U turn on west Berkshire resource centre closures
The about turn was made in a statement at the beginning of Thursday's Executive Committee meeting, and was met with predictable derision from opposition leaders.
Last updated 30th Sep 2025
West Berkshire Council has U turned on plans to close adult care resource centres to save money.
It backtracked on the controversial plan to potentially close Greenfield House in Calcite, Hungerford Resource Centre, and The Phoenix Centre in Newbury after significant anger among users, families, and unions.
Patrick Clark, the portfolio holder for Adult Social Care and Public Health, had the unenviable task of making the announcement, which also included an apology to staff and those using the resource centres for the stress and uncertainty caused.
“We have now conducted a review of the services and I would like to announce that we are not considering outsourcing of our resource centres,” he said.
“We will now maintain operations at the current resource centres to ensure that people receive the best quality of care.
“We know that the period of uncertainty from the initial announcement has been hard work for the people who use the centres, their families and our staff.
“I can only apologise for this. I am sorry.”
The council is cash-strapped, and needs to find efficiencies in its services to save an estimated £469,000 with the proposed closures and the council said, when it announced the move earlier this year that it believes it can deliver services more efficiently and economically through alternative providers.
The Unison trade union at the time called the decision “short-sighted” and accused the council of rushing the closures.
Greenfield House in Calcot, Hungerford Resource Centre and The Phoenix Centre in Newbury are used by adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and those with dementia.
The council said it would seek to make the savings by looking at how other services were delivered.
A petition was lodged at the council meeting after the statement was made, calling for the resource centres to stay open.