130 council care jobs facing axe
MANAGERS at council-run care homes in South Devon today face an uncertain future after Devon County Council announced proposals for a major cost-reduction review.
The authority is looking to axe up to 130 managerial and administrative positions at care homes county-wide in a bid to save £5million over the next three years.
The Conservative-run authority says it has to take drastic action after residential home costs were allowed to 'escalate out of control' in previous years.
The proposal will affect homes across the county including Mapleton in Newton Abbot, Tracey Vale in Bovey Tracey, Daw Vale in Dawlish and Kenwyn in Ashburton.
The council says the changes will help pump money back into improving homes and providing extra beds.
The council's cabinet committee is meeting next Tuesday to consider the matter.
Buckfastleigh county councillor Stuart Barker is the cabinet member for adult and community services.
He said: "We now need to take action to reduce the cost of our care homes to deliver more frontline services for the growing number of old people."
The action comes months after it was revealed plans to privatise care homes in Devon had collapsed after the authority's preferred bidder Shaw Healthcare pulled out of negotiations.
An independent review by the National Care Home Forum in June into staff levels at the council's care homes found ratios of managers and staff to residents is far higher than in private sector residential homes, the council said yesterday.
A report to the cabinet committee will describe the current financial situation in the council's residential homes.
At its highest point council-run homes cost on average £901 per resident per week to run, compared with an average of £375 paid out to private sector homes to provide residential care on the council's behalf.
The cabinet will be told staff roles and staff numbers with council homes have risen over time and no consistent approach has been given to determine staff ratios, deployment of managers, roster arrangements, shift patterns and night-time working.
The authority wants to reduce costs by cutting unnecessary overheads and management costs.
A new vacancy management policy has already seen 70 jobs shed since the Tories came into power in June.
But a remaining 130 jobs remain affected by the proposals.
Cllr Barker said: "The proposals will not affect the care given to our residents and will not close our homes.
"On the contrary, we will be able to provide 30 additional beds in some of our homes."
The £5million savings will be reinvested in social care — with up to 30 extra beds being provided in some homes.
Cllr Barker said: "Devon has one of the highest proportions of older people in the country and as the numbers rise, so too is demand for our services.
"That's why it's essential we take tighter control of our costs and invest council tax payers' money in frontline services that meet local demand."
3 Comments
by Mr Greedy, Torbay
Friday, October 30 2009, 1:51PM
“I'll go along with that Karen, specially in a Playboy mansion,”
by Karen, Torquay
Friday, October 30 2009, 11:25AM
“I'm glad to see that they're finally concentrating on cutting middle-classed white collar jobs rather than squeezing and brutalizing front-line staff to the point of fascisizing them. It's the only way out of this reflective mess now. Although it remains to be seen how we're going to deal with the army of self-employed in the meantime. It's only when middle-classed delusions and interests are scuppered at the hands of long-term rationalization that we can truly begin to build the kind of society worth having. Until then, it's probably best to take a leaf out of Howard Hughes's book and become an existential recluse for a while yet.”
by Roy, Torbay
Friday, October 30 2009, 9:28AM
“I'm always sad to hear of anyone being made redundant, especially having gone through that process twice in a 6 year period, and losing a pension in the process. Unfortunately in the area of anything to do with local or national civil service work whilst trying to improve the service offered more and more managerial and administrative positions have been created to a point where the beast has become unmanagible and to costly to keep. It is always interesting that when cuts are required in these area's, and are very much to do with control from London, that whilst the provinces suffer London, or more importantly the government departments, never feels the pinch. I know from first hand experience that central government departments are over staffed. A very wise old man told me many years ago we would end up with so many managers, and their staff, that if we were a yacht the weight at the top of the mast would make it capsize, I think we are now seeing that happen in all areas of our daily lives. Or is it a case of to many cooks spoiling the broth !”