Reform UK plans for care facilities could scatter elderly across care sector to save ‘a couple of quid’

Pressure grows on ruling party to secure the future of facilities in Lancashire

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

The message from the 200+ in attendance at a protest in Preston on Saturday was clear - they do not believe Reform UK when they say no decision has been made about the future of care facilities in Lancashire.

The campaigning and debating has been ongoing since October when Lancashire County Council said five care homes and five day centres run by the local authority were in ‘significantly poor condition’.

This led to fears they were going to be closed - something Reform UK has always denied they have made a decision on.

But critics say that the uncertainty for residents and families is causing unnecessary stress and that the future of the sites needs to be secured.

The Lancashire Lead went to the Flag Market on Saturday and today’s edition focuses on that.

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Lancashire briefing

🗳️ The leaderships of every council in Lancashire that is due to stage local elections this year have requested that they be scrapped. West Lancashire Borough Council’s leader became the latest to call for the government to pull the plug on the polls – which were scheduled to take place in seven areas – just ahead of a deadline for doing so. In Preston, Chorley, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle, the requests came on behalf of the authorities themselves after full council or cabinet votes on the subject – even though opinions offered differed between political parties. West Lancashire’s call has been made by the ruling Labour group – not the authority as an organisation. The opposition Conservative and Our West Lancashire groups on the council have approached the government to ask that the elections go ahead. All 15 main councils in Lancashire are set to be axed in just over two years as part of a huge government-ordered shake-up that will see just a handful of new authorities created to cover the whole county.

🌳 Residents and taxi drivers in the Lancaster area will be given a huge boost if a proposed new electric vehicle hub gets the go-ahead, councillors say. A new EV hub is proposed for Lancaster’s Auction Mart car park, as part of Lancaster City Council plans for the coming 12 months. And councillors say that it will bring cheaper energy prices and wider access to electric vehicle charging to taxi drivers in the city. Money towards the proposed council-run hub has come from the government, as part of wider measures to extend electric car ownership and cut petrol and diesel emissions. Proposed prices at the Thurnham Street site in Lancaster will be lower than the average at commercially run EV hubs. And even lower prices will be offered when there is plenty of solar power.

🎭 Burnley looks set to submit a bid to become the first ever UK Town of Culture. It joins Chorley as the only other place in Lancashire to have so far declared an intention to attempt to secure the new title in 2028 – a competition for which was launched by the government earlier this week. Burnley Council said that the crown – which comes with a £3m cash pot to fund a 12-month cultural programme – chimes with the authority’s aim of using culture “as a tool to tackle inequality”. The town already has its own Year of Culture planned in 2027. The government says the competition – which is open to towns of all sizes – will provide “a platform for communities across the country to tell their own unique story” and create “a lasting sense of pride” – as well as improving access to the arts.

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Reform UK plans for care facilities could scatter elderly across care sector to save ‘a couple of quid’

Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, speaks at Preston Flag Market. Credit: The Lancashire Lead

By Luke Beardsworth

Plans that could see ten elderly care facilities in Lancashire risk ‘scattering older people across the care sector’ for the sake of a ‘couple of quid’.

That was the message from one Labour MP speaking to over 200 gathered at the Flag Market to protest against Reform UK’s controversial plans.

The five care homes and five day centres run by Lancashire County Council – in Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Rossendale, West Lancashire and Wyre – were placed under review back in October after County Hall warned that the buildings which they occupy were in “significantly poor condition”.

The plans have sparked concern among residents, users and their families and has seen opposition politicians campaign heavily.

Reform UK, who lead Lancashire County Council, launched a public consultation and stressed that no firm conclusion has yet been reached. A final decision was expected in February, but that has been delayed after over 1,600 responses were received.

But Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, told a protest on Saturday (17 January) that the plans were an attack on the older residents of Lancashire.

She said: “The residents in these care homes are under threat by Reform cost-cutting at County Hall. Reform don’t see that looking after our older residents should be a priority and they don’t see that choosing where you live and end your days is important to our older people.

“They think they are a commodity on a spreadsheet and we can just move them to the private sector, breaking up the friendship, trust and companionship that goes hand-in-hand with good quality care.”

She continued: “Reform UK-led Lancashire County Council has just received £27m of extra funding and they are looking at scattering older people across the care sector, breaking up friendship and trust, to save a couple of quid.”

Reform UK at County Hall continues to stress that no decision has been made - but opposition councillors pointed out that setting out a timeframe for when the facilities could close in their original proposals undermined that view.