NEWPORT council’s withdrawal from a Gwent children’s support service will affect the ‘resilience’ of its staff, according to a senior Monmouthshire council officer.
Will McLean, chief officer for children and young people at Monmouthshire council, said it would be ‘naïve’ to think changes to the Sensory and Communication Service (SenCom) would come without consequences to families.
The funding and staffing of SenCom, which supports children with vision, hearing and communication problems, is shared between the five regional authorities including Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly.
But Newport City Council plans to leave in April to develop its own in-house service, saving £250,000 amid budget constraints.
“There’s such a dependence and reliance on this expertise, and changing that will be a risk,” Mr McLean told the children and young people select committee on Thursday.
“The service will lose expertise and will have to look again at how its designed and operated. They’re going to think about prioritisation, and there will be increased demand.
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“What we lose with Newport’s decision is the resilience to flex our resources across different authorities.”
There are 367 children using the service in Monmouthshire, with the majority being children with hearing impairments – a group which has grown in size in recent years.
In December, the council heard from Caldicot mother Ros Hannam that the teacher of the deaf supporting her four-month-old daughter Lola will change after April.
Mr McLean said: “To hear [Ms Hannam] say that there was already an impact on the support of her child demonstrates that [Newport’s] decision is highly unlikely to come without consequences for our service users.”
Concerns have been raised by Roger Thurlbeck, head of SenCom, over potential impacts on staff morale and wellbeing. Mr Thurlbeck was due to speak to the committee but was taken ill on Thursday.
Mr McLean said there would always be an impact on staff, adding: “To think any change goes without consequence is a naïve position.”
READ MORE: Sixteen SenCom staff at risk as Newport council decide to pull out
Newport currently pays for 28 per cent, or £651,000, towards SenCom’s budgets – the second highest contribution behind Caerphilly’s 32 per cent share.
Funding from Monmouthshire accounts for 13 per cent, with the authority committing just under £300,000 next year.
When asked by co-opted committee member Michael Fowler how Monmouthshire could stop further partners withdrawing, Mr McLean said the remaining authorities were ‘completely committed’ to SenCom and working collaboratively.
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