Derbyshire County Council’s decision to go ahead with the closure of seven of its care homes has been met with fury by residents, families and campaigners.

Derbyshire County Council have completed a consultation into the closure and will now be recommending the closure of all seven care homes, including The Spinney in Brimington.

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, said “Cllr Lewis and the Tories on Derbyshire County Council are ignoring the results of their own consultation which clearly shows the people of Derbyshire do not support the closure of these care homes. They have broken the promise they made before the last election when they stated that no home would be closed unless there is a new care home to replace it. Labour feared at the time that the Tories were only shelving the plans for the election and would revive the closure plans when they were safely ensconced behind their desks at County Hall again. This is not just a slap in the face for staff at the home, residents, their families, it is a slap in the face for voters.

There are 204 staff at the seven care homes who have now been placed at risk of redundancy.

Toby Perkins added, “The Tories have been deliberately preventing these care homes from taking in new residents to help justify the closures. The consultation was a sham, their election promises were lies and their behaviour underhand and cynical. The way they have behaved is shameful and undemocratic.”