Concerns about social care

We have an ageing population. People with chronic health problems are living longer.

A recent survey of councils about the challenges of providing care and support for elderly citizens demonstrated the scale of the challenge ahead. These demographic changes are increasing the pressure on services. One council was predicting a 70% increase in residents aged 75+, whilst another was expecting a 44% increase in residents aged over 90.

It is clear that these increases in demand cannot be met by expanding services when budgets are being cut. There are three main ways in which a council can maximise the services provided through the social care budget. It can raise charges, tighten eligibility and re-shape the way in which care is provided.

The survey showed that 88% of councils were increasing charges this year – most above the rate of inflation. Government ministers talk a lot about council tax levels, but they don’t like to talk about increasing charges.

16% of councils were tightening the eligibility criteria for receiving care. This might seem quite a small proportion, until you realise that the majority of councils are already meeting only substantial and critical need. They already have no room left to manoeuvre. It appears that, in the near future, just about every council will only offer support to those requiring substantial and critical. People who have previously been supported will no longer be eligible or will get a significant reduction in their support.

63% of councils are already closing care homes and/or day centres and more expect to follow in the next couple of years. More people will be supported in their own homes – which may be a good thing. However, it is clear that some people who really need 24 hour support in residential care will not get it in future.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, given all the Prime Minister’s talk about the role of voluntary organisations in his Big Society is that more than 50% of councils are cutting their financial support to the voluntary sector providing care services and another 25% expect to do this in the next year. Locally, in Sheffield, the council is making 15% cash cuts to the voluntary sector this year and is closing both residential homes and cutting day-care.

So, elderly people in need of support can look forward to increased charges and less support in future. This is one of the real impacts of the cuts that are now being made. I just wish Ministers would be honest about what the budget cuts really mean.

Betts says lettings policy implementation is unfair to those who wait

Clive Betts MP [Sheffield South East] has challenged Sheffield City Council on its lettings policies which discriminate against people who have been on the waiting-list a long time.

He has written today to the SCC Chief Executive asking him to urgently review what is actually happening to re-housing in various parts of the city and to ensure that the spirit of SCC’s own re-housing policies are implemented.

Clive Betts used the example of David Pemberton and his partner Helen Barnsley, who have been on the waiting-list for re-housing for twenty years, but are prevented from securing a home in Hackenthorpe.

Clive Betts said:
“I have always supported a lettings’ policy which gives a fair deal to people who have spent a long time on the waiting list, either to be offered their first home or for a transfer.

I opposed changes to the lettings policy which gave less weight to the length of time people had been waiting. But, it is clear to me that, in practice, in certain parts of the city, those on the waiting-list are being given absolutely no opportunity at all to be re-housed.”

In Hackethorpe, priority for re-housing is being given to households whose homes are being demolished. But, if a home in the area is not wanted by those households, it is being offered to those with other forms of priority.

Effectively, this means that those with waiting-time only will not be allowed to bid for a home.”

Clive Betts said:
“The way in which the re-housing policy is being implemented runs contrary to the actual policy which states that ‘one in four properties can be offered to people with waiting-time only’.

But, in areas like Hackenthorpe, good people like David Pemberton and Helen Barnsley, who have been waiting years for a home, are effectively being denied from ever being re-housed.

It is absolutely right that people who have to be re-housed because of demolition. It is absolutely wrong that homes which are not required for that purpose will never be offered to people who have waiting-time only. This is completely contrary to the guiding principles and spirit of the letting policies.”

Clive Betts continued:
“It is now more than 12 months since I pressed this issue with the relevant council officers.

Now, after months of waiting – and despite repeated requests for a proper response to the issues I’d been raising - I’ve received a reply simply saying that the policy is being implemented correctly.

If the policy is being implemented correctly, something is going badly wrong.

I have today written to the Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council asking for an urgent review of the situation.”

Betts Concerns on Local Food Jobs

Clive Betts MP [Sheffield South East] is meeting representatives from Vion after the food company announced that it had started consultations on closing its Sheffield sausage business with the loss of 205 jobs.

Vion has proposed that its food production in Orgreave Close, Handsworth, Sheffield is transferred to Vion Hall’s in Broxburn, West Lothian. Vion cited a challenging trading climate and fierce competition as the reason for the restructuring, but said that the commitment its employees in Sheffield has never been in question.

Clive Betts said today:

“This is a massive blow to local jobs and local industry. It will precipitate further Sheffield job losses at Vion’s local suppliers and in the local economy.

I am now meeting Vion's representatives to explore alternatives to their current proposals or, at the very least, ensure that every assistance is being given to employees in finding new jobs.

Vion has said that the commitment of its Sheffield employees has never been in doubt. Further, that its rationalisation proposals are being driven by fierce competition and the overall state of the economy.”

 Clive Betts continued:

“This announcement is further evidence that the Government is cutting too hard and too fast.

This Conservative-led government is going further and faster with deficit reduction than any other major economy in the world, and on a foundation of stalled growth and higher unemployment.

When Labour left office a year ago, the economy was turning a corner, with unemployment falling and the economy starting to grow strongly. That meant the deficit came in £21bn lower than forecast. Twelve months on, Britain’s economy should be growing strongly and unemployment should be much lower.

But this government’s economic strategy has meant that Britain’s economy over the latest six months has grown by a paltry 0.3% compared to growth of 1.8% in the previous six months.”

Clive Betts concluded:

“This announcement provides further evidence to disprove the theory that public sector cuts will create private sector jobs. The reality is that our city is losing jobs and investment in both the public and private sectors as a result of the government’s economic policies.”

Betts challenges Pickles and Clegg on voluntary sector cuts

Clive Betts MP has today challenged Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to come clean about the representations he received from Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs to delay new guidance on council funding of the voluntary sector.

Clive Betts has also written to Nick Clegg MP asking him to make public any representations he made to Eric Pickles to delay action so that Liberal Democrat controlled Sheffield City Council could continue to implement 15% cuts in grant aid to Sheffield voluntary organisations.

Clive Betts said today:

“With much fanfare, Eric Pickles told voluntary sector representatives that he was taking action to prevent councils making ‘disproportionate cuts’ in grant to voluntary organisations.

Those representatives were left with the clear impression that he intended to take urgent action in relation to this year’s council budgets.

I immediately wrote to Eric Pickles saying that, if that was his intention, he must make an immediate announcement about the detail of his policy because it was unfair to both councils and voluntary organisations to leave them with uncertainty.

In particular, I asked him to be clear about what he meant by ‘disproportionate cuts’ as Sheffield City Council was making a 15% cash cut in funding local voluntary organisations.

Despite reminders, there has been no reply. Then, this week, Eric Pickles published new guidance for consultation which has absolutely no effect on this year’s council decisions.

Why might this be? I believe that Eric Pickles was lobbied heavily by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs and Council leaders to delay because of the scale of the cuts they were already making to voluntary organisations in their areas.

I have written today to Eric Pickles asking him to publish the details of all the representations he received and which led him to delay taking action.”

Clive Betts continued:

“I have also written today to Nick Clegg MP reminding him that the claims he has made about Sheffield City Council’s budget simply don’t stand up to scrutiny as I set out in an Early Day Motion. I have also asked him to make public any representations he has made to Eric Pickles to ensure that Liberal Democrat controlled Sheffield City Council can continue to make 15% cuts in grant aid to the voluntary sector this year.”

Kept in the dark - then stuffed!

Our area learned what it’s like to be a chicken this week. We’ve been kept in the dark, then stuffed. Let me explain.

Last year, the Conservative-led government announced that it was cancelling the loan to Forgemasters in Sheffield. The investment would have made Forgemasters a global leader in very big castings, especially for the non-renewable energy sector. It would have created jobs, not just at Forgemasters but also at a large number of other local companies which are part of its supply chain. As it was a loan, repayable at a good interest rate, it would also have made a good profit for the government.

Government ministers – both Conservative and Liberal Democrat – gave all sorts of reasons for scrapping the loan. However, the all-party Select Committee, which thoroughly investigated what had happened, concluded that not a single one of those reasons stood up to scrutiny. Even worse, it discovered that the government had instead given the go-ahead to projects, which were both riskier and provided less value-for-money, like one located in a Liberal Democrat Minister’s constituency in the south of England.

Then, totally against the wishes of the local business sector, the Government announced it was scrapping the Regional Development Agencies, including Yorkshire Forward, as well as cutting the resources for local economic regeneration projects by 60%. Nick Clegg – clearly embarrassed by his shameful part in the Forgemasters’ decision – told us that our area would do well out of the new Regional Growth Fund.

Well, this week, we learned that Clegg’s promise on this had the same value as his promise on student fees.

First, we have been kept in the dark. With Yorkshire Forward, the criteria for choosing investments were transparent and the bids were public. Not only has the Government now refused to publish the criteria, it has even refused to publish the names of the bidders or the nature of the projects.

Secondly, our area has been stuffed. When the Government announced the successful bidders this week, from the massively reduced investment fund, there was not a single project from Derbyshire, Sheffield, Rotherham or Barnsley included.

Although the Government won’t tell us, I know that there were some excellent investment projects submitted from our area. Local people and local businesses will be totally justified in feeling that they’ve been mislead and treated with contempt.

Government Snubs Sheffield

Clive Betts MP today accused the Conservative-led government of snubbing Sheffield after Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable, announced the successful bids for the Regional Growth Fund.

“It is amazing that not a single bid from a Sheffield company has been successful in securing support from the Regional Growth Fund.

I’m amazed, but not surprised, as the Government’s disgraceful treatment of the earlier Forgemaster’s bid demonstrated that Sheffield wasn’t going to get a fair deal.

All [Sheffield CC Leader] Councillor Scriven’s boasting about his hotline to Government Ministers on economic development resources has come to nought. It’s another kick in the teeth for Sheffield businesses and entrepreneurs.”

David Blunkett MP [Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough] said:

“This £1.4bn is a massive reduction on the amount that the former Labour government was giving to support economic development and regeneration in the area.

West Yorkshire seems to have done amazingly well out of a significantly smaller pot. But, it’s a massive disappointment for Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

I hope the outcome of the additional investment in Doncaster Airport will enable it to play a more significant part in the renewal of the regional economy as, to date, it has signally failed in that regard.

In his Local Enterprise Partnership Summit speech on 7 March 2011, the Chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, James Newman, said

‘Our City Region has been through a lot in the past and has not always been Government’s favourite. I am delighted to report that the tide has very much turned’

I hope his remarks do not turn out to be a triumph for hope over reality.”

Pickles talks rubbish

Rarely a weekend passes without Eric Pickles – the Conservative Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government – making a pronouncement about refuse collection. Pickles has even gone so far as to say that it is a ‘basic right’ for people to have their rubbish collected every week.

When I was young, most councils operated a ‘gold service’. Each week, the bin-man would come and find your dustbin from wherever you’d hidden it in the garden, take and empty it into the bin-lorry, and return the empty bin to its original location. Mind you, that didn’t stop lots of complaints that the bin hadn’t been returned to the precise location or that the lid was missing.

In the 1980s, three things happened to change all this.

First there was the concern about the environmental impact of landfill; there had been a dramatic growth in the amount of refuse and bigger and bigger holes were required to put it in – and some tips were leaking contaminants into land and water-courses.

Second, people became concerned about re-cycling. For the benefit of the environment and the economy, we needed to cut the amount of refuse. Some of this cut was to be achieved by recycling. A landfill tax has provided a big incentive to recycle and minimise waste.

Thirdly, as councils experienced the force of the Thatcher government’s cuts, they focused on the actual cost of collection. Neither the council nor the local ratepayer could afford the cost of the ‘gold service’. It was significantly cheaper to operate kerbside collections and that lead to the introduction of the wheelie-bin.

Those three pressures have continued to this day. Councils have found different ways of dealing with the issues, dependent upon their local circumstances. Most of Sheffield’s rubbish has been incinerated to provide heat and power for local homes, shops, offices and leisure centres. Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster are now busily exploring a similar scheme.

More than half the councils in the UK now operate either a two-weekly collection or an alternate week collection – recycling materials one week, general refuse the next – and some operate separate collections for garden materials. Given the cuts in council resources, it is inevitable that all councils will be considering further ways to cuts costs I refuse collection and disposal.

I like my weekly collection, but I have little time for Eric Pickles’ bluster on this issue. As the Daily Mail said this week “If Mr Pickles is unwilling to force councils to reinstate weekly collections — and he is not— he should not falsely raise people’s hopes." 

More chance of winning the lottery than in getting a No 6 bus to arrive on time!

Clive Betts MP today blasted First South Yorkshire for the continuing poor service on the No 4 and 6 routes, which serve Darnall to the City Centre.

Clive Betts said:

“For several months, I have been complaining to both First and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive about the continuing poor service on the No 4 and 6 bus-routes.

Originally, this was meant to be a 20 minute frequency route throughout the day, but the service was so dreadful that passengers could only treat the timetable as a work of fiction.

First South Yorkshire then changed this to a 30 minute frequency, using smaller buses, and promised that the service would improve significantly. But, passengers are still getting the same poor service. Only now, when a bus goes missing, people know they’re in for an hour’s wait instead of forty minutes.

I simply cannot understand how the service continues to be so dreadful. It’s time First got its act together.”

Local residents have also been persistent in their complaints, but see no improvement in reliability.

Mrs Hobson of Calvert Road said:

“Rarely a day goes by without one, and often more, of the buses just not appearing. The worst case was when we saw an elderly pensioner wait an hour and fifty minutes for a bus to arrive.”

Mrs Goodison of Calvert Road said:

“It seems that, whenever there is a shortage of drivers or a problem with a vehicle, First just treat this route as dispensable.

This is the only practical bus-route for lots of elderly and disabled people. It simply isn’t fair on them to be left waiting so often.

It sometimes seems that you’ve got more chance of winning the lottery than in getting a No 6 bus to arrive on time.”

Betts rubbishes Clegg’s claims on Council budget

Clive Betts MP has rubbished the assertion by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP, that Liberal Democrat controlled Sheffield City Council is making fewer cuts in services and jobs than comparable authorities.

Clive Betts said today:

“Nick Clegg seems to have brought the same level of accuracy to his claims about the real effect of Sheffield City Council’s budget as he did to his assertion last week that pensioners will not receive less Winter Fuel Payment next winter than they received this year. Neither stand up to scrutiny.”

Clive Betts set out his analysis in a speech in the Budget debate and in an Early Day Motion. [Set out below]

In particular, Clive Betts focused on:

• Nick Clegg’s assertion that Sheffield City Council was only losing 200 jobs – when the Council’s own website confirms that 737 jobs are going. Further

o     these job losses do not include those being made by out-sourced services – including all sport and recreation, museums, refuse collection and benefit administration;

o    these job losses don’t include those in voluntary organisations whose budgets are being cut by 15% by the Council;

• Nick Clegg’s assertion that ‘no libraries are being closed’, when the Libraries’ budget is being cut by £1.3m. It is already known that several mobile libraries are being cut, but the Liberal Democrats have decided not to announce where the rest of the cuts will fall until after the local elections;

But even more importantly, Clive Betts said that the Council was front-loading the use of the Council’s balances, which means that even bigger cuts will be required for the 2012/13 budget.

Clive Betts said: 

“Even the Council’s Chief Executive and Executive Director for Resources stated in the budget report that the Council is running down reserves to a low level given the scale of risk in the 2011/12 budget. 

It is inevitable that the new political administration – of whatever make-up – will have to start quickly making additional cuts in expenditure in 2011 to enable a lawful budget to be set in 2012/13.”

Clive Betts continued: 

“Further, there has been little comment on the massive cuts being made in the Council’s capital expenditure which will fall from £322.6m in 2010/11 to £61.3m in 2013/14.

This more than 80% cut will be felt most keenly in the private sector, especially the construction sector in the city.

The last Labour government had to spend a decade trying to deal with the Conservative legacy of huge under-investment in housing, schools and hospitals.

Given the scale of the capital cuts, it is inevitable that a future government will have a new legacy                     of failure to address.”

Cleggitis – new symptoms!

Over the last year, people have come to recognise the most common symptom of a dangerous disease called Cleggitis. Sufferers invariably promise one thing and then do another.

At a superficial level, such people can be quite attractive. In the UK, there was a sudden public outbreak of support for them about a year ago. However, that has fallen considerably in recent months – especially amongst students and pensioners - as promises made to them have been broken, one after another.

But, last week, doctors recognised a new symptom and it appears to be contagious.

Let me explain.

A prominent sufferer – called Nick – was on Radio Sheffield. Two pensioners called in to ask him why he was cutting their winter fuel payments by £50 to £100 a year. First Nick told them that the winter fuel payments weren’t being cut and then he told them that, far from a cut, he’d actually increased them. Well, as we all know, it has now been confirmed that winter fuel payments next year will be £50 to £100 less than this year.

So, doctors have added new symptoms to Cleggitis – first, continuing denial in the face of the facts and, secondly, promising you’ve done something when you haven’t.

Cleggitis is obviously highly contagious because, just two days before, Nick’s best friend David also showed symptoms. When David was asked at Prime Minister’s Question Time why he proposed to remove the mobility component of disability living allowance from 80,000 care home residents, he answered “The short answer is that we are not.” Unfortunately for David, the accurate answer was completely different.

Only the day before, David’s friend George had published his Budget Red Book which confirmed that the government would “remove the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance from claimants in residential care”. Further, David’s friend Iain has a Welfare Reform Bill, which says exactly the same thing, going through the House of Commons right now.

It was little surprise then that, forgetting his TV microphone was still turned on, Nick told David: “If we keep doing this we won’t find anything to bloody disagree on in the bloody TV debates.”

Take my advice – stay well away from this disease!