Council-run care homes consultation 'should pause'

Lancashire County Council is currently reviewing the 10 facilities it runs

Talks which could result in the closure of local authority-run care homes and day centres in Lancashire should be paused, some opposition members have said.

Lancashire County Council, led by Reform UK, is currently carrying out a review of 10 facilities.

Opponents have described the consultation as "rushed" and criticised some of the information that has been included in the review.

A council spokesperson said no decision had yet been made about the care facilities and stressed that the consultation was "to find out people's views to help us make the best decision".

Independent councillor Azhar Ali believes the consultation exercise should be paused

The criticism follows a meeting of the council's health and adult services scrutiny committee.

Members were given updated information about the state of the buildings, the estimated cost of repairing them, and Care Quality Commission reports.

During the meeting, however, it was revealed that the condition of the buildings survey results were from five years ago.

The local authority's opposition leader, independent councillor Azhar Ali said: "That these condition surveys were five years old is just a scandal and that's what we were basing our decisions on.

"New condition surveys are now being commissioned - that'll take time, but I think the actual decision should be that we should stop this review and get all the information together before we start to consider what steps we should take."

'Mishandled'

Labour group leader Mark Clifford agreed.

"Pause it now," he said. "Come back when you've got all the information and let's do a proper consultation."

Clifford described the situation as having been "mishandled from start to finish".

Pendle Council leader and Liberal Democrat county councillor David Whipp argued the whole consultation had been mishandled.

"It has very loaded questions," he said.

"You're asked 'Do you support people living in their own homes? Do you support independent living?' Well of course we do - it's motherhood and apple pie."

He added: "The problem is people come to a point in life where that is not suitable, not appropriate, and there needs to be places where people can go."

'No decisions made'

Graham Dalton, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for adult social care, said: "I absolutely understand how deeply valued these services are by those who use them and their families as well as staff and the wider community.

"We know that for many, these homes are not just buildings, they are places of comfort, familiarity and connection.

"The consultation we are running is a really important opportunity for people to share their views and help shape the future of adult social care in our county.

"I would also like to make it clear that no decisions have been made about the future of any of these services."

The care homes under review are Favordale in Colne, Grove House in Adlington, Milbanke in Kirkham, Thornton House in Thornton Cleveleys and Woodlands in Clayton-le-Moors.

The day centres are Byron View in Colne, the Derby Centre in Ormskirk, Milbanke Day Centre in Kirkham, Teal Close in Thornton Cleveleys and Vale View in Lancaster.

The consultation runs for eight weeks.

Recommendations are expected to be brought back to councillors in February for a final decision.