Solent Mind warning over Hampshire County Council budget cuts to mental health services in New Forest

PROPOSED budget cuts will have a “detrimental impact” on the mental health of Forest residents, a leading charity is warning.

As reported in the A&T, Hampshire County Council’s financial plan allows for the “bare minimum” of services across the county – while axing others – as it looks to make savings of £132 million to balance the budget by 2025/26.

Solent Mind, the largest mental health charity in Hampshire, runs two wellbeing centres in Hythe and New Milton. Support offered at the centres includes creative arts, active groups, mindfulness and short courses for anxiety, self-esteem or life skills.

Of particular concern to the charity is the loss of £656,000 funding to services delivered at wellbeing centres, which will force a review of its one-to-one support services, impacting those in need of mental health help at a time when the need for support is rising.

Cuts to these services will also put more pressure on GPs and the NHS as waiting lists are growing, the charity says.

Solent Mind’s chair of trustees, John Wilderspin, shared his concerns over the cuts’ ramifications.

He said: “The decision to reduce funding for our services is worrying. Every year we help thousands of residents across Hampshire with a range of complex mental health needs; our one-to-one service is key to understand individual challenges and enables us to provide the best service for each individual’s needs.

“If the cuts go ahead, we would need to take difficult decisions between reducing our one-to-one sessions, which are fundamental to accessing our group sessions for some of our service users, or reducing the amount of people that we can help.”

He added: “We work with individuals to de-escalate emotional crises and empower them to develop skills to manage future mental health issues. Our community relies on these services, and the council’s own assessments confirm that residents with mental health conditions will suffer the most.”

The charity says the council has a legal duty to not disadvantage residents with poor mental health, under the Public Sector Equality Duty of the Equality Act 2010.

Solent Mind has teamed up with Andover Mind and Havant and East Hants Mind to urge the council for a deeper review to better understand the impact before any final decisions are made.

The county council recently published results from its public consultation on key proposals to change and reduce services, held earlier this year.

It sought views on 13 options to help lower costs in future, with over 14,400 people responding.

HCC leader, Cllr Rob Humby, said: “It’s no secret that our budgets are under huge pressure now and into the future and like lots of councils nationally, it’s much harder to keep delivering everything we do with considerably less money available.

“Hampshire is in a better position than many other councils nationally as we have already spent well over a decade working differently and even more efficiently, generating income, and sharing resources with other public sector organisations, as well as disposing of land and buildings we no longer need.

“Plus, our financial reserves have proven vital in helping to plug budget shortfalls along the way. But after 2025/26, the reserves available to help us balance the budget come to an end, so we must make tough choices on what services we can continue to deliver in future so we can keep supporting those residents who desperately need our help the most.”

He added: “To help inform these really difficult decisions this summer, the public’s feedback to our public consultation has been crucial. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide their views and tell us their thoughts on the options put forward.

“The results of the consultation will now be carefully considered alongside other relevant factors, including operational, financial, policy and legal considerations, as we draw up our plans for future service delivery.”

Recommendations are set to be made to the cabinet on 9th July, ahead of a final decision by the council.