Decisions

The Director of Legal and Democratic Services reported on the latest position regarding the petitions that had been received.

Members of the Cabinet were already aware that an e-petition had been submitted, however it was confirmed that a paper petition had been handed to Councillor Hoy that morning and information relating to this needed to be taken into account when making the decision.

The paper petition indicated 3919 signatures and an earlier e-petition had 2001 signatures giving a total of 5920. As Cabinet was aware, the trigger for a full council debate requires 7500 signatures, and this therefore fell below that threshold.

In the limited time available, officers had reviewed the paper petition and identified no concerns in relation to the numbers. However, it was clear that 3 of the pages did not have the same heading as the e-petition and therefore these pages (which totalled 30 signatures) should be treated as a separate petition. This petition stated: Derbyshire County Council has torn up its promise ‘that no care home would be closed without another to replace it’. They are ‘consulting’ yet again, on plans that could mean the closure of all seven care homes. Elderly and vulnerable people are at risk again. We say:

·        Keep our council care homes

·        Keep our skilled workforce of carers

·        Don’t close homes – renovate them

·        Listen to the residents and their families

Councillor N Hoy then introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, informing Cabinet of the response to the consultation on the future provision of accommodation for older people, including the possible closure of the following seven homes:

-      Ladycross House (Sandiacre);

-      Beechcroft (West Hallam);

-      East Clune (Clowne);

-      Holmlea (Tibshelf);

-      The Spinney (Brimington);

-      Goyt Valley House (New Mills); and

-      Gernon Manor (Bakewell).

Councillor Hoy also reported on the outcome of the Equality Impact Analysis and referred to the proposed recommendations identified in relation to the preferred course of action and next steps.

Councillor Hoy responded to the questions Councillor Fordham had submitted prior to the meeting and confirmed that any decision which affected people's lives in Derbyshire was a difficult one to make and all responses and views received had been taken into consideration during the consultation process.

RESOLVED:

1)   That following consideration of the full report on the consultation responses received at Appendix 2 to the report; the detailed analysis of the feedback at Appendix 3 and the response to that feedback on a thematic basis and with respect to each individual home and the content of the Equality Impact Assessment, Cabinet approves the permanent closure of The Spinney, East Clune, Holmlea, Ladycross House, Goyt Valley House, Gernon Manor and Beechcroft subject to:

(a) the current residents of the home being supported to find suitable, local and reasonable alternative accommodation or any alternative accommodation of their choice based on individual preferences and circumstances; and

(b) before proceeding with the permanent closure of any of the homes, the Council shall ensure that alternative arrangements have been made for all of the residents at each of the homes which meet the Council’s obligations under the Care Act and any other relevant legislation or guidance;

2)   To agree that further work be undertaken for each property to fully evaluate potential alternative use of the sites, including options to support the development and delivery of the Older Adult’s Housing, Accommodation and Support Strategy; and

3)   To note that a formal consultation with staff and trade unions representing staff affected by the closure will commence and every effort will be made to assist employees in seeking suitable alternative roles to minimise the number of redundancies.