County Council budget protects front line Social Services

Today, Cabinet agreed to recommend to County Council a £9.7m funding increase above inflation to protect front line Social Services. The additional money will be spent supporting vulnerable people, safeguarding children and supporting the independence of older adults. County Councillor John Mallinson, Cabinet spokesperson on Care and Social Services says, 

"I'm pleased that we have been able to increase the money available to Social Services, protecting front line services to children, older adults and those experiencing a disability or mental health problem. These are crucial services to support some of the most vulnerable people in the community. This investment will also ensure the department has the staffing resources available to meet ever increasing demands. The budget will enable us to meet new statutory requirements from major Government initiatives such as the `Supporting Care Leavers Bill' and the `Fair Access to Care' legislation. 

We recommend the strengthening of support to fostering and adoption services to the tune of £500,000. We intend to invest further in child protection services and want to ensure that all children and young people in care have an allocated social worker. There will be additional support to care leavers, helping them to move into independent living and a continued commitment to the new respite care centre in Ulverston and the new children's residential home in Barrow. 

Cumbria has an ageing population, with more than 23% of people in the county over the age of 60. There are significant and growing demands on its services for older people, reflecting this demographic growth in older people particularly those who are aged over 85. This County Council is committed to continually improving the quality and range of services for older adults and intend to maintain the Care Market across all sectors of service. This includes day care, home care and residential care. We will also increase staffing resources given the increase in the number of older people receiving social care services. There will not be an increase in home care charges for those receiving the service. 

We're also recommending increasing the amount of money we pay to residential and nursing care providers by 8%, well above the rate of inflation. This is a further commitment to build capacity and support the care market. The above inflation increase will help protect residential and nursing care places enabling providers to meet demand. 

We continue to work with health partners to reduce delayed discharges and ensure that the Council does not suffer financially from the imposition of the Governments new 'charge' for Councils deemed to be responsible for delayed transfers of care. 

We're also asking County Council to increase the money available for services to support adults with a disability or mental health problems. This includes additional Approved Social Workers for Mental Health and staff within learning disability services. We will continue to support young adults with a disability who leave school during the 2003/04 financial year and will increase this funding by around £500,000. 

Cumbria County Council is committed to protect front line social services and this budget recommendation reflects that commitment."