Union welcomes Birmingham social care decision

(21/04/11) UNISON has welcomed the High Court ruling inghathat Birmingham City Council acted unlawfully in slashing asocial care provision across the city."This is a landmark ruling and a tremendous victory for thousands of vulnerable people across Birmingham who rely upon social care provision," commented UNISON West Midlands head of government Tony Rabaiotti."We have been saying for months that the Tory-Lib Dem council is wrong to axe social care services, that they have not listened to the concerns of service users and providers and we are delighted that the High Court has today vindicated our argument."The court ruled that the council had acted unlawfully in axing support for adults whose needs were defined as "substantial" and restricting care packages to people whose needs were assessed as "critical".This would have seen 10,000 Birmingham citizens have their social care packages reduced, while 4,100 lost out altogether, to save the council £17.5m.But Mr Justice Walker in the High Court ruled that the council had not taken equality issues into account when making the decision and ignored provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act.It is the second time this month that a court has found the council to be acting unlawfully when making cuts.Mr Rabiotti added: "Social care workers across Birmingham have been telling UNISON over the last few months that they are genuinely frightened by the proposal to so severely axe social care provision."They have been telling us that vulnerable people will simply be left to fend for themselves."He called on the council to "pause, think again and work with us to maintain quality social care provision for the people of Birmingham."