Under fire councillors look set to spend more than £1 million extending the contract for two respite centres – after facing fierce criticism over plans to axe them.
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) is proposing to shut facilities including Cedar House in Spalding and Swallow Lodge in Lincoln that offer short breaks for families with disabled adults – with the aim of placing existing service users into care homes instead, writes Local Democracy Reporter Oliver Castle.
These plans have now been put on hold to allow further consultation following a backlash from many service users.
Bosses have insisted the proposed cuts aren’t ‘about money’ and aim to provide a better service for the families involved.
LCC officials are now proposing to extend the contract with the current provider, Making Space – which delivers the services at Swallow Lodge in North Hykeham and Cedar House in Spalding – to allow more public consultation to take place.
At an extraordinary adult care and public health scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday, July, 8, Martin Samuels, executive director of adult care and community wellbeing at LCC, said: “The proposals that we brought forward originally were brought forward on the basis that the feedback that we had had from people who use the service, people who could use the service but find it doesn’t meet their needs, or people who use the service but don’t particularly like it – was that the current model wasn’t the best model and that an alternative model would be preferable for them.
“So, throughout, the aim has been to ensure that we are meeting people’s needs better.”
Mr Samuels explained that the current contract for both sites is due to expire on August 31 this year and bosses are planning to extend this for 11 months until July 31 2027 – creating time for the extra consultation.
He added: “It is a genuine consultation. No decisions have been made.
“All of the options are on the table and we take into account the feedback that is generated through the consultation process in helping us to formulate a proposal that will be brought forward.”
The proposed extension is estimated to cost £1,013,514 – and has been recommended to be approved by the county council’s executive on Tuesday (July 14).
Coun Christopher Reeve backed the plans and denied accusations that the original decision to axe the centres was about cutting funding.
He said: “This isn’t about money. It’s about providing a service – and people got on the wrong end of the stick thinking we were trying to cut corners and save money. It was nothing about that.”
Coun Maggie Cullen added: “I welcome the extension first of all. As I think I’ve said before, it gives the service users the reassurance that they can still use the service while we make a decision.”
But Coun Martin Hill said: “I am concerned that the carers and service users are being messed about.
“There’s now a year of uncertainty. There’s the question of whether the current provider will switch off – which is always a problem when you end a contract – they’ll switch off and lose interest.
“I am sure that they are professional but that is one of the risks. So, I do think there is an issue there.”
A public consultation into the plans is open until September 7 and can be found here:
