The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Soaring costs and swinging cuts will see Lincolnshire County Council lobby the government for extra cash.
Members of the council met this week and were asked to approve a document outlining the county’s position and putting a case for revised funding.
Lincolnshire is set to see its elderly population rocket by around 45 per cent over a ten year period, and adult social care is the biggest cost to the authority.
But over the last six years it has saved £288m from the revenue budget, with a £246m growth in demand for adult and children’s care.
Funding from central government is set to drop from £146m in 2013/14 to £20m in 2019/20 and the cuts will lead to shortfalls in funding, warns a report.
“There is clear evidence that the county council is not presently funded on a fair basis compared to other local authorities,” it says.
Officers estimate that if the funding was worked out in the same way as those in metropolitan areas, there would be an extra £141m a year in the pot.
“Reductions in funding plus the caps placed on us increasing council tax and fees and charges leaves little flexibility and scope for increasing income.
“Therefore this has forced significant reductions to spending and services in recent years and will continue until the end of the decade if things do not change,” says a lobbying document members were asked to approve.
The report said that it was an appropriate time to lobby for extra cash for the county which has a total budget of £608m.
“With a new government now in place the time is considered right to re-engage with relevant stakeholders to lobby for additional funding,” members were told.
The news comes after a report featured in the Voice last month which shows a sharp growth in population for South Holland.
The Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment revealed the district also indicated that a quarter of the population around Spalding would be over the age of 65 by 2019.
