ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the findings of qualitative research conducted by NatCen Social Research on behalf of the public services trade union UNISON. Selection was based on achieving diversity across a number of criteria, including their relationship to service use and provision, their UNISON membership, their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and age. The effects of austerity measures should also be seen within the context of a reported high level of demand for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) services. Older LGBT people told us that – like other people of working age – some of them were experiencing worsening pay and conditions, especially as services to LGBT people moved from the public to the voluntary sector and smaller charities received cuts in their public funding. The findings suggest that the needs of some LGBT people were being marginalised or being mainstreamed in broader service delivery models in circumstances where they were de-prioritised or not fully understood.
