DUDLEY MP Ian Austin has challenged the Health Secretary over proposals to close Dove House drop-in centre for people with mental health problems.

At Health Questions in the House of Commons, Labour MP Mr Austin called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to give Dudley a fairer share of funding to enable Dove House to continue operating.

Dove House, based on the Bushey Fields Hospital site in Dudley, is run by mental health charity Dudley Mind with funding from Dudley Council, but the council says it can no longer afford to fund it and it is earmarked to close by June 30.

Mr Austin said in the Commons: “Dove House in Dudley has been helping people with mental health problems since the 1970s, but faces closure this year for the want of what is actually quite a small amount of money.”

He urged Mr Hunt to do “everything he can to keep this really valuable facility open” - adding: “The reason it’s closing is because Dudley is losing 20 percent of its funding compared to just one percent in Surrey which he represents.”

Mr Austin has repeatedly urged the Government to give a fairer share of funding to public services in Dudley which has lost £76 million since 2010 - and which is set to rise to £92 million by 2019/20.

Replying to the question - Jeremy Hunt promised to look into the matter.

Councillor Qadar Zada, Dudley's cabinet member for adult social care, has said the loss of funding from central government means the authority faces "difficult decisions about the services we provide” and it has been forced to review the care it provides in order to protect the most vulnerable.

However - West Midlands UKIP MEP Bill Etheridge, who is also a Dudley councillor, believes the authority could do more to save the centre and he said: "I would like to know how Councillor Zada can justify withdrawing funding from Dudley Mind, causing the closure of this facility, at the same time as proposing record council tax increases, allegedly to pay for adult social care.

"Surely if you ask for more money for social care, it would be ethical to actually provide it?"