Council plans to close day centre for people with learning disabilities

The council plans to close a day centre for people with learning disabilities to save £400,000 but parent carers said that there were no realistic alternatives, possibly leading to a costly crisis.

The proposal to scrap the council-run day services at Wellington House, in Wellington Street, Brighton, would be subject to the outcome of a 12-week consultation.

The Parent Carers’ Council (PaCC) fears that this would not be enough time, given the needs of those who use the day centre – and the needs of those who look after them.

And if Brighton and Hove City Council agrees the six-figure saving when the budget is set, there is also a fear that the consultation will be treated as a foregone conclusion.

PaCC members are worried that the emphasis would be on what happens after the day centre has closed rather than whether it should even be shut.

The Labour deputy leader of the council Jacob Taylor said that if the day centre remained open, the council would have to find the saving elsewhere in the adult social care budget.

PaCC’s interim lead Fiona England spoke out at a meeting of the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Thursday 19 February).

The meeting was told that the day centre had capacity for at least 24 people and the proposed closure would affect 21 adults, mostly in their forties, fifties and sixties.

But 17 eligible young people are due to leave full-time education in the summer and their transition from children’s services to adult social care was also a source of concern. Closure of the day centre would add to that concern.

The council’s draft budget said: “The individuals currently using these services will all receive a statutory review of their individual needs under the Care Act 2014.

“Alternative services to meet those needs will be commissioned through the independent sector market.”

The draft budget said that the reason for the proposal was the council’s costs for these services were higher compared with other councils which relied more on external providers.

This affected the overall bill for supporting people with learning disabilities, the council said, and this had to be managed responsibly and in a cost-effective way.

The council added: “These reviews help us plan for the future so we can continue supporting a growing number of people with learning disabilities who need care in our city.”

The aim was for said that services would be sought in the independent and non-profit organisations to ensure those who need day services.

Mrs England told councillors that community confidence in specialist social care services “remains low”.

And recently, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had raised concerns about delays in assessments which adversely affected young people transitioning from youth to adult services.

Families had contacted other day service providers, Mrs England said. Ambito Community Services was full and Grace Eyre had concerns about physical space.

She said: “We really need to think about the young people that are coming through who will be leaving full-time education and will require day services.

“We have queried the timing of this consultation and the day services recommissioning that is going on.

“Families with young people with learning disabilities and high support needs want equitable and enriching day services for their young people.

“Costs will be reduced in the long run if young people with severe learning disabilities and high needs have opportunities in the community.

“There’s always community concern around consultations. There’s concern that maybe consultations look to be a tick-box exercise and hopefully we’ll see that this isn’t going to be an issue like that.”

Mrs England asked how the council would ensure that there would be appropriate services for young people with learning disabilities in Brighton and Hove.

Labour councillor Mitchie Alexander, the council’s cabinet member for communities, equalities, public health and adult social care, said that the consultation would not be a “tick-box exercise”.

Councillor Alexander said that any closure would happen only if she was satisfied that services would continue elsewhere for both current and future users

The council’s corporate director for homes and adult social care, Genette Laws, said that the consultation with families would be “meaningful” and there would be “market engagement” with independent providers.

She said: “The majority of people that we fund for day services are within the independent sector.

“I have recently visited some services where I have seen some amazing activities happening and much more vibrant than I’ve perhaps seen in my previous career in other local authorities and that’s including in London.”

Conservative councillor Ivan Lyons said that a family had been in touch with him to say that closing Wellington House would be “absolutely devastating”.

He was told that there were six other independent providers offering day services in Brighton and Hove and families also had the option of taking direct payments.

These did not always cover the real cost and there was a shortage of professionals and services willing to work for the rates available.

Green councillor Raphael Hill proposed a pause on the closure process until the consultation is completed. This was rejected.

Fellow Green councillor Sue Shanks said that staff working at Wellington House were unhappy about the current position.

Councillor Shanks said: “It’s a consultation but once it’s in a budget we know that generally that happens. Other things have happened in the past that I think shouldn’t have happened.”

Councillor Taylor acknowledged the Greens’ point and said that the sequence of events was “tricky”, but the budget was about resources not policy.

The council’s interim finance chief John Hooton said that the adult social care budget would increase from £152 million to about £162 million in the next financial year.

The annual budget council meeting is due to decide whether to agree the saving. The meeting is scheduled start at 4.30pm next Thursday (26 February) and to be webcast.