Fears over cuts to charity
BY JON MACPHERSON AND PAUL FAULKNER
FEARS have been raised over the long-term future of a vital charity after devastating funding cuts were rubbed-stamped at county hall.
Hyndburn Homewise has supported independent living for older people and people living with disabilities and long-term health conditions for more than 30 years.
Funding for the county’s integrated home service improvement contacts will be withdrawn from March 2020 despite official calls for the decision to be reconsidered.
Almost a dozen opposition members on Lancashire County Council (LCC) requested that the decision – taken by the authority’s cabinet last month – should be subject to a “call-in”.
That would have forced the cabinet member responsible for the service to formally rethink the proposals – and either change his mind or explain why he was sticking to the original proposal.
But the council’s crossparty health scrutiny committee voted against the move at a specially-convened meeting.
A public consultation had shown that 82 per cent of service users favoured retaining the service.
It is contracted to local providers across Lancashire with Homewise covering Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.
A statutory service to provide minor adaptations like handrails for residents eligible for adult social care support will continue.
Hyndburn council has unanimously condemned the funding cuts and will write to LCC leader Geoff Driver and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock for a review of the decision.
Deputy leader councillor Paul Cox told a recent council meeting that it was ‘wrong, unfair and punitive’.
He said: “We must impress upon both a Conservative Lancashire County Council and central government the importance of Homewise and the numerous services they provide.
“Many people will without doubt be admitted into residential care or, worse still, hospital. There will be an increase in costs to both NHS and the County Council, far outweighing any short-term, shortsighted budget saving.”
Over the decades Homewise, based on Whalley Road, has helped more than 43,000 residents improve, repair, adapt and maintain their homes, raised almost £800,000 from local and national charities and carried out 40,000 essential repairs.
Hyndburn Conservative group leader Tony Dobson said ‘nobody’ has been able to change Coun Driver’s mind but is ‘more positive’ about Homewise’s future.
He said: “For every £1 not spent by LCC creates £4 spent by the NHS. That’s the point I was trying to make with Geoff Driver.
“The problem with our politics and our council is everybody works in silos and is looking after their own particular budget instead of working across the board and doing what’s best for the taxpayer and residents in our boroughs.
“I feel a bit more positive. After a campaign by the Conservative group in Hyndburn we are getting in the next couple of weeks a new housing and renewal policy.
“In this there’s £1.5m and Homewise plays a huge part in the delivery of this policy. I don’t think Homewise is going anywhere anytime soon.”
Sue Sinclair, chief officer of Homewise, said they will need to speak to Hyndburn Council, Ribble Valley Council and East Lancashire CCG to see if there is any funding available.
She said: “There are a lot of questions and answers we don’t know. We do have some reserves but if you are only using reserves you can only last so long.
“It’s a case of how long we can survive. There’s no long-term plan unless there’s a change of administration or government and they decide to put more funds into this.”
LCC Conservative cabinet member for health and wellbeing, Shaun Turner, said the authority was encouraging other organisations, including the NHS, to look at how they could continue the service.
“We asked partners if they could help us fund it, because at the end of the day, we’re paying for it and they’re benefiting,” County Coun Turner said.
He also suggested that the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) – a pot of money available to district councils to carry out more major property changes – could also help bridge the gap.
But Labour opposition leader Azhar Ali said DFG money was not uniformly available across the county – and was probably insufficient in any case.
“What is being proposed flies in the face of all the current national thinking about keeping people active in their own communities – and will inevitably lead to loneliness, isolation and despair. It stores up problems for the future and solves nothing, “County Coun Ali said.