Decision details

(i)  To approve the exit of the lease with Saxon Weald Housing Association for the Brook Centre (day care accommodation) and delegate authority to the Director of Quality and Integration following consultation with the Leader, the Service Lead: Capital Assets and Director of Legal and Governance, to take all necessary steps to terminate the current lease arrangement.

(ii)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality and Integration, in consultation with the Director of Legal and Governance, to enter into a legal agreement with Saxon Weald Housing Association in order to make a financial contribution of up to a maximum of £190,000 from the improved Better Care Fund (IBCF) grant (which has been earmarked for this purpose) in the form of a grant towards the costs of converting the property into two self-contained flats and that subject to a grant condition they be used for Council clients with learning disabilities. 

(iii)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality and Integration, in consultation with the Director of Legal and Governance, to take all necessary steps to enter into a Nomination and Void Agreement with Saxon Weald Housing Association, on completion of the conversion works, for the use of the flats.

(iv)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality and Integration, in consultation with the Service Lead: Capital Assets and the Council's Procurement Services, to take the necessary steps to appoint a property consultant to develop an estates plan for the establishment of Community Wellbeing Centres across the city and specifically on the East of Southampton (as set out in Section 14).

1.  The vision for the Southampton Living Well Service is to transform Southampton’s current traditional day care model to give people more choice and control over the support and services they are able to access, utilising direct payments to offer more personalised forms of care and promote the ethos of early intervention and prevention by developing the market to support more people and maximise the use of community assets. It supports the strengths-based approach to social work practice being implemented by the Council.  The new model includes building on existing provisions to develop a number of Community Wellbeing Centres across the city which will provide support and activities, such as dance, yoga, tai chi, chair based exercise, befriending schemes, cooking and eating well, that promote health and wellbeing as well as day care.  This vision was approved by Cabinet on 17th October 2017.

2.  The current estate used by the service does not support this new vision because most of the buildings are part of institutional care establishments, seen by people as being care settings rather than places to engage in valued activities, and because the buildings are not in locations which offer accessible access for the general population (not in district centres or on bus routes). There is therefore a need to consider alternative sites, particularly on the East of the city, and to develop an estates plan to support this.

3.  The Council holds long leases for two of the current premises in the East of the City, one of which (the Brook Centre) has been rendered unusable following a flood in May 2018.  Whilst service users (15 in total) have moved to provision in other sites across the city and so continue to receive a service, there remains a gap in provision on the East.  There is therefore an urgency to identify and implement suitable premises on the East.

4.  A budget of £210,000 was agreed by the Joint Commissioning Board in February 2018 from the 2017/18 iBCF (Improved Better Care Fund) carry forward to enable the Council to terminate the lease early with Saxon Weald for the Brook Centre, by way of a deed of surrender, and convert the facilities into residential tenancies to rehouse individuals with a learning disability moving out of more expensive placements.

Do not exit the Brook Centre lease and return the Brook Centre to a day care operational state from which to deliver the Southampton Living Well Service model.

This option has been rejected for the reasons set out in this report.  It would not realise the Council’s vision for transforming the historical model of day care from a dependency based model to a strengths based model.  It would also limit the number of people able to access the service to the original day care model.

Do not exit the lease and use the Brook Centre for other purposes.

The lease costs for the Brook Centre building are very high for community use and so it is not considered cost effective for the Council to use the centre for alternative provision at the current lease cost.

Exit the Brook Centre lease but do not stipulate future use of the Brook Centre.

The Council would not be able to guarantee the benefits to be achieved in relation to improved outcomes for people with learning disabilities and potential savings from enabling individuals to move into supported living arrangements that allow them more independence in line with local and national policy.