New union project offers personal assistants training and employment rights advice

22 May 2013

 

The public services union UNISON has launched a new project offering networking, advice and support to personal assistants (PAs) who work for disabled and elderly clients.

PAs are being invited to a series of meetings in June around  Glasgow to find out more.

Lynne Rankin, organiser for the project, said that PAs working in the homes of disabled and elderly people can feel very isolated and may not be aware of their employment rights.

She said: “We are hoping to contact personal assistants in and around Glasgow.

“We want to offer support with training and development opportunities and to make sure they know about their rights to join a trade union and be represented at work.

“They will benefit too just from networking and meeting others doing the same work. PAs can come to one of the meetings we have organised around the city, or can contact me for further information.”

Employers’ organisations such as Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL) Carers Projects, the Scottish Government and Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) have responded positively to the project, agreeing there should be a support organisation for PAs.

Glasgow City Council is also supportive of the initiative and welcomes working with UNISON to provide this. 

Lynne added: “We are also keen to hear directly from PAs what matters most to them and what they would like support on.”

More than eleven meetings have already been arranged at venues including the Pearce Institute, Penilee and Castlemilk Community Centres and the Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living.

 

ENDS

 

For information please contact:

Lynne Rankin, organiser for the PAs project, 0141 342 2881 or 07903 853022  L.Rankin@unison.co.uk

 

Notes to editors:

1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest trade union representing 160,000 members working in the public sector in Scotland.
2. The PAs project is a new move for UNISON and is working in liaison with a similar project in Yorkshire and Humberside, sharing good practice.
3. PAs work mainly for disabled people, supporting them to live independently, paid for by direct payments from social care budgets. Many may formerly have been employed by councils or are now employed through an agency.
4. Training and development opportunities may include discounts on Open University courses.  UNISON is also working with the Scottish Government and the Workers Educational Association (WEA) to look at developing local learning opportunities for PAs.   

5.       Meetings details are:

Monday 10^th, 17th & 24^th June 10-11am Pearce Cafe, Pearce Institute. Govan

Monday 10^th & 17^th June 2-3pm GCIL 117-127 Brook Street, Glasgow

Thursday 13^th, 20^th & 27^th June 1.30-3.30pm Penilee Community Centre, Glasgow

Friday 14^th, 21st & 28^th June 11am-12 noon Castlemilk Community Centre, Glasgow

Further dates and locations will be added to the website at:

 

http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/socialwork/personalassistants.html 

 

 

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Carers, celebrities & campaigners rally for learning disability services and day care centres

22 January 2013

Carers and service users will unite with trade unionists, campaigners and celebrities including author(s) Alasdair Gray (and James Kelman) at a rally in George Square tomorrow – Wednesday 23 January from 12.30pm - to call for an immediate halt to cuts and an independent review into Glasgow’s learning disability services.

Sam Macartney, of Glasgow UNISON branch, welcomed the postponement of the council’s decision on cuts to learning disability services, closure of three vital day care centres and job losses.

Sam Macartney, Convener of Daycare Services, said:

“Glasgow City Council has put off the vote planned for Thursday (24 January) on the proposed cuts in learning disability day centres and services. This is of course entirely down to the pressure exerted on the council by those who use the services and their families, their supporters in the various campaigning groups including the Defend Glasgow Services Campaign and the trade unions.

“However, there are still no changes to the proposals and we must keep up the pressure on the council.

“We are calling for:

An independent review to be carried out into learning disability services and day care centres in Glasgow – as called for by Glasgow City Council’s own Carers Champion, Chris Mason

A halt to all changes and cuts – including cuts to services, jobs or closures of centres – while the review is carried out

Glasgow City Council Social Work Services to hold an open all-Glasgow meeting for all carers

And vitally - an increase – not a cut - in the money available to the total learning disability services pot, to make individual personalised budgets higher, because the cuts to personalised budgets are at the root of most of the problem.

“The protest planned for Wednesday 23 January at 12.30pm outside the City Chambers goes ahead. Let’s step up our efforts to defeat these proposals to cut vital services to the most vulnerable in our community.”

Rally details

Wednesday 23 January 2013

12.30pm in George Square, Glasgow

Speakers include those who use the services and their families, elected representatives including councillors and MSPs, prominent authors and academics, trade unionists and disability rights campaigners.

Confirmed speakers:

• Tommy Gorman, carer
• Grace Harrigan, carer
• Ian Hood, Learning Disability Alliance Scotland
• Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary, STUC 
• Alasdair Gray, author and artist – who also brings a message of support from writer James Kelman

Other speakers to be confirmed

  

Note for editors

Glasgow City Council’s controversial plans for personalisation of care services includes a proposal to close three day centres that accommodate about 130 people each on weekdays. Around 136 jobs are also under threat.

Direct and highly emotional personal evidence of why this is not a good plan was provided at a well-attended conference at UNISON’s Glasgow City branch office on 10 December 2012 called by the Defend Glasgow Services Personalisation Network – a network of carers, service users, campaigners and trade unions planning to defend these key services.

See our blog post on the 12 December event here:

http://unison-scotland.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/glasgow-personalisation-network.html

and a useful STV news report here:

http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/205250-protest-over-councils-daycare-for-learning-disabled-reform-plans/

Evening Times: MSPs hit out over plan to close Glasgow day care centres

18 Jan 2013

Evening Times Political Correspondent Stewart Paterson reported today:

 

THE closure of day centres for adults with disabilities in Glasgow was debated by MSPs at Holyrood.

 

Bob Doris, SNP MSP for Glasgow, led the debate over Glasgow City Council's proposals which could see three centres closed.

He said the closures were a cut to services and was concerned the consultation process has not sufficiently considered the views of users and their families.

 

Several city MSPs debated the issue with Labour MSPs stating that it was not a cut as any savings were to be spent on new social care services. They said if the council was given a fairer settlement from the Scottish Government it would have more cash to spend.

 

See the full report on the Evening Times website.

The transcript of the debate is on the Scottish Parliament website at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=7685&mode=pdf 

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Herald letters: Glasgow City UNISON on Self Directed Support, personalisation and adult social care

The Herald Letters Thu 20 Dec 2012

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/letters/we-need-more-people-with-resilience-and-courage-to-oppose-any-attack-on-services-for-the-learning-disabled.19721

ONE of the biggest factors contributing to the reduction in support to disabled people in Glasgow is the individual needs assessment and resource allocation system which is used to calculate a person's individual care budget. Members of our trade union whose job it is to undertake these assessments have repeatedly told Unison that the system is primarily geared to ensure a budget which provides only a basic level of support. Self-Directed Support (SDS) and personalisation should of course be about much more and include notions of full social participation, active citizenship and maximising employment and education opportunities.

The fact that Glasgow City Council's current position is to cut 11% from the city's £90m adult social care budget through personalisation, including a 53% cut in the learning disability day service workforce, is perhaps the reason why so many people don't believe council officials when they talk about promoting independence and choice through the current proposals. Genuine SDS and personalisation costs money and should not be seen as a cheap alternative.

Those who oppose the cuts to the council's learning disability services should strongly argue that the individual needs assessment and resource allocation system is radically improved to reflect a genuine personalised approach. Our politicians should also be campaigning for more money overall for the city's vital services rather than just passing on the Coalition Government's cuts.

Secondly, the characterisation by some senior council officials of the current services as "exclusive and institutionalised" is a misrepresentation of what actually happens on the ground. Many individuals are currently supported by the council's day service workforce to access community-based leisure, social and educational opportunities.

Could this be better funded and managed? Of course. However the setting-up of "straw men" who can then be publicly knocked down is not a helpful contribution to the debate on how best to organise social work services in Glasgow.

Brian Smith, Branch secretary, Unison Glasgow City, 84 Bell Street, Glasgow.

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