Elderly are being shortchanged as cash is splashed on schools

10:38am Monday 26th February 2007

By Nicola Davies

CHESHIRE'S finance chief has expressed serious concerns that Government finance regulations are helping young people to the detriment of the old.

In her budget speech on Thursday, Councillor Gretta Cousins called for change to a system to ensure it does not "give to schools with one hand and takes from the elderly, vulnerable and the Council Taxpayer with the other."

Demographic change, more prominent in Cheshire than other parts of the country, has meant there are more older people and fewer children.

Cllr Cousins said: "Commonsense would dictate that we take some of the money saved from declining pupil numbers and reinvest it in services for the elderly.

Specific grants from Central Government, such as the schools grant, are ring-fenced and can only be spent on projects pre-determined by the Government.

Cllr Cousins added: "In other circumstances I would welcome the steady increase in funding available to schools.

"But sadly this is not accompanied by a similar increase in Government funding for the full range of Local Government services.

"We know our schools deserve a decent level of funding, but so do services for the elderly and vulnerable."

Cheshire has received the minimum increase in grant funding two years running said the county's finance spokesperson in her scathing attack on the unfair level of central grant received by the authority from the Government.

With metropolitan areas receiving twice the increase that Cheshire received, Cllr Cousins asked for Opposition spokespersons to join her in condemning the unfair policy and to use their budget speeches this week to contend that Cheshire receives a fair share of the national grant.

Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council Opposition Leader Councillor Steve Hogben responded with some strong views, saying: "The Conservatives are trying to blame the Government for their own ineptitude and lack of management.

"They have been criticised by the Audit Commission for their administration and have mismanaged their finances for six years.

"Whilst keeping council tax down sounds good, they have put Home Care charges up by 60-70%.

"The Tories have got no-one to blame but themselves for the situation which has resulted in older people suffering."