‘Highland social work service in chaos’ claim

The Highland social work service is in chaos, according to the council’s opposition SNP group, which has condemned further radical plans for reform.

Details of the changes, which are part of budget-saving measures, will be put to members of the housing and social work committee at a meeting in Inverness tomorrow by officials facing the authority’s biggest departmental overspend this financial year.

While a previous savings target of £3.5million has been reduced to £3.16million, social work director Harriet Dempster will seek a £1million bailout from the council’s resources committee to help balance the books.

Councillors will be asked to agree to a “review” of day-care services for the elderly, “modernisation” of the council’s care at home service and “transformational change” in community care.

Reports to the committee cite day-care centres, for example, as costly and out of date in terms of their role, location and size.

Nairn SNP councillor Liz MacDonald predicted yesterday that the shake-up would result in service closures and “more upheaval and disruption for staff and clients”. She warned that “modernising” community care meant “centralising” services that required local control to accommodate differing needs.

Mrs MacDonald said: “I’ve never seen social work in such a dire condition. There’s no doubt the budget is in a dreadful position, but the actions they’re taking will not improve things at local level. They are centralising and withdrawing services. There seems to be a lot of disruption in home care as well, which will cost the council a lot of money.”

Committee members will be reminded by officials of an additional £3million investment in care at home this year and a pledge of an extra £1million next year.

The council claims “significant improvements have been possible”, and it foresees “fewer tiers of management” to save £340,000 to help achieve its savings target.

Housing and social work chairwoman Margaret Davidson acknowledged the proposals amounted to “a big change and a big shift of emphasis”, but insisted they were necessary to treat and help people in their own homes.

“We’re all aware that we can’t go on as we are,” she said. “There are many more older people, and we do need to change the services that we’re delivering.

“On care at home, we started modernising the service a couple of years ago, but we need to go another step further. We’re taking out a layer of management, which is what we feel we should be doing.”