County council to pursue care home closures after judicial review withdrawn

Devon County Council is to proceed with closing its care homes after a member of the public dropped judicial review proceedings.

Maureen Beauchamp, who was legally aided, had brought a judicial review on behalf of her mother, who lives in a home due for closure.

But Beauchamp has now dropped the case citing an unrealistic prospect of success.

The council had put the process on hold until the case was resolved. It had argued that budgets cuts meant it could not sustain the homes, as 30% of the £70m residential care budget was spent on only 10% of service users resident in them, with the remainder supporting the 90% living in the independent and private sectors.

Stuart Barker, cabinet member for adult social care, said: “We welcome the claimant’s decision to withdraw her claim after advisors considered the evidence.

“We have maintained throughout this legal process there was no case for the council to answer and it was wrong to suggest that any figures were misleading. The claimant would have proceeded with the challenge if they were.”

He said that ceasing to provide residential care, and instead purchasing it from private sector providers, was “given the ongoing financial situation, the only way that we can continue to ensure that people eligible for our support receive the care they need”.

Mark Smulian