Kent County Council have announced a consultation about closing council operated care homes in the county in a bid to save £2m each year.

Of course the whole process is couched in spin. The cabinet member for adult social services, Councillor Graham Gibbens, told the BBC, "These proposals are about creating a legacy of dignity, quality care and a quality environment for all older people now and in the future” but of course he could not avoid the bottom line saying "They are also about saving money so that we can continue to protect services wherever possible."

What is avoided, so far, in these announcements are the impact such closures on the individuals who need care services and those who work for the homes faced with closure.

Kent is, of course, just one of the Councils with Social Services Responsibilities who will be looking at this option in the bid to cut expenditure, many have already divested themselves of their care home stock.

The jury is still out on the impact on vulnerable elderly people who are faced with being moved from one home to another but there are certainly issues in terms of the Human Rights Act, after all the Act was applied to private care homes because of an issue of trying to remove an elderly woman from a home she wanted to stay in. There will, no doubt, be plenty of legal challenges as Councils try to find a way around their responsibilities to Human Rights.

Perhaps the biggest issue is why Councils save money by contracting out care services. One reason is the amount paid to care workers, one average (going by Skills for Care NMDS figures) care workers for councils are paid 8% more than their counterparts in private companies. So aside from council care workers facing redundancy they are all facing a drop in their income if the continue to work in the care sector.

Then councils are also able to reduce their administration staff as they will be no longer needing maintenance, payroll and HR staff etc. It is, perhaps these council workers who will suffer most, whilst care workers may find alternative jobs with those private providers taking over from the councils (albeit at lower wages) the back office staff will not have such an option as the private providers will already have people in these roles.

The other way councils will save money is by having more control over what they spend on the elderly, with their own care provision the have to provide a certain level of service and pay for it. With simply paying private providers they are able to control fees. Most councils did not give providers any increases in fees this year – despite inflationary pressures and many fees have not been increased in line with inflation over the last few years. This forces private providers to find ways in which to reduce costs without impacting on basic levels of care.

The closure of council run care homes may help Local Authorities balance their books a little better but only at the expense of the levels of care provision and the lives of those who work in providing care to the vulnerable.