Unison has called for a care service to be brought back in house following a report which rated it inadequate.

Barnet Supported Living Services, which supports people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health needs, has been told by The Care Quality Commission (CQC) that it must make improvements or face further enforcement action.

The service is run by Your Choice Barnet. A CQC inspection last year found that it was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, responsive or well-led.

The care service was transferred from Barnet Borough Council to Your Choice Barnet, a local authority trading company, in February 2012.

In response to the CQC’s report, trade union Unison has called for the service to be brought back under the control of the council to “restore confidence”.

Barnet Unison branch secretary John Burgess said: “The driving motivation for our members in this dispute is their fears about what is happening to the quality of services. Low pay in the care sector does not deliver high quality services.

“This report gives a stark warning of the consequences of ongoing attacks on the pay of care workers. Therefore in light of the content of the CQC report we are calling on adults and safeguarding committee to instruct council officers to bring this service back in house in order to bring stability to the service and restore confidence of the services users, parents/carers that their children will receive a service to be proud of.”

In a statement last week, Julie Riley, director of care and support at Your Choice Barnet, said concerns had been addressed.

Ms Riley added: “Since the inspection was carried out six months ago we have instigated a detailed action plan addressing the areas for improvement identified in the verbal debrief last August although a number of the areas in the written report weren't fed back at this time.

“I am pleased to confirm that the majority of actions identified at that time have already been put in place including improvements in management of medication management, service management and hygiene, in advance of our formal report of action to the CQC required by March 27, 2015."