£10 million Social-Work Debt In Capital Is Damned By New Report

A FUNDING crisis in Scotland’s capital is hampering services for thousands of vulnerable people and damaging morale among staff, according to a new report.

The report, by the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA), says Edinburgh City Council needs to improve the care of people with learning disabilities, elderly people and vulnerable children. It says the authority faces “significant challenges” from massive budget cuts and radical changes to departments.

It highlights a number of problems, including low staff morale and unacceptable delays in assessing the needs of vulnerable people.

The children and families department is facing having to make major cuts after running up a £10 million overspend. But the SWIA report says the overspend failed to deliver much improvement in services in the first place.

“We were concerned that this investment had not been matched by significantly improved outcomes, and that this situation appeared not to have been challenged at the most senior officer and political level,” it says.

Paul Eadie, head of health and social care, said staff morale had improved since the inspection was carried out in September.