West Sussex County Council has issued proposals which, if acted upon, would abolish the council’s ‘Supporting People’ fund. This fund is currently worth £6million and makes a significant contribution to the running of housing-related support services provided by voluntary organisations across the county.
Pressure from petitioners has led to a formal period of consultation. A petition ahs been very successful and had over 6,000 signatories.
At Full Council this Friday (19th October) the lead petitioner gets to address West Sussex County Councillors, at around 10.30am.
Protest – this Friday!
Prior to this there will be a protest outside County Hall, Chichester. All members and their families are welcome to attend. If you are scheduled to work on these days, you must ask permission from your manager to attend, or use annual leave to do so.
Friday 19 October
Assemble outside County Hall, Chichester, PO19 1RQ at 9.45am. Look out for the UNISON West Sussex banner!
Local charities’ concerns have been widely reported in the local press. These include that street homelessness and housing poverty will increase, and often the costs of this will simply be shunted to other public bodies like the police and NHS. Charities potentially affected include:
- Crawley Open House
- Worthing Churches Homelessness Project
- Bognor Housing Trust
- Stonepillow
- Safe in Sussex Home Group
- Crawley Foyer
- Quick Access Beds for Youth Homelessness
- Southdown Independent Living Scheme
- YMCA Downslink.