Kirklees Council: Care home and leisure cuts plan formally unveiled

Castle Grange and Claremont House nursing homes could shut under the proposals

A council consultation to cut spending by closing two care homes and three leisure centres has formally begun.

Under the Kirklees scheme, nursing homes Castle Grange and Claremont House plus Batley, Dewsbury and Colne Valley sports centres would shut.

Residents opposed to the cuts protested outside a council meeting on Tuesday.

The authority, which has forecasted a £47.8m overspend, said no decision on the closures had been made and called for more government funding.

Donna Mallinson, whose mother is a resident at Castle Grange in Newsome, Huddersfield, said she feared any closure could be a "life-or-death decision".

"They just think they can move the elderly and vulnerable residents to somewhere that they have never been before, with people that they have never seen before.

"They are putting costs before the elderly and vulnerable," she said.

The council said the home's 46 residents would be moved to "independent sector care homes" if the closures went ahead.

Council leader Cathy Scott warned there would be "tough decisions" as Kirklees Council makes savings

The authority has warned there will be cuts as it looked to reduce next year's budget.

It has already frozen all non-essential spending and recruitment, and warned it faced bankruptcy if it did not balance the books.

A series of six-week consultations were launched on the proposed closures at the meeting on Tuesday and the council urged people to have their say.

A protest was held outside Huddersfield Town Hall

Council leader Cathy Scott, speaking after the meeting, blamed a "lack of government funding" for the potential cuts.

"We need a fair funding system, particularly here in the North," she said.

"We don't have the funds at this moment in time and, until we make it a fairer system, it's not going to work."

She said she "absolutely understood" the closures could affect the most disadvantaged but insisted a decision had not yet been made.

"We do have every empathy with every family. There are going to be some tough decisions and we have to be honest with ourselves."

Kirklees Council has warned it will have to follow Birmingham City Council in issuing a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring itself bankrupt, if it does not find sufficient savings.