Clive Walder, Birmingham Socialist Party
About 30 people protested about the closure of Harborne Day Centre in Birmingham on 6 November. The centre caters for 80 adults with learning disabilities and enables their unpaid carers to take some time off, knowing that they will be looked after by caring and experienced staff.
The centre provides its users with a routine and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Some see it as a lifeline. Although the council has promised that they can attend alternative centres, they have no understanding of the importance of certainty and stability in the lives of their service users. Additional travel and getting used to new surroundings and staff will cause great stress.
The council is citing reduced usage and difficulty in recruiting staff as the reason for closure. As the sister of one of the long-term service users said: “This isn’t about transformation of services, this is about cutting costs, selling off land and generating money due to the financial mismanagement of the council – none of it the fault of the city of Birmingham’s citizens”. The closure will save less than £2 million, which will hardly make a dent in Birmingham Council’s colossal debts.
The commissioners currently running the council have undemocratically refused to allow the decision to close this and other day centres to be scrutinised by elected councillors. The site is large and would be attractive to a property developer. The likely negative health effects of the closure may well prove to be false economies as further demands would be made on the NHS.
It was encouraging that one of the local councillors joined the protest. He has already been suspended from the Labour Party for opposing these closures.
The protesters are determined to stop the closure. The placards attached to the railings declared that they will not give up their campaign and some were even prepared to occupy the centre in the event of closure.
