THE management committee of a crisis-hit day centre pointed the finger of blame at staff in an “extraordinary” statement as they resigned en masse from their positions.

Those in charge of running Port Seton’s John Bellany Day Centre accused some staff members of being unhelpful and unco-operative, claiming there were 14 years of missing or incomplete paperwork in the files.

And they accused staff of causing distress to their clients by allegedly “leaking” information about the committee’s resignation to the press.

In a six-page statement read out at the day centre’s Extraordinary General Meeting last Thursday, the committee also revealed it had issued official warnings to some staff, demanded they sign confidentiality agreements and said their current sick pay entitlement may have to be cut in the future.

They went on to discuss in detail the pay rises, hours and holiday entitlement given to staff, even revealing personal details of one employee in particular and her employment agreement with the charity.

Relatives of clients who use the popular day centre attended the EGM. However, rather than have a chance to discuss the situation, those at the meeting were simply told a statement would be read out, which would take 20 minutes, and then the committee would leave.

Elizabeth Sankeld, chairwoman of the managememt committee, read the statement, which said the pressures of meeting a deadline to register the centre with the Care Inspectorate and fear of being left open to legal action had prompted the mass resignation.

Day centres are required to register with the Care Inspectorate if it deems the standard of care being provided to be high enough for it to require scrutiny and John Bellany is in the process of doing so; however, the management committee claimed attempts to meet the deadlines were slow and by December last year it became obvious the centre would not meet a deadline which had already been delayed.

The statement said: “It was becoming increasingly clear that the John Bellany Day Centre would not be ready to go forward with the submission of the Care Inspectorate Registration Form; to do so could have left the management committee open to prosecution or financial implications.” The committee claimed it inherited problems at the centre which it attempted to address but was met with resistance, adding: “Human beings by nature do not like change and this can cause upset throughout the change process.” Among the changes it wanted to make were changing the working hours pattern of senior staff and bringing in outside help to deal with the admininstration.

The committee statement said: “Some of the John Bellany Day Centre staff have been very helpful and co-operative while others have not. We express our thanks to those who were helpful.” Relatives attending the meeting were left shocked by the statement, which repeatedly stressed the committee members were volunteers and not paid.

The statement ended: “The current committee will continue until March 31 and will then vacate their posts. They will then be able to get their lives back and enjoy life once again. They deserve protection too!” One female relative of a client at the centre said: “It was astonishing. We were lectured for 20 minutes and then they walked out.

“Many people had questions, not just about what had happened but also about how they could help, if they could apply to join the committee and so on; instead there was this statement attacking staff and painting the committee as victims. It was very bitter.” Another relative added: “We were basically told if we tried to interrupt the statement the committee would just leave – they did that anyway. They seemed determined to undermine the centre’s hard-working staff in what was an astonishing attack.” Ward councillor Margaret Libberton was among a number of people who arrived a few minutes after the 7pm start time and had to demand to be let in after the door was locked.

She said: “The important thing is to stress that the staff there do a great job and the clients are well looked after. It is a vital service which needs to be maintained and will be protected.

“I found the comments of the committee extraordinary. I know it needs a management structure but their role should be governance, not running the centre.” A spokeswoman for the council, which recently granted £106, 640 funding to the centre, said the local authority was monitoring the situation and understood contingency plans were in place.

She said: “Under the terms of the John Bellany Day Centre Trust’s constitution, new management committee members can only be appointed by the existing management committee.

“STRiVE is supporting the management committee in this task and has already received details of people who would like to be considered. “Anyone else who would like to put their names forward should either contact the John Bellany Centre or STRiVE (info@strive.me.uk or 0131 665 3300).

“The council will be issuing regular updates on its website and social media.”