Protest held over plans to shut respite day centre

Families and carers have protested against plans to close a day centre for vulnerable adults in Brighton and Hove.

As city councillors discussed a new carers' strategy at Hove Town Hall on Monday, campaigners gathered outside, raising concerns about proposals to close Wellington House day centre, in Brighton, to save £400,000 a year.

Lou Vaughan, whose brother attends the centre, said Wellington House was used by 21 adults with special needs, who would be "socially isolated" if it closed.

Councillors have budgeted for the closure, which is subject to consultation, and the Labour cabinet has pledged to provide the service elsewhere.

The centre provides services for adults with severe learning difficulties, including autism, sensory issues and epilepsy, and many of them are unable to speak, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

At the meeting, Green councillor Raphael Hill said: "The proposal to close Wellington House Day Centre would seem to reduce access to respite in my view and, moreover, is the view of those protesting against the proposals today.

"How will the administration seek to improve access to respite despite the financial pressures on (adult social care) budgets?"

Labour councillor Mitchie Alexander, the council's cabinet member for communities, equalities, public health and adult social care, said that the consultation on the future of Wellington House was to "reprovide" the respite at the centre in a like-for-like way elsewhere.

She said the carers' strategy committed the council to producing a respite policy, co-produced with carers and carer organisations.

Several of those protesting said alternative respite providers had no places and were unable to cater for the high level of need and challenging behaviour of some of the most vulnerable adults in the city.

They said the closure of Wellington House would break up a community of some of the most vulnerable people in Brighton and Hove who would become more isolated.

Family and friends said they were being forced to speak up for people with no voice of their own because there might not be anywhere suitable left for them to go.

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