Respite centre warns Southampton City Council over closure fears
Carers have "serious concerns" as the council looks to save millions of pounds
Last updated 20th Jul 2023
Users of a respite centre have warned cash-strained Southampton City Council they will ‘forcefully resist’ any closure threat as the local authority looks to save millions of pounds.
Parents and carers who attend Kentish Road Respite Centre in Shirley are worried the city council’s money-saving plans could see their facility in the firing line.
The council is currently working on a long list of savings to help make up the tens-of-millions of pounds it needs to bridge a gap in its finances and to avoid having to ask the Government for help in October this year.
The Kentish Road Respite Centre looks after adults with learning disabilities and has experienced threats of closure in the past from the council.
Back in 2017, the council closed down the facility – only to reopen it eight months later after a successful campaign. And in 2019, the council had to pay out £40,000 by way of an apology.
Now, users of the centre are worried it could be vulnerable once again.
A spokesperson for the carers said: “We have serious concerns that in the current financial crisis, when the city council is desperately looking for ways of cutting costs, that once again Kentish Road Respite Centre will be on their hit-list.
“Kentish Road provides an incredibly valuable and vital service to support some of the city’s most vulnerable people with learning disabilities.
“We are aware that adult social care service providers, including Kentish Road, have been asked to submit competitive tenders – effectively pitting providers against one another.
“Apart from the risk that the cheapest tender will get the work, regardless of
quality, this is a wasteful and administratively expensive exercise at such a time of crisis.
“Privatisation of a council facility like Kentish Road is not the answer.”
They said: “To be clear, we warn this Labour administration that if we get so much as a sniff of a threat to the future of Kentish Road, we will resist forcefully.
“To quote Rocky Balboa: ‘We know all there is to know about fighting, so there’s no sense of us going down that same old road again’.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “The council doesn’t currently have plans for closing Kentish Road.
“Current savings proposals have been published as part of the council’s medium term financial strategy that will be discussed at cabinet and full council on Wednesday.”