'Lifeline' day centres for the elderly in Surrey set to be overhauled

The model will shift the delivery away from only the elderly and expand towards unpaid carers, ethnic minorities, refugees and working families.

Surrey council has approved the revamp of its community services despite a councillor describing the centres as a “lifeline” to their elderly residents.

Currently less than one per cent of Elmbridge’s population uses the services which account for over £4m a year, according to meeting reports.

Councillors slammed this level of spending as “untenable”, arguing community centres are likely the first to be cut after the looming council reorganisation as they are financially unsustainable.

By 2027, councils across Surrey will be dissolved into one, two or even three mega councils.

The new unitary councils will likely prioritise core statutory services like Adult Social Care and discretionary services like community centres may be cut, according to a council report.

Cabinet members gave the go-ahead to a new model of community centres on July 14 at an Elmbridge Borough Council meeting.

The Conservative member for Hersham, said the proposal has no mandates and is not being scrutinised by full council resulting in a major “democratic deficit”.

The council leader, Cllr Mike Rollings, countered the claim citing the constitution put plans before the cabinet before later taking them to council.

Elmbridge council leader, Mike Rollings emphasises the new model aims to protect residents by making the service financially sustainable and better aligned with the future map of Surrey.

Council documents detail the revamped model will protect existing community centres as assets while partnering with the voluntary sector to focus on prevention, health creation and resilience.

The move is said to “put the community centres in the hands of the community” such as community interest companies, charities and local organisations.

Cllr Gill Coates, portfolio holder for community care, defended the shake-up, saying: “It’s not sustainable to spend 20 per cent of the council’s budget on one per cent of the population when we know the need is wider.”

“We could have simply cut the service,” added Cllr Jez Langham.

“This is most likely to happen if this service is left as it is until local government reorganisation- it’s not sustainable as a model.”

Instead, the council plans to expand its reach to help another 10.7 per cent of its residents, improving its support to vulnerable groups while saving £1m.

While the transition will take 18 months, essential services like meals on wheels will continue throughout but the exact look of the operation may change as the council will not prepare the meals in-house.

“We are absolute outliers,” said Cllr Ashley Tilling. “No other council in the country spends anywhere near that amount on community services.”

The full council will consider the budget for delivering the new community centre model on July 23.