Opposition councillors fight to block plans to sell eight Derbyshire care homes
The council is set to stop running eight different care homes - as part of cost cutting measures
Opposition councillors are continuing to fight against plans for the sale of eight council care homes and the closure of five day care centres for the elderly after Conservative-controlled Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet agreed to the changes as part of budget cutbacks.
The Cabinet agreed at a meeting on November 14 to cease to operate and offer for sale eight county council care homes and to close five day centres for the elderly while recommending that a further care home also be sold with the redesign of the services.
But the council’s Labour Group Leader Joan Dixon and other councillors have ‘called-in’ and challenged the decision on a number of grounds including that any estimated savings or subsequent expenditures have not been stipulated so the matter has been referred to a scrutiny meeting on December 2 in the hope the decision might be reconsidered.
Cllr Dixon said: “I am shocked at the haste that this decision is being made with. I am worried that the overriding imperative to keep the council’s books balanced is resulting in some decisions being made to save money now but will ultimately cost the county council more money later.
“The council is now also consulting on the closure of the Ada Belfield care home in Belper which was only opened three years ago at a cost of £3.2m.
“Now it looks like it will be joining the other eight homes that will be sold off to the private sector.”
Cllr Dixon accused the council of a ‘calamitous mismanagement’ of the county’s finances and the former Conservative Government of ‘underfunding’.
She added: “We are reduced to a car boot sale of the county’s assets.”
The eight care homes the Cabinet has agreed to stop operating and to sell include: Briar Close, at Borrowash; Castle Court, at Swadlincote; The Grange, at Eckington; Lacemaker Court, at Long Eaton; The Leys, at Ashbourne; New Bassett House, at Shirebrook; Rowthorne, at Swanwick; And Thomas Colledge House, at Bolsover.
Bennerley Fields care home, at Ilkeston, will also no longer operate as a residential care home but it will be re-purposed to be used exclusively for community support beds for short-term ‘reablement’ and assessment.
The Cabinet also agreed to close five day centres for the elderly including Blackwell Day Centre, at Blackwell; Fabrick Day Services, at Hilton; Jubilee Centre, at New Mills; Queens Court, at Buxton; And Valley View Day Centre, at Bolsover.
However, Labour councillors Joan Dixon, Ruth George, Anne Clarke, and Ron Mihaly, Liberal Democrat councillors Ed Fordham and Sue Burfoot, and Green Party councillor Gez Kinsella have requested the Cabinet’s decision be ‘called-in’ and considered by the Improvement and Scrutiny Committee at a meeting on December 2 before any final decision.
They have argued the net savings of the decision have not been stipulated in the relevant report and that no account has been taken in the report of any possible increase in expenditure resulting from the decision.
The opposition councillors have also argued the decision will have a detrimental effect on some of the most vulnerable older people and it does not take into account an increasingly older population and what they believe is an increasing demand for residential care.
They also claim there was no opportunity for pre-decision scrutiny on the matter.
The Labour Group also stated that Liberal Democrat Barry Bingham has also signed the ‘call-in’.
Labour Group Deputy Leader, Cllr Ruth George, said: “Derbyshire Conservatives have mismanaged the council’s own care homes for years whilst paying £40m a year extra to private care.
“They already closed hundreds of our care homes’ beds, so it’s no wonder they are less efficient.
“Now the Conservatives want to hand these purpose built, brilliant homes over to the private sector completely – selling off the family silver to fill the financial black hole they created.
“There is no thought for the anxiety created for the many elderly and vulnerable residents affected, or their families. Private care homes all charge more than the county council rate, so either families or the council will end up paying the price of this decision for years to come.”
The council is currently addressing overall saving proposals to manage a budget deficit of over £39m for the 2024/25 financial year after blaming reduced Government funding, the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation rates, higher prices for fuel, energy and materials, rising costs, meeting the cost of the national pay award and the growing demand for adults’ and children’s social care services.
It claims the changes to its care services support the council’s intention to create a sustainable service focusing on specialist services for people with dementia and their carers, offering long-term residential care and flexible day and overnight breaks to support carers.
The Conservative-led council also claims the changes will allow for greater integration with health partners to provide short-term support and assessment services to help timely discharges from hospital, prevent unplanned hospital admissions and reduce the risk of readmission helping people stay at home.
UNISON union campaigners have previously called for the council to abandon its adult social care saving plans and Derbyshire Labour MPs have also expressed their opposition to the plans to close care homes and elderly day centres.
A Derbyshire Conservatives spokesperson has stated the way Derbyshire County Council provides many of its services requires modernisation and they accused Labour councillors, Labour MPs and the unions of ‘scaremongering’ for political gain.
The Derbyshire Conservatives have argued more people wish to remain in their own homes for as long as possible and the council is one of the last local authorities in the country to own and run a significant number of residential care homes despite there already being adequate specialist provision in the county.
They stated that many, if not all, of the homes currently run by the council could well be transferred to such operators while the council focuses on vital dementia care so its limited resources can have the best effect.
Derbyshire Conservatives have also argued that the Ada Belfield care home, in Belper, faces a projected overall loss of over £2m so they feel it will be necessary to consider the building’s options in the future including possibly selling the care home with an ‘uninterrupted continuum of care throughout the sale process and beyond’.
If the scrutiny committee finds any decision-making principles concerning the care homes and day centres were breached by the Cabinet the matter can be referred back to the Cabinet for reconsideration.
In addition, if the committee finds any decisions contravened the budget or policy framework the matter can also be referred to the Full Council for consideration before any final decision.
The council has previously rejected a call from opposition Labour Group councillors, including Labour Group Leader Cllr Joan Dixon, to further investigate subsequent long-term care costs before Cabinet decided on the proposed closures.
It has also stated that it is proposing further public consultations on proposed changes to its remaining residential care homes in a move towards ‘a single operating model of care’ with four homes potentially operating as specialist dementia care homes including: Florence Shipley, at Heanor; Whitestones, at Chapel-en-le-Frith; Meadow View, at Matlock; and Oaklands, at Swadlincote, with all except Whitestones having an integrated day centre.
Another option under consideration is for two homes to operate as specialist dementia care homes including Florence Shipley and Whitestones with Meadow View and Oaklands adopting a mixed care model.