Shame of this uncaring act

10:24am Friday 18th April 2008

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I write to express my great sadness that the last ditch effort to save Pershore Care Centre was lost.

Despite the eloquent and moving testimony of parents and carers, it became clear very early in the three and a half hour discussion that there was no likelihood of a reprieve for the Centre.

Instead, the arguments were ground down by the cabinet member responsible for the decision and the officers who support the closure plan until, with a few concessions tossed in to soften the blow, parents of the men who will lose their Day Centre were left speechless, frustrated and defeated.

Make no mistake, Peshore Care Centre is the jewel in the crown of the Worcestershire service for adults with profound multiple learning difficulties, but the County Council has decided it is costing too much money to run it.

Councillor Phillip Gretton admitted that the initial plan to close the Centre was to save money, but since then the Conservatives have introduced the drive for integrated service provision to hide a very large embarrassment.

How can they justify spending over £1 million pounds on refurbishing councillors offices and the council chamber at the same time as closing this Centre, saving no more than a quarter of that sum over three years?

Pershore Care Centre is a second home for the four men who spend their week days there. They are fully integrated with, and supported by the Pershore community, who have raised £132,000 over the years to help with the facilities and running activities.

These men, the most vulnerable in our midst, have no choice. The care team they have grown up with and the place they treat like home is to be broken up and closed down.

Parent Judy Hall said: "If we thought you were closing Pershore to offer better provision, we would snatch your hand off but we don't and you are not."

Is £85,000 a year really too much to pay for the quality of life and stability these men and others have enjoyed for the past twenty years?

Richard Burt, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, West Worcestershire.