Stop a Care Crisis (Norfolk)

AS WELL AS SIGNING THE PETITION, WE WOULD BE REALLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD ANSWER THE THREE SHORT QUESTIONS IN OUR ONLINE POLL. SEE LINK BELOW*

Norfolk County Council is planning further significant and potentially hugely damaging cuts to adult social care. For the first time the funding for personal budgets and care “packages” which provide care for vulnerable people is to be reduced and restrictions applied to the kind of care that people can ask for.

At the same time, funding for ‘preventative’ care services, which keep people well and independent, are being cut still further which can only add to costs in future years as peoples’ health is allowed to deteriorate.

The combination of shrinking budgets, an ageing population and increased demand for social care has caused many organisations to warn of a funding crisis. The Local Government Association, for instance, has calculated that many other Council services will have to be cut by 90% by 2020 if Councils are to be able to meet their social care commitments. Meanwhile, Norfolk County Council has assessed the long term care of older people as having the maximum possible level of risk.

It should be noted that Council Tax has been frozen for the last three years. While it is the case that this has made the Council eligible for some one-off grant funding from the central government, it has severely reduced available Council funding for future years.

Along with this, the present Labour/Lib-Dem administration at the Council has made infrastructure, which includes major road schemes, one of its three main priorities but has neglected to include any mention of social care in those priorities.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

*BEFORE SIGNING OUR PETITION (SEE BELOW), PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ANSWER THREE SHORT QUESTIONS IN OUR ONLINE POLL.

You can find specific details of each cut proposed by Norfolk County Council here. The cuts that this petition refers to are included under those numbered: 31, 33, 34, 35 and 37.

Once you've signed the petition, we would also encourage you to take part in the Norfolk County Council consultation on proposed cuts which you can find here.

Thanks again!

Please note, addresses are required for the petition to be accepted by Norfolk County Council. Neither these, nor the email addresses, will be publicly accessible online or used for any other purpose.