Scope rebuts press reports of closures

Disability charity Scope has denied media reports that it plans to
close 50 of its residential homes as part of a switch from service
provision to campaigning.

The charity, which faces a £5m deficit, said it intended to
close just two of its homes, in Cardiff and Chester, and would
continue to provide services as well as campaign.

Reports in the Mail on Sunday and the Independent claimed 500
disabled people would have to find accommodation after the closure
of 50 homes within 10 years.

But a statement from the charity insisted it had no plans to close
all its services, saying it was “still a large service provider and
will continue to provide more improved services to more people in
the future”.

The charity admitted that the sale of Cyncoed Flats in Cardiff,
negotiated some time ago, was not in its best interests or those of
its service users.

A Scope spokesperson said the charity was moving from segregated
accommodation towards more community-based provision.