Nearly 90 staff at a major social care charity have been transferred to Glasgow City Council’s health and social care partnership following a rent dispute between the charity and its council-owned landlord.
Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership will absorb 83 staff as it takes on two contracts previously held by Turning Point Scotland.
The two contracts between Turning Point Scotland and Glasgow City Council will end without renewal in October, after the charity’s landlord City Property Glasgow, an arm’s-length body of the council, allegedly tried to double the annual rent.
Turning Point Scotland said City Property proposed increasing the annual rent for its Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Crisis Service on Tradeston Street, Glasgow, from £65,000 to £131,000 under any future lease agreement.
After the charity and its landlord were unable to find a solution to the long-running dispute, the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership announced it would take on delivery of two of the charity’s contracted services.
This includes the crisis service, which the partnership said would be retained as a “matter of priority”.
It will also assume delivery of the charity’s Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Recovery Residential Stabilisation Service, based in a similar area of the city on Commerce Street, which the partnership intends to review.
Turning Point Scotland alleged the partnership planned to replace this 16-bed residential service with a community-based model, but the council’s partnership said it would not know what changes – if any – would be made until after an equality impact assessment of the service.
All staff at each of the services will transfer to the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, it confirmed.
Turning Point Scotland told Third Sector it had a total of 87 staff across the two services – 58 at the crisis service and 29 at the stabilisation service. The charity has about 1,300 staff across all of its services.
The charity and the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership have blamed each other for the service transfer.
Neil Richardson, chief executive of Turning Point Scotland, said the charity was “deeply disappointed by Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership’s decision to bring the Glasgow alcohol and drug crisis service in-house” and alleged plans to replace the residential stabilisation service with a community-based model.
Richardson added: “Our concern has never been about who delivers these services. It is about ensuring people continue to receive the same level of specialist support and that any transition is carried out safely.
“Our teams understand that people in crisis don’t always present in predictable ways and work to build relationships that help people engage with support. That trust cannot simply be transferred overnight.”
But a spokesperson for Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership said the decisions resulted from the charity’s choice not to negotiate an extension of its contract if a solution with its landlord City Property could not be agreed.
The spokesperson said: “The Glasgow HSCP has worked at pace to agree a solution which will retain the crisis centre as a matter of priority and allow a review of the stabilisation service.
“This follows meetings with Turning Point Scotland in response to their intention not to negotiate an extension of their contract at the end of October if a solution with City Property could not be reached.”
Turning Point Scotland told Third Sector the proposed rent increase came amid an ongoing dilapidations process relating to the properties, adding that despite repeated requests, the charity is yet to receive confirmation of any proposed dilapidations figure.
“That uncertainty has been almost as damaging as the likely financial liability itself, making it impossible to plan with confidence,” the spokesperson said.
“Our concern has been the cumulative impact of the proposed rent increase alongside the unresolved dilapidations process and the inability to reach a sustainable solution that would allow these specialist services to continue operating as they do today.”
The charity previously contested a major dilapidations repair bill from City Property for its former premises in Bath Street, Glasgow, which amounted to more than £800,000.
Richardson at the time told Third Sector the landlord’s allegations that the charity had neglected its responsibilities to building maintenance were “utterly untrue”, adding that the dilapidations claim was “absurd” and “indefensible”.
City Property Glasgow has been contacted for comment.