Labour demands u-turn on Wirral care home closures

Mar 2 2011 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

LABOUR was due to call for a U-turn by Wirral Council’s leading groups over their plans to shut care and respite homes when the authority met last night to finalise its budget.

Details of the budget were revealed by the council’s Conservative and Liberal Democrat-controlled cabinet last week, and were to be put before the full council on Tuesday.

Highlights include a freeze on council tax and plans to invest heavily in renewable energy, but cuts also see 1,100 staff leave the council through voluntary redundancy or early retirement, as well as the closure of five council-run care homes.

However, an amendment submitted by the Labour group targeting these closures said: “The council is moving too far too fast and the consequence is growing levels of fear and confusion with the attendant risk, in some cases, that a breaking point will be triggered, leading to higher levels of demand for more costly residential care.”

The Labour group will also be calling for the Wirral Home Assessment Re-ablement Team (Hart) service to be retained in-house by the council, over concerns that this will lead to higher costs for the authority in the longer term.

The Labour amendment specifically calls for Mapleholme to stay open “in line with the recommendations made at Cabinet in November, 2009, following a lengthy and detailed consultation”.

And the opposition group are also demanding “the closure of Pensall, Poulton, Meadowcroft and Fernleigh is postponed for a period of at least six months”, in order to ensure alternative services are in place and service users and their families have been “properly consulted”.

Labour leader Steve Foulkes said: “This should not be a party political decision. This should be a matter of conscience for each member of the council.”

But Wirral Council has indicated the homes may not all be closed by the March 31 deadline.

Cllr Bob Moon, Wirral’s cabinet member for social care, said: “Tenders have now been received from potential providers who are bidding to run services, and are currently being evaluated. Early indications are very positive.

“Our services are preparing for these very significant changes that will take place from March 31, the official changeover date, when homes close and providers change.”

However, he said “no-one would be made homeless”, and added: “There will be a very flexible transition period to allow people to make the change to new providers in as stress-free a way as possible, and we will work with each family on a case-by-case basis.”

Council leader Jeff Green had promised his budget would “protect the vulnerable” and boost business in Wirral.

He said: “Over the last 10 months, we have worked hard to reduce the amount of money we spend on the Council’s running costs.Š

“We have done this while avoiding compulsory redundancies, unlike Labour-run Manchester; and protecting services such as Sure Start, unlike Labour-run Liverpool.”