No chance of happy ending for Cinderella services

They have often been dubbed “Cinderella services”, neglected and denied the resources to properly flourish.

It may prove to be something of a misnomer, particularly in light of the deepest cuts to public spending in decades, as Cinderella, after all, went on to better and more prosperous things.

Scotland’s social care sector, however, shows no such promise and, with growing demand and ever-dwindling resources, pledges to protect frontline services and society’s most vulnerable are at best naively optimistic.

Last month Finance Secretary John Swinney announced £1.3 billion of cuts for the next financial year, with local government, which is responsible for most social care in Scotland, taking a hit of almost £300m.

With the budget for social work services now constituting approximately 30% of the total resources available to local authorities, making any inroads with unprecedented savings targets means cuts to the areas previously off-limits, especially as the pressure from care resources has a significant impact on council provision as a whole.

The crisis facing social care has been touched upon in the past 12 months but, with some predicting the squeeze on the public purse will last more than a decade, the surface, arguably, has barely been scratched.

In Glasgow, one-in-six members of staff in social work is to leave after being offered early retirement. Cordia, the largest of the city’s “arm’s-length” companies, which encompasses everything from school meals to home-help services, has been rocked by a series of disputes over the potential for hundreds of job losses.

In North Lanarkshire savings options for next year include reducing homecare support and cutting full-time equivalent posts by 140.

South Lanarkshire’s cuts include closing Larkhall’s social work office and ending warden cover at sheltered housing complexes.

East Dunbartonshire, one of Scotland’s wealthiest local authorities but with a sizeable elderly population, is planning an increase in home help charges for residents with mental health issues.

Edinburgh’s planned cuts will also hit healthcare, with up to two care homes and two day-care centres facing the axe.

In Aberdeen two care homes for the elderly could be closed, while a 2% rise in care-home charges and a £3m cut in discretionary payments to pensioners have been proposed.

Key to any reform is the merger of primary health and social care to avoid duplication.

Eight councils in the Clyde Valley, which collectively spend an annual £1.4bn on social work services, are planning to save millions annually by working in partnership with local NHS boards to provide services covering areas such as mental health, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and addictions.

A review of the public sector headed by former union leader Dr Campbell Christie has also referred to the need for a merger of primary health and social care services. But the omens are not that promising.

Glasgow has been advancing a pioneering model of just such a merger to save hundreds of millions of pounds for the best part of four years only to see it remain on the verge of collapse for the past six months, largely as a result of turf wars over budgets, cultures and accountability.

The Scottish Government has passed legislation to roll out “personalisation of care” plans for people with physical and learning disabilities to save millions of pounds nationally.

However, the signs from England and the reaction to Glasgow’s proposed roll-out are not promising, with care groups warning of intense pressure being put on vulnerable service users.

Even the security of legal protection for the statutory elements of local government services, such as community care and social work, is limited because the legislation is vague, with unions warning many could be tendered out to the private sector for a cheaper service.

In times of financial challenge local authorities are expected to prioritise services to people, such as social work, people at risk or vulnerable children and adults, often at the expense of investment in road or building maintenance.

However, last week Scotland’s largest public-sector union, Unison, issued a hands-off warning to the so-called Cinderella services.

In the context of the views of those running Scotland’s social work departments it seems that it is more than just jobs at stake.