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(Back row l-r) Ruth Shawcross, Warren Long, Mary Hernon,
Nihad Metwalli, (front row) Robert Bailey and Mychaela
Grant. |
Centre wins reprieve but closure threat remains
THE Town Hall has had to shell out more than £40,000
to cover campaigners’ legal costs after its attempt to
close a mental health day centre was blocked.
Users of Jamestown Centre in Adelaide Road, Chalk Farm, went
to the High Court to force the council to shelve plans to shut
the centre. They have won nearly £42,000 in legal costs.
But the reprieve may be short-lived as a Town Hall press official
said this week that the council will again consider closure
after a new consultation exercise is carried out.
Twenty-two centre users claimed the council had made an unlawful
decision in closing the centre without completing an adequate
consultation process. The council maintained the centre’s
closure was an essential part of a shake-up in mental health
care. At the High Court, Mr Justice Walker gave both sides eight
days to come up with a compromise. An agreement was reached
on Thursday, with only a day to spare.
The council has agreed to reinstate services cut at the centre
as part of the winding-down process, including replacing meals-on-wheels
with a two-course meal prepared by a cook; re-starting the Monday
Ashanti meetings for black and Asian service users and arranging
adequate heating.
Saimo Chahal, a partner at leading human rights legal firm Bindman
and Partners who represented the centre users, said: “The
Jamestown users have proved to be a united and formidable force.
The council should think twice before riding roughshod over
their rights again.”
The day centre is used by more than 100 people with severe mental
health problems, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia,
borderline personality disorder and psychosis. Ruth Shawcross,
a regular visitor to the centre, said the victory had taken
a lot of pressure off users, adding: “We were all becoming
unwell, not knowing what’s happening to us. The health
of everyone has improved since we won.”
One centre visitor, who did not wish to be named, said: “This
just proves people with mental health problems have a voice
and we’re not going to be walked over. If they do want
to shut it down they will have another fight on their hands.”
Campaigner Nihad Metwalli believed the council’s total
costs could be close to £100,000. He said: “It is
scandalous. The council have wasted a lot of money defending
this case when they must have known they didn’t have a
strong chance. They would have done better to spend this money
on mental health services.”
A council press official said: “There were very extensive
discussions with people who use day centres and people who prefer
to use the less institutional services, and this included clear
discussion about closing one centre.
“However, we accept that the process did not meet the legal
criteria for consultation and we now intend to put that right.”
Adding that the centre would remain open throughout an ensuing
formal consultation process, he said: “Some services which
had been diverted to Crossfield Day Centre will now be reinstated
at Jamestown.
“The council proposed closing Jamestown because it wants
to focus on much-needed vocational support services and new
one-to-one support services. Jamestown, of the five council-funded
centres, faces the greatest difficulty in meeting current health
and safety and access standards.” |
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