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Day centre protesters descend on council




Day centre clients, their carers, family members and volunteers demand answers but no-one from the council is available to talk

THE West Berkshire Council offices have again been besieged with budget cut protestors today (Tuesday) as around 30 people held a sit-in demonstration inside the Market Street building.

The closure of five day centres across the region was again the spur for action as clients of the centres, their carers, volunteers, family members and friends descended on the the council's Market Street offices to demand answers from those who have made a decision which has sparked outrage amongst the elderly and disabled communities.

Assembling outside the offices at 9am, the group were shepherded inside the council chamber, where they patiently sat for two hours waiting for a council officer to come and speak to them.

One of the protestors, Harry Blackthorn, from Thatcham, said he was disgusted by the decision to close the centres, and it was causing his family misery.

“If any of these councillors lived with a disabled person for a year they would soon change their minds about this,” he said.

No council representative took up the request to speak to the protesters, although the leader of the council, Graham Jones (Con, Lambourn), issued a statement which was read out to the crowd.

He said the council was working with providers, and was managing the cuts well.

“Whilst some anxiety exists with service users new to personal budgets our experience is that people soon come to value the broader range of services that are open to them and the greater control they have over their own destiny,” he said.

The group were unsatisfied, and again demanded that those responsible for the decision to bring the closures in should address the crowd and explain the decision.

Newbury Labour party spokesman Richard Garvie acted as a go-between, ferrying information from the protestors to council officials and making requests on their behalf.

The pleas were repeatedly turned down.

A spokesman for the council, Keith Ulyatt, explained that many of those requested were simply not contactable.

“We understood this was a 'surprise' protest, so it is therefore understandable that without any forewarning, leading councillors and officers were already involved in pre-arranged business,” he said.

Mr Garvie said he was disappointed in the council's response to the protest.

“The council have again refused to explain to the people who want answers what is happening. They are not communicating with those who want answers and it doesn't seem like they know what is going to happen themselves.”

At 11am, the council responded to a request for either the chief executive Nick Carter, or a community care representative to speak to the protestors, with a final denial, and said no-one would be speaking, leaving the crowd to disperse with shouts of “cowards” crying out.

Today's demonstration follows two previous rallies over the same issue since December.

The day centres due to close are Hillcroft House for people with mental health difficulties in Thatcham, Downlands Day Centre for Older People, in Compton, Windmill Court Day Centre for Older People, in Mortimer, Shaw Day Centre for older people, in Newbury, and the Ormonde centre for people with physical disabilities in Newbury.

West Berkshire Council is offsetting the £2 million is will save by closing the centre with a £3.2 million increase in spend on adult social care.

It said the growing ageing population was the reason for the spiralling cost of adult social care.



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