Suffolk holds children's services credit crunch summit

Staff from children's services along with elected members, health professionals, the police, voluntary sector organisations and businesses across the county are gathering next Thursday (4 December) to put together solutions to impending problems caused by the credit crunch.

Rosalind Turner, director for children and young people at Suffolk County Council, said that rising costs and the potential impact of job losses on families meant there would be an increase in demand for the council's services.

"We're going to be looking at what we can do to pick up early those families who will need support where money is tight," she said. "We may have to dig into the coffers if we need to put additional resources into those services, such as housing, that families need help with."

Turner added that the summit would look at potential crunch-fuelled outcomes such as more families claiming benefits, more young people needing free school meals and more young people accessing Connexions services.

The event is part of a wider meeting to discuss the impact of the credit crunch across all of the council's services.

Kevin Brennan, minister for the third sector, said on Monday (24 November) that his department would create an action plan to support voluntary organisations as they deal with the consequences of recession.

Third sector bosses have said the plan must force local authorities to pay for third sector services within 10 days.

Is your area doing something similar? Email Lauren Higgs lauren.higgs@haymarket.com