Consultation on the Future of Houghton Regis Day Centre for Older People

Consultation closed: Monday, 6 November 2023
Consultation opened: Monday, 14 August 2023

This consultation is now closed.

Although relocating the service to space at All Saints View and then closing Houghton Regis Day Centre is currently our preferred option, we want to hear your views before councillors make a decision about the future of the centre. Your feedback will help inform the decision councillors make.

We were particularly keen to ask:

• what are your views on our preferred option?
• do you think all options have been correctly evaluated? 
• are there any options listed that you think we should investigate in more detail? 
• are there any other options that you think we should consider that are not in the document?
• what could we do to minimise the impact of any changes on the existing customers at Houghton Regis Day Centre and their relatives/representatives?
• do you have any other comments about the proposals?

For those people who are most directly affected by the proposal – those who currently attend Houghton Regis Day Centre for Older People, their relatives/carers/representatives and the staff who work there – we organised meetings to enable everyone who wanted to take part in the consultation to participate.

We took special care to ensure that the people who attended the centre were consulted, without causing distress especially to those who may have difficulty understanding what is happening. We discussed this with the people who know the customers best such as their relatives and the staff in the centre.

For those customers who needed help, we offered support through advocates provided by an independent organisation, to assist them to ensure that they can express their views.

The consultation activities with customers and relatives were tailored to individual requirements and the options offered included:

• meetings held at the day centre for customers, relatives/carers/representatives and staff – either in small groups or on an individual basis
• meetings held in areas local to relatives for those who find it difficult to get to the centre
• communications via post or email to customers, relatives/carers/representatives and staff to inform them of activities and the progress of the consultation