Cashback For Dumfries & Galloway Elderly Care Users

Pensioners at the centre of a controversial row over care fees are to receive £100 from Dumfries and Galloway Council.

More than 700 residents were wrongly charged for meal preparation under the Scottish Government’s free care policy.

They will receive the cash as a goodwill gesture that all money owed will be eventually refunded.

The move came ahead of a full compensation scheme which has yet to be established by council officials.

Dumfries and Galloway Council chief executive Phil Jones said it was a step in the right direction, despite concerns about a lack of clarity over the free personal care policy at a national level.

Ivor Hyslop, who leads the authority’s new Tory administration, raised concern that a compensation scheme had not been drawn up under the council’s previous regime.

Dumfries and Galloway Council, which has set aside £1.5m for reimbursement, decided to drop the charge in January last year.