Care homes will not shut, Reform UK says

Reform UK councillors have said they will not to close five Lancashire care homes midway through an ongoing consultation about their future.

It comes after a series of protests in Preston on Saturday against shutting the facilities, a move Lancashire County Council was considering due to their "condition, safety, and long-term viability".

Opposition councillor Azhar Ali, who leads the independent Progressive Lancashire Group, said the decision showed "people power" had worked.

Despite the announcement, Lancashire County Council said the consultation on the homes' future, along with that of five day centres, would continue to run until March.

Reform's cabinet leadership on the council confirmed the decision to BBC Radio Lancashire earlier.

Cabinet member for sdult social care Graham Dalton said: "There seems to have been a well-spun narrative that these care homes were supposed to be closing.

"You can look back through cabinet meetings, you can look back through our social media; there has been no talk of closing homes.

"There's only ever been talk of a review."

Meanwhile, a council spokesman said: "We went out to consult on the future of our care homes, because we wanted to hear directly from residents, families and our workforce about what matters most to them.

"The council has not made any decision at this stage."

He said: "Now the consultation has closed, officers are analysing all the feedback and preparing a full report for cabinet in spring, where councillors will review the findings before making any formal decisions.

"Under the legal requirements of our consultation process, no formal decision can be taken until the consultation has concluded, the findings have been fully analysed, and a detailed report has been presented to cabinet for consideration.

"It is imperative that we follow the correct legal and democratic procedures and take the time to ensure residents' voices are fully taken into account. Until that process is complete, no decision can be made by the council."

It comes after the authority previously said an announcement would come in spring after it extended the consultation, which had received more than 1,600 responses.

A review was launched into the future of the five homes and five day centres in October, which described the homes as in a poor condition.

The care homes in question are Favordale in Colne, Grove House in Adlington, Milbanke in Kirkham, Thornton House in Thornton Cleveleys and Woodlands in Clayton-le-Moors.

There has been no mention of the future of day centres, which are also under review.

The day centres being looked at are Byron View in Colne, The Derby Centre in Ormskirk, Milbanke Day Centre in Kirkham, Teal Close in Thornton Cleveleys and Vale View in Lancaster.

Peter Heyworth, from Friends of Favordale in Colne, one of the homes under threat said he was heartened by the news.

He said: "The county council obviously have got financial issues they need to address but they're looking in the wrong place.

"It's a comforting announcement; I know it is not the end or the final hurdle but we can say we've got to round three and we've been successful so far."

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