A council scheme offering black and ethnic minorities "culturally sensitive counselling" has been dubbed a "waste" of taxpayers' money.
The new targeted mental health support in Croydon has been designed to help residents from Black Caribbean and African, Asian and mixed-heritage communities via the council’s public health service.
After it was discovered that these communities did not ask for help via "mainstream routes", the scheme has sought to dismantle any existing barriers by considering people's "culture, ethnicity or faith".
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The scheme has been dubbed an 'unacceptable waste of taxpayers' money'
|CROYDON COUNCIL
Through one-to-one or group counselling, users of the initiative will also be assisted by specially-trained counsellors "who are more aware of cultural differences".
The professionals will be tasked with "improving how they are feeling and boosting their mental health and wellbeing".
The council has since confirmed that local community organisations are "reaching out to residents to take up this offer", while other NHS services are available for those who did not qualify as "diverse".
Croydon’s Executive Mayor Jason Perry said: "These new culturally sensitive counselling sessions will help even more people in Croydon to talk openly, without judgement, which supports good mental health."
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Speaking to the People's Channel, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance John O'Connell hit out at the service, declaring it a waste of taxpayers’ cash.
"It’s unacceptable for councils - especially those which are in trouble over financial mismanagement - to continue to waste money on these projects," he fumed.
"Families and businesses pay through the nose for taxes that are supposed to fund essential services, which are actually much harder to access nowadays thanks to piles of wasted cash and skewed priorities.
"It's high time local politicians cut back on projects like this and focused funds on essential services, and actually work to deliver tax cuts."
Perry insisted that he and the council 'had done everything possible' to amend the local finances
|PA
A spokesman for Croydon Council told GB News: "As a local authority we are always looking at a multitude of issues at any one time, including the running of essential services. This is public health funding, which is ringfenced for spending on services to improve residents’ health.
"By investing in preventative services like these, we can provide early help to people experiencing challenges before they reach crisis point - removing cost and pressures on essential services further down the line."
The London council has been held in a chokehold by a "deteriorating financial position", local government minister Jim McMahon admitted in June.
Its current debts stand at £1.4billion, which is projected to stretch to an eye-watering £1.9billion in 2029, the MP added.
Meanwhile, Mr Perry previously insisted that he and the council "had done everything possible" to amend the finances "while protecting vital services".
Since 2020, the authority has declared effective bankruptcy three times and was heading towards a fourth earlier this year before the Government intervened.
Over the past five years, the Government has poured an extra £553million into the authority in a bid to keep the council afloat.