PLANNED cuts to services for vulnerable children and families in Newport have been met with anger.

Among proposals included in Newport City Council’s draft budget for the 2017-2018 financial year are to cut two prevention workers, who support vulnerable families, a reduction in the workforce of 10 per cent.

According to the budget documents cutting the posts would save £55,000, but mean 120 children would have to be referred to social services instead.

But, speaking at a meeting of the council’s learning, caring and leisure scrutiny committee on Wednesday, Joan Watkins, who represents the Church of Wales on the group, blasted the plans.

“The received wisdom is prevention is better than the cure,” she said. “To make cuts in this service is shameful and shocking.”

She added: “It’s short termism and its going to cause problems in the future.”

Conservative ward member for Allt-yr-yn Cllr David Fouweather agreed, saying: “It is not something we should be looking to make cuts from.”

The budget also includes a proposal to cut one role from the council’s integrated family support service, saving £24,000, but Labour ward member for Rogerstone councillor Sally Mlewa said she was concerned about this.

“Its too much, too soon,” she said. “I would like to see it done over a longer period of time.”

Proposals to stop funding for the eight learning support centres, which work with youngsters at risk of being excluded in the city’s secondary schools and to scrap the learning resource base at Llanwern High School, which supports youngsters with emotional problems, were also discussed at the meeting.

Cllr Fouweather said he was concerned the cuts, which would mean 20 jobs would be lost in order to save £535,000, would impact children both involved in the services and outside them, while putting more pressure on teachers.

“We are putting children back into mainstream classes there they could be disruptive,” he said. “These children need to be away from the mainstream. This is a poor proposal.”

And Cllr Mlewa called the idea “a disaster waiting to happen”.

“I understand we are between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “But it seems to me we will pay for this dearly. It needs to be rethought.”

She added: “Everyone is trying to find somewhere to save some money, but I don’t think this is the place to do that. These are young, vulnerable children and vulnerable families and they will bare the brunt of these cuts.”

The final budget, which includes cuts totalling £4.6 million and plans to increase council tax by four per cent, will be signed off by the full council on Thursday, March 2.

But the budget also includes an extra £537,000 for adult social care and £400,000 for supporting children, while school budgets will see no reduction.

A subsidy for the X16 Risca to Cardiff bus service, which goes via Rogerstone and Marshfield, will also be scrapped, saving £69,000, while some adults receiving non-residential social care services will begin to be charged up to £60 a week.

View the draft budget atnewport.gov.uk/budget