A garden maintenance scheme for elderly or disabled home owners is to be scrapped by Fife Council.
The cost of the service, also used by tenants of private landlords, has been subsidised by the local authority to the tune of £20,000 a year and has now been deemed unaffordable.
It is used by 172 people, all of whom are aged over 60 or are registered as disabled and in receipt of certain benefits.
The council has acknowledged vulnerable private tenants and house owners will have to pay private contractors at increased rates to carry out their garden care from March but has pledged to recommend the Trusted Trader scheme to all of those affected.
The only other option would have been to advertise the scheme, provide more staff to run it and increase prices but this was considered too expensive and disruptive.
The gardening service for council house tenants will be unaffected by the decision.
In a report to the council’s environment, protective services and community safety committee, senior manager John Rodigan said that for unknown reasons householders were only paying up to half the price for private garden work as tenants were.
In addition, the private scheme is not advertised so is only taken up by those who are aware of its existence.
Promoting it more widely would only lead to further potential pitfalls for the council, said Mr Rodigan.
“To continue with this service and provide equal opportunity for prospective customers, the council would need to advertise externally,” he said.
“This would almost certainly expose the council to state aid scrutiny, accusations of influencing Fife gardening prices and taking work away from local contractors.”
He added that many private customers on the list probably did not qualify for the entitlement, as the council had neither the authority nor the resources to verify applications.
“This almost certainly means that many clients…should not be enjoying this heavily subsidised service,” he said.
Mr Rodigan acknowledged the decision would cause upset and reputational damage to the council but added: “This could also be the case should the scheme continue and council prices are also raised to cover costs.”
