A deaf support group have spoken of their anger after Enfield Council withdrew an essential grant supporting their services.

As part of budget cuts, the council have withdrawn £43,000 in Supporting People funds to Enfield Disability Action (EDA)’s Deaf Project Service – half of the project’s total money.

Bosses at the authority are trying to make £56 million worth of savings by 2020 and admitted they are “disappointed” to be making the cut.

However, a report written by Liane Burn, EDA chief executive, and Mary White, deaf services manager at EDA, said it had been done without any consultation to the service users, many of whom rely on the support in their everyday lives.

These would disappear, with Ms Fisher saying other crucial supports, such as sign language interpreters provided by the group, would also be lost.

She said: “Current demand for support indicates there will be a huge impact on the local community if this decision goes forward and it is questionable if the reduction of funding is truly cost effective.

“Due to the day to day barriers that deaf people experience they will unfortunately always need support.

“Communication in a hearing world is always problematic and support will be required in order for services to be accessible.

“Literacy is an issue for some profoundly deaf and deaf/blind people who often do not have speech or the ability to read documentation; online support for this cohort is therefore inappropriate and inaccessible.”

The report claims that between April 2015 and January 2016 the project brought in £103,377 of benefits awards to the deaf community.

They also run twice weekly drop ins on Monday and Wednesday mornings, which were visited by 605 people in the time period, wanting advice on housing, health, social care and community issues.

The report says: “Feedback has told us that often the outcomes are more positive for all when we are able to assist; examples recently have been to provide support on a child abduction case and domestic violence.

“Local police have said, “where would these people go if you are not here”.

“EDA has built enormous trust with the local community and they are confident they will get the support that they need. Demand for support is rising not waning.

“The deaf community have told us that nobody has consulted with them regarding this decision or on what services they think would be beneficial for them.

“This is unacceptable for a community that has such specific access requirements and already experiences high levels of marginalisation.

“EDA is so concerned about the situation that we are seeking alternative resources to sustain the service; if we are unsuccessful EDA will need to reduce our services and the impact will not only be felt by the deaf community but also by statutory service providers.”

Cllr Alev Cazimoglu, cabinet member for health and social care, said the council were sad to be making this cuts, but had little other choice due to the drop in their government funding.

He said: “While we are doing everything we can to mitigate the impact of the savings, including working with EDA and other organisations to help them find alternative funding streams so they can protect their services, the fact of the matter is that it is simply impossible to continue to provide all the services we presently do with the level of funding we will receive from central government now and in the years to come.”