Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Croydon senior council official claims no knowledge of the Carers’ Centre closure or new service provider during a heated meeting in George Street.
The abrupt decision to change the supplier of an essential part of the local authority’s services, which resulted in the closing of the Croydon Carers’ Centre on George Street, has angered and frustrated Croydon’s carers, who feel disregarded and bypassed by their council.
In response to the council’s most recent cost-cutting measure, a group of irate carers who were demanding immediate answers to their concerns about the lack of adequate consultation and the council’s failure to carry out equality or health impact assessments—as required by law for the local authority—have reproved Mayor Jason Perry in the middle of Katharine Street.
Furthermore, astute caretakers who have come to distrust Perry’s council have started to question why the new contractors, caretakers first, have not had their contracts renewed elsewhere in London.
The top council employees have now acknowledged that they were unaware of the Croydon Carers’ Centre closing or the changes to the service provider.
Sean Olivier, the council’s head of service in adult social care, informed a gathering of at least two dozen carers during a meeting held at the Carers’ Centre last week that neither he nor other employees in his department were aware of the closure of the centre or the new service.
Newton, consultants recruited as part of the “Future Croydon” plan, which was supported by the Mayor and his chief executive, Katherine Kerswell, in an attempt to further reduce expenses for the financially stressed council, appears to be responsible for the alterations in service provision.
A Freedom of Information response states that Croydon Council spent £1 million on the Newton contract.
Two weeks ago, it was announced that the Croydon Carers’ Centre will be closing. The first time the crew was informed was on February 12. Operating the centre was no longer feasible because the Whitgift Foundation, which runs it, had lost its agreement with the council to offer services for carers.
For almost ten years, the center has been providing assistance to struggling families in the area. Following Croydon Council’s decision to divide the provision for caregivers into three sections, with caregivers First now providing evaluations for adult carers, it is scheduled to close on March 14.
According to Croydon Council, its new contracts will “deliver enhanced support for Croydon’s carers” in some way.
In what has been described as a “cut-and-paste email” sent to carers across the borough, Yvette Hopley, Perry’s council cabinet member responsible for this latest omnishambles, wrote: “Carers First, who will be providing support from 1 April, will have a local base and will continue to provide services and support in local locations around the borough, in line with what carers told us they wanted as part of the work we did to refresh the Carers strategy last year.”
However, those impacted by the change point out that in other boroughs, Carers First’s “local base” is typically an office where their employees work, and it is nothing like the community center with activities and a café that the George Street location has offered since 2013, which its service users refer to as a “lifeline.”
In an attempt to meet with the mayor, a group of carers who attended the meeting at the Carers’ Centre last week made the decision to walk from George Street to the Town Hall.
“As we approached the zebra crossing, Mr Perry was recognised crossing the road from the High Street,”
one of the group said.
After addressing him twice, he was told, ‘We are carers from the Carers’ Centre. Could we have a word please?’ He then walked across to the group.”
The carer says that Perry was “bombarded with statements and questions”.
They said:
“One carer told him she had been having sleepless nights worrying about the loss of our centre.”
Perry is said to have replied,
“Don’t worry about the Centre. It’s just a change of provider.” Which, of course, is a gross simplification.
Another carer told the Mayor that they are closing the centre on March 14.
He added:
“Were we just going to turn up and find the doors locked on us because we weren’t supposed to be told?”
Perry then tried to pass the buck for his decision that he doesn’t know why they are closing on that date, the lease is till the end of March. He said that he know the Whitgift Foundation has a problem with the lease.
“It’s not a cost-cutting exercise, just a change of provider,” porkie-pie Perry lied. Why would Perry’s cash-strapped council go through all the disruption of a change of provider if it did not save them some money?
“At the strategy review carers asked for a hub and spoke model to serve the borough with more outreach,” Perry then claimed.
But here, Perry’s dissembling started to come undone. One carer told him that he was at the strategy meetings and he didn’t remember that being asked for.
Another carer asked where this ‘central hub’ and the ‘spokes’ were going to be.
Perry, on top of his brief as ever, said that he doesn’t know. That is down to the provider.
Then Perry was asked:
“What about our café, the choir meetings, the book club, dementia meeting, writing club, training sessions and other activities…? What’s going to happen to all of that?”
Perry’s response was, as you might expect, as piss-poor as ever. “The council is legally required to supply an assessment service and information. The rest is down to the provider.”
According to one source who was on Katharine Street for this impromptu meeting, said that was the Mayor washing his hands of the Carers’ Centre.
The carers’ networks of friends and family in south London are helpful. The carers in Croydon are already aware of Carers First’s “hub and spoke” network in Merton, where they only won a contract for comparable services last year, including internet access and phone contact to the company’s national call centre in Swindon.
But this is what Perry told the caring carers that it will just be a different provider. It’s not about cutting the service, we aren’t saving any money. What it’s about is a contract has gone out, a legal procurement and as part of that process, they have switched to a new provider.
As one of the carers on Katharine Street said: “And with that, Mr Perry walked away.”
The carer said that neither she nor her colleagues felt “confident or satisfied with the answers” Perry fobbed them off with.
The council met with carers groups throughout the borough last year to inform their carers’ strategy, as other carers have emphasized in correspondence with Inside Croydon.
The tone of these sessions was generic, and the council never inquired about the feelings of carers in the event that the Carers’ Centre closed. It was never even mentioned as a possibility.
The Croydon Carers’ Centre supporters and users created the petition, which is already approaching 2,000 signatures. twice as many as would be necessary to compel Mayor Jason Perry to participate in a public discussion at Town Hall.
However, he may have to deal with irate carers on Katharine Street once more tomorrow evening when a demonstration is scheduled on the steps of the Town Hall, which will include a performance by the Croydon Carers’ Centre Choir, in advance of the council’s budget-setting meeting.
Perry’s most recent Council Tax increase, which would raise Croydon’s increases since he took office to 27%, is anticipated to be approved at the council meeting.
In addition to the £10,000 that does not show up in his declarations register, which he receives from London Councils, Croydon Mayor Jason Perry approved last month to increase his pay to £84,000 annually.
The council’s highest ranking employees also received pay increases, with Katherine Kerswell, 63, who has been the chief executive since 2020, now earning £204,000 annually.
What alternatives are being considered for the carers’ centre?
As stated in the context of supporting people with disabilities, day care centers can provide essential assistance for caregivers by offering activities and respite to the people they look after.
Carers can connect with others going through similar struggles through local support groups, which can offer both practical guidance and emotional support.
Unlike typical care settings, home care services enable people to receive care in the comfort of their own homes, which can be more flexible and individualized.
Some carers or the people they care for may find that sheltered housing offers a good balance between freedom and help.
By using assistive technology, caregivers may better support the people they look after and handle daily responsibilities more effectively.