Rebecca Maer, Eastbourne Reporter
Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter
A centre for people with learning disabilities in Eastbourne is to be closed to save money to the dismay of families.
East Sussex County Council’s ruling Conservative cabinet has today controversially decided to close Linden Court on the Birch Road Industrial Estate, near Lottbridge Drove.
But Milton Grange in Old Town, a day centre for people with dementia which was also under threat of closure, will remain open although its service will be cut from the current six days a week to five.
The future of Linden Court has hung in the balance since county councillors first consulted on its proposed closure last autumn.
The Conservatives on the council rejected a plea at a previous meeting by councillors from other parties to use the £1.5 million being saved by postponing May’s local elections to save these services.
What do families say?
Families of people who use Linden Court day centre have campaigned to save the facility, saying their loved ones could be made to travel to Bexhill for similar services, which is not practical.
“It is madness, absolute madness”
sophie ticehurst
Sophie Ticehurst from Eastbourne, whose 25-year-old severely autistic brother Jack uses Linden Court, attended today’s meeting at County Hall in Lewes.
“I was so emotional. It is madness, absolute madness,” she told the Eastbourne Reporter after the decision.
“Jack needs a day centre because he struggles out in the community: it is not appropriate for a care worker to take him out. He only sleeps four hours out of 24 hours so his six hours at Linden Court is time for my mum to recuperate.”
Ms Ticehurst said the council’s proposals for a two-day a week “satellite service” somewhere in Eastbourne for 15 out of the 44 clients who use Linden Court were not enough.
She said she calculated that the mileage for two return journeys from where Jack lives with his parents in Eastbourne to the alternative centre in Bexhill comes to 48 miles.
And she believed the possibility of transport by minibus is not practical. “How are they going to get 44 disabled clients into a bus and settled at a new centre? It took months for Jack to even go into the Linden Court building.”
What did county councillors say?
The decision to close Linden Court was rubber stamped earlier today at a marathon four-hour meeting of the East Sussex County Council cabinet which also approved ten other areas for saving across the county.
Opposition Liberal Democrat group leader David Tutt said: “Never … has there been a day or set of reports quite like those that cabinet are looking at today. If these proposals are agreed, I believe that the 25th of February, 2025 will go down as the darkest day in East Sussex history.
“You couldn’t if you tried put together a list of more vulnerable members of our community than that list, who are going to be disproportionately impacted by the proposals that you are looking at today.”
Cllr Tutt and others also argued the cuts would end up costing the “public purse” more money in the long run.
But ESCC council leader Keith Glazier (Con) said: “Nobody comes into this room this morning thinking this is easy, but what we have done … is familiarise ourselves with what we are having to consider and, in doing that, recognising the alternatives you think … we could just find do not exist.
“If they did, they would be here this morning, I can assure you.”
Cllr Glazier added later: “I think we all agree with the sentiments that you are putting forward. The bottom line is we have a legal duty to balance our budget, we have set our budget and we have to identify where this is coming from.”
What does the MP say?
Eastbourne Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde attended today’s meeting with families of people who use Linden Court.
He said in a statement: “We are devastated that Conservative-run East Sussex County Council has voted to close Linden Court day centre for people with learning disabilities, forcing them to Bexhill for care – if they can even get there.
“It is appalling that the county council have ignored sincere testimonies from those whose lives will be profoundly impacted by this decision.
“We will be escalating this to the Local Government Ombudsman for review.”
He said of the decision to reprieve Milton Grange: “After months of our community-wide campaigning, I’m pleased that East Sussex County Council abandoned its short-sighted plans to close Milton Grange day services altogether.”
How much is the county council saving?
County councillors had previously agreed overall savings of more than £13.5 million next year with around £7.42 million expected to come from adult social care.
Today’s cabinet meeting agreed a total of 11 proposals which will save £3.994 million from the authority’s adult social care budget for 2025/26.
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