Heartbreak as Birmingham day care centres shut
Users would be found places at one of the council’s seven other day centres.
They would be offered a place at the one closest to their homes, transport would be provided and, where possible, friends kept together. “No-one will be left without a place,” Coun Anderson said.
“This decision has not been an easy one, it has kept us awake at night.”
Andrew Comer, co-chairman of the learning disability partnership board, urged the councillors to re-think their decision.
“I have visited both centres and people have told me they wanted them to stay open and stay with their friends,” he said. “A lot of people have been there for 20-plus years. You need to listen to people at the day centres and work with them to understand what they feel.”
Maureen Pugh, who has a daughter at Collingwood, said: “This decision will affect me, the users, the staff. You need to think really hard what decision you are going to make.”
Coun Len Clark, chairman of the adults and communities overview scrutiny committee, said in the past the centres had been under-funded and neglected and that was now to change.
“Change has to start somewhere and this is the first step in a modernisation project,” he said.
But the leader of the Labour opposition, Coun Albert Bore, criticised the council, saying it was “putting the cart before the horse”.
“We do need to modernise but the way to do it is not to shut two centres,” he said. “This report doesn’t look at the provision of services as a whole both public and private.”
