We are deeply disappointed as Ward Councillor's that the conversations led by the Conservative Council and MP has failed to secure a positive outcome for Age Concern in Chatham.
The centre in Hopewell Drive is based in Princes Park ward but we are concerned as local Councillors who border on this facility because many of our residents use this service.
The Luton & Wayfield team will be requesting a consideration of a Members Item which we are to discuss in more detail next week for the next Health & Adult Social care committee.
We want to know the detail of the conversations and from first hand evidence whether our Conservative administration and Parliamentary representatives got the best deal for this charity.
Age Concern is a key service which many of our resident in Luton & Wayfield use. We feel unhappy that many Charities in Medway have been let down by continued charity funding cuts and we want to explore whether funding cuts and the publicised move from Chatham town centre to Hopewell Drive as a result of Council policy on regeneration in the town centre has contributed to this closure.
This was a charity with a long and proud history in Medway with a forty year record of help in the community
Over the last 18 months we have seen how the Tory-led Council have treated charities through massive budget cuts; we have seen the watering down of service provision for elderly residents with dementia and key care needs, so making it more difficult for residents to get support for loved ones as the criteria get even tighter; we have seen the threats to privatise and close local services.
In terms of work undertaken we have made several representations to the media over the last four weeks and linked below press releases and blog articles to the matter where we have made open our willingness to arbitrate on behalf of the service users for an outcome.
Press
Blog
The Labour Group is in contact with Council officers to raise our concerns around three major issues:
- The current Council contracts with Age Concern and the state of these post December 2012
- Future of provision in the Chatham area given the closure and its impact on other services locally
- The detail on the offer and a response from the Charity as to why they refused. The letter received does not go into detail and the offer was not made public for obvious legal reasons during the arbitration.
We have made representation to the leadership of our group that we should be tabling a members item at the next Health & Adult O&S.
Due to legal sensitivities on the offer and us not seeking to prejeudice or politicise any conversations we have been sensitive to media output. Now the offer has been rejected this allows us to probe in more detail, and more publicly, make representation and listen to those called to speak.
In terms of our wider work the Labour Group will also be having an open forum to discuss Adult Social care and our policy on November 29th which is open to the public. The meeting will take place from 7-9pm in the Princes Hall, Corn Exchange, Rochester.
One of the issues discussed will be our campaign efforts to stop the privatisation of Platters Farm, Nelson Court and Robert Bean which was persued by the Conservative Party administration
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