Counting the cost

An initial estimate suggests the bill for essential repairs to the buildings, combined with an attempt to bring them closer to the standard of modern facilities, would come in at almost £6.5m.

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However, that total - contained in papers presented to the meeting - is based on condition surveys that are almost five years old.

New assessments of the current state of each building have now been commissioned and will be used as the basis for the final decisions taken on each property.

Simon Lawrence, the county council's director growth and regeneration, said that the facilities were all deemed to "meet current compliance standards and are therefore safe".

However, John Williams, the county council's director of operations for adult social care, said that, with five of the buildings dating back to the 1960s, they had serious shortcomings in some respects, including that the lifts in some of the homes are too small to transport residents in a bed - meaning they would have to be taken down the stairs, should they need an ambulance.

The meeting heard that some modernisation investments have already been made.

how the cabinet look at it...and even if it's not in a direct assessment, that, to me, carries weight.