Cuts by Wiltshire Council hit family support service
As a result of Wiltshire Council's decision to cut funding for Wiltshire's family support charity 'ask' the Trustees initially concluded that they would be unable to continue operating.
However a rethink by the council means the service will continue, albeit at a reduced level. See the Wiltshire Times article.
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History.
At a meeting held on 23rd February the Board of Trustees considered the reduced offer from Wiltshire Council, which involved a cut of more than 50%, and, after careful consideration, decided they were unable to provide the statutory services being requested for the amount being offered.
The Trustees have written to the Leader of Wiltshire Council, Jane Scott, to request that she intervenes directly to save the service. The letter highlights the adverse implications for parents, families and the wider community that will result from these cuts.
If there is no last minute reprieve then the Trustees will be forced into closing the charity.
Chair of ask, Liz Garrett, said: "It is with deep regret that the Trustees decided to reject Wiltshire Council's offer. What the Council is asking us to provide for the money on offer is not sustainable and the Trustees are unwilling to enter into an agreement that is impossible to fulfil.
We all hope that Cllr Scott will intervene directly and request a review of the funding offer. If Cllr Scott does not successfully intervene then the Trustees will have to make the difficult decision to consider closing ask."
Linda Cantillon-Guyatt, CEO of ask, added: "At a time when there are huge pressures on families and parents are struggling to make ends meet while also supporting their children our service is more important than ever. ask has provided support services and information for Wiltshire families, parents, schools and support workers for over a decade. In 2011 we responded to over 8,000 enquiries and our website received 19,164 visitors over a 3 month period."
Fiona and Dez Matthews from Westbury said: "There is no doubt that without the support from ask our son would have been a young offender by now. Instead he is now at college and doing well"
Service user Miss Smith, a single Mum from Trowbridge explains how ask helped her: "I originally phoned about toddler groups and explained to the advisor that these needed to be cheap and local as I couldn't afford bus fares. The advisor asked me some financial questions and then gave me some very helpful advice about Income Support, Child Tax Credits, Housing and Council Tax benefit and Healthy Start Vouchers. I cried when I got off the phone, it was such a relief. We now eat better, we can afford heating and we can go to toddler groups and other social activities. Without ask I would still be struggling. I honestly don't know where it would have ended if I hadn't had this help from ask. Now our future is a lot more positive."
Tracey Searley, a service user from - Malmesbury said: "ask provides a very informative service providing excellent and accurate information. Without the help from ask I might have made decisions I would have regretted. The help from ask had a big impact on my family helping us to make important decisions about returning to work"
Ask Wiltshire provides services and information for families, parents, schools and support workers across Wiltshire and funding is provided by Wiltshire Council. The current contracts end on 31 March 2012
At present ask Wiltshire are contracted by Wiltshire Council to provide
• a Family Information Service, and
• a Parent Partnership Service.
For the Family Information Service (FIS) Wiltshire Council have decided:
• to end services relating to advice for school places, outreach work into local communities and helpline support for financial advice such as tax credit calculations
• to absorb into the Council all information about childminding and nursery provision
• to make a 53% cut in funding for the remaining services - the Wiltshire Council's offer is for £120,000
For the Parent Partnership Service Wiltshire Council have decided:
• ask Wiltshire will no longer provide a Parent Forum which gives the opportunity for parents to provide feedback and contribute to developments, and
• reduced training to a minimum level for Council staff.
• ask have accepted it is viable to provide the services required with the funding offer of £70,000 if a satisfactory position can be reached on the other FIS services.
The result of closure would be that parents and families in Wiltshire would no longer have a one stop shop for their family information needs. Families would have to go to three different services depending on their requirements leading to confusion and a reduction in the quality of the service. There is also a high risk that information will become out of date and the equity of access currently enjoyed in Wiltshire will be lost risking a post code lottery for parents accessing financial information and support
In a letter to councillors Linda Cantillon-Guyatt stated: "All involved with ask have worked tirelessly to provide the best possible service to families and our results and the feedback from parents reflect the dedication and commitment of all involved. We know that the current funding offer would quickly lead to deterioration in the service we provide and would expose ask to considerable financial and reputational risk. We had hoped to work in partnership with the Council to find a suitable way forward. However, the absence of genuine negotiations has prohibited this and our viability is now very much under threat. We are saddened by the outcome of this process. We believe our services are highly valued by families and professionals alike and contribute hugely to the health, wellbeing and sustainability of Wiltshire communities."
In reply WC leader Jane Scott has accused the organisation of hoarding council cash. "Ask has been offered a significant level of funding to continue to provide services and following discussion with the organisation we agreed to increase the funding proposed. We also extended their contract so that they could effectively manage the transition process. The level of funding totals £225,390 for 2012/13. We are also aware that Ask has substantial funds in reserves that it has set aside from previous funding provided by the Council," she said.
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A report to the Children's Services Committee for discussion at its meeting on Thursday March 29th concluded that if 'ask' didn't wish to accept the terms imposed by the council then the council would find somebody else to do the job.
http://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=5667&x=1 see supplement 1.