Day centre saved after council U-turn on closure

East Sussex County Council has backtracked on plans to close a day centre for adults with autism and learning difficulties.

The council previously said it had "reluctantly" looked at shutting Linden Court, in Eastbourne, as demand outstripped available funding.

But on Tuesday, councillors agreed to reduce the capacity from 45 places each day to 25, which "meets its current usage", instead of closing the facility.

The council said the reduction in places saved £145,000 but it now needed to make £182,000 of cuts elsewhere instead.

There are currently 44 people regularly attending the day service, with around 60% of available spaces filled. Evening sessions have a lower attendance, about 10%.

The service had been marked for closure but it was feared that could lead to some clients moving into full-time residential care, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

Council officers highlighted in a report that the average cost of residential care for a high-needs individual would come to about £75,000.

They said it meant that even if just three clients moved into residential care, it would reduce the overall £327,000 saving by around £225,000.

In light of this, the council has chosen to keep the service running, but with a reduced capacity.

ESCC had previously declared it was in its "worst financial situation ever" and needed to cut nearly £4m from its adult social care budget for 2025/26.

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