Adult care closures 'putting pounds before people'

Campaigners demonstrating against the closure of council-run adult day care centres in Pembrokeshire have said the local authority is "putting pounds before people".

Protestors held a demonstration outside County Hall in Haverfordwest calling on Pembrokeshire council to save the facilities from cutbacks.

Users of the Anchorage centre in Pembroke Dock, the Lee Davies Day centre in Narberth and Bro Preseli Day centre in Crymych were among those protesting against the proposed closures.

More than 3,000 people have signed online petitions calling for services to be retained at the three sites.

Georgina Knowles, from Templeton, was one of those protesting because her daughter Sapphire, 28, attends the Bro Preseli centre.

“She loves it there," she said.

"It’s brilliant and the only centre in Pembrokeshire suitable for her with all the equipment and qualified staff that she needs.

"They’ve told us it’s going to be open until April and they’re talking about a social enterprise [taking it over], but we’re keen on seeing the council continuing to run it.

"Please don’t close it down. We’ve been very stressed.”

Pete Welsh, 73, is from Pembroke Dock said his daughter Abi, 32, had been going to the Anchorage centre for 14 years.

“Living with somebody with additional learning needs is a 24/7 job," he added.

"So it’s both a lifeline and a form of respite for us as well."

He described the council as "putting pounds before people, not least vulnerable people at that who can’t speak up for themselves".

Addressing the full council, Mr Welsh called for the authority to reverse the decision to close the Anchorage and claimed there had been no consultation with families and service users.

Kate Scourfield, who introduced the petition to maintain day centres at the Lee Davies centre in Narberth and Crymych, told the meeting she had "grave reservations" about possible alternative service delivery models being considered.

However, the council's cabinet member for social care Tessa Hodgson said no changes would be made to adult day care centres until September when the cabinet meets to discuss the issue.

Ms Hodgson added the Anchorage was in a poor state of repair and required maintenance work totalling £370,000.

She said the decision to opt for a 12.5% council tax rise rather than a 16.3% rise meant "savings had to come into play".

Ms Hodgson explained numbers using the centre had declined from 35 to 22 since the Covid pandemic and the authority was trying to maintain front-line services in the face of a "dire financial picture".

She also said additional funding had been found to keep the Lee Davies centre in Narberth open until next spring, while the meeting heard that the centre at Bro Preseli could be taken over by a social enterprise.

She confirmed no decisions will be made about the three day centres until the matter was discussed by cabinet in December.

Leader of the council, Jon Harvey, said the authority had "very difficult choices to make".

The council's cabinet heard last week the authority faces a funding gap of £32.3m for the current financial year (2024-5).

Ms Hodgson was not available for interview and the council have been asked to comment.