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Press Release

Ken Livingstone to speak at protest rally over Lewisham child mental health cuts

9 November 2011

Labour London mayoral candidate, Ken Livingstone will speak at a rally on 24 November to protest at the continuing cuts to frontline child mental health services in Lewisham, South London.

Already this financial year, there has been nearly £500,000 of cuts – with more expected in the next two years. Other cuts to children and young people's services in Lewisham have included the ending of the Connexions service which provides advice on employment issues for 16-to-19 year olds.

Ken Livingstone will be one of the speakers at The No Cuts Cabaret in Lewisham – a borough where a reported 20 per cent of children live in poverty – between 7.00pm- 9.00pm Thursday, 24 November.

Members of Unite, the largest union in the country, and Unison are hosting the event which will include musical performances and political satire at the Rivoli Ballroom, 350 Brockley Road, Crofton Park.

Unite regional officer, Richard Munn said: 'A Save the Children study revealed that one in five of children in Lewisham live in poverty which itself brings adverse impacts on child mental health. Early intervention in childhood helps prevent longstanding problems in adulthood.'

'The evening we are staging is aimed at bringing the whole community together to highlight these pernicious cuts and give a morale boost for the campaigners in the fight to save even more services under threat.'

Cuts by South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and Lewisham Borough Council have already totalled almost £500,000 this financial year (20011/2012) for Lewisham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), which is based at Kaleidoscope, Lewisham Park and Mercia Grove.

The axe followed budget reductions from Lewisham Borough Council and NHS Lewisham (formerly Lewisham Primary Care Trust). More cuts, as yet unspecified, are planned in the next two years.

Services affected have included the schools' service, CAMHS social workers, forensic services, refugee and asylum seekers, and looked after children. A number of longstanding and very experienced staff have been forced to leave the service.

This was a reduction of almost 25 per cent of the entire service and will lead to fewer frontline workers and longer waiting lists for children and young people. This was an essential service which was commended in various government inspections.



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