FOUR national charities supporting blind children in Wales have sent a letter to Newport City Council expressing their concern over the decision to leave a Gwent-wide special needs service.

In November, the Argus revealed Newport council’s decision to leave the Sensory and Communication Support Network (SenCom), currently funded by all five Gwent local authorities.

SenCom supports a children across Gwent with a wide range of visual, hearing or communication impairments, from the age of 0 to 19-years-old.

Leaving SenCom is expected to save Newport council £250,000 according to their draft budget, and they plan to set up a replacement in-house service they say will be equivalent to what’s currently on offer.

But parents and children who currently use the service have raised concerns over the planned change, and more than 1,500 people have signed a petition against the decision.

READ MORE: Newport City Council defend their decision to leave SenCom

And on Wednesday, December 12, national blind charity RNIB Cymru joined forces with Wales Council of the Blind, Guide Dogs Cymru and Sight Cymru to voice their concern,

Newport council had previously said they have held “ongoing talks” with specialists including the National Deaf Children’s Society, RNIB and consultants in the field of audiology about the implementation of a new service.

But the RNIB told the Argus yesterday (Friday, December 14) that they had not had any meaningful conversations with the council.

RNIB Cymru’s Director Ansley Workman said: “We have not yet had any meaningful conversations with Newport City Council about these changes to vital services for children and young people.

“Because of this we’ve teamed up with other sight loss charities to request a meeting with the council. In this meeting we will raise concerns from local families who are worried that their children will lose the essential support that is currently provided by the SenCom service.

“Our main concern is to make sure that pupils with sight loss aren’t negatively affected by these proposed changes.

“Without this service pupils with sight loss may not be able to fully participate in school life and will potentially lose access to after school clubs and activities. We hope to achieve a positive outcome for the children and young people and families who are affected.”

READ MORE: More than 1,000 sign SenCom petition in first four days

The four charities have written a joint letter to the council holding them to account for the proposed changes to the SenCom service and will meet with the council on 20 December 2018.

The letter, seen by the Argus, says the decision is “at odds with current policy direction”, and asks Newport council to provide an explanation.

It reads: “We are concerned that your withdrawal from the regionally delivered service will impact negatively on your neighbouring authorities, potentially leading to a postcode lottery of provision.

“Furthermore, working in isolation makes the service less able to adapt to changes in demand and workforce.”

The charities also criticised the lack of formal consultation with “service users or the wider public”, and asked to see the council’s fairness and equality assessment on the new service.

A third point raised in their letter is the potential impact the decision will have as a result of its timing.

READ MORE: Parents of blind Newport boy speak out against SenCom decision

The letter reads: “Thirdly, regarding timing, ending a contract on 1st April will have a negative impact on children transitioning and undertaking examinations such as GCSEs.

“We would like you to reconsider the timing of the change of service to minimise the impact on children and their families.”

The charities also raise concerns about the continuity of service, and the potential loss of services and specialist visual impairment staff.

The letter continues: “Additionally, families are concerned that they will lose pre- and after-school clubs, help and advice from birth, digital access skills, and support to parents. Also, they wanted to know if pupils can still receive support from the Communication Intervention Team.”

The Argus previously reported 16 highly trained SenCom staff, who work across all five Gwent local authorities, have been put at risk of redundancy because of Newport Council’s decision.

Newport City Council were asked to comment on the letter.