Council services for elderly and vulnerable ‘hanging by a thread’ – Unite

Meals on wheels, free fruit at school and social care services for the elderly were “hanging by a thread” as councils across the UK braced themselves for the heftiest cuts in a generation, the country’s biggest trade union warned today.

Unite said the elderly, children and poorer people were already feeling the pain of reduced local authority spending even before next month’s comprehensive spending review.

Workers employed in providing social services told the union job and budget cuts were already under way, leaving many essential services “stretched” so they will not withstand the 25% budget reductions expected next to be unveiled in October.

One worker claimed elderly meals on wheels users were being told to order a takeaway if they wanted a hot meal.

Workers wrote to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister reminding them of their election pledges that cuts would be “fair” and that the vulnerable would not pay the price for the financial crisis.

In the letter, the workers pointed to the “deterioration” in services already under way including:

    * East Ayrshire, where a three-year council tax freeze has been in place, social services support was said to be at risk as the jobs of 600 personal carers “hang in the balance”.
    * Glasgow, where the free fruit programme in primary schools was said to be at at risk. Breakfast clubs, fitness schemes and play schemes were also threatened, said Unite.
    * In Knowsley Borough Council, budget cuts mean the meals on wheels facility for the elderly has been privatised.
    * In Birmingham, Unite said it was unclear what provision there was for a hot evening meal. When a worker asked what hot meal provision there would be in the evening he was told by the contractor that the pensioners could phone a local take-away, claimed the union.
    * The youth career and support organisation Connexions has already been hit in areas including Birmingham.
    * In Bristol, plans to build council houses for the first time in a generation have been stalled and instead of 72 homes, now only 12 are in the very early stages of going ahead, said the report.

The workers’ letter said: “Service reductions of this nature are cruel in their impact on those in greatest need. Vulnerable people pay most heavily if they lose the services which are often the only thing standing between them and despair. As their service providers, we cannot stand by and permit this to happen.

“There is a better way. Nobody disputes that the deficit must be addressed but many expert economists agree that the best way to reduce the deficit is over a longer period.

“Cuts to vital services will increase inequality. Very possibly, we will have the grotesque situation in this country where those most in need are paying for a financial crisis not of their making.”