Eastbourne day centre may avoid closure

An Eastbourne day centre could be set to avoid closure, as a result of alternative proposals due to be considered by county council leaders.

Next Tuesday (July 15), East Sussex County Council’s cabinet members are set to consider proposals connected with Linden Court — an Eastbourne-based day service for adults with learning disabilities.

The service had been marked for closure as a result of a previous cabinet decision, but officers are now recommending an alternative measure due to uncertainty around whether the proposal would deliver the savings originally expected.

In a report to cabinet, a council spokesman said: “The most viable option, which is now recommended, is to retain the service at Linden Court with a reduced capacity of 25 adults per day rather than the current maximum capacity of 45 adults per day.

“This reflects the current actual attendance at Linden Court, which is a maximum of 25 adults on any one day.

“If this option were pursued, it is likely that there would need to be some relatively minor adjustments to session times but not to the overall opening pattern, running across four days a week.”

The closure of the service had been among 11 savings proposals agreed by cabinet members in February. At the time, these proposals had been expected to collectively cut £3.994m from the authority’s adult social care budget for 2025/26.

The full-year savings from closing Linden Court were expected to be £327,000, the council had said.

As part of the proposal, an alternative day service at Beeching Park in Bexhill was set to be expanded to accommodate the adults currently at Linden Court. Beeching Park had also been expected to establish satellite service in Eastbourne, which would have catered for to 15 adults for up to two days per week.

In March, however, the proposal was “called in” for further debate by the council’s People Scrutiny Committee, which took the view cabinet councillors had not fully considered what impact the closure would have on district and borough councils.

This further debate took place in May and saw full council refer the decision back to cabinet, although on different grounds to those suggested by the scrutiny committee.

These alternative grounds were put forward in an amendment tabled by Liberal Democrat group leader David Tutt, who highlighted the work of a campaign group formed of family members of Linden Court’s service users.

Evidence from this group, Cllr Tutt told councillors, suggested the “true costs” associated with closing Linden Court may be greater than the council had first thought.

Cllr Tutt said the campaign group’s evidence included a survey of the service users’ families. This survey, Cllr Tutt said, reported how 10 out of the 25 families set to be affected had either begun the process or were considering moving their family members into full-time residential care.

It was suggested this could cost the council more than the savings the closure would generate.

In light of this, full council resolved to refer the decision back to cabinet members, while also asking officers “to assess the cost implications” raised by campaigners.

After doing this work, council officers confirmed several parents and carers were “re-considering their ability to provide full time care and support at home” in light of the proposed closure and other factors.

In a report to cabinet, a council spokesman said: “Given the needs of some of the adults, if they were no longer able to be cared for full-time at home, the most likely result is that they would move into long term residential care.

“Whilst this might be expected to happen over time in any circumstances, some carers and relatives have indicated that the closure of Linden Court would most likely be the catalyst for them bringing forward this difficult decision.

“Three families have stated that they would cease to be able to provide full time care at home if Linden Court were to close and several others have indicated that this would be a significant consideration.

“The potential costs of the additional requirement for residential care for three or more adults significantly impacts on the estimated savings from the Linden Court proposal.”

The report goes on to say the average cost of residential care for a high needs individual is in the region of £75,000 per year, although officers also noted how costs “could vary significantly.”

This meant the cost of just three people moving into residential care would reduce the £327,000 saving by around £225,000, officers said.

Officers went on to say they were unable to reach a definitive position on how many people would move into residential care as a result of the closure of Linden Court, but also said the net savings of the proposal were ‘likely to be very marginal’.

Council officers say they may be able to reach an exact figure after undertaking further reviews, but are recommending against this approach due to the continued uncertainty for staff, service users and families, as well as uncertainty around the savings being realised.

As a result, officers are recommending an alternative approach; to retain Linden Court with a reduced capacity. Officers say this approach should not affect current service users — beyond some “relatively minor” changes to session times — as Linden Court is not currently running at its full capacity.

If approved by cabinet, this approach would be expected to reduce costs and deliver just under half of the £327,000 saving originally proposed.

Officers note how this would result in a “recurring shortfall of approximately £182,000 per annum”, which the council would need to find some way to fund in order to balance its budget.