West Lothian pensioners' cafe facing closure given two months to find rescue plan
A community café in a West Lothian pensioners' housing complex has been given a further two month reprieve.
West Lothian Integration Joint Board agreed to a motion put forward by chair Councillor Tom Conn postponing a decision on the cafe in the Rosemount complex in Bathgate until in August.
Councillor Conn said that 'matters had moved on' since an initial meeting in early March with tenants and families.
Rosemount Café campaigner Jackie Davidson described the news as "fantastic'.
She added: 'We are so happy to be given the chance to save the café.
Good sense prevailed. Now we can move forward with our business plan.'
The motion was backed by Independent councillor Andrew McGuire who told the meeting: ' I would be very happy to second that and hope that further discussion will reach a conclusion that everyone is satisfied with.'
Councillor Conn met with campaigners and tenants groups on Monday.
He said: 'Residents expressed concern that they had not been adequately engaged with as consumers throughout the process. The IJB is required when taking strategic decisions to comply with the statutory duty introduced by the Consumer Scotland Act 2020.
'That act places a duty on the IJB when making decisions of a strategic nature to have regard to the impact of these decisions on consumers in Scotland and the desirability of reducing harm to consumers.'
He added: 'Whilst I note that it is provided in the Consumer Duty Impact Assessment a member of the management team met with tenants, their families, groups and members of the community on 13 March regarding the proposal, matters have moved on since with the result that the evidence gathered could be improved if further targeted engagement with tenants and community groups was now undertaken.'
He said that was 'a material change of circumstances which would allow the decision taken by the board on 25 March to be changed, within six months in accordance with Standing Orders."
He added: ' I move the position that the board agrees to move the determination on this matter to its meeting on 17 August to allow us to bring back a revised consumer duty impact assessment and a revised impact assessment if necessary to the Board for consideration.'
Earlier Councillor Damian Doran-Timson Conservative group leader on the council said the choice facing the Board was "Hobson's Choice", ie no choice at all, since no alternative savings of £136,000 in the reassignment of the café staff had been identified.
The Consumer Duty Impact Assessment drawn up in March described Rosemount as an assisted living environment . There is a total of 30 tenancies, offered to individuals with varying degrees of support needs.
It added that the while the cafe's closure would have an impact: ' tenants are not dependent on the service to have their nutritional needs met. All tenants within Rosemount Gardens have kitchen facilities to prepare food and if necessary assistance can be provided by a care at home provider to support meal provision.'
Robin Allen, Senior Manger Older People Services told the Board that no viable offers to take over the café had come forward since the initial deferral.
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