UNISON members at Central Hill Day Centre are voting for strike action to save jobs and prevent the local specialist dementia service from closing.
Lambeth Council has announced cost saving plans to close the Day Centre and have a reduced service at Aspire, a nearby organisation that currently works with adults with learning difficulties.
The current team of staff that specialise in dementia care will lose 10 posts and the remaining staff will be reallocated to a single room at Aspire.
Staff, carers and UNISON do not believe that this is a proposal that delivers for people with dementia in Lambeth. The Day Centre is the only specialist dementia service the Council provides – in a borough with an ageing population where instances of dementia are likely to increase.
Management claim that there is reduced need for the service because they imposed an 18 month review which saw people living with dementia signposted elsewhere even when they would have benefited from the day centres expert care.
The Council’s position that there is a reduced demand for dementia services is ridiculous and primarily driven by cost saving demands.
UNISON joint branch secretary Simon Hannah said “this is an essential service that has been cynically run down by the council over the last 2 years and now faces closure. Lambeth is failing in its duty of care to people with dementia and their families. Staff and the local community will fight this all the way. We are calling on the council to do what is right, stop the closure and properly resource this service.”
The ballot will run throughout April just as Labour councillors are seeking election for Council seats.
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!
Write to the Cabinet Members for Healthier Communities (job share) Councillor Nanda Manley-Browne and Councillor David Bridson to outline your concerns.
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.
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.
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
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.”
UNISON have registered a trade dispute due to concerns UNISON members have raised about the reorganisations at Lambeth Council in the Resident Services Directorate. This follows our members meeting in May 2025.
Lambeth UNISON 