Decision on future of at-risk care facilities in Lancashire delayed indefinitely

The latest twist in the plans that still could see care homes in Lancashire close

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

Today we report on a pre-Christmas plot twist in the Reform UK plans that still could see 10 care facilities close.

The plans have been controversial to say the least. The Reform UK cabinet member with the adult social care brief has been accused of a conflict of interest due to his role in private care, he has accused other councillors of spreading misinformation, numerous petitions have been started and MPs of all colours have waded in to give their views.

Now those plans have been delayed as County Hall pauses to digest the strength of opposition to the plans.

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Lancashire briefing

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Decision on future of at-risk care facilities in Lancashire delayed indefinitely

Cllr Graham Dalton

By Paul Faulkner and Luke Beardsworth

A decision on the future of 10 elderly care facilities has been delayed – and left open-ended – after Lancashire County Council announced it was going to take “extra time” to consider the results of a public consultation.

The authority launched what has proved to be a controversial review of five of its care homes and five day centres back in October, warning that the buildings were in “significantly poor condition”.

However, the move sparked a wave of protests from the families of residents and service users, who feared that the premises – in Chorley, Fylde Lancaster, Pendle, Hyndburn, West Lancashire and Wyre – could ultimately be closed. Petitions drawn up in support of the facilities generated thousands of signatures.

The county council has insisted throughout that no decisions have been taken – and that none would be until cabinet members considered the matter in February – with all options being on the table.

However, the authority has now said it will take longer than planned to come to a conclusion on the issue, after it received more than 1,600 responses to the consultation, which closed on 12th December.

Lancashire County Council’s Reform UK leader Stephen Atkinson said that he could not give a firm date for a decision, but suggested that it could be “later in the spring”.

Explaining the delay, he said: “We need to consider every one of those responses out of the consultation process…every one of them is a heartfelt response from a resident, a member of staff or a relative.

“We take their views very seriously. We understand that [in some cases] it is their home – and our desire is to create a better service for the whole of Lancashire.”

But the leader of the Progressive Lancashire main opposition group at County Hall, Azhar Ali, said that the further “indefinite” uncertainty that had been caused for families was “unacceptable and cruel”.

“We need a definite date now for when this mess will come to an end,” County Cllr Ali said.

He had last week threatened a legal challenge to the consultation process, because up-to-date assessments of the current condition of the premises had not been published before the deadline for responses closed – and details of the money spent on the facilities over the past five years had not been provided as requested by him and others.

County Cllr Atkinson acknowledged that the process had not been flawless: “We always learn – but that’s not a criticism. You try and do your best – and then throughout the process, you learn where you might do things better and we’ll always be open to that.”.

However, asked whether he would want to apologise to families distressed by the review – including as a result of documentation put in the public domain which gave timeframes for the transfer of care home residents to new facilities, should a decision to close them ultimately be taken – County Cllr Atkinson turned his fire on opposition politicians.

“I think the people who whipped up and made this a political issue should apologise. This was only ever a consultation.

“We’ve had councillors who have been saying that we’re going to knock the homes down to build houses. This is just wrong – none of that is in our plans.

“Our plan is to do a consultation and learn from it. I think the people that need to apologise [are] the people that politicised this and made people fear for the future.

“We’re taking this very seriously – we’re looking at everything in detail.

“[This is] about the quality of care, the dignity of the people that live [in the care homes], about giving them the best care they can have – but at the same time providing value for money for council taxpayers. And we’re wrestling with all those competing issues when we make these decisions,” County Cllr Atkinson said.

But County Cllr Ali blasted the way the issue had been handled throughout – and said he feared the added stress of the delayed decision could cost lives.

“They should have actually gone out this Christmas and apologised to the residents and their loved ones and the people of Lancashire for the mess they’ve created with the care home consultation – and instead they’re hiding behind their desks.

“It is unacceptable that there is an indefinite delay in when this decision will be made. Our residents, their families and the people of Lancashire deserve better than an incompetent administration in this Reform-led county council.”

According to papers presented to the cabinet in October, what was described as the “reprovision” of the 10 facilities could generate £4.1m in savings. The county council is aiming to save £50m in adult social care costs between now and the end of the 2067/27 financial year.

The care homes – Favordale (Colne), Grove House (Adlington), Milbanke (Kirkham), Thornton House (Thornton Cleveleys) and Woodlands (Clayton-le-Moors) – have a combined capacity to accommodate 229 people, roughly 45 at each location, with all bar Milbanke being at least 89 percent full at the point the consultation began, when new long-term admissions were halted.

Meanwhile, the day centres – Byron View (Colne, attached to Favordale), Derby Centre (Ormskirk), Milbanke Day Centre (Kirkham, attached to Milbanke care home), Teal Close, (Thornton Cleveleys, attached to Thornton House) and Vale View (Lancaster) – provide daytime support to older people, including those in the early stages of dementia, although Byron View and Teal House have so far not reopened after what were intended as temporary closures at the onset of the pandemic. The remainder are all at less than 60 percent capacity.

The debate around the future of the care facilities has been ill-tempered from the beginning.