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Lewisham’s Labour mayor, Sir Steve Bullock, announced on Saturday
that he no longer intends to press ahead with proposals to cut off
vital social care to vulnerable Lewisham residents.
He signalled the u-turn at a special pre-budget briefing for all
party groups at the town hall.
Green Party councillor Ute Michel, who led on the issue for the
Green group, said after Saturday’s ‘budget summit’:
“ It’s astonishing that it took so long for the Mayor
to see sense, and regrettable that months of needless anguish were
caused to vulnerable residents and their carers.
“However, the Mayor’s decision is good news for Lewisham’s
older and disabled residents after a long period of uncertainty
over the future funding of care services they depend upon every
day. Whilst I am pleased with this decision, it puts additional
pressures on the budget, and as a Council we need to consider carefully
how to address these.”
The u-turn effectively ditches plans set out in a months-long public
consultation on council plans to save money by providing social
care only for adults in the ‘critical’ needs category
and a legally unrecognised ‘higher substantial’ needs
category. If implemented, the cuts proposal would have left many
vulnerable Lewisham residents – in the ‘lower substantial’
needs category – with no support such as day centres, independent-living
classes and assistance to continue living at home.
The cuts were first proposed during the 2007/08 budget, decided
in March 2007, when a Green Party amendment adopted by the Mayor
scrapped many cuts and provided additional funding for this year.
The council then launched a consultation process on future provision
that the Mayor promised he would take seriously.
However, organisations representing elderly and disabled adults,
along with the Green Party group, later slammed the consultation
for being short-sighted and failing to address long-term social
care funding issues.
In official submissions by advocacy groups and the Green Party group,
stark warnings were issued that withdrawing existing support from
vulnerable people would cause their condition to deteriorate rapidly,
meaning they would soon fall into a higher and eligible needs category
and require much more intensive and expensive services.
A final decision by the Mayor on all aspects of the consultation
is expected early next month, but before that he will be called
on to make his position clear in a 28 November council debate on
the issue tabled by the Green Party group.
Cllr Michel added: “The Green Party group on Lewisham Council
have led the way on opposing care cuts in the Council chamber and
we have made it clear that we would not be able to support the Mayor's
budget proposals if it contained such massive cutbacks in social
care. Now that Labour lacks an overall majority on the Council it
is absolutely vital that they listen to what we and others are saying.”
Ends
Notes to editor
Green Party councillor Ute Michel is available on 07960 446 771
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