CHIEF Minister Allan Bell says he wants to seek reassurances from Social Care Minister Chris Robertshaw over the pulling of funding for DASH.
He confirmed that the decision had been made by the department without reference to himself or the Council of Ministers.
And he accepted it was ‘unfortunate’ that many of the cuts announced so far appeared to be targeted at the more vulnerable.
Mr Bell also accepted it may appear to be a contradiction that the government was cutting funding to the third sector at the same time as it was talking about delivering services more effectively through voluntary organisations.
‘It does appear to be a contradiction at the moment,’ he said. ‘We must have drug support services provided for those who, unfortunately, find themselves in that situation.
‘Social Care say the service could be provided by existing staff in as almost as effective a way as it’s currently provided by DASH. I still need a conversation with the Minister to reassure myself on that.’ He said it was his understanding that the Department of Social Care was looking at its support for a whole range of third sector organisations to ensure the island was getting value for money from them.
Mr Bell said: ‘I gives me absolutely no pleasure whatsoever to preside over these changes. It’s very hard for me personally.
‘For the last 25 years I have fought, along with other colleagues, for the expansion or introduction of services – and now we are having to reduce or close them. We are trying to maintain services, although they may have to be delivered in a different way.
‘But we have to accept that we have to make some radical changes to reflect the fact the we are losing a third of our income.
‘All departments have faced substantial reductions in one way or the other. It’s unfortunate, perhaps, that some of the early announcements which have been made appear to impact on the more vulnerable parts of our society. I have made an absolutel commitment in my election manifesto and subsequent statements that I will do my utmost to protect the vulnerable.’
Mr Bell pointed out that this was actually the third year of the exercise to rebalance public finances and ‘a lot of easier targets have been quietly reduced’.
He added: ‘In most cases, the public have barely noticed it.’
He said that the changes made so far in education and the closure of the Glenside care home had been part of a long-term strategy. But he said that in future it could be the case that more sensitive issues went through the Council of Ministers to see whether savings could be made in alternative departments.
Mr Bell said it was his plan over the next 12 months for CoMin to consider specific strategy development to ensure policy was looked at in the round rather than left to individual departments. He also intends to set up policy development days for the whole of Tynwald.