Huge debt trail of care agency which received sorry CQC ratings

HMRC and pension contributions are unlikely to ever be repaid

Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Southport Lead.

Today’s edition looks at a care agency which twice left inspectors unimpressed - once so bad it was placed in special measures - before collapsing with huge debts.

Among those unlikely to be repaid are HMRC and the company responsible for its staff members’ pensions.

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Southport Briefing

🔎 Sefton Council’s decision to pursue the purchase of The Salfordian Hotel will be reviewed by its Overview and Scrutiny Committee next week at the request of Liberal Democrat councillors. The Lib Dems say they are not opposed to using the hotel to house homeless people, but want to challenge the plan that the facility be used for individuals and say it should instead be for families.

👮 A detective who turned up to work under the influence of cocaine will be hauled before a misconduct panel. Detective Constable McVey will face disciplinary action ranging between a warning and dismissal when he faces the panel at Merseyside Police’s headquarters tomorrow. He is accused of turning up unfit for week, breaking the law by taking the Class A drug, and acting in a manner likely to bring the force into disrepute.

✅ Plans to create a pet crematorium in Banks have been approved despite concerns from neighbours. West Lancashire Borough Council has granted planning permission for the facility to be installed in an industrial unit off Gravel Lane. Those living nearby had expressed concern over noise and smells but planning officers were satisfied that these issues will be effectively managed.

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Huge debt trail of care agency which received sorry CQC ratings

By Jamie Lopez

The company behind a care agency which was twice ordered to improve by inspectors collapsed with £800,000 debts.

Assured Care Southport offered home-based care for people with a range of needs, including those with dementia and physical disabilities.

While it had received a ‘Good’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2018, it was assessed as “Inadequate” as then ‘Requires Improvement’ in subsequent inspections, with its leadership in particular found lacking.

An inspection carried out in October found a series of failings, including a lack of risk assessment, unsafe management of medication, insufficient staff training, and “inadequate governance and quality assurance measures meant people were exposed to unnecessary risk and avoidable harm”.

That led to it being placed in special measures and a follow-up inspection took place across August and September 2024, by which point the number of people registered for its domiciliary care service had dropped from 180 to 49.