NO-ONE will lose out when the finances of 144 vulnerable adults are transferred from the council to external providers, councillors have promised.
Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet has signed off plans to close its in-house Appointees and Deputies Service, which manages benefits, care payments and other finances for people who do not have the mental capacity to do it themselves.
The service has only accepted four new clients – all in exceptional circumstances – since June 2024, with others directed to external providers.
SERIOUS: Adam Kent said nobody will be disadvantaged by the appointees and deputies service being cut (Image: Phil Wilkinson-Jones/LDRS)
Cutting the service will save the council around £170,000 a year, according to the council.
Adam Kent, cabinet member for finance, corporate services and business, said the decision affects “144 adults who do not have the capacity to manage their own money and do not have family or friends to do it for them”.
He said for these people “the council acts as a court-appointed deputy” and described it as a “serious responsibility”.
Cllr Kent, also the council’s deputy leader, said the council faces “relentless demand” for adult services.
“We can’t keep doing everything we’ve always done,” he said. “This is a discretionary service – we have no legal duty to provide it.
“If we let the case load run down naturally it will take 12 and a half years.
“This work is already done at scale by others. There are 2,700 Worcestershire already getting this service from other providers. We’ve already proven that others can provide this service.”
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Council leader Matt Jenkins said there would be no reduction in service for its users, adding that the “established market is far bigger than us”.
“We can save some money and no-one loses their services,” he said. “It seems an obvious decision, why has it not been done sooner?”
Cllr Kent responded: “It’s because people skirt around those difficult decisions. I wish I could say it will be the last but it won’t.
“In this case, nobody will be disadvantaged. People say ‘it’s only this much’ but they all add up.”
He said there would be redeployment opportunities for staff affected by the service closure.
