New area care homes that could be built in Powys will have up to 60 beds, councillors are told

New area care homes that could be built in Powys will have up to 60 beds, making them bigger than the current ones, councillors have been told.

At a meeting of the council’s Health and Care Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, November 11, councillors received a presentation from Rachel Evans, the senior strategic commissioning manager for Adult Social Care, which updated them on the “Powys-owned care homes programme”.

Powys County Council needs to come up with the business cases for five proposed area homes. These are to be modern care homes designed to offer a flexible mix of residential, dementia, nursing and complex care, so that people can receive appropriate care closer to their communities as their needs change over time.

The paper sets out a timeline for developments which suggests some could be built as early as 2029.

Committee vice-chairman Councillor Gareth E Jones (Powys Independents – Llanelwedd) had a number of questions to ask.

Cllr Jones said: “What is the proposed size of the new homes?

“Is the timeline achievable? It seems very challenging.”

Cllr Jones pointed out that he had been involved in the schools transformation process and had seen delays in projects.

His final question was to ask for an update on the financial implications for the programme.

Cllr Jones said: “You have £57 million in capital, but you said this needs to be updated. When will that be available?”

Ms Evans said: “We are looking at a significantly increased capacity of around 60 beds.

“From the evidence we’ve had from other homes, this is optimal in terms of being able to provide flexible care in terms of residential through to dual-registered dementia-friendly provision.”

But she warned that the figure of 60 was “not confirmed yet”.

Ms Evans continued: “The timeline is ambitious and we realise that, which is why we need to work with some of those capital programmes that are already underway to understand whether it’s realistic, or whether we need to pivot on some of those timescales.”

Work refreshing the costings was already underway, said Ms Evans.

Ms Evans said: “We’re going through that at the moment. That is a fundamental part of the business cases. Some of those cost assumptions are based on surveys we did of the existing estate.”

She explained that the work had last been carried out in 2024, which was not “significantly” long ago.

Ms Evans continued: “We need to refresh that. We know that inflation and costs have increased, and we need to understand that.

“That work will be underway over the next couple of months and will form a fundamental part of the business cases.”

Committee chairwoman Councillor Amanda Jenner (Conservative – Trewern and Trelystan) asked where the funding was coming from.

Ms Evans said: “This is part of the innovative capital programme as part of the Regional Partnership Board (with Ceredigion Council), so this work is a strategic priority and part of a 10-year plan.”

She added that the council was “working very closely” with the Welsh Government, which had “suggested they welcome the work”.

Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, Councillor Pete Roberts (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod South), said: “We are essentially talking about a generational project that will run over almost 10 years and will be operational beyond that.

“We’re looking to develop and build a set of homes that will be residential at one point and predominantly nursing at another point, and can flex back and forth depending on the need within the same operating model.”

The committee then noted the report.