SURREY County Council has come under fire after a “difficult” cost-cutting decision to axe part of its services to support vulnerable young adults.

Following an eight-week consultation, Surrey decision-making cabinet agreed on May 30 to terminate its neighbourhood local prevention grants from August 31 at the end of the second year of a three year commission.

The decision, which will save £250,000 in the current financial year, was described as “difficult” by cabinet member for children, Tory councillor Clare Curran.

It follows a critical Ofsted report in 2015, which found children were potentially being left “at risk of harm” in Surrey through failings in the council’s children’s services.

Responding to the Ofsted report, Surrey County Council said it was transforming its early help offer for children, young people and families, to provide holistic support to the whole family and to make sure that services are good value for money.

In order to achieve savings during the current financial year, however, Surrey’s commissioning and prevention service in the children, schools and families directorate reviewed the services run in-house and those that other organisations are commissioned to deliver through grants or contracts.

The council’s cabinet agreed last week to its recommendation to axe grant aid for community outreach projects delivered through the neighbourhood local prevention service, which have been locally designed, commissioned and targeted to meet specific needs in specific communities.

The loss of funding available for voluntary, community and faith sector outreach projects could lead to reductions in services not provided directly by Surrey and vulnerable young people living in more rural areas with little or no public transport are likely to miss out on activities the most.

In the last financial year, a total of 31,612 hours of activities were delivered for young people across Surrey through services funded by the neighbourhood local prevention grants.

“The neighbourhood local prevention service was commissioned in every district through Surrey local area committees,” Mrs Curran said. “The transformation of the early help service will enable Surrey and partners to provide a more co-ordinated and holistic service as soon as problems are identified.

“That journey is under way and builds on Surrey’s early help family service. We concluded with regret the need to decommission the services provided through the local area committees. Undoubtedly there will be impacts in each district and we will take steps to mitigate them.”

Responding to an objection the consultation period had been eight weeks and not 12 weeks as stipulated in Surrey’s own guidance, the meeting was assured it was not a breach of protocol.

Condemning the decision, councillor Chris Botten, the Lib Dem spokesman for children said: “These cuts affect the most vulnerable young people in Surrey. Intervening at this stage in their lives is crucial and these cuts could mean much more expensive interventions from the county council further down the line.

“I recognise that there needs to be some re-focusing of services for young people, but this cut is a threat to children’s mental health and it is my priority in my work in this area to ensure that children’s mental health, and the services which promote it, are properly protected.”