Shouts of outrage as Bucks cabinet votes to shut Burnham day centre

Buckinghamshire’s cabinet has voted to close a day centre in Burnham for people with complex needs – causing shouts of outrage to erupt from the public gallery on Tuesday.

As part of a suite of changes, Bucks is planning to close Burnham Short Breaks – a move that has attracted ongoing ire from the families of people using that service.

The council said its ‘new and improved model’ will provide annual savings of £1.081 million by 2028-2029 as well as focusing the social care service on where it is needed.

At a cabinet meeting on September 9, councillors outlined the small demand for its council-run, location-based services.

Only about a fifth of the people using these services use the council-run centres, the council said, with the rest favouring other community-based provisions.

The building-based services are outdated and underused, argues the council, with relatively low attendance per centre. Five years ago there were about 50 users per centre, now it is 17.

It is ‘indisputable’ that the current model is not sustainable, said cabinet member Cllr Carl Jackson.

Instead, a new overnight respite centre in Aylesbury will be introduced, among other changes. Burnham Short Breaks is one of three centres set to close, affecting 43 regular attendees.

Transition to new services will be phased and each person affected will have one-to-one support.

A15-week consultation on the changes fetched 660 pieces of feedback, and Bucks council believes it was a ‘good consultation.’

Though there will always be ‘winners and losers’ with changes such as this, the council believes this is the best path forward.

Also stressed was the ‘flat’ level of demand for building-based day services.

Cllr Isobel Darby, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, thanked service users and their families for their ‘forbearance’ throughout the course of this ‘tricky’ conversation.

She also paid tribute to carers and the work they do, saying:

“It is such a labour of love, and it is incredibly demanding, both physically [and emotionally]. It is gruelling for those carers. What they do because it is absolutely amazing.”

Respite, then, remains a priority for Bucks council – for overnight respite, an additional five places will be needed by 2029/30, based on demand estimates.

However, families do not agree that the changes are for the best. The cabinet vote in favour fetched heckles from the public gallery.

Members of the public accused the cabinet of claiming to care about vulnerable people while actively going against their best interests.

Responding to the vote after the meeting, Beaconsfield MP Joy Morrissey spoke of her ‘deep disappointment’ at the decision.

She said: “The cabinet [has] failed vulnerable adults, their carers, Burnham and South Buckinghamshire.

“It is impossible to overstate just what a profoundly wrong decision this was. [Cabinet] have made a decision that will have life-changing consequences for some of our most vulnerable residents.

She said she hopes cabinet will reflect and realise ‘how poor the decision was.’

“It’s not too late to do the right thing,” she said.

The MP says she will now ‘work closely with families and councillors to secure a long-term community solution.’

Campaigner and parent Hazel Howe – mother of Thomas, who uses Burnham Short Breaks – said families are ‘devastated’ by the result.

"We are just beside ourselves," she said. "I can't tell you the distress that Buckinghamshire Council [have caused]. Families have been [seeking] medical advice from their GPs because they're not coping with this decision.

“I can’t believe how cruel this council is, targeting people who can’t speak for themselves - vulnerable people that rely on parents as their voice,” she said.

“But we’re not going to give up – we are looking into a judicial review. This isn’t over yet.”