Parents and carers protest about proposal to close day centre

Parents and carers have warned that plans to close a day centre will cost the council more than the £400,000 that it hopes to save from the move.

And they held a protest outside a council meeting as part of their fight against the proposal to close the Wellington House Day Centre for adults with learning disabilities.

A petition has also been started since Brighton and Hove City Council voted through the cut which could spell the end for the day centre, in Wellington Street, Brighton, after a public consultation.

Parents, carers and union members protested outside Hove Town Hall before the council’s annual budget meeting last Thursday (26 February).

At the meeting, Labour councillors promised to listen to families to ensure the best outcome for their adult children.

Labour councillor Mitchie Alexander, the council’s cabinet member for communities, equalities, public health and adult social care, committed to meeting with families to shape future services during the budget debate.

A petition on Change.org – Save Wellington House Learning Disability Day Centre in Brighton and Hove – has been signed by almost 2,000 people at the time of going to press.

The petition was started by Debbie Neale and calls on the council to protect the service for adults with complex learning disabilities and describes the proposals as a “disaster”.

The petition said that Wellington House was home to expertise that can’t be replaced, prevented family breakdown and was a false economy.

It said: “Wellington House supports adults with high-level complex needs and challenging behaviour.

“The staff are specialists in de-escalation and safety. Independent providers are often unable or unwilling to take on this level of care.

“For parents and sibling carers, Wellington House provides the only reliable respite in their week.

“Without it, many families will reach a breaking point, leading to the collapse of home care arrangements.

“Closing this centre to save money today will cost the taxpayer more tomorrow. When these placements fail, the council will be forced to fund expensive, emergency out-of-area residential care.”

Jonathan Burcham, whose sister Julia uses Wellington House, is concerned that the proposed £400,000 is made up of council corporate overheads.

He fears that any savings will disappear because home care will break down and people will need emergency residential care costing thousands a week.

In an open letter to councillors, he said: “The individuals who rely on Wellington House are among the only citizens in Brighton who truly have no voice.

“Due to their complex disabilities, they cannot protest, they cannot attend consultations and many cannot vote.

“To target this specific group for budget cuts because they are ‘electorally insignificant’ is a shameful abdication of the council’s moral duty to protect those with the least agency.”

Many of the parents and carers remember the closure of the Belgrave Day Centre, in Portslade, in 2016. The building has since been demolished and replaced with flats.

And they recall the council’s promise that Wellington House would provide the day care being lost through the closure of the Belgrave Street premises.

Sue Holder, whose autistic son has complex needs including epilepsy, said that he feels safe at Wellington House.

She said: “If this is to close, it would be a total disaster to my son and our family life.

“The councillors are saying they could go to the vibrant private day centres and even insulted us by saying they could work in team Domenica cafés, serving the public.

“They have no idea of the needs of the service users and need to visit Wellington House to see the service users and the excellent work the staff do.”

The Labour deputy leader of the council Jacob Taylor said: “I want to make a really clear commitment to those parents.

“What we’re looking to do here is to re-provide the service in a potentially different setting.

“But if we can’t do that to the same standard that they currently get, then we won’t proceed.”