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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

What to do about Haringey's social care crisis ?

Haringey Greens along with UNITE, UNISON, community groups representing disabled people and several left groups - plus quite a few people in Haringey's ruling Labour Party - are desperately seeking ways around the cuts which the Council says it is 'forced' to make in day centres and other social care services.  Haringey Greens want non-profit alternatives to privatised agency care, and for the Council to draw on its reserves to keep things going whilst full alternative plans are fleshed out in consultation with service users, their carers and the community. 

Come and tell the Council WE do care, even if they don’t:-
 
Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, Civic Centre – lobby, 5:30 pm on 5 November
Cabinet of Council at Civic Centre – lobby from 5:30 pm on 10 November
Council meeting – lobby from 6:30 pm on 23 November
 

It's time for the Labour Council to make a U-turn on its social care cuts following Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader with a mandate to preserve social welfare services. The Council moves to final decisions about its care cuts package at these three key meetings in November

 
Different models which put people before profit are coming before the Council’s three meetings this month. In place of commercial providers of care, these alternative proposals put forward a real co-operative partnership with people in Haringey including users, carers, voluntary and community groups. This would stop public money in most contracts going into private care agencies’ profits and provide a better basis for decent pay to care staff. But a real partnership with the community needs trust. The current cuts proposals could destroy any hope of that.
 
The Council wants to slash services to people in the borough who depend on day care and home care visits. This appalling attack on basic welfare could be avoided. The Council has millions of pounds in its reserves and could use them.
 
But if the Council’s proposals go ahead, services for very vulnerable people will be decimated. Those affected are adults with learning disabilities and their hard-pressed carers [who will lose three day centres], frail older people [who will lose their day centre] and those with dementia [where the Tottenham centre is to be ‘merged’ with that in Hornsey] as well as others with physical disabilities who want to avoid living in residential care.
 
This comes on top of an already serious care crisis. Government imposed cuts in finance have already taken millions of pounds out of essential social services with several day centres previously closed. Home care visits have already been reduced to 15 minutes and rationed to those with very high needs. They are provided by commercial firms paying well below a Living Wage to staff on zero hours contracts. The Council should support Unison’s Ethical Care Charter.
 
Children’s services have still to recover from the Victoria Climbie and Baby Peter crises, and the recent Safeguarding report shows there is a long way to go. Yet about one in four social work posts will be removed. More children’s centres are now scheduled to close down. This will particularly hit homeless families in temporary accommodation, whose children are living in stressful circumstances.
 
Haringey has already had the scandal of Sevacare, a private care agency shown to be woefully inadequate by inspectors. We need alternatives to the Council’s plans to put more and more services out to contract.
 

Tags for Forum Posts: adult social care

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Permalink Reply by Joanna Bornat on November 6, 2015 at 15:45

 There's more information on the Haringey 38 degrees website http://38degreesharingey.org where there's a draft letter to be used if you want to contact local councillors, MPs anyone you think might be able to put pressure on Haringey Council to stop these cuts or and find more imaginative, inventive and less punitive ways to get round them without penalising people in the borough who are most at risk.

And of course central government should not be allowed to use councils like Haringey to carry out their austerity policies. Consider the scandal that Haringey gets only £816 for every resident over 75, as an outer London borough, whereas inner London boroughs get more than twice that at £1957. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Gray on November 7, 2015 at 12:51

  According to readings of the accounts done for the anti-cuts protest in February, they then had almost £96 million. (See a href="http://www.hapsnews.net/protests-against-council-cuts-feb-2015/" target="_blank">http://www.hapsnews.net/protests-against-council-cuts-feb-2015/ >) However what is it for ?  According to a href="https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/council_and_social_care_financia_32" target="_blank">https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/council_and_social_care_fina... > there was NOTHING to spare after all the earmarked reserves had been taken out, indeed they had a shortfall of 3/4 of a million. However I am not sure this is credible and anyway much of the earmarked reserve will be for redundancy pay of entitled staff being laid off. To not have the 'savings' from closing the day centres (and home for 4 severely learning-disabled people) which they plan to cut, they would need to spend £1.656mn p.a. Of this £590,000 relates to day care for older people suffering from dementia and other disabilities and the rest to facilities for people with autism or learning disabilities. But the 'saving' can't include a proper costing of alternative provision since they haven't told the users or their families what that will be - one of the main complaints. So the 'saving' could be a lot less than they plan. 

Permalink Reply by Rod Wells on November 8, 2015 at 23:37

Absolutely agree with Anne ,Its a disgrace what a so called Labour Council is doing by cutting day centres and cutting the much needed  care to vulnerable adults and children of our Borough

Theres 2 things yo can do -

Write to the Cabinet Members and tell them to think again. Theses template letter on Haringey 38 Degrees website http://38degreesharingey.org/letter-templates/

and come to the Lobby of Cabinet meeting, Tuesday 10th November 2015, Assemble at Haringey Civic Centre at 5.30pm
 Council services for children and vulnerable adults face being cut or privatised, which will have a devastating effect on both service users and their carers.
 Come along and show councillors that we will not allow our public services to be attacked
 All those opposed to cuts in public services are welcome .
SCAH (Social Care Alliance Haringey),  and  SASH (Save Autism Services in Haringey) amongst others will present deputations to Cabinet
Join 38 Degrees Haringey /Unison/UNITE community members

Rod Wells

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