Older People Clearly Not a Priority for Conservatives

12.00.00am GMT Tue 14th Feb 2006

Cllr Janet Godden, speaking to second the Liberal Democrat budget amendments at tomorrow's County Council meeting, said:

"The Liberal Democrats are proposing a trifling additional increase to the Council Tax to put more money into badly neglected areas, such as pavement repairs and pupil support - both neglected in the Labour and Green budgets - and above all into services for older people where we propose an increase of £1m.

"We have seen that this is not a priority for the Conservatives. They've funded 40 new care beds in West Oxfordshire, and then retreated from the field, leaving it littered with wounded services. The statements in the budget papers about the impact of unmet pressures in the older people's budget make grim reading.

"This is what they tell us:

*Decreased contributions to the budget pooled with the NHS will decrease the number of nursing home placements that can be purchased and the availability of places when needed.

*Reducing inflation in contracts with private care homes could mean that some homes cease doing business with us and that clients have to move.

*Reducing the already inadequate number of respite beds will increase demands on carers.

*Reductions in care management will increase waiting lists for assessments and care packages.

*Halting the day services programme will increase loneliness, decrease wellbeing and add to the demands on carers.

*And further increases in charges for home support will have a direct financial impact on some clients and their carers.

"Older people want better than this, and the Liberal Democrats want it for them.

"Two factors in particular have led to this state of affairs. In the first place, the decision not to allow year-on-year budget uplift for the rapidly growing numbers of people over 85 years old was a manifest error. Liberal Democrats complained about it fiercely at the time, and the chicken is now coming home to roost. To spread the same amount of money across ever increasing numbers of people is plainly a cut in real terms; to claim that it is not is mere playing with words.

"In the second place, the extra £1m is needed because of the imbalance in the Conservative proposals. Investing £1m in 40 extra care beds in West Oxfordshire is all very well, especially for those who happen to live in West Oxfordshire, but it is a luxury. We certainly do not begrudge these beds as an extra, but we cannot agree that they should come first and put every other areas of spending under such pressure. The Conservative budget is all fur coat and no underclothes.

"The extra cost to a band-D Council Tax payer of the proposed Liberal Democrat amendments is 12 pence per week. We know that the public wants better services, and that people in Oxfordshire of all ages are aware of the difficulties of obtaining adequate care for the elderly. It's hard to believe that this increase would be resented."