Better Lives in our Communities: Have your say on proposed changes to Adult Social Care day and overnight respite services

Overview

We want to hear your views on proposed changes to our Adult Social Care day opportunities and overnight respite service, often referred to as ‘Short Breaks’.

We want adults with care and support needs to access high quality day opportunities and overnight respite services so that they can live well and independently as part of their communities. Our Better Lives Strategy sets out our overall vision and approach to supporting adults to live well and live better lives.

We currently have seven council-run and owned Adult Social Care day centres. One of the centres (Seeleys House) also has an overnight respite unit. The council-run centres currently support 128 adults and the budget for the centres is £3.4 million.

Our current service model is not sustainable. Our council-run day centre buildings are underused, some are in poor condition, and the service is not providing value for money.

We know that there is a demand for more community support from younger adults with care and support needs and, whilst needed for adults with the most complex needs, an overall reduced demand for traditional building-based services.

Buckinghamshire Council must save a total of £95.3 million over the next three years, with £41.3 million to be saved in the current financial year (2024/25). At the same time, Adult Social Care costs are rising with increased demand. Adult Social Care must make savings of £14.4 million by April 2026. The Short Beaks service must save £700,000. Without changing how services are delivered this will not be possible.

Cabinet agreed on 8 October 2024 to consult on proposed changes to our Adult Social Care day opportunities and overnight respite service.

Our preferred option (option 2)

We want to improve our council-run service so that we can provide the best specialist support for adults with complex needs, and increase external services.

To achieve this, we are proposing our council day opportunities service is run from three specialist day centres instead of seven. The three specialist council-run day centres we are proposing to run the service from are:

• Aylesbury Opportunity Centre
• Chesham Short Breaks Centre
• Spring Valley Day Centre in High Wycombe

We would invest in the three specialist centres to improve the buildings and provide high quality environments and facilities. The investment would help us create a sustainable service going forward, by providing the services young people with care and support needs require.

We would also look to strengthen community outreach, including supported employment for adults with learning disabilities, with increased externally-run services.

This would mean no longer delivering adult social care services, including overnight respite care, from the following sites:

• Buckingham Day Centre
• Burnham Day Centre
• Hillcrest Day Centre in High Wycombe
• Seeleys House Short Breaks Centre in Beaconsfield

The type of services currently provided at the above four sites would continue to be delivered from different locations. This might be at council-run or provider-run day centre, shared lives or through a direct payment offer.

Adults currently accessing overnight respite at Seeleys House would be offered suitable alternative placements with local providers.

We know each person's needs are different. Whilst the way in which services are delivered would change, we would continue to meet each person’s needs. Social workers would work with individuals and families to discuss how best to meet care and support needs and minimise the impact of any change.

We want to hear from people who use the service, their families and carers, staff, community groups, and our partners and providers.

Related documents and links

Before you respond to this activity, please have a look at the following documents and links:

• Proposal summary for Adult Social Care day opportunities and overnight respite (PDF 0.72MB)
• Easy Read proposal and survey for Adult Social Care day opportunities and overnight respite (PDF 4.02MB)
• Day opportunities and overnight respite – Report to Cabinet and Appendix 1 (8 October 2024)
• Frequently asked questions - update published 18 Dec 2024 (PDF 0.29MB)

Events

We are holding a number of events during the consultation period.

People who use the council-run service and their families and carers, as well as staff, have been contacted directly with details of events.​

Providers of day opportunities and overnight respite services will be contacted directly with details for an online event.

We are also holding an online public meeting on Tuesday 19 November at 6pm. Please book using Eventbrite and send any questions ahead of the event to betterlivesinourcommunities@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

How to have your say

You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:

• complete the online survey using the link at the end of the page
• complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.23MB)
• complete, and return, an Easy Read version of the survey (PDF 4.02MB)
• email us at betterlivesinourcommunities@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
• write to us at Better Lives in our Communities consultation, Adult Social Care Transformation, Buckinghamshire Council, Walton Street Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury, HP20 1UA.

If you have any questions about this activity, or require this information in another format or language, please email us at betterlivesinourcommunities@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 01296 387904 to request a call-back.

The consultation period has been extended from 7 January to 31 January 2025.

Please tell us your views by 11:59pm on Friday 31 January 2025.

What happens next

We will consider all of the responses we receive.

We anticipate that Cabinet will make a decision on the proposed changes outlined in this consultation in June 2025. Any changes to how we deliver day opportunities and overnight respite services, if agreed, will be implemented after this decision and phased to ensure that every adult supported has the right suitable care in place to meet their needs.

Privacy

We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our Privacy Policy.

If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.