Agenda item - Public Involvement

To consider the following items raised by members of the public:

(a)       Petitions: To receive any petitions presented by members of the public to the full Council or to the meeting itself;

(b)       Written Questions: To receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12noon on the 10^th April 2026.

(c)        Deputations: To receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 16^th April 2026.

30.1    There was a public question from Mr Patrick Ward about changes being made to city wellbeing services provided by Southdown. Mr Ward asked:

How will Southdown ensure that its proposed changes - perceived by many as unclear, rushed and framed in a way that obscures their true impact - do not result in vulnerable people losing vital long-term support and being pushed into crisis? Specifically, can you explain how a limited drop-in and short-term interventions will safely replace consistent, relationship-based care; what concrete plans are in place to prevent a cliff-edge loss of support once the current transition phase of three months has passed; how will all service users (including those unable to attend sessions or access digital feedback) be meaningfully included; and how will you measure and be held accountable for any increase in crisis referrals or unmet need resulting from these changes?

30.2    The Chair responded that he was unable to answer Mr Ward’s question at this point in the meeting, but would ensure this was asked Southdown when they presented a later item at the meeting and would ask Southdown to provide a written response after the meeting. Southdown subsequently provided the following response:

Ensuring continued ongoing support:

From July 2026, the new offer available at the Wellbeing Hub at Preston Park will provide activities each week for existing clients – we are calling these ‘social spaces’.  Social space will be an ongoing offer (not time limited) and will include a range of activities taken from the following:

Creative: access to art space, art and craft groups

Physical: dancing, gardening

Social: board games, music appreciation, silent book club, singing social group, walking, young person’s group, anti-stress colouring, grounding techniques

We currently deliver on average 56 sessions of activity each month with a total average attendance of 288 (these figures do not include sessions run by third parties such as yoga, IT tuition, and creative writing which were included in figures in the HOSC presentation).  This means that for each session the average attendance is 5 clients per session.

In the new offer which we plan to deliver from July, there will be on average 40 sessions of a range of the above activities each month. If a similar number of clients continue to access the activities, this will mean an average attendance of 7.3 clients per session.   Most sessions would have capacity for at least 10 people and therefore this indicates the clients currently accessing these groups will be able to continue to do so.

Some groups are more popular than others (singing, dancing, accessible art) and so this may mean that we need to review how we meet this need (adding in more of these groups and reducing less popular groups).

We recognise that the loss of a Saturday provision is a cause of concern to clients and the decision to remove this was an outcome of consultation with staff and the importance of having a robust staffing team available during the week to prevent service closure due to staff absence.

Due to their protective nature and following feedback from clients, we will retain two key groups and commit to their continued delivery: Hearing Voices and the Anchorpoint group for neurodivergent clients.

Transitioning to new model and including all clients:

Throughout May and June, the existing activities will reduce each month from the average of 56 sessions delivered prior to April to the intended 40 sessions in July. 

Alongside this, all existing clients will be contacted and offered at least one individual support session to explain the changes, provide signposting if needed and assess risk. Safeguarding procedures will be followed and clients supported to access other immediate support if required.

These conversations will be held in the way that best suits the client, and feedback received will be used to inform how the service model is refined. It remains possible to submit feedback and ideas about services via many other methods, and clients may take the opportunity to participate in the Client Planning Group setup to ensure the timetable is designed with client’s views in mind. Qualitative feedback is a key component of ongoing service development.

Crisis referrals and unmet need:

Crisis referrals are monitored via the ICB with the data gathered for the wider population, including those currently facing limited access to community-based mental health services in the Brighton and Hove neighbourhoods. The redesigned service seeks to address unmet need in the area, whilst maintaining familiar elements in the service for existing clients. The redesigned service is also intended to provide existing clients with new ways of accessing community-based support of different types.