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from: The Western Morning News (12 Apr 06)

Pressures on care services

O nce again, that ugly word 'modernisation' has reared its head in respect of services that are vital to the public. On this occasion it is care homes, day care centres and community care in Devon which are to be given the modernisation treatment.

If past experience is anything to go by, that will mean privatisation and cuts in everything but name. The county council, of course, will be keen to avoid describing it in such blatant terms. But we have seen already how the 'modernising' mania has been used to justify farming out health service to the private sector, or selling off public assets.

We have seen as well how it has been used to introduce by the back door an invasive business ethos into education and front-line emergency services.

In the latter case it comes with the added hype of 'regionalisation' as local fire services are cut for so-called greater efficiency.

No matter how it is spun, Devon County Council Executive's decision to 'contract out' adult care services amounts to turning them over to those who primary motive will be profit.

Why else would a private company take on such a responsibility?

It will mean that for some people who need it, especially the elderly. will no longer be 'in house' but will he placed under the control of those whose public service ethos is tailored to their business priorities.

The inevitable suspicion is that these services will be provided on the cheap as the companies who secure the contracts seek to maximise their profits.

What a dismal and regressive step for the care of vulnerable people.

How is it that Devon County Council has allowed itself to get into such a financial predicament that it justifies this drastic action as a necessity?

The council argues that its budget settlement from the Government is inadequate to meet the future needs in-house.

And this is true. This year's local authority settlement is extremely low and Devon receives on average £50 less per person than other local authorities.

So what does this mean to our vital services? It forces councils to believe that cuts in administration costs can be made by handing over the burden to the private sector.

And it means even more reliance on the 'voluntary' sector as part of the equation for future plans. What is that supposed to mean - that the council is hoping that charities, or people working for free, will take up some of the pressure?

If Devon County Council was properly funded it would not need to balance financial pressures with the needs of the elderly and we doubt it would have thrown this problem out of the window for someone else to sort out. And it is now threatening to do similar with cuts to small library services - and this too in the name of modernisation.

Devon's Executive is being forced to take a long, hard look at how their priorities are organised simply because of a lack of funding.