West Sussex Lib Dem Spokesman for Adult Services, Councillor Bob Smytherman has highlighted the impact of Tory cuts to disabled people’s services at West Sussex County Council

The comments come on the back of an in-depth report carried out by the disability charity Scope in conjunction with the Demos think tank, which has looked at the impact that cuts are having on a council-by-council basis across England and Wales.   

Welcoming the report, Councillor Bob Smytherman said;

‘I know that difficult decisions have to be made by local authorities across the country when it comes to setting budgets.  However, there are some remarkable cases where creative solutions have meant that the impact on disabled people has been mitigated.

‘I will continue to work with colleagues to ensure that our services for disabled people are protected as far as possible.

The findings of Coping with the cuts – Can local authorities protect disabled people’s services? Can be viewed online via an interactive map, which gives details about how disability services have been protected in every local authority in England and Wales.

The map can be found at www.demos.co.uk/disability-cuts-map.

Scope’s Chief Executive, Richard Hawkes said;

“For months now disabled people have felt that they are being disproportionately affected by budget cuts and this research reveals the true reality of the lives of thousands of disabled families across the country as they begin to feel the effect of local budget cuts.

“We are calling on councils to put disabled people and their families at the centre of decisions that affect their lives.

“We know that every council has to make cuts and there is no simple way to protect front-line services. However it’s clear that some councils are taking creative steps to attempt to reduce the negative impact of budget cuts on disabled constituents and its right to commend those councils for taking the initiative to do so.

“This research also exposes a potential risk in the government’s localism agenda. Whilst some councils will always seek to innovate and protect the interests of their constituents, others will choose the easier option. The government must make sure that disabled people are protected through its localism agenda otherwise it can no longer claim that those with the broadest shoulders are carrying the greatest burden.”

West Sussex Lib Dem Deputy Group leader Dr James Walsh added,

“Earlier this year Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment to the current budget which would have delayed the implementation of some of the cuts, which, we believe, would have given more time to find better ways of delivering services. We were extremely concerned that the loss of some services were not properly understood and our fear that very vulnerable people would be left without reasonable support has be bourne out in Scopes findings.

“We are very disappointed that every single Conservative councillor voted the budget cuts through which has resulted in deep cuts in care for older people and people with learning difficulties.”

 “Since 2000, West Sussex Conservatives have presided over a ‘borrowing binge’, racking up a massive £430 million of debt (including £58 million related to Public Finance Initiatives) in just 11 years. Yet they queued up to lecture the Liberal Democrats on profligacy, saying that the Council had to learn to live within its means.”

 “Despite the widely publicised condemnation of the levels of council reserves by the Secretary of State responsible for local government, West Sussex Conservatives also chose to add to their already substantial reserves. These stood at a very prudent £26m on 31^st March 2010, but rather than using some of the money, as expected by Eric Pickles, they doubled them to some £50m by 2011/12, vastly increasing our debt for the future and pouring money into reserves seems more important to the Tories than maintaining front line services to the most vulnerable in the County.”

The impact of changes to adult social care will be assessed by the Adults’ Services Select Committee this month on Thursday September 22, at 10.30am, at County Hall, Chichester. Earlier this year the Tories decided to no longer provide for moderate level adult social care needs, but for substantial and critical levels only.

The Committee will be discussing the impact of the changes, and will also receive a report on the prevention and wellbeing implementation programme.

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