The GSD have issued a statement raising concerns over the Rooke Building site.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

Six years after it was first announced, three years after its original completion date, and  more than £38 million later, the Rooke Elderly Care Home still sits empty.  

The project was announced in 2020 with an expected completion date of 2023. It is now  April 2026, and the community is still being left in the dark. What was presented with  great fanfare as a key investment in elderly care is fast becoming one of the most  confusing and poorly explained projects of this GSLP administration. After all these years,  people are still left asking a very simple question: what is this building actually for and  who is it going to serve? 

In January 2025, Parliament questions led to the discussion of a letter signed by residents  and families of Mount Alvernia, where approximately 57 individuals raised various  concerns and asked whether those who wished to move to Rooke would be able to do so.  This appeared to mark a shift from the Government’s earlier position, where it had for  some years stated that a previous survey had shown that residents of Mount Alvernia did  not wish to move. 

This also led to further questions about a wider consultation with ERS residents and what  form this would take to ensure all residents and their best interests are considered, a  consultation that was promised by Minister Gemma Arias-Vasquez in January but still has  not started. 

Atrish Sanchez, Shadow Minister for Care and ERS, notes: “I have asked on a number of  occasions when this consultation with ERS residents and their families will begin, and there  is still no indication of when it will happen. At the same time, data obtained through  parliamentary questions by my colleagues and me on waiting times for GHA patients  requiring transfer to ERS facilities remain significant, which only highlights how pressing  this issue is.” 

The GSLP’s 2023 manifesto made a clear commitment to a new residential home at Rooke,  stating that it would be completed in 2024 and ready to receive residents. It also referred  to interest from a UK company with experience operating multiple care homes. What has  happened to that commitment? 

It now appears that position has shifted again, with Rooke Holdings Ltd inviting  expressions of interest in January 2026 to occupy and manage the site. How the  Government intends to access this facility still remains unclear. When asked directly in  Parliament whether it had entered into, or was negotiating, any agreement with Rooke 

Holdings Ltd or any other entity for the provision of beds, accommodation, or elderly care  services, the answer was no. 

If the Government had already identified a potential operator years ago, and consultation  has been promised for months, why is it taking so long to move this forward? These are  basic questions that remain unanswered and highlight that the Government has never  had a clear plan for this project. 

This project forms part of the Economic Plan led by Sir Joe Bossano, where developments  are financed through the Gibraltar Savings Bank. The reality is that while the building  itself is privately owned, the money behind it comes from a public institution. The people  of Gibraltar therefore have every right to know what is happening here, what the plan is,  why it has taken so long, and what this facility is actually going to be used for. 

Atrish Sanchez MP adds: “After years of delays and millions invested, and at a time when  there is real pressure on elderly care services and other social needs, it simply cannot be  right that this building is still sitting empty without a clear plan. This is not just about delays,  but also about transparency, accountability, and whether this project will ever deliver what  people were promised and led to expect so many years ago.” 

The GSD urges the Government, in the same way it announced this project with great  fanfare all those years ago, to now come forward with a clear plan, full transparency, and  firm deadlines, and to tell the people of Gibraltar what this facility will be used for, how  it will operate, and who it is intended to serve.