CLAIMS that Bradford’s home care system is on the brink of collapse have sparked a furious political row.

Opposition Councillor Jackie Whiteley has warned that the service, which offers home visits for the elderly and disabled, will disintegrate if not enough companies are willing to do the work on the low rates being offered by Bradford Council.

Her comments came after a major firm decided to pull out of the district, citing the poor rate of pay being offered.

But the Labour-controlled authority’s deputy leader, Councillor Val Slater, has criticised Cllr Whiteley’s comments as “totally irresponsible” and refuted the claim of a crisis.

She said more than 50 companies had put in bids to help deliver home care in the coming years and accused the Tories of “frightening vulnerable people” to score political points.

The boss of national home care company Seva Care told the Telegraph & Argus he was disappointed to be pulling its services out of Bradford, but the council’s rate of £14.43 an hour from September would be just too low.

Chief executive Ravi Bains said Bradford’s rates for home visits fell below national guidelines and his business could have ended up losing money.

He said: “We’re gutted. We didn’t not want to put a tender in but unfortunately the hourly rate of £14.43 the council is proposing is not economically viable for us.

“We didn’t want to give up our contract. We’d just taken out a new five-year lease on our building in Manor Row which proved our commitment to the city but we felt if we took up the council’s new hourly rate it would make our business unstable and we would not be able to deliver the quality of service we do now.

“In fact, it would cost us money to give the same service.”

Seva Care, which employs 190 Bradford staff, is the second big provider to leave the city, after the departure of Hull-based homecare provider Hica last year.

Mr Bains said he hoped his decision not to put in a tender, along with pressure from smaller care providers which are part of Bradford Care Association, would cause the council to have a re-think.

He said: “If we are out and others are also leaving then the big question is, who is going to provide the care? I’m hoping they will have a re-think.”

Last year, Bradford Council increased the hourly rate it paid home care contractors from £12.50 to £13.

This is set to increase to £14.43 from September and firms have been invited to bid for a two to three-year contract under a tendering process led by Bradford Council with help from the district’s clinical commissioning groups.

Cllr Slater said while Seva Care had decided to withdraw, the council had received a total of 52 bids from different providers.

She said Seva Care had given the council a different reason for not wanting to tender.

She said: “Cllr Whiteley has tried to frighten people.

“When you hear that 52 providers, with a significant amount of experience in delivering domiciliary care, have actually bid in, what she is saying doesn’t hold water whatsoever.”

But Cllr Slater acknowledged the social care sector was facing some real challenges across the country.

She said a new two per cent social care levy on council tax would raise an extra £3 million for the district, which was being “used in its entirety” to fund the rise in the hourly rate to £14.43.

The chairman of Bradford Care Association, Konrad Czajka, said council had failed to do any proper assessments of the amount it cost firms to provide the care.

He said: “We are very very unhappy about the rate, which at £14.43 is well below the UK recommended rates.

“It’s one of the lowest in Yorkshire. As an association, we have worked very hard and have had a number of meetings with Bradford Council but this isn’t just a local issue.

“There’s a massive crisis nationally but as local providers we are struggling and one by one we are exiting the market which means that market is getting smaller.

“We aren’t able to continue in business if we’re paid that lowest of low rates.”

“We’ve asked Bradford Council how many providers tendered for domiciliary care to see if there is enough providers to give the thousands of hours of care needed by the city’s most frail people.

“We haven’t had an answer but if there isn’t enough of us the council is going to have a major problem.”

Cllr Whiteley, the Tory group’s spokesman for health and wellbeing, said the care market in Bradford was “disintegrating”, as it looked increasingly unlikely that enough companies would come forward to take on the work needed.

She said: “While this situation is reportedly reaching crisis point at a national level, the position in Bradford is one of the worst in the country and looks likely to result in the collapse of the local care market.”

Liberal Democrat leader, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, said: “If we are not careful, we are going to plunge home care into crisis.

“We are dealing with companies who are operating on the margins and the council is rationing care to older people.”

Cllr Sunderland said the hourly rate being offered was to blame.

She said: “It is completely down to the drive to the bottom in terms of cost. It is just too low.

“The people who require care at home are the people who don’t have a voice and there isn’t actually anybody operating on their behalf, other than the companies.

“There is no trade union for being frail and elderly and that is a real sadness.”