Councillor Warned About Spending Cuts For People With Learning Disabilities

A Highland councillor is concerned that the authority has agreed to reduce spending on services to people with learning difficulties by £400,000 without saying how the saving is to be achieved.

Ian Ross, who is one of the Highland Council members for East Sutherland and Edderton, said the move, agreed at the council’s budget setting meeting last week, was described as “a reconfiguration of the delivery of respite services to adults with a learning difficulty in the north area”.

But no further information was provided on how services would be affected.

“This budget proposal was presented as a saving and was not supported by any additional detailed information. It is crucial we have a clear understanding of what is intended and how any changes will be managed,” said Mr Ross.

He added that he questioned the lack of information and detail at the meeting.

“The only response was that late decisions had to be made as part of any budget setting process, but this also raised the question over what discussion had taken place with the NHS and other partners.

“Changes to community care based approaches may sometimes have merit, but they require very careful planning, significant consultation and can be very expensive,” he said.

And he has asked for an early and urgent briefing on the planned changes to clarify what is proposed and how it will be communicated to service users and their families.

Mr Ross said: “We now seem to be in a position where significant decisions are made without any advance consultation and any consultation will be on the implementation process alone – with the key decisions already made.

“There are very real issues over the extent to which the public, communities and individuals, have the opportunity, information and time to fully understand and consider proposals,” said Mr Ross.

Highland Council’s social work director Harriet Dempster yesterday said the authority aimed to provide community care services to people with learning difficulties as close to home as possible.

“Currently there are a number of out of authority, very expensive placements, and we’re seeking to reconfigure resources to try to provide these services in Highland, instead of out of Highland. If we can do this, we will be able to make some efficiency savings,” she said.

Ms Dempster said they were also trying to enable them to be supported in employment, rather than in centres.

She added that there had been some discussion about the changes with local groups and more would take place as things progressed.