Post by nickd on Jan 20, 2011 22:18:30 GMT 1
In the time I've worked as a specialist welfare benefit and debt Legal Aid worker, I don't know how many times I've heard clients say 'thank god, we've got people like the CAB to help us'. We've all seen examples of how clients come to us in states of desperation with a carrier bag full of all their problems. I don't know about other people on Mylegal who do the same job, but don't we all derive some kind of deep satisfaction at getting results for our clients, isn't that why we do the job, because deep down we care about social injustice?
Perhaps we are still worn out after all the build up to the new tendering of contracts which started off in November, I know the position on family providers still remains unresolved. Many of you will have been ground down by the whole process, many of you who lost contracts will have ended up being bitterly disappointed by losing out to other providers. There's no doubt about it the process was one which wore us all down. But what we face now is even worse, a lot worse.
It's surprised me this campaign, I'd have thought people who are passionate about the work they do (and let's face it, it's not for the money) would be up in arms and want to fight this all the way. It surprises me how people, even those I work with, will fight tirelessly on behalf of our clients, but it seems when it comes to fighting our own fight, the fight just doesn't seem to be there.
I've lost count of the times I've encouraged people to get involved, I know everyone on Ilegal and Mylegal and those behind all these campaigns feel the same way, but have we just got to a point where we've resigned ourselves to the inevitable?
It's only inevitable, if we don't oppose this, if it's undefended, the Government wins, simple as that. It was very clear from my visit to Westminster last week that there is opposition to these reforms, there are undecided ministers, they can be convinced. If we don't say anything of the work we do and why it is 'specialist', we will lose this fight, have no doubt about it. For me that means the end of a good service which we've delivered for the last ten years, I think the public will miss us, but by then, it will be too late. I'm sure many of you may feel the same.
I've asked clients to join us, some of them say they will, I ask them to go and speak with their MP's, I don't think they do.
When specialist help disappears a massive void will be created, the problems we deal with will remain unresolved puzzles which will never get solved. General advisers, mostly those good enough to offer their services for free, will get turned off by the idea of volunteering when phased with the continual demands of clients with difficult, challenging and often highly complex problems. This will be at massive detriment to the good work of organisations like the CAB. We'll no longer have anywhere to offer our specialist skills because it will become an extinct profession. The loss won't be felt until we're gone and by then it really is too late. When we're gone, we're gone, that's the reality, many of us will need to think of where we'll end up.
It's not selfish to think of ourselves for once, because the other side to this is our jobs, we're not 'fat cat lawyers, just people who graft hard for a reasonable amount of pay, pay we deserve for offering a highly professional service. But we've got mortgages and rent, Council Tax, bills, fuel and all the commitments our clients have too. There is a risk that we will get lost in the vacuum; there won't be anywhere else for us to go. Many of us will become an unemployment statistic, that's the reality, let's not kid ourselves otherwise.
Maybe a few private contractors might advertise for staff of far less experience and at pay levels linked to the level of 'expertise' they want to pay for. I don't want to be any part of such a second rate service, because I don't believe it fits with my principles, I think it will lead to purely quantity based targets and quality of advice will seriously suffer. Specialist Help working has its problems, but it's done a lot to increase the quality of advice, it has its rewards. I'd sooner walk away from second rate services, I don't want to be part of it, but where will I go I ask myself?
In the meantime, I'm going to carry on this relentless battle in the hope that others join us, that's you, both providers and service users, without your help this campaign will sink, now are you going to let it?
I know I'm not.
Perhaps we are still worn out after all the build up to the new tendering of contracts which started off in November, I know the position on family providers still remains unresolved. Many of you will have been ground down by the whole process, many of you who lost contracts will have ended up being bitterly disappointed by losing out to other providers. There's no doubt about it the process was one which wore us all down. But what we face now is even worse, a lot worse.
It's surprised me this campaign, I'd have thought people who are passionate about the work they do (and let's face it, it's not for the money) would be up in arms and want to fight this all the way. It surprises me how people, even those I work with, will fight tirelessly on behalf of our clients, but it seems when it comes to fighting our own fight, the fight just doesn't seem to be there.
I've lost count of the times I've encouraged people to get involved, I know everyone on Ilegal and Mylegal and those behind all these campaigns feel the same way, but have we just got to a point where we've resigned ourselves to the inevitable?
It's only inevitable, if we don't oppose this, if it's undefended, the Government wins, simple as that. It was very clear from my visit to Westminster last week that there is opposition to these reforms, there are undecided ministers, they can be convinced. If we don't say anything of the work we do and why it is 'specialist', we will lose this fight, have no doubt about it. For me that means the end of a good service which we've delivered for the last ten years, I think the public will miss us, but by then, it will be too late. I'm sure many of you may feel the same.
I've asked clients to join us, some of them say they will, I ask them to go and speak with their MP's, I don't think they do.
When specialist help disappears a massive void will be created, the problems we deal with will remain unresolved puzzles which will never get solved. General advisers, mostly those good enough to offer their services for free, will get turned off by the idea of volunteering when phased with the continual demands of clients with difficult, challenging and often highly complex problems. This will be at massive detriment to the good work of organisations like the CAB. We'll no longer have anywhere to offer our specialist skills because it will become an extinct profession. The loss won't be felt until we're gone and by then it really is too late. When we're gone, we're gone, that's the reality, many of us will need to think of where we'll end up.
It's not selfish to think of ourselves for once, because the other side to this is our jobs, we're not 'fat cat lawyers, just people who graft hard for a reasonable amount of pay, pay we deserve for offering a highly professional service. But we've got mortgages and rent, Council Tax, bills, fuel and all the commitments our clients have too. There is a risk that we will get lost in the vacuum; there won't be anywhere else for us to go. Many of us will become an unemployment statistic, that's the reality, let's not kid ourselves otherwise.
Maybe a few private contractors might advertise for staff of far less experience and at pay levels linked to the level of 'expertise' they want to pay for. I don't want to be any part of such a second rate service, because I don't believe it fits with my principles, I think it will lead to purely quantity based targets and quality of advice will seriously suffer. Specialist Help working has its problems, but it's done a lot to increase the quality of advice, it has its rewards. I'd sooner walk away from second rate services, I don't want to be part of it, but where will I go I ask myself?
In the meantime, I'm going to carry on this relentless battle in the hope that others join us, that's you, both providers and service users, without your help this campaign will sink, now are you going to let it?
I know I'm not.