FUTURE OF SUPPORTING PEOPLE PROGRAMME

Early day motion 339, tabled 15 June 2005 by Tony Baldry (Conservative). Signed by 10 members.

That this House condemns proposals by the Government to cut Oxfordshire County Council's Supporting People budget by 60 per cent. or in real terms by £5.9 million by 2007-08; notes that the service loss has been described by Oxfordshire Age Concern as `alarming' and by mental health charity Oxfordshire Group Homes as `disastrous'; agrees with Oxfordshire County Council that the proposed Supporting People distribution formula is a `rushed job done by the Government's consultants through the minimal consultation' with neighbouring authorities faring dramatically differently from 48 per cent. gains to 73 per cent. cuts; believes that the proposed distribution formula threatens to be a one-way street for support services with big cuts in the services which lose and virtually no expansion of services in the authorities which gain; and calls on the Government urgently to review the proposed Supporting People distribution formula to ensure that the most vulnerable in the community continue to receive the funding and support they require.

Signatures by party: Conservative 6, DUP 2, Liberal Democrat 2.