Budget concerns for disabled residents
Royal Borough: ‘Vulnerable people affected’ by daycare savings and council services going online
Questions have been raised over the impact cuts and savings in next year’s budget will have on people in the borough with disabilities.
At the Royal Borough disability and inclusion forum on Monday, discussions took place on the Royal Borough budget for 2021/22, which will come into effect in April.
Although the budget sees increased funding for adult social care, several services will be cut, including the closure of the Oakbridge Day Centre and Windsor Day Centre, with daycare for adults set to be provided in a ‘different way’.
Concerns over the impact these closures may have on older residents and adults with learning disabilities were
raised at the meeting.
Lisa Hughes, vice-chair of the panel, said: “People with learning disabilities are among the most marginalised in society, having poorer health, life expectancy and employment prospects while having a greater risk of domestic abuse and of dying from COVID-19.
“Any changes to support will affect a very small number of our residents but the budget cuts will have a large impact on them so I feel its really important for the forum to keep monitoring how this transformation is, hopefully, improving lives for adults with learning disabilities in our borough.”
Ms Hughes also went on to warn that moving services online could freeze out a lot of older people and adults with learning disabilities, potentially isolating them from help.
She said: “The other major concern relates to the digitisation of services and reduction in the allocation of staff and reduction in face to face and telephone support.
“Many people with disabilities and older people cannot or find it very hard to use online services, and this isn’t made any better by the Royal Borough website which can be best described as sub-optimal.
“Residents affected by this will be amongst the most vulnerable in our borough and we must ensure their needs are met.”
In response to Ms Hughes’s comments, Councillor Samantha Rayner, lead member for IT, said she hoped to work with the panel to ensure the services work for all residents.
She said: “This is a really important topic you’ve raised and I think it’s going to be so much more important going forward, COVID has shown us how people can access services is incredibly important.
“I would like to reach out to you, perhaps we should pick this up outside the meeting and do something on that, I’m really keen.
“The library service are doing an awful lot about helping people with digital inclusion, but we are also aware that it’s not all about digital, it’s also about face to face, and that’s something we are thinking about going forward, face to face will remain.”
A proposal for 2,000 homes on the greenbelt has been included in Bracknell Forest’s draft local plan – impacting residents in Holyport, Fifield and Oakley Green.
In October 2019, Syngenta, an agrochemical company, put forward a proposal to Bracknell Forest Council to develop a 240-hectare site in Jealott’s Hill, including a science park, school and other facilities.
Bray Parish Council (BPC) and the Royal Borough both objected to the development, in large part because of the effect on traffic in the area, along the A330 and A308.
More than 4,500 signatures were received on the Save Jealott’s Hill petition.
In a meeting on Tuesday, Bracknell Forest Council put
forward its draft Local Development Plan 2020-2037, outlining the developments for the local area as a whole – including the Jealott’s Hill proposal.
The draft plan will now be reviewed by an inspector to review and make recommendations, with a seven-week consultation.
Campaign group Save Jealott’s Hill said it is ‘disappointed but not surprised’ by the council’s vote to put forward the draft plan in its current form.
“We are proud of the councillors who voted against the draft plan and stood by their constituents and principles,” said chairman Pat Kennedy.
“We feel energised for the consultation and the inquiry. We will fight on – there’s no backing down on our side.”
Barbara Frame, chair of Oakley Green and Fifield Community Association
(OGAFCA) said: “From OGAFCA’s point of view our main concern, apart from the obvious wanton destruction of a large swathe of open greenbelt land, is the intolerable pressure that this development would put on our roads.
“The extra traffic that this vast development would create would not flow through Bracknell Forest, it would go through Holyport, Fifield and Oakley Green to reach the M4 and then M40 and M25 motorways.
Another potential 8,000 vehicles thrown into the mix cannot be sustained.
“In the short term, the construction traffic would, no doubt, also use our roads to access the site and we would be expected to tolerate a constant convoy of heavy vehicles causing noise and pollution for a number of years.”
Bracknell Forest’s development plan will be submitted for a public inquiry later this year, around October.
In a statement, Jealott’s Hill consortium (which includes
Syngenta and associated groups) said: “It is great news that Bracknell Forest Council has recognised the important role Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre plays, not just for global food security, but also for the local economy.
“By opening up access to the site we can deliver a community for both new and existing residents with education, healthcare, shops and services, a vastly improved transport network and 115 acres of new, accessible green space for all to enjoy.”