George Monbiot on the role of profit in (children's) social care:
'two Northamptonshire councils revealed they are paying an average of £281,000 a year for each residential placement, or £5,400 a week. A direct comparison cannot be made, because many children in care have complex needs, but just by way of reference Eton’s eye-watering fees are £46,000 a year'!
So, much of tax payers money is supporting investors not those needing care!
Labour’s plan to boost care workers’ pay ‘could cost taxpayers billions’
Another day, another Article in The Times promoting the Tufton Street cabal who re unwilling to contribute to society but very eager to leech from the public purse. Intriguingly, they are called out on it (‘fink tank’ and paper) by all of the comments as of Sunday morning.
This is actually quite a clever ploy. Something similar - 'the Mcnicol letter' - almost succeeded in defeating the #conservatives in #UKGeneralElection2017 by using
the confusion over funding of #socialcare to target older voters. It was almost enough for #labour to win #putney despite many adverse factors.
Just when you thought the DWP could be any more sh*tty towards unpaid carers than they have been, they've threatened those considering appealing the fines levied against them, that an appeal might open them up to even greater penalties....
This is inhumanity * a companion bypass that is becoming truly staggering.
Unpaid carers should be cherished & supported not punished - the DWP should be thanking & helping them, not taking them to court!
This window on to the failing in the care of vulnerable children is heartbreaking & another dimension of the crisis in local authority funding & collapse of social care.
Unregistered providers see children as cash cows that they can exploit as the requirement that private facilities have OFTSTED clearance (itself hardly unproblematic) has opened up already vulnerable young people to further abuse & mistreatment.
I’m looking at the reports that #starmer#labour#ScottishLabour are going to commit to replacing Trident. An obscene amount of money so that Starmer can sit with the ‘big boys’ at the nuclear table. #jackiebmsp must be proud and salivating at the thought of retaining her seat at the expense of the #nhs and #socialcare. #scottishindependence now!
Another day, another story of an unpaid carer vindictively prosecuted by the DWP....
As I've said before, unpaid carers are making a major contribution towards the wellbeing of our society, they should be cherished not bullied, prosecuted & financially drained...
My 1st study as part of my PhD has been published. It explores the circumstances of seriously harmed missing children and the associated guardianship opportunities and issues.
Once again the DWP is proving that it lacks an ounce of humanity... prosecuting carers for (relative minor) infractions of the conditions for the recipe of carers' allowance.
Unpaid carers are doing amazing work for their families & loved ones but the DWP can't see the wood for the tress.
The vindictive & callous state is just getting this wrong - we have crisis in social care that is not getting worse only because of what unpaid carers are doing,
As the primary carer for my wife, the Care Poverty Coalition's election manifesto makes perfect sense.
Due to my pension on early retirement, my shift into unpaid care has not been as financially draining as it is for many, but I am very well aware of the pressures carers are under.
Carers are more likely to be in poverty than the general population & (if my experience is anything to go by) will see experience mental health impact(s) on their wellbeing
How can we judge the quality of private care homes vs. those run by the public sector?
Well the Care Quality Commission has closed 816 care homes in the 12 years 2011-23, of which 804 were privately owned/run - that's 22 times the number (12) the public sector homes;
such a large disparity suggests a structural problem with profit making in social care.
I've said it before but there are areas of society where, whatever the claims, the profit motive is counter-productive!
Over 20% of people between 16-64 are not actively looking for work; this includes students & the (early) retired; there has also been considerable coverage of the long-term sick in recent months.
The group who are not working due to care responsibilities are also important.
I posted recently on grandparents & childcare, and its now clear that the crisis in #socialcare is keeping some #workers at home!
This is why better social & #publicservices make economic sense!
Who's picking up the shortfall as the crisis in #childcare provision continues?
Grandparents: a recent survey suggest more than half of the UK's grandparents care for their grandchildren during the week.... 3 times as many women take early retirement to care for a family member (also reflecting problems in #socialcare) as men (15%/5%).
As retirement plans shift, for #women, we can add the 'granny track' to the 'mommy track' to factors changing their life trajectories.
More on the corrosive impact of private provision on #socialcare... of course, firms want to 'up-sell' care to make more profit, why wouldn't they, and that's why #capitalism and the care sector don't work well together... their driving logic are in tension.
[I'm expecting some of you will say the logic of capitalism is in tension with society more generally, but I still think a regulated capitalism can work outside the sphere of social/public services.]
Andrew Dilnot is angry (rightly) about the inability of our leaders to address the massive & ongoing problem of how to organise & pay for #socialcare.
'There’s no discussion of the overall level of funding that is needed for social care, no serious addressing of the desperate state that the existing means-testing system is in. To go forward to a general election without that being a significant part of our national discussion just seems irresponsible on all sides'!
If you did not watch To Catch a Copper last night, then you might want to utilise catch-up.
Its an extraordinary examination of both #police out of control, but also (I think its fair to say) how the pressures they are under is driving bad behaviour.
To be clear I am not suggesting this excuses the behaviour explored in the first episode, but equally the context of defunded #socialcare & a public sector in crisis are not without influence on police behaviour...
The financial crisis in Englands local government is (of course) multi-faceted but four areas particularly contribute to the budget pressures on councils trying to find ways to fund their statuary responsibilities:
No-one can really blame local authorities for cutting #arts funding when they need to keep #socialcare & other welfare related provision working in the face of (often severe) financial crises.
The real answer is the Govt. shouldn't have put them in this position in the first place.
However, the #Tories are only concerned with wrecking local #democracy, with little/no regard for the collateral damage in the cultural life of communities.
Lets face it #PrivateEquity is not a group of charities, if they're investing in #children focussed #socialcare, its because they see a market opportunity.