Press Release

CHAIR OF THE DISABILITIES TRUST HIGHLIGHTS CONCERNS OVER CONTRACTS AND REGULATION OF THE THIRD SECTOR

Yesterday at a special House of Lords lunch attended by over 100 guests, including a number of MPs and members of the Lords, Graham Anderson, the outgoing Chair of Trustees of The Disabilities Trust, spoke of his concerns over the future of local authority contracts and the increasing burden of regulation on the third sector.

In his speech Mr Anderson emphasised the growing problems with contracts. He said, “You will all be aware of the difficulties that local authorities face when it comes to funding…. but it is not acceptable that they expect charities to make efficiency savings when they may have as many as three departments involved in deciding one fee for one individual!”   

Mr Anderson also highlighted a trend in commissioning policy that is very troubling. “Our recent fee negotiations have exposed a new and worrying development.  Increasingly we are facing authorities that have effectively formed themselves into cartels by creating one cost matrix. Their aim is to establish a single price across counties and the threat is ‘sign up or we will not refer’. The huge danger of this is that it takes no account of the individual. At a time when the Government is advocating that care should fit the individual…. we are being asked to put people into pre-set services where choice is lost.” “The Trust is always completely transparent in its fee proposals and to be offered zero increases does not acknowledge the reality of the cost of providing care”. 

On regulation Mr Anderson underlined the Trust’s commitment to the very highest standards of care, but added, “ We recognise the importance of regulation but we take issue with interpretation and execution. For example within a week of receiving a ‘gold star’ from CARF, the Trust had a routine inspection which resulted in a completely inaccurate observation being published on the internet…. even though the report was disputed. It is undoubtedly true that it is a minority of inspectors who create these problems (but) reports must accurately reflect the standards set and the benchmarks agreed.” “There is no place today for any Agency/Commission to be judge, jury and executioner. We will continue to support and develop standards which will improve the quality of life for those in care”.

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