A charity has warned many older and disabled adults in South Gloucestershire face going without care services needed for a “basic quality of life” due to cuts to the local authority’s budget.
Access Social Care said its analysis of South Gloucestershire Council’s annual budget had found that £4.6m had been slashed from South Gloucestershire Council’s budget this financial year (April 5, 2021, to April 6, 2022).
The organisation added that cost-cutting plans published by the council showed that by 2025/26 the authority would be balancing a £22.5m budget shortfall, within which at least £2m would be cut to the adult social care budget - with further cuts predicted.
A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said that the figures were "incorrect" and did not reflect its latest budget position.
The council's spokesperson said it would be investing £260m into local services next year - compared to £252m this year - and within this, its social care grant had been increased by £2.2.m as part of the Government’s spending review from £5.1m to £7.3m.
They added that spending plans for the next four years, to be considered by full council later this month, projected "a balanced budget" and included a 1 % levy on council tax in the coming year to help meet the increasing costs of delivering adult social care support.
The council's spokesperson said: "While maintaining services throughout the pandemic and finding new ways to support those in need despite the challenges of the past two years, we have conducted an intensive process to better match our resources to delivering on our duties and council priorities.
"We have also invested heavily in our adult social care services in recent years with a further £4m over four years identified through this year’s budget cycle to support our workforce and the changing requirements of the service. This is in addition to price and demand pressures also factored into our financial forecasts, based on current and anticipated trends."
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Access Social Care said a reduction in central government grants had meant that councils had been stripping back vital community services in order to make the necessary cuts.
According to a recent survey from the Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS), a charity which provides a voice for leadership on adult social care, 75% of adult social care local authority leaders said they were not confident, or only partially confident, that they would fulfil their statutory duties to meet their constituents' needs.
Access Social Care said “potentially millions” of people across the country could be left without services to help manage nutrition, personal hygiene, assisting with toilet needs and maintaining personal relationships.
The organisation said the Covid-19 pandemic had increased pressure on the level of unmet need for adult social care, due to cases of people suffering from long Covid symptoms and those whose care needs increased as a result of isolation during national lockdowns.
It added that an £86,000 cap on personal care costs, set to be introduced as part of the government's reform of adult social care in England, would likely result in an increase in people requesting an assessment in order to ensure they can start paying towards their lifetime cost of care.
Access Social Care said in order to meet these shortfalls, local authorities would be forced to recommission and close down community services and increase social care charges.
Kari Gerstheimer, chief executive and founder of Access Social Care, said: “Every day, millions of people across the country do not get the social care they are legally entitled to. Local authority budgets are not reflecting the unprecedented level of unmet need and people are suffering as a result.
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“The system is also deeply unfair, with poorer areas suffering the deepest cuts to their social care budgets. The 10% worst off local authorities have made more than 30% cuts to their spending since 2010. Without additional funding, local authorities will struggle to make ends meet and stark health inequalities will continue to climb”.
BusinessLive has contacted the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.
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