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Date: 28 January 2006
UNISON members call on councils not to make damaging cuts in
social care
Members of Scotland's largest union in the Community and Voluntary
Sector will use their annual meeting today (Saturday 27 January)
to call on Scotland's Local Authorities to avoid making across the
board cuts in social care budgets.
Regional Organiser, Matt McLaughlin said, "UNISON members appreciate
that local councils are under financial pressure and that they are
having to set next years budgets in the next few weeks. However,
our members are becoming increasingly concerned that, rather than
review individual support packages, councils are simply going to
impose across the board cuts in funding. If this is the approach
that they take, service users will get a poorer service and may
be placed at risk. Staff who are already amongst the poorest paid
and hardest worked in Scotland will be further demoralised and sickness
and vacancy levels will increase further."
Matt added, "Our members are angry that once again the quality
of service that they deliver, training budgets, money for investment
in services, their terms and conditions and their wages are being
cut back so that councils can make efficiency targets."
There are approximately 120,000 Social Care Workers in Scotland.
Many work for as little as £6.00 per hour and work on average 48
hours per week. They provide care and support for people living
in their own homes who have a range of complex and challenging disabilities.
Commenting on the action that local councils should be taking.
Matt said, "Local councils should be looking to review service
provision on a case by case basis. If through this process they
determine in partnership with the service user and service provider
that efficiencies can be achieved then all parties should work to
ensure that this happens. By adopting this approach they will ensure
that quality does not suffer."
ENDS
For Further Information Please Contact: Matt McLaughlin
(Regional Organiser) 07904 341 979(m) Chris Bartter (Communications
Officer) 0771 558 3729(m)
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