Day centre closure to go ahead after call-in request thwarted

Opposition councillors have been thwarted in a last-gasp attempt to save Wellington House Day Centre from closure by a vote today (Tuesday 29 September).

They asked for the decision to be “called in” but a Brighton and Hove City Council committee decided that no further action was necessary and the closure could go ahead.

The Greens and Conservatives wanted the council’s cabinet to reconsider its decision, which affects some of the most vulnerable adults in Brighton and Hove, or for the matter to be referred to a meeting of the full council.

The call-in request followed a decision to shut the day centre which was made by the council’s cabinet on Thursday 17 September.

The day centre, in Wellington Street, Brighton, is due to close once other day care has been found for all 21 people who currently use the service.

Opposition councillors said that there had not been enough evidence for the council’s cabinet to make its decision, there was insufficient consideration of legal and financial advice and a lack of consultation with stakeholders.

The matter came before the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Hove Town Hall this afternoon,

Green councillor Ellen McLeay spoke on behalf of her party colleagues and the Conservative leader Alistair McNair.

Their concerns included the lack of additional consultation with the head teachers of special schools – Hill Park, Downs View, Link College and Life Skills College – on the projected future number of young people who may need day services.

Opposition councillors had hoped that more evidence would come from the head teachers before the cabinet vote.

Councillor McLeay said: “Steve Hook (director of adult social care) accepted … that additional evidence would and should be gathered from special schools. Yet cabinet proceeded before that exercise took place.

“Stakeholders such as a head teacher actively reached out and offered information which could have informed the cabinet members on that decision but the evidence-gathering process was not completed before the vote.”

She also raised concerns about the forecast annual saving of £336,000 which could be outweighed by a breakdown in placements. These could potentially cost the council £250,000 a year for each individual.

There was also concern about the recent procurement process for day services which opposition councillors said suggested that the decision had already been made – or “predetermined”.

They raised the issue of contracts for the expanded services which were awarded in July while the consultation was taking place. The contracts went live earlier this month – before the cabinet vote.

Mr Hook said that the contract process went back to February last year because the existing contracts with six day care providers had been in place since 2017 and were due to be retendered.

He told the committee that at no time had Wellington House been mentioned during the process of negotiating the contracts which are worth £12.8 million in total.

Mr Hook said: “There were contract arrangements for our six day service providers. Those contracts were coming to an end and those contracts had to be renewed as part of the commissioning cycle.

“So had there not been a proposal around Wellington House, that recommissioning process would still have gone ahead and there would still be new contracts issued for our day services.”

Labour councillor Mitchie Alexander, the council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said that, of 71 young people leaving children and young people’s services at 25 over the past three years, just one had opted for Wellington House. Those coming to the day centre tended to be older.

Councillor Alexander said that her disabled younger brother, who is in his twenties, attended day services in Tamworth with people of a similar age.

She said: “I know he goes to a place where there’s a lot of other people that are his own age and it’s really nice seeing photographs of him and his peers on a day trip somewhere. The younger people choose places where there are other younger people.”

Parent Carers’ Council (PaCC) interim lead Fiona England said that the organisation was surprised that respite care and short breaks had not been part of the discussion.

She said that parents of young people leaving children’s services this year were not told about Wellington House and had been informed that the day services were full.

One family who had wanted Wellington House had to take another option instead this year but that had since failed.

Mrs England said: “The young person in question has got significant high needs. That placement has failed because the provider says they do not have the skillset to meet this young person’s needs.

“The family remains in limbo now and also had to significantly compromise their ability to work while this situation develops.”

Mr Hook said that he would speak with the heads of special schools and work with PaCC and Amaze.

He also said that the council’s adult social care team had recruited a programme manager for the transition strategy which would come back for scrutiny.

The committee vote was split, with four in favour of turning down the call-in request and four against.

Labour councillor Sam Parrott, who chairs the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, had the casting vote. She backed the decision made by the council’s cabinet. The call-in request was rejected.