Bury must consult over home closures

Bury Council must start consulting residents and relatives over its
proposals to close down two older people’s care homes, following a
High Court ruling last week.

Mr Justice Richards said residents and their families had been
given “inaccurate and misleading” information before the council
decided on 16 July to close the Warthfield and Whittaker homes.
There had been a breach of rules of fairness and there was no
evidence that the council had taken into account residents’
rights.

The council had argued that Bury suffers from over-capacity in
residential care homes for older people and that the closures were
in line with government policy.