Services for single homeless adults and homeless young people could be devastated if Salford Council goes ahead with proposals to slash funding to Abbott Lodge, Project 34, Liberty House and Salford Foyer, which help some of the most vulnerable people in the city.
The Council is currently consulting on cuts as part of over £1million Supporting People `savings' and states in a report, not made public, that, while it has a duty to home the homeless, "supported accommodation for vulnerable people who are homeless is not statutory provision".
The report lists the services of each of the four centres and the likely impact cuts would have on the services they provide...
The Salvation Army's Abbott Lodge in Brindle Heath is only three years old. Last year its staff helped 106 residents with high/complex needs, 94% of whom were `moved on positively'. The report states that if funding was removed, "it could remain open but would not be able to provide to those with complex needs, the client group with the least options for housing/service. The staff team would be reduced and therefore the service would be limited to lower needs... People with complex/high needs would have to be placed in B&B, with no support..."
Adullam's Liberty House last year helped 85 residents, thirty of whom were 16 or 17 years old with high/complex needs, classed as Child in Need/Leaving Care. The impact on cuts here would be stark... "Without this funding, the service would be unable to remain open". Even reduced funding, rather than a complete cut would lead to "a 50% reduction in the staff team and changes to the service that could be offered, resulting in only low needs being catered for"...
Places for People's Salford Foyer includes Teenage Parents Units which, the report states, would almost certainly close if the units didn't retain £48,000 funding. The Foyer also provides services for high/medium/low needs young people, some of whom are classed as Child in Need/Leaving Care. ... "70 of the 128 young people accommodated last year would no longer be able to access services at Salford Foyer due to the level of need and lack of staffing support to accommodate this. Children's services have confirmed that Child in Need/Leaving care could not be placed under this staffing model" the report states.
Project 34, which has 21 beds and six beds for women, and helps the statutory homeless and those who have high/complex needs, is opting out of its Council contract altogether and is likely to retain all its services; although the report states that it `may change the model over time'...
Salford Council's justification for the cuts is the "reduction in the budget that the Government provides", adding "we have to prioritise the support we provide, to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in Salford".
It adds that there is currently a case going to the Supreme Court with people challenging how councils assess the vulnerability of homeless people. The outcome, the report explains "could pave the way for an increase in the number of full duty cases the authority takes on each year". If these cuts go ahead, the Council just wouldn't be able to meet the needs of the newly classed `vulnerable'
The cuts proposals are currently out for consultation with those who provide the services, with the Council asking for responses most of which will probably be unprintable...
See also previous Salford Star article Bez Slates Cuts To Salford's Homeless click here
* Salford people join the Homeless Protest Camp in Manchester - click here
Main photo - puppet show at Abbott Lodge's Christmas Party
.jpg)
(1).JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
