'It's heart-breaking' Campaigners address uncertainty over future of Peterborough's Industrial Hub for learning disabled adults

Campaigner Hayley Janceski have described the ongoing uncertainty regarding the future of Peterborough’s Industrial Hub as ‘heartbreaking.’

The hub, which is based in Hampton, and teaches skills as well as offering work experience to adults with learning disabilities and or autism, was set to close in June after a cut of £450,000 to City College’s budget by Peterborough City Council but a reprieve has been granted.

Following a meeting with affected service users, the cut has been paused while the council carries out a full six-week process of public consultations beginning in May.

While the move has been hailed as a step in the right direction, many families are still left to deal with the effects of the decision and the uncertainty that now surrounds it. This has left some users questioning whether or not they did anything wrong to lead the hub closing or struggling to understand the situation gives ongoing uncertainty.

Hayley, who has a brother Richard who regularly attends the hub, said: “We will take the win, we have gone from having no hope to having a glimmer of hope but people are frustrated and emotional.

“Families are dealing with the wellbeing impact. The lack of information and transparency has cause so many issues for so many people. These have only worsened following the announcement.

"When you’re dealing with autism and learning difficulties, if things aren’t black and white, it can be really hard for them to understand.

“We’ve now got another two months of that spiralling and the ripple effect from it across families.

“My brother works in percentages and stats. Every day he is asking me what percentage is the hub staying open. It’s heartbreaking because it’s hard to give him one.”

Hayley has urged the council to reconsider its position and the potential costs of closing the hub and the knock of effect this would have on other services the council also runs.

She added: “The impact costs of the hub closing would be far greater than keeping it open. The council has confirmed there is still three years left on the lease, which they will have to pay and they will still have to provide for these adults under the Care Act.

“Some parents have said that they’d have to look into care homes, other have said that they might have to reduce their working hours to support their loved ones.

“There’s going to be the mental health and wellbeing fallout. There will be so many reactionary costs. They will be huge.

“We are talking about some of the most vulnerable people in the city. They deserve care, people can’t just come in and make willy-nilly decisions that massively impact people’s lives without consulting people.

“We have been told that the council is looking to create a provision that provided life skills, promoted independence and give people a sense of having a job, that is literally what we have now.

“The Industrial Hub is a centre of excellence that delivers highly on everyone of those aspects. If there is no money to run this, how is there money to start from scratch that provides exactly the same?

“Under the Care Act, the individual should be able to make the choices over their day to day lives and be involved in the process and that hasn’t happened at the hub.”