Your Choice Barnet offered a way out of its financial crisis by Professor Dexter Whitfield
Campaign Against Destruction of Disabled Support Services
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 23 July 2013
Your Choice Barnet offered a way out of its financial crisis by Professor Dexter Whitfield
CADDSS (Campaign Against Destruction of Disabled Support Services) was so concerned about the future of services provided by Your Choice Barnet that it asked Prof Dexter Whitfield, the Director of European Services Strategy, to review the situation. Your Choice Barnet is experiencing considerable financial difficulties and is very unwilling to engage with service users and families who are worried about the future of the services they use.
In his report “The Way Out Of Financial Crisis” Dexter Whitfield States, “The core objective of this report is to set out the case for full and continuing engagement with service users, carers and community organisations, together with staff and trade unions and to show how YCB’s current approach is flawed, fails to provide value for money for the taxpayer and therefore unacceptable.”
At present Your Choice Barnet has not engaged in meaningful consultations with service users and their families. Service users and their families have no direct representation on the Board of Your Choice Barnet. Your Choice Barnet is very selective about what it chooses to disclose.
Dexter Whitfield urges Your Choice Barnet not to implement its proposed changes to management and staffing. Service users and their families are concerned that these changes would cause a considerable deterioration in the quality of services provided.
Despite considerable financial difficulties Your Choice Barnet has agreed to new contracts with consultants. Dexter Whitfield feels they will give little information that Your Choice Barnet does not already know. He recommends these contracts should be terminated.
Dexter Whitfield recommends that Barnet Council should return YCB services in-house, extend the block contract to ease YCB cash flow problems, and prepare a three-year service development plan with service users, carers, staff and trade unions.
A member of CADDSS voiced the concerns of many, “Carers are extremely worried about the future care of their loved ones. What will happen when we are no longer around to look out for them?”
ENDS
Notes to the editor:
ñ The Campaign Against the Destruction of Disabled Support Services (CADDSS for short) has been set up by Barnet residents to protest against deteriorating social care provision in the London Borough of Barnet.
ñ Your Choice Barnet was set up by Barnet Council as part of the One Barnet Programme of outsourcing to provide services for adults with disabilities. It is failing financially and its proposed solution is to restructure services and reduce the number and skill level of staff.
Dexter Whitfield’s Report is attached.
Contact: Janet Leifer Tel: 07534 407 703, John Sullivan 07711-934499 caddss1@gmail.com