Adult social care cuts to be debated further

Major adult social care cuts in East Sussex are set for further debate.

On Monday, East Sussex County Council's people scrutiny committee considered a reduction in funding for a housing support service, and the closure of Linden Court – a day service for people with learning disabilities in Eastbourne.

The measures were among 11 savings proposals agreed by the council's cabinet last month, which are expected to collectively cut £3.99m from the authority's adult social care budget for 2025/26, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The proposals will now be put to full council for further debate.

Following the debate, councillors may decide to either take no further action or to refer the measures back to cabinet for a final decision.

The decision to close Linden Court and merge it with the Beeching Park day service in Bexhill would result in full-year savings of £327,000, the council said.

Four councillors argued the council had not fully considered the impact the decision would have on districts and borough councils, given the ongoing work towards local government reorganisation.

Similar reasons were given when discussing a proposed reduction in funding for the Housing-Related Floating Support Service, which provides short-term direct support to East Sussex residents who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness.

As a result of the cabinet's decision, the service is set to see its funding reduced from £4.3m per year to £500,000 per year from October 2025.

The decision is expected to result in a half-year saving of almost £1.94m, which would fall within the authority's 2025/26 budget.

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