Tory lies about ‘fixing care’

 

Give Councils the power and the cash to ‘fix it for you!’

Over the last 11 years of Tory rule over the nation we have seen Care for those in greatest need slip into the doldrums.

Labour’s Angela Rainer, a former care worker herself has repeatedly asked the Government to stand by their promises and using the words of the ever spouting fountain of crap he learned from the disgraced Tory supporter Jimmy Saville, Boris Johnson’s constant ‘We will fix it’ has not materialised.

Councils who have massive experience of running care can fix the problem and due to the massive pressure on staff, care workers and local Councillors every day of their working lives they would love to do so.

Therefore how did the nation get into this position and how can it get out of it in order to help those who need help the most.

Since 2010 the Tory Government's ‘Austerity Cuts’ have removed £16Billion from the care element of Council funding leaving Councils to manage a service on 40% of their former budgets. Despite inflation over the last 11 years being extremely low the value of the real figure they now have to manage the service is 31% of where it sat on May 1st 2011.

Through these drastic mind boggling cuts most Councils had to abandon employing direct labour on the ‘Care Coal Face’ and farm out personal care to contractors who pay the minimum wage.

Councils have no control whatsoever over the business element or the pay levels used by Contractors even though most now have portfolio holders to look after business, their largest spend by far, care contracts are completely ignored through the lack of powers they have vested in them through the Local Government Acts. In Northumberland County Council’s case its Councillor Wojciech Ploszaj who is responsible for the Council's business interests. But not for its largest business, will they ever be able to deliver best value for residents whilst that is the case?

This leaves Care Workers exploited, undervalued and without a voice other than the Labour Party as many of these contractors do not allow Trade Union involvement in the workplace.

The turnover of staff in care work is massive through the need for Councils to accept the lowest tenders and the Contractors being pressured by their shareholders to make a profit from care on their behalves, leaving staff unable to pay their household bills and travel costs between clients.

So to this Government before rolling Austerity 2 out onto a now ‘suspecting it to happen public’ move forward and modernise the local government acts to give control over the health and safety and pay levels of the Contractors workforce to the Councils and refund those same Councils so that their largest business can be encompassed into Councils long term future funding plans and not left as the Cinderella in a home infested with rats as they have already ate the pumpkins and the mice!