Government ‘Armlock’ puts council care under pressure – Lib Dems
Cornwall’s five-strong team of Liberal Democrat MPs today (Monday) said a shortfall in Government funding was to blame for cuts across the country in services available to people in the “moderate” category of needs.
Cornwall has been forced to join the majority of County Councils in funding only those in the “Substantial” and “Critical” categories.
Commenting, North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson, said:
“This problem arises out of a root and branch failure to give local government real financial control.
“The County Council is taking this step very unwillingly indeed. But Government funding arrangements have put the Executive in Truro in an armlock.
“Councils should be able to choose to look after their vulnerable, and be accountable to the electorate if they don’t. Instead, Ministers place Councillors in an impossible position, making swingeing cuts from London, which have serious effects on the ground here in Cornwall.”
Falmouth and Camborne MP, Julia Goldsworthy, added:
“The Government has put Cornwall County Council in an incredibly difficult and fundamentally unjust situation. By refusing to give the county the fair funding that it deserves, the Council is simply unable to pay for the personal care that so many vulnerable people require.
“Until the whole funding allocation is reformed, Cornwall – and many other authorities across the country, is stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
