Panel tells Plymouth to keep home open

Plymouth Council has been urged to reconsider its plan to close
Granby Way residential home in a report by an independent
panel.

The report, commissioned by Plymouth Council following a Court of
Appeal ruling last year, found that closing the home could have
serious health consequences for residents and could even result in
death.

The panel also recommends that the council acknowledges that
although legally enforceable promises of a home for life were not
made, there was a general expectation “fostered widely by some
officials” that residents were unlikely to be moved from their
homes except for medical reasons.

It proposes that none of the residents should be moved to another
residential home at any point in their lives without their
agreement.

Residents took their case to the appeal court after failing to win
their judicial review.

Plymouth Council said that it hoped to “negotiate a way forward to
find suitable alternatives for the few remaining residents”. A
spokesperson insisted that a final decision on whether to close the
home was to be made in the next few weeks.