candidates for the job.



If you need any more help or support contact – franhpcs@gmail.com