PLANS to transform the way adult services are delivered in Dorset will help to tackle a ‘financial tsunami’ facing the authority, the leader of the county council has said.

A proposal to form a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) was put before Dorset County Council’s cabinet at a meeting at County Hall in Dorchester.

Presenting the business case for the plan, which could save the authority almost £7million over five years, Cllr Jill Haynes, cabinet member for adult social care, said the decision is ‘not without risk’.

She added: “The risk of doing nothing is much greater for the council and the public we care for. The current costs are not sustainable. If we stay as we are we will be left with no alternative but to cut services.”

Cllr Haynes also told the cabinet that the older demographic of Dorset will present ‘considerable challenges’ in the future.

An LATC would be 100 per cent owned by the council and run by its own board. It would allow the council to offer services to people who fund their own care and any profits would be put back into the company.

But the cabinet faced questions from county councillors around issues of zero-hour contracts, staff consultation as well as claims by Cllr Janet Dover that the decision was being rushed.

In response to Cllr Dover, Cllr Spencer Flower, chairing the meeting, said: “We are faced with a financial tsunami coming towards us. We are not in a position to take forever over anything.

“We have got to do it properly to make sure we understand the risks, but we need to implement changes.”

Cllr Paul Kimber, who represents Portland on the county council, asked if zero-hour contracts would be used for new staff.

Catherine Driscoll, director for adult and community services, said these are currently ‘not widespread in the service’, adding: “I do not see the LATC entering into zero-hour contracts.”

Cllr Haynes said staff had been consulted on the plans.

She added: “There is no intention of paying staff taken on after the transfer a separate rate.”

Cllr Toni Coombs added that, while she supports the proposal, the county council has to ‘balance being radical with protecting the vulnerable’.

The cabinet approved the plans and DCC hopes to have the new company launched and operational in the 2015/16 financial year.

There will be a further vote in December on whether to proceed with plans to make the LATC ‘pan-authority’, which would include adult care services in Bournemouth and Poole.

How the LATC will work

Unlike the county council, a Local Authority Trading Company is an organisation which has the ability to trade.

It will be able to deliver services to more people in need of social care support, including those who receive a direct payment, informal carers, and those who fund their care privately.

The LATC will have share-holdings, but the council will hold 100 per cent of these shares without providing any financial subsidy. DCC will retain control of the LATC through the formation of an Executive Stakeholder Group, which will include five council members, including the cabinet member for adult social care, director of adult and community services and chief financial officer.

This will ensure that the LATC retains the high standards of service quality.

Council staff working in adult social care and support will be transferred over to the new organisation with their existing pay, terms and conditions intact.