National charity funding cut by £100,00 after failing Falkirk Council targets

A national charity working in Falkirk has seen its budget cut by £100,000 per year after failing to meet its targets to help local families.

Aberlour's Family Support Centre has now combined with the charity's early years outreach project to deliver services, members of Falkirk Council' s Scrutiny Committee heard.

The committee was looking at several reports detailing the value of various services for children and families that Falkirk Council helps to fund.

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Aberlour's early years outreach service supports families where there are issues including child development concerns, parental ill-health and well-being, difficulty with parenting, domestic abuse and substance abuse.

Members were told that while the service was very helpful to the parents it supported, the numbers reached were well below target for a second year running.

Significant resources had been taken up by one service in particular - Play Together, Learn Together - while continued staff absence meant that the early years outreach support was limited.

The report to members was also critical of the fact that, rather than help families for a short time to get back on track quickly, continued support was being provided for more than a year in some cases.

This meant that the average waiting time for families needing the outreach service was 81 days, with the longest waiting time 290 days.

Aberlour's family centre in Langlees - which offers social, emotional, behavioural and mental health support - had an average waiting time of 76 days, with the longest waiting time recorded as 335 days.

Members heard that council officers worked with the charity to restructure both services to reduce the backlog.

They were told that Aberlour is well established in Langlees and has a good relationship with the community but the review of its services is helping it meet local needs more quickly and at a "more proportionate cost".

There was praise, however, for the charity Homestart Falkirk, a volunteer befriending service that supports families with at least one child under five.

Receiving £28,014 of funding for the year, it exceeded all targets.

Having been commissioned to provide support to 25 families per year, it actually helped 72 families.

The service supports parents with a range of needs including those who have experienced isolation, bereavement, multiple births, illness, and disability.

The volunteers provide practical and emotional support for as long as is needed but help parents gain independence so they can move on.

Members heard that in recent months Homestart has changed its focus to provide more group activities which had been welcomed by service users, many of whom are socially isolated.

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