Date: 18 October 2007 18:06

MEETING THE COST OF CARE - COUNTY COUNCIL FACES FUNDING SQUEEZE

Cambridgeshire County Council will face a major challenge in meeting the 
cost of providing care for vulnerable and older people in the county over 
the next 12 months, Councillors have warned.

Following the Chancellor's announcement of the outcome of the Government 
Comprehensive Spending Review, county council officers have been calculating 
the impact on services in Cambridgeshire - and Councillors have now warned 
that the Government will not provide enough cash to enable the authority to 
meet its current commitments, let alone cover the cost of the expected 
massive growth in demand for services next year.

The Local Government settlement next year has been set at 1% above 
inflation - the worst financial deal for local government in a decade.

But now the full impact of the lack of Government cash on the community in 
Cambridgeshire has been revealed by County Councillors who will have to find 
ways of making up the shortfall in vital services areas by increasing 
council tax and cutting the cash for other services.

County Council Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Alan Melton, said: "I 
hate to be the harbinger of doom, but the facts are inescapable. This 
Government settlement will not provide sufficient cash to meet the current 
cost of providing some of the high cost care services let alone meet the 
growth in demand next year. The only option for us will be above inflation 
council tax increases and cuts to other services.

"What the Government is doing is transferring the cost of caring for older 
people onto council tax payers. We have both a statutory and moral 
obligation to meet the support needs of vulnerable and older people and 
those with disabilities - we can't just say we don't have the money so 
tough - we have to find the money from somewhere and that means we will have 
to take a very hard look at all areas of spending as we set the budget and 
at how much we will be able to raise additional income from the council tax 
payers of Cambridgeshire."

Cambridgeshire is the fastest growing county in the country and the fastest 
growing sector of the population is among the over 65. Some of the pressures 
the council knows its faces include:
* Demand for social care is rising by 6% a year. In the next three years 
alone there will be over 6,400 more older people in Cambridgeshire, many of 
whom will require social care
* The number of people receiving care packages rose by 12% between 2004 and 
2006 and is expected to rise again
* The number of people aged 85 and over in Cambridgeshire is expected to 
increase by 1,200 over the next 3 years, adding further to the increasing 
demand on social services.
* In the last 2 years there has been a 21% increase in the number of people 
with learning disabilities using social services.

The County Council currently provides 96,573 hours of home care to around 
11,700 people a week with some people receiving three visits a day. The 
County Council also supports around 5,000 older people in residential care
home and nursing homes.

The cost of providing home care is approximately £1.5 million every four 
weeks and demand is increasing by 100 people a month.

Nationally, statistics show that one quarter of the over-85s will develop 
dementia and one-third will need constant care or supervision. Furthermore, 
number of adults with more complex and expensive needs, such as learning 
disabilities, are also rising - a picture compounded in Cambridgeshire by 
the rapid population growth.

John Reynolds