Church of Scotland care services under threat

THE head of the Kirk’s charity wing has warned it will be forced to consider the future of some care services if local authorities keep cutting funding.

The Reverend Syd Graham, convener of the Church of Scotland’s social care council, said it would not run “cheapo” services for councils in the face of falling funding levels.

“Let me make clear that our commitment remains that the social care council and staff refuse to dumb down the quality of our service,” he told the General Assembly in Edinburgh.

“Caring in Christ’s name demands excellence.”

The Kirk is one of the largest social care providers in Scotland, employing 1,332 staff across a spectrum of services, including care for the elderly, specialist residential units for people with learning difficulties, respite services and community-based care.

Its charitable body, which operates under the name CrossReach, would have to “seriously consider the viability of services” if funding is reduced by local authorities seeking to make cost savings, he added.

CrossReach is concerned that further funding cuts would force it to provide substandard services, something it is not prepared to do.

Peter Bailey, chief executive, said: “If the funding reduces, there are circumstances where we will have to say, ‘would this result in us providing a quality of service below a level we are happy with?’

“And therefore what we are saying is that, if there continues to be cuts in funding, and we understand that local authorities have their own pressures, then we cannot guarantee to be providing the services.”

CrossReach had an operational deficit of £5.6 million in 2008, which fell to £700,000 in 2011.

It is hoping to break even this year.

Mr Bailey said that the council had been able to cut its deficit, while avoiding service closures, by focusing on efficiency savings.

But he warned that there were limits to what could be done. “You can make yourself efficient, but there’s a point where you have to say, ‘hang on a minute’. If those efficiencies are going to affect our quality then that’s the point where we have to say this is something we’re going to have to consider.”

Mr Graham said that maintaining a high-quality staff in the current economic climate was hard.

Like many social care providers, the Kirk is facing challenges in maintaining services because of changes in statutory funding.

Coupled with falls in other sources of incomes, in particular the number of bequests, CrossReach’s financial resources are being stretched.

As a result, the body has had to make some difficult decisions in order to continue maintaining its services across Scotland.

One of the most high-profile moves was the announcement of the closure of Perthshire care home, Belmont Castle.

The facility was, CrossReach said, unsustainable on account of dwindling resident numbers – said to be due in part to its remote position, rather than local authority funding problems – and running a loss of more than £150,000 a year, which was untenable.

Belmont was, though, unique compared to other elderly care homes, which Mr Bailey said had very good occupancy levels.

A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said: “Demand for services will always outstrip ability to pay for them, but obviously councils will try and protect the most needy and vulnerable in society.”