CARE Provider Shaw Healthcare, with whom Devon County Council has been negotiating over the potential transfer of some of its residential homes, has announced that it is withdrawing from negotiations.

CARE Provider Shaw Healthcare, with whom Devon County Council has been negotiating over the potential transfer of some of its residential homes, has announced that it is withdrawing from negotiations.

Shaw has concluded that the process of community engagement is more extensive than they are able to commit to given their other priorities. They have, therefore, decided to focus their resources on other major projects which are closer to contractual agreement.

The Council received confirmation of the care provider's intentions this week, and the announcement was made to Councillors at yesterday's meeting of the Full Council (19 Feb).

The Council's Executive had agreed in December to continue negotiations with Shaw Healthcare, but on a smaller scale than originally envisaged in large part due to unprecedented changes in the financial climate.

The Council is committed to a further period of community engagement before inviting other potential partners to come forward with development proposals.

In the meantime, services at each of the Council's residential homes continue unchanged.

Councillor Hugo Barton, the council's Executive Member for Adult and Community Services, said;

"We understand the reasons why Shaw Healthcare has made this decision. We would like to thank them for the amount of work and commitment they have put into Devon since they were appointed as preferred provider.

"The decision by Shaw will not affect the plans to develop our residential homes to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of older people in Devon.

We will continue to do this in partnership with other organisations and care providers who are keen to be involved in the exciting, but challenging, programme we are embarked upon.

"As we have always stressed, completing a contract with Shaw Healthcare was not a done deal and that no decisions about any service developments at our homes have been taken and this remains the case.

"We still face a growing pressure in delivering adult care services and as agreed by the all-party Executive in 2004, we must find the right way of addressing this pressure.