READING in the Bury Times about the latest in a long line of financial fiascos involving Bury Social Services, it is difficult to know whether to laugh or to cry.

As someone who for many years banged his head against the brick wall of Bury Social Services' obduracy, and particularly their obsession with offering the cheapest care provision they could get away with, I find this latest farce entirely predictable. It is simply the logical extension of a process of cut, skimp and make do and mend in Bury's so-called "community care" which has little to do with the community and even less to do with care.

With their long history of lurching from one crisis to another, it is not surprising to see Bury Social Services embroiled in yet another mess. In my experience, this department combines the financial acumen of Jack Duckworth with the open-mindedness and willingness to listen of the Moonies; the service culture of Railtrack; and the management skills of Frank Spencer. I hold no brief for Solutions for Living, as the appointment of that company to provide my autistic brother's care was a major factor in my family's decision to leave Bury altogether. Any reasonable person would take exception to Solutions for Living's behaviour in giving only five days notice of abandoning their learning disabled clients.

This latest example of chaos in social care provision in Bury, and there have been many, only confirms that we were absolutely right to move our vulnerable relative out of the borough entirely. Under an infinitely more sensible local authority, he now enjoys a civilised and appropriate standard of care. Equally importantly, I feel that he enjoys the stability and continuity of care which Bury social services' seat-of-the-pants, fingers crossed approach to care provision denied him.

The unedifying squabble between Bury Social Services and Solutions for Living, reported in the Bury Times, directly affects people's lives and means that yet again innocent and highly vulnerable people have to cope with unnecessary disruption and face an uncertain future.

What an indictment of the quality of social care management in Bury. On the other side of the same coin, the indefensible behaviour of Solutions for Living simply demonstrates that, in my view, you get what you are prepared to pay for.

MICHAEL DUNN