Protest over plans to change social care jobs

A council's planned restructure of children's social care has been described as an "absolute sham" by a union.

Unison said more than 100 social care workers at Bath and North East Somerset (Banes) Council were told their roles would be "deleted" and they would have to reapply for new jobs.

Children's social care representative for Unison Toni Mayo said the restructure was "devastating". Staff protested against the plans outside the Guildhall in Bath on Monday.

A spokesperson for Banes council said they were "keen to stress" they were "consulting on proposals and that no decisions have been made".

The council presented their restructure plans to staff last week.

Unison said 136 people received letters saying their role had been deleted, including all senior practitioners, deputy team managers and family support practitioners.

Mayo added: "I've been a social worker for 17 years this year so I have been through a number of restructures, but never anything on this scale or this badly done.

"Certainly, people were alarmed and worried about what it meant for a number of the services," she said.

Children's social care staff were due to go on strike next week over a separate dispute over pay grades.

Another Unison representative, Amy Rushton, said this other dispute had already left morale "shot to pieces".

"The whole department was really feeling the strain and undervalued and they have done this - they're not even learning lessons from the recent past," she added.

The new department structure is expected to come into force from 1 July.

The union said staff were asked to choose from a list of roles by Friday with any future selection process unclear.

They also gave examples of staff being asked to change specialisms, and workers with maternity protections being told they will have to compete with each other for the same job.

Councillor Joanna Wright, Green Party group leader said: "The Green group is deeply concerned about the impact these cuts will have on children and young people in our care."

She said the kind of care provided "is by its nature intensive, skilled work" and "cannot be delivered on the cheap without consequences".

A spokesperson for Banes council said the restructure was about "improving services for children and young people living in our area".

They said errors had been made in some letters sent to staff, which have since been corrected.

"We want to reassure colleagues that throughout this consultation we will continue to talk and listen," they added.

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