A last-ditch bid to stop the privatisation of care homes in Fife failed as the council approved measures to help plug a £127 million gap in its capital investment plan.
Fife’s SNP/Lib Dem administration approved steps to tackle the massive shortfall identified over the lifetime of its plan, which included taking back the £40 million previously earmarked for replacing ageing care homes.
The £40 million had been set aside to build up to five new homes, but the council has since decided not to proceed with the replacement programme and is moving towards providing care through the private or not-for-profit sector.
Labour councillors had hoped to block the changes to the capital plan and, by doing so, force the council to commit to a mixed provision of care, but they were ultimately outvoted.
Measures outlined on Thursday will effectively cut the council’s estimated funding gap of £127 million to just £27 million, although councillors were warned capital plan costs could increase further over the coming years as cost pressures grow and the demands for new projects escalate.
Council leader Peter Grant said, “We’re still talking about not far short of £1 billion to be spent on capital projects in Fife, £900 million and odd of which there’s no argument about. That’s an indication that we did get it right.
“The focus will inevitably be on the things that are not happening but let’s not lose sight of the things that are happening.
“This is not the capital plan that I would put forward if it was entirely my decision there has to be a bit of give and take and nobody is going to get everything they wanted.
“But it is a plan I think recognises where investment has to be made and recognises where benefits can be achieved without the same level of investment on our part.
“If someone else is willing to do something to an acceptable standard, we should let them do it.”
Opposition councillors proposed keeping £20 million in the plan to replace or refurbish council-run homes, calling the £40 million earmarked by the administration a “guestimate”.
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Labour’s David Ross said, “We need to retain a mix of provision and we’re proposing to put at least £20 million towards the refurbishment and replacement of care homes. We think the costs have been overestimated and they could be procured for less than £40 million.
“By proper partnership with the not-for-profit sector and the development of care co-operatives we could attract match funding to substantially increase the investment being put in. We’re convinced this would allow us to retain good standards of care, keep control over those standards and ensure good training and consistency of staff which is absolutely vital for the people in our homes.”
But Tim Brett, chairman of social work and health, replied, “Labour are proposing £20 million and that may procure three-and-a-bit homes, so I’m not sure how they propose to go forward in the longer term.
“I note Labour also talks about refurbishment. I would remind them that we did look in detail at this and the advice we had was that our homes could not be refurbished to the standards required without significantly reducing the number of places that would be involved.”
Labour also wanted to establish a £5 million Communities Investment Fund, retain £3.65 million in the plan for works at Dysart Harbour, and allocate extra money for roads and paths, also asking for reviews into the school estate, fleet transport and IT. However, the proposal was rejected by 14 votes to six.
As well as the £40 million care home cash, the council will make £35 million available by adding a ninth and 10th year to the initial plan, extending it to 2019/20, and expects to bring in an extra £14 million by selling its assets. It had been feared the downturn would restrict the income it generates from selling assets, but revised estimates suggest the council will benefit more as the economy recovers.
In addition, the Scottish Futures Trust is expected to allocate £11 million in funding to the new Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes.
With a review of the capital plan identifying more than £105 million of emerging needs over the life of the plan, proposals worth £79.5 million were also put on the back burner.
Just over £87 million of savings had been identified but the SNP/Lib Dem motion proposed to leave nine specific projects in the plan, including £2 million for the Levenmouth rail link, £2.2 million towards removing huts in schools and £300,000 for the Cowdenbeath bus scheme.