• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / News Archive / Council cuts research paints troubling picture

Council cuts research paints troubling picture

By guest on 30th August 2011 Category: News Archive

Listen

Scores of disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) and other disability charities across England have had their council funding cut or removed completely this year, according to new research.

Including DPOs, more than 150 disability charities have had their funding reduced, as well as more than 100 adult social care charities.

The figures were obtained by the campaign group False Economy – which is backed by unions and anti-cuts groups – after submitting Freedom of Information Act requests to local authorities.

The research shows that charities will face net reductions in council funding of more than £110 million this year, with this total sure to increase as some councils are still to make funding decisions and others have yet to respond to False Economy.

Among DPOs hit is Central England People First (CEPF), one of the country’s leading self-advocacy organisations, which has lost its £23,000 funding from Northamptonshire County Council and is being asked instead to tender for new contracts.

Ian Davies, CEPF’s chair, said the organisation had enough funding to continue until Christmas, but would need to find alternative sources of money through new projects.

He said: “We have been very good at looking at how we can save money and make ends meet.”

He added: “I feel for the people who are here now and have come away from day services. My concern is if I have to send people back to where they came from, back to a setting that isn’t adequate.

“A lot of people have joined and have developed their own skills. Everybody in the office all came from day services. They have moved out and come to People First. That was their choice.”

Other DPOs facing significant cuts include the Council of Disabled People Coventry and Warwickshire (CDP), which has had its county council funding for its work promoting personalisation almost halved from £19,000 to just £10,000.

Tony Walsh, CDP’s chief executive, said the organisation would have to consider reducing its core staffing levels towards the end of this year if it was not able to secure new funding.

Two regional schemes have been set up to support DPOs in the Midlands because they had been closing down “left, right and centre”, he said, and there were still “major concerns for the future”.

The London-based arts organisation Shape is another user-led disability charity highlighted by the new research.

It is set to lose its entire annual £110,000 funding from the umbrella organisation London Councils in August. Earlier this year, it was told its Arts Council England funding would fall by nearly 40 per cent over the next three years, from £438,000 a year to £300,000.

Richard Muncaster, Shape’s communications and development director, said London Councils had obviously decided that access to culture for disabled people “just wasn’t a priority”, even though Shape was “well-respected” and a vital “social lifeline”.

He said the financial climate was “pretty difficult”, but the charity had secured some Big Lottery funding and was looking to other funders, and was “very much still here and still generating income”.

Shape was forced to make four of its 25 posts redundant earlier this year, but he said it hoped to avoid further job losses.

A string of other DPOs across England also appear to have had their council funding cut, many of them by about 10 per cent.

In addition to DPOs, many more non user-led disability and social care charities, most of them providing services to disabled adults, parents of disabled children and carers, have seen reductions in their council funding.

Charities providing mobility services to disabled people also appear to have been badly affected, with several local Shopmobility and Dial-a-Ride schemes facing cuts.

4 August 2011

Share this post:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on Reddit

Related

‘Muddled’ blue badge reforms ‘are to blame for renewal delays’
6th February 2015
UN debate will be reminder of true inclusive education
6th February 2015
IDS breaks pledge on PIP waiting-times, as tens of thousands still queue for months
30th January 2015

Primary Sidebar

Image shows a man wearing glasses sitting by an open laptop The text reads: Free Career Support for Disabled People Our services include: 1-2-1 Coaching Online Career Resources Find Support near you Search for Inclusive Jobs Career Events and Workshops Visit the Evenbreak Career Hive today to find out how we can help you

Access

Latest Stories

Fears over impact of DWP’s ‘horrific’ and ‘sinister’ anti-fraud plan

Ministerial duo dismiss concerns over social care funding crisis

Company linked to death of PIP claimant gives itself ‘seven or eight out of 10’

Public order bill will criminalise disabled protesters, says MP

Disabled woman pays hundreds in fines, after council refuses reasonable adjustments

Councils frequently fail to make reasonable adjustments, says ombudsman

Campaigners celebrate their Crossrail access win as line finally opens, eight years on

Grenfell: Call for action over government’s ‘deplorable’ decision on evacuation plans

‘Severely neglected’ man found dead, three months after DWP assessment

Government brands DNS ‘vexatious’ for trying to obtain info on 90 DWP deaths

Advice and Information

The Department for Work and Pensions: Deaths, cover-up, and a toxic 30-year legacy

Readspeaker

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web