Stairways parent: "It will change from a home to an institution"

A county council committee met on Wednesday to approve the closure of the Stairways Centre in Douglas Road, despite the presence of about 20 parents, mostly from the St Albans and Harpenden area, campaigning to halt the plan.

Nick Latham of the Marshalswick area of St Albans, whose 12-year-old son Freddie has been attending daytime Stairways respite sessions for six years, said: "It seems they had made up their minds before the consultation.

"It will change from a home to an institution."

The plan, likely to be approved by the cabinet on February 15, will mean the closure of Stairways, which provides daytime respite visits but also has three bedrooms for overnight stays.

The council proposes to build a new larger centre in the west of the county to replace it, probably on a disused school site in Hemel Hempstead.

Mr Latham said: "A larger unit means more staff and less continuity. The family feel will be diluted.

"Many of the staff at Stairways have been there eight or nine years.

"They know Freddie and the other children. Some of them are much more disabled than he is and have a lot of difficulty communicating.

"Some of them may only be able to show they need to go to the toilet by making a particular sign.

"That is why staff continuity is so important.

"It is a wrench leaving your child with somebody - you need to know it is someone you would be happy to have in your home."

Parents had hoped for a compromise involving a move to an empty site in Redbourn, but council officers decided the location could accommodate only four bedrooms, while they say the new centre must care for at least six children overnight.

Stairways is run by Harpenden Mencap and parents worry a new provider may be motivated more by profit than by their children's welfare.

The council says the building in Douglas Road has practical problems, and a larger centre will provide better quality care, more activities, and more frequent respite breaks.