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Pledge to halt closure of skills hub 'ambiguous'

Joanna Taylor
BBC News, Peterborough
HAYLEY JENCESKI People holding a white banner with the words "Save our hub, ing people with a learning disability"HAYLEY JENCESKI
Hundreds signed a petition against a plan to close a skills hub for people with learning disabilities

A campaigner described a council promise to scrap plans to close a skills hub for vulnerable adults as a "stay of execution" and said it had done little to provide long-term reassurance.

Hayley Janceski, whose brother Richard is one of the 29 people ed by the Industrial Hub in Peterborough, said a pledge to "halt the proposal" was "ambiguous".

Peterborough City Council had said it could withdraw funding from the hub, which gives training and work experience to people with autism and learning disabilities.

It has since said it will work with service s and their families to "look at how a new service could be developed" to provide "greater opportunities and a financial saving".

The authority said it faced a budget gap of more than £20m in 2025/26, and closing the hub, which is part of the City College's Day Opportunities programme, could save £500,000.

Hundreds signed a petition opposing the move.

Ms Janceski criticised a letter to service s which said the hub "will not close for now".

HAYLEY JANCESKI A white piece of paper with brown bullet point next to the words: "The Hub will NOT close for now. The plan to close the Industrial Hub has stopped for now. There will be no closure at this time."HAYLEY JANCESKI
A letter handed to service s said the hub "will not close for now"

"When you're telling an autistic person or a person with learning disabilities that something won't happen for now, it's ambiguous," she said.

"If this letter is supposed to provide reassurance, it does the opposite. If anything, it's more distressing.

"It's not closing for now, but when":[]}