In their letter, the County Council’s Network (CCN) All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) suggest that “county and unitary councils were facing overspending their budgets by almost £650m this year. In total, they face a funding shortfall of £4bn over the next three years, with planned savings only reducing this by half.”
These unprecedented pressures on local authority budgets have meant reductions in money for the delivery of local services, including those specialised reablement and support services provided by the network of Headway charities across the country.
Commenting on the news, Headway’s Chief Executive, Luke Griggs, said:
“It’s time to face facts: local authorities can no longer meet the support needs of vulnerable people within their communities.
“This influential, highly experienced group of cross-party MPs is entirely right and we welcome their intervention into what now has become a funding crisis.
“Many Headway groups rely on local authority commissioning to provide services which are absolutely essential to brain injury survivors up and down the country.
“These services help rebuild lives after brain injury, and without them, many brain injury survivors and their loved ones would struggle and in time come to rely on other, more costly state-funded services when their condition deteriorates.”
It is hoped that with more funding, councils would not be forced to reduce the services they commission locally or lower the price of contracts, which is affecting the viability of Headway groups nationwide.
Luke added:
“We have sadly seen too many examples of local authorities reducing their funding for the essential community-based rehabilitation services provided by local Headway charities.
“If funded properly, councils could ensure that these tailored services are available to support people living with the aftermath of brain injury and empower individuals to rebuild their lives.
“We hope that are given the opportunity to do so.”
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