The six-bed Beachview Lodge, which has a staff of nine and offers respite care to learning disabled adults from all over the north, is set to be turned into a long-stay residential unit.

Concern about the future of the centre was expressed earlier this year when it emerged Highland Council wanted to make savings of £400,000 in its social work budget.

Local councillors complained that budget papers were so vague they had no idea what was intended for Beachview and feared it could close down.

However, the picture became clearer in a report presented to the council's housing and social work committee when they met in Inverness on Wednesday.

The council's head of operations (community care), Jonathan King, explained in the report that there was currently no provision in the north for learning disabled people who needed residential care.

The council had to place them outwith the Highlands, at a total cost of £2,253,000. He believed substantial savings could be made if Beachview changed its role to offer the specialist residential care currently provided elsewhere.

Mr King stated the respite care previously provided by Beachview would still be available from units at Thor House in Thurso and 16 Grant Street in Wick.

He said the future of a separate but neighbouring day care unit at Beachview would be the subject of consultation. The Beachview Day Centre, which costs around £207,000 a year to run, has nine staff and 10 users.

In his report Mr King says that fewer than one in five users of day care centres for the learning disabled in the North required the delivery of the service to be in a specialist centre.

"The consultation on the future services will require consideration of the existing buildings, their fitness for the new purpose and the exploration of options to relocate and/or make more efficient use of the properties concerned," he said.

Mr King conceded that the changes proposed were radical and far-reaching, but insisted they would not lead to job losses. "The proposals in this report will have consequences for many staff, and area managers are already involved in providing information to those who would be affected," he said.

"However, it is anticipated that there is not a threat to the job security of most, if not all, current employees and the development of new specialist Highland services will provide new career opportunities for many."

East Sutherland and Edderton councillor Deirdre Mackay is not a member of the housing and social work committee, but she attended Wednesday's meeting because of her concerns for Beachview.

She told the committee that the report raised more questions than it answered. She queried whether Beachview was going to be a centre solely for autistic people or for those with a variety of complex care needs.

"It concerns me that the issue of client group has not been thought through," she said. "As I see it, in solving one set of problems there is the potential to create another set."

Councillor Mackay also queried what would happen to the existing clients, the majority of whom are from Inverness.

She said the journey to Brora was difficult enough for them without having to travel the additional journey for respite care in Caithness.

She told the Northern Times afterwards that she had successfully sought assurances that there would be full consultation about the changes with staff, users and their representatives.

She added: "Officials have also recognised that respite care in Caithness is not a solution for everyone and alternative options should be made available."

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