We are aware of concerns around changes to the Carers Centre in George Street and want to provide assurances around those changes.

As announced on 12 February, Croydon is making some changes to the support we provide carers and have awarded three new contracts to providers, ensuring the health and wellbeing needs of carers are being met.

We appreciate and value the tremendous work done by our carers in Croydon supporting their loved ones. We also understand the importance of the support carers receive from the current town centre base.

We would like to assure residents that the current Carers Centre is remaining open in George Street and the new provider will deliver support from the current base from 1 April, when the new contract begins.

Not every carer is able to visit George Street, so the new carers contract offers more support for carers across the borough in places where they can get to. These new support bases will be co-designed with carers.

There has been no reduction in the level of funding allocated to the new contract to improve the service for carers, following the increase in funding we committed to in 2024.

The changes to the contracts support Croydon Council’s Carers’ Strategy 2024-2029, which takes an all-age approach and a focus on supporting the health and wellbeing of carers.

We undertook extensive consultation with carers last year as part of our work around the new strategy and the direction of the plan was very much driven by the carers and designed to meet their needs. The views and feedback received during that consultation directly informed the specification for the new service.

The Carers Strategy Steering Group and the Carers Partnership Board – both of which have carer representation – have been involved throughout the process and supported the changes.

At Cabinet when the new strategy was approved, a Carers Strategy Steering Group member said of the process: “From my experience, Croydon Council worked collaboratively with carers and the Carers Information Service, and other carer organisations in the borough, to develop this strategy.

“I’ve personally taken part in and witnessed the council’s work around this. We helped to facilitate workshops where council staff spoke to carers directly to address the themes in this document… a vast number of carers were involved.

“…the council engaged extremely well with carers during the whole process. Most importantly, the feedback I have received from carers was that they felt involved; they felt heard and listened to and this is a real credit to the team who carried this out.”

We are required as a local authority to competitively tender all services at the point that their natural contractual period ends, and this process was followed in accordance with regulations.

We recognise that change can be unsettling, as we transition services from one provider to another. We have been meeting regularly with all providers to manage this process in a way that provides assurance to carers and ensures there is no gap in provision. The incoming provider is working with affected staff and is also keen to ensure there is service continuity.

We value everything carers do to support their families and Croydon’s communities and will continue to keep them informed throughout the changes.