Edinburgh Council U-turn on payments for hiring carers

Published on Tuesday 17 November 2009 08:55

CARERS and disabled people in Edinburgh have been told they can take control of their own care after a council U-turn.

The move follows a protest by around 300 people outside the City Chambers last week.

Council chiefs had frozen the direct payments scheme, which involves the local authority paying an individual to organise and pay for their own care.

Nearly 100 people had applied to hire carers themselves, but were told they would not be able to at least until March next year.

There was already anger over the council's re-tendering process, which raised the prospect of hundreds having, in some cases, their carer switched after decades of having the same person.

Now health and social care leader Paul Edie has said it will be "weeks rather than months" before everyone who wants direct payments gets them.

Councillor Edie said: "Quite a lot of people want to keep the same pair of hands and using direct payments can allow them to do this. I've asked that this paper was brought forward so the applications could speed up."

He said he was confident many people would return to the council for care packages once the re-tendering had settled down.