In June Waltham Forest Council said its preferred option was to close the centre, after a surveyor said it would cost around £1.2million to refurbish the ageing building, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

The Markhouse Centre, built in the late 70s/early 80s, is facing closure, Credit: Google Streetview

Councillors have voiced concerns over plans to close a Walthamstow day centre for disabled adults that has been in use for over four decades.

53 people are registered with the Markhouse Centre and the service has been described as a “lifeline” by their relatives. Of those, 28 attend the service every day.

In June Waltham Forest Council said its preferred option was to close the centre, after a surveyor said it would cost around £1.2million to refurbish the ageing building.

However, the council has has been accused of “causing unnecessary suffering” and the proposals were challenged at a social care scrutiny committee meeting last night (9th October).

Around 20 members of the public attended, including adults who use the service, their relatives, and trade union organisers.

Waqas Jamal, whose sister regularly visits Markhouse where she learns skills such as cooking and reading, said its closure would “negatively impact her in every way”.

He said the move would “take the sunshine from her world” and would be “catastrophic and devastating”. He added the stress of knowing it could close had impacted his own wellbeing, causing him to lose his appetite and struggle to sleep at night.

Former councillor James O’Rourke used his allocated three minutes to share recorded testimonies of people who rely on the service.

The clip, which he called “very impactful,” featured anonymous people tearfully explaining how much their family members value and appreciate the centre. His brother, 61-year-old Tony, has been going since he was 19.

Labour councillor Tom Connor called the testimonies “heartrending” and asked the officers present: “How did we get here in the first place?”

He added: “You do good work in difficult circumstances, with the cuts in funding from central government, but surely Markhouse should be invested in more?”

Louise Mitchell, the cabinet member for adult social care, said the council’s budget had “decreased by an enormous amount” and the centre was a “difficult building to maintain”.

She added: “These are difficult decisions to make and the reason we’re doing them is the 14 years of cuts [under the Conservatives].”

The last investment into the Markhouse Centre was a £500,000 refurbishment in 2016.

In the years since, the lift has broken down, meaning the first floor has become inaccessible. Maureen McEleney, assistant director of adult social care, said this was due to replacement parts being “difficult to source”.

Service users, their famillies, and union representatives outside Waltham Forest Town Hall on 9th October, Credit: LDRS

A public consultation was held between July and August, which saw 128 responses. The reaction was overwhelmingly negative, with around 85% of people “strongly disagreeing” with the proposals.

Questions were also raised over the council’s costing of the repairs.

Resident David Pask, whose daughter has attended Markhouse for 28 years, claimed the figures were inaccurate.

The council has indicated that replacing the three Hamworthy boilers would cost around £100,000. David told the committee he had made his own enquiries, and was told by Hamworthy each boiler would cost £9,000 to replace.

Cllr Connor said this was “very concerning” and expressed disappointment the committee had not been furnished with the relevant building survey.

Conservative councillor Catherine Saumarez said: “We’ve spent millions on the building we are sitting in [the town hall]. The wage bill has ballooned to £30m for senior staff.

“Why are we not maintaining our buildings?”

The cabinet will have the final say on the centre’s future on 3rd December.

Richard Sweden, chairing the meeting, said the council “must be 110% sure” of its decision if it does vote to close the centre.

He also warned the council “would be bankrupt within two years” if it did not address its social care spending, which makes up the bulk of its overheads.

He said: “Cost is clearly driving this process. I don’t think anyone is pretending otherwise.

“I don’t feel remotely comfortable [about the proposals], but difficult decisions will be made.”

His sentiments echoed Cllr Williams’, who warned in June that “tough decisions” were needed to balance an £18m budget deficit.

Addressing the Labour councillors, Socialist Party member Nancy Taaffe said: “Your people are in government and you rule locally. We urge you to make a stand and save the Markhouse Centre.”

She added that the public sector was “like a desert” and that the “fifth largest economy in the world can afford decent public services”.

She later told the committee to “grow a spine” as she left the meeting midway through, stating that “every service that has gone has just become a block of flats”.

The committee said it would make a series of recommendations to the cabinet, including that the alternative proposals were fully costed and “all reasonable steps” were taken not to split up friendship groups. The leadership will not be obliged to follow them, however.

Cllr Sweden said the recommendations could prevent a “precipitative closure” as there would be “further work to do”.

Cllr Saumarez unsuccessfully pushed for the plan to be paused, saying there were “a lot of variables at play” and “we need to be 100% sure,” considering that “none of us want to make this decision”.

If the centre were to close, the council says that all 53 users would be relocated to other care providers.

Speaking after the meeting, James told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he was “surprised” by the level of scrutiny during the meeting.

Other members of the public seemed pessimistic. Waqas told the LDRS he was concerned the council “would agree to close it regardless”.

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