Angus Home Carers Gagged By Council Chiefs

Angus Home Carers Gagged By Council Chiefs Over Shameful Service Cuts

GMB Scotland has today (Monday 13 February) slammed Angus Council social care chiefs after it emerged that redundancy- threatened home care workers have been served with a gagging order over plans to severely cut the local service.

Anger among staff is rising since plans were announced to cut up to 170 home care jobs and impose contractual changes, with key services like the 24 hour Community Alarm response team likely being reduced to a single-manned service.

But in a letter to community alarm staff employees dated February 9 2017, service head George Bowie wrote, “…in your working life you must never publicly criticise us through the media, at a public meeting, or in any contact with members of the public.”

GMB will meet with members this week as fears grow that many care workers and service users across Angus will be forced into the hands of the private sector against the backdrop of unsustainable cuts.

GMB Scotland Organiser Helen Meldrum said: “It’s remarkable that the council are trying to shut-down their employees concerns given the massive cuts to this crucial service and the significant impact this will have on both staff and the service users.

It is time for an honest debate about what this will mean for the future of care across Angus because let’s be clear that the council is leaving the doors wide open for the private sector to plug gaps that will surely emerge in service provision.

Instead, the council would rather that staff fearing for their livelihoods kept their mouths shut and the public were kept in the dark about what these cuts will mean for some of the most vulnerable in our local communities.

Unfortunately, it’s not hard to see what the future holds: Our most vulnerable citizens receiving 'pit stop' care and delivered by a skeleton workforce on the lowest terms and conditions possible.

This is what austerity looks like in Angus and it's utterly shameful.”

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Contact: GMB Scotland Organiser Helen Meldrum on 07958 156838 or Peter Welsh, GMB Scotland Communications, on 07976 447077.