THE closure of Westbury Court care home is set to go ahead after a call-in for the decision was voted down by councillors last week.

Council leaders had agreed last month to decommission the home in Westbury, as well as three others in Gloucestershire, which were being run by the Orders of St John Trust.

Opposition councillors had called in the decision to debate whether due process had been followed by the Conservative administration, but at a meeting of the adult social care scrutiny committee last Wednesday (July 20), the grounds for the call-in were rejected by five votes to four.

Lib Dem councillor Jeremy Hilton said he still felt the process was predetermined, as there were only ever two options on the table.

“One option was for them to stay open and do nothing, and the other was to close them because they didn’t meet modern standards.”

He said no indication was given that modernising the homes was ever an option.

Adult social care commissioning cabinet member Carole Allaway-Martin (C, Coleford) said the decision was a very difficult one to make, but reassured the committee that the council had followed the proper process.

“The decisions were well considered”, she said. “We have met the guidelines in the constitution and we’ve gone above and beyond what we should be doing.

“We have taken significant legal, ethical and social advice from professional bodies and we’ve looked at case material.

“No communication from the council until June 22 states or implies that any decision had been taken in relation to the four homes or the other proposals put forward to stabilise the care market.

“At each stage, cabinet has been open and transparent about their deliberations.

“Far from predetermining the decision, cabinet has entered each stage in good conscience and has exposed its interim conclusions to scrutiny, challenge from fellow councillors, experts within the sector and the wider public.”