I was very sorry to learn of the cut to the Disability Specialist Employment Service at the Council. This means that any person with a physical or learning disability will not receive this specialist service. This does bring about a question over how the Council and Minds employment service will fare in the proposed cuts. It appears it could leave no specialist help for any disabled person who has a learning disability, physical disability or has a severe and enduring mental health service user condition.
It is more than disappointing, particularly because all the organisations worked extremely hard to ensure they were offering good quality employment to the residents of Croydon. Some fantastic initiatives and innovative projects were developed such as the Self-employment Academy that has launched disabled people in running their own business. In addition the department was successful in bringing in external funding for the sector from the Department for Work and Pensions in the development of the supported employment funding.
As one resident quoted to me: “To say people can go to external providers evidence shows that they have a poor record of getting a job for candidates with a learning disability, physical disability, autism or severe and enduring mental health disabilities”.
I have to say that it is extremely sad that once again due to Labour’s incompetence and lack of financial resilience the most vulnerable in our borough will suffer.
