The cost of caring in Plymouth

Caring for Plymouth’s most vulnerable children and adults costs approximately £115 million per year and makes up almost 55 percent of Plymouth City Council’s overall budget.

Councillors Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and Sue McDonald, Cabinet Member for Adult Health and Social Care are determined to protect frontline services for Plymouth’s most vulnerable and make it clear to residents just how much of the Council’s budget is dedicated to providing social care and support.

Councillor McDonald explains: “It is well known that councils across the country are facing unprecedented budget cuts and we are being forced to consider some very difficult decisions in order to continue to pay for crucial front-line services. We want to make it absolutely clear that we are committed to protecting the frontline care and support provided to some of the city’s most vulnerable people.

“A large part of our budget is committed to looking after adults during times in their lives when they need extra support - whether that’s providing domiciliary care to enable someone to continue living at home, funding for residential and nursing care, or supporting those with dementia. We are relied upon to help people cope in old age or illness and we understand how important that is, no matter what pressures are upon us.”

The figures released as part of budget scrutiny reveal there are currently more than 36,000 over 65s in Plymouth and this is estimated to increase to over 46,000 by 2016. The total adult social care services bill reached £94 million last year and within that £76 million went directly to Plymouth people through packages of care and prevention services.

This year the adult social care services budget has been set at almost £89 million and despite having to make savings of approximately five per cent, the amount dedicated to care packages will increase to £77 million. This must provide services for approximately 4,000 adults receiving social care packages, pay for over 1,100 people to be cared for in residential and nursing homes and over 10,000 hours of domiciliary care provided to those living in their own homes.

Councillor McDonald continues: “The population of adults who need our help and support is growing as fast as our budgets are shrinking. It’s a constant struggle to find new ways of making our budgets go further whilst continuing to provide the quality of care that people need and deserve.”

The picture is similar for services for children and young people in the city – the children’s social care budget for the coming year has been set at just over £26 million and the support education and families budget (not including dedicated grants for building schools or schools) is just over £18 million, plus £5 million for youth services.

Forecasting shows there are currently 18,937 primary aged children and 17,221 secondary aged pupils. This is predicted to increase to 21,729 and 17,725 respectively by 2019.

More people than ever before contacted the Council last year with concerns about children, which resulted in a 17 percent increase in referrals to children’s social care of approximately 4,100. This increase had a knock-on effect to the number of children subject to child protection plans, whose numbers rose to 382, an increase of 30 percent.

Councillor Williams, explains: “We don’t want to be alarmist but this just shows the added pressures that families are under. Financial worries and hardship have a dramatic impact on family life and result in more referrals to children’s social care. We feel it’s really important for the public to understand the pressures the city is faced with so when it comes to prioritising our services, residents are informed about the choices we must make.

“Getting the care and education of children and young people right is absolutely crucial, because we know if we don’t, the cost to society of dealing with problems later in adult life far exceed those involved in providing early help. We are working hard to develop our early intervention plans with partners, but even that vital grant from Government has been cut by eight percent, so we’re battling on all fronts.”

The Council is dealing with Government cuts of £30m made over the last few years and another £33 million of funding cuts over the next three years – real terms cut of 26 per cent. The Council’s budget for next year is £202 million.

*This refers to the Council’s gross revenue budget and the £115m figure relates specifically to the combined adult social care and children’s social care services budgets. This does not take in to account capital budget figures or budgets for education, learning and family support or youth services.