Cut to advice service for vulnerable approved

Cuts to a council service that provides help for Rochdale’s most vulnerable – including the homeless – have received cabinet approval.

Leaders agreed a 10% reduction in funding for the social and welfare advice and legal services this week.

They said the move means a new service contract will be more efficient and there should be ‘very little or no reduction’ in support. 

However, results of a public consultation warned the £35k cut back will have consequences for ‘crime, anti-social behaviour and suicides for certain age groups.’

The service helps people struggling with debt and those facing housing issues and in need of assistance claiming benefits.

The decision will come into effect from April 2019 if rubber stamped by the full council next month.

A new contract is set to be put out to tender in partnership with Stockport, Trafford and Salford councils to achieve ‘better value for money’.

Councillor Liam O’Rourke said that, while the move was ‘not ideal’, joint procurement had achieved saving without causing any significant impact on service levels in the past.

The cabinet member for resources said that he hoped integrated place-based teams – recently piloted in Kirkholt – could soon be rolled out across the borough to help ‘nip problems in the bud’.

He added: “Hopefully we can deal with issues before they come to crisis point, which is when people tend to get in touch with those services.”

Respondents to a public consultation on the move suggested it could have a far-reaching impact.

The Citizen’s Advice Bureau – which currently delivers the service on behalf of the council, said: “The impact of welfare reform and wider austerity has lifted demand to an unprecedented level with the addition of greater complexity.”

It added that it was struggling to meet demand, going on to suggest that, as Rochdale has some of the most deprived areas in the country, the advice service is more relevant now than ever.

The comments were echoed by Steve Cooke JP, vice-chair at Rochdale Law Centre, which itself is soon due to close.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I understand the pressures local authorities are under, and that the funding has been reduced to the level where they can only just about meet their legal requirements.

“But even under these circumstances supporting the most vulnerable people in our society has got to be our top priority.”

He added that the move would not save money in the long run.

He said: “Those are the people who fall through the net without the help they need. Because their lifestyles are chaotic they need more support from multiple services and need a lot money spending on them by social services, health services and the police

“It just means there’s a loss of services for people at the time more money needs to be put into it.

“I’m not saying it’s the local authority’s fault, I think we need to look at it as a who society and prioritise what’s most important.”

Addressing the long term future of the service, Councillor O’Rourke added: “I think we have to watch it really tightly and in the future we might have to look at a different way of providing it.

“If there’s a way of providing an in-house service in the future that directly linked into the council, that’s a possibility.”

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter