A LACK of action from the SNP Government has dismayed a Clydesdale councillor fighting to keep a residential care home in Biggar.
It was announced last October that the Langvout Court home would close after operator Bield Housing and Care decided to shut all 12 of its residential facilities in Scotland.
The shock move forced 161 residents to search for somewhere else to live and left 198 staff out of work.
Councillor Eric Holford met Bield’s chief executive in December to press the case for keeping Langvout Court and was told only an intervention by the Scottish Government could save the homes. He backed a petition that has been signed by almost 9,200 people.
The Conservative representative was saddened however as the Scottish Government made no real effort to intervene.
Cllr Holford said: “There can be absolutely no doubt how important Langvout Court is to the people of Biggar and surrounding communities.
“It is the only residential care home in the entire ward, so its loss will force elderly and vulnerable residents out of the area to facilities far removed from their families and friends.
“We need to be clear this is not a case of a facility being unsustainable – Langvout Court could have had a long-term future. It faces closure simply because the operator is pulling out of the residential care market throughout Scotland.”
He continued: “Given that this decision means around 200 care workers will lose their jobs and over 160 vulnerable people will be uprooted, it is shameful that it took until last week for Health Secretary Shona Robison to get involved.
“If an urban area faced the level of loss that Langvout’s closure will have on Biggar, then ministers would make it a priority.
“Similarly, if job losses on this scale came in any other sector, they would rush to intervene and would probably have a task force in place.
“Instead we saw too little too late from a Scottish Government who have utterly failed to step-up and have taken no real interest in preventing the needless loss of this vital facility.”