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Two Reform-controlled councils have responded to the collapse of a council-funded Deaf support charity with a grant of just £22,000 per year.
Deaf professionals say the collapse of Deafconnect in Northamptonshire in January came without warning – and that the councils may be failing in their legal duties as they provide a tiny grant for Deaf services across two local authority areas covering around 800,000 people.
Deafconnect operated in Northamptonshire for over 150 years, and held the council contract for Deaf services covering both West and North Northamptonshire councils, both now run by Reform UK.
The organisation closed at the beginning of 2026 with no prior public announcement about funding difficulties, and all staff lost their jobs on closure. They had asked the councils for extra support to survive but were refused.
Council funding had crashed from a high of around £140,000 to around £20,000 a year, though the councils maintain that their contribution has been broadly flat in recent years and that the charity’s collapse was triggered by the failure of a major external funding bid.
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Disappeared Overnight
The charity provided a drop-in service for the estimated 1,800 Deaf people in the area, as well as a children’s service, tinnitus support group, gaming and social groups, and a dedicated centre open five days a week.
It also provided British Sign Language (BSL) courses for those wishing to learn, an advocacy service in partnership with a major advocacy organisation, a sensory room in its centre, and equipment support for hard-of-hearing people. And the charity helped explain letters and correspondence for service users, many of whom struggle with low reading comprehension.
Following the charity’s closure, the councils switched provision for its statutory Deaf support services from a three-year contract to a short-term grant of £22,000 (£11,000 from each council). The previous estimated value of the services was approximately £250,000 a year.
Deaf campaigners locally note that £22,000 will not cover one person’s salary. The new support sessions are expected to be just one day per month for each of the council areas, some of it online-only.
An expressions-of-interest process was launched to replace some of Deafconnect’s lost services. Deaf champion Jessica Pettican and a colleague set up a Community Interest Company to submit an expression of interest, proposing a once-weekly drop-in service.
Their expression of interest, a brief document, was then treated by the councils as a formal grant application, and missed out on the new grant.
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As of the time of interview, neither Pettican nor Cllr Sally Keeble knew the identity of the winning provider.
Byline Times has now learnt it is RJ Community CIC, a community interest company which was registered as an entity in January.
The contract award deadline was 17 March. The new service is reportedly due to start in April – but as of 25th March Deaf people had not been told who the new provider would be.
BSL is a recognised language in the UK, carrying a legal obligation on councils to provide services for BSL users. The Equality Act 2010 also requires reasonable adjustments to ensure Deaf people can access services, while the Public Sector Equality Duty requires equalities impact assessments before decisions are made affecting protected groups.
The UK is also a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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Campaigners say no consultation was carried out with the Deaf community prior to the changes, and in a statement to Byline Times, West Northamptonshire Council acknowledged no recent equalities assessment has been completed. The last was in 2024.
Jessica Pettican is providing a free drop-in service on Friday at her own cost, in response to distress in the community. A group of five community members with expertise in Deaf community issues has also been formed to coordinate a response to the councils’ decisions.
The group will attend the full West Northamptonshire council meeting at the Guildhall, Northampton on Thursday (26th March).
In what is believed to be a first, Pettican will address the council meeting speaking through a BSL interpreter.
“It’s All Gone”
Byline Times spoke to Pettican via an interpreter, saying she was “shocked” when she heard the news of the changes.
“The [council] paper is saying everything is fine in the North and the West, but it isn’t. There is no real service or proper access [for Deaf people]. Deaf people are already struggling to access mental health services and hospital appointments, and to have letters translated. [Many] Deaf people have an average reading age of eight or nine due to a lack of education. So anything they receive in the post — they would go to the drop-in service and say, “What does this say?” It is vital for them.”
She added: “If someone reaches a crisis point, it becomes very expensive — more professionals get involved, and it is entirely unnecessary. And there has been no consultation whatsoever about these changes.”
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“This is not a small issue — it affects hard-of-hearing people as well, not just those who are profoundly Deaf. Deafconnect used to provide equipment support and advice for hard-of-hearing people too. That has all gone now.”
Asked why she believed the Reform councils were providing such limited support, Pettican said: “I think they simply don’t like disabilities issues and [Reform nationally] are trying to strip back things like disability rights. I am hoping that they have enough empathy and morals to listen to someone with lived experience of this.”
She added: “I think if you haven’t lived that experience yourself, it can be hard to empathise. But if someone tells you directly about the impact on their daily life, I hope that makes a difference.”
“What I really want is to get the services back and re-establish some form of centre for Deaf people that they can go to…How can £22,000 cover a quarter-of-a-million-pound service?”
Council Responds
In a statement, a spokesperson for West Northamptonshire Council said: “The new £22,000 grant is for an interim service while we work with the community to shape longer-term support. This interim service is not smaller, it will offer the same level of service as currently provided. However, it will not include a dedicated base like the existing service at the Spencer Dallington Community Centre.”
“Earlier this year Deafconnect asked both councils for an extra £20,000 to continue for three more months, but they were unable to show that this would keep the service stable. It would not have been responsible to put in more public money without that assurance.
“We have met our legal duties. While we have not carried out a recent equalities assessment, the last assessment was completed in 2024 when commissioning the current service. We will undertake a new equalities assessment as part of recommissioning future services. We have also spoken to organisations representing Deaf residents throughout this process and will continue to do so as the new service develops.
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“The new service will not be online-only. RJ Community CIC will provide support in different ways and is experienced in working with people who use BSL, including those with limited internet access. We will monitor the service closely and make improvements based on feedback.
“The expressions-of-interest process followed proper procedures. Decisions were made quickly to avoid any gap in support, but the process was not rushed.
“Our priority remains making sure Deaf, Deafblind and hard of hearing residents can access the help and information they need, now and in the future.”
Northamptonshire based Deaf resident Alice O’Dell told this outlet: “These service reductions risk undoing years of progress in accessibility and inclusion. Without the funding required, Deaf people are placed at a clear disadvantage, with fewer opportunities to access the support they need.”
Bigotry Claims
Labour group leader on WNC and former MP Cllr Sally Keeble said the £22,000 grant “certainly will not meet the needs of the thousands who are affected by hearing loss.”
“West Northants Council must think again, do a feasibility study of the needs of people who are Deaf or have hearing difficulties, and provide a proper level of service.”
She believes the decision is political, with Reform having “expressed its political opposition to equality, diversity and inclusion, which it sees as being “woke.””
“This is the result of their bigotry, that thousands of people locally will be left without services.”
Fellow local Helen Wilson added: “The new funding of £22k is barely going to scratch the surface of the support needed for the Deaf Community.”
Carol Spencer, who is working with Pettican to try to restore services, said that with the loss of Deafconnect, “those additional services have now disappeared entirely.”
“There is now effectively nowhere for parents of a newly diagnosed Deaf baby to turn for early guidance, and limited support for individuals struggling with the mental health impacts of conditions such as tinnitus. These are just two examples.
“In real terms, the Deaf community in Northamptonshire has lost around £250,000 worth of vital support services. The consequences of this loss are immediate and deeply felt.”
In an email from a Reform councillor to Pettican, seen by this outlet, they claimed ”both councils have commissioned another provider, with no loss in services” – a statement which appears to be unfounded.
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