As those following our Tweet stream last night will have heard, around 100 or so people attended the Riverside Centre meeting to discuss the proposed Tory budget cuts.
There were some interesting discussions, with presentations by Geoff Lumley, Ian Stevens and Jill Wareham on their alternative budgets.
After the meeting, we caught up with Michaela Whitaker, Communications Development Officer from Mencap on the mainland.
Michaela spoke out at the meeting and repeated her concern to us at the apparent lack of consultation that the Isle of Wight council (IWC) have conducted with the users and carers of those services targeted for cuts.
Although she agreed with others about the importance of the personalisation programme, she believed the lack of thought around transition of services was disastrous.
To her knowledge, Michaela did not know of another authority in the South who has has made cuts as drastically as the IWC to these vital services.
To hear what else she had to say listen to the podcast below.
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/michaela-whittaker-mencap-budget-cuts.mp3]
David Congdon, Mencap’s head of campaigns and policy, told VB
“There has been a major failing in the consultation stages of these plans and those who will be most affected have been ignored. People with a learning disability stand to lose out more than anyone, with an estimated £4 million cut from services that will directly affect them.
“During budget cuts, councils across the UK need to understand the full impact of slashing vital services and must stop moving people with a learning disability down the priority list.”
