Age UK Thanet is facing redundancies and the end of many community services due to cuts in Kent County Council funding for Wellbeing Services in the Community and Community Navigation services, particularly for services aimed at over 55s.
The scaling back of contracts, first proposed by the Conservative administration and now endorsed by the current Reform led county council, will hit organisations including Social Enterprise Kent (SEK) which also allocates funding to delivery partners such as Age UK Thanet and Your Leisure (for over 55’s wellbeing and fitness sessions).
SEK has a commissioning contract with KCC that runs until March 2026. Currently it receives £1.24million in funding but this is expected to be cut to £0.52million.
The huge drop in funds is anticipated to hit SEK and the services it funds through its partners.
Impact in Thanet
This is expected to include the axing of the agreement with Your Leisure – resulting in four redundancies and the end of funding for dance, fitness and yoga sessions for older people.
For Age UK Thanet it is listed as likely to mean seven redundancies, the axing of two community navigator posts and the end of activities including cardio rehab, lunch, game and gardening clubs, bingo visits, Osteoporosis Support Group, quiz events and exercise sessions.
Social Enterprise Kent as an organisation also faces three possible redundancies and the axing of two triage hub navigators.
Community navigators work with people over 55 years old and those with complex issues related to illness, disability or a mental health issue. There are approximately 70 community navigators employed through these contracts working across Kent.
Age UK Thanet employs around 40 people and supports hundreds of older isle residents.
In 2018 the KCC grant to Thanet Age UK was £203,886 but as from March 31 2020 this was axed to be replaced by the contracts which are now also facing termination. That decision prompted the closure of the Age UK Thanet venue in Broadstairs with services moved the then Margate hub at Zion Place with others advised to use facilities at Copperfields in Newington instead.
This coincided with the axing of Millmead’s family hub grant from KCC. Millmead centre turned down a one-year £27,000 contract from Kent County Council – a sum offered in a U-turn from cutting funding altogether but still £206,000 less than its previous allocation from the authority.
Instead, the management team renamed the site the Millmead Community Centre and began to look how current services, including the nursery and £40k Healthy Living Centre funds for public health activities, could be expanded on.
Age UK Thanet and the Millmead team now work on intergenerational services, bringing together all ages from the community.
‘Removing duplication’
KCC says the contract cuts are aimed at removing duplication of services, making best use of limited resources, focusing on the areas and people with greatest need and contributing towards savings that deliver a balanced budget for KCC.
The authority says adult social care needs to deliver total savings and income of £63.1m in 2025-26.
NHS Integrated Care Board funding for the service also ends in March 2026.
MP and TDC leader: ‘Rethink cuts’
East Thanet MP Polly Billington and Thanet council leader Rick Everitt have now written to Reform UK in Kent leader, Linden Kemkaran, urging her to rethink the planned cuts to Age UK services in Thanet.
In their letter, Ms Billington and Cllr Everett expressed concern about “the impact of Kent County Council’s (KCC) financial cuts on the future of Age UK Thanet and the vulnerable elderly people in our community.”
The letter follows discussions they had had with the CEO of Age UK Thanet, Vanessa Wood and sets out how Thanet has the greatest need for elderly support in Kent. with the highest number of pension credit claimants, one of the largest over-65 and over-85 populations, and the highest number of older people living in deprivation.
They say planned cuts by Kent County Council under Reform have threatened the charity’s financial sustainability and its ability to continue to support elderly Thanet residents.
Polly Billington MP said Reform’s chaotic management of Kent, referring to incidents including the latest video leak, was no excuse for cutting vital services that vulnerable elderly people rely on.
She said: “Reform UK has said their management of Kent is an advert for what a Reform government would look like, and I’m afraid on that point they are absolutely right.
“In May, Nigel Farage’s party promised magical efficiency savings in Kent with absolutely no plan to deliver them, and now it is vulnerable elderly people being made to pay the price for their chaos and incompetence.
“Reform’s proposed cuts to Age UK in Thanet will cause serious harm to older people in one of the most deprived parts of Kent. I would urge Cllr Kemkaran to reverse course immediately and commit to protecting Thanet’s elderly residents.”
Cllr Everitt added: “Our Labour district council in Thanet is working hard to support elderly Thanet residents, but our work is made so much harder by a Reform UK council in Kent that appears determined to pull the rug out from underneath them.
“Linden Kemkaran must rethink these ill-judged and cruel cuts and get a grip of her chaotic council in Kent so she can start delivering for older people in Thanet, as she promised to do when elected.”
KCC proposals
Cease to commission the Community Navigation services for older people (55+) delivered by Involve Kent, Imago Community and SEK. The authority says this contract is where there is most duplication with other information, advice and guidance support.
However, working with providers on proposals it was felt that Community Navigation was important for people with greatest levels of need, therefore the proposal is to maintain Community Navigation within the Wellbeing Service and focus on people with greatest levels of need. The contract is due to end on 31 March 2026, three months’ notice can be given to end this contract. (Notice given in September means an end to the contract in December).
Axing Community Navigation services amounts to a saving of £0.85million.
Redesign Wellbeing Services in the Community for older people (55+) delivered by SEK, Involve Kent and Imago Community. The contract variation would take all three contracts up to 31 March 2027 and will make a cost saving of £2.24million.
KCC documents say: “The proposal will reduce the number of group activities, such as nature walks, exercise classes, lunch groups, coffee meetups, art sessions, and games held in community venues and currently provided via the Community Wellbeing service for older people.
“Remaining groups will focus more on individuals needing medium to higher levels of support. Therefore, this could reduce opportunities for people to connect with others and impact on their health and wellbeing.
“However, there are groups, activities and support provided outside of these contracts, both by KCC and others, that people can access.”
The report confirms the aim for “lower level of needs no longer being supported and moving quickly into medium to higher levels of support.”
Using 2024/25 data it is estimated that 18,804 people could be impacted by the proposal and will need to be supported by alternative services. During 2024/2025 the Wellbeing Services supported 14,375 people. Through the proposal the Wellbeing Services will only support people with medium to higher levels of need – 3,987 people.
‘Stark reality’
Diane Morton, KCC Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health and a Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN), said: “We’ve received Polly Billington’s and Cllr Everett’s letter and will be responding shortly.
“The stark reality is our communities have been affected by successive governments not taking social care seriously enough. As a result, one of the most pressing issues facing councils across the country today is how to look after more older people with complex needs in the face of rising care costs, squeezed local budgets and insufficient central government funding.
“Difficult decisions have to be made and it’s why, in September, following a consultation inherited from the previous administration, I approved changes to our Wellbeing Service in the Community for people 55 and over. As there is now a wide range of prevention activities and support available for people with lower levels of need, this targeted service will retain elements of the Community Navigation Service to help our most vulnerable residents.
“The changes ensure we don’t waste money duplicating support offered elsewhere. We need to contribute to a balanced budget and prioritise resources where they are needed the most within the financial constraints we have been handed. No one likes to make these decisions; they were not taken lightly.
“We commission lead providers, such as Social Enterprise Kent, to deliver wellbeing services by partnering other organisations, including Thanet Age UK. We’re very aware of the impact changing contracts can have on all involved in delivering services and thank providers for being part of ongoing discussions about how we can continue to work together, and with other organisations like Age UK, to support the people of Kent.”
