Government welcomes Southern Cross deal
Friday, 17 June 2011 12:01 PM
The Government last night welcomed a deal struck between ailing care homes giant Southern Cross and its landlords to put off the threat of the company being broken up.
The Darlington-based company has been given four months by its 80 landlords to find a solution for the unpaid rents on its homes.
A restructuring of the company is expected to see between 250 and 400 of its current 751 care homes retained and operated under a different name.
Health Minister Paul Burstow called the agreement between the two parties a "welcome development".
"We are engaged with the company, the landlords and the lenders and are monitoring the situation very closely," Burstow was reported as saying by the BBC.
"It is for Southern Cross, its landlords and those with an interest in the business to put in place a plan that stabilises the business and ensures operational continuity of the care homes.
"This is a commercial sector problem and we look to the commercial sector to solve it. All the business interests involved fully understand their responsibilities."
However, the minister's comments drew criticism from some including Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent Nick Smith, who accused the Government of having been too slow to act to resolve the crisis and attacked those who he argued had tried to "get rick quick by preying on our elderly relatives".
Want to be the first to know when we break a story? Follow @AboutProperty on Twitter and subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.
