“Whilst we’re cautiously optimistic about the pledged £600million investment into social care, Norwood remains concerned at the impact that the government’s budget announcements will have on us in the immediate term and our ability to continue to provide quality care for the people we support, while remaining a competitive employee in a sector that is increasingly struggling to recruit and retain its workforce. Our incredibly dedicated and caring staff are integral to our ability to support members of our community in a kind, loving and nurturing community, and we count our staff, alongside the people we support and their families as valued members of the Norwood family.

With public funding under so much pressure, organisations like Norwood and its partners in the community and wider sector are having to step in to support vulnerable children and families, who either require our holistic support where a diagnosis is in place in lieu of available publicly-funded services, or struggle to have their needs scoped when faced with an extremely long wait for a diagnosis.

As things stand, Norwood looks to raise £12million from its community each year to meet the cost of our existing service provision.

The budget announcements risk further tying our hands in already trying circumstances, presenting us with an additional £1m staffing bill we are forced to balance whilst pursuing a dynamic growth agenda designed to fill the gaps in local authority provision and government funding for families struggling to cope with neurodiversity and neurodevelopmental disability. We look forward to hearing further detail on how the government will deliver on its commitment to redress inequality of care and pay for charities such as ours.”