CARE PLAN ROW SNP accused of trying to railroad through changes Council leader says everyone aware of £18m vision
A row has broken out over South Lanarkshire Council plans to transform social care.
As reported, the council wants to close Kirkton, Mcwhirter and Canderavon homes in the Hamilton area and replace them with community care hubs as part of a new £18 million threeyear vision.
The scheme has been road tested at East Kilbride’s Meldrum and Mckillop Gardens – and a paper was due to be tabled at the council’s social work resources committee last Wednesday.
However, both the Labour and Conservative council groups accused the SNP minority administration of trying to “rush through” plans to shut homes.
They claimed they weren’t given adequate time to scrutinise the paper outlining plans; and were sent it less than 24 hours prior to when it was due to be tabled.
The item was ultimately withdrawn but the council and its leader John Ross said a briefing was held for all councillors a week prior to the meeting.
Tory Group leader, Councillor Alex Allison, said: “Councillors of all parties should have time to study the proposals, hear from their constituents, raise questions and properly scrutinise the plans, so that ultimately the right decisions are made.
“This matter affects the lives of some of our most vulnerable residents. It is too important to be rushed through.
“South Lanarkshire has a minority SNP administration that claims to be committed to transparency and openness, but that simply doesn’t fit with bringing forward such significant proposals only the night before a committee meets.
“We could never consider such an important matter under those circumstances, so it is right they backed down and will now allow proper scrutiny.” A Labour group spokesperson said: “It is no understatement to say that these are the biggest changes to older people’s care in the 22-year lifetime of this council yet the SNP were quite prepared to railroad sweeping reforms through a single committee as an item of urgent business with only a few hours notice and without proper consultation.
“That is no way to make policy and Labour councillors will not stand for it.”
But Councillor Ross hit back and said: “All elected members were provided with a detailed briefing on April 18 with time for questions and discussion.
“The proposals were well received and some follow-up discussions took place. Based on this positive response the decision was taken to add the paper to the social work committee meeting agenda on April 25.
“The paper was essentially the briefing provided a week earlier.
“Other parties raised concerns and asked for more time to understand the details of the proposals. We were happy to accommodate their request and removed the item from the agenda.”
A council spokesman added: “Briefing sessions a week before the social work committee meeting were followed up by the presentation and a full briefing note being sent to all 64 elected members. These clearly outlined the approach being proposed.
“Care home residents and their carers were informed immediately after councillors had been briefed.
“While reports are normally published five working days before any council meeting, because elected members had already been briefed on the plans it was believed that it would be acceptable to send the report to committee members the day ahead of the meeting and then table it on the day.
“The aim was to avoid any delay in implementing a plan that had been well-received across the spectrum and which is designed to guarantee that we continue to provide the best possible care for elderly people.”