Aunty Social
CONSUMING INTEREST
By LESLIE ADRIAN
Taking what happened in Cathy: her ageing grand-dad was compulsorily removed to a 'home,' a rare instance (Mrs Willmott says that 'out of the millions of old people, only about 300 a year are compulsorily removed to residential accommodation); her husband had an accident and lost his job (was it reported, did he claim, what did his union do?); her children were snatched away from her (the book says Children's Departments make exhaustive in- quiries first about any other suitable arrange- ments . . .).
The most cursory read through this little book leaves one primarily with the feeling that the ordinary citizen must be pretty dim not to know
about the basic privileges available to him in modern Britain, such as compensation for in- juries received at work. At the same time, it also gives the impression of a highly complicated, not to say muddled, set-up which nobody can explain except in historical terms. This was how it happened : God knows why.
Information, for one thing, is scarce. Mrs Willmott comments: 'The indexing of "official" social services seems to be arranged mainly to aid contacts between different officials rather than between officials and members of the general public.' And indexing is the right word, for anomalies and confusions abound. The school health and dental services, for instance, come under the local education authority and not the local health authority, though, since they are departments of the same local authority, 'there is usually co-operation. . .
There is, of course, in most citizens' minds a fair amount of confusion between local authority services and government services. Everyone talks about 'state' schools, which they are not, and which is why they vary so widely and wildly. Then again, the people who most need the minis- trations of social services are not crystal clear about the distinction between official and volun- tary. Sometimes they must all seem like busy- bodies and do-gooders. The fact that NSPCC inspectors wear uniform leads ignorant folk to incline to see just another one of 'them.'
If this is a difficulty, it strains theimagination of the most intelligent that in one borough you may be able to acquire the services of night atten- dants for sick people, use a laundry for the incontinent, arrange a cheap recuperative_holi- day on the recommendation of a hospital, or take advantage of what is called the 'neigh- bourly help service,' a voluntary extension of the home-help service, while across the munici- pal boundary you may not. So much depends upon the composition of local councils and the initiative and energy of local officials. But still, almost as if they knew they had something to hide, local authorities do not provide compre- hensive information about what they do for their residents (or can do if urged).
What can be done about it? Mrs Willmott suggests that local consumer groups can take a hand in stirring up activity. Individual con- sumer complaints to local officialdom seldom meet with much more than one of those 'official' replies, and there is no use threatening to take your business elsewhere. A good authority will improve if encouraged; a bad one may need to be chivvied. Three hints: be brief but polite; type the letter if possible; and on the telephone 'it is still often an advantage to have a middle- class accent.' Why?
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