The Government's proposed restructure of social services departments is a ridiculous idea on that will add to already compounding problems for the Child, Youth and Families Service, National's Social Services and Work and Income spokesman Bob Simcock said today.

"The Child, Youth and Families Service is under tremendous pressure. They have got such a massive list of unallocated cases that they are having trouble coping with the workload and retaining staff. This proposal will only create more stress.

"Judge Mick Brown's report highlighted that one of the major causes of failure in the CYFS was the number of restructures it has had, yet here the Government is announcing they are considering doing it all over again.

"They can't use the justification that CYFS and the Department of Work and Income have many of the same clients. All of DWI clients go to the supermarket as well but that doesn't justify the departments amalgamating.

"The culture and skills of an organisation that provides care and protection services needs to be totally different from the culture of an organisation that provides benefits.

"If amalgamation progresses at the very time when CYFS needs to have a public voice, it will lose that voice and become a small part of a very large organisation. The budget difference is huge with CYFS responsible for $340 million compared to the DWI's $13 billion. "By merging these organisations the Government is also attempting to avoid an embarrassing personal grievance by DWI chief executive Christine Rankin whom it wants to ditch.

"Amalgamating these social service departments is ridiculous. They should be left to stand alone," Mr Simcock said.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>