UNIONS are making a last-ditch attempt to force a delay on a decision to privatise part of the social care network for elderly people in York.

City of York Council is planning to outsource its “reablement” services, which help residents reduce their dependency on long-term care at home by learning new skills or regaining old ones.

The authority said the move was aimed at saving £696,000 in its first year of operation and would cut £1.25 million from annual budgets afterwards, while allowing more old people to lead independent lives without burdening taxpayers with any extra cost.

But the Unison union is calling for the decision to be postponed. Unison claims improvement measures put in place during a previous reorganisation have not been given enough time to be applied and the proposals have left staff “demoralised and angry”, as well as questioning the ability of the private sector to deliver the service.

The council’s executive is due to discuss the outsourcing plans tomorrow after Unison’s Heather McKenzie met the authority’s leader Andrew Waller and executive member for health and adult social services, Jonathan Morley, last week.