RISING demand in social care will make it even harder for the county council to balance the books next year, its leader has warned Ian Hudspeth revealed there was an overspend on adult and children’s social care this year.

Combined with what he predicts will be a worse-than-expected financial settlement from the Government, he feared drawing up the council’s next budget would be “challenging”.

Work on drawing up the council’s budget for next year is already well under way, and while Mr Hudspeth ruled out ring-fencing areas of spending, he admitted other services could be drawn into the firing line.

He said: “I should imagine this year our settlement will be similar to last year, but with the pressures we have got it means we have got to find other areas to balance them.

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“Adult and children’s social care are services we have got to provide for vulnerable people and the pressures there will have an impact on the budget. But we will be looking at all areas to see where we can make savings and efficiencies.”

Mr Hudspeth said there were forecast overspends of £5.5m in children’s social care and £3.6m in adult social care this year.

These will be covered by underspends in other departments and the council’s contingency fund, but with demand increasing it is likely costs will rise again and will need to be accommodated in the new budget.

The rise in demand has been caused by an increased number of children being referred to social services following the growing prominence of the issues surrounding child sexual exploitation and Oxfordshire’s ageing population.

Paul Cann, chief executive of Age UK Oxfordshire, warned against any further cuts that affected vulnerable residents in the county.

He said: “I think all of us working in adult social care have had to do more for less for some time now.

“Like many local authorities, it is under huge financial pressure and what it has tried to do is protect services which keep people independent for as long as possible.

“But this cannot go on forever because, unfortunately, the pressures are such that it is going to be the most vulnerable in our society who are going to suffer.”

Gill Tishler, of Oxford Citizens’ Advice Bureau, said: “The county council is in a difficult position but we are concerned about what that will mean in terms of funding.

“All the agencies in the city have been saying you need to do whatever you can to protect the most vulnerable.”

Mr Hudspeth said the budget setting process was still at an early stage and many decisions were still to be made, including what will happen to the rate of council tax.

Last February the county council – which runs the majority of services across Oxfordshire – approved cuts of £64m to its budget.

From 2010/11 to 2017/18, Government funding for the council’s revenue budget – which pays for the running of services – will fall by 39 per cent, or £96m.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said it would publish the provisional settlement in December, after the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.


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