COMMUNITY WARDEN CUTS

Community Wardens, provided by KCC, are a hugely vital service to many across our district. The numerous Community Wardens working within the Dover district support residents with wellbeing, helping residents find support and services, identify those in need, as well as working with carers.

Currently, there isn’t a warden for every area of our district, and with the proposed cuts, less and less people will be able to call on this valuable resource for support. The structure for Dover, Folkestone & Hythe providers 1 team leader and 11 wardens – this will be cut to just 3 wardens if plans go ahead.

KCC highlights in the consultation (running from 12th July – 3rd October) that the majority of the £2.4m budget is spent on wages for the wardens themselves. Therefore, there will be cuts to wages with the resulting job losses to follow.

Community Wardens work with Community Safety Units (CSUs) to get right into the heart of communities to seek out those of us who are most vulnerable. The impact then is that, sadly, some will get lost in the system and fly under the radar, never receiving the help that they need – a result of KCC Cuts.

KCC states that this is a discretionary service – not one they are legally bound to provide – so we should be grateful for any small nugget of support. Users of the service overwhelmingly want it to continue and hugely value the supportive, welcoming and local knowledge of the community wardens.

These cuts put our elderly and most vulnerable residents in risk of isolation and further levels of deprivation.