McClymont House will close in seven months if it does not receive more funding (Image: Tony Nicoletti Daily Record) Get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Two senior SNP ministers have been urged to use their influence to secure funding to keep two care homes open.
Labour candidate Imogen Walker has written to Mairi McAllan and Christina McKelvie in a bid to prevent McClymont House in Lanark and Dewar House in Hamilton from shutting their doors. Walker, who is standing in Hamilton and Clyde Valley, has asked the Wellbeing
economy Secretary and drugs minister to use their positions to obtain £1.5million to keep the homes open. McClymont House is in McAllan's Holyrood constituency, while Dewar House is in McKelvie's patch. South Lanarkshire Integrated Joint Board (IJB) voted to close the homes at a meeting on Tuesday. Read More Related Articles Labour has a 99% chance of winning next general
election, predicts John Curtice Read More Related Articles Housing benefit reform would 'end uncertainty for tenants', claims SNP minister The closures were part of a package of proposals to meet a nearly £20 million shortfall for adult and older people’s social care. The homes are set to shut their doors in seven months time. The IJB's chief officer has written to Health Secretary Neil Gray appealing for further financial assistance. Walker, who is married to
UK Labour campaign director Morgan McSweeney, said it was "critical" that the Scottish Government steps in to provide the money. She said: "£1.5m is needed to keep these homes open. Please use your position as members of the party of Government in
Scotland to secure this funding. "The SNP-led Scottish government has spent £152m on a failed ferry contract, £146m rectifying their mistakes at The Edinburgh Sick Kids and
Queen Elizabeth hospitals, £40m on a prosecution of Rangers
Football club and £200m on unsuccessful industrial interventions and loan write offs. "£1.5m is a small fraction of this and you could take steps to ensure that is it released straight away. South Lanarkshire Council, like its counterparts across Scotland, is dealing with the impact of increasing demands and decreasing resources, and Integrated Joint Boards face a health and social care funding crisis. Mairi McAllan is MSP for Clydesdale while Christina McKelvie represents Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse "It is therefore critical that the Scottish Government acts now to address the consequences of decisions that are out of the hands of local representatives and coming on top of years of insufficient funding for local government. She added: "The Scottish Government has the power to step in immediately and ensure that these much valued homes can remain open." Scottish politics Health boards blow millions on taxis Labour conference braced for
protests SNP lost thousands of members in 2023 Matheson urged to reject pay-out The Record revealed earlier this week that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar had been urged by local campaigners to use his influence to encourage the two Labour councillors on the IJB to stop the closures. Campaigners had also urged Labour's South Lanarkshire Council leader Joe Fagan to ask the Scottish Government for extra funding to save the homes. They had also written to Walker asking her to back the campaign. McKelvie did not say she would use her position in the Scottish Government to secure funding for the homes. She said the consultation had shown the public opposed the closure of Dewar House and slammed the move as part of a "recent spate of decisions to roll back on local services by the Labour Administration in South Lanarkshire, led by council leader Joe Fagan". The decision over the closures was not made by Fagan but by the IJB which is made up of two SNP councillors, two Labour councillors and four representatives from NHS Lanarkshire. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We understand the concern this will have caused residents and their families. "Regrettably, there will be situations where independent sector or local authority run care homes close, and Scottish Ministers have no role in these decisions. This is a matter for the South Lanarkshire Council's Integration Joint Board. "The Scottish Government has invested over £2 billion in the 2024-25 budget for social care and integration – delivering on our Programme for Government commitment to increase social care spending by 25% over this Parliament – two years ahead of our original target . " We will be seeking assurances that alternative arrangements are put in place to support the people of South Lanarkshire." McAllan was approached for comment. To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here . Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record
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