COUNCIL children’s boss Maureen Bateson has described a near 50 per cent cut in annual borough spending on housing support for vulnerable people as ‘frightening’.

She clashed with Blackburn with Darwen borough Tory leader Michael Lee as he described reducing the cost of ‘Supporting People’ contracts from an annual £2.8 million to £1.5 million, reducing spending over the next seven months by £651,000, as ‘a tremendous saving’.

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Councillor Bateson, the council’s executive member for children’s services, told him: “This is not a saving it is a cut. It is cuts to the most vulnerable in our borough. These proposed cuts are so deep, it frightens me.”

The two clashed as the borough’s executive board approved the results of a retendering exercise for bought in services. The ‘Supporting People’ scheme was brought in nationally in 2003 to provide cash for housing related support to help vulnerable people to live as independently as possible in the community.

The programme was put out to re-tender in lots from September to the end March.

They were for help for the single homeless, homeless families, people with mental health issues, people with drug and alcohol issues, offenders and those at risk of offending, victims of domestic abuse and young people at risk.

A report from Adult Social Care boss Mustafa Desai revealed the savings from the new contracts and indicated he intended to ensure the ‘large-scale cashable efficiencies’ achieved needed to continue up to 2018 because of reductions in the Whitehall grant for the national ‘Supporting People’ programme.

He said: “The re-provision of services will take effect at the end of August resulting in efficiencies of seven months funding.

“The budget has been reduced from £2.8 million annually to £1.5 million annually, therefore a saving of £1.295 million can be made in a full financial year.

“In 2015/16 at current proposed levels an efficiency of £651,000 will be made.”

Cllr Lee said: “This is a tremendous saving from nearly £3 million a year to £1.5 million.”

He added that officers should be congratulated adding the the new contracts needed to be kept under review.

Cllr Bateson warned that by service levels to save cash other costs to the council from homelessness, addiction and offending would rise in the long term.

Borough leader Mohammed Khan promised the effectiveness of the new contract would be kept under close review.