Poto Williams
MP for Christchurch East
Community and Voluntary Sector
Disability Issues
Assoc. Justice (Sexual and Domestic Violence)

23 March 2017

Health cuts taking toll on disability services

The National Government must properly fund disability services after a major provider announced it will be significantly curtailing its services, says Labour's Disability Issues Spokesperson Poto Williams.

"Nine years of underfunding the sector, failing to meet even basic cost pressures and minimum wage requirements, had to take its toll eventually on carers, on families, and on the clients themselves.

"I will hold Nicky Wagner to her guarantee in Parliament today that all IDEA Services clients will receive suitable replacement services.

"This is a vulnerable client population, heavily reliant on these services to provide what they need. They and their families need more than platitudes, they need the Government to fund the services properly.

“What the health sector needs urgently is the restoration of the $1.7 billion of funding stripped out by National. That’s what a Labour Government will do.

"The Minister talks about a transformation in the disability support sector, but it looks more like rationalisation," says Poto Williams.

ends

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