Cuts to the adult social services budget are to be made by Liverpool City Council again as it tries to save £156million throughout the city over the next three years.
The adult social care budget had already been brought down from £220million to £174million and there is a fear that the further £3.6million cuts could lead to the most vulnerable people in society falling through the net due to lack of funding.
The central government cuts have seen significant reductions in children’s services as well as the closure of leisure centres throughout Merseyside.
The council insists the latest savings, which have been described by Mayor Joe Anderson as “tough”, are designed to preserve the council’s skills and expertise in looking after some of the most vulnerable clients. At the same time, it aims to makw better use of some of the council’s buildings, with Speke Day Centre being shut down as well as Norris Green’s Older Person’s day centre being relocated.
The council is also proposing to replace a centre in Belle Valle with a new and improved centre for people with complex disabilities which will offer specialist residential services which will in turn reduce the need to send people out of the city for the appropriate care.
Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for adult social care, Councillor Roz Gladden, said: “The consultation has found that our proposals are broadly in line with the expectations that service users, families and carers have for our services.
“In an ideal world, we would love to continue running all of our centres, but the huge cuts we have imposed on us by the government mean that we have to find new ways of continuing to support people who receive care.”