Labour in Leeds

Council chiefs have agreed to pledge £1.7million per year to the city’s neighbourhood networks. With further funding from NHS Leeds, this will amount to nearly £2 million to be shared each year between the voluntary organisations set up across Leeds to help older people live independently at home.

A report to the council’s executive board today explained that the funding will be awarded for the first time in the form of five-year contracts, a move away from an annual grant-bidding process, which attracted controversy earlier in the year.

This means that 27 neighbourhood network schemes will receive a new, five-year contract, starting on 1 October this year. Five organisations will get one-year contracts and the council will work closely with them to help them improve to a standard so that they too can be moved to five-year contracts as soon as possible.

A further seven neighbourhood networks were not successful in being recommended to receive contracts. The council will now open talks with five of these in east Leeds, to see if a partnership arrangement can be set up with the successful contractor, Irish Health and Homes.

Labour Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, executive board member for adult social care said:
“Neighbourhood networks do a tremendous job and their volunteers currently support around 25,000 older people in the city.

“The council want to support the organisations that provide these services by formalising our arrangements with them and awarding them with long-term contracts, which is why we invited all existing neighbourhood network schemes, as well as new ones, to bid for five-year contracts.

“It is regrettable that this process didn’t run as smoothly as we hoped; we accept that mistakes were made and are sorry. We will learn from these and work hard to rebuild our relationships with the organisations affected.

“I am confident that, following the independent review, we are in a strong position to move forward and award the contracts, which will enable our neighbourhood networks to achieve new levels of excellence for the benefit of older people in the city.”