Social care budget may be slashed by £6m (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Social care budget may be slashed by £6m

7:54am Sunday 28th October 2007

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ld be in the pipeline for the vital services, if the Government decides to redistribute cash across the country and implement changes to the way social services are funded. More than 90 per cent of London boroughs would suffer.

Current proposals would see protections removed, which currently prevent drastic cuts being made to resources.

Richmond's Addiction Support and Care Agency suffered with funding problems earlier this year. Now it could be hit again, leaving recovering addicts vulnerable.

Geoff Pope, a trustee at ASCA's, said: "There is a risk that we will suffer.

"We do receive some funding from social services and if that is cut we will not be able to provide the services we do now.

"Our funding is ok at the moment, but what we do not want is another crisis with further reductions in funding.

"The number of people having problems with alcohol is rising, so we should be spending more money on it, not less.

"It's an enormous cut."

He said he would be writing to the Government to express his fears over the situation.

Councillor Stephen Knight, Richmond Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, said: "This new approach severely underestimates need in urban areas, and without funding protection councils in the capital would lose a staggering £420m.

"In Richmond, we face a severe drop in our funding allocation for social care, estimated at over £6million.

"Our Government funding is currently protected by the "floor mechanism", which guarantees a minimum increase in total grant year-on-year, even when cuts to the formula would otherwise mean less money.

"However, this mechanism could be removed by the Government at some point in the future. This would result in massive local cuts.

"It's like a Sword of Damocles hanging over Richmond - and that sword is about to get a lot bigger.

"We urge the Government to ensure that our residents get the funding they deserve."

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