High Court steps in to delay Labour council’s controversial privatisation of dementia care home

Campaigners in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, have been challenging their Labour council’s plans to privatise two dementia care homes. And the High Court has now stopped the council from proceeding until it provides more evidence.

“The process has not been transparent or rational”

As the Canary previously reported, Kirklees Council has failed to listen to families that the privatisation would affect. In turn, local people have had to take the council to court. They say the plan to privatise the Castle Grange and Claremont House dementia care homes lacks proper financial justification. And they insist that privatisation would simply extract local wealth and take it elsewhere. Instead, the Friends of Castle Grange and Claremont House are calling for a “community-led, non-profit alternative” to run the homes. The People’s Alliance for Change and Equality (PACE), which has backed efforts to form a new left-wing party, has been supporting the campaigners.

A press release from Save Our Kirklees Dementia Care Homes says the High Court judge has now ordered “further scrutiny” of the privatisation plans, asking the council “to provide further evidence in the case”. The group pointed out that:

The Judge’s order appears to support our view that the process has not been transparent or rational.

And it stressed:

We wish to reassure families and staff that while the final ruling is still pending, we remain fully committed to achieving justice and reversing this deeply flawed decision.

There was “a full-day hearing in Leeds on 25 September 2025”, and Upper Tribunal Judge Ward “ordered additional information and explanation from council officers”. And until the court issues a final ruling in the case, Save Our Kirklees Dementia Care Homes says, “Kirklees Council cannot complete the sale”.

There are currently concerns “about inadequate staffing levels and heavy reliance on agency staff”. And families fear the council “may revert to closure plans if the sale fails”.

The council, meanwhile, seems to be planning to “enter a provisional contract with its preferred buyer, Mulberry Care Homes”, something the court is unlikely to approve of.

We will continue to follow developments with this case.

Featured image via the Canary