Union fears Derbyshire County Council’s collapsed sale of eight care homes will mean closures

Campaigners opposed to Derbyshire County Council’s long-running agreement to sell eight care homes have been shocked to learn the authority’s new Reform UK administration is being forced to revise its plans with feared closures following a failed attempt to sell the homes to a single provider.

The former Conservative-controlled council controversially agreed to sell the eight care homes while managing a multi-million pound budget deficit after it argued a need to refocus adult care services by supporting more dementia patients and helping more people to stay at home due to what it claimed was a decline in demand for residential care.

Despite the new Reform UK council administration taking control after the May election it echoed a similar strategy but the council confirmed on December 15th that the planned sale had collapsed and the UNISON union now claims the authority will be shutting the homes after its failed attempt to sell them to a private provider.

UNISON East Midlands regional organiser Dave Ratchford said: “This is a devastating blow for residents, families and staff. It should never have come to this.

“We are urging the Leader of the Council, Alan Graves, to intervene and stop these closures before irreversible damage is done. There is still time to rethink this approach and protect residents who rely on stable, familiar care and staff who have dedicated their working lives to supporting them.”

The eight care homes the former Conservative council agreed in November 2024 to stop operating and to sell included: Briar Close, at Borrowash; Castle Court, at Swadlincote; The Grange, at Eckington; Lacemaker Court, at Long Eaton; The Leys, at Ashbourne; New Bassett House, at Shirebrook; Rowthorne, at Swanwick; And Thomas Colledge House, at Bolsover.

UNISON claims the closures will leave elderly residents and staff who look after them to bear the consequences of months of poor decision-making by authority bosses.

The union had opposed the closures from the very start, led protests, organised public meetings and repeatedly urged the council to rethink plans it says risk uprooting vulnerable residents and breaking up experienced care teams.

UNISON Derbyshire branch secretary Martin Porter said: “The council still hasn’t answered some basic questions. It hasn’t said whether there were other bidders or why the process didn’t restart when it was clear things had gone wrong.

“There’s also confusion about whether residents will be able to move to a care home of their own choosing.

“People have been left hanging for months, and now they’re being told to face upheaval and uncertainty at the worst possible time of year. That’s simply not acceptable.”

Opposition Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party councillors previously joined campaigners and concerned residents in a failed bid to stop the former Conservative council agreeing to sell the eight care homes.

They had argued the net savings of the decision were not stipulated in a relevant report and that no account was taken in the report of any possible increase in expenditure resulting from the decision.

The opposition councillors argued the decision would have a detrimental effect on some of the most vulnerable older people and the changes did not take into account an increasingly older population and what they believe is an increasing demand for residential care.

Nine Labour MPs also appealed to the former Conservative council administration in July, 2024, to reconsider its proposals to close the care homes after they claimed this could prove to be ‘devastating’ with ‘serious consequences’.

But the former Conservative council argued changes would support the council’s intention to create a sustainable service focusing more on specialist services for people with dementia and their carers, offering long-term residential care and flexible day and overnight breaks to support carers.

They also claimed the changes would allow for greater integration with health partners to provide short-term support and assessment services to help timely discharges from hospital, prevent unplanned hospital admissions and reduce the risk of readmission helping people stay at home.

The current Reform-UK controlled council previously stated the care homes had been made available as going concerns following a public consultation into changes to the way the council now aims to provide in-house care.

It added that the focus of the council’s in-house care homes is now upon the growing number of people with dementia and their carers including long-term specialist dementia care coupled with respite day and night breaks.

The county council has stated plans are now having to be revised for the future of the eight care homes after the planned sale fell through and the sale cannot be progressed further.

It had agreed in principle for a single care home provider to take over the running of all eight residential homes as part of a wide-reaching plan by the authority to remodel its in-house care services.

Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Cllr Joss Barnes, said: “I’m devastated by the news that despite the hard work by the council and the company, the negotiations have failed to come to the positive conclusion we’d hoped and worked hard for.

“I know this will be extremely upsetting news for all our residents and their families, as well as our hard-working care colleagues, especially coming at this time of year in the run-up to Christmas.

“I’d like to thank everyone for their hard work, patience and persistence and I’d also like to say how incredibly sorry I am that this hasn’t worked out as we’d hoped and planned for.

“We have done absolutely everything to progress the sale, but in the end it wasn’t possible. Due to commercial sensitivities, we’re not able to give any more details regarding negotiations.”

The council says the current focus on its in-house care homes is based on providing wraparound care for the growing number of people with dementia and their carers alongside closer working with health partners to increase the number of community support beds to help with timely discharges from hospital.

Cllr Barnes added: “Selling all the homes as a going concern was our intention, to ensure continuity for our residents and security for our colleagues.

“This was always our aim and I am extremely sad to have to make this announcement. Work will now be undertaken to support our residents to find new homes.

“The health and wellbeing of our residents, their families and friends and our valued colleagues, is our top priority and we will continue to do everything we can to support them through this difficult time.”

The former Conservative-controlled council also agreed to sell a ninth care home – Ada Belfield, in Belper – by putting it up for transfer on the open market.

The council’s new Reform UK administration has stated it intends for this centre to be leased to a new provider after they have appointed property Ernest Wilson to offer the commercial lease on the facility.

Ada Belfield is currently being marketed as a going concern with the council looking to transfer this care home to a provider with a proven track record and the council aims to offer it for lease and retain the building.

The lease would cover the whole site, including the care home and library, with the leaseholder required to sub-let the library back to the county council at no cost.

Cllr Barnes said: “We continue to market Ada Belfield as a going concern and know the library is very important to the community and retaining control of the whole site through a lease agreement – and therefore access to it by the public – means we can keep providing a library service to the people of Belper.”

Belper Together protesters who have held protests, submitted a 5,000 name petition and lobbied the council in opposition to the sale of Ada Belfield fear residents could face future top-up fees with no upper limit to the amount charged and that changes will see the loss of 20 Community Support Beds at the home.

The campaigners who have opposed the sale of Ada Belfield in a long-running campaign have raised concerns that privatisation gives care companies the freedom to raise fees to any level they choose and the campaigners claim that nearly 90per cent of private care home residents nationally require council supplements to pay for their accommodation.

Cllr Barnes, has said that current residents will remain at the Ada Belfield care home under any new provider at no additional cost and staff will not lose their jobs because they too will move forward with any new provider.

He has also argued that by selling and or leasing the care home the council is expected to make efficiency savings and reduce its overspend.

Cllr Barnes also previously stated the council has changed the way it supports Derbyshire residents by creating specialist, efficient, effective and sustainable care to help more people stay in their own home for as long as they can.

He has also said that as part of changes the council will stop operating some of its residential care homes including Ada Belfield to enable it to focus resources on short term, specialist care for older people and those with dementia and their carers, including integrated and flexible specialist dementia day services and respite.

Cllr Barnes recently stated more people want to remain living independently in their own homes for as long as possible and that’s why the council has remodelled its in-house care services to help more people to live at home by supporting them to come home from hospital and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

He claims there is also a need for more specialist care for the growing number of people with dementia so the council has refocused its care services on dementia-specialist care homes, creating wraparound care for those with dementia, including overnight respite and day breaks to help support carers.

The council says it is working closely with health partners, including the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board and Derbyshire Community Health Services, to put community support beds in locations that would be most effective in serving people across the county and it is committed to creating a sustainable care service.

Cllr Barnes had previously said the council’s intentions for Ada Belfield to be leased to a new provider as a going concern will involve no changes to the support offered to the people who live or work at the home.

Green Party county councillor, Gez Kinsella, fears the failed sale of the eight care homes and their feared closure will mean residents will have to move out and there will be job losses and this could mean a distorted market and fees could be driven up elsewhere including at the Ada Belfield care home.

Belper Together campaigner Carrie Terry said: “A lot of people who voted for Reform were hoping for a change but what they have got is the same.”

She added: “We don’t know the implications where people will go or if top-up fees are to be paid by Derbyshire County Council or families.

“If you remove public provision you then put it into the private sector’s court and the prices could go anywhere. The bottom line is we cannot trust them at all.”

Belper’s public library, which forms part of the same Ada Belfield Centre building, will be subject to a leaseback arrangement with the council on a rent-free basis, according to the council and Ernest Wilson.

Mark Czajka, director at Ernest Wilson, said: “Ernest Wilson has a strong track record and a deep understanding of the unique sensitivities involved in the residential care sector, which is why Derbyshire County Council appointed us to offer a lease on the Ada Belfield Centre.

“Our focus throughout the marketing process is on securing an experienced operator with a proven record of delivering high-quality, CQC-rated care.

“By taking a careful and considered approach, our aim is to support a smooth transition that ensures continuity of excellent, compassionate care for residents, while safeguarding the long-term future of this modern, purpose-built facility.”

The former Conservative county council also previously agreed to close five day centres for the elderly including Blackwell Day Centre, at Blackwell; Fabrick Day Services, at Hilton; Jubilee Centre, at New Mills; Queens Court, at Buxton; And Valley View Day Centre, at Bolsover.