Bucks Council faces legal challenge over plans to close centres for disabled adults

Buckinghamshire Council faces a potential legal challenge over its plans to close facilities used by adults with disabilities and complex needs.

The unitary authority is trying to save money by ending adult social care services at four out of seven of its sites, including Burnham Short Breaks Centre.

No final decision has been made on the proposed budget cuts, but lawyers have told the council they are considering challenging the plans and the consultation on them which ended in January.

Rebecca Chapman is an expert lawyer at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors who is acting for a man with several disabilities who has used the Burnham centre for 13 years.

She told the LDRS: “The family have serious concerns over how his specialist needs could be met elsewhere were this vital centre to close.”

A relative of the man said the uncertainty around the potential closures had created ‘a lot of stress and anxiety’ for their family and those of other day centre users.

She told the LDRS: “We hope the new cabinet elected put our loved ones’ needs first. It wasn’t an easy decision to go down the legal road.”

The council received notice of the potential legal challenge ahead of Thursday’s local elections, the results of which will be announced today.

Planned cuts to the ‘Short Breaks’ service at the council’s day centres will be one of the big issues the 97 newly elected councillors will have to grapple with.

The service provides opportunities for adults with complex needs and access to specialised equipment, while at the same time giving families a break from caring for their loved ones.

The council plans to stop running the service at Burnham, Buckingham Day Centre, Hillcrest in High Wycombe and Seeleys House in Beaconsfield, which also has overnight provision.

Doing so, it claims, could result in savings this financial year of £700,000 due to the centres being ‘underused, in poor condition, and not providing value for money’, arguments that are disputed by families of the centre users.

The council said it would retain and further invest in three other sites, Aylesbury Opportunity Centre, Chesham Short Breaks Centre and Spring Valley Day Centre in Wycombe.

But parents of the vulnerable people who rely on the short breaks service have consistently said these other sites ‘don’t meet their loved one’s needs’.

On top of this they also point to the state-of-the-art facilities at centres like Burnham which was only recently refurbished and has had hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on it.

The woman seeking legal help to challenge the council cuts said she ‘worried’ about the effect that closing Burnham’s centre would have on her vulnerable relative who relies on the site, and its other users.

She said: “They seem to be left in the lurch. They keep going on about potholes and roads, but these are our loved ones who are the most vulnerable in our communities.”

“We’re saving the council millions of pounds by not having full residential care.”

Ms Chapman said her client had instructed Irwin Mitchell to ‘investigate and consider any grounds for judicial review’.

She said: “For our client and many other users of the facilities, the day centre is a lifeline which gives people with complex needs a chance to socialise while providing their families with some much-needed respite they have come to rely on.

“We have written to the council to notify them of our instruction and to outline our client’s concerns. Their human rights will need to be respected.

“The consultation period on the closure ended on 31 January and we currently await the local authority’s decision, which is expected to be announced in the summer.”

A spokesperson for the council said no decision had been made following the consultation on its plans.

They told the LDRS: “It would not be appropriate for the council to comment in relation to any individual service user or matters which may be subject to any legal process.”

A consultation report and proposed service model for day opportunities and overnight respite will go to the council’s cabinet members in late summer 2025 when they are due to make a decision.

The spokesperson said: “Any changes to how we deliver day opportunities and overnight respite services, if agreed, will be implemented after this decision and will be phased to ensure that every adult supported has the right, suitable care in place to meet their needs.”

“The consultation documentation and frequently asked questions provide further information on the day centres: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/adult-social-care/better-lives-in-our-communities.”