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Argyll and Bute Council has hit back at criticism which claimed the council had denied more than 200 older people access to free personal care.

Free personal care was introduced in Scotland in July 2002 although this is not the case in England and Wales.

Councillor Dick Walsh, the council’s spokesperson for social and health issues, said: “This is a complex situation and the picture is constantly changing.”

Walsh continued: “Whilst it is true to say that the Scottish executive has increased the council’s allocation of funding for care packages, demand has continued to outstrip the money available.”

He concluded: “Of course we recognise there is a problem. Having to place people onto a priority list of clients for monitoring is not a situation that we are happy with or complacent about and we are working hard to resolve it.”

“We are currently in the process of undertaking a major review of our social work service. We expect this to progress over the next three to four months and have involved external consultants who will provide an objective perspective.”