The paper by Highland Council directors cautions that going ahead with the project would see “seriously higher ” costs than using non-public sector sites.

It had been proposed to construct the houses in Inverness, Tain, Fort William, Muir of Ord and Grantown-on-Spey. A prior SNP-led administration was committed to the project. But the existing Liberal Left winger , Labour and Independent administration expounded cuts to public expenditure had influenced the plans. The directors of social work, housing, finance and planning researched the argument for the local authority building and running the new buildings.

Poor condition The report concluded : “there is not any industrial case for the council to build a new care home in any of the 5 locations when the ensuing costs will be higher than those suffered by buying of places from the independent sector. ” The officers warned that to resume using existing local authority houses wasn’t a choice because some of the buildings were in a poor condition. Nonetheless they exclaimed there had been capacity in the independent home care market to “absorb current levels of demand”. The report said in the future more folks would be in a position to remain, and receive care, in their own houses. Directors compared the expenses of the 5 suggested buildings against funding care in the personal sector over twenty years. For Fort William it’d be £21.6m for building and running a new home compared to £13m for a similar number of beds in an independent home. In Grantown-on-Spey it might be £21.5m against £13m, in Inverness £25m compared to £16.7m, for Muir of Ord £17.3m against £12.1m and in Tain £23.2m compared to £13.8m.

Public perspectives will be sought on the report.