Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies is calling on the NSPCC to review its decision to end face-face services for vulnerable children in North Wales.
The UK's leading children's charity, preventing abuse and helping those affected to recover, confirmed earlier this month that it will be stopping the in-person services it provides at the North Wales Service Centre in Prestatyn and instead operate from a central hub in Cardiff.
At the beginning of last month James voiced his concerns regarding the plans and has been in regular correspondence with the charity highlighting local reservations. This culminated in a meeting on July 29th in which he reiterated these, and his own ongoing concerns.
He is therefore disappointed and deeply concerned that the NSPCC have since confirmed that they will be going ahead with the closure.
He said:
“North Wales NSPCC Service Centre, which is based in Prestatyn, currently provides face-to-face services on site and via outreach to all of North Wales – but especially to areas nearby - in other words, much of my constituency.
“Since the charity first announced its intentions to close the centre, I have received emails from people who are extremely distressed about the loss of these services locally. I have put forward all these concerns in my continual correspondence with the NSPCC and at my meeting with them at the end of July, but alas they have said they will be going ahead with their plans.”
The closure of the Prestatyn Centre will result in the loss of 12 practitioners, although the call centre for Childline will remain.
James added:
“With the Centre having assisted 83 vulnerable children in the Vale of Clwyd directly in the last year, it is clear to me that these are not services we can afford to lose locally, and indeed in North Wales. I therefore urge the NSPCC to reconsider all the representations made to them and review their decision.”
Following his meeting with the NSPCC, James made contact with the Chief Constable of North Wales Police with respect to the likely impact of the closure on the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Colwyn Bay.
The response he received suggested they also have great concerns regarding the proposed closure, and James has fed these back to the NSPCC.
James has also written to the Health Board to gather the views of local paediatricians, and is promised a reply soon.
