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Cuts in Mental
Health Services Leaving People Stranded
GREEN Party conference has
condemned cuts to mental health services that are taking place
around the country, warning that they are leaving people stranded.
In November 2012, mental health charity MIND published the results of 3
surveys showing that mental health services in the UK are
overstretched, that people are not being assessed quickly enough and
many people needing treatment are not getting access to services at
all. Now services that support mental health sufferers are
being cut back further by local councils and health bodies in many
parts of the country.
Adrian Ramsay, Green Party Home Affairs spokesperson, proposed the
emergency motion highlighting the impact of cuts to mental health
services. Adrian Ramsay said:- "Mental health problems are
common and rising, but people who need support are being left
stranded by a severely overstretched system. People who have mental
health problems should have easy access to professional support and
treatment. Huge Government cuts to funding for local services mean
that people have to fight to get access to services – the opposite
of how mental health support should work. It's crucial that the
Government properly funds mental health services and treats mental
health issues as seriously as other health problems."
During Green Party conference, party Leader Natalie Bennett signed
the party up to the Time To Change campaign, which is raising
awareness of mental health problems in order to tackle
discrimination in society. She said:- "Many people
experience mental health difficulties at some point in their lives,
with numbers increasing due to widening inequality and economic
uncertainty in recent years. Despite this, mental health is
something that we are not very good at talking about as a society.
The Green Party is signing the Time to Change pledge to help create
a positive shift in public attitudes towards mental health issues,
to promote wellbeing, and to eradicate discrimination and stigma.
Through working with Time to Change we hope to be an example of best
practice as an organisation that supports its staff and members'
mental health."
The full text of the emergency motion passed by Green Party
conference is below.
EMERGENCY MOTION ON MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
During this conference, Natalie Bennett signed the Time To Change
pledge on behalf of the party. The pledge means that the Green Party
is joining many other organisations in raising awareness of mental
health problems and tackling discrimination.
Time to Change has highlighted that:-
► 1 in 4 adults suffers from mental health problems in any one year
► 1 in 6 British workers is experiencing depression, anxiety or
stress
► 10% of children are suffering from a mental health problem.
In November, MIND published the results of three surveys showing
that mental health services in the UK are overstretched, that people
are not being assessed quickly enough and many people needing
treatment are not getting access to services at all.
Conference notes with deep concern that funding for mental health
services is being cut further by many local councils and health
bodies around the country this month.
Conference notes that Brighton and Hove City Council has protected
its funding for mental health services and supports the work of
Green Councillors, Caroline Lucas MP and other Green campaigners in
opposing cuts to services that support mental health sufferers.
Conference asks the Green Party Executive to promote the party's
support for the Time to Change campaign and our opposition to cuts
to mental health services through a press release, e-mail bulletins
and other campaigning opportunities.
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Council plans
for new social care company deliberately misleading
WEST Cheshire Council is
deliberately misleading the public and staff by describing a new
company it is setting up to provide services for vulnerable people
as a 'public services mutual', claims UNISON.
The union claims that the new company; which will cost £600,000 to
set up; is a stepping-stone to the eventual privatisation of all
the Council's specialist adult services for people who are frail and
elderly, or have disabilities and mental health issues.
75% of the Council's adult social care budget is already spent on
buying services externally, mainly from private companies, and staff
are worried that this will eventually reach 100%. In a report that has been sent to all
councillors UNISON claims that:-
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The labelling of a new Council owned company as a
'Public
Services Mutual' is misleading. An essential feature of any
mutual is that it is owned and controlled by its members, and there
are special 'lock in' arrangements to stop it being 'sold
off' or disbanded. Yet initially the new company will be 100%
Council owned and controlled, and there is nothing to prevent it
being sold off in the future.
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Despite the huge popularity and success of the Council's current
in-house services, the Conservative run Council has ruled out the
option of keeping services in-house for political reasons.
►
A special legal arrangement being used to create the new company
(called a 'Teckel' company) is flawed. It has been designed
to allow the Council to award the new company contracts without
going through a costly tendering process. However the UNISON report
claims that this is a very risky, expensive, and unnecessary option
and will severely limit the services it can sell to people who may
prefer to buy their care from the Council.
►
Irrecoverable VAT is likely to cost the new company £120,000 a
year; money that would be better spent on improving services.
►
The new company will reduce the pay and conditions of any new
staff, and existing staff who transfer will also face pay cuts in
the future.
Pat Barlow UNISON Regional Organiser, "The new company
proposed by the Council is not a 'public services mutual,' but
a crude attempt to disguise the Council's real intention which is to
cut pay and prepare these services for eventual privatisation. It is
ironic that the Council's business case claims that the new company
is well placed to succeed because it would retain the existing
highly trained, experienced, and capable staff who are highly valued
by existing care users and carers. Yet the Council persists with a
proposal that threatens to dismantle something that works,
destroying staff morale and creating widespread anxiety and
uncertainty in the process."
Teresa Connally UNISON Branch Secretary added:- "The Council's
staff who work in adult care give 120% commitment and deliver
excellent services. If Conservative Councillors who are behind these
plans showed a fraction of that commitment they would call a halt to
a move that will put at risk the care of some of the most vulnerable
people in West Cheshire"
UNISON is asking the Council at the Council meeting on the 28
February to suspend the implementation of its flawed project in
order to fully address and allay the concerns of staff, carers, and
care users.
Ban Fish Discards
AN agreement between ministers to curb the discard of fish has
been criticised by a local Euro-MP for leaving gaping loopholes.
Fisheries ministers agreed on Wednesday, 27 February 2013, to
reforms of the EU common fisheries policy, but said that close to
10% of all fish caught can still be discarded, dead. Liberal
Democrat MEP Chris Davies described the loophole as a breach of the
principle that all fish caught should be landed.
Davies, a prominent campaigner for
reform of the EU common fisheries policy, pledged to continue
efforts to end discards once and for all. He said:-
"Significant progress has been made and that's to be welcomed, but
we should not be allowing any fish simply to be thrown away. It is
not a sustainable approach. The final stage of the reform process
involves negotiations between ministers and MEPs, and we shall want
more progress before accepting that the deal is done." |
