Council seeks to gag councillors on care home closures

12.00.00am GMT Wed 24th Feb 2010

Durham County Council is trying to block opposition to its care home closure plan by gagging members of the council from commenting during the consultation.

The Labour-run Council has sent a letter to all councillors saying that if they speak out against the care home closures before the consultation is over they will be "excluded from the decision making process".

Lib Dem councillor Carol Woods said "It is totally unacceptable that the council is effectively trying to gag members of the council. This is a vitally important issue and I, for one, refuse to be silenced. Residents from across the county have contacted me to thank me for speaking out and I will continue to do so, despite the best efforts of the Labour party.

"There is a demonstration against these closures arranged for Friday at County Hall and I will be there to support the residents, family, friends and staff who oppose these proposals."

"This consultation is fundamentally flawed as they are offering no alternative to residents of the care homes. It is the job of local councillors to speak out on these issues and the Council's efforts to prevent free speech on this are shameful."