BARNOLDSWICK'S Cravenside Home for the Elderly could be under threat of closure or a sell-off, according to a leading figure in Pendle politics.

Liberal councillor Tony Greaves this week called on Labour-run Lancashire County Council to come clean over its plans for Cravenside - and all the other Homes for the Elderly (HFEs) which the county council runs.

He claims they are under threat after discovering that a senior Labour county councillor had visited the homes to discuss their future.

Chairman of the county's social services committee, Coun Doreen Pollitt, visited Pendle last week to talk to the officers in charge of its county-owned HFEs, and to trade union representatives of staff there, about her plans.

Coun Greaves claims staff in the homes have apparently been told of the plans, but instructed to say nothing to anyone about them. In Pendle alone, the county council HFEs provide places for over 200 elderly people.

Coun Greaves said: "I understand Coun Pollitt said that these top secret plans were being put forward at the insistence of the Labour Government.

"She is reported as saying that if the county council does not sort out the 'problem' of county council homes this year, the Government will close them down next March."

Coun Greaves, a former county councillor himself and a past member of the county's social services committee, said he was appalled but not surprised at the behaviour of the ruling Labour Group on the county council.

"These people are so arrogant," he said.

"They seem to think they can do what they want with no public debate or proper information."

Angry local staff have told him that four options were set out for the HFEs. They could be:

* closed down

* sold off to the private sector or housing associations

* "franchised" by the county council

* sold to the staff in management buyouts.

They had also been told a decision would be made in May - only weeks away - but that the matter had to stay in secret.

Coun Greaves said he had checked the position with members of the county council and been told that a strategy working group had been set up by the social services committee to consider these matters.

"My understanding is that a very preliminary meeting was held with a list of up to six possible options, ranging from the status quo to complete closure," he said. "But all the working group did was to ask the social services officials to report to another meeting in much more detail on what all the different options meant.

"It appears that county councillor Pollitt is well out of order in touring the county stirring up alarm in this secretive way before any proper decisions have even been made. I understand she is visiting every part of the county, not just Pendle, with her dismal message.

"In the circumstances I believe that she and the Labour Party at County Hall in Preston must come clean at once, put a proper document out to public consultation and let the people of Pendle - and Lancashire as a whole - know just what's going on."

When Pendle Council's West Craven committee met on Tuesday, the concerns over Cravenside were reiterated by Liberal Barnoldswick councillor and West Craven county councillor David Whipp.

He remembered that before Cravenside was built many West Craven people, who had lived in the area all their lives, had to go into homes in "the far flung corners of Pendle" when they became unable to cope on their own. That made it difficult for friends to visit and keep in touch, and Cravenside had been a valuable asset to the area which must be protected.

Coun Whipp successfully proposed calling on the county council to hold full and thorough public consultations on all options for the future of Cravenside.

In addition, the West Craven committee will stress to the county council its strong concern that Cravenside should remain as a facility for elderly people in West Craven and, if possible, under the same management.

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