lambeth council

Why is Lambeth closing Central Hill adult day care centre?

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The day care centre on Central Hill Estate is run by Lambeth Council to provide dementia care for residents in the borough. There are around 2000 people living with dementia in Lambeth and that figure is set to rise as the elderly population increases over the coming years.

Now Lambeth Council are proposing to close the adult day care centre on Central Hill Estate. This would lead to the loss of 10 posts and a much reduced “bespoke” service nearby. This is a short sighted move driven by financial considerations not residents needs.

Management say that the number of people using the service has declined by 50% since 2020. They also cite “overspend” of £5.5 million on Adult services which is part of the ongoing financial crisis in local finance.

The reality is the service has been run down by Lambeth Council for a while now whilst the number of people diagnosed with dementia in the borough is increasing. Lambeth has some of the highest numbers of people with dementia in the capital yet claims it cannot sustain numbers of service users? Now the community is paying the price.

A number of referrals to the service in the last 18 months have been refused. Recent operational records raise serious concern about how the service has been reduced. Council data shows:

  • 57 people were listed as using the service in January 2023 post Covid
  • Only 28 people were still attending by December 2024 to date
  • That is a reduction of 29 people — over 50% of the cohort in less than two years

We do not accept that this demonstrates reduced demand. Rather, the evidence indicates that people who needed the service were not being referred or were turned away, while dementia prevalence in the borough continues to rise. At the same time, attendance records show 19 referrals were rejected during the review period and referrals are still on hold one year later for no good reason. Had those referrals proceeded, the service would have supported around 47 people plus, close to previous levels once normal turnover in dementia services is considered.

Many believe that the decision to close the site was taken 18 months ago and this is a process of running down the service to make its closure ‘inevitable’. Local managers were excluded from budget deciding meetings despite normally attending. Service users were consulted on some proposed changes in a way that staff felt obscured what was really happening.

Considering this is part of a saving of £800,000 it is a huge loss for such a small amount. The Councils own pay data shows senior management (on roughly over 100k) cost over £8 million a year.[Link] The disaster over Homes For Lambeth has cost the council nearly £60 million.[link] And data from 2025 shows the Council is owed over £62 million in unpaid invoices and debts.[link]

The staff want to fight to save this local service and the trade unions are backing them!

Some things you can do

Sign and share the petition

https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-closure-of-central-hill-adult-care-centre-in-lambeth

JOIN THE DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE CUTS TO LOCAL SERVICES
Wednesday 4th March 2026
6pm Outside Lambeth Town Hall

This is the Council’s budget setting meeting where they will enshrine more redundancies and reductions in services.

https://www.facebook.com/events/905606365184633


Download and share the graphic below.

Write to the Cabinet Members for Healthier Communities (job share) Councillor Nanda Manley-Browne and Councillor David Bridson to outline your concerns.

Nanda Manlet Browne NManleyBrowne@lambeth.gov.uk

David Bridson DBridson@lambeth.gov.uk

Lambeth – death by a thousand cuts

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DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE CUTS TO LOCAL SERVICES

Wednesday 4th March 2026 – 6pm Outside Lambeth Town Hall

Lambeth Council is facing a budget crisis. A large part of it is to do with decades of underfunding and cuts from the Conservative run government. Some of it is self inflicted like the disastrous fall out from Homes For Lambeth.

Image of leaflet Salve Lambeth local services! Protest on 4th March at 6pm outside the Town Hall

As a result the Council is slashing millions from its budget. It faces a “cliff edge”, either this year or next. It means even more job cuts on an already overworked and stretched workforce.

But for the people of Lambeth it means further reductions in services

  • The closure of Central Hill day centre one of the few services in the borough for people with dementia
  • Libraries and leisure centres on skeleton staffing levels. 
  • A consultation on possible closure nurseries at Maytree, Effra and Triangle.
  • £700k from the parks budget with potentially sweeping job losses

The list is growing. 

This is on top of the continuing housing crisis in the borough with huge waiting lists, thousands of people in contemporary accommodation and still reeling from penalties levelled by the Housing Ombudsman for failing tenants. 

UNISON and community groups have called a protest on 4th March outside the Town Hall in Brixton as this is the date for full Council to agree the budget.

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE CUTS TO LOCAL SERVICES

Wednesday 4th March 2026

6pm Outside Lambeth Town Hall

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Lambeth Housing: overworked and stressed

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A recent survey of UNISON members at Lambeth Council who work in Housing has shown the scale of the problem of local government struggling under a decade of austerity, poor political decisions and a culture of overwork as staff struggling to deal with significant problems in the borough.

UNISON Housing Survey into workload and stress

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Survey of UNISON members in Housing December 2025 – January 2026
109 responded to this survey

Lambeth libraries strike update

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UNISON members in Lambeth Libraries voted to take strike action due to start this week. 

During negotiations we made excellent progress so the UNISON strike in Lambeth Libraries has been suspended as management have conceded on all of UNISONs “red lines”.

The strike mandate remains live, and UNISON will not officially close the dispute until all agreements are in place.

UNISON launched a trade dispute following the announcement of a restructure in the service, at all members meetings the following red lines were agreed:
 

  • Upgrading lowest graded posts
  • No Compulsory Redundancies
  • Safe and adequate staffing levels across all Registrars, Libraries and Archives 
  • No reduction in working conditions for any staff

During consultation the Council agreed the upgrading of the General Assistants (Porters) and Library Assistants. A timetable has been set for review of pay for the next lowest paid staff in December 2025.

Posts have been reinstated into the structure to avoid redundancy and improve staffing levels. Management have given a commitment to fill vacancies from next week to improve chronic understaffing in the area. There are three staff awaiting interviews for matched posts on Friday and UNISON have committed to call new strike dates if any member of staff is potentially redundant following these.

The Council has maintained terms and conditions, including a last-minute agreement that no staff will be forced to change timetables, that any changes to working patterns can only be implemented with the agreement of the individual staff members.

It is unusual to see union victories against local government cuts, but it is also unusual to see live strike ballots against cuts in local government. The Lambeth Libraries dispute should motivate other groups of workers to fight back collectively against local government austerity.

UNISON Branch Secretary Simon Hannah said:

“We know this has only been possible because staff were determined to stick together and take collective action to protect their jobs and their workmates. Thank you to everyone who did work on reaching the ballot thresholds and preparing pickets. In addition, we have had fantastic support from the local community, with campaigners and Friends of Libraries groups out in the community and at Council meetings.”

Lambeth Unison and Local Government Pension Scheme Divestment over Palestine

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This motion was passed at our Branch Committee in September 2024

Members of this branch:

● Continue to express our horror and outrage at the Israeli state’s genocidal assault on the Gazan people, intensifying Israel’s barbaric colonisation of Palestine since 1948

● Condemn unequivocally the support given to Israel by the UK government and by the Labour Party leadership;

● Declare our determination to provide practical solidarity with Palestine.

Members of this branch

● Note that £10.4 million of our pension fund is invested in companies that support Israel’s apartheid regime and its genocidal actions, including many companies that supply weapons and military surveillance technology to Israel

● Reject entirely a situation in which our pension fund is being used to finance a genocide, alongside the ongoing colonisation of historic Palestine, especially the West Bank;’

● Note that the union’s national policy on Palestine supports a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel

Members of this branch further resolve, in line with branch policy, to:

● Campaign for BDS in solidarity with Palestine

● Demand that the Council divest itself of all investments in companies linked to Israel, either directly or indirectly through banks and investment funds;

● Call upon other unions whose members have LGPS pensions members to support this demand and to campaign with us for divestment

● Insist upon a meeting with the Council to put forward our demands

● Call for a branch campaign and meeting to support maximum attendance at a lobby of the Pensions Committee meeting happening on the 9th October.