The group is being set up by frontline staff from voluntary sector organisations affected by the tendering of services in the fields of learning disability, mental health and physical disability. On the 27th October a paper was put before the City of Edinburgh's Finance and Resources Committee recommending that contracts be awarded to eight companies leaving several voluntary sector organisations uncertain of their future while hundreds of service-users are set to be transferred to new service providers. Many people who currently use these services have hit out at the plans, pointing to the importance of long term relationships built up with their support staff.
There are fears that the process will lead to inadequate service delivery by private companies employing poorly trained, low paid staff. A support worker behind the new campaign group SWAN said
“the company that stands to win the biggest contract if this tendering process is allowed to go ahead is Choices Care. They pay their staff £6.05 per hour. There is no way you can retain good, dedicated, qualified staff over a long period of time if the role of support worker is devalued to barely above minimum wage. This would be disastrous for us and the people we support”.
The Council plans are not yet finalised. The decision was deferred to the full council meeting on 19th November before which groups such as SWAN and the Learning Disability Alliance along with service users say they will be campaigning and lobbying councillors to reverse the policy.
Since the Council announced its plans to put services out to tender 176 service users have applied for a Direct Payment, which would enable them to choose their service provider, with many others set to do so. In response to this the council has refused to process Direct Payments until after the tendering process is complete. This decision has been heavily criticised by campaign groups and voluntary sector organisations.
A user of learning disability services stated in a letter to LimDem councillor Jim Lowrie;

“I want my staff to keep on working with me. Don’t make them go away. Leave the staff alone and let them get on with their work”.

A support worker from SWAN stated;
“Budget cuts are not new to us. In recent years the City of Edinburgh Council has been systematically cutting support to some of the capital's most vulnerable residents. Between 2004 and 2008 the 'Supporting People' budget was slashed by almost 20% from £44m to £36m. At the same time the local authority set about selling off 75% of its Homecare services mainly to low cost private companies. People have to wonder how the Council can manage to find £70m to bail out its arms length property companies yet cannot provide adequate support for our most vulnerable people”.
“ People with learning disabilities are a soft target because they cannot always speak up for themselves. The voluntary sector is a soft target due to low union membership. Its time all this was changed. Hopefully with the establishment of the Support Workers Action Network we can work together with service-user groups and start to fight back.”.

The new group’s first open organising meeting will take place this Sunday 8th November at
6.30pm at the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, 17 West Montgomery Place, EH7 5HA


For more info email  swanedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk