A dementia advice service and services aimed at helping ethnic minorities to integrate are among the cuts announced in the past week.
Mayor Andrew Jenkyns’ Greater Lincolnshire Authority says its moving funds for English courses for those for whom it is their second language, to children’s literacy courses, writes Local Democracy Reporter Jamie Waller.
Nearly three-quarters of people who responded to a consultation on the changes opposed it, and protesters gathered outside the meeting last Wednesday (February 25).
The courses will end in August 2027, with exceptions for those with Hong Kong visas and Ukrainian refugees.
Adult skills training, which is currently available to all, will be restricted to those who have been living in the UK for three years.
Ms Jenkyns said: “200,000 people are illiterate in our county. We have to do something – I will not stand idly by and let that happen on my watch.
“We will design our new qualification with the business community, higher education and further education to give these people a chance.
“I want Lincolnshire to be a beacon and make sure no one is illiterate.”
Protesters outside the meeting said they feared the changes would make it more difficult for people without English to become part of society.
Daniel Ramm from Stand Up To Racism Lincolnshire said outside the meeting: “I want people to be supported to become members of society – this is drawing the bridge up and telling people they’re not welcome.
“People want to come here for a better life, and it’s a kick in the teeth to make it harder for them.
“Our hospitals are filled with staff who learned English as a second language. I hope this won’t put people off coming to Lincolnshire because it will make their lives more difficult.”
The union Unison has also criticised the move saying it ‘would reduce foreign nationals’ ability to find jobs and integrate with the local community’.
UNISON East Midlands regional manager Rachel Hodson said: “These English lessons help people find work, support their families and contribute to their communities. That benefits everyone in Lincolnshire.
“People fleeing war shouldn’t be left trying to learn English from an app because their local college course has been axed.
“Speaking English is fundamental to getting on in work and it helps with community cohesion. It makes absolutely no sense to leave people on the margins of society through an inability to learn the language. Andrea Jenkins and the combined authority need to work with Lincolnshire’s education providers to find a solution that supports opportunity for all.”
- Meanwhile Lincolnshire County Council is set to end its Best Start Lincolnshire Inclusion Service in August this year.
The service began in 2023 and offers translation support in Bulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian at a cost of £130,000 a year.
A council report says that the number of ethnic minority children under five has shrunk since the service began.
“The council should focus on maximising inclusive support within other services, particularly the Best Start
Lincolnshire Early Years and Family Service,” it says.
- A dementia advice service used by hundreds of people is set to be scrapped by Lincolnshire County Council over concerns it is “duplicating” costs.
The Memory Support Service offers advice to people living with dementia and similar cognitive illnesses, as well as their families and carers.
People will instead be referred to other general support services commissioned by the council.
The service, which is provided by Lincolnshire Partnership Health Foundation on behalf of the council, costs £300,000 per year and 250 people are referred there every month.
Martin Samuels, the council’s executive director for adult care, said: “This is a good service and is valued by people who draw on it.
“However, there are a range of other council information and advice services which aren’t specific to dementia but have capability to deliver this same role. In this current financial context, we can’t afford any duplication.”
The Memory Support Service has run since 2015, and the contract is due to expire at the end of June.
The final decision will be made next month by Councillor Steve Clegg, the executive member for adult social care health.
