Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Proposed closure of 3 older peoples residential care homes and a learning disabilities residential and respite care home - Call-in of decision
The above decision by the council has been called-in. The decision relates to Red House, Broadwater Lodge and Cranwood which are Old Peoples Residential Care Homes and Whitehall Street which is a learning disabilities residential and respite care home.
I shall be sitting on the panel for this meeting – any ideas, questions and comments welcome.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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To my unsophisticated knowledge of economics, I don't see how closing these places will save money, as LBH will then have to pay for the service to be provided elsewhere, and add in extra for profit margin. Or maybe the buildings are on prime sites that can be sold at huge prices for Luxury Flats.
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Permalink Reply by maggie on
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I can't see how savings can be made in the long term either when you have to factor in profits for the private companies etc, however in the very short term there may be possible savings and profit from the sale of properties and staff wages, however in the big scheme of things the amounts are not impressive. Just like the PFIs it is mortgaging our future for very short term possible gains of today.
The cost of these (possible) short term relatively small profits/savings is the security and well being of the most vulnerable in our community. These places are not just buildings they are peoples homes where they have developed friendships and where they feel safe and secure, and often are as near as possible to their families. Moving elderly people to other homes kills them (there have been enough studies done on this) moving people with severe learning difficulties causes enormous distress and disorientation.
Of course volunteers and the 'big society' can fill the gap. What a joke. Looking after the elderly and adults with learning difficulties is a very skilled job with experience developed over years. I wouldn't entrust an adult with severe behavioural and communication problems and complex medical needs to a volunteer however well meaning.
Any decision to close these homes stinks!
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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This council appears to be behind the times with it's desire to out source services. According to this, councils who outsourced years ago are now bringing these services back in house , as it's more efficient to do so.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on
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A call in is where a decision made by the cabinet is challenged. The decision (call-in) has to be signed my a small number of councillors. The council's legal department have to decide that the call-in is legal and then the decision is referred to the council's Overview & Scrutiny committee where the decision is discussed by the councillors who sit on the panel together with other interested parties who have the opportunity to put their case. The OSC panel can decide that the decision should stand, that the decision is referred back to the decision maker (in this case the cabinet member responsible for adult services) and in turn the cabinet and in some cases Full Council. The whole process allows for more open discussion of the decision and hopefully the arguments are compelling enough for the decision to be changed or amended.
As with other controversial decisions over the last couple of months over childrens centres and older peoples, yes, these cuts are as a result of the coalition's programme of cuts to reduce the deficit but the council has some descretion as to where and how to make these cuts and that is what is being challenged here.
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Permalink Reply by Cllr Emina Ibrahim on
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The last time I did my maths the cuts were imposed by the Coalition. So my questions would be directed at the government and it may be an idea to write to Equalities minister Lynn Featherstone on the impact of cuts forced on local councils by the government of which she is a member which at the level imposed will inevitably hit the most vulnerable hardest.
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Permalink Reply by Emma S on
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Please, please, please - there must be somewhere else these cuts can happen other than the most vulnerable in society. I have 2 children and would rather see children's centres cut than this (not that that's welcome either!)
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Never mind Emma "At least they won't be dead" (c) L Reith 2011.
Except some of them will be, moving people from home to home tends to kill them off.
I look forward to a more considered explanation of the reasoning, economic or otherwise.
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Closing childrens centres is an interesting proposition ! do you mean all? You all know as well as i do that no vulnerable group is escaping the impact of the cuts imposed by the Coalition - It is wrong to cut childrens centers and it is wrong to cut adult social services but to suggest that this is at the discretion of councils when we know full well that these decisions are a direct impact of decisions made by the Liberal Democrats is strange to say the least. Discretion is a rather interesting term and i would say used in its most "liberal" sense here if we are talking in the context of Haringey in particular. I suppose forcing a council to decide which finger to cut off is allowing a choice of sorts! Chidrens services and adult social care are fundamental to the healthy functioning of local communities and the deeper you are forced to cut the more likely you are to draw blood or hit vital organs. Unfortunately Pamish I am not going to offer a reasoning whether considered or otherwise for slash and burn cuts because i dont agree with them. I would suggest that question be put to the Lib Dems in government.
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I would like to bring to the attention of the Cllr that the 'change manager'organising the consultation on the closure of these units is in fact a consultant earning around £500 a day. If residents knew how much the council were paying someone to consult on the closure of these units there would be an outrage
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Just wanted to update you on the decision of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee yesterday.
The Council’s cabinet will have to reconsider their decision to close four residential and respite homes after the Council’s watchdog committee recommended that further details were needed before a final decision is made.
The proposal to close Cranwood, Broadwater Lodge, The Red House and Whitehall Street was sent back to cabinet after a request by Liberal Democrat councillors for the Overview and Scrutiny committee to consider the plans.
Over fifty local residents attended the meeting to hear the concerns of carers, family members and service professionals on the Council’s proposals. These included a failure of the consultation of service users, families and carers, the impact on vulnerable residents, whether alternative provision is available and adequate and if the plans will really deliver the savings identified by the Council.
The objections to the Council’s policy included a document casting doubts over the legality of the Council’s decision and potential for Judicial Review. The paper was submitted by legal firm Bindmans, who successfully overturned the decision of the Council to demolish Ward’s Corner. The committee were clearly concerned that the figures used by the cabinet to justify these closures were not transparent. It was felt that the cabinet needed a broader picture on the impact on other service provision before making its final decision.
At the meeting the Overview and Scrutiny committee voted 5 for and 3 abstentions for the proposals to be sent back to cabinet with recommendations that it looks at:
• The legal document from Bindmans (the legal firm that helped to overturn the Ward’s Corner planning application) which raises doubts of the legality of the decision.
• That better financial clarity is provided on the effect of the whole of the Adult Social Services budget and whether the savings identified will be realised
• Assurances on the future engagement of service users, families and carers on the future provision of residential and respite services.
The Overview and Scrutiny committee will publish its formal recommendations
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Thank you for this update it is certainly important that local residents are kept up to date on decisions of the Council which affect them. I would also be interested in being kept up to date on the representations Lib Dem Cllr's are making to central government on the impact of the cuts which have been imposed on one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK. I am surre the residents of Harringay would like to know how hard their local representatives are fighting their corner at local and national level.
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