Public Services

From protecting our rivers to keeping us safe, Prospect members do vital work across a range of professions.

Prospect represents more than 32,000 members in our public services. They work in specialist, managerial and professional roles across more than 120 organisations.

Prospect members provide our public bodies with the expertise they need to carry out essential work in areas like food safety, ship design, health and safety inspection, prisoner rehabilitation, cyber security and animal health – the list is almost endless.

Like all public servants, our members take pride in their skills and independence from outside influence. But public services are currently under attack from government and staff have had 13 years of real-terms pay cuts. In addition, spending plans mean jobs are at risk, while those made redundant are facing worse terms.

Our members and how we help them

Prospect puts our members first. Our goal is to protect your interests, your working standards, and make workplaces fairer. Whether it’s a personal problem, such as a grievance or a health and safety matter, or a national issue like the annual pay rise or a redundancy agreement, Prospect’s Public Services Sector will negotiate directly with the employer on your behalf. Prospect members help to make the machinery of government work in many different ways – and places. As well as working for mainstream UK civil service departments and agencies, Prospect represents professionals employed in:

the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
the Channel Islands of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man
arms’ length functions of the UK government such as property taxation (Valuation Office Agency), industry regulation (Ofcom), and auditing. The latter has recently undergone major change. In November 2012, the government transferred around 700 auditors employed by the public sector Audit Commission to new private-sector employers and closed down the Commission’s Audit Practice.

Years of real-terms pay cuts for public services workers 13

How much more high-skilled private sector workers earn, on average 17%