RE Councillor Morris Nicholls’ letter about the closure of council care homes in County Durham (HAS, Oct 14), I would first of all remind him that the comprehensive consultation which we all took part in was a waste of paper.

The outcome was a 49-page report which showed that residents and their relatives, GPs and the wider community wanted the homes to stay open.

The council then voted for closure.

Then there is the matter of people wanting to stay in their own homes (stating the obvious).

Where will the funding come from to enable care to be provided 24 hours a day for those who can no longer care for themselves? Perhaps residential care will then be needed and there are lots of private homes to choose from.

There is just one snag, maybe by then the favourable contracts which the local authority now has with the private homes may no longer exist. If the private sector raises its fees, where will funding come from then?

As for moving forward in a planned, co-ordinated and well-managed way (sounds good, doesn’t it?) my mother and her friends at Shafto House, Newton Aycliffe, are distraught and therefore unable to comply with this statement.

Ann Dryden, Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham.