Funding fears for support service for deaf and visually impaired children

Wigan Council is proposing to reduce funding for its sensory support services, with national charities concerned that tens of thousands of pounds could be lost.

Worried parents say their children would be "massively affected" by any reduction in support and have urged the council to rule out any cuts.

The authority says they will only go ahead with the plan “if we can still deliver the right provision for our children and young people".

They are currently consulting with parents and carers about the proposals.

Jodie Telford says any cut in funding would have a "detrimental effect" on her eight-year-old son Kayden, who is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants.

She said he is making steady progress at school thanks to the support he is receiving, which his family also relies on and says makes a ‘huge difference’ to their lives.

Kayden Pennington, who is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants, also relies on the Wigan Council sensory service

“The support he’s received has stopped him feeling isolated or different from his friends,” added Ms Telford, of Marus Bridge.

“He’d become withdrawn and fell behind academically.

“The council needs to be forthcoming about its plans and put our minds at rest by saying it will deliver the support our children.

“They deserve exactly the same chance to succeed as their classmates, but they won’t get that if the council decides to make cuts.”

Her concerns are shared by Standish mum Zoe Pennington, whose five-year-old son Jake Andrews receives one-to-one support, special equipment to help him learn, and weekly visits from the council’s visual impairment (VI) team.

Jake Andrews

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Jake is registered sight impaired and has oculocutaneous albinism, Nystagmus (involuntary eye movement) and photophobia (light sensitivity).

“Without all of this, Jake and his teacher – who has no experience with a child with that condition – would struggle massively,” says Ms Pennington.

“Jake has been making slow but encouraging progress and the VI team are making sure that he’s getting the most out of lessons.

“ If the council were to make cuts and reduce his support, it would massively affect him and the improvement he’s making in school.”

Wigan Council’s plans were unearthed by a Freedom of Information request lodged by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).

The charity claims that the council, in their response to the request, said they would look to achieve a "minimum saving of 10 per cent to help balance the budget".

It was also confirmed that the budget to support children with hearing and/or sight issues was £911,536 last year.

The NDCS say there are currently 293 deaf children in the borough who fall behind at every stage of school – and almost an entire grade at GCSE – due to insufficient support.

Hazel Badjie, the charity’s senior engagement advisor, said: “If Wigan Council makes these cuts, this gap risks getting even wider and the futures that deaf children are working so hard for will slip even further from their grasp.”

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) estimates there are 200 children and young people with vision impairment in Wigan needing specialist support to put them on an equal footing with their sighted peers.

Both charities have call for the council to reconsider their plans so deaf and visually impaired children can continue to receive the specialist support they rely on.

Cath Pealing, interim assistant director for education at Wigan Council, said: “Like many local authorities, we are reviewing our support services to ensure they can be as effective as possible.

“While we have proposed a reduction in spending to our sensory support services, we will only do this if we can still deliver the right provision for our children and young people.

“In order to explore this, we have engaged with experts to ensure any new approach is implemented in the right way.

“The opinions and expertise of parents is also highly valued, so we have been holding workshops with families, children and young people and education professionals to gather their views.

“These conversations have generated some really great ideas and we will consider all of these when we produce a plan of how our future sensory support could look.”