23/03/06 - Councils to cut care for old and disabled

Four in five local authorities are moving to tighten the eligibility rules for services for elderly and disabled people, in response to a record £1.8bn gap in funding for social care and the knock-on effects of the cash crisis in the NHS.

The trend, which implies that 70% of councils will now offer services only to people whose needs are judged "critical" or "substantial", raises grave doubts about the government's ambition to achieve a shift in health and social care provision towards a preventive agenda, as outlined in a white paper in January.

The funding gap is revealed by a joint survey of English local authorities published today by the Local Government Association, which represents councils, and bodies representing council treasurers and social care directors. Eight in 10 local authorities responded.

On the basis of the survey, carried out in January when the full impact of NHS problems was only starting to bite, there was a shortfall of £1.8bn between what councils were spending on social care services for adults and children in 2005-06 and the level of expenditure assumed by the government in its grant allocations.

Almost half the councils reported a cut in funding from local NHS primary care trusts. Councils highlighted the soaring costs of care for the ageing population, unprecedented increases in demand for services for children with a learning disability and rises in fees for care homes. Eighty per cent of councils said they would be tightening further their criteria for provision of services for adults. Thousands who would have received care will go without or pay privately.

Source : The Guardian