Personal budgets could lead to personal hell, says UNISON

UNISON has warned that vulnerable people could be stuck in a personal hell as plans to move 1 million people on to personal budgets in the form of direct payments coincide with council cuts, shutting services and tightening eligibility. The warning follows the announcement by Care Services Minister Paul Burstow today (16 November) of personal budgets for all, and Government targets for even greater privatisation of social care.The UK’s largest public sector union is concerned that the long-standing funding deficit in social care will spiral, as austerity cuts bite. Stripping away vital local authority services will leave people struggling to manage their own care and stranded without choice or support.Helga Pile, UNISON’s National Officer for Social Care, said:“The move to making personal budgets in the form of direct payments at a time of cuts will leave vulnerable people with little choice or support.“The public should not be fooled by dressing up cuts as a chance to give more power to citizens. Tell that to hard-pressed families worried sick about elderly and vulnerable relatives who cannot get any help in the home. “It’s easy to sit in Whitehall and say councils shouldn’t cut eligibility at the same time you are forcing through record cuts in council spending. Many people will now not even be eligible for a personal budget, let alone any care services, and elderly people with conditions like dementia, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes face losing home support, even if they are unable to carry out basic personal care.“The care system is a nightmare for families to navigate. Without the option of directly provided services, people may not know whether the budget they are allocated is fair and councils could freeze people’s budgets, or start cutting them as the funding squeeze tightens. It’s no accident that the Government has slipped in a policy change to put the emphasis on ‘cash for care’ rather than the other more supported options that personal budgets can offer. This makes it easier to make cuts by stealth, and put the onus on people to ration their own care.“Day centres, meals on wheels and reliable homecare are among the vital services being removed. Trained, qualified staff are being replaced by cheaper workers. We have huge concerns over where the workers are going to come from to work for the minimum wage on casual contracts.“Evidence shows that moving to ‘cash for care’ can have a hugely damaging impact on older people’s wellbeing, but this is ignored. Evidence proves the damaging effect on quality of care of privatisation to the lowest bidder, but this is ignored. Far from promoting choice, the government is changing the policy on personal budgets to make it one size fits all, without proper debate or consultation.”

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