EXCLUSIVE: Top Government minister to hold urgent conversations about closure of Zoe's Place
It follows a shock announcement from the children's hospice that it will be shutting its doors by the end of the year
A top Government minister has told us she will hold conversations with the health secretary today about the shock closure of a much loved children's hospice in Liverpool.
Zoe's Place said on Monday (October 07) it doesn't have enough time to move to a new site before its current lease runs out.
That comes despite huge fundraising efforts, with planning permission for a new building granted just a few weeks ago.
Now, culture secretary Lisa Nandy has promised she will bring the issue to health secretary Wes Streeting.
She told Greatest Hits Radio: "It is something that is obviously of great concern, and it is something I will flag with the health secretary later today."
Nandy said the closure was unacceptable, adding: "There have been a number of cases of hospices, particularly children's hospices, struggling in the economic climate we find ourselves in, and that has been the case for a number of years."
Meanwhile, West Derby MP Ian Byrne has confirmed he will be meeting bosses at Zoe's Place on Thursday to discuss plans to save the site.
He called it a "vital lifeline", adding it "could not be lost".