Cabinet decision statement - Short-term & respite care

Today the Cheshire West & Cheshire Cabinet made the tough decision to accept the recommendation to close respite care homes in order to protect other adult social care services.

Councillor Val Armstrong, Labour’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care said:

“Today the Cabinet made the tough decision to accept the recommendation to close respite care homes in order to protect other adult social care services. The Government often talks about delivering on the people's priorities, yet after eleven years in power, it has failed to come up with a plan for adult social care.”

“Cabinet could wait no longer and had to act, meaning building-based services are being closed to improve and modernise the way respite care is delivered, providing more choice and flexibility, whilst maintaining the best possible service for residents in tough financial times. Service users will experience no loss of service, only a change in provision with more local choice for service users and their carers.”

“This was a tough decision, and follows years of effort to try to increase occupancy at the care homes which are recommended for closure. This has not worked, and due to budget constraints, the Council simply cannot afford to keep underused services open. Existing residents will be supported and receive appropriate placements elsewhere. The Cabinet recognises the commitment of staff, especially during the pandemic, and has asked for every effort to be made to support staff and retain their skills in the Council, either within care or another department.”

“To support services locally when the Government will not, the Council will invest an extra £12m in adult social care in the 2021/22 financial year. The Council spends 60% of its budget on adult & children’s social care. Council Tax rises only go so far, closing respite care homes which have had low occupancy since before the pandemic is essential to support this investment. The Prime Minister & the Government need to deliver on their promises, adult social care is beyond breaking point and our communities, care staff and all taxpayers deserve better.”

“Despite £466m of Government cuts since 2011, Labour is protecting people and investing in communities. The scale of the cuts over the last decade mean all councils are struggling to maintain their care services and the Tories are complicit in supporting large private sector providers to take huge profits from the care system.”

“The Government has repeatedly promised proposals for social care since 2017 but ministers are yet to keep their promises, or even bother to attend meetings. Government inaction means residents aren't getting the care they deserve and communities are losing out. Councils like this one are left trying to do the best with the resources they have, and the Labour administration is focusing on promoting choice and flexibility for residents who need respite care.”

The respite care homes included in the closure proposals are Curzon House in Saltney, Leftwich Green in Northwich and Sutton Beeches in Ellesmere Port.