Stark warning over social care

Council could be forced to cut services

The level of social care services in Rutherglen and Cambuslang could be slashed if costs continues to spiral – according to council officers.

A revenue budget monitoring report, which went before councillors at the first meeting of the executive committee, stated there had been an £154,000 overspend in social work resources between April 1 and May 26 of this year.

And a council officer warned that an unexpected spike in costs associated with placements for care homes, home care demands, and continuing pressures for children’s placements in residential schools could see services having to be cut if costs continue to rise above budget.

The officer told councillors: “Demand for these services spiked big time in the first two months of the year.

“And if this continues throughout the year we will have serious budget problems.

“If so we will need to look at how we deliver our services most effectively.

“We may have to look at stopping some services, changing our criteria on what level of services we provide or doing less for more people.”

Labour Clydesdale West councillor, Eileen Logan, said with South Lanarkshire’s ageing population pressure on social care budgets were only going to rise.

She said: “We are a nation of baby boomers who are growing older and have more people with additional needs.

“There is always pressure on social care budgets and that’s not going to go away any time soon.

“I would ask if we are consistently looking to the Scottish Government and what help there is there, especially if demand continues to rise.”

Officers said they are looking at whether the increase in demand for social care will continue and further information will be brought back to the executive committee on the additional financial pressures it could face.

Demand for services spiked big time in first two months of the year