Vulnerable clients are being put at risk and frontline staff forced to take multiple jobs, a Unison survey finds
Mel Clarke runs Community Bus, which
provides play facilities. As a result of cuts, she now has to spend a lot of her
time fundraising. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt
Mel Clarke, is a community development worker in a converted double-decker
bus providing mobile play facilities for children in rural areas around Bath and
north-east Somerset. Established over 20 years ago, most of the Community Bus's
£75,000 running costs were covered by local government grants from Sure Start
and children's centres. Now, the charity only receives £35,000 lottery funding
and £20,000 from the local authority. Clarke, 53, spends a lot of her time
fundraising to make up the £15,000 shortfall. She says families are more reliant
than ever on the bus, as cuts elsewhere mean there are very few activities for
children that are free, especially in rural areas.
Last year, 325 families visited the bus on a regular basis in 14 different locations. With high transport costs, the bus is the only place where the under-threes in particular get to play and interact with other children. "Parents and children have a lot fewer options available to them, unless they can afford to pay for them," says Clarke. "And if families need more specialised services, such as speech therapy, there are often huge waiting lists – some are over a year long. For isolated, rural families that's a long time to wait for help, without any other support."
An online survey of just under 3,000 Unison members on the impact of cuts on
the services they deliver and on themselves found that in children's voluntary
organisations, 72% of respondents were worried that children may be slipping
through the net, while 15% said they do not have time to monitor children and
follow up concerns of neglect or abuse. In addition, 36% said they have no time
to prepare risk assessments and support plans.
"This report lays bare the impact of austerity on services provided by the
community and voluntary sector, and on the workers for whom providing a service
is not just a job but part of a deep personal commitment to the people they
support," says Unison's general secretary, Dave Prentis. "It is a wake-up call
for politicians and society at large that workers in the community sector are
approaching crisis point."
According to the Local Government Association, council budgets are being cut by 43% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2015-16, and 20% of total spending will have been taken out of adult social care in the three years since cuts were announced in 2010.
"Councils are trying to protect social care budgets from the full force of the largest, most sustained cuts in more than a generation," says Sir Merrick Cockell, chair of the LGA. "But with the equivalent of £10bn already taken from council funding and similar cuts to come, some level of impact is unavoidable.
"Voluntary organisations play a vital role in identifying and supporting vulnerable people, and councils value the strong relationships which exist between local government and the third sector."
Workers in children's charities feel that cuts are already jeopardising young people's safety. Rachel Jones is a specialist family support worker in Birmingham. Waiting lists from referral to seeing one of her team have more than doubled, from four months to nine months, she says. "Because other services have been cut, there are fewer places we can refer people to for less specialist support while they wait, so families are hitting crisis point unnecessarily."
In Merseyside, Sally Montgomery, a retired worker for a supported-living charity, says levels of personal care for people with disabilities are compromised by very short "flying" visits, and some things can be missed. "A simple thing such as not having time to wash your hands, check meds, check dates on the contents of a fridge, spot a warning sign, call something in, can cause major problems or even fatalities," she says. "Then there are the risks taken when a task that requires two members of staff is being done by one; this may result in injury to the care provider or recipient. It's wrong on all levels, and its getting worse every day."
The survey also highlighted the stark economic situation many workers in the voluntary and community sector find themselves in. A quarter of respondents do not earn the living wage (£7.45 an hour outside London, £8.55 in London), 9% are on zero-hours contracts, and one-fifth have seen a reduction in their take-home pay. As a result, 18% have debts of more than £10,000. Many are having to take on extra work, with 24% holding down more than one job and 5% juggling four or more jobs.
Unison is calling for urgent action to tackle low pay and zero-hours contracts, and for management to listen to the fears and concerns of its workforce. It wants legal protection for charity workers who whistleblow about the poor quality of services they are asked to deliver. It also wants a commission of inquiry to be set up to examine the impact of the coalition's austerity measures on the community and voluntary sector, which seeks evidence from frontline workers.
Last year, 325 families visited the bus on a regular basis in 14 different locations. With high transport costs, the bus is the only place where the under-threes in particular get to play and interact with other children. "Parents and children have a lot fewer options available to them, unless they can afford to pay for them," says Clarke. "And if families need more specialised services, such as speech therapy, there are often huge waiting lists – some are over a year long. For isolated, rural families that's a long time to wait for help, without any other support."
Isolated
Clarke says her organisation feels more isolated too. Whereas previously the charity had regular contact with children's centres that would help with sessions to promote healthy eating or how to encourage toddlers to talk, now the bus has no such support from statutory services.
Clarke is far from the
only voluntary sector
employee to feel services have deteriorated as a result of the coalition
government's austerity agenda. Research published today by
public services union Unison shows that many people working on the frontline
for community and voluntary organisations feel that their vulnerable clients are
more at risk because of the cuts, while employees themselves are increasingly
having to take on additional jobs to make ends meet.
The survey was conducted
in July and August among members delivering a range of voluntary services for
children and disabled people, and in housing and advocacy fields. Two-thirds of
respondents working for disability charities said clients
were being left at risk because their care package has been reduced. Just under
half said they had less time to spend with each client. Nearly three-quarters of
housing charity workers said more tenants were falling behind with rent, with
half reporting more people being evicted or forced to move by financial
pressures. And three-quarters of workers in rights and advocacy community
organisations said disabled, elderly and minority ethnic people were
disproportionately losing out from cuts to advice services.
According to the Local Government Association, council budgets are being cut by 43% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2015-16, and 20% of total spending will have been taken out of adult social care in the three years since cuts were announced in 2010.
"Councils are trying to protect social care budgets from the full force of the largest, most sustained cuts in more than a generation," says Sir Merrick Cockell, chair of the LGA. "But with the equivalent of £10bn already taken from council funding and similar cuts to come, some level of impact is unavoidable.
"Voluntary organisations play a vital role in identifying and supporting vulnerable people, and councils value the strong relationships which exist between local government and the third sector."
Workers in children's charities feel that cuts are already jeopardising young people's safety. Rachel Jones is a specialist family support worker in Birmingham. Waiting lists from referral to seeing one of her team have more than doubled, from four months to nine months, she says. "Because other services have been cut, there are fewer places we can refer people to for less specialist support while they wait, so families are hitting crisis point unnecessarily."
In Merseyside, Sally Montgomery, a retired worker for a supported-living charity, says levels of personal care for people with disabilities are compromised by very short "flying" visits, and some things can be missed. "A simple thing such as not having time to wash your hands, check meds, check dates on the contents of a fridge, spot a warning sign, call something in, can cause major problems or even fatalities," she says. "Then there are the risks taken when a task that requires two members of staff is being done by one; this may result in injury to the care provider or recipient. It's wrong on all levels, and its getting worse every day."
The survey also highlighted the stark economic situation many workers in the voluntary and community sector find themselves in. A quarter of respondents do not earn the living wage (£7.45 an hour outside London, £8.55 in London), 9% are on zero-hours contracts, and one-fifth have seen a reduction in their take-home pay. As a result, 18% have debts of more than £10,000. Many are having to take on extra work, with 24% holding down more than one job and 5% juggling four or more jobs.
Unison is calling for urgent action to tackle low pay and zero-hours contracts, and for management to listen to the fears and concerns of its workforce. It wants legal protection for charity workers who whistleblow about the poor quality of services they are asked to deliver. It also wants a commission of inquiry to be set up to examine the impact of the coalition's austerity measures on the community and voluntary sector, which seeks evidence from frontline workers.
For many care workers, the
strain is already proving too much: 29% of respondents say they plan to quit
their job in the next year. It is a sent iment Montgomery understands all too
well. "I went into care work because I loved it. It was the lowest paid work
I've ever done, under the worst conditions, but it was also the most rewarding
and satisfying. I was passionate about it and I know that I made a great
difference to the lives of those I worked with. But, eventually, I was burnt out
and took retirement."
