Care 'threatened' by council cuts

Councils were facing 'real trade offs' in care, they warned

Councils face cutting care services for the elderly and disabled because of a 5% cap on council tax rises and "poor" government funding, they have warned.

As councils set their budgets for 2006-2007, many will have to up charges for at-home care or reduce services, said the Local Government Association.

Six council chiefs have written to John Prescott to complain at the settlement.

But a government spokesman said £800m had been earmarked for local authorities facing a cash shortfall.

Demographic changing

"This is something that we have been raising for several months," said LGA chairman Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart.

He said half of local authorities who provided social services had been given a government settlement rise of 2%, compared to 7% for the health service, despite them both facing an "increasing demand".

In the meantime the nation's demographic was changing, he said. For example, there were now 5.5% more over-85s than a year ago.

The grim reality is that this poor settlement, combined with capping, will result in serious damage to councils' strategic services Council leaders' letter to John Prescott

"At the same time there was a 9% increase last year in the number of care weeks for people and physical and learning disabilities," he said.

Authorities were now faced with changing their criteria, charging for services or reducing them.

"This is a very serious situation," he added.

'Grim reality'

In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, county council leaders from Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk warned they were now facing "real trade offs in what services we will be able to afford".

"The grim reality is that this poor settlement, combined with capping, will result in serious damage to councils' strategic services," they said.

There will be a new spending review in 2007, which will give the government the opportunity to examine the changing health and social care needs of our population Care services minister Liam Byrne

Anne Woodman, of the Association of Directors of Social Services said after years of cut backs the only way for authorities to cope with the situation would be to raise costs or cut back services.

Last year, of four criteria - low, moderate, substantial and critical - 60% of authorities offered services only to people with substantial or critical needs. This number would grow, she warned.

"It is a very serious picture, we are really back to where we were three years ago," she said.

Care services minister Liam Byrne said while the government appreciated councils were under financial pressure, government funding for social have increased significantly in recent years.

"There will be a new spending review in 2007, which will give the government the opportunity to examine the changing health and social care needs of our population," he added.

A spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which set the council tax cap, said after constructive talks at the end of last year the government and local authorities had agreed there was a funding shortfall of £800m which the government had said it would meet.

This money could be spent by authorities where they felt it was needed, he said.