At Brighton & Hove City Council’s Cabinet meeting on Thursday 17 September, councillors agreed to close Wellington House Day Centre and recommission the support externally.
Wellington House currently supports 21 adults with learning disabilities. The centre will only close once in-depth personal transition plans are completed for all attendees and the council is satisfied that their needs can be met locally with at least the same quality of care.
Some attendees have complex behavioural needs, and a number of attendees are autistic and have additional needs including communication difficulties, sensory processing differences, physical disabilities and health conditions requiring a high level of support.
The building was not designed to support this range of needs and would require significant investment to adapt it to modern standards. The ageing infrastructure also requires increasing levels of maintenance.
Due to falling attendance and rising running costs, Wellington House is no longer operating as an efficient, flexible, modern service to meet the needs of adults with learning disabilities in Brighton & Hove.
Councillor Mitchie Alexander, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities, Public Health and Adult Social Care, said: “We know people care deeply about Wellington House and the service it provides, but recommissioning the support is the right thing to do.
“Wellington House is an old style of day centre and in a building that is no longer fit for purpose, so this is a very good opportunity to match attendees with high quality support that is modern, fits our Learning Disability Strategy and is sustainable for the future.
“I’d like to thank the service users, families, carers, staff and stakeholders who shared their thoughts throughout the consultation. Your feedback has been carefully considered and will help inform the next step of matching attendees with alternative providers.”
There are 6 other existing providers of day services for adults with learning disabilities and new providers who will be setting up in the city in the very near future. This means there are sufficient places to meet the needs of all of Wellington House’s current service users.
Each person will be matched to a new provider, and the matching process will include consideration of individual needs, preferences and friendship groups informed by individual Care Act reviews.
Any alternative provision must meet the assessed needs of individuals currently attending Wellington House, including those with complex support requirements, communication difficulties, behavioural needs and health conditions.
Councillors agreed the budget for the 2026/27 financial year at the Full Budget Council meeting in February. This included a proposal to close the Wellington House Day Centre, with day support to be provided by recommissioning external provision.
A consultation was held from 14 April to 7 July 2026 to understand the potential impact on service users, families, carers, staff and the wider community. Engagement activities included:
- a service user consultation exercise with Speak Out Advocacy service
- Learning Disability Partnership Board discussions
- Speak Out Link Group engagement sessions
- Parent and Carer Council (PaCC) and Amaze meetings
- family and carer forums
- staff meetings
- meetings with the city’s alternative day care options providers
Following consultation, the estimated annual saving through recommissioning this support, inclusive of travel costs, is estimated to be £336,563, which equates to a saving of over one million pounds over the next three years.
