Scrutiny Committee Dismisses Challenge to Derbyshire County Council’s Care Home Closure Plans

A challenge aimed at compelling Derbyshire County Council to re-evaluate its plans to divest eight care homes and shut down five day care facilities has been turned down. The proposals for closing eight council-operated care homes and five day centres received approval in the previous month. The Conservative-led council stated that a decrease in demand for residential care homes had occurred, alongside a necessity to “focus resources on providing care for people with dementia”. Critics had argued that the absence of specific information regarding projected savings or potential consequential costs warranted a reconsideration of the decision; however, a scrutiny committee rejected this argument on Monday. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the council is currently facing a budget shortfall exceeding £39m for the 2024-25 financial year. The council attributes this deficit to several factors: decreased government funding, the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation rates, increased prices for fuel, energy, and materials, escalating operational costs, the expense of fulfilling the national pay award, and the increasing demand for social care services for both adults and children. Since their introduction in the summer, the proposals have prompted appeals for reconsideration. Among those making these appeals are residents and their families, union activists, and Labour Members of Parliament from Derbyshire. Ruth George, deputy leader of the Labour group, stated at the scrutiny meeting: “This report is unclear how much will be saved and there is no detail and it lacks clarity whether it will make any savings.“Also, the additional costs of private sector care is not stipulated nor does it take account of rising costs of private cost care beds that the council incurs when the council exits the market.” Ms. George further commented that in areas lacking council-operated care homes, the private sector perceives a “green light” to raise fees, and residents would also be compelled to travel greater distances to locate a care home. Conversely, Natalie Hoy, the cabinet member for adult care, informed the meeting that the county council stood as one of the nation’s largest providers of residential care and needed to restructure the service to support individuals in the most sustainable manner. The scrutiny committee concluded by a majority vote that no violation of the cabinet’s decision-making principles had occurred in its agreement to close and sell eight care homes and to close five day care centres. The council has consented to consult on proposed modifications to its four remaining residential care homes, aiming for “a single operating model of care”.