Open letter to council leader from Heywood priest

Date published: 25 February 2010

Dear Irene,

I am writing this open letter to you since, when you were elected as council leader, many people, not just in your own party, stated publicly and privately that you would do things differently.

As I mentioned to you at the time, I hoped that this would reflect a new, more caring approach to the more vulnerable members of our Borough, not least the elderly who are resident in their own homes and in residential care.

I am concerned that we are getting 'more of the same'. That the budget passed last night proposes the closure of two intermediate care homes is a scandal. Why close half the homes when the report showed that usage was much more than 50%?

I can furnish you with details of how the home-based adult care service is leaving elderly residents uncared for. I personally am aware of carers arriving to make breakfast at the same late hour as carers are arriving to prepare lunch. I am aware of carers asking residents how to cook a lamb chop and then popping it into the microwave because they don't have enough time to cook food properly. I have spoken to social workers who have laughed out loud when I said that RMBC had assured me that the transfer of care between private companies had been 'seamless.'

Can I remind you that care is not a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market, with the tenders going to those firms who can offer the cheapest deal, thereby sending in young, inexperienced staff with minimum qualifications, unable to cook, no time to chat, running late but saving the Council money. Care is a basic human right. Our elderly people deserve better than they are currently getting and RMBC seems unable to guarantee that level of care or oversee its delivery.

And now you are proposing to dismantle Meals on Wheels. At Heywood Township one of your party colleagues sought to prevent me asking about the changes to Meals on Wheels; so much for liberal values of tolerance and free speech. The Cabinet member responsible twice refused to answer my question; will a daily service of a freshly cooked hot meal personally delivered by someone who has time, if required, to chat, be maintained? Maybe you might give a direct answer?

And, amidst all of this, you continue to fund a PR department who have been shown to be open to accusations of party-politically bias in sending out on council press releases comments by those party colleagues of yours who are up for re-election this May. Surely cuts, if they have to be made, should be achieved by dismantling or reforming the apparatus of power and spin that we, the tax payers of Rochdale Borough, are paying for?

There is, Irene, much more that I could say; about the state of Rochdale Town Centre or about the rights of Hopwood Hall ward voters to elect three members to their local township, for example, but the way we treat our elderly and the way your administration chooses to exercise power rather than service are of a much higher priority.

I do hope, in this Lenten season, that there is still time for your administration to shed some of the arrogance of power and put the needs of the vulnerable first. If you did, you would have my full support in the difficult task that you have undertaken.

I do genuinely admire those who give of their time to stand for public office from all of the political parties and from those genuinely independent as well. I write this letter not to endorse any political party but to speak up for the needs of the vulnerable and to highlightwhat should be the true role of local councillors in serving the common good.

You and your colleagues do have my prayers in the challenges you face.

With every good wish,

Paul Daly
Heywood