Social Work Boss Makes Cash Plea

An urgent plea for cash was made this week by Fife’s social work boss following a year where his department struggled with shortfalls of nearly £15 million.

Every area of the Kingdom’s social work service — from child care, providing for people with learning disabilities and helping the aged — came in over budget, prompting a desperate call for change.

Department boss Stephen Moore said: “Fife Council needs to set us a budget which is realistically achievable.”

Social workers are feeling the pressures of the financial predicament which left the department £4.3 million in the red, despite savings of £11.3 million being made.

The principal explanation for the shortfall is a lack of money to tackle changing demands placed on the department.

There are now record numbers of children requiring residential care, people with learning disabilities living for longer and a greater number of vulnerable elderly people needing help across the Kingdom.

Mr Moore said: “The Government has said that social work services nationwide has to change. Everyone recognises the demands on us now are so great.”

The number of children in care across Fife is over 200 more than it was six years ago. This figure has steadily increased, putting a £5.3 million strain on social work services this year.

There were 425 children needing looked after in 2000, 598 in 2005 and 672 by November 2006.

Mr Moore attributes much of this to society’s ever growing battle with drugs and alcohol, whereby every seven days a baby is born in Fife to a drug-addicted mother, leaving many youngsters themselves addicts.

He said: “We frequently deal with children who have not even been born yet because their mothers are drug addicts. We have to know they are going to be safe. We really are a ‘womb to tomb’ service – that is for certain.”

Recruitment has been frozen until April and further measures – including reducing administrative expenditure, maximising grant funding and reviewing care packages – are in place to battle the cash flow crisis.

A working group has been formed to take forward further savings ideas from staff.

The boss insists that despite the cutbacks, front line services are not being affected.

He said: “There comes a point when you cannot be any more effective though.

“Staff are feeling the pressures of more cases coming through, but we are protecting front line workers.”

There is an ongoing commitment, he said, between the council and social work services to protect vulnerable people across Fife, yet he hoped the setting of the budget in April would prove beneficial for his team.