Disabled people in Scotland win campaign to keep their carers

From BBC News:

People with disabilities in Edinburgh have won their battle to keep their carers.

The council had proposed putting the services for vulnerable adults out to competitive tendering.

But clients feared they would lose the carers with whom they had built up a relationship, and opted to pay directly for their services.

On Thursday the council is expected to agree to drop the tendering process for social care for vulnerable adults.

Ian Hood, from Learning Disability Alliance Scotland, said they were worried that vulnerable people would not be given the choice over whether or not their services should be changed.

He said: "People had chosen their care with specific organisations, in some cases for 30 years, and they would lose the person they had grown to depend on and trust."

More than 480 of the 770 vulnerable people who receive support opted for direct payment instead, where they get an allowance to choose the carer they want.

So many opted out of the council scheme that the tendering process was made impossible.

The council is expected to vote against competitive tendering for the coming financial year in social care for vulnerable people, and is likely to agree a ceiling on direct payments.

Members of the finance committee will also consider a report by accountants Deloitte who criticised the tendering process, describing it as "not sufficiently meticulous".

Council leader Jenny Dawe said: "I am disappointed that the tender evaluation process appears to have been less than perfect and I will be instructing the chief executive to bring forward a full 'lessons learnt' report."

But the council has not ruled out looking at social care payments for vulnerable people in the future.

Cllr Dawe added: "It is quite clear that the current charging arrangements do not represent best value.

"Some providers are charging twice the rate of others for the same or very similar services.

"If we can achieve the required savings by negotiation then I believe existing service users will feel reassured."