Agonising wait for decision on centres
Hundreds of elderly and disabled people who use seven council-run day centres in Northumberland face a three-month wait to find out whether they can be saved from closure.
A series of public meetings on the future of the threatened centres in Amble, Bedlington, Blyth, Hexham, Haltwhistle, Ponteland and Prudhoe - which are used by 370 people a week - has now been completed, and final decisions will be taken in September.
Further private meetings will be held with individual centre users and their families, and feedback from the public consultation analysed, before reports setting out the various options are presented to county councillors.
Yesterday executive member for adult care, Simon Reed, said it had not yet been decided whether the full 67-member county council or the Liberal Democrat executive committee would make the final decision. He favoured a decision by the full council.
The Lib Dem administration at County Hall is proposing to close the seven day centres, where elderly people meet regularly to chat to friends and take part in social activities. Instead, users would be given 'personal budgets' to spend on getting out of the house and doing activities of their own choosing.
The seven public meetings, which ended in Blyth last Friday, have seen centre users, their relatives, staff unions and local residents and councillors condemn the closures.
Yesterday Coun Reed said: "The day care users who attended the meetings feel they get a good deal and excellent service at the centres, but they also understand the pressures on the council."
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