Cash offer to spare 106-year-old from eviction is snubbed as council refuse tycoon’s care home pledge

October 13, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

Louisa Watts: Still faces eviction

www.dailymail.co.uk

The council threatening to evict a 106-year-old woman has rejected an 11th-hour chance to keep her care home open.

The family of Louisa Watts has accused the authorities of a ‘ complete lack of humanity’ over its decision to snub an entrepreneur’s offer to cover the home’s costs for a year.

Trevor Beattie said he would fund the care for Mrs Watts and eight other residents after a court backed Wolverhampton council plans to close Underhill House as part of a cuts package.

The businessman made his offer after relatives of Mrs Watts, thought to be Britain’s fifth-oldest woman, said they believed a move would kill her.

But yesterday the council dismissed Mr Beattie’s offer as a short-term solution that would not address the ‘outdated-standard of the building’, which it claims is the main reason behind the closure. The snub angered Mrs Watts’ relatives – and has prompted fresh moves in the long-running legal battle to keep the home open.

Mrs Watts’ son Derek, 76, said: ‘I’m disgusted by the council’s attitude. It shows a complete lack of humanity for my mother and the other elderly people in the home. His offer put a smile on all their faces and gave them hope. This will come as a terrible disappointment to them.’

Yesterday Mrs Watts, a former hospital cleaner, was too tired to comment. Her son said he will break the news of the council’s decision later.

Meanwhile, the council has admitted there is no official requirement for the home to be upgraded and there would be no legal repercussions on it if the work is not done.

Officials had claimed the home failed to meet the national minimum standards for room size and en suite facilities. But the standards do not apply to care homes built before 2002 – Underhill House is 40 years old.

The Commission for Social Care rated the home as ‘good’ after its most recent inspection in 2007. Its closure is part of the council’s £40million savings programme.

Last night it also emerged that Underhill House is being used as a day care centre for 45 people while another centre undergoes a six-month refurbishment to bring it up to modern standards.

Mr Beattie, 50, who founded advertising agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, lost his 87-year- old mother Ada last year and said the thought that Mrs Watts’ family could face the same ordeal broke his heart. Read full article…