Highland Council chief exec ‘has hands tied’ over answers on Avonlea and Thor House
Highland Council chief executive Derek Brown has declined to seek answers to outstanding questions several far north members have about controversies surrounding two local care centres.
They have been seeking to establish the process which led to the decision to axe Avonlea children’s home in Wick in December 2022 and indefinitely suspend the overnight respite service at Thor House in Thurso.
Their efforts were stymied when the full council in May rejected a call for an independent review into the closure of Avonlea, on the chairman’s casting vote after a 31-31 tie.
The council also opposed a move to reinstate respite care at Thor by 33-29.
Councillor Matthew Reiss, one of those who has been calling for officials to “come clean” on both issues, has revealed an approach to Mr Brown has come to naught.
“He says his hands are tied because of the vote,” said the Thurso and North West Caithness member. Mr Brown took over as chief executive in September last year.
Councillor Reiss was speaking after the issues were raised at Wednesday evening’s meeting in Wick of the Association of Caithness Community Councils.
Thurso Community Council vice chair Billy Sinclair said it has drawn a blank in its long-time efforts to establish why Avonlea closed and why the respite service has not been reinstated at Thor House after it was withdrawn during the pandemic.
Since Avonlea’s closure, the Thurso centre has been deployed to accommodate looked-after children.
“We just don’t understand why this has happened and no-one has ever provided any evidence to back it up,” said Mr Sinclair.
“We’ve been trying really hard to get to the bottom of it but have been given no answers. As a community council, we’ve been completely ignored.”
Councillor Reiss said that the information void has led to him for the first time submitting Freedom of Information requests to the council.
He said: “Until this is sorted out and we establish what went wrong, it’s very difficult for us to move on.”
Council leader Raymond Bremner said since the last association meeting, there have been a number of meetings and briefings on the issues involving councillors and officials.
He added: “If they (the councillors) still think they haven’t got progress or answers, they can meet with the chief executive or senior officials.”
A council spokesperson has said a report on the review of the future of its respite service is being prepared to go before a meeting of the health, social care and wellbeing committee.
The spokesperson added that democratic procedures were followed in the decisions to reject an independent review into Avonlea’s closure and the resumption of respite care at Thor.