Disabled people and those with learning difficulties could be next in line to be auctioned off to residential homes, according to a care industry insider.

Last month KentOnline reported how elderly people requiring care home places were subject to an online tendering process, in which care providers bid against each other to secure residents.

Although KCC says it has “no immediate plans” to extend what it refers to as the dynamic purchasing system (DPS) to other groups requiring residential care, in a statement the council admitted “DPS may well be considered for those services in future.”

Under the dynamic purchasing system, care homes are invited to an online auction where managers bid on profiles of prospective residents - referred to as ‘opportunities’.

The process has been criticised by providers of elderly care, who say it is an exercise in cost-cutting, presented as system based on quality.

Under the dynamic purchasing system, each care home’s bid is assessed against a number points out of 100.

Fifty points are allocated depending how close a home is to KCC’s guide price, with 30 points based on a quality assessment and a further 20 points on key performance indicators - agreed standards to be met by each home.

“They are saying it’s about quality, but actually it’s not, because behind it, 50 points out of 100 are based on whether you’re closest to their price"

Critics say this places undue emphasis on price.

A care manger, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “They are saying it’s about quality, but actually it’s not, because behind it, 50 points out of 100 are based on whether you’re closest to their price.

“People are making a decision on the care offering believing it’s based on ‘Kent have got this quality system, these are the top five for quality’, but that top five is not based on quality it’s based on who is closest to the guide price.

“My concern is that people will start to drive the price of care to the floor which means the quality will begin to reduce.

“How can quality scoring be based on how close you are to the guide price?”

Kent County Council has strenuously denied the person in need of residential care goes to the lowest bidder.

It said prospective residents and their families can choose where they go, and the dynamic purchasing system is simply a means by which care homes can express their interest in looking after somebody.

Spokesman Jo Toscano said: “It categorically does not go to the lowest bidder. Clients are given a choice – they may want the lowest price or one of the others.

“If the price is higher, they may be asked to pay a top-up fee or they may not be asked for a top-up fee, depending on individual circumstances.

“Previously we would have rung up a few care homes and asked them if they have space and the ability [to look after somebody] and then only those who were able or had space would have been offered to the client.

“The difference now is it is open to a much wider range of care homes, and it is fairer for care home providers who now have the chance to offer a space for a client who needs it, whereas previously they may not have known this client needs a home.

“It is also better for the client as they are more likely to have a wider range of care homes to choose from.

“It is just a more efficient way of letting care homes know who needs a place and getting them to express an interest. It is emotive to call it ‘tendering’ or ‘bidding’ - Kent County Council

“It is just a more efficient way of letting care homes know who needs a place and getting them to express an interest. It is emotive to call it ‘tendering’ or ‘bidding’ but it is the process of care homes expressing an interest, which is what currently happens, just by a different system.”

However, some in the industry say they are uncomfortable with the new system.

A manager who has used the system first-hand said: “It’s all well and good when it’s commodities and products but essentially what they are doing is putting a person on there and asking people to bid the cheapest price for that person.

“It’s sent out to everyone to make an offer for that price. If it’s a commodity, an IT system or a service it’s ok, then fair enough, but you can’t do that with human beings.

“From an ethical perspective I don’t believe people are being given a choice. They should be able to choose where they want to go and why. That choice should not be stipulated by the local authority based in what it is willing to pay.”

In its 2014 report into adult social care, the Local Government Association said councils have faced “unprecedented cuts over the last four years that have impacted dramatically on adult social care and its capacity to deliver.”

In response, local authorities, including Kent, have looked at ways to save money.

Last year KCC announced its aim to save £90 million, with elderly care in particular a target for spending reductions.

Consultancy firm Newton Europe was employed by KCC in 2013, at a cost of £5.4 million, to tell the council how to cut adult care costs.

In a talk transcribed on Newton Europe's website, Mark Lobban, KCC’s director of commissioning, social care, health and wellbeing, said council savings in adult social care were about £18 million last year.

Speaking at the Local Government Association's annual conference in Bournemouth, Mr Lobban told delegates KCC was “expecting to save an overall £31 million annually.”

The council’s annual adult social care budget is £350 million, half of which is spent on residential care.

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