Care home residents to be relocated in Cornwall Council dispute

Sharon Shelley from Sharob Care said her business was running at a loss

A care firm has said it will evict 20 care home residents because of a dispute with a council over fees.

Sharob Care said underfunding by Cornwall Council meant the business, including homes in Liskeard, St Austell and Bude, was running at a loss.

The authority said Sharob Care had declined to sign a new contract which was intended to "raise standards" and pay staff the Foundation Living Wage.

It said it was working to find new homes for those affected.

Lorraine Hoogelander said she feared for her mother, who has been given 28 days' notice of eviction after living in the firm's St Austell care home for more than two years.

She said: "To move my mum now, I think that would devastate her and could turn into something, like she could die."

Lorraine Hoogelander said her mother would be devastated if she were evicted from her care home

Sharob Care said it "vehemently denied" the council's suggestion that the firm had not signed the contract because of the living wage requirement.

Managing director Sharon Shelley said the deal would give the council too much power over fee-setting and adjudicating breaches of contract.

"They base their fees on cash flow forecasts and their own infrastructures and operational expenses," she said.

"Everybody is different. We don't charge over and above, we charge as low as we can get, enough to cover the costs."

Ms Shelley said the council was refusing to increase the fees until it signed the "unfair" contract, leaving a shortfall of up to £300 per person per week.

Councillor Adam Paynter said the authority's fees were fair

Cornwall Council said it had been negotiating new contract terms with care providers for three years, "to raise standards of care across the sector and pay care staff the Foundation Living Wage".

Deputy leader Adam Paynter said: "We think it's a fair cost of care. We work with industry leaders and the care providers in providing a fair amount of money as well as making sure that we're giving an increase above that to provide the living wage to the employees as well."

At the Conservative party conference, Chancellor Sajid Javid pledged to raise the National Living Wage from £8.21 to £10.50 within the next five years.