In late January 2026, members of Lancashire County Council’s Reform UK cabinet said they would not close five council-run care homes that had been identified for detailed review, after months of local campaigning. The council said the consultation into the five care homes and five day centres remained ongoing and that no formal decision had yet been taken about the future of all 10 sites.
The homes had been included in an October 2025 review prompted by concerns about the condition, safety and long-term viability of a group of council-run facilities and as part of a wider programme of savings the authority said it needed to find as it confronted a broader budget shortfall. UNISON, the trade union representing many of the care staff, argued the proposed closures would uproot vulnerable residents and pointed out the savings identified from closures were relatively small compared with the impact on residents.
The Care Quality Commission rated Lancashire’s adult social care services as ‘Requires Improvement’ in August 2025, a finding campaigners used to argue that closing in-house services could further weaken local provision.
Families, staff and local campaign groups organised protests and petitions at sites across the county, including activity around day centres such as the Derby Centre in Ormskirk and rallies in Preston. UNISON said its campaign and industrial leverage — including a union ballot that produced a strike mandate in January — were instrumental in forcing a rethink by the council.
The county’s Reform leadership said councillors would instead seek to invest in care homes deemed suitable for continued public provision. Reporting at the time indicated that the public commitment explicitly covered the care homes; the position of the five day centres was left less clear in some council statements and local coverage. ITV News described the announcement as a pledge to provide “much-needed investment” to a number of care homes that had been at risk of closure and said the council had received more than 1,600 consultation responses.
Local campaigners and relatives welcomed the change of tack, while opposition councillors and some MPs demanded clarity about what form the promised investment would take and whether day centres would also be protected from closure or privatisation. Journalists and campaigners have asked the council to publish the detailed modernization budget and the cabinet report setting out the next steps to ensure the commitment is backed by funding and a clear plan.
