care homes saved
THE closure of two care homes in West Lothian has been ruled out by the council, despite the local authority facing an extra £13.5 million deficit in its budget over the next four years.
Limecroft and Whitdale care homes for the elderly in Livingston and Whitburn will remain open after the council's Executive committee voted to remove plans to close them from its Tough Choices budget cuts proposals.
Closing the care homes would have meant relocating around 64 elderly residents, most likely to private care facilities, saving 680,000 from the budget. SNP council leader Peter Johnston (below), who tabled the motion at last week's meeting to save the homes, said: "I have always been clear that how a community provides care for the vulnerable is of vital importance.
"I know that this decision will be very much welcomed across West Lothian and it will bring peace to the minds of the elderly residents of both facilities and their relatives and friends. These two care homes now have a totally secure future and any fears residents had of having to move home are now completely removed."
Opposition Labour leader John McGinty has accused the ruling SNP administration of "cherrypicking" controversial issues in the budget to "save face".
He said: "This begs the question about why the ruling administration consulted on the possibility of closures when they now say they had no intention of closing these homes.
"Councillor Johnston and his administration should publicly apologise for the months of worry and anguish that they have caused unnecessarily to residents and carers.
"There is also now a serious question mark over the integrity of the scrutiny process when the ruling administration cherrypicks items out of it to try and save face, whilst still not telling people where the cuts will actually fall. They are running scared of their responsibilities."
Cllr Johnston described Cllr McGinty's comments as "pathetic", adding: "John Mcginty seems to be living in a parallel universe. The council administration has listened to the views of council officers and our community and took the first opportunity available to remove
any doubts over the future of our two council care homes.
"It is a shame that Labour cannot see this and instead seek to peddle their distorted version of reality."
The news has been welcomed by the West Lothian 50+ Network. Vice convenor Janice Strachan said: "I'm absolutely delighted to hear this news and I'm sure I speak for everyone here at the network.
"This will be a big relief to a lot of people. To even think about moving people from these homes was appalling."
One relative who has family in the Whitdale House home added: "It just didn't make sense to close this care home because it always got great reports from the Care Commission, whereas a private one along the road was heavily criticised recently.
"A lot of people will be very happy as the proposals sparked a campaign by people who were concerned for their relatives' health if they were to be moved."
The council has now also confirmed that it is facing budget cuts closer to 60m – as revealed in the Herald & Post in July – rather than the 45m it was budgeting for.
The exact figures will not be available until late November, but best estimates suggest that cuts of 58.5m will be nearer the mark.
This has left the council facing an estimated 20m cut in its budget for 2011/12, which Cllr Johnston says is "the biggest-ever challenge West Lothian Council has faced".
He added: "To put this in perspective, until now the largest ever annual budget reduction the council has achieved has been 6m, and then every penny of that money was able to be used by the council to fund
alternative council priorities.
"In this case it is likely we will have a shortfall of 20m in next year's budget."
The council says it is ready to move into the next stage of its Tough Choices consultation this month where alternatives to council officers' proposals put forward by council staff, community councils and members of the public will be discussed.
Council officers have been instructed to investigate ways to make further savings from training, recruitment and car usage.
The Council Executive has also ended free coffee, biscuits and newspapers to councillors' offices to save cash.
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Weather for Bathgate
Monday 21 May 2012
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