Osborne warned education and elderly care can be cut no further

GEORGE OSBORNE has been warned that his plan to cut spending on education and elderly care will “permanently” damage the economy, undermine efforts to tackle extremism, and condemn frail pensioners to a “miserable” existence.

An unprecedented alliance of 129 chairmen of further education colleges said that their institutions were already in a “parlous financial state” after suffering cuts totalling 40 per cent in recent years. If the Chancellor goes ahead with further expected reductions – of up to 40 per cent more – this month, colleges will be tipped “over the precipice”, they say.

A separate intervention from the head of a major review into the social care system warned that creaking care home services would be critically weakened if Mr Osborne implements further cuts when he publishes his Spending Review on November 25.

The Chancellor is finalising the result of a radical review of Whitehall spending in which government departments have been asked to come up with plans for cuts of 25 per cent and 40 per cent. Areas including the NHS, front-line school funding and international aid will be protected, but other ministries are likely to face deeper cuts as Mr Osborne seeks to find £20 billion of savings from public spending.

While grants for state schools will not be reduced, there is no protection for courses for 16-19 year-olds delivered by 340 further education colleges in England.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the chairmen of 129 colleges have warned that new cuts will threaten the viability of the Government’s plan to create 3 million apprenticeships. They also say efforts to tackle extremism by promoting English language courses in migrant communities will be hit.

In their open letter they say: “We believe that the sector is vital to the Government’s economic strategy but unless [these issues] are understood and addressed, opportunities for many

‘Tackling the deficit does not need to be at the expense of older and disabled people in need of care and support’

young people, adults and the nation’s productivity will be significantly damaged, perhaps permanently.”

Their warning comes as Dame Kate Barker, who led a review of care services for elderly and disabled adults, attacked ministers for delaying a plan to cap the costs of social care.

She said the decision to halt the reforms was “extraordinary” and meant there was “no strategy whatever” to meet rising demand for elderly care.

Dame Kate, a leading economist, said she had been brought to tears by the “awful” plight of many of those she met while reviewing care for a recent inquiry backed by the King’s Fund, a think-tank.

“I do feel very strongly about this, it is such a particular group of people – elderly people with dementia – for whom the end of their lives could be very miserable indeed,” she said. She predicted a public “outcry” when the “penny really drops” about the scale of the crisis for elderly people.

Members of her Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England have urged George Osborne to protect care funding in the forthcoming Spending Review. “Tackling the deficit does not need to be at the expense of older and disabled people in need of care and support,” they said.

Currently, anyone with assets, including their home, worth more than £23,250 does not automatically qualify for state support with care. Reforms passed by the Coalition promised to cap the amount anyone would have to pay in their lifetime on care at £72,000. The Conservative election manifesto pledged to implement the cap, but only two months later ministers signalled it would be delayed until 2020.

Mr Osborne also suffered a defeat in the House of Lords last month over his plan to cut tax credits. His subsequent proposal to raid the budget for welfare reforms to pay for measures to ease the pain of the tax credit cuts for working families was met with a furious response by Iain Duncan Smith at the Department for Work and Pensions

He warned the Prime Minister personally “in the strongest terms” that he will not put up with cuts to Universal Credit, the new benefits system.

Experts have raised fears that Mr Osborne’s spending review will see further cuts to funding for border controls, the police, and council bin collections and libraries.