Council extends contract with learning disabilities charity

Barnet Council’s existing contract with Barnet Mencap, which commenced in September 2024, had been set to expire at the end of the month, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

An “essential” Barnet charity that has supported people with autism and learning disabilities for over 60 years has been awarded a new council contract.

Details about Barnet Council’s decision to extend its contract with Barnet Mencap were published last week.

The decision was made on Thursday, 30th July by Dawn Wakeling, the local authority’s executive director of communities, adults and health.

The council’s existing contract with Barnet Mencap, which commenced in September 2024, had been set to expire at the end of the month. The extension, which will cost around £586,000, will cover the two-year period between September this year and the end of August 2028.

Explaining the contract extension in a report, council officers described the service “as an essential part of Barnet Council’s preventative, early intervention and wellbeing provision”.

They said its purpose is to prevent, reduce or, at the very least, delay the need for residents with learning disabilities or autism to access adult social care services.

This is done by improving the “resilience, aspirations, health and wellbeing” of service users as well as “enabling and promoting independence, social inclusion and increasing access to mainstream opportunities and services”.

The preventative aspects of the charity’s work could be particularly valuable to the council. The 2026/27 financial year has seen the council receive £79.3million of exceptional financial support (EFS) from the government to manage its budget shortfalls. Its the second year in a row that the council has had to make use of the emergency measure.

A significant factor behind the financial issues in Barnet and beyond has been the steadily increasing demand for – and rising costs of – statutory services, such as adult social care.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) in April, leader of the Labour-led local authority Barry Rawlings said preventative services, like those provided by Barnet Mencap, are where councils can “make the real savings” in the long run.

“Even if it didn’t save us money we should be doing that because it’s the right thing to do,” Cllr Rawlings added.

Barnet Mencap, based on Hendon Lane in Finchley, says it has been “helping people with learning disabilities, autistic people and their family/carers in Barnet since 1965”. In its early days it was initially referred to as ‘Barnet Society for Mentally Handicapped Children’.

Its adult services include employment support, information and advice – as well as supported living and holidays.

The charity also runs an autism hub aimed at providing helping people “access services, social activities, understand their options, and find the right support”.

Barnet Mencap says its “vision” is to “help people with learning disabilities live their lives fully, with choice and control over where they live and how they are supported” and to “ensure that everyone can live with dignity, opportunity, and choice”.

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