Demand for council to ‘bare all’ over care row
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HIGHLAND Council is being asked to provide details of its failed negotiations with the North, West and Sutherland Care Alliance (NWSCA) regarding the provision of respite care in the area.
Kevin Crowe, chairman of Durness Community Council, this week lodged a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the local authority.
He is demanding to see all minutes of meetings, letters, emails, faxes, text messages and notes of any phone conversations and discussions.
The NWSCA has provided respite care and home support to the elderly and vulnerable adults and children under contract to Highland Council for the last 12 years.
But managers announced last week that the organisation was being shut down because an agreement could not be reached with the local authority over future funding.
Care Alliance co-ordinator Sylvia Mackay said a 58 per cent funding cut by the council meant the group would no longer be viable.
Last week’s announcement has caused widespread anger and disappointment along the north and west coasts where a petition is currently circulating calling on the authority to properly fund the Care Alliance.
Mr Crowe said: "I want sight of all the relevant correspondence to ensure that we have full knowledge of exactly what was offered to the Care Alliance, as there are mixed messages coming from Highland Council."
"Emails I have received from social work director Bill Alexander appear to suggest that the fault lies with the Care Alliance.
"I want to check how much the Care Alliance was offered to carry out the work and compare that with the current cost of undertaking it."
Mr Crowe added: "I have yet to meet one person in Durness who is not angry about this issue."
He queried what role, if any, the three North West and Central Sutherland councillors, Linda Munro, George Farlow and Robbie Rowantree, had played in the discussions and suggested it could become an election issue.
he said: "There are council elections coming up this year and some people may express their anger at this decision (the funding cut to the Care Alliance) by voting appropriately."
Bill Alexander said the authority would respond to Mr Crowe’s FOI request.
He commented: "Highland Council was seeking to commission NWSCA to deliver a range of social care services in that part of Sutherland, and would have made the full budget available to do that, thereby considerably increasing their funding.
"This was not a savings exercise.
"Indeed, the budgets available for the care at home services in North and West Sutherland are the highest in the authority.
"NWSCA has decided that it does not wish to provide those services, and has decided to close. The council shares the disappointment of the community councils about that. However, given NWSCA’s decision, we are now talking to other care providers about delivering these services, ensuring continuity and sustaining the employment."
