UK Social Care Funding Cuts May Cause Losses of $48 Million

A total of 57 of 157 local authorities providing social care will lose $48 million due to social care funding cuts which should be reconsidered by British Prime Minister Theresa May, Member of Parliament for Leigh Andy Burnham said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — "Social care has already been cut to the bone. If this further round of cuts goes ahead, it could have serious consequences for the NHS [National Health Service]. That is why I am calling on Theresa May to intervene in this row and give a clear guarantee that no council in England will face cuts in central government funding next April," Burnham said.

According to Burham, who is also Labour Party candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, the county's councils of London's Tower Hamlets will lose $4.2 million, while Salford faces cuts of $2.8 million and Birmingham – $1.6 million. The total losses of local councils around Britain are estimated at $48 million.

The British government came under fire last month when the fall statement did not mention funding adult social care. Local authorities then complained about the cuts.

Instead of reconsidering the policy and abolishing the cuts, the government offered councils the so-called adult social care precept which implies increasing the council tax to 2 percent to help them cover social care costs. Extra income coming from this charge can only be used for social care services.