It seems James Gray MP (Letters, December 13) does not see the significance of the current series of strikes. The fact is all the groups organising strikes represent virtually all public services.

He suggests they are "politically motivated – designed to destabilise Government, and presumably to achieve a Labour one instead”. I find it difficult to believe the Royal College of Nursing is such an organisation; this is the first time in its 100 years history that it has called for such action. The fact is the problems that all these people face have been building up for a number of years – during which their pay has been restricted (and has not risen in line with pay in the private sector) and their conditions at work have deteriorated to the point that they feel they are not able to provide the sort of service the public should receive. He quotes “newly qualified nurses will typically earn over £31,000 a year including overtime and unsocial hours payments.” The official basic rate of pay of such a nurse (band 5) is £27,055.

In recent years, many of their most experienced workers have been leaving and it has proved difficult to recruit and retain staff. Why? Because the terms and conditions are unattractive.

I would remind him, and all other politicians, that one of the primary functions of Government is to provide public services – even though they may have devolved responsibility to arms-length companies or quangos. Many such services cannot be expected to make a profit; so they need to be subsidised from the public purse which consists of our money, raised through taxes.

So, it is the Government’s responsibility to negotiate, seriously, with these workers so that we can all enjoy proper, safe, public services.

Malcolm Morrison

Retired Surgeon

Prospect Hill

Old Town

Fireworks and dogs

The University of Salford and Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest canine charity which has a rehoming centre in Salisbury, are calling on dog owners and non-dog owners to be part of a ground-breaking study into how fireworks and loud noises affect dogs. The organisations have joined forces for the study, combining the university’s specialist knowledge in acoustics and the charity’s expertise in dog behaviour.

They are now calling on the public to help them gather data as people see in the New Year with fireworks.

The ground-breaking research will aim to provide an in-depth understanding of the relationship between dog behaviour and features of fireworks, as well as the methods that dog owners use to try to mask the sound of fireworks.

The results will give Dogs Trust’s canine behaviour experts valuable insight for guidance to dog owners, and inform its policy recommendations around fireworks use. Both dog owners and non-dog owners are invited to take part in the study by completing a complete a short survey, available 31 December 31 to January 8. Research is a vital part of Dogs Trust’s work.

It helps us make sure that the work we do and the advice we offer is based on evidence and can benefit and improve the welfare of dogs.

All our research is carefully designed to prevent any negative impact on dogs. Nearly half of dogs in the UK are estimated to be negatively affected by fireworks. To build on our expert advice to support owners on how to help their dogs cope with the noise of fireworks, we need to develop an in-depth understanding of different dog behaviours in response to hearing fireworks. This includes how different acoustic features of fireworks impact dogs. We hope to have many volunteers take part in this exciting study, which will benefit dogs by enabling us to generate evidence-based advice for owners on how best to help their four-legged friends cope with fireworks.” The charity has collaborated with the University of Salford on the acoustic elements of the research, which will also involve some dog owners recording the sound of fireworks. The researchers will then extract the acoustic features of the sound from the recordings to determine how sound characteristics affect dog behavioural responses, recorded by dog owners in the survey.

There is surprisingly little information or research into this area, so it is a study of vital importance. Dogs can get very distressed by fireworks so anything we can do to make the experience better for them, can only be a good thing.

There are indications that dogs may be sensitive to sounds that humans can’t hear, so we are interested to find out if it’s not just the loudness of the fireworks or their sound level, but other acoustic characteristics.

To take part or learn more about this ground-breaking project, visit the Dogs Trust at dogstrust.org.uk

Zoe Blackman

Dogs Trust

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