Category Archives: ukcuts
Changes force respite group to close down
A CHARITY which offers respite to carers is to fold after being told to change and extend its services without an increase in funding.
Bosses at Suffolk Respite say they would have been unable to afford the new service model laid down by Suffolk County Council.
The Ipswich-based organisation, which will close at the end of this month, supports those with enduring and severe mental health issues two or three hours a week to give their full-time carer a break.
Charities ‘could face cuts of up to £5.5bn’
4 March 2012 Last updated at 04:10
The charity sector is facing local and national government funding cuts of between £1bn and £5.5bn in the current financial year, a report suggests.
The leaked report, obtained by the Labour Party, was carried out by an umbrella organisation which said the situation had worsened since it had compiled it last March.
The Cabinet Office said it did not consider the figures to be reliable.
But it said ministers were taking steps to help charities through hard times.
All Carers need help – not cuts
How can anyone consider cutting support for carers?
The Conservatives may have stepped back from the brink of disaster by postponing cuts to the budget for supporting Young Carers – young people who devote incredible love and care to looking after their relatives who are disabled or otherwise in need of constant support.
The way this decision has been trumpeted to the press is thoroughly misleading. The Conservative councillor in charge gives the impression that he wants to improve the service rather than cut it. “Our current service is patchy and we need to improve it”.
Well, we discovered at the Somerset County Council meeting last week just why it was patchy. He had deliberately failed to reappoint front-line staff providing vital support, when they left, or provide cover for long-term absence. Now we know.
The reinstatement of a £75,000 cut is just a temporary measure, taken from reserves because he has been forced to think again. It all needs to be put in the context of the rest of the £582,000 cut in “integrated services for children and families” that was taken, with another £581,000 planned for next year.
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