Bob Simcock National Social Services Spokesperson

17 October 2001

Maharey's figures way off the mark

Figures released today by the Social Services Minister hide the true story of urgent child welfare cases currently under Child Youth and Family management, says National's Social Services spokesman, Bob Simcock.

"The Minister makes a bald claim that the number of unallocated cases has fallen in the last two quarters. But what he fails to mention is that this only because he's flogging already overworked social workers and creating extra risk for children.

"Figures for the end of September show that social workers have taken on an extra workload of 1913 cases. This amounts to two extra cases each which is a dangerous level for staff already under pressure.

"Had these cases not been forced on staff, the total number of unallocated cases would be nearly 4000. Certainly nothing to boast about.

"We have been hearing for years that children are in danger because CYFS staff are overworked. Now these staff are being required to do even more. The Minister should be concerned about the added stress he is putting on CYFS staff and the danger he is creating for children, rather than congratulating himself on a number-crunching game," Mr Simcock said.

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