(UK) Warks: Autism services may be cut to address $127M deficit
- The end of childhood
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Dec 11, 2025, Autism checks and health services primed for cuts as council looks to plug £95m [$127M] gap
Warwickshire County Council needs to cut spending or increase income over the next five years
Cuts to pre-school autism checks and help for mental health patients seeking work are among the options Warwickshire County Council is considering to balance its books.
They are just some of the public health initiatives that could suffer as the authority seeks to either save or generate income to the tune of £95.4 million [$128M] per year over the next five years in order to balance its books.
The annual review of what can be saved gets more challenging by the year as demand for and the costs associated with services the county must provide, including special educational needs (SEN), home-to-school transport and social care, continues to rise.
An appendix titled 'budget reductions' forms part of the papers that will be considered by the county's cabinet – the Reform UK panel of councillors in charge of major service areas – on Thursday (December 11) ahead of the whole council debating and deciding the budget in February. . . .
It is proposed to "reduce funding" of £140,000 [$187K] per year for the pre-school autism diagnostic service when the contract ends in 2027-28 "as this is not a public health duty", while the Healthy Child Programme pilot is earmarked to end in the same financial year, a £190,000 cut. . . .
The proposals include savings on staffing, particularly in the children and families department. "Either removing posts or using alternative funding streams for posts via Department for Education grants" would save an estimated £171,000 in the next financial year and be scaled up to save a total of £889,000 per year each year after that.
A "team restructure" saves £35,000 a year in the Education Sufficiency and Capital team, while a service restructure trims £50,000 a year from Warwickshire Business Centre and Place Projects and Partnerships.
Income targets are to increase at Hatters Space, Nuneaton, Chess Centre, Nuneaton, and Lillington Youth and Community Centre, Leamington Spa.
The council is set to rely on a new government grant rather than its own resources to fund £2.47 million [$3.3M] per year for children and family centres, while it plans to "cease providing youth grants to voluntary and community organisations" over the next three years, instead establishing a partnership "which will apply for charity funding via national organisations to fund youth services" to save £280,000 per year by 2028-29. . . .
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