Dronfield Eye issue 203 November 2022

dronfield EYE
Village Hall future in jeopardy
Dear Dronfield Eye,
DERBYSHIRE County Council is, subject to a final decision,
withdrawing its Adult Care Service from many centres,
including Coal Aston Village Hall.
The loss of the DCC Service not only throws the families of their
clients into disarray but it is likely to result in job cuts amongst
the staff and throws the future viability of the Village Hall into
question.
From the inception of the refurbished Village
Hall back in 2000, the involvement of DCC
Social Services was pivotal. This was
particularly important in the difficult process of
gaining funding from the Millennium Lottery
Fund, but over the long term in providing the
finance covering a chunk of the running costs
of the premises.
We are a non profit-making registered
Charitable Incorporated Organisation, without
the revenue from DCC we could well become a
massive loss-making organisation !
BBC coverage included this statement: “The authority held a
12-week consultation ending in June to discuss its proposals.”
It would seem to be natural in expecting that the consultation
might have included input from ourselves but as things stand, the
only information we have on this entire proposal is that which we
can draw from the media reports. There has been absolutely no
contact made with ourselves.
We now potentially have to make serious decisions affecting
changes in our operation, based only on a newspaper article and
the BBC report. This lack of communication from DCC is nothing
short of a disgrace.
Coal Aston Village Hall
Our only contact with DCC lies with their staff who currently
have The Village Hall as their place of work. It appears that the
consultation hasn’t involved them either.
I have recently referred this matter to Lee Rowley MP whose
office has responded with their intention to seek further
information and give any assistance possible.
Peter Gray, Chair, Coal Aston Village
Hall Management Committee
• In response, a County Council spokesperson
told Dronfield Eye: “We held a 12-week public
consultation earlier this year with people with
learning disabilities and/or autism who use, or
have used, our centres, their families and carers.
“We’re sorry if Mr Gray doesn’t feel that we have
consulted directly with him but as part of that
widely-publicised consultation we encouraged
members of the public - including our staff - to
give their views at a series of face-to-face and
virtual meetings, by filling in an online
questionnaire or requesting paper copies, or by speaking to
us directly.
“More than 800 people took part in that consultation and all
their views were considered in a report about options for the
future of day services for people with learning disabilities and/or
autism which were agreed by our Cabinet on October 13th.
“We will now work with community groups, charities and other
organisations to see how we can develop more services and
activities for people with a learning disability and/or autism to live
safe, fulfilled lives in their local communities.
“We also continue to fully support our staff, as we have done
throughout this process.”
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