A few thoughts on the local council funding crisis!
Children are going to bear the brunt of the next wave of cuts to local council services according to this recent BBC article, as councils seek to cut an additional £3 billion in savings from their budgets in the coming financial year.
And by 2026-2027 they will still face a £5-6 billion shortfall.
The consequences of this are dire, with nearly one in ten UK councils expecting to go bust in the next year according to this Guardian Article... it's tough out there for local councils.
Local councils provide a huge range of services - waste collection, local culture and arts (libraries being the most obvious front facing of these), leisure (leisure centres), policing, and then the biggies.... adult social care and child care services.
The figures below are a few years old and based on national averages but you can clearly see that social care takes up the lions share of the budget! More than half, and that is INCREASING as people get older.
As I understand it most of this cost is poor people who can't afford their own care who end up living in care homes, we are talking here about £10s of thousands a year per individual.
If you can afford it you pay for your own care with your house, until you've spent everything but yr last £26K, but if you spend up to that then the council picks up the rest of the tab.
Not a local problem!
There are going to be differences in demand for adult care from county to county, probably higher in more deprived areas where people have less capacity to pay for their own care, and I imagine these councils are going to be MORE pressured.
The last decade has seen huge cuts to EVERYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN SOCIAL CARE AND CHILDCARE - meaning all the easy cuts have been made.
Councils have stopped collecting bins every week and closed libraries but they haven't started cutting adult social care in any significant way.
It's a travesty, I think we need more of a national adult social care approach than this being subsumed under local authority budgets, as it stands I think some councils are going to be having much more of a burden than others.
Where there's more of an adult social care burden, I imagine this is where we are seeing more cuts to other areas.
Adult social care really has been the elephant in the room for too long, shoved under the underfunded local authority carpet, I hope the government address this in the next budget.
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The UK has successfully transformed into a banna republic. I advise any young people to get the hell out as fast as they can.
totally agree
Makes me fucking angry to be honest, as the children you are referring to are my grandchildren but you aren’t wrong. Years and years of systemic government failures and over privatisation have landed us in this mess.
I’m always embarrassed by my country and the people who just lap up the decisions made over the years with a, “there’s not much we can do” shrug.
It's why some young pensioners are sitting on six figure sums in cash and still feel poor I think - they're just thinking of passing it on.
I mean at least most people in their 20s are screwed it's not just Britz!
Apologies for swearing but it upsets me, we raise our kids well and the reward is a broken world. You’re right these issues reflect around the globe.
Easier said than done but if you can yes!
I am not sure to see where our tax is spent in my country.
Does not the social care budget also include giving illegal immigrants and economic migrants free housing and money, obviously to the detriment of the indigenous population.
The govt? Well they are making a good start by punishing pensioners who have contributed to the UK economy for 40+ years in many cases through their employee taxes. hitting some of the poorest people in society.
I think the hotels for immigrants comes under housing! It is just a bit silly especially when it's down to processing - just get on with it and then either send them back or let them stay and pay for their own housing!
It's a though one with pensioners... life isn't any easier financially for the working age - but personally I'd rather fuck them a little bit now otherwise I'll be getting fucked harder in 15 years! And if my pensions still protected in 15 years anyone under 40 now probably won't have a pension!
Never mind sending them back never gonna happen with all these bed wetters about and the fucktards in the house of lords putting pathetic barriers in the way. THAT is another thing that is wrong with this outdated uk system of politics.
I guess it is hard for the oap's who were around before the advent of private pensions etc. More fool anyone who this day and age who doesn't take expert financial advice to manage their money. The number of minnions I have seen on the shop floor over the years who just want to piss their wages up the wall on a weekend, they have only themselves to blame for their lack of foresight.
A sad story, and we are in the same boat here. 28million on social grants, and only 7 million tax payers.
Crikey that is out of balance!
Totally agreed!
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