Day Care Centre Decision Delayed

Following the recent rally in defence of the seven threatened Day Centres, the decision on whether to close those centres has been postponed.

The future welfare of hundreds of elderly Northumberland residents, as well as the jobs of 44 staff, will hang in the balance now until November when a final decision is anticipated. It was believed that at the Full Council meeting on Thursday 17^th September 2009 it would be agreed that all 7 Day Care Centres would close in favour of a personlised approach to care provision, where users are given an individual budget to spend on care privately.

However Unison, in conjunction with Unite and GMB, staged a rally prior to the meeting standing up for the staff concerned and all the residents of Northumberland who use the facilities and those who would undoubtedly be using these facilities in the future. A motion was passed at the meeting, by 27 votes to 23, postponing the decision on the Day Centre closures until November apparently to investigate the possibility of other options and potential partners for keeping the centres open.

  Unison rallies to the defence of vulnerable residents of Northumberland

Whilst this postponement may indeed just be that, a postponement of a the anticipated decision to confirm the closures, it does give Unison and all other supporters of the Day centres an opportunity to educate Council Members about the ramifications of their decision and the alternative options available to them.