Grands Vaux Family Centre – Cuts that Show

the Strategic Plan to be Nothing but Words

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It is only a month since the Council of Ministers presented their Strategic Plan to the States Assembly proclaiming a commitment to the Island’s vulnerable children – a commitment that promised steps to ensure a service appropriate to a 21st Century democracy. 

It is also just a matter of days before the States are due to receive the Vulnerable Children’s Services Scrutiny Review, undertaken by the H&SS sub-panel. Yet now we learn that far from increasing support for this crucial area of work Health & Social Services are, without even the courtesy of a visit from the Minister to deliver the news first hand, intending to cut one of the great successes in this field: the Grands Vaux Family Centre.

As a former Youth Worker at the facility where the Family Centre is based Deputy of some users of the facility, Deputy Shona Pitman states that she feels well placed to comment on the crucial work the staff have delivered over many years.

POST SCRIPT – August 2009

The timely protests of our Deputies have paid off: Deputy Pryke, the Health Minister has reconsidered the proposed closure, and concluded that it was not the most appropriate place to make her required budget cuts. Given the Minister's track record in running community facilities in her own parish before she entered the States, the U-turn was perhaps less of a shock than the original closure plan. However, congratulations are due to Geoff and Shona for effectively encouraging her to change the plan, and quickly.

‘The preventative Group Work Project being delivered by the Centre is just one example of work that is not being replicated anywhere else in the Island,’ says the Deputy, ‘work that focuses on anger management issues, behaviour management, self-esteem, family and relationships and innovative ‘keeping safe’ work with adolescents. The majority of this work is predominantly one-to-one and involves young people from 7–16 years of age with the majority of referrals coming from Social Workers. Clearly it is work that professionals know is absolutely priceless.”

‘Indeed, so successful have the Grands Vaux team been,” adds the Deputy, “that I am aware the Centre had recently been approached by one of the Island’s educational psychologists to request whether they could work with 50 young people recently identified with anger management issues. While this was not possible given their already highly limited resources, this nevertheless demonstrates very clearly to me the on-going need for the Centre and its work.”

‘Yet far from support it we now learn that the Minister for H&SS has waited for the States recess to abandon the Centre and staff to closure and redundancy, a decision nicely buried within the 266 pages of Annexes to the Business Plan. Having visited the centre today, like the staff I believe this to be an act of betrayal to vulnerable children; and wholly disgraceful given what has happened in the Island over the past 18 months with the Historic Abuse scandal and Williamson Report.’

Deputy Pitman is also highly cynical as to how the decision to close the Family Centre was justified. She says: ‘Not only do I believe that the key reason Grands Vaux was targeted is because without Statutory Status it is an easy target, I would also ask the question as to how the Health Minister (Deputy Pryke), and the Treasury Minister (Senator Philip Ozouf) could make an informed decision on this matter when they have never even set foot in the building to see what the staff do. It is high time such out-of-touch politicians trained themselves to see people and employees rather than just expendable numbers!’

Deputy Geoff Southern, who also represents much of the area served by the Centre, is equally indignant about both the nature of the proposed cuts and the manner in which the Ministers have gone about it:

The provision of services to vulnerable children and families and especially this sort of preventative work was highlighted by the Council of Ministers as a prime target in the recent Strategic Plan and was highlighted in the Williamson Report as a priority,” he says , in response to the news. “This is the last place to make cuts in service provision now. It simply illustrates the hypocrisy of the ministers involved”.

“This action by the HSS minister makes no sense whatsoever, apart from saving some money in the short term,” Geoff continues “The staff were called together at short notice yesterday only to prevent them hearing the news through the media. This is no way to treat dedicated and professional members of staff.”

“Worse still news of this cut was not given to States members at the ABP presentation made to them by the Chief Minister and T & R Minister earlier in the day. “Despite having released the Business Plan to the media last Friday morning, no hard or electronic copies of the 2010 Business Plan were available for members on Monday. The Ministers have tried to keep these cuts secret from members. Ministers have acted in a shabby and dishonourable manner.”

“I call on the ministers concerned to deal in an open and transparent manner with the representatives of the employees concerned, and to come clean on the full package of cuts contained in the proposed £17 m savings. I shall be taking a complaint to PPC over the withholding of this information from States members.”


Deputy Shona Pitman – 07797 778561 and 630714
Deputy Geoff Southern - 07797 772 632