Twelve of the 34 part-time carers and office staff who were employed by the council, until it chose to transfer the service on June 30, were left without a job in the industry.

A report to be presented to councillors at tonight’s meeting has revealed 20 people were re-employed under the new Alpine Health system, called indigo@home, and two found jobs elsewhere.

“The (National Disability Insurance Scheme) is substantially increasing demand for trained and skilled workers and most council employees would have positive prospects for future employment within the community care sector,” the report stated.

“All existing program staff who were interested in obtaining roles with the new provider were offered an opportunity for discussion regarding employment prospects. 

“Effort was made to accommodate staff, however Alpine Health did not undertake to transfer positions and people across to their service.”

Some 42 of the 180 council volunteers also chose to not continue.

Indigo Council’s transition costs included $410,000 in redundancy packages, but with at least $200,000 expected to be saved per year due to not running the HACC services, the money is expected to be recouped in three to five years.

A survey of 27 randomly-chosen clients found 96 per cent felt confident in the safety of the new service and care.

The transition process was given a rating of between eight and 10 by 84 per cent of clients, 12 per cent gave a rating of 7 and one client gave a 1, but has since been moved to permanent care with higher needs.

“The transition to a new provider, whilst initially challenging, has resulted in client satisfaction levels being assessed as high and the same suite of home care services are being delivered,” the council report stated.

The Indigo Council meeting will be held at the council chambers in Beechworth tonight from 6.30pm.