Manchester spending cuts hit most vulnerable

[Hannah Bell]

Interesting story about budget cuts hitting an alcohol rehab program in Manchester UK. Program sounds great -- I've never heard of an alcohol treatment program that supports people for a year except for profit:

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Among the services threatened with closure is Newbury House. The facility has operated in Manchester since 1973 and provides, for a 12-month period, a supported alcohol-free environment for 16 residents with alcohol dependency issues.... “The success rate here is unbelievable. They’ve had it since 1973 and thousands have come through here and made progress...Everyone has been given housing forms to fill in and, as you know, you won’t get a house in six weeks or with 28 days notice. So what they will do is move people into hostels where you can drink and take drugs and nobody bothers. So they are going to send these sober people back into a crisis situation.



“They got the money for the renovation, which was £1.2 million on the basis that it was going to remain a rehab centre because it’s got such a success rate. People down the years can still talk about what it’s done for them. The staff will also be made redundant. One of the workers has been here for 14 years, she takes the groups. Another, our cook, has 22 years of service here..."

Rick said, “They are shutting this place for the want of £108,000. It’s been open 37 years...And Riverside, who run the place, is, as the expression goes, cash rich. It did better than a billion pounds in 2009/2010 we are told. Riverside gets grants from Supporting People so they are having to make closures... They are making the cuts, they say, on the basis of the fewest people affected, but what we’re concerned about is that once Newbury shuts it won’t be re-opened. Newbury is really a poor man’s Priory . There is no other facility. If you’ve no money and want treatment, there will be nowhere to go in Manchester.

“So unless you’ve got a lot of money you are not going to get this sort of treatment. This is a place specifically set up for homeless people that want to stop drinking and maintain their sobriety. And the year you spend here dovetails with the amount of time it usually takes to get re-housed anyway...In terms of the money that the council will save on this place, it’s nothing. What is £108,000? They are using the cuts as a pretext to shut the place and to make more money from it. That is what I believe anyway."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/newb-a26.shtml