Scope has today completed the transfer of all its frontline services and staff to Ambito Care and Education, a company which is part of the wider Salutem Group.
Under the leadership of its chief executive Mark Atkinson, Scope first announced plans to transfer all regulated and day services to external providers as part of a new strategy which would see the charity focus more on advocacy and campaigning on behalf of its beneficiaries.
The charity has today completed the transfer of 38 care homes, three education facilities and 10 day services located across England and Wales, as well as the 1,598 frontline staff who worked at those institutions across to Ambito Care and Education.
In a statement to Civil Society News, Atkinson said it was a “hugely important day” for the charity.
“This is a hugely important day for Scope and the realisation of a significant ambition of our new strategy. We’ve set out a radical and bold new direction for Scope - one that focuses on improving the lives of the 13.9 million disabled people in Britain. To do that we need to invest our energy and resources in the areas of our work where we can have the greatest impact in tackling inequality.
“We’ll do that by influencing public policy, shaping markets and supporting disabled people and their families with best-in-class information, advice and services.
“The transfer of our regulated services today is the best decision both for the future of Scope and for the staff and customers in those services. We’re confident that Ambito Care and Education will be able to invest in the schools, colleges, care homes and day centres in the future.”
Scope has said that “all frontline services staff – including the services senior leadership team” have now transferred to Salutem to “continue supporting students and customers”.
In a series of tweets this morning from his personal Twitter account, Atkinson wished departing staff "all the best for the future" and thanked them for their work for Scope.
A year ago @Scope published a radical, new strategy. We said that we would relentlessly focus on our mission of achieving everyday equality - supporting disabled people to get the best start in life; be financially secure; and to live the life they choose. 1/7
— Mark Atkinson (@MarkAtScope) May 1, 2018
A spokeswoman from Scope refused to divulge how much Ambito/Salutem paid to acquire its frontline services.
Income down by as much as 40 per cent
Writing for NPC in July 2017, Atkinson said the charity would be divesting itself of “two thirds” of its staff and would initially see its annual income fall by as much as 40 per cent.
The charity is now focused on becoming an advocacy and campaigning charity on behalf of its disabled beneficiaries. Atkinson said the charity is striving to work directly with two million disabled people each year by 2022.
Atkinson wrote: “We want to be known for being a social change organisation – a force that brings us ever close to everyday equality,” he wrote. “We will focus on the areas in which disabled people face the greatest barriers and move away from being a charity that ‘does’ to one that ‘facilitates’.”
From Charity Finance magazine
Ambito Care and Education
Ambito Care and Education is a newly set up division of healthcare company Ambito, which itself is part of the wider Salutem Group.
In its first and only published set of total exemption full accounts published with Companies House on 30 June 2017, it had current assets of just over £70,000, and liabilities of £30,375.
Andrew Shelton-Murray, chief executive of Ambito, said: “We welcome the young people, customers and staff teams from the Scope services into the Salutem family of companies.
"Our main priority is to ensure that there continues to be a provision of high quality care, education and support. We are completely committed to the excellent services provided and want to reassure everyone that nothing will change day to day and we are looking forward to working together to enhance the experience of all involved”.
Editor's note: This article originally stated that Ambito operated a number of other service providers, including Pathways Care. Pathways Care is operated by Salutem Healthcare, not Ambito. A comment from Ambito's chief executive has also been added.
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