I SPEAK AS THE PARENT OF MY 41 YEAR-OLD SON, WHO IS CLASSED AS
HAVING PROFOUND AND MULTIPLE LEARNING DISABILITIES (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS PMLD)
AND WHO HAS BEEN A SERVICE USER OF YCB AND ITS PREDECESSORS FOR OVER TWENTY
YEARS.
MAY I START WITH A
POTTED HISTORY OF YCB, AS I SEE IT. I PROMISE TO KEEP IT BRIEF.
YCB’S CREATION WAS
ESSENTIALLY BASED ON IDEOLOGY AND QUESTIONABLE MORALITY. EVEN IF WE SET ASIDE
THE ETHICAL ISSUE ABOUT A COMPANY HOPING TO PROFIT FROM SEVERELY DISABLED
PEOPLE - WHICH MOST REASONABLE INDIVIDUALS FIND PRETTY DISGRACEFUL ANYWAY - WE
JUST CAN’T IGNORE THE FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS ON WHICH THE ORIGINAL YCB PLANS WERE
BASED.
YCB WAS GOING TO BRING
NEW BUSINESS TO BARNET - WHERE WAS THE EVIDENCE? “CUSTOMERS” (SO-CALLED BECAUSE
WE WERE NOW IN A COMMERCIAL MARKETPLACE) WERE GOING TO SWITCH IN DROVES TO
DIRECT PAYMENTS - WHERE HAS THIS HAPPENED? AND WHO ASKED THE QUESTIONS
REGARDING WHAT THE BOROUGH OF BARNET WAS PREPARED TO FUND AND WHAT IT WASN’T
(FOR EXAMPLE NO-SHOWS.) THE ASSUMPTIONS WERE INADEQUATELY THOUGHT THROUGH AND
NOT PROPERLY COMMUNICATED.
AND, AS A RESULT, WE HAD
A BUSINESS PLAN AIRILY COBBLED TOGETHER BY A TROOP OF NUMBER-CRUNCHERS WORKING
IN THE DARK.
MANY WISE AND COMPETENT
PEOPLE PRODUCED TELLING EVIDENCE THAT THE PLAN WOULD NEVER WORK. AND - JUST TO
PROVE THE POINT - AT A VERY EARLY STAGE IN THE PROCEEDINGS, YCB FOUND ITSELF
HAVING TO BORROW £1M FROM BARNET HOMES. THE CHICKENS HAD COME HOME TO ROOST
FROM THE VERY START.
HAD YCB BEEN STITCHED UP
BY THE COUNCIL? PROBABLY, BUT WHAT’S SO POIGNANT IS THAT IT MAY WELL NOT HAVE
BEEN CONSCIOUSLY. I’M PREPARED TO ACCEPT THAT NEITHER PARTY WAS AWARE OF THE
MINEFIELD AT THE TIME. I KNOW SOME WILL DISAGREE, BUT WHEN IN DOUBT I USUALLY
GO FOR COCK-UP OVER CONSPIRACY.
THAT’S THE BRIEF POTTED
HISTORY I PROMISED. I DARESAY IT’S KNOWN TO EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM, BUT IT
CAN’T BE REPEATED TOO OFTEN.
SINCE THAT DISASTROUS
OPENING, YCB HAS BEEN IN A STATE OF DENIAL. THEIR HEADS ONLY EMERGED FROM THE
SAND WHEN IT BECAME ONLY TOO APPARENT THAT THE FINANCIAL NUMBERS WOULD NEVER
WORK. SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE. SO INSTEAD OF SUCCESSFULLY ARGUING FOR THE
NECESSARY INCREASED FUNDING FROM THEIR COUNCIL MASTERS, THEY WENT FOR THE
SOFT UNDERBELLY OF THE ORGANISATION - THE CARE STAFF.
WE KNOW WHERE THIS HAS
LED. STAFF TERMS AND CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN DOWNGRADED, AGENCY WORKERS HAVE
REPLACED GOOD AND EXPERIENCED STAFF MEMBERS, AND - UNLESS SOMETHING NEW AND
POSITIVE HAS EMERGED FROM TODAY’S ACAS TALKS - STAFF HAVE SUFFERED A 9.5
PERCENT PAY CUT. NO WONDER THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO STRIKE, THEIR PATIENCE FINALLY
EXHAUSTED.
AND THE STAFF ARE OF
COURSE NOT THE ONLY VICTIMS. MY SON, AS A SERVICE USER (OR CUSTOMER, THE
PREFERRED MARKETPLACE TERM) AT THE ROSA MORISON DAY CENTRE, HAS BENEFITED
HUGELY OVER THE YEARS FROM THE SKILL, COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION OF THE TRULY
AMAZING STAFF, WHO HAVE OUR FULL SUPPORT IN THEIR CURRENT ACTION. AND ALL THIS
IS NOW PLACED IN JEOPARDY, OUR SON’S FUTURE WELLBEING AND QUALITY OF LIFE
COMPROMISED THROUGH THE PAST MISMANAGEMENT BY EVERYONE CONCERNED.
THE COUNCILLORS (IN MY
VIEW THE ULTIMATE VILLAINS OF THE PIECE) WON’T BUDGE. NEITHER WILL THE
OFFICERS, EXEMPLIFIED BY BARNET’S CEO, WHO, I UNDERSTAND, REFUSES TO GET
INVOLVED. IT SEEMS THE YCB CARE WORKERS WILL HAVE TO KEEP TAKING HAIRCUTS. MEANWHILE
CAPITA LURK IN THE WINGS, WAITING FOR MELTDOWN, LICKING THEIR GREEDY CHOPS.
AS A PARENT, I SINCERELY
WANT TO BE ABLE TO HELP BREAK THE DEADLOCK, BUT I FEEL MARGINALISED AND
IMPOTENT. IT’S A DESPERATE SITUATION, AND I’M HOPING AGAINST HOPE THAT YOU, THE
BOARD, HAVE GOT SOME REALISTIC PLANS IN PLACE, WHICH ARE FAIR TO THE CARE
WORKERS, AND WILL HELP GET US OUT OF THIS UNHOLY MESS. THANK YOU.
TONY SOLOMONS
22 SEPTEMBER 2014
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Tony Solomons is a Barnet Resident and a parent carer. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye
