Funding shortfall 'risking elderly'

Budgets are being stretched by the ageing population and ambitious Government plans for boosting education services and increasing recycling, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).

The warning comes as the Treasury prepares to unveil the results of its Comprehensive Spending Review, which allocates cash for the next three years.

Research by the LGA calculates the cost of implementing new policies will be around £7 billion up to April 2011. That includes more than £5.7 billion on improved children's services out of school hours, and nearly £1.2 billion on waste management and encouraging recycling.

An extra £2.7 billion will also be needed to fund social care for the elderly because people are living longer.

The LGA said services such as meals on wheels and home help could be subject to cutbacks, as could financial assistance for residential care.

Chairman Sir Simon Milton said: "Councils want to put people first by providing high quality and affordable services for local people but also will need to fund the changes central government has introduced.

"Without the additional funding from central government, councils will be unable to do both and will be forced into having to make extremely tough decisions about which services can be provided.

"With the increasing demands of caring for an ageing population it will be likely that unless the investment needed in implementing these additional new burdens comes from central government then subsidised care services for older people will have to be heavily restricted or cut.

"It appears likely the coming years will see a period of austerity in funding of public services that councils and local people will not have seen for more than a decade."