A number of Fife’s opposition councillors have lodged a formal complaint with council chief executive Ronnie Hinds following last week’s decision to close local authority care homes.
In a letter to Mr Hinds, the councillors claim some of the processes used in reaching the agreement were “incompetent” and were in serious danger of bringing the local authority into disrepute.
They have asked the chief executive to look into the matter and respond to them as soon as possible.
In addition, the opposition now has enough support to call for an emergency full council meeting in a bid to overturn what has proved to be one of the council’s most controversial decisions in recent times.
Following a meeting with council lawyers yesterday, the motion will officially be made today, and by law a specially convened meeting must be held within a fortnight.
A major row has been brewing since members of the social work and health committee voted by the narrowest of margins to close all 10 council-run care homes and move residents to private sector or not-for-profit homes once they are built.
The SNP/Lib Dem administration has defended the decision and its handling of the situation, saying the condition of its homes was deteriorating and the council’s precarious financial situation meant they had no choice but to look to the private sector.
Assurances have also been given that no homes will close until alternative accommodation is available, a process that could take several years.
However, the opposition claims one of the motions put forward which eventually led to the committee’s decision was “grossly misleading and liable to give an inaccurate and misleading picture to the wider public.”Review groupThe complaint to Mr Hinds by Labour leader Alex Rowley and independents Andrew Rodger, Bryan Poole and Willie Clarke hinges on a motion made by social work and health committee chairman, Councillor Tim Brett, who called on members to confirm the unanimous view of a cross-party review group, which was presented to the committee in June, 2008.
That view, he said, was that Fife Council needed to start on a programme of replacing the council’s residential care places.
However, Councillor Rowley told us that what had in fact been agreed in 2008 was that Fife Council should remain as a direct provider of residential care services, which was “substantially and materially very different” to Mr Brett’s motion.
“The motion as it stands is a serious distortion of what was actually agreed in 2008,” said Mr Rowley. “It also omits substantial and material elements of what was agreed in 2008, those being specific reference to Fife Council remaining as a direct provider of residential care services.
“If left as it is, the public record will indicate that at the committee meeting last week the committee confirmed something that actually didn’t and doesn’t exist.
“From a governance standpoint, it is our view that this is not acceptable, and from an accountability to the public standpoint it is misleading and in very serious danger of bringing Fife Council into disrepute.
“It is akin to falsifying the minute of the meeting.”
Regarding the call for an emergency meeting, Councillor Rodger said, “We don’t believe they’ve gone into detail on the impact of closing the homes. If the consultation is to mean anything at all, they have to listen to what people are saying.”
Councillor Brett has defended his motion, saying its purpose was to remind those present that three years ago the cross-party working group said it was necessary to begin the process of replacing care homes.
“Yes, at that point we wanted to do it in-house but the key thing is we wanted to do it,” he said. “Because of the horrendous financial situation we’re facing, we’re not in a position to go forward in the way we wanted to.”