Public has no faith in councils’ consultation

THE Green Party is horrified to learn that Leicestershire County Council has voted to close day centres for people with profound disabilities. This, at a time where report after report indicates disabled people have been unfairly impacted upon by Covid.

Your report on the decision (“Closing day centres will cause massive disruption for our vulnerable people”, Mercury, December 29) highlights the fight to maintain the services by parents Michael and Nicola Brooks, whose 32-year-old son, Joshua, attends Roman Way day centre, in Market Harborough, one of nine facilities under threat.

Joshua and his parents, and other families who rely on these services, deserve better.

It’s deeply worrying that despite the council saying they have been in touch with people and are helping them with the transition and communication, Joshua’s parents seem to have heard nothing. The council it seems, have not been “working in close contact” with them .

We agree with the Brooks family that current “consultation” processes are often a sham and an example of the weakness of democratic processes, as councils across Leicester and Leicestershire often seem to view consultation as a tick-box exercise to be got through.

Real consultation would make difficult decision making easier, save money and be a valuable asset. Yet, time and again, there is little or no evidence of councils taking any notice of responses they receive.

This seems to be a particular problem when dealing with disabled people: nothing for us should be decided without us. The lack of disabled expertise, lack of disabled voices and an absence of disabled people around the table, both in the city and county, is not even seen as a problem by councils, but it needs to be acknowledged and addressed, urgently.

Mags Lewis, Leicester Green Party

Joshua Brooks and his parents, and other families who rely on these services, deserve better.