Minehead training centre closure would be 'colossal mistake'

Somerset Council's executive committee voted to May 6 to move forward with the delivery of a new health and social care academy at the former community hospital on Salmon Parade in Bridgwater town centre, in partnership with the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

The project received £19.7m from the then-Tory government's levelling up fund in January 2023, with some of this money being used to open a satellite site in Minehead, located near the town's new police station on Stephenson Road.

At the executive meeting, officers revealed that the Minehead site could close in the near-future due to a lack of uptake in the training being offered there.

Opposition councillors said this would be enormously damaging for the community and amounted to the council and NHS "giving up on west Somerset".

The former Seahorse Resource Centre on Stephenson Road in Minehead, pictured in late-2023 (Image: Google Maps)

Councillor Frances Nicholson (Conservative, Dulverton and Exmoor) raised the issue during the meeting, stating: "I am worried by the use of the word 'network' in the business case - it may be an online-only offer, because that's what 'network' usually means when there's no transport and long distances involved.

"Regeneration in the Minehead and west Somerset area is hugely important, and it is also an area where there is a great need for carers, given the elderly nature of the population."

Lara Bell, the council's head of regeneration, confirmed that training had been provided at the Minehead site since the refurbishment of the former Seahorse centre was completed to deliver the new police station.

She added: "We are considering at the moment whether or not this training continues, and it might be that this has to close down because there is no ongoing need or demand that we have identified for that facility at this point in time.

"We found out during the delivery of training packages at the Seahorse Centre that participants were actually having difficulty getting there.

Lara Bell, head of regeneration (Image: Somerset Council)

"In terms of it being a facility that could wash its face for continuing in the long-term, it was not going to be viable to continue with that activity in that location, unfortunately."

Minehead has no direct bus service to and from Bridgwater, with its main bus service being the 28 to Taunton via Dunster, Watchet and Williton.

It also has no mainline railway service, with the West Somerset Railway heritage line only operating at certain times of the year.

Mrs Nicholson responded: "There are lots of reasons why, in an area where distances are huge and incomes are very low, it is difficult to ensure that something is properly and well used for the benefit of all the people in the area - both the people who are getting the training and also the people who need the trained people.

"I will be very worried if there is any idea of not addressing the issues, but instead just giving up on west Somerset.

Minehead Police Station and social care training facility on Stephenson Road in Minehead (Image: Avon and Somerset Constabulary)

"If it's difficult for people to get to Minehead from west Somerset, it's going to be a great deal more difficult to get to Bridgwater, and a great deal more costly."

Council chief executive Duncan Sharkey said the council was "not giving up on any part of Somerset", but warned it would be financially damaging to persist with a business model which had not delivered the desired outcomes.

He said: "What we are saying is that if the model that we have tried to roll out is not working for local people, or the council, and it's not financially viable, we have to be honest and say: 'We did try that way, it hasn't delivered what we wanted it to do - so that needs to stop, and then we need to look at what we do next'.

"We're not giving up, and we continue to work with a whole range of different partners in the Minehead area.

"There's a lot going on, but we've got to be honest - this approach hasn't been delivering the outcomes that we want. We need to find a different way of addressing the need."

Councillor Sarah Wakefield, portfolio holder for adults' services, housing and homelessness, added: "I'm sorry about the Minehead situation, but we are really constrained by the budget we've got for this.

"Quite a lot of the training can be delivered online, and where people need to physically get there, we will need to make sure there are ways and means for them to ge there."

Councillor Diogo Rodrigues (who leads the Conservative opposition group) said that closing the Minehead site would be "a colossal mistake for this county".

He elaborated: "I've seen reports and strategies that recognise the elderly population in west Somerset and the need to attract more people to work in health and social care.

"Part of making west Somerset attractive for health and social care workers is having training facilities on their doorstep, rather than them having to travel miles and miles to get the training that they need."

Somerset Conservatives leader Cllr Diogo Rodrigues (Image: Supplied)

Tiverton and Minehead MP Rachel Gilmour - a staunch campaigner for improved health facilities in west Somerset - said she would be holding urgent discussions with the council in light of this news.

A spokesperson for her office said: "Social care needs to have the attention which it deserves, including training places, and Rachel is concerned at hearing this news - but these decisions do not exist in a vacuum.

"It would be improper for us to comment substantively on this news without first looking into the details of this situation - to which end, we have opened communication with Somerset Council on this matter.

"Rachel is determined to improve the picture of social care in Minehead and will work with any interested parties to make that a reality."