Hampshire adult care plans come under fire

HAMPSHIRE chiefs are considering hiving off adult care services to a council-owned trading company.

The Conservative-run council is proposing to set up a local authority trading company to provide remaining in-house services such as nursing homes, day centres and equipment.

Council bosses could approve the transfer by December – but the move has come under fire from union bosses and Liberal Democrat opposition councillors.

Adult social services make up nearly half the council’s budget at over £300million, excluding education which is funded directly by central government.

The department employs about 3,450 full-time equivalent staff and provides information and support to 95,000 frail pensioners, adults with physical or learning disabilities and the mentally-ill.

The council, which is faced with an ageing population and a squeeze on public spending, says it needs to reform the way it provides adult care services, including cutting costs.

The department already plans to cut spending by £24m and axe 376 jobs.

Trading companies are a halfway house between keeping services in-house and contracting them out to a private provider.

The council would be the majority shareholder of the company which would be run as an independent commercial enterprise competing in the open marketplace.

Staff who survive the job cuts could be transferred on existing pay and benefits, including pensions. Essex and Somerset county councils have already gone down this route.

The council’s Cabinet will debate the proposal today. Other options include keeping services in-house, contracting them out to a private provider, a joint venture and a social enterprise – but setting up a local authority trading company (LATC) appears to be the preferred route.

In a council report, Hampshire chief executive Andrew Smith said an initial study had shown a LATC could lead to a “more efficient and streamlined operation.”

He said the next step will be to develop a business case to be considered by Cabinet in September before final approval in December.

The council says as more people take up the option of shopping for their personal care with individual budgets, in-house services have to cut costs to be competitive.

However, Liberal Democrat opposition leader Councillor Keith House has voiced his concerns.

He said: “The risk is a trading company could be used to cut standards of care and the quality of staff, away from detailed scrutiny of councillors, residents’ groups and the press.”

And Tim Cutter, acting branch secretary for Unison, condemned the proposal as “outrageous” and a “back door attempt at privatisation.”

He said: “It is the start of a slippery slope and begs the question: how far is the council prepared to go down this route with other services?

“I think there will be an angry reaction from staff. They know what privatisation will mean – an attack on terms and conditions and less job security.”

Better performing councils have the power to create local authority trading companies under the Local Government Act of 2003.

County chiefs say that any proposals will have to go out for public consultation and no decisions have yet been made.