Agenda item

The Director of Care Services and Commissioning submits a report that provides the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission with an update on the progress to sell and close the Council’s Elderly Persons’ Homes.  The commission is recommended the note the contents of the report.

A minute extract from the consideration of this issue at an earlier meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held 14 August 2014 is attached.

The Director of Care Services and Commissioning submitted a report which provided the commission with an update on the progress to sell and close the Council’s Elderly Persons’ Homes. She explained that there had been a legal challenge in relation to the closure of Herrick Lodge, but this had now been resolved. The home would be closed once the remaining four residents had moved into their new home.

Abbey House and Cooper House homes had been sold to Leicestershire County Care Ltd, (LCCL) and over the next six months, the council would be looking at them to see how they delivered care. The lessons learned from Phase 1 of the proceedings would be used to move forward in Phase 2, which would include the sale of Arbor House and Thurn Court. Phase 2 commenced in February.

Members considered the financial implications detailed in the report and in response to a query, the commission was informed that payment in full of £475,000 had been made in respect of Abbey House and Cooper House. The Interim Strategic Director also stated that it was her understanding that the savings of £1.7m from the sale of the Abbey, Cooper, Elizabeth and Nuffield Homes, were the complete saving to the Authority.

Members noted that the report stated that Preston Lodge would be closed in due course and questioned the timing of this. The commission heard that there were ten permanent residents at the home; their move would be phased and would depend on the availability of beds elsewhere. In addition, the closure of the home was linked to the development of the Intermediate Care Unit.

In response to a question, the Director of Care Services and Commissioning confirmed that the LCCL would be subject to all the due diligence checks if they put themselves forward to purchase Arbor House and Thurn Court. Members asked whether LCCL had made any commitment to invest in the homes and were informed that although there was no requirement for them to do so, they had already started in some refurbishment.

A query was raised as to why the Equality Impact Assessments were not included in the report. The commission were informed that these were completed prior to commencement of the process.

Councillor Willmott queried that whilst most residents appeared to be content with their new homes, four residents had stated that they were not yet fully settled. He asked whether those four residents were in the same new home. The Director of Care Services and Commissioning responded that she would look into this as she didn’t have those details to hand.

A question was raised as to whether the council had considered using an independent body to carry out the evaluations and the Director confirmed that independent bodies, including Age UK, had helped. Comments were made that it would be preferable for an outside organisation to carry out future evaluations to avoid any possibility of internal bias.

The Chair commented that whilst the report acknowledged many aspects of the process that went well, it was also noted that there had been issues with some areas including, training records that were not kept up to date and communication. The Director responded that there had been a delay before the council could provide information to residents and relatives about the purchaser, as officers wanted to speak to staff and residents before LCCL went into the homes. The commission received assurances that the issues with training records would be corrected.

The Chair then concluded the debate.

RESOLVED

1)    that continuing reports relating to the sale of Thurn Court and Arbor House be submitted to the commission;

2)    that a separate report relating to the sale of Preston Lodge, including timescales and how the process would be handled, be brought back to the commission;

3)    that an update on the sale of Herrick Lodge be brought back to the commission;

4)    that an up to date Equality Impact Assessment be brought back to the commission;

5)    that a response by email be sent in respect of Councillor Willmott’s question relating to the four residents who had stated that they were not happy with their new homes;

6)    that the commission request that a third party be considered to carry out evaluations in future; and

7)     that the commission express concerns that training records were not kept up to date and note assurances that this issue will be corrected.