Mistake in guidelines hits aged

THE head of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) admitted it had made a mistake in guidelines for subvented organisations to build homes for the elderly, resulting in construction delays and long waiting lists.

According to Mr Jenney's report, the number of applicants on the waiting list for care and attention home places had risen from 3,575 in 1983 to 11,228 in 1994. But the number of places only increased from 500 to 5,539 in the same period.

The persistent shortage was primarily caused by a drop in the number of homes built by non-government organisations due to a lack of feasibility studies before seeking funding approval.

The designs also exceeded the standards for space and facilities.

'This led to changes to the scope of works, revision of building plans or tender documents, resulting in numerous clarifications and time-consuming negotiations among government departments and the [organisations] concerned,' the report said.

The SWD, as co-ordinator of these subvented projects, was accused of leaving out of a 1993 set of guidelines a requirement for the groups to conduct feasibility studies.

This was contrary to a rule issued by the Secretary for the Treasury in 1991 covering all non-government organisations and government departments, Mr Jenny said.