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Lib Dem minister warns against local care cuts

Cathy Reay with the Lib Dems in Liverpool

Andrew StunelAndrew Stunel MP (pictured), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has sought to assure disabled people  that localism should not mean cuts to care services and should be a means of “supporting those in need”.

Speaking to Disability Now after a fringe meeting at the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool, he explained that local authorities have ‘only’ been asked to cut a maximum of 3.5% of their budget: “What has happened so far shouldn’t lead many local authorities to cut. We’ve asked them to slash their budgets by a maximum of 3.5%, no more, and any local authority that goes beyond that percentile should suffer for that,” he said.

“We need people to get back to basics on what services are for and who needs them. If we get local services thinking this way I believe we can create a better, healthier society.”

He had previously told delegates that by devolving power to local communities, residents will have power to reject local authority decisions en masse.

“There’s a big local election in May and I believe that those taking the wrong decisions up high will suffer at the ballot box.

"Somebody needs to expose those cutting unnecessarily or badly, if it happens, and we’re giving the local people the power to do that.

"Mr Stunel is confident that localism will be better for communities because “it’s better to have decisions made by those closest to the problems, not someone far away in Whitehall.”

He also told party members that the government has been left with “no choice” but to cut down on spending but that it won’t be as disastrous for local communities as has been previously reported.

Cuts in social care

Posted by Sonya Grande at 27 Sep 10 16:12
I would like to point out once all of these so called no cuts are done how will the people these cuts affect complain after all they will have just taken possibly the only independence some people have away, not only that no one listens you get lip services of social services departments and they drag it out (even though they have time limits to deal with complaints) till you are exhusted and drowning in red tape, could someone please point out to this MP and others that in the real world of a person with a disability social service departments go out of their way to make our lives impossible and as hard as they can, and now the government have given them even more freedom to do so.

David Cameron shame on you and your government you have had a child with a disability and you should know how hard it can be especially for adults who are disabled but I guess all that money you have has left you out of the loop on real disability and real issues of daily life, we want the freedom to come and go and make descions for ourselves and not have some by the book this is what the book says social worker telling us we are not entitled to have the same life you have and they have.

Kind regards (to the government who ignores those who really need this help)