Caerphilly’s Labour MP Wayne David has strongly criticised Caerphilly County Borough Council after it was ranked 17th out of 22 Welsh local authorities on disability care in a report by the charity Scope.
The charity commissioned a report from the Independent think-thank Demos about the impact of public spending cuts on disabled people and disability-related services.
The report states Caerphilly Council ranks 17th out of 22 local authorities in Wales for the way it has managed the impact of the cuts.
According the report, which can be read here, Caerphilly’s social services budget for children, adults, older people’s care and disability has been cut by 2.26% compared to last year.
The 22 Welsh councils were than ranked taking into account the budget cut and other factors. The overall result was that Caerphilly was rated as a ‘bad’ authority.
Wayne David, Labour MP for Caerphilly, has criticised the Plaid Cymru-led council in light of the report.
He said: “I am extremely disappointed, but not surprised, that Caerphilly Council comes out so badly from this survey.
“The council has an unfortunate reputation for not being particularly focused on the needs of people generally. So I am not surprised that Caerphilly is identified as one of the worst performing in Wales when it comes to ‘protecting’ disabled people. I only hope that the council will listen and learn and ensure that people with disabilities become a council priority.”
A spokesman for Caerphilly County Borough Council said the findings of the report as “flawed”.
He said: “We are extremely concerned and disappointed about the way this ‘league table’ of council performance has been complied.
“We challenge these findings and we have formally disputed the accuracy of the information put forward by Scope and Demos.
“We are working hard to protect key services and we have seen budget increases in areas focusing on care and support for children, adults and older people. We have also made significant investment, amounting to almost £1million, in front line social services.
“Our view is that the conclusions drawn by SCOPE and DEMO are based on a flawed understanding of the way our budgets are created
“We would like to assure residents that we will continue to serve the needs of all sections of our community, especially the vulnerable and disabled, by protecting key services.”
A map detailing the ratings of local authorities across the UK can be found at disability-cuts-map.demos.co.uk
Caerphilly Borough council appear to be saying that the facts of the Scope DAVOS report are incorrect, in order to justify that accusation they appear to be saying that the people who compiled the report should take the issues of `Front Line Social Services` spending, i.e. in the round, and not relate it to simply services to and for the disabled.
I would still like to know if the Caerphilly county borough Council have REDUCED positive discrimination provision, and therfore specific spending, for, and, to the advantage of the disabled citizens of the Borough, or, as the report states, they have REDUCED it?