Parents of children with disabilities have spoken out after Brighton and Hove City Council clawed back money paid to families to fund vital help – and an MP has given them his support.
Families received less than a week’s notice that any sum greater than six weeks’ worth of “direct payments” would go back to the council for “redistribution”.
The Labour MP for Hove, Peter Kyle, said that he would raise the issue in Parliament after two families contacted him about the clawbacks.
They lost money that they had been saving to pay for personal assistants so that they could take their children on holiday.
Mr Kyle said: “The first thing to say is that the letter the families received about this was so impersonal it cut through me.
“This is a big deal for families. The removal of the money is one issue. The cold method of doing so is another.
“I join them by saying that the disabled are being called upon, time and time again, to make sacrifices ‘due to budget cuts’.
“It’s not acceptable and I’m taking this to the highest level of government.”
The letters from the council were dated Saturday 15 October but families received their copies two weeks later. Each was the same except where children’s names and the sums of were money written in.
The letters said: “We know direct payments are really important in supporting families at home but we need to make the best use of all money available for direct payments and that his money is being distributed fairly, according to the needs and being used as agreed.
“The council is under financial pressure due to government cuts and it is our duty to ensure that money is being used in the most effective ways.”
The letter said that the money would go back into the budget to support families in need.
The chief executive of specialist Brighton charity Amaze, Sally Polanski, said that the Parent Carers’ Council (PaCC) was collecting feedback to pass on to the council – and that PaCC representatives were meeting council officials to discuss the situation.
Amaze provides information, advice and support to families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
She said: “This is a concern and the timing is particularly challenging, given the wider context of families being under immense pressure and the social care system struggling.”
Three mothers, who asked not be identified, have spoken out about the clawbacks.
Shameful behaviour, but in the context of Brighton council, normal.
Disgusting from BHCC yet again.
Already have question marks against them in relation to disabled and disabled drivers, now denying children their much needed funding.
Quick enough to fund vanity projects that are not needed.