Warning cuts 'will have impact on most vulnerable'

A decision to cut £1.1m from the voluntary sector across Derbyshire will have a "massive impact" on some of the county's "most vulnerable" people, a council has been warned.

James Bromley, who heads up Erewash Council for Voluntary Service (CVS), said Derbyshire County Council "had not fully considered" that the proposals would end up "pushing people" back into the remit of adults and children's social care.

The authority said the proposals were due in part to increasing financial pressures on their budgets and the "changes" in demand for services.

Mr Bromley said: "This is a short term financial decision which will have a much wider impact on people's health."

The county council has been consulting on ending discretionary grant funding, which will affect more than 30 groups across Derbyshire.

More than 1,300 people submitted responses, with 91% saying they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposals.

Mr Bromley said Erewash CVS will lose £107,000 - some of this in infrastructure costs and support for a wide range of projects they facilitate.

He added job losses are likely.

"I'm incredibly disappointed and saddened," he said.

"The findings from [people in] the consultation are clear - but it looks like this has not been taken into account.

"We're really concerned about the massive impact this will have not just for us but for the wider sector and the people who really rely on us.

"We're being told all the time that our work is really important but these actions suggest we're not valued as we potentially should be."

Mr Bromley said the voluntary sector in Derbyshire has managed to navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis being "key partners" in helping people.

But he said the funding cut will ultimately hit the most vulnerable people they help.

One of the services affected is a shopping project where volunteers bring food for people who are isolated and have no family network. Mr Bromley said the scheme will have to stop.

Further afield across the county, Mr Bromley fears the cuts will impact mental health support and befriending services like lunch clubs, which means the voluntary sector "no longer has the capacity" to continue them.

"It will be impossible to get these services back if they go," Mr Bromley added.

Natalie Hoy, cabinet member for adult care, said the council needed to make sure their "finite resources are targeted at services we are required to deliver by law to those people who need us most".

“We’ve always prided ourselves on being a well-managed council but like all other councils across the country we’re facing increasing financial pressures that are outside our control," she said.

“Many of these organisations have been receiving grants for up to 20 years as a matter of course.

"Since then, Derbyshire's population has changed and people's aspirations, needs and preferences for support have also altered."

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.