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26.10.04
Haringey Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Social Services Cllr Ron Aitken
revealed on Thursday night (21st October) the existence of two secret
Haringey Council reports which, he says, should have been made public before the
decision by the Council's Labour-run Executive was made to permanently close
two care homes and temporarily close a third earlier this month.
Cllr Aitken, along with GLA Assembly Member Lynne Featherstone, called in
the Executive's decision for the Council's Watchdog Committee to scrutinise and discuss. The two
secret reports, disclosed by Cllr Aitken at Thursday's meeting, paint a
disturbing picture of the Council's failings in addressing care
home funding issues.
The first is a secret report to the Council's Executive or 'Cabinet' from
July 2003 concerning the sale of Honeywood, another home which was closed by
Haringey and left empty for a considerable period.
The other report went before Haringey's General Purpose Committee
during the Council's summer recess this year and concerned a cut in pay for
some residential care staff.
Cllr Aitken also revealed that previous mismanagement of the residential
homes had forced Haringey to raid its Child Protection Budget in the period
leading up to the death of Victoria Climbie in order to keep the residential
homes, which were in a very poor state, going.
Cllr Aitken comments:
"We need more answers from Haringey's Labour Group, because previous
assurances about the financial background to the closure of care homes have
been broken. It is a fact that capital receipts are pooled, and when the
homes were previously sold to Circle 33 the promised financial returns never
materialised. There are also two key reports known only to a small circle of
Labour Councillors which should be made public before the closures go
ahead.
"Furthermore, plans to close and rebuild Osborne Grove Older People's Home
in Stroud Green are also deeply worrying. Haringey's failures to deliver
services for the elderly at Hornsey Central Hospital, which has been talked
about for 15 years, as well as the fiasco over Alexandra Palace, mean that
they cannot be trusted to close and then rebuild Osborne Grove within the
required budget or timetable."
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