RESPITE care home Newton House will stay open until at least September 2026.
Bath and North East Somerset Council promises that families will face no gap in support while the service is re-tendered.
The facility in Bath is the only place in the area where people with the most severe care needs who live with their families can access overnight respite care, a short stay away from home so their full-time carers can have a break.
Keynsham window cleaner Richard Franklin, whose son Ryan Probert attends Newton House, raised the alarm on Facebook after the council and care provider Dimensions, which runs the home, announced in November 2024 that it would be closing as it had become unaffordable.
He launched a petition now signed by almost 3,000 people and took the issue to the council with the support of his local councillor David Biddleston (Keynsham South, Labour).
Leading councillors had been unaware of the decision to close Newton House until Mr Franklin shared the news.
After an outcry from parents, the closure was put on hold until the end of January 2026.
Now the council has said that Newton House will remain open until the end of September 2026 while it puts the contract for a replacement service out to tender.
Council cabinet member for adult services Alison Born said: “We know how important Newton House is to the families who use it. We are committed to keeping that support going while we work on a long-term plan.
“We’re grateful to the families and carers who’ve worked with us, and to Dimensions for agreeing to keep the service running until next September. This gives families some peace of mind.”
“I also want to reassure everyone that future respite care will stay within Bath and North East Somerset, and that the needs of families will be at the heart of every decision. There won’t be any gaps in support.”
Four family representatives were part of the council working group which recommended that Dimensions continue running the service until a new provider could be found.
Wendy Lucas, whose daughter Rhiannon is 28 and has attended Newton House a couple of nights a week for 10 years, said: “The process has gone some way to rebuild the trust that was shattered last Christmas.”
Speaking at a meeting of the council’s scrutiny panel on children, adults, health and wellbeing on June 16, Ms Lucas said parents understood that the council needed to balance its budget.
She said: “We realise that contracts must go out to test the market, that we cannot hang on to Newton House forever. But it has to be hung on to until that process has been worked through.
“We cannot have a gap in services. We cannot survive as families with a protracted gap where we don’t have access to respite.”
She said that if a new respite care home replaced Newton House, the transition would need to be carefully managed.
She said: “These are not the type of young adults you can simply pick up on a Friday and drop somewhere new on a Monday. There are behavioural issues that will take time to address to get these young adults used to any new provider.”
Council officers said that a new provider would be secured at least three to four months before Newton House closes in September 2026.
A meeting to update all 17 families who use Newton House is due to be held this month. It will be discussed again by the scrutiny panel in September.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Pictured top, campaigning parents (left to right) Derek Greenman, Julie Franklin, Richard Franklin, and Wendy Lucas. Below, Ryan Probert, of Keynsham, who is Julie and Richard’s son.
