Council to consult over day centre closure after users call in lawyers

Suffolk County Council is to consult the public over the future of the Newmarket Hub day centre after users instructed law firm Irwin Mitchell to investigate its decision to close the facility.

The council had told centre operator Leading Lives that it could no longer afford to finance the facility’s one-to-one support model because of changes arising from the closure of the Independent Living Fund. 

Irwin Mitchell said it notified Suffolk that it intended to challenge the proposed closure due to its failure to consult, following which Suffolk announced a consultation would run until 9 September. 

Caroline Barrett, a public lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Cambridge office, said: “The users of services should have been consulted before any decision to close the facility was made, and we are pleased the council has now launched a full public consultation after we informed them of our intention to challenge the closure.

“We will now be watching closely to ensure that they take into account the views of the local service users.”

A Suffolk spokesman said: “Care for vulnerable residents is of course our highest priority and we work with providers to ensure there are suitable local services to meet their needs.”