Cheshire East rejects calls to re-consider Stanley Centre closure

The adults and health committee voted in September to close the Stanley Centre, despite a public consultation revealing the people who use it and their carers want it to remain open.

Last month Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Con) submitted a call-in request asking for the matter to be reviewed by the full council. This was amid claims the decision-making process may have breached both the Equalities Act and legislation designed to protect people with disabilities.

Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Image: Cheshire East Council)Together with fellow Conservatives, he also argued the consultation was ‘flawed’ – saying the decision to close the centre had already been taken at February’s full council meeting on cost grounds when the budget was approved. That was three months before the public consultation was launched.

The council’s monitoring officer has rejected the call-in, stating correct procedures were followed and the process had been conducted properly.

Conservative group leader Janet Clowes told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week: “We are deeply disappointed that our referral has been rejected.

Cllr Janet Clowes (Image: Cheshire East Council)“We are required to accept that there has been no obvious flaw in the procedures leading to this decision. Unfortunately, while this may technically be the case, it will be those impacted by this decision - amongst the most vulnerable of our residents -  who will have to live with the results.”

Cllr Clowes said the original aim of the budget proposal in February was to move away from building-based services to provide a more ‘co-produced’ offer where service users and their carers would be actively engaged in designing the best care for them.

She said this hasn’t been achieved and instead those using the Stanley Centre could now face having to travel out of Knutsford for the care provision.

“With no community based options on the table, it seems that at the current time, most service users will be travelling every day to the Redesmere Centre at Handforth - a building-based option that is at odds with the council’s own 2022 strategy and the principles of co-production,” said Cllr Clowes.

Cllr Gardiner said: ‘“I am personally disappointed that the monitoring officer determined that my request did not meet the ‘high bar’ required to allow the call-in to progress and that he didn’t reach the conclusion I had hoped for. However, my real disappointment is for the people of Knutsford who use the Stanley Centre, and their carers who depend on its services for their health and wellbeing. Their need to travel to receive the help they are entitled to will inevitably make life harder for them all.”

September’s vote to close the centre was close with seven councillors voting for closure, all five Conservatives voting against and one Independent abstaining.