Cash made from the sale of a site which provides short breaks for adults with disabilities may not be ploughed back into the same service, prompting concern from carers.

Carers also say they have not been fully briefed on the plans to transfer the service from Seeleys House in Beaconsfield to the Aylesbury Opportunities centre – which is set to close for a year while a partial rebuild takes place.

Bucks County Council’s (BCC) cabinet met yesterday (January 7) and agreed to hold a six-week consultation with carers and service users from January 14 to discuss the plans.

If the proposals are given the green light the sale of Seeleys House would make the cash-strapped authority around £4.5 million.

However, the cash will be put in the council’s general funding pot which can be allocated to any service – prompting some concerned carers to ask why the money will not fund short breaks.

Councillor for Ryemead and Micklefield, Julia Wassell, said she has received complaints from concerned carers who say Seeleys House was originally funded by charitable donations – therefore the money should go back into the service.

She said: “I have had a number of complaints over the weekend from parents who use the Seeleys House facility and they were seen [by council officers] on December 20 and they didn’t understand some of the explanations that were given.

“Their concerns are about the transfer to Aylesbury with the short break service. They are concerned about the funding, that there is a £4.5 million saving being made that is going into general reserves.

“They are concerned about original monies that were given to Seeleys House via charitable sources and they are concerned about the closure of the Aylesbury opportunities centre in part.”

The council is working to slash £524,000 from its direct care and support services budget by the end of the  year amid “huge financial pressures”.

However, leader of BCC, Martin Tett, said money made from the sale of assets from any service is put into a general pot of cash, then allocated where it is most needed.

Addressing Cllr Wassell, he said: “That means we can look across all services where priorities are.

“Otherwise you could have one service you don’t think is a priority that sells a site, keeps the money and it means we then don’t have the money to invest in children’s services, adult social care, or potentially mental health because that money is ring-fenced by a particular service.”

Cabinet member for health and wellbeing at BCC, Lin Hazell, said the service cannot continue the way it is after receiving a string of poor inspection reports since 2016.

She said: “We have got to face the fact we have got to modernise the service. We cannot continue like this, we are getting poor CQC reports from Seeleys, and that is not good for the service users. That’s what we have to think about.”

Cllr Hazell added the council is working to engage with everyone affected by the changes, however admitted: “there are some people we do miss”.

Cabinet member for resources, John Chilver, said he was not aware Seeleys House had originally been funded by donations, and agreed to look into the issue.

The cabinet also agreed to consult on running the service together with Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group to “help provide safe, quality care for those with only the most complex needs”.

According to a council report, people who currently have short breaks at the opportunities centre will have to move to another service for a year while the site undergoes a partial rebuild.

The day service provided at the Aylesbury site will then have to be reduced in order to make way for the transfer of the new residential service.

To view the report visit https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/documents/s127747/Report%20for%20Residential%20Short%20Breaks%20Respite%20for%20Adults.pdf