SCOTTISH Borders Council is considering ‘privatising’ a vital advocacy service which supports some of the most vulnerable people in the region with a contract worth almost £1 million over five years now in the pipeline, it has emerged.

Last week, the local authority published a public notice on the ScotGov’s public contracts website.

It outlined a ‘Future Contract Opportunity’ for an outside applicant to potentially run the region’s independent advocacy service, currently operated by a Galashiels-based charity with a staff of seven.

A spokesperson for Scottish Borders Council has described the publication of the notice as a “gathering information” exercise and that no final decision to offer the service for tenders had been taken.

The spokesperson said: “We have put out this Prior Information Notice (PIN) to enable us to do some market testing as part of the review. We are not obligated to undertake a procurement exercise.

“At this stage we are gathering information.”

The move comes after tender bids were invited for contracts valued at over £12m over five years to run the council’s day services for adults with learning disabilities, services currently run in-house by SB Cares and the independent charity Cornerstone, based in Galashiels.

The latest PIN notice stated: “Independent advocacy is when people are supported to speak up for themselves by a person who is only there for them and has no ties to the other agencies in their lives.”

The service offers support for older people, people with learning difficulties, with autism, those using alcohol and drug services and those facing other issues.

It is meant to be accessible to a range of people, including the homeless, asylum seekers, offenders and carers.

The number of clients accessing the support the service offers annually is in the region of 250 to 300.

The potential contract is believed to be worth in the region of £970,000 over five years.