Pledge from Cornerstone boss over finance struggle

Cornerstone chief Edel Harris promised last night to work with civil service and local government officials struggling with restricted budgets to provide services to people with learning disabilities.

The head of the north-east-based charitable business made the pledge at a reception at Westminster.

It was organised to launch a manifesto drafted by the Scottish Social Enterprise Commission intended to influence political parties in the run-up to the general election next year.

Mrs Harris said pressures on public spending are leading local authority “customers” to seek efficiency savings and rate reductions.

She said: “We understand the challenges faced by our colleagues in government and the civil servants struggling with their budgets and we will continue to work with them to identify any possible efficiencies, but always without compromising our standards.”

She made it clear control on quality of service must remain “firmly in the hands of the provider”.

Her comments follow yesterday’s Aberdeen City Council proposals to reduce spending by a further £25million, with almost 100 social work posts expected to be cut.

Mrs Harris said later her organisation’s approach “is to work with our local authority partners”, and added that she understood the pressures they face in terms of reductions in public spending.

The aim was to ensure the lives of those Cornerstone seeks to help are not too badly affected. She said she strongly supported the proposal in the manifesto that government should “take a lead and embed Community Benefit clauses in their own procurement programmes”.

Mrs Harris said she did not want an unfair advantage over other commercial providers.

But it would mean, for example, that when awarding contracts account should be taken of the fact that an organisation would provide work for unemployed young people or those with learning difficulties or that there would be a particular benefit for the local community.

She said there was provision now for such clauses, but it was little used.

She also supported a clause calling for changes in the rules for unemployment or disability benefits that would encourage individuals on benefit to work and potential employers to take them on. Existing rules could have a “punitive” effect, for example, if someone worked for more than a strictly limited number of hours.

The event was also attended by Donald Anderson, representing The Bread Maker, which operates a coffee shop and bakery at Rosemount Viaduct in Aberdeen and employs adults with learning disabilities, and supported by local Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs.