Senior Ceredigion Councillors are to consider reinstating care access to disabled border residents after a 1,500-strong petition.

This summer disabled residents living on the border of Ceredigion discovered they would lose access to Ceredigion’s care services, even if the Ceredigion centres were closer to their homes than those in-county.

This affected people like Rory White who has cerebral palsy, who attended the Lampeter day centre Canolfan Steffan every weekday since 2008, just 10 minutes away from his home in Pencarreg, Carmarthenshire.

Despite Carmarthenshire paying for Canolfan Steffan’s services for Rory and an appeal made to Ceredigion by his family, the council stood firm in their decision to end access for out-of-county service users like Rory due to a growing number of people in Ceredigion needing the services.

However, this may now change as councillors on Ceredigion’s cabinet are set to discuss the petition next week on 4 November.

A petition organised by the White family called for continued access to Canolfan Steffan for long-term attendees residing in Carmarthenshire, amassing 1,435 signatures before it was sent to the council.

The petition, made by Rory’s sister Abby White, accused the council of disregarding the importance of continuity of care for people with learning disabilities “where routine and familiarity are essential”, failing to consider individual circumstances, negatively impacting the mental health and social stability for vulnerable people, contradicting principles of person-centred care, and “setting a concerning precedent” for cross-country collaboration.

Councillors will consider the petition at a council meeting on Tuesday 4 November.

In a letter to the White family from Donna Pritchard, Deputy Director of Social Services at Ceredigion County Council, she explained the increasing number of people needing their services has placed “logistical and moral responsibilities upon us to ensure that our services remain responsive, inclusive and locally rooted”.

Pritchard added that following a review, the council would be “ending our current provision for service users living outside of Ceredigion”.

Member of Senedd Adam Price wrote to the council on the White’s behalf, asking the council to “reconsider the decision” and “take into consideration Rory’s individual needs, health, wellbeing and welfare”.

Chief Executive of Ceredigion Council Eifion Evans responded that Carmarthenshire has statutory responsibility for Rory’s care.

He wrote that despite Ceredigion writing to Carmarthenshire to collaborate “in supporting a transition plan,” they had had no response.