LEYTONSTONE: Day centre users 'not consulted on closure'

In a letter to interim executive director of adult and community services Jim Crook, Mr Cohen said: “I have spoken to some users and their relatives and carers recently who say they have not received any documentation to respond to in the current process.

“They are also unaware of when this process is due to end.”

The day centre, in Crownfield Road, Leytonstone, was threatened with closure in August 2008.

It currently cares for about 40 people a day, some of whom suffer from dementia.

Mr Cohen now claims users of the centre have been “kept in the dark” over its future and listed concerns including a lack of transparency about “figures and sums” used by the council.

Unit cost comparisons are not “like for like”, Mr Cohen said, and added that the council has not made “any realistic assessment of demand”.

The letter continues: “The alternative provision mooted is vague and poor by comparison to what the day centre provides.”

Concerns were also raised about the cost of alternative provision and over whether vulnerable service users could be left “isolated and stuck in their own homes”.

A council spokeswoman confirmed that consultation had not yet officially started on May 28 when the letter was sent - more than nine months after the threat of closure emerged.

Cllr Liz Phillips, cabinet member for health, adults and older people, said: "The formal consultation regarding Crownfield Road began on Monday 8 June 2009.

"400 copies of the Consultation Paper – Personalising Day Services for Older and Disabled Adults - have been sent to people who use day services, their carers, voluntary organisations, partners, councillors and Council staff.

“Cabinet will next discuss the future of Crownfield Road at a meeting in September.

"The consultation document can be downloaded from the council website and I encourage everyone who uses day care services to read the document and make their views known."