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Embargoed to 12 noon, Monday 27th September 2010
Local authorities are being forced to make unprecedented spending cuts over the next four years. Disabled and older people needing adult care services have traditionally borne the brunt of cuts as social service budgets are not ring-fenced.
Today (27th September 2010), council chief executives and directors of adult social care have been urged by the Coalition on Charging to ensure that they plan cuts properly, fully assessing local people’s needs, longer-term consequences, and the impact of increasing charges for services or reducing access to essential care.
Neil Coyle, Chair of the Coalition on Charging says:
“Councils must not look to raid care budgets as an easy option again. Over the past decade access to care has been heavily restricted and charges for support have risen hugely. There is no more blood to be squeezed from the stone.”
The Coalition revealed in 2008 – when care budgets were increasing above inflation – that older people, disabled people and carers’ needs were being routinely overlooked by councils when care service charges were increased – and some authorities appeared to be ignoring legal obligations. The Coalition is concerned that, with potential 25-40% cuts to council budgets, any new changes to essential care and support are administered fairly.
However, there is already evidence that the national cuts are hitting older and disabled people and their carers disproportionately. The Borough of Poole is already currently consulting to restrict access to support and raise service charges – which will leave some people with fewer services and some people paying more for the same level of support. Lewisham, Warwickshire and Hertfordshire are also all consulting to remove the maximum payments that can be taken from disabled and older people receiving homecare services.
Short-term care cuts and increased fees also cost councils in the longer term. Stephen Burke, Chief Executive of Counsel and Care (a Coalition member) says:
“Councils must acknowledge that increasing charges and cutting services causes people to go without support which impacts on future budgets as people develop critical needs or require expensive residential care.”
The Coalition letter to chief executives and directors also highlighted cases of councils failing to meet legal obligations on care policy, including assessing the impact of changes on disabled people (Harrow) and to ‘meaningfully engage’ users (Cornwall).
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