COUNCIL-RUN day centres for adults with learning disabilities will charge users up to £5 a day after local authority proposals to introduce new costs were approved.

The Fisherrow Centre, Musselburgh; Port Seton Resource Centre, Port Seton; and Tynebank Resource Centre in Haddington, will introduce new charges from April 1.

People who use services outwith East Lothian will also be asked to pay the new charges.

The local authority said that it had worked alongside East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, which oversees adult social care services, to draw up the new charges as part of an effort to raise an additional £358,000 in revenue from the department.

It said that the new charges, which include £2 attendance costs per session (morning or afternoon) plus £2 transport charges per journey, would raise an estimated £87,000 towards the cost.

The remainder is expected to be found by increasing existing charges, although details of those remain under wraps.

Presenting the plans to East Lothian Council’s cabinet for approval on Tuesday, Bryan Davies, group service manager for planning and performance, told councillors that discussions had been held with a charging group made up of carers and other key stakeholders about the new charges and their impact.

He said that, following discussions, it had been agreed to create charging “bundles” which would combine new transport and attendance fees so a person who attended two sessions at a centre and required transport would be charged £5 a day, while a person attending one session with transport would be charged £3 a day.

It is understood that the health and social care partnership has 177 people currently using its resource centres, with 22 relying on taxis to attend.

The charges will not impact on day centres for older people, which are independently run and operate their own charging systems.

Councillor Brian Small (Conservative), opposition group leader, said it was important that the impact of the new charges was closely monitored to ensure that people were not being excluded from services by the cost.

He said: “We are doing something here we would prefer not to do but we are faced with the harsh reality of life.”

And Councillor Stuart Currie, SNP Group leader, said he was concerned about people stopping attendance at the centres.

He said: “My biggest concern about this new charge being introduced is about people disengaging.

“In my experience, when you introduce a new charge people step back from it.”

Mr Davies said that people who were unable to meet the new charges would be able to go through an appeal process to seek help and the impact would be monitored over the next six months.

The cabinet approved the new charges unanimously.

Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Fiona O’Donnell (Labour), council health and social care spokesperson, said: “The health and social care partnership is facing a very difficult period financially.

“The continuing pressure on public funding in Scotland and in the UK means that our resources become more and more stretched every year.

“At the same time, we have a rapidly growing population of people who need social care support.

“‘This means doing things differently so that we can meet people’s needs cost-effectively. We do not have the option of doing nothing – managing our resources extremely carefully is the only way that we will be able to continue supporting the growing number of service-users and carers in the longer term.”

A public meeting for service users, carers and other stakeholders due to be held at the Fisherrow Centre next week has been postponed until April 18 between 2-4pm.