£850m care black hole’
Councils facing huge bill over vulnerable
GOVERNMENT cuts mean half of councils caring for children and vulnerable adults are set to be £850million in the red.
This week the Tories announced the latest funding settlement for local authorities, sparking claims they have “abandoned” councils and the people they look after.
Analysis by Labour shows councils are already spending more than they budgeted for at the start of the financial year in April.
But because social care is a statutory service, meaning they have to provide it by law, they are having to make huge savings elsewhere to fill the black hole.
Labour spokesman Andrew Gwynne said: “For too long, local government has been given short- term sticking plasters for a problem needing long-term solutions.
“These figures reflect a perfect storm, the result of years of cuts and hundreds of thousands more vulnerable people whose lives have been blighted by austerity.”
Out of the 150 local authorities that provide care, 73 are forecast to have a combined overspend of £842.3million.