Swan Edinburgh (Support Workers Action Network)

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER – WHY SOCIAL CARE WORKERS SHOULD SUPPORT THE PCS STRIKE

2011-06-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 30^th June education, public sector and civil service workers from four unions will go on strike over pensions and service cuts.

In Edinburgh the workers at the forefront of this strike are Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) members working in job centres and government departments. The PCS have made it clear that as well as taking this action to defend attacks on already meagre pensions they are also striking “for the alternative to the Con-Dem government's savage cuts in public services and jobs”.

This aligns Thursday’s strike action firmly with the interests of social care workers, service users and their parents and carers. Social care services are being hit hard by the government and local authorities’ cost cutting and privatisation drive subjecting some of our society’s most vulnerable people to sub standard care and in some cases, neglect.

In Edinburgh workers, service users and campaign groups successfully fought off attempts by the Council to sell off vital care and support services to poor quality, low cost companies with questionable track records. Since then however the existing providers of these services have been forced to absorb substantial cuts in funding that are beginning to impact on the quality of care they provide. Support workers are being cut back and the use of low cost, unqualified causal staff increased leading to vulnerable people with severe disabilities receiving a poorer quality of service from staff they don’t know. Pay and conditions of the care and support workers that perform arguably one of the most important roles in our society are being cut back. Union representatives at an Edinburgh provider of services for people with learning disabilities recently calculated that in 5 years their wages have lost 10% of their value. This is not an exception – in many other organisations without worker representation the situation is worse.

This is against the backdrop of recent high profile revelations about low cost, private care companies such as the neglect suffered by elderly residents of the Elsie Inglis home here in Edinburgh or Southern Cross Healthcare, the company that put the care of thousands of service users at risk by selling its care home properties for private profit.

As we suffer the double pain of falling income and poorer services so do the people we support.While cutbacks endanger the support services used by adults with mental health problems and physical or learning disabilities their income is also being threatened as the Government seeks to cut 20% of the benefits they receive. The scrapping of Disability Living Allowance and allowing private contractors, rather than medical specialists, to assess claimants’ eligibility for its replacement further demonstrates the Government’s intent to make the most vulnerable in society pay for the excesses of bankers and politicians.

This point brings us back to the PCS workers taking part in Thursday’s strike. Although these workers are walking out over attacks on their jobs, pensions, pay and conditions they are also taking a stand for disabled people on the benefits they administer and for all of us suffering the pain of service and job cuts. The PCS articulate very well that the Government’s excuses for cuts and privatisation are not justified. Businesses and wealthy individuals evade or avoid £100 billion in tax every year and the UK Government holds £850 billion in bailed out banking assets – more than the total national debt.

On Thursday workers from the PCS union UK wide and the education unions in England and Wales will strike the biggest blow so far in the fight against the worst attack on the welfare state since its creation. It is essential that workers everywhere stand beside them but especially social care staff, service users and their parents and carers. We stand to lose as much as anyone.

See below for full details of Edinburgh picket lines and rallies that you can join on the 30^th.

Danny Oliver

Edinburgh Support Workers’ Action Network (SWAN)

www.swanedinburgh.org.uk
Edinburgh Support Workers' Action Network (SWAN) is a network of care and support workers set up to fight the budget cuts and competitive tendering being imposed by Edinburgh Council which threaten our jobs and our service-users' quality of care.

PCS Picket Lines – 6.45 - 10.15am - Thursday 30^th June 2011

Victoria Quay (Leith)

St Andrews House (Regents Road)

Registers of Scotland (Meadowbank)

Saughton House

Student Awards Agency (Gyleview)

Forestry Commission (Corstorphine)

High Riggs Job Centre (Tollcross)

HMRC (Revenue): Haymarket House

National Museum of Scotland (Chambers St)

Sheriff Court (Chambers St)

PCS Rally at the Mound 10.15am - Thursday 30^th June 2011

Edinburgh TUC Rally at the Mound 5.30pm - Thursday 30^th June 2011

Edinburgh Support Workers’ Action Network - Press Release 1st Feb 2010

2010-02-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

CONTROVERSIAL CARE AND SUPPORT TENDER COLLAPSES

Campaign groups call for resignations over ‘shambolic’ process and vow to continue fight for fair funding for people with disabilities

The tender process for care and support services which has drawn heavy criticism from campaign groups, service users and their families and carers was finally dropped today.

The process, which would have seen the transfer of vital services for 800 people with physical disabilities, mental health conditions and learning disabilities transferred to new, cheaper providers, was suspended in December pending an independent evaluation.

Council Chief Executive Tom Aitchison today concluded that the findings of the report left the Council with no other choice but to drop the whole tender process.

The report, which is being kept confidential, found that that the process was not sufficiently “meticulous” as well as casting doubts over the “quality assurance process”.

The collapse of the tender has led to campaign groups and opposition councillors calling for resignation of Paul Edie, the City’s health and social care convener, who has faced complaints for his behaviour towards service-users and campaigners during the process.

Danny Oliver, a member of Edinburgh Support Workers’ Action Network (SWAN) said

“We have been saying this process was flawed all along. This has now been verified by an independent evaluation but were it not for the tireless campaigning of service-users and care workers the tender would have been pushed through months ago. Paul Edie described the process as “robust” as recently as December. Now the Council has spent £80k of taxpayers’ money on this independent report. £80k could provide a 10 hour support package for 10 vulnerable people for a whole year and yet it has been wasted on discovering that Paul Edie’s process was not as ‘robust’ as he has been telling us”. *

Unelected Council officials, who earn over £100k, have also come in for criticism for overseeing the process and making recommendations which are now seen as discredited. Jessica Mackin, also a member of SWAN told us

“This entire shambles has caused huge amounts of stress for the people we care for which we’ve had to support them with despite facing uncertainty over the future of our own jobs. We think that it’s time for Paul Edie to seriously consider his position as health and social care convener and the unelected, overpaid Directors behind this process; Mark Turley, Peter Gabbitas and Donald McGougan should also be brought to account for their actions”.

Whilst they are celebrating this victory campaign groups say their fight is not yet over. The Council still intends to use Direct Payment rates based on the flawed tender process to reduce funding to services. With continued protests and legal challenges promised this is proving to be an issue that will not go away for the City of Edinburgh Council..

* Based on proposed new Direct Payment rate of £15.04 per hour

www.swanedinburgh.org.uk

Edinburgh Support Workers' Action Network (SWAN) is a network of care and support workers set up to fight the budget cuts and competitive tendering being imposed by Edinburgh Council which threaten our jobs and our service-users' quality of care.

CARE TENDER WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED AT FINANCE MEETING ON THE 21ST JAN

2010-01-19T07:36:00.001-08:00

See latest update from Council Chief Exec below;

Dear Councillor

CARE AND SUPPORT TENDERS

At the meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee on 3 December 2009, the Convener deferred consideration of the circulated report on Care and Support Services until an independent evaluation had been undertaken and therefore adjourned the meeting in terms of Standing Orders 17(2) and 51, to reconvene at 10.00 am on 21 January 2010.

I am currently awaiting a copy of the independent evaluation by Deloitte which has just been received by the Council. Thereafter, the findings will require to be considered in order that recommendations can be made to Committee/Council in the light of this evaluation. It will not be possible to do so by 21 January 2010. The adjourned meeting will, however, still require to convene at 10.00 am in accordance with Standing Orders.

Every effort will be made to report to the Finance and Resources Committee or Council as soon as possible. Given the importance of this matter, I thought it appropriate to advise all members of the Council of the position.

Best wishes.

Tom

Tom Aitchison

Chief Executive

The City of Edinburgh Council

Waverley Court

4 East Market Street

EDINBURGH

EH8 8BG

THE REALITY BEHIND LOW COST CARE COMPANIES CONTRACTED BY EDINBURGH COUNCIL

2009-12-30T06:21:00.001-08:00

Support Workers' Action Network - Press Release 15th Dec 2009

"Wages are low, training is poor and there is a high turnover of staff who are so rushed they are unable to provide good quality care"

This is the reality behind the City of Edinburgh Council's use of low cost, private care companies according to campaign groups that have been documenting the standard of privatised care services.
The policy of opening up care and support services for vulnerable disabled people to the private sector through competitive tendering was thrown into the spotlight two weeks ago when the Lib Dem / SNP administration's plan to put the services for nearly 800 people out to tender collapsed. This tender process is now being investigated by way of an 'external evaluation' process which is due to report back in late January.
Key to the argument put forward by Lib Dem Health and Social Care Convener, Paul Edie, was the assertion that current providers are too expensive and that the tender process established "tested market rates" some as low as £12.65 an hour.
Itay Idan, spokesperson for the Support Workers' Action Network (SWAN Edinburgh) pointed out that

"the companies that the Council intended to award contracts of £12.65 an hour to pay their support workers less than half that amount - little over minimum wage".

Despite this Cllr Edie has consistently argued that there are 17 care providers in Edinburgh currently providing quality services for even less that £12.65 per hour.
This claim has been thrown into question after SWAN Edinburgh - a group campaigning against the current tender process - went to seek information from the Edinburgh Homecare Campaign - a group that has been documenting the effects of tendering homecare services to private companies for over two years. Danny Oliver, a support worker from SWAN, told us

"Paul Edie claims that good quality services can and are being provided by companies for less than £12.65 an hour. When we put this to Marlyn from Edinburgh Homecare Campaign she showed us pages and pages of individual cases showing that these low cost private companies are letting down their service-users".

Marlyn Tweedie, of the Homecare Campaign continues

"We are alarmed at the increasing use of the private sector in the care of our elderly and disabled citizens.

The care may be cheaper but the quality is sacrificed.

We do not blame the frontline staff. They have an impossible task. Visits are piled on, staff are so rushed they're unable to provide good quality care.

Wages are low, training is poor and there is a high turnover of staff.

As the Panorama programme "Britain's Homecare Scandal" said it is "wilful shambolism"

Councillors need to ask themselves why they have contracted out care to companies which were heavily criticised in that programme.

Companies such as Carewatch who recently told their staff they would have to take a wage cut and who allowed the undercover reporter to work 14 shifts before her clearance came through.

We have consistently learned of service-users whose care has been poor - visits missed, frequently late, staff not knowing what the tasks are etc".

Mr.Oliver of SWAN Edinburgh stated;

"We have been shown individual testimony including an 89 year old man who went without being washed for 3 weeks and a 90 year old woman with dementia who was frequently left sitting in her chair all night when staff failed to turn up. These examples are not exceptions. There are many, many more. This is the kind of care Paul Edie is so keen to roll out to people with learning disabilities, mental health problems and physical disabilities.
It is time that people look at what has been done to care of the elderly in this city and what Cllr Edie is trying to do to other care and support services and we believe it is time for Cllr Edie to reconsider his position in the light of this appalling track record".

At the full Council meeting this Thursday there will be both protests outside and deputations within the meeting calling for a halt to funding cuts and the privatisation of services.

LATEST UPDATE FROM COUNCIL CHIEF EXECUTIVE 13TH DECEMBER

2009-12-30T06:11:00.001-08:00

Here are some points worth noting (full briefing below);

1) It appears that the Council is questioning whether or not to proceed with the tendering process at all; "There is a substantial increase in the number of direct payment applications. A decision will need to be taken in due course as to the commerciality of proceeding, bearing in mind the changed circumstances".

2) The independent evaluation will be arranged through 'Deloitte'. From their website;

"Deloitte" is the brand under which tens of thousands of dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services to selected clients. These firms are members of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (‘DTT’), a Swiss Verein. Each member firm provides services in a particular geographic area and is subject to the laws and professional regulations of the particular country or countries in which it operates. DTT helps coordinate the activities of the member firms but does not itself provide services to clients. DTT and the member firms are separate and distinct legal entities, which cannot obligate the other entities"

3) The evaluation will include 3 other contracts expected to be submitted to the Finance and Resources Committee meeting on the 21st Jan. These are described as "care and support for Lochend Housing, a homelessness housing support service and maintaining a home visiting support service".
See more info on two of these tenders by clicking on links below;
http://www.tendersdirect.co.uk/ourservice/TenderView.aspx?ID=%20000000002603137

http://www.tendersdirect.co.uk/Ourservice/TenderView.aspx?ID=%20000000002569719

4) It appears that the date of 21st Jan for the evaluation to report back is not defidefinite> "The aim is to be able to report to the Finance and Resources Committee on 21 January but it is not possible to confirm this at this stage"

Full briefing;

MEMBERS BRIEFING 147 - 15th December

Contracts for the provision of Care and Support Services

The previous update on the above was provided to members in Briefing 143 on 3 December. It advised of the deferment of a decision on the Council’s tender for Care and Support to allow for an independent evaluation of the tenders.

This brief is intended to provide you with a further update on activity to date and address some concerns which have been raised by members.

Why was the decision on the Care and Support Tender deferred?

New information emerged on Tuesday
1 December, prior to the special Finance and Resources Committee on 3 December which caused officers to review the prospect of legal challenge.

An enquiry had been raised asking whether or not there had been complete separation between price and quality. To ensure that the process was robust, further time was required in order to investigate this. As a result and upon the Leader’s instructions, an independent evaluation of the process has been instructed.

Given the proximity of the special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee on 3 December, and after consulting with senior officers and legal counsel, my advice to the Council Leader on Wednesday 2 December was to adjourn the special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee to allow further consideration of a number of issues.

This advice was accepted by the Council Leader who immediately instructed me to obtain an independent evaluation of the tenders.

As members had been advised, tenders were open for acceptance until 5 December 2009. However, for the reasons outlined above, it was felt better to delay the award of contract, and judging the balance of risk, it was clear that the risk of proceeding with the award outweighed that of delaying a decision beyond the tender acceptance dates.

The Director of Finance is writing to all tenderers asking them to keep open their tender submission for an extended period. It is important to recognise that we cannot legally require tenderers to do this.

Communications with service users

On the afternoon of 3 December the Director of Services for Communities contacted the User Group Representatives advising them that the Committee had been adjourned. Letters to service users and to relatives and carers of service users were issued on 4 December which:

· informed them of the deferment of the decision on the award of contract
· advised them of the continuity of their current service provider and
· provided a contact number for enquiries.

Copies of these letters are attached.

Previously, an assurance had been given that all applications for direct payments received by 3 December would be excluded from any contracts pending their assessment. This approach had been recommended to provide a period of stability to allow the transition to new contracts. Since the contract award has been deferred, the Departments of Health and Social Care and Services for Communities have continued to accept and process direct payment applications.

Since 19 November 466 clients have requested a direct payment. 26 applications have been processed in addition to 69 previously processed.

There is a substantial increase in the number of direct payment applications. A decision will need to be taken in due course as to the commerciality of proceeding, bearing in mind the changed circumstances.

What are we doing now?

Utilising the Council’s procurement framework agreement, I expect to appoint Deloitte in the next 24 hours to undertake an independent evaluation of the tender process.

Their remit is to carry out two stages of work:

a) the first stage is to carry out an initial
assessment of the process undertaken; and

b) the second subsequent stage is to assess
the consistency of the approach and the
outcome obtained.

Three other contracts are currently scheduled to be submitted to Finance and Resources Committee in January. These are for:

· care and support for Lochend Housing
· a homelessness housing support service and
· maintaining a home visiting support service.

I intend to ask Deloitte to review these as part of their remit.

The consultants have been asked to report as soon as possible, while ensuring that the remit is thoroughly discharged. With the holiday period imminent, this will mean that the bulk of the work will take place in January. The aim is to be able to report to the Finance and Resources Committee on 21 January but it is not possible to confirm this at this stage.

A number of letters, seeking additional information, have been received from elected members and others. These will be responded to as soon as practicable but it will not be possible to deal with substantive issues until the consultants’ assignment is completed.

A further Members’ Briefing will be issued as soon as is possible.

Tom Aitchison
Chief Executive

Member's Briefing 15th December

2009-12-30T06:10:00.001-08:00

MEMBERS BRIEFING 147 - 15th December

Contracts for the provision of Care and Support Services

The previous update on the above was provided to members in Briefing 143 on 3 December. It advised of the deferment of a decision on the Council’s tender for Care and Support to allow for an independent evaluation of the tenders.

This brief is intended to provide you with a further update on activity to date and address some concerns which have been raised by members.

Why was the decision on the Care and Support Tender deferred?

New information emerged on Tuesday
1 December, prior to the special Finance and Resources Committee on 3 December which caused officers to review the prospect of legal challenge.

An enquiry had been raised asking whether or not there had been complete separation between price and quality. To ensure that the process was robust, further time was required in order to investigate this. As a result and upon the Leader’s instructions, an independent evaluation of the process has been instructed.

Given the proximity of the special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee on 3 December, and after consulting with senior officers and legal counsel, my advice to the Council Leader on Wednesday 2 December was to adjourn the special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee to allow further consideration of a number of issues.

This advice was accepted by the Council Leader who immediately instructed me to obtain an independent evaluation of the tenders.

As members had been advised, tenders were open for acceptance until 5 December 2009. However, for the reasons outlined above, it was felt better to delay the award of contract, and judging the balance of risk, it was clear that the risk of proceeding with the award outweighed that of delaying a decision beyond the tender acceptance dates.

The Director of Finance is writing to all tenderers asking them to keep open their tender submission for an extended period. It is important to recognise that we cannot legally require tenderers to do this.

Communications with service users

On the afternoon of 3 December the Director of Services for Communities contacted the User Group Representatives advising them that the Committee had been adjourned. Letters to service users and to relatives and carers of service users were issued on 4 December which:

· informed them of the deferment of the decision on the award of contract
· advised them of the continuity of their current service provider and
· provided a contact number for enquiries.

Copies of these letters are attached.

Previously, an assurance had been given that all applications for direct payments received by 3 December would be excluded from any contracts pending their assessment. This approach had been recommended to provide a period of stability to allow the transition to new contracts. Since the contract award has been deferred, the Departments of Health and Social Care and Services for Communities have continued to accept and process direct payment applications.

Since 19 November 466 clients have requested a direct payment. 26 applications have been processed in addition to 69 previously processed.

There is a substantial increase in the number of direct payment applications. A decision will need to be taken in due course as to the commerciality of proceeding, bearing in mind the changed circumstances.

What are we doing now?

Utilising the Council’s procurement framework agreement, I expect to appoint Deloitte in the next 24 hours to undertake an independent evaluation of the tender process.

Their remit is to carry out two stages of work:

a) the first stage is to carry out an initial
assessment of the process undertaken; and

b) the second subsequent stage is to assess
the consistency of the approach and the
outcome obtained.

Three other contracts are currently scheduled to be submitted to Finance and Resources Committee in January. These are for:

· care and support for Lochend Housing
· a homelessness housing support service and
· maintaining a home visiting support service.

I intend to ask Deloitte to review these as part of their remit.

The consultants have been asked to report as soon as possible, while ensuring that the remit is thoroughly discharged. With the holiday period imminent, this will mean that the bulk of the work will take place in January. The aim is to be able to report to the Finance and Resources Committee on 21 January but it is not possible to confirm this at this stage.

A number of letters, seeking additional information, have been received from elected members and others. These will be responded to as soon as practicable but it will not be possible to deal with substantive issues until the consultants’ assignment is completed.

A further Members’ Briefing will be issued as soon as is possible.

Tom Aitchison
Chief Executive

Swan Edinburgh Meeting 7/12/09

2009-12-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Present: Support Workers from : Action Group , Garvald, Deaf Action, Richmond Fellowship and Freespace.

Update: There will be an external evaluation of the tendering. In theory the finding will be presented to the finance committee on 21st Jan . Jude will try to find out what is the remit of the review. Andy will contact Maggie Chapman to find out more details.

Meeting with Councilors: We will keep up the pressure on the council and continue our campaign by organising support workers from different organisations (2-3 people for a meeting) to meet councilors. Danny will coordinate.

Press release: People expressed their disappointment that Cllr Norman Work’s letter was not published in the media. As well as the Evening News and the Scotsman that already being given the press release Herald Post and the Big Issue and Councilors will be also notified.

‘Fair wage and conditions for care workers’ Petition: So far we have more than 400 signatures (online and paper). Danny will check with Iain McGill about presenting it to the petition committee in the Scottish Parliament.
Contact with other campaign groups: Marlyn from the Homecare group called to say that everyone at their campaign is encouraged and motivated by the success of the campaign against tendering. We at Swan can learn from the way they use individual cases to argue their point of view.
*Parents and Carers Group at Garvald was interested in coming to our meetings. Jude will link with Lesley from that group to find out how it is organised and what is discussed. We hope to find volunteers to go to each of the above mentioned groups’ meetings.

Union Membership: The Union has not being helpful in the tendering campaign and the refuse workers dispute. However, some people think that if we will have a strong membership we can make the union work for us. That will require a greater involvement and participation. Further discussion is needed. Meanwhile some organisations have already started to extend Union’s membership. We will try to build this within our own organisations.

Independent Impact Assessment: Suggested by Martine to evaluate the impact of the tendering. Mary will check with Martine how far she is with the assessment and what help she needs.

Legal Advice: We will need advice about the legality of Direct payment cuts, limited choice for service users and people right to refuse entry to their home (human rights legislation). Jude will find out where we may get advice and will contact the law faculty at Edinburgh University to see if anyone wants to help us with legal issues.
Internet Site: We would like to make it more accessible. Danny and Elli will coordinate with Ben and Hesham.

*Next Meeting: in Slateford Green Community hall 7:30 pm next Monday 14th

Letter from cllr Andrew burns to Cheif exec of the finance & Resources Commitee

2009-12-03T05:42:00.000-08:00

Today at 12:03pm
Hello

By way of further update - following this morning's meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee - please see the e-mail below which I have just sent to the Chief Executive of the Council.

Please do feel free to forward this, and the earlier update sent last night, to any others who you know have an interest in the current tendering process.

And, if you have any queries, don't hesitate to get in touch with either myself or Lesley Hinds ... many thanks.

Andrew
____________

Andrew Burns

Labour Councillor for Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart Ward

Leader, Labour Group, City of Edinburgh Council

Tel: 0131 529 3287 (w) or: 07880 502 212 (m)

From: Andrew Burns
Sent: 03 December 2009 11:10
To: Tom Aitchison
Cc: Phil Wheeler; Mark Turley
Subject: Care and Support Services tender
Importance: High

Tom

Firstly, can I say thanks for the efforts you've personally made to keep the Opposition Groups informed of events over the last few days ... its been appreciated.

I do though have to complain to you, as Chief Executive, in the strongest terms at the way this morning's Finance and Resources Committee meeting was handled.

Councillor Wheeler simply read out a pre-prepared statement (which is fair enough) and then refused to take any questions and all Officers and Administration politicians present simply walked out of the room.

We have three very serious concerns that now remain totally unanswered:
no one knows if the previously communicated deadline of 3rd December (today!) for Direct Payment applications still stands and/or if Direct Payment applications will now be accepted up until the 21st January - or any date in between? In addition, there was no discussion at all about how any of this is now to be communicated to clients and carers - it would have been helpful to have at least been reassured about what communications plans are now in place, and to have been informed about the potential scope of any investigation?
we were told by Officers, in totally unequivocal terms, at the 19th November Council meeting (and at several others meetings, including recent User-Group meetings) that the contracts HAD to be awarded by the 4th December (under the 240-day rule from the original contract documentation) ... nobody knows if this has now been extended via negotiation with the successful tenderers and/or if another arrangement has been arrived at? In addition to this important query - how can we now have confidence in legal advice we are given at Council meetings by Officers?
finally, we have additional serious concerns about previous tendering processes (specifically for Homelessness Services) conducted by this Administration and do feel, in the light of what has happened with the Care and Support services tender, that the investigation which is about to take place should look at some of these issues ... we were given no chance to raise this important point? It is worth remembering that this current tender would have been awarded on the 27th October, and thereafter again on the 19th November, if Opposition Groups (and the public) hadn't maintained a vigorous questioning of the processes being followed.
But in many ways, worse than us - as Opposition politicians - not knowing the answers to these points - neither do the hundreds of clients and carers affected by this whole saga. Many of them were present this morning and I can only assure you they were appalled at the inability of anyone to query Officers on the points above.

Tom - today's meeting only happened because of Opposition and public disquiet over these issues. Today's meeting only happened as a result of an Amendment (now an Act of Council) moved by Councillor Hinds and seconded by Councillor Chapman. I feel very strongly that over the coming weeks much more Officer attention should be paid to those who have led the Council on this, and who have the majority support of the Council behind them.

I look forward to your response to these points.

Andrew

The tender process has been postponed to allow independent evaluation

2009-12-03T01:01:00.000-08:00

In a surprise last minute decision, the Chief Executive of Edinburgh Council has intervened to suspend the tendering process for care and support services. The report that was to be submitted to tomorrow morning's Finance and Resources Committee meeting will now be withdrawn from the agenda. An independent investigation is being launched into the whole process, which will report back to the Council next year. The special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee will still go ahead tomorrow, but it will simply last a few minutes and the Convener will announce the intention to postpone award of contracts pending an independent investigation.
This significant victory is largely due to the pressure put on the Council from all those involved in the campaign against the whole tendering process.
Well done!
SWAN believes that the positions of those who tried to push this through are now untenable. We suggest that you contact both the LibDem / SNP administration and local media (principally the Evening News) to call for the resignation of Paul Edie, Norman Work, Mark Turley and Peter Gabbitas now that the policy of cutting finance to, and the selling off, of care and support services that they engineered has been discredited.
We will be attending the Finance meeting tomorrow and it would be great to see you there to celebrate with us!
Statement from Council Leader Jenny Dawe copied below.
Thanks
SWAN Edinburgh

FINAL DRAFT OF CEC NEWS RELEASE

from Chief Executive's Office

The following is a statement from City of Edinburgh Council Leader Jenny Dawe.

She said: “I recognise the importance of the Care and Support Services Tender to vulnerable people in the city and have insisted that all aspects of the tendering process must be robust. I have been in regular touch with senior council officials on this and have just been advised that there remain a number of outstanding issues surrounding the Care and Support Services Tender. As a result, I have instructed the Chief Executive to have the tenders independently evaluated.

“The specially convened Finance and Resources Committee will meet tomorrow when the Convener intends to adjourn the meeting to allow officers to provide an updated report in January.

“On behalf of the Administration, I would like to reassure service users there will be no interruption to their current care and support arrangements, pending a decision in January. Direct Payment applications will continue to be processed as previously agreed.

“We are determined to ensure the integrity of the tender process and believe an independent evaluation is the best way to achieve this.”

Update 1.12.09

2009-12-02T05:18:00.000-08:00

Sign Petition

Petition to persuade the council to set Direct Payments at a rate that allows support workers to receive a reasonable , living wage and that takes account of the skilled and specialized nature of their work. This is essential to keep skilled experienced teams capable of providing quality care
Please sign before Thursday 3rd.

http://www.gopetition.com/online/32369.html

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICE IN EDINBURGH

Lobby the Council 9.30am Thursday 3rd December 2009 City Chambers , High Street

This Thursday service-users , their families , care and support staff , campaign groups and their supporters will be attending a specially convened meeting of the Finance committee in a last ditch attempt to save their vital services from being handed over to low cost private companies.

The LibDem / SNP administration is attempting to force through cuts of up to 40% on some people’s care packages despite massive opposition.

99% of service-users threatened by the cuts were never consulted and the potential impact on vulnerable individuals with complex needs was never assessed.

The funding cuts will see much of the care of people with learning disabilities , physical disabilities and mental health problems transferred from well established , specialised voluntary sector organisation to low cost , private companies with questionable track records with devastating results as has been seen in care of the elderly in many places

We must stop this before its too late.

Come along on Thursday and show the Council that the people of Edinburgh will not let this happen without a fight.

Edinburgh Support Workers’ Action Network (SWAN)

Swan Edinburgh- Press Release 29th November 2009

2009-11-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

29th November 2009

Pressure is mounting on City of Edinburgh Council to listen to the cities most vulnerable people, and provide a decent rate of payment to buy good quality services.

Following their defeat on the 19th November, the Councils Finance and Resources Committee will meet on the 3rd December, to look again at the proposed tender of care services in Edinburgh .

At the general council meeting service users, many of whom had attended protests in the lead up to the meeting, were assured that the freeze on Direct Payments would be lifted and claims would be processed, giving them the ability to choose who provides their service.

Highlighting the serious and growing dissatisfaction with the council’s plans, 533 people have now applied for a direct payment in order to opt out of the tendering process and continue with their current provider.

The concern for people now is that the Direct Payment will be set at the rate of the winning tender, which is too low to buy the quality services that they currently use, and will in effect force them into the care of the private companies who won the tender. This has angered service users and campaign groups, who were assured that Direct Payments would offer real choice.

A representative of Edinburgh ’s Support Workers Action Network (SWAN) pointed out that;

“Originally the council was aiming to make 10% cuts, but have cynically used the protests against the blocking of Direct Payments to make further savings of 20%”

Many of the organisations which lost out in the tender could absorb a 10% cut, but would be unable to continue under the proposed cuts, forcing their service users to choose between a handful of cheap alternatives.

A recent study of the effects of tendering Social Care services, commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by Strathclyde University , found that a common effect of tendering is the loss of experienced, motivated staff.

The Council repeats its assurances that continuity of care would be maintained with existing staff transferring under TUPE regulations, but for many of the cities support workers this is not an option.

A support worker from SWAN said;

“The company that stands to win the biggest contract if this tendering process is allowed to go ahead is Choices Care. They pay their staff £6.05 per hour. There is no way you can retain good, dedicated, qualified staff over a long period of time if the role of support worker is devalued to barely above minimum wage. This would be disastrous for us and the people we support”.

The Council and the voluntary sector have invested in recent years, to create a well trained and qualified social care workforce. This is at risk of being lost, as private companies move in to take on voluntary sector contracts. Edinburgh campaign group SWAN have begun a petition, calling on the Council to set Direct Payment rates at a level which can sustain reasonable pay and conditions for frontline staff who have mortgages to pay and families to support.

The petition, signed by almost 200 people, states;

"Social care support workersplay a vital role in the provision of housing support services....It is essential that they receive a reasonable, living wage that takes into account the skilled, specialist nature of their work."

Amidst all the talk of savings it is easy to forget that the Council claims its primary motivation for putting services out to tender was to improve quality, quoting 70% quality to 30% cost.

So far the Council has avoided too much focus on the quality issue, particularly after it was revealed that the report produced by the independent care standards agency the Care Commission accounted for just 4% of the quality assessment. The rest being made up of the Councils in-house assessment criteria.

A major finding of the Strathclyde research was that the public were kept in the dark about how crucial decisions were being made, a mistake Edinburgh Council is clearly repeating.

The report stated that service users and support organisations;

“request greater transparency from local authorities with regard to why tenders are won and lost, and the balance between cost and quality in the final decision.”

Thursday’s meeting offers Edinburgh Council another chance to provide decent care services for its most vulnerable people, with service users and support workers ready for a long battle if they fail to deliver on their promises.

Petition for fair wages

2009-11-25T05:49:00.000-08:00

Please visit, read and sign the petition at

http://www.tinyurl.com/fairwages

COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION SUFFERS FIRST EVER DEFEAT AS SOCIAL CARE SERVICE-USERS CLAIM VICTORY

2009-11-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

On Thursday "People power" forced City of Edinburgh Council to suspend its plan "to sell 777 of the city's most vulnerable residents to the lowest bidder." Hundreds packed into the City Chambers on 19 November as the Council voted to suspend till 3rd December its plan to remove Care and Support services from existing local providers.

A support worker from SWAN stated "It was a great victory but now we have a busy two weeks ahead until the next decision day of 3rd December. " The Finance and Resources Committee meets at 10am that day to decide the future of hundreds of people with serious mental and physical disabilities.

Carers and service users condemned the Council's money-saving plan as a drastic attack on the quality of life for such people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health conditions and hearing impairments. Many of those directly under attack participated in the lobby wearing "I'm not for sale" T shirts.

Deputation after deputation denounced the sell-off to the full Council meeting.
"My daughter is profoundly handicapped. She can't talk or walk. She's incontinent. She's in a wheelchair, she has fits. When we take her to the Doctor she screams in pain, and we have to try and work out what's wrong, she can't tell us. She needs trained professionals to care for her. We are very pleased with the care she's getting now. You can't pull people off the streets on the minimum wage and expect them to care for people with these kinds of disabilities." said a speaker from Share Scotland

This and other contributions were met with loud applause from the packed public gallery and the equally packed overflow room, where an estimated 300 people avidly followed the proceedings through loudspeakers.

NO CHOICE NO CARE

One support worker in attendance said:
“The company that stands to win the biggest contract if this tendering process is allowed to go ahead is Choices Care. They pay their staff £6.05 per hour. There is no way you can retain good, dedicated, qualified staff over a long period of time if the role of support worker is devalued to barely above minimum wage. This would be disastrous for us and the people we support”.

Ian Hood from Learning Disability Alliance Scotland pointed out that Companies who had won the Council contracts had been rated by the Care Commission as "barely adequate" and "must improve".

A user of learning disability services stated in a letter to LibDem councillor Jim Lowrie:
“I want my staff to keep on working with me. Don’t make them go away. Leave the staff alone and let them get on with their work”.

Edinburgh Support Workers Action Network : " The Council's proposal aims to wipe out several local voluntary sector organisations that provide good quality specialised services and replace them wth 8 companies, the biggest winners being low cost, large scale private companies with questionable track records (one was the subject of a Panorama documentary entitled Britain's Homecare Scandal.)"

"What's proposed is a cut of over 30%. The contracts awarded mean a cut of 21%, then the companies concerned will take at least another 10% profits on top of that." explained the speaker from SHARE Scotland.

DIRECT PAYMENTS DENIED

People who need care have a legal right to "Direct Payments" to enable them to pay for the kind of care that they choose themselves. But the City of Edinburgh Council has been refusing to pay out these Direct Payments, to try and force people into the arms of the profit-driven winners of the tendering process.

The outrage at this policy has now forced the Council to partially back down. The amendment passed at today's Council meeting declares that the Council will now process Direct Payments applications.

But the crucial question of the level of payments that they will pay has still to be decided. competitive tender bids" it has received.

WHAT DOES THE COUNCIL DECISION MEAN?

Learning Disability Alliance Scotland summarised the main points of the successful amendment passed yesterday as:
* 2 weeks for another report
* Major issues on the direct payments to be addressed
* Other councillors like Lesley Hinds will be critically involved in directing officials.
* No guarantees but there will be more options.

The amendment was backed in the Council meeting by Labour, the Greens, and the Conservatives, and with Liberal Democrat counsellor Gary Peacock abstaining due to financial interest, this proved enough to outvote the ruling Liberal Democrat - SNP coalition and inflict their first defeat since taking power 2 ½ years ago.

http://www.indymediascotland.org/sites/default/files/care%20in%20pink.JPG

ACT NOW

Edinburgh Support Worker Action Network declare:
"The Council was not so worried about cutting costs when it bailed out its "arms length" property companies to the tune of £70 million.

We have to make them change their priorities.

Otherwise, in years to come, we will be watching TV documentaries, reading newspaper articles about how appalling these services have become, how they are wrecking lives, as has been the case in care of the elderly in many places.

And we will wonder how this was allowed to happen.

We must act now before it's too late."

Edinburgh Support Workers Action Network
http://www.swanedinburgh.org.uk/ swanedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk

Learning Disability Alliance Scotland http://www.ldascotland.org/

Edinburgh Homecare Campaign http://edinburghhomecarecampaign.wordpress.com/

Full text of the amendment agreed at the Council meeting on 19 November at http://www.ldascotland.org/

Swan Edinburgh Meeting 15.11.09

2009-11-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

Swan Edinburgh Second Meeting 15.11.09

We had presence from Garvald Edinburgh, Learning Disability Alliance, Unite union, Inclusion Alliance and Thistle Foundation.

* Update: First Ian Hood gave an update on the current situation re: tendering.
777 people are affected by the first phase of the tendering. That process aimed to help the council to make saving on their budget. There was almost no consultation with the service users with regard to the tendering. Only 8 service users were consulted in only two meetings back at the end of last year.
170 applied for Direct payment only 70 were awarded and the rest around 100 were in the process before the Council Decision to freeze DP.
The main concern is what choice people have in deciding about care provision.
Furthermore what about people who do not want or can not have Direct Payments. What choice do they have? We hope to have a shift in the council decision regarding the Direct payment and then challenge the Council about rates, the issue of choice etc.
If we have most of the hours that were up for tendering shifted to Direct Payment it could consequently stop the tendering, as there would not be much to tender for.
Many service users from most of the organisations who are affected by the tendering have sent a letter of intention to receive Direct Payment. The transition between the bidder and the current provider is also expected to be very problematic for service users and support workers. The rate that was given for Direct payment is not sufficient for people’s needs and quality of provision.
At the Council on Thurs meeting there will be a motion from the labour, and deputations from parents, organisations and service users. We aim to have a variety of voices to attack the issue from all angle. The Petition will also be presented at the Council meeting.

* We should try to have as much people as we can at the Demo on thurs. We are also allowed in the European room at the chambers where it will be possible to listen to the debate on the tendering paper..

* Unite member advised all support workers who are affected by the tendering to join a union so they can get legal advice to defend their employee rights with the Tupe legislation. It is thought that if enough staff assert their rights under TUPE the contracts will not be viable for the winning providers.
We will aim to contact the unions to see if we can get more support workers to join.

* We will organise a contact sheet to have support workers from a wide range of organisations to join our campaign.

* We will organise a stall for Mon, Tues between 12 and 6pm. We will continue with the petition and hand over leaflets to inform the public about our campaign. We agreed to have the writing “People are not for sale” in front of the desk.

* Next Meeting on Sunday 7pm.

The Amendment which was agreed by the Council yesterday and what it means?

2009-11-20T03:33:00.000-08:00

The outcome of yesterdays meeting was that the papers approving the tender and direct payment rates were not approved. The opportunity to enter into some debate over a two week period and possibly get an extention to this was facilitated by a Labour Green amendment that was supported by conservatives.

Organisations are already in contact looking at how any talks with the council can be set and what proposals might be able to be progressed.

Please see LDA summary and amendment attached as these provide a good summary of the outcome and amendment.

At the Edinburgh Council meeting today the Labour amendment was passed by 29 votes to 28. That means there is now a pause for breath while councils officials rush about doing what they should have done long ago.

The amendment is attached for your interest. My detailed understanding of this is as follows:

1. There will be a series of meetings this week organised by the Chief Executive of the CEC to look at the amendment and plan a campaign to meet its requirements.

2. All political parties will be involved in this and therefore there will be a number of different objectives to be met from the final report. The contract award will not be dead in the water, the Conservatives still want some residual progress on this.

3. Reps from the political parties will meet with service users and carers and organisations to discuss how concerns can be resolved. Since these concerns principally now are around is the money sufficient, there needs to be movement on 10 below. [The organisations are not likely to be anyone who tendered except in so far as they reflect the views of service users. It is legitimate to have a group called XXXX service users and carers group]

4. All people who apply for a Direct Payment will have their hours totalled and withdrawn from the contract award.

5. They will continue with their current provider on the usual basis until the Direct Payment is approved.

6. The date of Dec 3rd for this to take place no longer applies- we do not know what will happen with this. [But I would recommend that all applications are put in sooner rather than later. In the spirit of “partnership” it will allow better planning if they are in asap. If any organisation/service user groups/advocacy groups has problems supporting people in making this choice, then the council should be able to help.]

7. The question of choice for those who don’t want to be transferred but can’t get or don’t want a DP will be considered. Suggestions on this will be helpful.

8. All remaining hours are likely to be put into new contracts – the officials have stated that they do not have to award all contracts but those that they do should be in the region of 800 to 1200 hours per week.

9. The paper cutting Direct Payment rates to a new level does not apply - therefore there are no current proposals to reduce the level of Direct Payments.

10. This issue of the rate and how it will be set will be addressed by the later report. [This is an issues that it would be best for the CEOs to consider collectively in order to have a positive suggestion that will help the council officials decide what is to happen. It would be best that this takes places through the good offices of CCPS if that is possible.]

11. There was a lot of talk that 21% of a cut was too much when only 4% was mentioned as applying to internal services. Therefore while there will have to be a cut from the rates current it will be less than 21%, but probably higher than the target 10% for the tender project.

12. Winning bidders will be approached and asked to consider extending the 240 day validity of their tender. This runs out on Dec 5^th and is one of the reasons for the hurry in this matter. An extension of 60 days will give more time.

13. There is a need to make sure that there is a voice for service users [A series of meetings need to be organised with service users of different organisations preferably in a collective fashion. This will give them information, advise them of their options and allow a demonstration of what consultation and involvement means. There should probably be some investment in facilitation of these. Some of us have some skills in this already but we should aim at lots of participation and evidence of this – MAPS – PATHS – DVDs and so on. We should invite council staff to come to these as well – equalities officers – Funding Independence people and so on.]

14. Carers too have to be considered in this, especially those of people with greater/complex needs. [see the point in 3 above]

Not all of this has to be done within 2 weeks but now that there is a pause for breath, I believe it is best for service users, their carers and the organisations that support them to take the initiative.

While it may seem this is only a 2 week delay, it is a major step forward in putting person centred service back on the agenda in edinburgh . There is much to do but we can do it.

All the best

Ian Hood

Sorry for any cross posting

City of Edinburgh Council

Amendment

Full Council Meeting

19^th November 2009

Item 7.2a - Contracts for the Provision of Care and Support Services

Item 7.2b - Direct Payments: Transitional Arrangements for Care and

Support Services

Council acknowledges the need to extend support to people waiting for Care and Support Services and that therefore efficiency savings need to be made, as well as more investment in such services.

This Council believes, when considering the service provision for the Care and Support packages, choice for clients should be the top priority, and that service quality should not be compromised.

This Council notes that when this tendering process started a target of 10% saving was set. The Council notes that the report at the recent Finance and Resources Committee recommended a 21% saving.

The Council further notes that key decisions on the tendering process for Care and Support Services were taken by officials of the Council and that Direct Payment applications have been suspended with no reference to the Council’s democratic process. This has harmed the reputation of the Council.

The Council finally notes, with regret, that the tendering process has caused concern for the individuals and carers whose service has been put out to tender.

Therefore Council agrees:

To process the Direct Payment applications which have already been submitted to the Council
To communicate directly with all clients, informing them that they are entitled to apply for a Direct Payment, and to process all those that are received subsequently
To offer alternative means of expressing choice in relation to future provision, to all those clients for whom a Direct Payment is not possible or appropriate

Council thus agrees to suspend award of contracts until all the above has been carried out.

Council further agrees that renewed discussions are clearly required with the organisations that represent individuals and carers to resolve their concerns, and that the Spokespersons (of all Parties) for ‘Finance’ and ‘Health and Social Care’ should meet these organisations in order to try to get a resolution to their concerns and thereafter report to a specially convened Finance and Resources Committee at 10am on Thursday 3^rd December on the outcome of those discussions.

At the Finance and Resources Committee the report above should also include:

The communications strategy for the award of Care and Support packages
Details of the choices or alternatives that might be available for those who do not want a Direct Payment or who are not eligible for one
The number of Direct Payments likely to be agreed and the effect this might have on the contracting process
The rates for Direct Payments
Evidence that service quality will not be compromised in any transfer of service to new providers
Proposals to consult with service users about the quality and effectiveness of the services they receive and ways of improving those services
Legal ramifications taking into account the decisions above

Swan Edinburgh Info 16.11.09

2009-11-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

EDINBURGH SUPPORT WORKER'S
ACTION NETWORK

Budget cuts and competitive tendering threaten to wreck social care services in Edinburgh depriving service-users of quality and choice and reducing the role of support worker to a minimum wage, unskilled role.

Its time to stand up for our jobs and our service-users.

Next organising meeting;

7pm Sunday 22nd November 2009

Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh,
17 West Montgomery Place,
EH7 5HA

At the first meeting of the Support Worker’s Action Network (SWAN) it was agreed that our main objectives would be to campaign for the City of Edinburgh Council to;

- Stop blocking Direct Payments
- Abandon competitive tendering as a way of selecting service providers
- Guarantee adequate funding to enable genuine service-user choice
and retain well trained, good quality staff

We aim to create a network of frontline staff from across organisations and workplaces and to organise against the attacks on service-user choice and staff pay and conditions posed by the current tendering process.

Contact - swanedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk

Our Information Leaflet

2009-11-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

EDINBURGH’S MOST VULNERABLE RESIDENTS

BEING SOLD TO THE LOWEST BIDDER

STOP SOCIAL CARE CUTS AND TENDERING

Between 2004 and 2008 the City of Edinburgh Council slashed its ‘Supporting People’ budget by 20%.

Despite this they have now launched an unprecedented attack on the vital services many people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health conditions and hearing impairments depend on.

On the 27^th October the Council made public its plans to sell of the services of 777 people to the lowest bidder. The move aims to wipe out several local voluntary sector organisations that provide good quality specialised services and replace then with 8 companies, the biggest winners being low cost, large scale private companies with questionable track records.

However, the Council has a legal obligation to allow service-users to ask for a ‘Direct Payment’ enabling them to choose there service provider.

As the full scale of the Council’s disastrous plans became clear hundreds of people set about doing just that.

The Council’s response?

Block service-users from getting Direct Payments.

However, in the face of a massive outcry and public protest from service-users, parents/carers and support staff the Council appeared to be backing down.

They now seem to be saying they will allow some Direct Payments to be processed, enabling service-users to choose who supports them in their daily lives.

A victory for Edinburgh’s most vulnerable in their battle against the City Council?

Or is their a catch?

Those familiar with the City of Edinburgh Council will have guessed it.

There is a catch.

The Council intends to set a new rate for Direct Payments that is in line with the ‘most competetive tender bids’ it has received.

So people can choose to have a Direct Payment and therefore will be able to choose their service.

However, they will only be able to choose from the cheapest options on offer;

Low cost, large scale private companies with poor track records.

This is what the City of Edinburgh Council calls choice.

Many current service-users want a Direct Payment so they can continue to work with their support staff with which they have built up good relationships on a daily basis over a number of years.

The Council will not let this happen. The funding rates they have set will not be able to pay for good quality support services. They are intent on cutting costs whatever the human cost.

We must not allow this to happen.

Some of you may have noticed that the Council was not so worried about cutting costs when it bailed out its “arms length” property companies to the tune of £70million.

We have to make them change their priorities.

Otherwise, in years to come, we will be watching TV documentaries, reading newspaper articles about how appalling these services have become, how they are wrecking lives, as has been the case in care of the elderly in many places.

And we will wonder how this was allowed to happen.

We must act now before its too late.

To find out more or to get involved go to

www.swanedinburgh.org.uk or www.ldascotland.org

Produced by Edinburgh Support Worker’s Action Network

The demonstrations/protests have had an IMPACT.

2009-11-16T03:11:00.000-08:00

The demonstrations/protests have had an IMPACT.

I reached city chambers at 435 and found it already buzzing with protesters shouting and demonstrating in front of the main entrance. Their synchronous slogan chanting was probably reverberating throughout the entire building as I would later find out to be true while inside the lecture hall.

By the end of all the questions that were put across to Peter Gilroy, Peter Gabbitas and Paul Edie; Edie was clearly rattled and all shaken up. He was twitching, fidgeting, head lowered refusing to meet anyone's gaze and drinking like a fish, really glass after glass of water, I wonder how he managed to keep all the liquid in, and not to mention the dagger looks he was getting from Gabbitas. I could observe all of this because I was on the front row, just 6 feet right in front of Edie.

Gabbitas took the reins at the end and mentioned how passionate they are about direct payments and how important it is that people have a choice in choosing the kind of service they get. To this many asked in unison, 'then why freeze Direct Payments', at this point Edie looked sheepishly at Gabitas and said they are going to process the 87 frozen DP applications before any of the tender contracts are handed over. At this point I must mention the way Edie introduced the lecture. He stressed that it is so important to him that people have a choice in shaping their own care and how very important it is that services get individualised and cater directly to needs of every individual.

The first question of the night was about DP and it was neatly dodged and to which a concerned parent Mrs. C tried to add something, she was then promptly shushed by Edie, he waved his hand like a school prefect and said she should put her hand up and wait in line if she wants to ask a question, shushed her again and again when she tried to protest and Edie then asked a helper to hand over the mike to someone at the back who had put her hand up (in the meantime getting killer looks from Gabitas).

When Mrs. C finally got her chance to ask a question because she had raised her hand, she mentioned how deeply concerned she is for her son and that this entire process seems like a bunch of cattle meat sold in sections to the lowest bidder. She also stressed that there was a complete lack of debate on this issue.

Another question was how could people realistically have a chance in choosing a provider of their choice when there would only be 4 to choose from and the 18 others would be obliterated.

And finally for me the question of the day was the last one, it summed up everything the council is doing wrong. I'll put this in my own words because I don't remember verbatim.

The lady thanked Peter Gilroy for an excellent lecture and then asked him if he had seen evidence of competitive tendering actually working. She had done a lot of research and had found only negative reviews and studies. She also mentioned that there were probably other means of saving money, like going to each individual service and giving them a decent rate they need to work with instead of finding out what the lowest bid could be in a blind auction. She also mentioned how important quality is and that it wasn't being mentioned anywhere, just the amount of money that was being saved, reflecting that money saving was the primary objective. In my view Peter Gilroy answered by subtly disassociating himself from Edinburgh's policies by saying, in Kent we do not tender all services, only the ones that where competitive tendering is justified. He also din't actually answer any of the lady's questions, only pleaded that we are all patient over the next 5-10 years of change.

Edinburgh council should according to Edie process the 87 frozen applications but I hope they will also accept other new applications.

I hope this puts hope in all our hearts and that this could be seen as the first step. The next one to fight and demonstrate for would be to keep the DP rate at a good level where the choice individuals make can actually be realised.

Information Desk Stall+ Demo on Thurs 19.11

2009-11-16T02:59:00.000-08:00

At last night's Support Worker's Action Network meeting we agreed, amongst other things, to have a stall outside the Council Chambers this Tuesday and Wednesday.
The intention of this is to maintain pressure on the Council ahead of Thursday's crucial meeting where the decision on the tendering process will be made.
On the stall we will be handing out leaflets and asking people to sign the petition that will be submitted to Thursday's meeting.
It will be running from 12-6pm on Tuesday and Wednesday.
We are hoping to have at least two people at a time and are asking people to volunteer for 3hr slots.
Please reply to this email and let us know your name and number if you can manage any of the following slots;
Tuesday 17th Nov 12-3pm 3-6pm
Wednesday 18th Nov 12-3pm 3-6pm
If you can only made a shorter slot, thats fine - just let us know.

And please remember, we need as many people as possible to come along to the Council meeting on Thursday. Meet from 9am outside the City Chambers on the High Street.
Full minutes of last night's meeting will follow.
Thanks
SWAN Edinburgh

Information Desk

2009-11-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

As we are drawing close to the Council decision regarding the tendering on the Thursday 19.11.09 we are organising an information desk to inform the public about our campaign against the Direct payment freeze and the tendering of Social Care Services. It will be placed on the Royal Mile just beside the City Chambers. We are looking for volunteers to be at the desk from 12-3pm and 3-6pm this Tuesday and Wednesday. You will be helping to handover leaflets and ask people to sign the petition. Please contact us by emailing swanedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk. If you just want to come and show your support that is also great.

Swan Edinburgh Meeting 8.11.09

2009-11-15T02:45:00.000-08:00

Swan Edinburgh Meeting 8.11.09

There was 17 people at the meeting; support workers from different organisations; Garvald , Penumbra, Deaf Action along with the parents of a service-user supported by Enable.

1) We decided on aims and objectives for the group:

I) We demand Edinburgh Council reverses its decision to freeze the direct payments for all service users till March 2009. Direct Payment is a right and the council should process all old and new applications with no delay.
Direct Payments rates should be according to the person needs and set at a sufficient level to allow people to have real choice of service.

II) As the process of the tendering was very secretive, we demand complete transparency of the decision making by the council. We demand to have information on how the successful bidder were chosen, do they match standards of staff training, supervision. What is their background/experience in care so far etc.

III) We are against the use of competitive tendering for care services. It has proved to have very negative results for care standards when tried in other places.

2) Swan Edinburgh will be in Facebook :
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?ref=name&id=100000476495453 ) ,
Blog: ( www.swanedinburgh.blogspot.com) ,
and twitter: (http://twitter.com/SwanEdinburgh)

3) We also have a website www.swanedinburgh.org.uk and Email swanedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk.

4) An Email list will be organised and anyone is welcome to join. –Please put a request on Email.

5) Some people offered help to get media contacts. Press releases will be sent to the media as frequent as possible to keep the issue in the media.

6) A leaflet with campaign information will be sent to the voluntary organisations which are involved in the tendering.

7) We will get in contact with other organisations and workers who have experienced tendering around Scotland.

8) We will amend the press release emphasizing the right of service users for real choice, quality of service, maintaining established relationships with staff etc.

9)We will liaise with the Learning Disability Alliance to co-ordinate the campaign.

10) Parents of one service users expressed their surprise that the campaign has been so slow to take off. We explained that we only recently discovered that most of Edinburgh voluntary organisations lost the tender. The Council was very secretive leaving us no time to act before the decision on the tendering.

11) Demo against Direct Payment Freeze and the tendering of Social Care Services will take place on the 11.11.09 – 16:30 Opposite Edinburgh City Chambers. We will do our utmost to help service users to participate and express themselves i.e. Support, banners, music instruments. We will also hand over leaflets of our ongoing campaign.

12) Next meeting will take place on the 15th of Nov 7:30 at the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh.

Update

2009-11-14T05:03:00.000-08:00

This is an update from SWAN Edinburgh and is intended for all those who have attended organising meetings or showed interest in the network. We will be sending regular email updates on our campaign against the blocking of direct payments, the tendering of social care services, indadequate funding for services and the devaluation of the role of support/care worker.
If you do not wish to recieve updates from us please reply to this email and let us know.

IN THIS UPDATE;

1. Demonstration this Wednesday 11th Nov

2. Support Worker's Action Group next organising meeting Sunday

3. Write you your councillors - letter template

4. Sign online petition

5. Council meeting Thursday 19th Nov

6. Find us on the internet

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1. Demonstration this Wednesday 11th Nov

WHY DON’T WE GET A CHOICE?

PROTEST THE TENDERING OF SOCIAL CARE SERVICES AND THE BLOCKING OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

DEMONSTRATE 4.30PM,
WEDNESDAY 11TH NOVEMBER
CITY CHAMBERS,
HIGH STREET, EDINBURGH

Join Edinburgh Support Workers Action Network, the Learning Disability Alliance and the Save our Homecare Services Campaign in calling on Edinburgh Council to;

- Stop blocking Direct Payments to social care service-users

- Guarantee funding at a reasonable level that allows service-user choice

- Stop the selling off of vital services to low cost private companies through its
competitive tendering process

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;::::

2. Support Worker's Action Group next organising meeting Sunday

Budget cuts and competitive tendering threaten to wreck social care services in Edinburgh depriving service-users of quality and choice and reducing the role of support worker to a minimum wage , unskilled role.

Its time to stand up for our jobs and our service-users.

Next organising meeting;

7.30pm Sunday 15th November 2009

Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh ,

17 West Montgomery Place ,

EH7 5HA

Edinburgh Support Worker's Action Network (SWAN) has been started by voluntary sector support workers.

Against the background of increased privatisation of council care services , the current tendering process will see the end of many well established voluntary sector organisations and a shift towards low cost , private companies with questionable track records.

Choices Care , which stands to win the biggest contract in this round of tendering , pays support workers a mere £6.05 per hour. We face massive holes in TUPE regulations , low union membership in our field and our organisations have been forced to compete with each other for contracts. It is essential that support workers themselves from all organisations join together to defend jobs and services.

Meetings are open to all.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3. Write to you councillors - letter template
The final decision to approve the Council's tendering plans and the blocking of direct payments has still to be approved at the full Council meeting on Thursday 19th November. It is essential that in the lead up to this we make as many councillors as possible aware of the feelings of service-users, staff and others who understand the impact of their plans.
Below is a letter that can be used for this purpose. It is also attached as a Word document so you can print off and send. It is more effective if you put it in you own words though.

November 2009

Dear

I am contacting you because I am very concerned about the current proposals for the Council to progress with the tender of Housing Support and Care at Home Services in Edinburgh.

I am concerned because I am aware a significant number of people chose to take a Direct Payment to avoid being included in the tender and have the option to retain their current provider. This right has been denied by the Council freezing Direct Payment applications.

I am also concerned at the level of disruption and loss of continuity of service for many vulnerable people if the tender proposal is approved.

Many social care staff will also be transferred. It is of great concern that the ability of organisations to provide quality services will be significantly compromised through the transfer of services at low hourly rates.

The tender, if approved, will mean many voluntary organisations in Edinburgh will become very financially unstable putting at risk other services they provide that are not directly involved in the tender.

I urge you to vote or encourage your Councillors to vote against the tender being discussed on 19 November at the full Council and seek sustainable alternatives that respect the choice and quality of service that vulnerable adults and their families need.

Yours sincerely

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;

4. Sign online petition

http://www.gopetition.com/online/31914.html

Information you should know about to sign this petition.

Edinburgh council has competitively tendered care and support services for 777 people. The council had a choice about how to do this and chose to put it out to competitive tender.

The council decided what services were needed and how things should be changed after only asking 8 people who used services. They sent out some letters and printed a pamphlet. The council said that if you weren’t happy you could ask for a Direct Payment. They passed a motion in May saying that they would make it possible for everyone to have a Direct Payment.

170 people asked for a Direct Payment so they could stay with their existing provider. There was so many people that the council staff were worried that they couldn’t award the contracts. Now the Council have said who they want to give the new contracts to. Over 700 people will have to move to new providers unless they get a Direct Payment. However in October the council froze all Direct Payments to people in the tender process. At least 87 people cannot get their payment completed. No one new can make an application and get their Direct Payment for months.

You should sign this petition because asking for and getting a Direct Payment is a right once you get a service and you can take responsibility for your own money and life.

The council promised a choice. Some of the new providers have a poor record in quality and people might get a worse service. There is still time to change the council’s mind as the council decision has been delayed.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

5. Council Meeting Thurs 19th Nov
As mentioned above the final decision on the tendering process will be taken at the full council meeting on Thursday 19th. It is essential that those affected turn up on that day and apply as much pressure as possible.
Even better, if you, or someone you know, is confident enough to speak before the council at this meeting you can apply for a deputation and make sure your views are heard.
To apply for a deputation call the Council Secretary on 0131 529 4091.
Full detals of meeting;
Meet outside the City Chambers on the High Street (Royal Mile) at 9am on Thursday 19th November.
The meeting will start at 10am.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;

6. Find us on the internet

You can find SWAN Edinburgh on Facebook by clicking on this link;

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000476495453&ref=name
-and we are currently setting up a website which should hopefully be up and running by the end of the week. Once its going you'll be able to find us at www.swanedinburgh.org.uk .
We also have a blog at http://www.swanedinburgh.blogspot.com/
and we are currently setting up a website which should hopefully be up and running by the end of the week. Once its going you'll be able to find us at www.swanedinburgh.org.uk .

Demo against Direct Payments freeze and the tendering of Edinburgh's Social Care Services

2009-11-12T15:47:00.000-08:00

Template for Councillors

2009-11-10T04:11:00.000-08:00

November 2009

Dear

I am contacting you because I am very concerned about the current proposals for the Council to progress with the tender of Housing Support and Care at Home Services in Edinburgh.

I am concerned because I am aware a significant number of people chose to take a Direct Payment to avoid being included in the tender and have the option to retain their current provider. This right has been denied by the Council freezing Direct Payment applications.

I am also concerned at the level of disruption and loss of continuity of service for many vulnerable people if the tender proposal is approved.

Many social care staff will also be transferred. It is of great concern that the ability of organisations to provide quality services will be significantly compromised through the transfer of services at low hourly rates.

The tender, if approved, will mean many voluntary organisations in Edinburgh will become very financially unstable putting at risk other services they provide that are not directly involved in the tender.

I urge you to vote or encourage your Councillors to vote against the tender being discussed on 19 November at the full Council and seek sustainable alternatives that respect the choice and quality of service that vulnerable adults and their families need.

Yours sincerely

Press Release Swan Edinburgh

2009-11-10T03:27:00.000-08:00

SUPPORT WORKERS JOIN CALL FOR DEMONSTRATION THIS WEDNESDAY IN FIGHT TO DEFEND CARE SERVICES

Frontline staff from voluntary sector organisations get together with service users to fight competitive tendering process.

This Wednesday City of Edinburgh Health and Social Care Convener Paul Edie will host a lecture on the “Personalisation Agenda” which will address issues of choice and quality for social care service-users. Edinburgh ’s newly formed Support Worker’s Action Network (SWAN) will join service-users protesting outside asking “where is our choice?”

On Sunday 8^th November Edinburgh's Support Worker's Action Network (SWAN) held its first open organising meeting as it begins its fight back against the budget cuts and competitive tendering it says threatens social care services in the Capital.

The group is being set up by frontline staff from voluntary sector organisations affected by the tendering of services in the fields of learning disability , mental health and physical disability. On the 27^th October a paper was put before the City of Edinburgh 's Finance and Resources Committee recommending that contracts be awarded to eight companies leaving several voluntary sector organisations uncertain of their future while hundreds of service-users are set to be transferred to new service providers. Many people who currently use these services have hit out at the plans , pointing to the importance of long term relationships built up with their support staff.

The Council plans are not yet finalised. The decision was deferred to the full council meeting on 19^th November before which groups such as SWAN and the Learning Disability Alliance along with service users say they will be campaigning and lobbying councillors to reverse the policy. A user of learning disability services stated in a letter to LibDem councillor Jim Lowrie;

“I want my staff to keep on working with me. Don’t make them go away. Leave the staff alone and let them get on with their work”.

There are fears that the process will lead to inadequate service delivery by private companies employing poorly trained , low paid staff. A support worker behind the new campaign group SWAN said

“the company that stands to win the biggest contract if this tendering process is allowed to go ahead is Choices Care. They pay their staff £6.05 per hour. There is no way you can retain good , dedicated , qualified staff over a long period of time if the role of support worker is devalued to barely above minimum wage. This would be disastrous for us and the people we support”.

Since the Council announced its plans to put services out to tender 176 service users have applied for a Direct Payment , which would enable them to choose their service provider , with many others set to do so. In response to this the council has refused to process Direct Payments until after the tendering process is complete. This decision has been heavily criticised by campaign groups and voluntary sector organisations and led to this protest being called.

A support worker from SWAN stated;

“Budget cuts are not new to us. In recent years the City of Edinburgh Council has been systematically cutting support to some of the capital's most vulnerable residents. Between 2004 and 2008 the 'Supporting People' budget was slashed by almost 20% from £44m to £36m. At the same time the local authority set about selling off 75% of its Homecare services mainly to low cost private companies. People have to wonder how the Council can manage to find £70m to bail out its arms length property companies yet cannot provide adequate support for our most vulnerable people”.

Last week at a meeting called by the Learning Disability Alliance , attended by over 150 people directly affected by the tendering process , a demonstration was planned for Wednesday 11^th November. The protest will take place outside the City of Edinburgh Council annual social work lecture to be chaired by Paul Edie one of the driving forces behind the tendering process.

Protesters will be gathering from 4.30pm outside the City Chambers.

For more info email swanedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk

Meeting with Cllr Gary Peacock

2009-11-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

Just met Cllr Gary Peacock (LibDem) at the City Chambers.

Firstly, I thanked him for meeting me outside his usual surgery times (he had no surgeries before the vote on 19 November).

Next, I expressed my concern about tenants being unable to make the choice to keep their current provider if the tendering goes through and/or if the Direct Payment rate is reduced in the future, given that organisations will likely be unable to continue with an expected large cut in funding.

I was a little disappointed that I wasn't more “political” and argumentative at the meeting (but I guess it would be difficult for any single person/constituent to have any politician change their mind) but what I did find out was:

Cllr Peacock was unsure if people who already have Direct Payments would have their rate reduced later on. He agreed to look into this and email me his findings before the vote on the 19th.
That parties would, according to Cllr Peacock, vote according to party lines. This means, in my understanding, that LibDem and SNP (17+12 = 29 of 58 seats) would vote for tendering and Labour and Green (15+3 = 18 of 58 seats) would vote against. I am unsure how the Conservatives (remaining 11 seats) would vote, but Cllr Peacock suggested that they would generally be for tendering. Also, in the event of a tied vote the Lord Provost would have the casting vote. The Lord Provost, George Grubb, is a LibDem.
Cllr Peacock said he didn't disagree with the idea of tendering.
Cllr Peacock will not vote about tendering at the meeting, due to having a financial interest. However, he did say that there was some kind of report due on Direct Payments, which (if I understood correctly) may make him able to vote at the meeting. I am emailing Cllr Peacock again to clarify this point.

My advice is to get in touch with as many Conservative councillors as possible to find out what their voting intentions are. I also advise that councillors might well offer to meet at short notice outside normal surgery times, so don't be afraid to ask for this specifically.

Hope that this is useful.

Andy