Cllr Flora Williamson

A PLAN to privatise the social care service that helps people leaving hospital readjust to life at home has been met with backlash from union officials who say it would be a “betrayal” of Labour promises.

Discussions about outsourcing the council’s reablement service, a short-term care package which helps vulnerable people re-adjust to living independently, has sparked anger among Unison members and opposition councillors who say a private company may provide a substandard, unaccountable service and risk harming the pay and conditions of workers.

The Tribune understands that the plan would see workers transfer over to a private company but stay on council wages although as many as 20 people could be at risk of redundancy.

Jane Doolan, branch secretary of Unison in Islington, said: “We are completely against it and we will campaign against it.

“They are doing reviews and reorganisations all over the place [but] we were quite surprised when we were told that this was on the cards for reablement.”

She added: “Where has privatisation been successful? It’s all about profit. Any company that is going to tender for this are in it to make money. Make as much as they can for as ­little output. That is the main concern, that there will be vulnerable people who will be caught up once again in the private sector getting shortchanged.”

If the privatisation plan goes ahead, it would mark the first time since Labour took control of the council that an in-house service was outsourced.

Andrew Berry, the social services convener for Unison who worked in the reablement service for over a decade, said that the plan would constitute a “betrayal”.

He told the Tribune: “There has been a commitment to bring services back in house since 2010. If this happened it would be the first time a service had gone the other way. It’s a big thing for us because we have that commitment from them [Labour] and it could break our relationship with them.”

Ms Doolan said: “The councillors are the political leaders. They’ve told the managers that they need to find these cuts. They’re doing as they’ve been told to do. They’re finding cuts, and the fallout will be quite devastating. This is a front-line service. They’ve been cutting front-line services for years, I don’t know what back office we’re talking about.”

The council hopes to save £1.8million by procuring the service through a private contractor.

Benali Hamdache, who leads the Green group, said: “It’s really galling to see more privatisation of social care services when we’ve got a Labour government, a Labour mayor, and a Labour council.

“I feel like the council doesn’t want to lose face by saying that these services are struggling, but by doing that, they don’t highlight what austerity is like. There are no honest conversations about the impact of these cuts.”

Health and social care chief Councillor Flora Williamson said: “While we’re in a stable position financially, there is no escaping the fact that after 15 years of Tory austerity, the cost-of-living crisis, and growing demand for council services, particular in adult social care and temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness, has stretched our budget.

“Thanks to other innovative council services which support people leaving hospital, demand for the reablement service has fallen but we need to ensure that we can keep offering an excellent reablement services to those who do need it. There are no immediate changes planned, but we are beginning to consult with colleagues and our trade unions partners, to look at a number of ways that we might shape the future delivery of the re-enablement service from April 2027 onwards.

“As a Labour led council our door is always open and we are keen to discuss the way forward with our trade union colleagues.”