HUNDREDS of pensioners who were charged for free personal care yesterday learned they will not be refunded.
East Ayrshire Council took a total of £1.9 million from OAPs for services such as food preparation in their homes. A total of 675 were charged up to £2,815 each.
East Ayrshire was one of a number of local authorities that claimed to have misunder
stood the terms of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, which stated that personal services should be provided free of charge.
The Scottish Government instructed councils to stop charging for the services in September 2006. Following the decision, Edinburgh City and Dumfries and Galloway refunded all the charges,
but East Ayrshire has made no such move and this week claimed the money had been spent as part of their overall social services budget.
Frank Birch, who has been campaigning for the council to return the money, was furious at the decision. He said: "I've written countless letters to ask the council to do the right thing and they've not budged.
"They say they acted in good faith, which they may well have done, but they are not painting themselves in a good light with their refusal to do the right thing."
Cathy Jamieson, a local MSP, has also demanded the money be refunded. She even offered to ask Scottish ministers to help foot the bill if necessary, but the council has refused her help.
She said: "I've done everything I possibly can to try to get East Ayrshire Council to take up this case and to look at it from a moral point of view.
"I've no doubt they acted in good faith, but when they were told they had made the wrong decision and that the money should be refunded, then they should have done that."
An East Ayrshire Council spokeswoman said: "The entirety of the income derived from clients has, quite properly, been subsumed into the social services budget and used to support the provision of vital services to clients.
"Consequently, there has been no sum set aside for reimbursement," the spokeswoman said. "At this point in time the council has no plans to review its position on the matter.
"We note that as many as four different bodies are, or have been, involved in reviewing various aspects of both this issue and the wider matter of whole free personal care policy.
"This includes Lord Sutherland's independent review group, Audit Scotland, a Cosla/Association of Directors of Social Work review group and the Scottish Government itself."
She added: "The council believes reviews should also take account of the historical position as regards charges for food preparation when determining future policy and allocating resources, and awaits with interest the outcome of these various review processes."
The full article contains 469 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
